Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP; e.g., Ladson-Billings, 1995) is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to serve culturally and linguistically diverse student learners. Although a large body of work describes its tenets and permutations, and its implications for students, less work has been done to outline the myriad barriers that teachers face…

With studies on the physical environment of preschools concentrating mostly on settings in the Western world, before establishing minimum standards of quality, developing contextually appropriate physical environment factors become pertinent in Malaysia as a universal and possibly unaffordable high-quality standard may lead to ill-informed policy…

Despite an increasing interest in pronunciation instruction in English as a majority language or international "lingua franca," less is known about pronunciation learning in non-English minority languages, especially among child learners. Bilingual education programs provide a unique context to address this research gap, as they involve…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how socio-religious dynamics influence (and are influenced by) principals in Islamic schools. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative case study took place in Semarang, Indonesia. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with school leaders along with school site observations.…

Valuable developments in the Sociology of Education over the last 40 years have involved the widening and deepening of analytical perspectives to include not only class-based research in education but also the complex interactions of class, race and gender in all educational, social, economic and political contexts. From a sociology of knowledge…

Substance use is a frequently cited health risk behavior in the youth gang literature, yet little is known about how substance use patterns vary among gang-involved youth or the social ecological factors that contribute to potential variation. Developing relevant and effective service approaches will require an understanding of this variation and…

In a nationwide survey of high school dropouts conducted in 2006, 69 percent said that school had not motivated or inspired them to work hard. The majority of educational reforms have focused on curriculum and pedagogy--what material is taught and how it is taught. However, psychological factors--often called motivational or non-cognitive…

In this study, we investigated the relationships between school context and heterosexual adolescents' social reasoning regarding same-sex sexuality and sexual prejudice. One thousand seventy-six adolescents (Female, n=648; Male, n=428) attending two high schools that differed in the degree to which they implemented practices to increase the safety…

This article reports on a study that investigated metacognitive knowledge or beliefs about language learning of 470 Turkish EFL learners in secondary education. The primary aims of the study were to explore what beliefs Turkish students in secondary education held about learning English as a foreign language (EFL), how their belief systems were…

Maintains that education exists in a context where power is constantly being negotiated between teachers and students. Discusses ways in which this relationship can be articulated and integrated into the curriculum. Recommends adopting teaching practices for respecting the beliefs, values, and lifestyles of others. (MJP)