This article introduces a developmental perspective on kindness. The central goal is to posit a new framework for the study of kindness and its development. From an ethical perspective, kindness can be considered a virtue. It reflects emotions, cognitions, and inner states that convey a particular gentleness and benevolence. These orientations can…

This article seeks to provide researchers and practitioners in laboratory education, particularly those involved in the curriculum design and implementation of teaching laboratories at university level, with a conceptual framework and a working model for an integrated assessment of learning domains, by attending to a more holistic approach to…

This is the second edition of the seminal text designed to empower educators with an innovative and inspiring conceptual framework for effective teaching. This bestseller is grounded in the synergy of five big ideas for connecting mind, brain, and education research to classroom practice: neuroplasticity, potential, malleable intelligence, the…

When we join with another who shares our sensibilities, we have potential for doing good. This article explores how the self-initiated art making of children that happens outside the classroom challenges the child emotionally and intellectually more than teacher-directed school art. Furthermore, authentic collaborative art making creates a site…

Symbolic play is a powerful vehicle for supporting emotional development and communication. It embraces all developmental capacities. This article describes how symbols are formed and how emotional themes are symbolized whereby children reveal their understanding of the world, their feelings and relationships, and how they see themselves in the…

The value of authentic knowing, autonomous behavior and altruistic motivation is presented. Authenticity, autonomy and altruism are primary human capacities and keys for individual and collective transformation. Realizing the full development of these three basic potentialities can serve as goals and standards for well-being. Authenticity,…

This study examined the relationships between instructors and their students, and between students, to determine their roles in building positive relationships and an overall positive classroom environment. Of particular interest was the examination of instructor rapport with students and rapport between students. Students (N = 232) reported on…

The present questionnaire-based study examines the views of 428 Greek students (aged 13-18 years) from 30 secondary education schools in Athens, who have experienced cooperative learning in group work--an instructional learning strategy not often implemented in Greek schools. The research focuses on students' preferences as regards the composition…

The author has written this latest volume to help parents and educators understand children's cognitive development and provide suggestions on how to nurture children to their full potential. A companion to "The Adolescent Brain", this rich resource: (1) Examines the neurobiology of childhood, explaining the body/brain systems that develop during…

This academic review critically examines the theoretical and empirical bases of claims made for the educational benefits of physical education and school sport (PESS). An historical overview of the development of PESS points to the origins of claims made in four broad domains: physical, social, affective and cognitive. Analysis of the evidence…

Synchrony, a construct used across multiple fields to denote the temporal relationship between events, is applied to the study of parent-infant interactions and suggested as a model for intersubjectivity. Three types of timed relationships between the parent and child's affective behavior are assessed: concurrent, sequential, and organized in an…

Author discusses the effect of teacher empathy on relationships with students. A review of the literature shows that students of empathic teachers are high achievers. It was shown that teachers could be trained to empathize better with their students. (SE)

We used a longitudinal study with 55 middle- and upper middle-class children to investigate the relation between early mother characteristics (e.g. mental state talk, general parenting style) and later child characteristics (e.g. theory of mind, conflict/cooperation). Children were tested once when they were around 3 years and then again around 4…

Recent research using theory-of-mind tasks has rekindled interest in the possibility that social interaction makes a significant contribution to cognitive development. It is proposed here that this contribution may be most pronounced with phenomena that, like belief or affective states, are internal and abstract. A more modest contribution is…

This paper describes three interrelated studies which investigated the cognitions, feelings, and motives involved in the emergence and progression of prosocial behaviors. The first study examined the child's emerging sensitivities to the affective events in his environment through data collected over a 9-month period from groups of 10-, 15-, and…