The strengths and limitations of approaches to participatory and democratic practice rooted in voice have been discussed in relation to education and also "youth voice". The paper seeks to make critical connection between the two debates, especially in relation to the persistence of practices of exclusion and marginalisation. Drawing on…

There have been substantial reform efforts in science education to improve students' understandings of science and its processes and provide continual support for students becoming scientifically literate (AAAS, "Benchmarks for science literacy," Oxford University Press, New York, 1993; NRC, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996; NSTA,…

School science continues to fail to engage youth from non-dominant communities (Carlone, Huan-Frank & Webb, 2011). However, recent research demonstrates that informal science learning settings support both knowledge gains and increased participation in science among youth from non-dominant communities (Dierking, 2007; Falk et al., 2007; HFRP,…

The greenhouse effect and the effects of the ozone layer have been in the media and public focus for more than two decades. During the same period, Norwegian compulsory schools have had four national curricula. The two last-mentioned prescribe explicitly the two topics. Media and public discourse might have been sources of information causing…

The concept of legitimate peripheral participation was developed by considering informal learning contexts. Its applicability to school classrooms is problematic. This is particularly so when teacher centred and decontextualised procedural practices predominate as they do in "usual school mathematics" classrooms. By considering the nature of…

This study shows how worksheets can be used to support learning in an informal learning environment. Although there has been some research into the use of worksheets in museum settings in developed countries, it is still not clear whether worksheets enhance or inhibit learning. Using a case study of grade 4-7 learners visiting a biology exhibition…

In her book "Informal Learning and the School: A new classroom pedagogy" Lucy Green notes: "The issues ... centre around the importance of listening to young people's voices and taking their values and their culture seriously" (Green, 2008, p. 185). It can be argued that for young people, "their culture" is frequently…

In this study on 32 teachers' learning in an informal learning environment, we analyzed changes in conceptions and behavior regarding students' active and self-regulated learning (ASL), and relations with the teachers' learning activities. Few relations were found between observed changes in "behavior" and learning activities. Changes in…

Informal learning environments often host teachers for learning opportunities, but little is known about the impact of these experiences on teacher professional development (PD). This article describes a unique collaborative PD experience between zoological park personnel and university faculty, examining the impact on teacher content knowledge,…

The embedding of informal practices in music education in school relates to significant issues concerning students' engagement, participation, inclusion and the role of the teacher. This article addresses these issues by presenting and discussing current music education in compulsory comprehensive schooling in Sweden. It does so by drawing upon…

Today's healthcare can be characterised by the increasing importance of specialisation that requires cooperation across disciplines and specialities. In view of the number of educational programmes for interdisciplinary cooperation, surprisingly little is known on how learning arises from interdisciplinary work. In order to analyse the learning…

How does improvisational theatre promote aesthetic learning in leaders, emphasizing emotion and somatic, or sensory, knowledge? While improvisational theatre has been used in organizational settings, there is little empirical research describing the aesthetic learning process geared towards preparing educational leaders. Based on a case study of…

The idea of digital game-based learning (DGBL) is that students (or players) learn something by playing a computer or video game and that an educator can employ digital games to assist and boost both formal and informal learning. There is game software that is not specifically produced for educational use but which is nonetheless regularly…

Musical Futures is a music learning program that was established in the United Kingdom in 2003. It aims to make secondary classroom music more relevant to young people through engaging them in the informal learning practices of real world musicians, recognising that the way in which popular musicians learn is quite different from the pedagogy of…

Students in a graduate geometry class used items such as paper, ribbon, plastic spheres, cardboard tubes, and markers to carry out investigations in spherical geometry. The hands-on activities helped students develop a new appreciation of geometry as a study of shape and space; however, the difficulty of subduing wayward elastics and drawing lines…