This article is about interaction, culture, and creativity. The ethnographic setting is a set of jazz performance classes at a California university. Although I write about jazz music, the reader need not have a background in studying or performing jazz (or music in general) to understand this article. In the title of the article, the term…

Never in the history of childhood has there been greater competition for a child's attention. Active in sports, hobbies, scouting, and other after-school activities, children have a myriad of electronic distractions from the many televisions in their home to Wii[trade mark], Xbox[trade mark], computer games and many more. How then, can librarians…

In this article, the author offers ways on how to find a voice when telling or sharing stories in print or in person. To find a voice, someone must: (1) Trust themselves; (2) Trust their audience whether they know they can trust them or not; (3) Be respectful in their inventions; (4) Listen to and read the stories of others; (5) Make mistakes; (6)…

Telling and dramatizing stories is an increasingly popular addition to the preschool curriculum, largely due to the attention this activity has received through the writings of Vivian Paley (Bad guys don't have birthdays: fantasy play at four. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1988; The boy who would be a helicopter: the uses of…

This case study of four B.Ed TESL Overseas Link Degree trainee teachers was undertaken with the intention of discovering what goes on in the classroom in terms of the trainee teachers' classroom interactions in relation to their questioning techniques and responses. This is looked at how much of thinking is being encouraged and how much of the…

This study compared the creative outcomes in student work resulting from two pedagogical approaches to creative problem solving activities. A secondary goal was to validate the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) as a means of assessing creativity. Linear models for problem solving and design processes serve as the current paradigm in classroom…

Despite much public discussion about the importance of creativity and innovation-friendly teaching in Finnish higher education, the impact of the general opinion on actual teaching practices has been limited. In the Finnish computer science education the teaching mostly follows a pattern of lectures, fixed exercise sets, and exams. With this…

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an activity-based explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction undertaken in the context of a "Science, Technology and Society" course on the prospective science teachers' (PSTs') understandings of NOS. In this course, social science based inquiry activities were used to as a context…

Introducing creativity to the classroom is a concern for teachers, governments and future employers around the world, and there has been a drive to make experiences at school more exciting, relevant, challenging and dynamic for all young people, ensuring they leave education able to contribute to the global creative economy. "Creative Learning to…

This collection of essays, "Literary Study, Measurement, and the Sublime: Disciplinary Assessment," edited by Donna Heiland and Laura J. Rosenthal, represents an important new venture in the Foundation's communication program. The book is the product of many authors, including the editors, both of whom have written essays for it. But it…

Beyond the intrinsic value of music to cultures worldwide, education in music has benefits for young people that transcend the musical domain. The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) reviewed an extensive body of research to identify high-quality, evidence-based studies that document student learning outcomes associated with an education in and…

Attainment of functional English literacy skills by all students has been a focus of Australian national policy since the 1989 Hobart Declaration (MCEETYA, 1989). This focus underpins current educational accountability policy enacted through the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The Adelaide and Melbourne Declarations…

There have been moves in a number of countries in recent years to develop appropriate pedagogies for the teaching of community/heritage languages, distinct from foreign language and mother tongue models. At the same time there has been a growing interest in ways of developing learners' creative abilities and there are grounds for believing that an…

Six hundred and seventeen teacher-nominated Chinese gifted students rated the importance of 25 characteristics and 14 competencies for teachers of gifted learners, and all 39 characteristics and competencies were endorsed as important. The 25 teacher characteristics could be conceptualized in four dimensions, as an individuality orientation, a…

Labour market outcomes of undergraduates' choice of subject are important for public policy and for students. Policy interest is indicated by the prominence of "employability" in public discourse and in proposals to concentrate government funding in England in supporting STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).…