As global challenges to sustainable development are increasing, there is a growing pressure for educational systems to embed education for sustainable development (ESD) into formal education. To meet this demand, Eco-School systems were established in many countries during the past decades. Using General Inductive Approach to analyze raw data…

Background: Teachers are responsible for curriculum implementation and transformation. Therefore, they are viewed as the primary agents of change in teaching and learning. As agents of change, they are responsible for being innovative and creative in their teaching and learning in their English First Additional Language (EFAL) class. Objectives:…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the thoughts and feelings of 13 people who entered into a public-private partnership to create a learning experience outside of the traditional classroom for students in the Innovation Elementary School District in partnership with the City of Innovation, the Innovation Library, and the…

As we work to educate our children in effective ways, supporting their efforts to make a positive difference reaps benefits for both students and society.

Sixty-six school districts and more than 150 schools in the state of Kansas are participating in the Kansans Can Redesign Project. In this article, we present a case study of using Design Thinking as a systemic process to structure continuous school improvement. The collage of real-life scenarios presented in our case shows the integration of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a curriculum design-based (CDB) professional development model on K-12 teachers' capacity to integrate engineering education in the classroom. This teacher professional development approach differs from other training programs where teachers learn how to use a standard curriculum and…

Teachers play a key role in realizing successful changes in education. Among them are real "change agents" at both classroom and school level. To obtain insights into what characterizes these teachers, an exploratory study has been conducted by interviewing external experts, principals, and teachers (n = 20). An analysis of data resulted…

Does teacher professional development make a difference? How do we know? While researchers and policy-makers acknowledge that teacher professional development (PD) needs to be assessed and evaluated, there is often little clarity as to how this can be achieved. Evaluation of teacher PD by schools has been described as the weak link in the PD chain…

Confronting the educational directives of high-stakes testing and accountability is achievable through inference and implementation of innovative change. Using the lens of learners as inquirers, teacher candidates designed and implemented action research projects to create alternate instructional strategies, management systems, and methods to…

This article analyzes a hybrid after-school learning activity for children called "New School" (NS). NS is an inter-institutional, collaborative project based on a partnership between a university and local elementary schools that also involves other social actors and institutions. Using a framework of third generation activity theory, the article…

What is the nature of middle leadership in primary schools? What are middle leaders' understanding and experiences in leading learning and teaching? Set against the policy context of decentralised centralism in Singapore and an emerging worldwide trend of decentralisation as a means to encourage school-based development and innovation, this study…

In 1937, the Ministry of Education in Ontario published a document entitled "Programme of Studies for Grades 1 to VI of Public and Separate Schools" that became known amongst teachers as the "little gray book". The curriculum and pedagogy in the document enunciated a rupture or mutation in pedagogical discourse that broke with…

Although standards and accountability continue to be at the centre of education policy in England, there has been a shift in emphasis encouraging practitioners to take ownership of and deliver a broader curriculum. This article explores specific projects in one primary school that highlight the way in which staff are embracing, extending and…

We analyse two narratives of teacher-facilitator teams producing elementary science curricula and disseminating them to their peers. We draw on these stories to interpret how teacher-facilitators position themselves with respect to other educators (e.g. peer teachers and development-team members), to real and imagined students and parents, to…

When mobile assessment tools was first introduced to teachers at Kyffin Elementary School in Jefferson Country, Colorado, teachers were not comfortable with the technology. According to Blanche Kapushion, principal at Kyffin, teachers were not used to using technology in class, and it did not look like that was going to change. Nonetheless,…