Over four years the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) led efforts across the state to implement the Safe and Supportive Schools (S3) initiative. This federally funded school reform effort targeted the 22 lowest performing high schools in Michigan. One of the primary objectives of the initiative was to implement interventions to increase…

We do not understand how both voice and silence work together to illuminate the experiences of marginalized populations, particularly in the area of education. Also, beyond reclaiming silenced voices we also have yet to inquire into silence as a source of pedagogical knowledge. In this paper we inquire into the complexities of voice juxtaposed to…

Obstacles faced by African-American Males' present barriers to their academic success. The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program is successful in helping African-American Male students transcend barriers. Studies reveal that AVID's success is based on its ability to form successful relationships among participants.…

The present volume collects papers from InnoConf18 [Innovative Language Teaching and Learning at University Conference], which took place at the University of Liverpool in June 2018. The theme of the conference was "New trends in language teaching and learning at university." The contributions collected here aim to reflect on best…

This paper draws on the literature on effective African American teachers of African American students to investigate the enactments of culturally relevant critical teacher care (CRCTC) in two fifth-grade teachers' classrooms in a large, urban school district. Using interview and observation data, the findings illustrate the teachers' knowledge of…

In this qualitative study, we analyze postgraduate students' perceptions of strategic behaviors they developed during their online studies and their ability to extend this behavior to their own praxis. Findings suggest that strategic behavior centers around the development of four core skills: engaging in self-directed thinking; fostering…

Although the Gender Achievement Gap is closing in mathematics, the "interest gap" in pursuing STEM fields is not. One recommendation for encouraging young women to continue on in mathematical studies is to find instructional methods that allow them to feel more included in the learning process--fostering attitudes such as…

School systems across the world are facing a plethora of global changes that dictate rethinking instructional practices and professional leadership roles. School reformers are constantly facing the challenges dictated by the universal culture that exerts a huge power on learning and teaching, and leading. This article introduces a comprehensive…

This paper explores ways that a small group of young adolescents talk about their futures within the context of their schooling at a performing arts secondary school. The data gathered for this project stem from pictures participants drew when asked to "draw themselves in the future" and was enhanced by interviews in which participants spoke about…

This paper presents the requirements work carried out as part of developing an intervention to improve students' critical thinking skills using location-based mobile learning. The research emerged from seeking to identify ways of getting Interaction Design students into real world environments, similar to those in which they will eventually be…

Argumentation skills are frequently touted as archetypal tools of democratic empowerment, yet theorization of ways to use such tools to achieve concrete social change is rare. As a result, the emancipatory "telos" anchoring American academic policy debate tends to gallop ahead of practical efforts to build empowerment through the debate…

This book contains papers from a conference on at-risk youth that focused on building strengths and empowering youth by giving them skills for school and life. Following an introduction titled "Motivational Strategies for Empowering Youth-At-Risk" by Dan Rea and Robert Warkentin, the papers are: (1) "The Role of Learning Environments: Social…

This paper describes subjectivist psychology, discussing its use for guiding teaching and learning. Subjectivist psychology focuses on joint cognitive and affective experiences of learning. It describes the natural affective-cognitive enculturation processes that children experience in learning the skills, understandings, and values of their…

The changing demographics in U.S. institutions have contributed to the increasingly multicultural nature of classrooms. Thus, it is imperative that teachers become cultural brokers and social engineers who have the ability to lead and empower their students. The multicultural construct is seen as a conducive rationale to prepare teachers for the…

This paper situates dialogue with students about their learning (descriptive feedback) within the larger frame of reflection, examining how teachers involved in inservice teacher education have used descriptive feedback and noting its impact on their teaching and on students' learning. It presents case studies of teachers and describes the role of…