This paper explores how aligned arts and play experiences can extend child and family engagement in a public outdoor space. The importance of outdoor play for children is strongly advocated and in response local governments provide playgrounds and recreational open spaces. To extend further the experiences afforded in such spaces some local…

The current pilot study tested the effectiveness of an e-learning environment built to enable students to compose music collaboratively. The participants interacted online by using synchronous and asynchronous resources to develop a project in which they composed a new music piece in collaboration. After the learning sessions, individual…

In "Do You Want Your Students to Be Job-Ready With 21st Century Skills?" Kivunja (2014a) draws on the work by the Partnership For Teaching 21st Century Skills (P21) reported by Trilling and Fadel (2009), to articulate that the skills that young people need to succeed as individuals, citizens and workers in the 21st century fall into four…

In this study, we explore the interconnectedness between children's creativity, social play, and language abilities. The participants were 225 (109 girls, 116 boys) preschool children, from diverse European American, African American, and Hispanic ethnic heritages. We assessed the children in three ways. First, each child completed the Goodenough…

Through a case study of a first-language English teacher's approach to teaching writing, the significance of conceptual and affective beliefs about grammar for pedagogical practice is explored. The study explores a perceived dichotomy between grammar and creativity, examining a belief that attention to grammar is separate and secondary to the…

Sustainability education is a growing field within higher education that fosters personal and intellectual engagement with the interconnected tensions of pressing social, ecological, economic, and political issues. Sustainability education aims to prepare learners to become creative problem solvers and active citizens who understand the…

This study deals with the undergraduate degree project in teacher training programmes for early childhood education and care in Sweden. For the study we draw on documents and qualitative interviews with teacher educators of different disciplinary backgrounds. The aims of this study were to identify discourses on the degree project in the field of…

Two questions drove this case study. 1) To what extent does playing the online computer game Minecraft at home in a multiplayer environment impact a player's media literacy skills of analysis, evaluation, and access? 2) To what extent does playing the online computer game Minecraft at home in a multiplayer environment impact a player's 21st…

Targeting students in grades K-8, Art in Action's program consists of 12 age-appropriate lessons per year led by parent and teacher volunteers. The curriculum is based on historically significant artists and their works of art. Through semi-structured discussions, students examine a variety of masterpieces, learning about the artist as well as…

Improve core instruction to ensure learning for all. Created specifically for grades 6-12, this book provides proven response to intervention strategies to differentiate instruction, engage students, increase success, and avoid additional interventions. Discover how to identify essential power standards to include in Tier 1 instruction, create a…

In this article, I review ideas about creativity and its assessment. I open with some general remarks on the nature of creativity. Then I present the investment theory of creativity. Then I describe prompts my colleagues and I have used to measure creativity. Next I describe some of the assessments we have used to measure creativity. The ultimate…

Although creativity has recently attracted considerable theoretical and empirical research, researchers have yet to reach a consensus on how best to define the phenomenon. To help establish a consensus, a definition is proposed that is based on the three criteria used by the United States Patent Office to evaluate applications for patent…

Jen and Michael agreed that it felt like a mixed blessing when the kindergarten teacher told them she thought their daughter was "very creative." The teacher had commented on Allison's love of dramatic and imaginative play, her bold and expressive artwork, her knack for solving problems with numbers and shapes, and her delight in finding…

Sharon Creech's book, "Love That Dog," is the story of a young poet named Jack, a good teacher, and a dog. Using free verse, Jack describes how he becomes a writer in dated journal entries. He is just an average kid, like so many of the kids in one's classes. But Jack has an excellent English teacher in Miss Stretchberry. She assigns freewriting…

Creativity isn't formally assessed or evaluated on tests or report cards, so teachers rarely plan lessons that encourage it. In fact, many teachers unintentionally stifle children's creativity when they cut off student's oral responses or stop them from adding more to their work so that they can bring the class back to the task at hand. Instead,…