This article begins with a 12-year-old girl's story that serves as an example of how "caring coaches" in the schools contribute greatly in helping schools become hopeful places for children. Helping students become more hopeful is rewarding for the students, teachers, school psychologists, counselors, parents, and other caring adults. Twenty years…

Much controversy surrounds the consequences of adolescent paid work, with researchers coming to diverse conclusions about work's impact on youth. This article summarizes findings from the Youth Development Study (YDS), a long-term, ongoing longitudinal study that has followed youth from middle adolescence through early adulthood. The YDS findings…

One of the biggest challenges that teachers of adolescents face is the necessity to motivate them. This article begins with an overview of motivational theories and then focuses on process theory and its application in the middle school and high school classrooms. An effective teacher can create motivation in students by forming relationships with…

This article explores Australian pre-service teachers' beliefs about and attitudes towards diversity. Building on Garmon's [Garmon, M. A. (2004). "Changing preservice teachers' attitudes/beliefs about diversity: what are the critical factors?" "Journal of Teacher Education, 55"(3), 201-213] argument that there are three…

A model for the holistic preparation of dance teachers is presented. The model includes four tenets: focus on the whole person, integrated curriculum, explicit identity development, and apprenticeships in relevant communities of practice. (Contains 1 figure.)

In this paper, we devise a diagrammatic conceptualization to describe and represent the complex interplay of a teacher's knowledge (K), goals (G) and beliefs (B) in leveraging technology effectively in the classroom. The degree of coherency between the KGB region and the affordances of the technology serves as an indicator of the teachers'…

A core question of teacher education--"What can I do?"--plagues courses on race in particular ways. Teachers struggle for "concrete" applications of "theoretical" ideas about race, question the potential for "everyday" activity to dismantle inequality "structures," and wrestle with the need for both professional and personal development on racial…

In the summer of 2008, the College Board, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) designed a Web-based survey on the principal-counselor relationship. Invitations to take the survey were sent to 16,901 individuals: 4,846 principals from NASSP membership lists; 4,772…

In this article the concept of authenticity is explored within an educational context, using examples from the lives and work of teachers to illustrate the many qualities, dimensions and complexities involved in striving to be true to oneself. In educational settings authenticity has been aligned with personal commitment, meaningful contexts,…

Adolescence is an important time in human development. Teenagers spend much time questioning their core belief structures and developing the foundations of their identity. For students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT), this path of development is difficult in American schools because of strongly held homophobic…

The transition from primary to secondary school can often be a difficult time for children, and managing the transition smoothly has posed a problem for teachers at both upper primary and lower secondary level. At a time when "childhood" recedes and "adulthood" beckons, the inequalities between individual children can widen,…

Traditional-age college students face a host of challenges during the transition from home to campus. Perhaps one of the most substantial challenges--one that relates directly to adjustment and quality of life--involves the formation of new relationships, and the awareness, development, and establishment of boundaries between their own emerging…

In this article, I propose using the "field trip-based learning community" as a way to foster informal interaction among students and faculty. By incorporating students into the design and implementation of a field trip, faculty can engineer an environment where student and teacher encourage and learn from one another in an environment not tied to…

The "Life Skills and Leadership Manual" is designed to be used by Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts who work with youth worldwide to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes integral to three Youth in Development sector competencies: (1) Support healthy lifestyles and prepare youth for family life; (2) Prepare youth for…

Written for both parents and educators who work with children of advanced abilities, the authors present practical strategies to identify and nurture exceptionally high ability in children. They promote the "mastery" (rather than the "mystery") model of gifted education, and challenge several common practices and assumptions. They offer ways to…