Afterschool programs are increasingly recognized as valuable opportunities for learning that can create social capital, expose students to topics of interest, and build personal identities. Yet poor policies and ineffective practices driven by outdated ideals abound, including an emphasis on the caregiving function of afterschool programs for…

Building on the framework presented in the best-selling "Creating Cultures of Thinking," Ron Ritchhart's new book, "Cultures of Thinking in Action," takes the next step in helping readers not only understand how a culture of thinking looks and feels, but also how to create it for themselves and their learners. Arguing that no…

The New Education Initiative (NEI), founded by Professor Yongxin Zhu at Soochow University in 2000, has had a widespread and enduring impact on Chinese basic education. It has transformed the education ecosystem in many regions in China, with its theory and practice inspiring numerous teachers who have suffered excessive pressures under the…

This study explores the way in which secondary schools can accommodate student-led, community-based pedagogies within the formal education system. The study identifies benefits and drawbacks associated with different strategies. Through such projects, students can develop their agentic power, that is, an ability to bring about change which is seen…

The DCU Changemaker Schools Network is a collaborative professional learning network of schools chosen for their pioneering work in the development of empathy, creativity, leadership, and teamwork. Adopted by Dublin City University (DCU) in September 2020, the current network of 18 primary schools has moved into Phase 2 of its development, with…

Objectives: Whole-school interventions and programmes aim to change school environments to promote health. Previous reviews suggest these are often inappropriately informed by individualistic psychological theories. We undertook a systematic review of whole-school interventions to prevent substance use and violence. This paper reports on a…

Curricula reform that sets students' future success, as the main objective requires insights into the demands of our society. These demands include economic and social needs. The fast-paced changing nature of our society makes it difficult to clearly define content necessary for students' post-graduate success, so curricula reform should focus on…

In U.S. deaf education, disablement results from a normative interpretation of disability in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. However, Vygotsky's "Fundamentals of Defectology" (1993) allows educators to view current deaf education pedagogical practices through a sociocultural-constructivist lens and reject the current…

Two superintendents who are infusing social-emotional learning throughout their districts (in Minneapolis and Atlanta) discuss strategies they've found that help their efforts. They note support they receive through participating in the Collaborating Districts Initiative, a multidistrict effort launched by the Collaborative for Academic, Social,…

The main aim of this article is to argue that the need for teachers and their schools to prepare their students for life beyond their school-days must be met by requiring teachers themselves to both achieve this aim and produce the evidence of their students' capability as learners. In so doing, they must change their classroom teaching from a…

University students are increasingly more involved as they juggle managing life away from family, making time for coursework, organizational commitments, and social engagements as well as, for many, holding full-time jobs. At a time when students' lives are more intense than ever, many are at a distinct disadvantage because of inadequate energy…

Purpose: The purpose of this conceptual paper is to present the existing research on already effective programmatic efforts designed to increase diversity in STEM fields and to subsequently encourage researchers and practitioners to more intentionally build upon and design effective interventions around this issue. Design/methodology/approach:…

Before the end of this decade, almost 5 billion people will carry mobile devices. Will Richardson asserts that because this technology creates ubiquitous, complex, immediate connections to the world, the most important skill is the skill of being able to learn. "Students moving into adulthood today," he writes, "need more than…

The purpose of the study was to examine the differences among significant changes in the practice of individual teachers. Seventeen US teachers were interviewed about the most successful change in their teaching career. The differences in teacher change were based primarily on the source and impact of the change. The sources of change were divided…

As is becoming increasingly clear from research into the role of emotion in learning, people think and learn about what matters to them. This article discusses why the purpose of education ought to be to help students figure out who they are and what the world means to them. This is how they become productive, moral citizens of the world.…