Latino students and their families are the fastest growing minority group in the country, yet it is unclear whether rural (vs. urban) Latino families of students with disabilities have different needs. In this pilot study, 65 Latino family members of students with disabilities (15 rural; 50 urban) responded to a questionnaire about empowerment,…

This study documented in detail teachers' voices about their working conditions, professional development needs and opportunities to cater to these needs. The study reported in this paper was conducted as part of a large-scale study that used mixed methods to assess teachers' professional development needs. The qualitative data reported in this…

In Tanzania, the national examinations are used as the primary tools for selection and transition from lower to upper secondary education. Female students are more likely to fail in the national exams and to drop out from education. This article examines the perspectives of female students concerning their advancement in secondary education. Two…

Significant research has been conducted on skills' enhancement school programs, since their importance has been well established. The presented study evaluates "Steps for life", a Greek, universal, annual, teacher-taught programme, designed to improve personal and social skills in young elementary students by the use of questions,…

The participatory learning and action: PLA was the process used for empowering in this program. This process has four steps: 1) create awareness, 2) specify problems or needs, 3) act and 4) present and reflect or monitor. The purposes of this study were: 1) to investigate the conditions of communities in terms of context and problems or needs in…

There is a growing body of literature about the qualities of professional teacher educators (TEs) and their impact on preparing professional teachers. However, English Language Teaching (ELT) research has fallen behind in this regard, despite the fact that different programs worldwide suffer from different limitations, due to certain aspects…

Textbooks have been used to enhance teaching in mathematics at all levels of schooling for many years. The use of textbooks enables the mathematics content to be presented in a sequenced, coherent and logical way. There are very few studies, however, that explore student thoughts about the use of electronic textbooks (e-texts) in secondary…

This qualitative cross-cultural study sought to contribute to the understanding of listening competence, dialogic listening, and the use of human agency in promoting well-being at work. The participant groups ("N" = 103) consisted of "n" = 76 U.S.-American and "n" = 27 Finnish attorneys. Results suggest that in order…

This article analyses performance dialogs (PDs) in the university context in Finland. These are held annually between employers and employees. The study was carried out to assess the efficacy of this technique. Research methods included an electronic questionnaire over two different years delivered to the whole staff of the Department of Teacher…

The retention of students to graduation is a concern for most higher education institutions. This article seeks to understand why engineering and built environment students fail to continue their degree programmes despite being academically eligible to do so. The sample comprised 275 students registered between 2006 and 2011 in a faculty of…

This research is aiming at describing: (1) the implementation of community empowerment training of PKH companions, (2) types of participative evaluation used in the PKH companion training, and (3) obstacles and supporting factors in PKH companion training using the participative evaluation. The study employed qualitative approach with case study…

Using critical constructivism as the theoretical lens, the teacher educator-researcher used practitioner research to systematically examine the experience of PreK-12 teachers in his district-based teacher research professional development course, while also examining his development as a teacher educator. The results of this study showed that, as…

Navigating academic work as well as career possibilities during and post-Ph.D. is challenging. To better understand these challenges, since 2010, we have investigated the experiences of early career scientists longitudinally using a range of qualitative data collection formats. For this study, we examined the experiences of four students and four…

In Hong Kong, there is an acute need to provide newly appointed principals with opportunities for continuous professional development so that they could face the impact of reforms and globalization on school development. The Education Bureau has commissioned the tertiary institutions to provide structured professional development courses to cater…

In this paper, we critically reflect, through the lens of liberation psychology, on our experiences of using participative community arts in work with young people and intergenerational groups in inner-city Manchester, UK. We used mixed methods to examine the impact of and engagement with community arts in two projects. One study was quasi…