This article focuses on the effects of an arts-based intervention for young people deemed at risk of school exclusion because of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Using a range of qualitative methods, including observations and interviews, the study explored from the perspective of 11 young people (aged 11-16) the potential for…

This dissertation examines the role of metaphorical language in early Buddhist literature through the lens of two previously unpublished Gandhari sutras on a manuscript from the Robert Senior Collection. At the microscopic level, I offer an edition, translation, and textual analysis of a Buddhist manuscript containing two Sa?yuktagama-type sutras…

This article examines the significance of place and space from a Performance Studies and Social Studies perspective. In terms of the social sciences, I draw upon the formal, symbolic and marginal articulation of place. Hetherington suggests that certain places act as focal point for the establishment of social identities, citing city-centre…

Outdoor preschools are critical for children's play and development. Integrating observational and interview methods, this study examined four-to-five-year-old children's cognitive play experiences in an outdoor preschool with natural, mixed and manufactured zones. The observational results indicated that the natural and mixed zones offered a…

Drawing on critical childhood studies, Michael J. Dumas and Joseph Derrick Nelson argue that Black boyhood is socially unimagined and unimaginable, largely due to the devalued position and limited consideration of Black girls and boys within the broader social conception of childhood. In addition, the "crisis" focus of the public…

This paper contributes to a growing body of literature on widening university participation and brings a focus on the classed and embodied nature of young people's imagination to existing discussions. We interviewed 250 young people living in disadvantaged communities across five Australian states who had experienced disengagement from compulsory…

Enquiry learning and teaching about the nature of science (NoS) is a key element of science education. We have designed an experimental setting for students aged 12-14 years to exercise enquiry-learning skills and to introduce students to the NoS aspects of creativity and imagination. It also illustrates the impact of carbon dioxide on the growth…

In this paper, we introduce a conceptual framework for researching the dynamics of imagination in science classroom interactions. While educational interest in imagination has recently increased, prior research has not adequately accounted for how imagination is realized in and through classroom interactions, nor has it created a framework for its…

Language educators consider student motivation as fundamental in supporting student learning and central to making sound pedagogical decisions in order to help students develop competence in the target language. However, many teachers opt for using simplistic and prescriptive formulas or one-size-fits-all motivational models that claim positive…

Although the paradigm of visual literacy (VL) is rapidly emerging, the construct itself still lacks operational specificity. Based on a semiotic understanding of visual culture as an ongoing process of "making meaning", we present in this study a skill-based classification of VL, differentiating four sets of VL skills: perception;…

In times of rapid change the Arts have been shown to contribute through an array of processes to a range of outcomes that improve social and emotional health. While this observation has caused debates in the field such as, intrinsic versus instrumental value, individuality versus sociality, skill development focus versus broader aesthetic…

The authors argue that childhood played a special role in the cultural-historical theory of human culture and biosocial development made famous by Soviet psychologist Lev S. Vygotsky and his circle. Th?ey discuss how this school of thought has, in turn, influenced contemporary play studies. Vygotsky used early childhood to test and refi?ne his…

An Innovative Learning Centre (ILC) within a Faculty of Education provides the forum to study and give lived expression to the rhythmic workings of experience through documenting a Maker Movement Day for practicing educators. The authors conceptualize a Maker Day as an immersive professional development experience for educators. They believe that…

The study of social cognition involves the attribution of states of mind to humans, as well as, quite recently, to nonhuman creatures, like God. Some studies support the role of social cognition in religious beliefs, whereas others ascribe religious beliefs to an ontological knowledge bias. The present study compares these distinct approaches in…

This dissertation revealed two distinct types of castles which are marketed to boys and girls: Fortresses for boys are embedded with the masculine stereotypes of violence and active agents, and Palaces for girls imply domesticity, passivity, and a need for protection. Applying a feminist poststructuralist lens, this qualitative study aimed to…