Recent research into critical pedagogy supports the implementation of performance-based practices into the classroom. This qualitative research explored the pragmatic ways in which youth, ages 8-17, are taught in Canada's, specifically Ontario's, education system on topics of difference and power. Through semi-structured interviews, four…

Kaizen is the combination of the words kai (change) and zen (better) in Japanese. It means change for the better, continuous improvement (Albayrak, 2019). In Japan, Kaizen is a task for all staff and stakeholders. Kaizen can be regarded as the reflection of two different perspectives on management in terms of two distinct cultures. The difference…

We report on seven secondary science teachers' initial efforts to understand and enact NGSS-aligned teaching. After interviewing and observing them over the course of the school year, we found that teachers revised their lessons to include instructional strategies that aimed to meet the demands of the NGSS. Yet at times, the purpose for which…

Librarians have the potential to influence the university's representation of knowledge, making it important to understand the attitudes they bring to work each day. Results of this Q study indicate librarians may believe their profession's ethos of neutrality renders debate over social justice within the library moot. Only a small number of…

This study of Naessian ecocentrism and anthropocentrism in three environment club coordinators/science teachers, their colleagues and some parents at three secondary schools uses deep ecology and relational fields as primary frameworks for open-ended interviews. The findings reveal new insights into the affective, cognitive and behavioural…

There is an increasing focus on notions of feedback in which students are positioned as active players rather than recipients of information. These discussions have been either conceptual in character or have an empirical focus on designs to support learners in feedback processes. There has been little emphasis on learners' perspectives on, and…

Purpose: This paper aims to consider the ways that students are shaped by and shape community and critical literacy, along with the ways that community affords student empowerment in an English class during a US high school summer enrichment program. Design/methodology/approach: The qualitative methodological approach is a narrative-based…

For emergent bilingual students to thrive, schools need a culture of valuing bilingualism, supported by strong and committed leaders. From 2015 to 2017, the authors convened a professional learning community of 14 emergent bilingual leaders from around the U.S. They defined emergent bilingual leaders as leaders at all levels who support…

This study explores the arising and unfolding of class mood with a focus on the students' agentic contributions to classroom interaction. The study is based on empirical video-data that were collected in four secondary school Italian classrooms. We identified three forms of qualitatively distinct class mood, whose unfolding in classroom…

Learning is not just determined by the curriculum, but by how it is assessed. This article focuses on the analysis of the role played by the quality of assessment tasks on learning in undergraduate courses. During two successive academic years, information was collected on the views of students on the assessment activities and practices that they…

This paper examines video data of a high school robotics team to explore practices that empower youth from underrepresented groups in engineering to disrupt traditional boundaries around what engineering is and who is considered competent to participate in its practice. We analyze in-the-moment positioning work with a focus on care and maintenance…

Students exposed to conflict have increased risks of perpetrating school violence. For young people who experience war in Philippine's Mindanao, overcoming violence can be particularly challenging as perpetrating this behaviour has, over time, become embedded in their postcolonial culture. These students are most affected by conflict and…

Background: Social media has now become a ubiquitous part of everyday life, especially for young people. This technology is a double-edged sword and can be used to empower or isolate users. This research is designed to enhance our understanding of how social media is being used by young people, how it affects them and their attitudes towards it.…

In this exploratory qualitative study, we examined African American mentors' perspectives of what they identify as the needs of their African American undergraduate protégés and the challenges that may impede their protégés' success. Interviews were conducted with 10 African American mentors who hold STEM PhDs. Data were analyzed using an…

This article describes an ongoing initiative of the Department of Chemistry (Chem. Dept.) at the University of Minnesota (UMN) to support the mental health of graduate students. With the increasing pressure on students to carry out novel research, publish articles, learn a broad range of skills, and look for career opportunities, the levels of…