A principal's skills, knowledge, and experience are important when it comes to leading schools. But whether interacting with staff, students, or parents, principals also need empathy--a key social-emotional skill--to be effective and drive continuous improvement. In this book, veteran school leader Thomas R. Hoerr makes the case for why schools…

A primary aim of any comprehensive democratic education is to prepare citizens for full and active participation in the public sphere. Crucial to meeting this aim is the development of key cognitive-emotional skills, such as perspective-taking. At the same time, many of the social institutions in which cognitive-emotional skill training might be…

This article presents a theoretical relational perspective of education, "Pedagogical Relational Teachership (PeRT)," which supports the development of new knowledge about teachers' relational proficiencies to create opportunities for students to participate in their education and to emerge as unique individuals and speak with their own…

The purpose of this action research study was to develop a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of teaching social justice principles in early childhood using critical literacy. By the time children enter Preschool, they become cognizant of visual differences between them and others in their environment and begin creating or adopting biases…

Originally conceptualized by Chester Pierce (1970), microaggressions have taken on increasing utility in recent years as a tool to teach undergraduate students about everyday forms of oppressive behavior. As the concept gains increased currency in educational contexts, however, it is important to consider the ways in which individuals understand…

In unprecedented times, the global community is calling for greater knowledge and engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to support the decision making and practices of the general community. COVID-19 has highlighted this pressing need and inviting a 'new normal'. But STEM is not the core business of early childhood.…

The preschool years are fundamental for children's social development as they navigate novel and complex social situations, which include interaction sequences and relationship features. As young children notice aspects of human difference, they develop schemas by classifying and situating attributes (e.g., skin color, hair type, communication…

As an ideology, the concept of social justice has long been a worthy, if slightly volatile, companion of early childhood theorists and researchers. Whilst the majority of the literature has valorised social justice, discontented questions regarding "what" the construct entails and "how" it might be tamed to work still remain.…

This article is based on an ethnographic case study and highlights the importance of spatial dimensions and spatial inequality as means of understanding the participation of a group of youths living in a sparsely populated rural area of Sweden. The analysis took as its starting point Doreen Massey's conceptualisation of place and space as…

The purpose of this research was to examine what preservice teachers learned about their intentions to provide equitable instruction in comparison to their actual teaching acts. Preservice teachers in a K-6 mathematics methods course analyzed their verbal interactions from their teaching of a mathematics lesson and used guided reflection to…

Social inclusion for students with disabilities builds on steps taken for physically and academically inclusive learning environments and highlights the need for all students having frequent opportunities to interact with a broad range of peers in a variety of settings within and outside the classroom setting. This article presents some…