This publication takes as its background the radical reforms to services for children following the passing of The Children Act of 2004 and the subsequent Government White Paper, "Every Child Matters: Change for Children". It argues that the fundamental requirements for leadership for learning in the early years should be provided by…

Based on the theoretical framework of reflective practice and teacher education, this article shares portions of a personal experience research project designed to gain understanding of teacher learning through nonfictional narrative story. Excerpts comprise the stories of learning-based journeys shared by five East Texas teachers that focus on a…

In order to meet the growing demands being placed on teachers and students, it is incumbent upon educators to understand how the teachers who are highly effective became so. It is through understanding the experiences of the developmental process as well as the beliefs that guide behaviors that we can enable, equip, and empower others to become…

The authors use Noddings (1984; 1992; 1999) and Beauboeuf-Lafontant's (2002) theories of caring in education to look at how race (conceptualized to include Whiteness) affected the implementation of the A+ Schools Program, an arts-based reform designed to augment student achievement and appreciation for the arts. They examine the implementation of…

Caring, as a universal human phenomenon, should permeate elementary, secondary and tertiary level instruction. The practice of teaching, especially at the tertiary level, is not only substantial and procedural but relational as well. To teach with a heart is the essence that makes teaching a form of caring. When teaching is viewed as a form of…

Globally, approximately 208 million people aged 15 and older used illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months; 2 billion consumed alcohol and tobacco consumption affected 25% (World Drug Report, 2008). In the United States, 20.1 million (8.0%) people aged 12 and older were illicit drug users, 129 million (51.6%) abused alcohol and 70.9…

The practice of retaining students in grade has been studied, researched, discussed, criticized and yet it continues. Dropping out of school prior to graduation has been studied, researched, discussed, written about and continues to be practiced by our youth. Policymakers are often provided quantitative data to consider as they explore, evaluate,…

School leaders are increasingly being asked, whether by rhetoric or policy, to measurably improve student achievement. The resultant need to assist school leaders in their ability to improve teaching and learning for all students in their schools led to the establishment of the National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive…

The purpose of this study was to explore how critical pedagogy, culturally relevant curriculum, and student centered instruction impacted student engagement in reading for struggling high school readers, including first- and second-generation immigrants. The researcher/practitioner (r/p) chose to highlight Latinas in the study to understand the…

According to an influential view, empathy has, and should have, a role in ethics, but it is by no means clear what is meant by "empathy", and why exactly it is supposed to be morally good. Recently, Peter Goldie has challenged that view. He shows how problematic empathy is, and argues that taking an external perspective is morally…

Successfully navigating early adolescence depends, in large part, on the availability of safe and engaging activities and supportive relationships with adults, yet many preteens have limited access to positive supports and opportunities such as high-quality after-school programs that could put them on a path to success. Funders, policymakers and…

According to care theory the good parent confronting a helpless child has an unmediated impulse to relieve his distress; that impulse grows into a prescriptive ethic of relatedness, often contrasted to the more individualistic ethic of justice. If, however, a child's nature is understood as assertive and competent as well as fragile and dependent;…

The release of "The New Zealand Curriculum" causes us to rethink the aims of education. Dr Cavanagh offers an alternative set of aims to the vision outlined in the Ministry of Education document, which is based, at least in part, on socialisation into the corporate industrial world. Dr Cavanagh's position is focused on putting…

The purpose of the present study was to identify and investigate critical incidents at school that require ethically sensitive teaching. This kind of knowledge is needed in teacher education to prepare future teachers for their profession. The data included narrative interviews with 12 teachers from four urban schools in Finland. Critical…

High schools have been described as potent breeding grounds of alienation and boredom (Bronfenbrenner, 1974; Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Marks, 2000) while recent literature has focused on student-teacher relationships and the importance of pedagogies of care (Noddings, 1992; Wentzel & Looney, 2006). This paper examines the link between social…