This paper describes the methodological design of a qualitative research strategy that followed the bricolage approach. The research, a qualitative case study, followed the empowerment journey of 12 adult learners in a second chance educational programme, aiming at recording the mechanisms through which the learners were empowered or disempowered.…

Discussions about power have only recently begun to appear in the learning sciences literature. Most of this important work takes a critical perspective; the present work complements these efforts by examining power sharing as a catalyst for empowerment in teacher-researcher co-design. Even though teacher-researcher collaborations are discussed in…

This article aims to present the effects of participatory action learning (PAL) as a method of work to Empower the Active Citizenship of young people in schools. The author of the article was involved in an educational project called Future Youth School -- Forums (FYS-FORUMS). The basic aim was to create a model of schooling that promotes the idea…

The purpose of this study was to examine how an early childhood education (ECE) curriculum responds to children's voices in reference to transition from kindergarten to first grade. Drawing from the findings of a previous study which examined the empowering and limiting aspects of transition as voiced by first graders, I consider the points where…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and through what mechanisms vulnerable adults are empowered through a second-chance education programme. At the same time, the paper aims at unveiling the obstacles hindering learners' empowerment process and making suggestions for the improvement of the educational programme fostering further…

This study reports on shadowing's potential as an observational and preparatory tool for learning, drawing on data obtained from a group of EFL student teachers who undertook a practicum. EFL student teachers' perceptions of the shadowing technique and how shadowing contributes to practical knowledge, are focused on. Data were collected through…

This article aims to supplement the literature on the role of school context with regards to the disempowerment of teachers in their work with poor ethnic minority students. We use a critical realist framework to analyse the empirical data collected for an in-depth school case study and we suggest the existence of real, interrelated, emergent and…

This study aims to unfold the framework of empowerment pedagogy by describing an approach of listening to the children, supporting their rights, and enhancing participation through the lens of a learning community. The authors draw from the literature that acknowledges children as active agents and supports them in participating in their daily…

The development of health promotion is typically viewed as a reaction against both the excessive responsibility placed on individuals concerning their health-related choices and the absence of recognition of environmental factors associated with personal decision making. What though does sexuality education mean from the perspective of health…

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a demanding new field in terms of content and context and requires whole-school approaches and changes in educational structures. The field's implementation constitutes a great challenge for teachers, novice in the field of ESD. Teacher education for ESD needs to effectively transfer knowledge and…

This study focuses on the interface between bidialectism and bilingualism and provides empirical support for the call for language educators to be trained in issues relating to linguistic variation. Drawing on the sociolinguistic setting of Cyprus, the study investigates the linguistic behaviour of bidialectal teachers in the English…

Purpose: This paper seeks to discuss the rationale of the newly reformed health education curriculum in Cyprus, which aspires to enable not only teachers, but also all the school personnel, to work from the perspective of health promotion. It is a curriculum which moves from the traditional approach of health education focusing on individual…

This article provides a critique of the preoccupation with children's voices in child-centred research by exploring their limits and problematizing their use in research. The article argues that critical, reflexive researchers need to reflect on the processes which produce children's voices in research, the power imbalances that shape them and the…

This was a two-phase qualitative study that investigated the humorous aspects of humorous photographs young children took in their school and home environment, which were examined in the context of the theory of the absurd and the empowerment theory. The participants in the study were six children--three boys and three girls--between the ages of…

This study was designed to investigate the reflective comments of 55 first grade children regarding their experiences in kindergarten and first grade. Data collection involved a conversational interview during which children voiced their reflections and comparisons on specific issues (e.g. friends, teacher, learning) they had encountered during…