Introduction: Social competence in school students has been studied extensively in terms of their being socially competent or not. However, there has been little analysis of how teachers contribute to the development of these skills. This research assesses the influence of teachers' assertiveness on the social competence of their students and on…

Parents are key stakeholders in education and their support is pivotal to policy implementation. Through a large-scale survey, the present study investigated the validity of a structural model describing the relationship between attitude, knowledge, and perceived social norm among parents of children with special needs. Results revealed that…

This study illustrates the presence of Mock Spanish in some English-based picture books and the ways this usage misrepresents Latino people, language, and culture. The author conducted a critical content analysis of five Skippyjon Jones books. Her guiding question was, How is language used, particularly Spanish, in these English texts, and what…

This article provides strategies that are recommended to elementary school teachers to help students in the U.S. understand Islam and its followers. It discusses the importance of cultural and historical studies in making students aware of the value of Islam to its followers. Three strategies described herein are: the concept of similarities, the…

Sex differences in children's play patterns during middle childhood are thought to promote greater awareness of social acceptance among girls compared with boys. The present study posited that girls are more discerning of peer acceptance than are boys; however, these sex differences were predicted to vary depending on how discrepant perceptions…

Based on the analysis of 312 children's neighbourhood drawings and narratives, this article discusses children's socialization in six public housing neighbourhoods in Portugal, through children's personal accounts of their lives. It then examines their perspectives on disorder and violence. Most complained about living in their neighbourhoods,…

Conventional wisdom sees education as a primary vehicle through which all people can graduate out of poverty. Education as an instrument of societal change is capable of facilitating a wide range of human rights. However, in many developing countries the education gap seems to be growing within schools in urban, rural and remote areas. The key…

As students contribute to social and sociomathematical norms, they will often reorganize their own understandings. As such, the purpose of this article is to describe the ways in which prospective elementary teachers contributed to the norms that were established and "re"-established throughout an entire semester in an undergraduate…

In the current study, 45 girls and 41 boys participated in focus groups following a program designed to teach them about social justice. The children articulated the discrepancy between their own gender identity and gender role stereotypes and discussed potential problems with conforming to gender role expectations as well as consequences of…

White teachers see racial diversity in the schools as a "necessary evil." Common beliefs are that (1) Black students are saved by nurturing White teachers and well-behaved White children; and (2) White students learn from "disadvantaged" Black children the dual lesson of empathy and gratitude. A pilot project in the fall of…

This article explores the intersection of culturally responsive pedagogy and faith-based schooling. The author presents a portion of a larger ethnographic research project conducted at a Catholic elementary school that serves a predominantly Latino population in urban Chicago. This work contributes to theories of culturally responsive education by…

In this paper, the author explores how children with impairments can act as self-monitoring, autonomous individuals in their play in a community playground. In addition, the notion of children with impairments as creative agents in their play is examined. The evidence presented in this paper is derived from the views and perspectives of children…

This paper describes and discusses the results of an intervention aiming to sensitize children to the social and emotional processes involved in racism. The intervention was applied and evaluated in 10 Greek elementary schools. The goals and the intervention methods of the program modules are briefly outlined and the results of the program…

Over an 8-year span, two survey studies were conducted to analyze LGBT -teachers' perceptions of their school climate and the impact of school leaders on that climate. This article presents nonparametric, descriptive, and qualitative results of the National Survey of Educators' Perceptions of School Climate 2011 compared with survey results from…

For decades scholars have agreed that the United States is becoming a more racially and ethnically diverse society. It is projected that the U.S. will become a majority-minority nation for the first time in 2043. By 2060, people of color will consist of 57% of the total population. Given this trend, it is hardly surprising that this social…