Qatar is in the midst of a systemic education reform, Education For a New Era, steered by RAND's (a nonprofit research organization) analysis and report of Qatar's Educational system. Driven by a neoliberal agenda, the reform includes international curricula, curriculum standards, teacher licensure, and professional standards for school leaders…

The fifth grade students in this project were part of a yearlong ethnographic study in an urban elementary school. They engaged in a student initiated inquiry project combining bakeries and mysteries, which culminated in the production of an original film. Situated in a socio-spatialized stance on literacy involving networks of participation and…

Peer-teaching is an instructional technique that has been used by teachers world-wide to successfully engage, exercise and deepen student learning. Yet, in some instances, teachers find the application of peer-teaching in large music ensembles at the secondary level to be daunting. This article is meant to be a practical resource for secondary…

This article describes how art teachers can work toward changing the power dynamics in their classrooms by using a student centered approach, as demonstrated by an example lesson about contemporary painter Kehinde Wiley. As the class unpacked the idea of power prevalent in Wiley's portraits, the students gave relevant examples of how power…

Movies are a part of social discourse, and they may show "life the way people would like to make it." As educators look at society's changing views of knowledge, learning, teaching, and success, they can engage in that discourse and consider ways it does--or does not--reflect and affect pedagogies and daily lives. As Hollywood directs society's…

As the use of 3D immersive virtual worlds in higher education expands, it is important to examine which pedagogical approaches are most likely to bring about success. AET Zone, a 3D immersive virtual world in use for more than seven years, is one embodiment of pedagogical innovation that capitalizes on what virtual worlds have to offer to social…

Informed by an amalgam of notions drawn from constructivist, socio-cultural, metacognitive and self-regulation theory, the discourse created to describe assessment to enhance learning has gone through a number of iterations or discursive shifts. As a result, the current discourse is both ambitious and complex with the roles and responsibilities…

Discussion of the Internet focuses on the role of social presence and its relation to feelings of isolation and connectedness in asynchronous online discussions in higher education. Examines the participation of teachers and students in building a community of learners, and the dilemma of too much or too little social interaction. (Author/LRW)

In this article I discuss the emergence of practices of "hearing" in the midst of English language learning activities. I focus on listening activities during oral English lessons at two public high schools in Tokyo, Japan. One setting is a liberal arts high school. The other is a technical high school where students are trained in…

This paper discusses the roles of the student, teacher, and language researcher in understanding motivation to learn another language. It highlights the socioeducational model of second language acquisition. Although this model considers motivation to learn another language from the student's point of view, other contributors include the teacher,…

Discusses technological innovations and considers the societal benefits they offer. Explores the experience of present-day students who live and interact within these technological realities. Describes the changes teachers are facing and the cooperative roles of teachers and students. (CMK)

Proposes a conceptualization of the professionalization that is inherent in graduate school training as resocialization rather than developmental socialization. Discusses the possible negative effects of this process on students' self-concept. Responses by Jane Allyn Piliavin, Norman Goodman, and Joan Aldous follow. (LS)

This paper describes a professional development program for teachers. The Certificate of Teaching and Learning (CTL), developed in Australia for Kindergarten through Year 12 teachers across all subject areas. It outlines the process of conceptualization, the dilemmas faced by the development team, and the final implementation across Australia.…

Summarizes the results of a questionnaire given to Finnish high school students and their teachers. They were asked values-oriented questions and then asked how they thought an ideal pupil would answer the same. Reveals distinct differences between teachers' and students' concept of an ideal pupil. (MJP)