Children's informal music-making has been studied in a variety of contexts outside of school, but few researchers have examined this type of learning in elementary music classes. The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore the lived experience of 13 children with informal music learning in an elementary school in the U.S.…

The development of informal learning (IL) by the teaching staff relates to the generation of contextualized learning at the school which is integrated into daily working life. This study analyses the roles and actions of school principals in the generation and promotion of teaching staff's informal learning and is based on the application of…

Teacher noticing is a crucial aspect of responsive and ambitious mathematics teaching, allowing educators to understand students' mathematical thinking and make informed decisions. However, this noticing is influenced by teachers' insider knowledge (i.e., past and present knowledge and experience with students), which is shaped by societal norms,…

Purpose: Most of the current literature investigates workplace-based formal and informal learning separately; thus, the relationship between these two types of learning remains unclear. This study aims to fill this research gap, drawing on self-determination theory to bridge teachers' formal and informal learning and uncover the relationship…

The transition from informal to formal mathematics is an important episode in children's mathematical development. The current study investigated how young children's computational estimation performance and strategy use develops in this transitional period. The computational estimation performance of 350 children was assessed before the start of…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how elementary teachers use different social media platforms to connect with other teachers for informal professional learning. The researcher sought to understand how elementary teachers decide which platform(s) to use and how their expectations vary among different social media platforms.…

In this study, we examine the association between attending a Non-Formal Learning Center (NLFC) in Sokoto and Bauchi states for at least nine months and reading outcomes for out-of-school children (OOSC) who are mainstreamed into formal schooling by grade 4 (P4). We use Hierarchical Linear Modeling with data from 1,116 pupil Early Grade Reading…

Project Tomorrow® has had a unique front-row seat on this evolutionary journey in the adoption of technology within teaching and learning in K-12 schools. The original Speak Up® surveys were designed to collect firsthand feedback from K-12 students nationwide in October 2003 as an input to the National Education Technology Plan. The idea of…

This research explored the impact of informal learning (IL) in primary music initial teacher training. A small group of undergraduate student teachers had an opportunity to learn about and facilitate an IL approach. Data were collected from interviews, participant reflective logs and researcher reflections. The findings show that perceived…

Formal learning is an important aspect for school principals in the era of federal and state accountability. These formal learning opportunities provide the conditions for leadership development and personal growth. Although formal learning has been a consistent focus of educational leadership research, informal learning has not. The purpose of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how and in what ways networking served as a vehicle to informal learning among elementary school principals. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used a multiple case study methodology across a ten-week period, studying six principals and conducting over 50 interviews. Six individual case…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to focus on the informal learning (IL) processes of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Spain. Its objective is to study the strategies currently used by teachers to generate IL, identifying the factors that condition such learning and the changes that must be introduced to enhance it.…

Across Europe, there is concern about the number and diversity of pupils taking study routes leading to Engineering. There is growing evidence that these career choices begin to form at elementary school age (Moote et al., 2020). Science, maths and design and technology are seen as subject choices necessary for pupils' progression into science,…

The main goal of this paper is to suggest a combination of data analyses -- notably generalized additive models, time-series clustering methodology, visual methods for significance testing and qualitative analyses -- that relate to Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). To this end, we report on findings from a larger project conducted in a…

Young children's instinctive curiosity is essential in early childhood science education. Efficacious science education is associated with the characteristics of a qualified science program and an effective learning environment. The out-of-school learning environments make it easier to achieve the aims of science education in early childhood with…