Pedagogy is an inherently spatial practice. Implicit in much of the rhetoric of physical space designed for teaching and learning is an ontological position that assumes material space as distinct from human practice, often conceptualising space as causally (and simplistically) impacting upon people's behaviours. An alternative, and growing,…

Supplemental instruction (SI), a peer assisted learning model, improves course performance, retention, and graduation rates of post-secondary education students. Researchers have questioned if the success of SI is due to students becoming more aware of assessment demands or if SI also promotes construction of new knowledge. The purposes of this…

In this paper we explore how students can experience the relevance of mathematical modelling activities. In the literature we found that relevance is a connection among several issues (relevance of what? to whom? according to whom? and to what end?). We framed this concept in terms of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), a theory for…

Background/Context: Working towards social justice in education requires students' voices to be heard and understood (Mansfield, 2014). This is especially the case for students from marginalized populations. Prior research has shown the value and importance of students' voices for school retention, academic success, school inclusivity, and student…

In this critical narrative inquiry study, we explored the experience of gay cisgender men in college at the borderlands of social constructionism, critical race theory, and queer theory. Findings included 3 major themes: (a) the salience, tokenization, and centrality of being an "other" in a given space, (b) how performativity varied in…

As intersectionality gains more prominence, scholars still face difficulties of incorporating principles of intersectionality into empirical research. Key concepts of intersectionality theory include moving away from additive thinking, relationality, and social constructionism. An important challenge is how to incorporate these concepts into…

The contextual precept of this paper is to re-theorise inclusive education beyond technical rational solutions to the "problem" of disability. Drawing on Foucauldian and critical disability theories, I make the case for the analysis of inclusive schooling through the lens of students' "included" subjectivities--notwithstanding…

This article examines Portuguese official aid (POA) in Guinea-Bissau, based on the experience of a bilateral educational aid Programme--PASEG (2000-2012). It explores the theory and praxis (understood as instructed action) of PASEG as a complex and transversal intervention in a context of fragility and political uncertainty. It discusses the…

School discursive practices produce and reproduce acceptable notions of the good mathematics teacher, thereby shaping identity and agency in becoming a teacher. In this paper, I draw on key aspects of Bourdieu's social field theory--his conceptual "thinking tools" and his reflexive sociology--to explore the relations and discourses of…

This article explores the use of Bourdieusian analysis for examining how policy and practice interact in the teaching of English and therefore in the development of children's language and literacy, in particular how. Bourdieusian analysis uncovers the ways in which teachers' practice has been influenced unconsciously by centralised shaping of the…

This article investigates the political, cultural, and educational work of two pioneering Canadian gay teachers during the 1990s: James Chamberlain and Murray Corren. These advocate-practitioners took up roles as social activists, cultural workers, and engaged teachers whose transgressive acts focused on the social and cultural transformation of…

The aim of this article is to contribute to the understanding and use of the theory of communities of practice. In order to clarify terms, explore applications for education and reflect on various critiques of the theory in the literature, two educational researchers conducted a series of interviews with the theorist Etienne Wenger-Trayner. The…

To cope with the rapidly changing higher education climate, teachers need agency to act proactively in initiating and steering changes in practice. This paper describes an academic development activity in the form of a Change Laboratory, an intervention method based on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, to facilitate agency among teachers. The…

This dissertation explores the ways that instructors at a community college perceive instructor-student rapport in online and face-to-face classes. While instructor-student rapport has been shown to play an important role in student retention and success (Benson, Cohen, & Buskist, 2005; Granitz, Koernig, & Harich, 2009; Murphy &…

This paper tackles what is arguably one of the most pressing and intractable educational issues confronting western democracies--the disengagement and disconnection from schooling of alarming numbers of young people. The paper looks at the policy response in Victoria, Australia, and through ethnographic interviews with a small number of young…