The voluntary after-school setting is a significant part of the educational system in Sweden and includes about 80% of the children from 6- to 9-years-old. The national curriculum stipulates that the setting should not carry on teaching, but provide a stimulating and safe environment and offer activities that support the development of values,…

The term "social-emotional learning" (SEL), defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as "a process for helping children develop the fundamental skills for life effectiveness," is a current buzzword in education, highlighting the important role that both practitioners and researchers…

We explore whether the use of assistive technology allows teachers and children to negotiate shared understandings for learning science and language. We understand our afterschool sessions as critical encounters. Artifacts used in the encounters enabled transcending of the tensions and became drivers for learning. In the studied 13 encounters,…

Nationwide budget cuts have forced many public school systems to significantly reduce opportunities for engaging in creative arts in the classroom despite the fact that such programs are associated with positive child outcomes. To address this deficit, we developed and executed the "Afterschool Creative Expression Program" (ASCEP) and…

Immersion has been an acclaimed approach for second-language acquisition, but is not available to most students. The idea of this study was to create a mobile immersion environment on a smartphone using a mobile instant messenger, WhatsApp™. Forty-five Form-1 (7th grade) students divided into the Mobile Group and Control Group participated in a…

Background/Context: This article describes Black educators in predominantly White suburban schools who have used advocacy through the lens of culturally relevant pedagogy and serve as Educational Cultural Negotiators to help the students of color in these spaces academically and socially. This article highlights the advocacy needed to address the…

In recent decades, parental involvement in their children's education has been steadily increasing. Perhaps the ultimate form of parental involvement is the phenomenon called elective home education--EHE (also known as homeschooling). It is customary to divide EHE into two categories according to the degree of structure: "structured EHE"…

The academic struggles of English language learners highlight the essential need to provide additional supports for this growing body of students. Given the multiple hurdles facing ELL students as they move through school, it is difficult for schools alone to provide ELL students the extra supports necessary for them to succeed academically.…

The New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) recognizes the role that its Comprehensive After School System (COMPASS) programs can play in supporting the educational success of youth, including literacy development. Since 2011, DYCD has required COMPASS programs to offer at least two hours a week of either literacy or…

The main objective of this study was to identify the attitudes of Korean university students towards studying English and to determine if attending after-school English academies has had a negative impact on their attitudes towards studying English. The study also sought to determine if studying English leads to anxiety, and more importantly if…

This paper presents the components influencing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning demotivation and resilience. Semi-structured interview data from 23 EFL students and nine teachers were thematically analyzed guided by the Grounded Theory approach after systematic reiterative comparative reviewing. The major demotivators were teachers'…

Alex U. Inn is the co-founder and one of the two MCs of the hip-hop drag king group, Momma's Boyz. Momma's Boyz celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2014. Carmen Morrison is the offstage name of Alex U. Inn, though "Carmen" now goes by Alex offstage, as well. Within this interview, the names "Carmen" and "Alex" are…

The How Far Do You Think You Can Jump? activity (see EJ1174770) was completed in three different contexts: an after-school mathematics enrichment program at Woodland and Country Schools in Weston, Massachusetts; a small-group pull-out of second graders at Wren Elementary in Piedmont, South Carolina; and a family math night in Lafayette, Indiana.…

This study explored how using graphic novel features in the writing process influenced the motivation and engagement of fifth grade boys to write. Participants used graphica features to visually draft their narrative essays before crafting their final writing piece. During the drafting process, students were encouraged to engage in the revision…

"STEM21: Equity in Teaching and Learning to Meet Global Challenges of Standards, Engagement and Transformation" is designed to contribute to discourses about how STEM teaching and learning can become more equitable, serving the needs of readers across the STEM educational spectrum. "STEM21" is meant to problematize the status…