Vygotsky regarded the site of learning to be within a matrix of relational action. From this perspective, learning social responsibility will involve a focus on the learning environments that are made available in schools. Adapting the concept of restorative justice to a school context, restorative practice offers a range of relevant learning…

The last half century has seen a dramatic expansion in access to primary, secondary, and higher education in many nations around the world. Educational expansion is desirable for a country's economy, beneficial for educated individuals themselves, and is also a strategy for greater social harmony. But has greater access to education reduced or…

In a recent ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court in "Parents v. Seattle" (Parents Involved, 2007) determined that race cannot be the sole factor in the assignment of children to public schools. The court also identified the conditions which would justify the use of race in assigning children to schools. In this article we (a) provide a…

This article describes two models for enhancing the social integration of nontraditional students in academic programs. The first explains ways to develop onsite communities for both graduate and undergraduate degree-seeking students at New York University. The second model is used with undergraduate students at Washington State University seeking…

In a report on meeting the language needs of refugees in Ireland, Little (2000) identifies two sets of language rights for refugees--stemming from the right to preserve their own language or languages as a central element of identity, and the right to enjoy free access to Irish society which entails the right to develop language proficiency in…

This paper will trace the adoption of a policy of Social Inclusion in schools in one Australian state in terms of the way in which the policy direction, its discourses and adoption reflect a rhetoric of what Ball has labelled a "paradigm of convergence". The analysis will show that the policy discourse, especially in its focus on school…

In a context of steadily increasing global migration, ethnic and linguistic diversity in Irish schools is becoming both more prevalent and more visible. In Ireland, schools have been availing of Department of Education and Science (DES) funding since 1999 in order to provide English-language support for bilingual students. The support provided in…

Background: Adults with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) require support to be part of the community; however, most have few supports other than family and friends. The purpose of this study was to assess caregiver perceptions of community integration of adults with FASD living in British Columbia. Method: The Assimilation, Integration,…

Educational resilience has received considerable attention in the literature in the past three decades, with particular reference to indicated and selective interventions. This paper construes resilience within a generalist, universal perspective and examines how classrooms may serve as protective and competence-enhancing contexts for all their…

During the decades following the year 1800, a number of complex transitions were set into motion in Prussia. This industrially and politically backward country governed by a late absolutist regime was transformed into a modern bourgeois society. The Stein and Hardenberg reforms of the years 1807-1815 aimed at fundamental changes in the state…

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of school integration for disabled students in the Italian state school system, according to two criteria: the mainstream and the special teachers' point of view concerning the disabled students' social and syllabus integration, and the sense of loneliness of the disabled students in their classes.…

This paper explores ways in which pedagogy for an elaborated form of transformative learning can be a useful catalyst for the development of social capital in community and workplace groups and networks. I begin with an example and then explore ideas of learning challenges embedded in building and maintaining social capital. I consider the…

How can educational leaders, human resource professionals and diversity practitioners create the dynamic strategies, structures and policies that will promote the inclusion of diverse and talented faculty and staff? What is the role of the human resource professional in the diversity change process? This article explores how to build the framework…

Both individual and ecological influences are implicated as factors linked to youth violence. In this paper, we conduct analyses on several databases of 6th-12th grade students in the United States, to explore the linkage of positive relationships, opportunities, skills, and values, called Developmental Assets, to prevention of youth aggressive…

The objective of this paper is to explore the operation of magnet and professional development school (PDS) programs in a real life situation using an ethnographic study of Downtown Elementary School (DES--a pseudonym) that simultaneously operates as a PDS and a magnet school. The author spent almost three years at DES, located in the Southern…