In recent years, the concept of transformation has become more prevalent in the social work literature; however, its use is quite varied. In this article, I attempt to disentangle some of these uses. I then propose a conceptualization of transformation and discuss its relevance for social work education. In this conceptualization, transformation…

Science education researchers recently turned their attention to exploring views about nature of science (NOS). A large body of research indicates that both students and teachers have many naïve views about the NOS. Unfortunately, less attention has been directed at the issue of exploring the views of the scientists. Also, the little research in…

This article examines the relationship between literacy and play in six- and seven-year-olds' engagement with non-fiction writing. I draw from a year-long ethnographic study (Erickson, 1986) of a US classroom's "writing time", intentionally structured on children's own interests and enquiries. Rather than strict adherence to monolithic…

This article discusses the Choice, Voice, and Challenge (CVC) Instruction, an instructional model that encourages creativity or "wild things". CVC Instruction defines ways in which classroom teachers may provide vehicles for their students' mental journeys that can lead to creative and imaginative actions and outcomes. The CVC model provides a…

The experiences of children's play have a profound impact on all areas of their growth and development. Memories of play can be vivid and detailed. These memories often have a treasured place in our hearts and minds. Educators and parents have a special opportunity to ask themselves, "What kind of memories of play do I hope for the children…

This article reports on the study of the components of scientific imagination and describes the scales used to measure scientific imagination in Korean elementary and secondary students. In this study, we developed an inventory, which we call the Scientific Imagination Inventory (SII), in order to examine aspects of scientific imagination. We…

Implicit theories can influence learning behavior, the approaches individuals take to learning and performance situations, and the learning goals individuals set, as well as, indirectly, their accomplishments, intelligence, and creativity. For this cross-cultural study, Kenyan and German students were asked to draw a creative person and rate it on…

Understanding of nature of science (NOS) serves as one of the desirable characteristics of science teachers. The current study explored 55 Thai and 110 Bangladeshi in-service secondary science teachers' conceptions of NOS regarding scientific knowledge, scientific method, scientists' work, and scientific enterprise, by using the Myths of Science…

Destination Imagination is a creative problem solving competition for school-aged children that encourages creative growth and long-term problem solving skills. These skills are important for young children as they can be directly related to future success in school, home, and the workplace. This extracurricular activity has impacted 1.5 million…

Students today may have less time for free play, but new research suggests their imaginations have actually sharpened compared with those of children two decades ago. In an analysis published in May 2011 in the "Creativity Research Journal" and posted online in May, researchers from Case Western University in Cleveland found elementary school…

This article describes the use of a visual-based construct elicitation tool developed from the use of critical incident charting for the purpose of reflecting on our creative learning journeys either at significant points as music learners in childhood, in adult life, or as preservice or experienced teachers. In this article, I introduce diverse…

The main objective of this study is to collect the opinions of Turkish Language and Literature teachers at secondary schools about the Curriculum of the Turkish Literature Course based on the constructivist learning theory. To this end, the descriptive method was employed to collect teacher opinions. Structured interview was used as a data…

Poetry, as a textual form for critical study and composition, continues to occupy a significant place in Australian senior secondary English syllabus documents and classrooms (cf. Carter, 2012). Indeed, within the senior secondary English syllabus in New South Wales (NSW), poetry remains one of the core mandatory types of texts for study by the…

This study explored the effects of a child's gender and school setting on preschoolers' language abilities (receptive vocabulary), creativity, and social play. The participants were primarily European-American children who spoke English as a primary language (nine children were bilingual), and were from middle income socioeconomic backgrounds.…

This study considers reading comprehension as a dialogic transaction of making meaning from text. The concept of text and reading is taken to include the visual and multimodal as well as written forms. Case studies of children discussing texts are analysed to explore how children engage in inter-mental and intra-mental processes of reading,…