When teachers and students are both engaged in the educational enterprise, every day has the potential to be transformative. "Lesson Planning with Purpose" takes readers on a journey through many pathways to engaging and meaningful educational experiences. The text first discusses "perceptive teaching:" the belief that teachers…

Inclusive language is essential for fostering inclusiveness, belongingness, and the valuing of children in early childhood education. In early childhood settings, inclusive language is used not only to effectively communicate instruction but also provide genuine expectations and hope for all children. However, teachers' use of non-inclusive…

Multilingual identity is an area ripe for further exploration within the existing extensive body of identity research. In this paper we make a case for a conceptual framework that defines multilingual identity formation in terms of learners' active involvement, and proposes the classroom as the hitherto underused site for participative identity…

Research Findings: This study focused on kindergartens serving low SES families and examined the associations between teachers' perceptions of their teaching experiences in their classroom and observed global classroom quality. Forty teachers and their classrooms participated. Teachers' perceptions of their teaching experiences in the classroom…

Mental health and developmental challenges that emerge in early childhood can be associated with difficulty in social interactions and behavioural regulation. With educational policies increasingly promoting inclusion in early learning settings, educators are being called upon to support children's social-emotional competence through…

Statistics on K-12 students with mental health challenges almost guarantee that teachers will encounter these students in their classrooms. Educators will be more prepared and successful if they have feasible strategies to promote student well-being and avoid exacerbating existing problems. This article presents research-based classroom practices…

This article investigates a teacher learning program in Mexico, Desarrollo de la Inteligencia a través del Arte: DIA (Development of Intelligence through Art: DIA), that supports teachers in applying holistic approaches to instruction that support social, emotional, academic, and cognitive growth. Using qualitative and quantitative measures, this…

"Nurturing Students' Character" is an easy-to-use guide to incorporating social-emotional and character development (SECD) into your teaching practice. The links are clear--elementary and middle school students have better odds of academic success if you nurture their social and emotional skills. Drawing on broad field experience and the…

This study sheds light on the interrelations of universal, school-based social-emotional learning strategies and ethnic-racial identity over time. We assessed exposure to social-emotional learning practices and ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution among 367 middle school students (70% African American, 30% Latinx; 51% girls) across 3…

Measures of teaching are used internationally to understand and improve quality in early education with little consideration for ecological validity. In this study, we analyze videos gathered in 58 K-1 classrooms in Central Mexico to evaluate the validity and reliability of scores from an observational tool developed in the U.S. and used…

The Aspen Institute's National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development united a broad alliance of leaders to speak with a unified voice about the urgency of integrating social and emotional development into the fabric of K-12 education. The commission convened a group of scientists, researchers, and academics across disparate…

In-service early childhood educators (n = 33) completed a survey describing their perceptions towards: (a) how educators draw on personal spirituality to support their role in the classroom, (b) what curricular activities, interactions or experiences educators believe relate to nourishing children's spirituality, (c) how the classroom environment…

Despite credible research to support a constructivist-based approach in early childhood programs, policymakers continued to push for a more academic-based philosophy in an effort to reach standardized testing goals. Reggio Emilia, a constructivist-based early childhood philosophy that originated in Northern Italy, has been shown to be an excellent…

The number of dual language learners in early childhood classrooms is expanding every year--and teachers often feel underprepared to bridge language barriers and effectively meet these students' learning needs. Help is here in this book--a toolbox of today's best strategies for supporting children and families from diverse backgrounds and ensuring…

Children have a natural proclivity to teach, help, cooperate, and empathize with others, and these interactions can have positive benefits for children's emotional, social, and cognitive development. This article is about ways music teachers can design peer-assisted music learning activities that will benefit everyone in the class and ultimately…