Policy makers in the UK are trying to improve school meals, by focusing on eating well. This article explores the way policies are framed by academic performance and health as a reason for providing school lunches. Using Nussbaum's capability approach we argue that the purpose of schooling should be to provide young people with the ability to lead…

Denmark has a tradition of kindergarten pedagogy focused on children's play, sociality and individual interests. Political emphasis on global competition, however, has led to reforms in early childhood education and care (ECEC) since 2004. Based on ethnographic fieldwork at three kindergartens, we analyse how the ECEC-reforms have affected the…

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the role of language in multilingual blue-collar workplaces by investigating how communication is realized in construction sites in Qatar. The State of Qatar offers a unique and, hence, very interesting setting for the linguistic investigation of migration-related issues, such as…

Although unevenly distributed, many Australian classrooms are increasingly diverse and include young people from a wide variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, young people who speak many different languages and dialects of English. These diverse classrooms offer rich and exciting teaching and learning opportunities and require innovative…

The purpose of this paper is to chronicle the shift in how language educators are thinking about culture teaching between "culturalist" and "interculturalist" orientations. This transformation is intertwined with my own personal and professional journey from language student to language teacher and to teacher educator. I detail…

International marriages have increased the population of new immigrants in Taiwan. Most Taiwanese educators are unaware of the expectations of the new immigrant parents. This ethnographic research explored whether Taiwanese primary school teachers implemented culturally responsive teaching to help the children of new immigrants become academically…

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is one of the widely discussed teaching approaches at present. Teaching a lesson using tasks needs careful consideration of the age and interests of the learners. This paper provides an overview, characteristics and advantages of TBLT; highlights teacher and student roles; and explores teachers' perceptions of…

In places where Islamic State (ISIS) took hold in Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2017, its domination was followed by an elaborate educational system. As such, the terrorist organization's 'state program' is a unique case in recent history. Indeed, not only did it overturn the existing education system in Syria and Iraq, resulting in a hiatus in…

In this essay, I argue that Somali identities exist within a long history of immigrant aspirations toward what scholars call "whiteness" and their resistance to being identified within identities associated with Blackness. There are two main frames of my argument. First, I show that Somali-Americans' resistance to Blackness seems to be…

The purpose of this article is to explore the role of embodied repertories in teaching and learning in a multi-ethnic karate club in East London and its implications for language teaching and learning. We do so through the lens of translanguaging and apply the concept of translanguaging space where diverse semiotic systems are integrated and…

The present study examined differential social experiences of international students living in a residential hall called 'Nihongo House' (Japanese language house) at a Japanese university. By conducting social network analysis (SNA), as well as making use of ethnographic data collected through participant observation and semi-structured…

In the past, sociologists have provided keen insights into the work of teaching, but classic studies by scholars like Dan Lortie and Willard Waller are now decades old. With the current emphasis on teacher evaluation and accountability, the field is ripe for new sociological studies of teaching. How do we understand the work of teaching in this…

Background: Pleasure is often a key feature of school physical education (PE) and, indeed, a lot of students find pleasure in and through PE while others do not. However, pleasure is rarely considered to be of educational value in the subject [Pringle, R. (2010). "Finding Pleasure in Physical Education: A Critical Examination of the Educative…

This study examines parental involvement practices, the cultural wealth, and school experiences of poor and working-class mothers of Black boys. Drawing upon data from an ethnographic study, we examine qualitative interviews with four Black mothers. Using critical race theory and cultural wealth frameworks, we explore the mothers' approaches to…

As European democracies undergo dramatic demographic shifts, they look to civics education to create social cohesion and produce a "democratic" citizenry. Such a project, however, is not without its tensions and contradictions. Drawing on findings from a yearlong ethnography in a secondary school in Spain, this article traces a number of…