This essay uses the metaphor of "savvy travelling" to discuss the limitations and problems associated with three current "best practice" approaches to the reading of literature in upper grade levels, particularly in the United States: close reading, response-based reading, and disciplinary literacy. A "savvy" approach…

Although partnership working has been a feature of educational practice for some time, some recent reforms and developments have refocused educators' attention on this phenomenon. Whilst there are many versions and interpretations of partnerships in education, the most common understanding of partnerships between school and university is as the…

This study explores what young Danish learners found anxiety-provoking or difficult in their English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. Participants (n = 32) were early and later starters (ages 8 years vs. 10 years) at two primary schools where children were not assessed in English. The qualitative inquiry aimed to examine what differences…

This article considers the opportunities for learning and inclusive dimensions of role-play based on the reading and interpretation of a canonical text, drawing on a case study involving student-teachers. This exploration of role and learning through drama builds on the foundational work of Bolton and Heathcote. Focusing on students' particular…

Pornography often depicts traditional gender norms and aggression paired with sexual behaviour. Among adolescents, exposure to pornography is related to unhealthy beliefs about gender, sex and relationships. Critical thinking about media may reduce the internalisation of unhealthy messages in pornography. However, there is a dearth of research…

The widespread expansion of school choice policies has bolstered the consumer-education paradigm where parents compete for what they perceive to be a limited number of high quality schools. In this comparative case study, we examine advantaged White parents' perceptions of meritocracy in the context of a competitive elementary and high school…

In Switzerland, the baccalaureate school is an important pathway to university education, and the aspirations of families and students to enter baccalaureate school have grown. However, vocational education and training (VET) remains the predominant educational pathway and has a strong lobby. We investigate how in this context, the transition from…

This paper examines the utility of youth participatory action research (YPAR) and critical media literacy as strategies to promote the sociopolitical development (SPD) of Black youth. We use the case example of Our Voices, an afterschool program implemented with Black high school students in which participants analyzed the representation of Black…

This article provides and reflects on an original lesson plan for engaging high school, undergraduate, or graduate students in learning fundamental concepts of environmental ethics. Implementation of this lesson plan effectively promoted critical analysis, reflection, and communication of environmental ethics issues in a seminar for second-year…

We examined high school geometry students' written work on four proof tasks where they posed a conjecture, drafted an argument, provided written critiques, then revised their argument based on peer feedback. Students' written work across the tasks was analyzed to determine whether the instructional sequence supported them in improving their…

The current study investigates the impact of using an Instructional Model of Historical Empathy to teach the Holocaust on students' ability to contextualize historical events, recognize perspectives, and affectively connect to victims of the Holocaust. A three-day instructional unit was designed that incorporates primary sources from a variety of…

As part of a larger study, through this research I examined the ideological foundations of public school teachers' interpretations of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I discovered that White teachers in this study talked about oppression in ways that implied it was a natural part of life, and even in some cases necessary for learning.…

Teaching and reading literature are commonly viewed as contributing to the cultivation of empathy. This article presents critical and pedagogical approaches to test this view and suggests a distinction between low-level, simple empathy inspired by the reading and teaching of "The Tortilla Curtain" and a more complex, self-critical…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how, through text-based classroom talk, youth collaboratively draw on and remix discourses and practices from multiple socially indexed traditions. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on data from a year-long social design experiment, this study uses qualitative coding and traces discoursal markers of…

Hip-hop offers opportunities to rethink citation and argument. Hip-hop's melding with digital media means that students and scholars alike must keep abreast of citation style changes and continually investigate what counts as evidence in the classroom. This involves considering the ways in which popular culture, namely hip-hop, can help students…