This article explores reality TV's value in teaching sociological concepts and theories for a better understanding contemporary society. Reality TV serves as a rich canvas for illustrating key tenets of major sociological theories such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. By analyzing reality TV through a…

Against the backdrop of prevalent student attrition in engineering education, this study draws upon Margaret Archer's social realistic theory and offers a close-up analysis of how structural and cultural factors interplay to affect Chinese university engineering faculty members' perceptions of and agency in practicing 'scholarly teaching'.…

Given the emergence of the use of digital tools in English teaching and learning and of sociocultural theory (SCT) in recent years, this paper sets out to introduce the concepts of tools, digital tools, and mediation in SCT. It then argues for the ground for enhancing and promoting the use of digital tools in English learning and teaching. Studies…

This article shares our experience using a job-embedded active learning approach to support candidates' growth as systems-focused equity leaders in the University of Washington's Leadership for Learning program. We describe how socio-cultural learning theory helped us shift from field-based application projects to job-embedded learning. Our…

According to Galtung, violence can be divided into two kinds: (i) direct violence, which is always physical in a wider sense (e.g. bodily harm or verbal abuse) or (ii) indirect violence that is either structural (i.e. the institution is structurally violent because it is organised so to privilege a group over others; e.g. a strict pyramidal…

The current political environment across the country is focused on accountability practices in education. It is becoming more common for high-stakes tests scores to be part of teacher evaluation practices and monetary compensation. Therefore, teachers receive pressure to teach toward the test material resulting in giving up control of…

Based on a 1-year interview-based case study of a preservice English teacher, this article considers the limitations of both intersectional literacies and reader-based responses to texts. In an effort to address students' problematic discussions of female sexuality, the participant implemented a queer pedagogy that emphasized alterity, or the…

Some recent science education scholarship has called for a renewed focus on empowering learners to engage with science for personally and socially meaningful purposes. However, engaging with science in these ways requires that learners adopt epistemic aims in their activity, which we cannot take for granted. I argue here that serious games could…

The aim of this study is to explore how cultural factors interact with preschool teachers' shaping of activities with science content, and also how Activity Theory (AT) as a theoretical framework can be useful for examining interrelations within preschool systems. Qualitative data was collected from three preschools in the form of guided group…

There exists considerable and rich literature on students' misconceptions about probability; less attention has been paid to the development of students' probabilistic thinking in the classroom. Grounded in an analysis of the literature, this article offers a lesson sequence for developing students' probabilistic understanding. In particular, a…

The main focus of this article is our project of reimagining higher education for ourselves and our students using the central theme of technology-enhanced learning (TEL), which is inextricably linked to education in the present and in the future in many contexts. We argue that interdisciplinarity and interdisciplinary working are central and…

Digital technologies are increasingly accepted as a viable aspect of early childhood curriculum. However, teacher uptake of digital technologies in early childhood education and their use with young children in play-based approaches to learning have not been strong. Traditional approaches to the problem of teacher uptake of digital technologies in…

This paper draws on three different research projects to demonstrate the use of an expanded model of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), developed as part of a doctoral research study. The first project is an evaluation of the impacts of a Music Partnership Project within Primary and Secondary schools. The second project is an evaluation…

This theoretical paper analyzes the relationship between critical feminist theory and emancipatory education as it relates to transformative educational practices. The first section will discuss how the author understands critical feminist theory by looking to Chela Sandoval's theoretical framework of oppositional resistance. The author discusses…

Presently, there are a growing number of ethnic minority students in the primary schools in northwest England. Through sociocultural theory, this paper examines student and parent perspectives of their experiences in the schools. Using a qualitative methodology, including observation, in-depth interviews, and field notes this case study focused on…