Mindfulness-based practices are thought to improve teacher well-being, which can contribute to a prosocial classroom environment and positive student outcomes. Teacher preparation programs could provide preservice teachers with the opportunity to develop and practice mindfulness before they enter the classroom as lead teachers. This manuscript…

Collaboration is an important lifelong and career skill, and collaborative learning is a growing pedagogical practice. Students often struggle, however, to negotiate, manage conflict, and construct knowledge with other group members. These struggles can lead to negative interactions, resulting in negative emotions. Students in collaborative…

The aim of this study was to explore the application of culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) in an out of school time organization (OST). This was accomplished by analyzing how the actions of leaders both enabled and constrained CRSL. Research was conducted with Inspire Mentoring an OST organization that provides mentoring services to…

Background: The dropout rate of Chinese elementary school students after 2007 rose again. Little research to date has identified individual differences in pathways of academic engagement to discern those at risk of disengagement and dropout from schools, as well as the longitudinal linkages between cognitive beliefs with academic engagement. Aims:…

This study is based on the premise that emotional skills--comprised of an intrapersonal dimension and an interpersonal dimension--help to achieve personal balance, which in turn can enhance performance. Following from this premise, the improvement of music students' emotional skills might have a positive effect on their musical performance. The…

In recent years, there is growing evidence for the efficacy of medical clowning as a para-medical profession. In the present study, we explored the possibility of expanding the work of medical clowns into the special education system, hypothesising that medical clowns can contribute to the development of socio-emotional abilities of children with…

This article shares the perspectives of 18 primary teachers reflecting on their exploration of a 'pedagogy for transformability'. It highlights the social, emotional and academic impacts of this approach on children, and the pedagogic choices and thinking of the teachers involved in the project. The findings demonstrate the unequivocal potential…

An alternative way to approach outdoor education in PHE, while still reaping its numerous benefits, is nature-based physical activity (NBPA). NBPA refers to physical activities that are done in natural areas, require little specialized equipment, can be participated in by the majority of youth, are cost-efficient, and can be implemented by PHE…

Teachers are often called upon to identify behavioral and emotional risk within their students by completing a variety of assessment tools. However, many teachers may lack the requisite skills to reliably identify students at-risk or use data derived from assessment tools to inform intervention. A series of trainings were developed to improve…

Clip charts have been a common classroom strategy for many years. Once considered an effective tool for displaying behavioral progress and adherence to classroom rules, they may not be as helpful as once thought. In this practice brief, we describe how such strategies are inconsistent with a PBIS [Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports]…

Using the guiding principles from Peter Johnston's best-selling professional resources, "Choice Words" and "Opening Minds," Peter and six colleagues began a journey to create just such classrooms-environments in which children meaningfully engage with each other through reading, writing, making, and discussing books. In…

The first five years of a child's life is a period of great opportunity, and risk. The cognitive and social-emotional skills that children develop in these early years have long-lasting impacts on their later outcomes throughout schooling and adulthood. The International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study was designed to help countries…

Ready for Kindergarten! Survey (R4K!S) is a readiness assessment of children entering kindergarten about students' knowledge and skills within the first six to ten weeks of school. There are many interpretations of what constitutes "readiness." Vermont's concept of children's readiness is multidimensional; it includes social and…

Over the past decade, there has appeared a surge of research interest in language learners' academic engagement and psychological well-being as important factors in improving the quality of education. However, research on the roles of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' affective scaffolding in enhancing the academic engagement and…

The majority of evidence on the interplay between academic and non-academic skills comes from high-income countries. The aim of this study was to examine the bidirectional associations between Ghanaian children's executive function, social-emotional, literacy, and numeracy skills longitudinally. Children (N = 3,862; M age = 5.2 years at time 1)…