Teacher-librarians and teachers said that testing is driving everything that they do. One elementary teacher said that her entire grade level had not been to the library all year because they did not have time because the testing is all consuming and dictating all they do in the classroom. The teacher-librarian at that school added there was…

Known as Bitter Bierce, the writer Ambrose Bierce spent years ironically redefining the terms for a host of people, things, actions, and concepts, compiling his redefinitions into the "The Devil's Dictionary." In this article, the author describes how she uses this caustic work as a model for an exercise when her developmental writing class begins…

Thirty-six per cent of 18-19-year-old sixth-form and further education college leavers in the UK currently go on to university. A majority of the remaining 64 percent apparently go into work or work-related training. Yet, for this latter group, as with the former, 16-19 education was supposed by the Department for Education and Employment to equip…

When individuals are identified, especially children, as gifted in one or more domains, what they know about the domain (e.g., school achievement) and their ability to learn about that domain more rapidly or more thoroughly than other individuals (e.g., school aptitudes) is often the focus of concentration. But gifted adults are usually identified…

This article discusses ways that clinical practitioners can utilize creative strategies in working with clients who are experiencing grief following the death of their adolescent child. It presents a brief literature review regarding this specific type of parental grief as well as practical and helpful ways to utilize books, songs, and tangible…

Individuals and their communities experience trauma and loss during times of natural disaster. Using Hurricane Katrina as a context, the authors provide an overview of the phases of disaster coping and discuss the ambiguous losses that can occur during these traumatic and life-changing times. The use of rituals as a creative intervention is…

This paper argues the case for meditation with children. It seeks to define what meditation is, why it is important and how it can be practised with children. Meditation provides a good starting point for learning and creativity. It builds upon a long tradition of meditative practice in religious and humanistic settings and research gives evidence…

An article by Skemp (1976) on mathematical understanding describes two different types of "understanding", "relational" understanding which he initially describes simply as "knowing both what to do and why", and "instrumental" understanding which he describes in the first instance as "rules without reasons". In this article, the author highlights…

There is a Chinese proverb which tells that a child is like a piece of paper: everyone who touches it leaves a mark, so one should make sure those marks are positive. In this article, the author raises an issue which concerns providing for, recognizing and celebrating creativity in children's play. It involves challenging the set of ideas about…

In the context of learning theories the problem of the passage from the psychological dimension governed by images to the "scientific" dimension dominated by concepts needs to be reformulated. The starting point of the question should be recognition that at a "deep" level, between the two dimensions, there is a bridge, the design of which can be…

In this article, the author profiles Susan Striker, an art teacher, who first opened an art school for children, Young Art, in New York City in 1984. With her popular series, "The Anti-Coloring Book," celebrating its 26th year of publication, Susan Striker has made a career for herself out of not being afraid to go against the tide. Striker went…

One sunny afternoon, six-year-old Zachary and his friend John Michael, four and a half, discovered a dead frog in a bag of clay in the garage. Zachary proposed, "Let's have a funeral for the frog." This is how the funeral drama of Froggy the Frog began. This article describes the play experiences of Zachary and John Michael as designers,…

Winter, like all seasons, adds a new sense of mystery and discovery to the world of young children. It is the time when they can study snowflakes, find icicles, or observe the birds that share their yards. This article presents ideas and suggestions on how to plan a playscape. A playscape is a man-made seasonal playground for young children. It…

Creativity has been defined in many different ways by different authors. This article explores these different definitions of creativity; the relationship between creativity and intelligence, and those factors which affect creativity, such as convergent and divergent thinking. In addition, the article explores the importance of computer technology…

Innovation Education (IE) is a new subject area in Icelandic schools. The aim of the subject is to train students to identify the needs and problems in their environment and to develop solutions: a process of ideation. This activity has been classroom based but now a Virtual Reality Learning Environment technology (VRLE) has been designed to…