The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the dynamics of motivation in socially shared learning from both individual and group perspectives. Higher education students' motivation was analysed in the context of collaborative learning tasks, applying quantitative and qualitative methods. The research questions were: (1) what kind of…

The theory upon which this study is based led to four predictions: (1) the small number of pupils in small schools creates opportunities to develop close teacher-pupil relationships and enables teachers to consider pupils' individual needs; (2) small schools can provide opportunities for fruitful co-operation among staff and, consequently, create…

The rapid development in working life during recent decades has changed the structures of work organisations and expectations of employees' work. Differing forms of professional employment and different types of organisational environments likely promote different types of motivational patterns in workers. The aim of this study was to apply a…

This paper provides an account of the inter-psychological processes that constitute learning through work. It does this by drawing on deliberations about the relative contributions of the immediate social world (i.e., workplace setting) that individuals encounter and the personal premises for individuals' learning. This account is realised through…

Workplace learning circumscribes processes leading to the development of competencies and skills through daily work. It is of increasing importance for many modern enterprises, which consider themselves as being learning organisations, to make use of the potential of their employees in order to be competitive within global markets. Dealing with…

Based on 30 interviews with and observations of professionals, 5 prototypical metaphors of learning are described and related to existing theories about learning. Two of the metaphors were previously described by Sfard: the acquisition and participation metaphors. As well, three new metaphors were found: the discovery metaphor, the apperception…

This paper analyses a work placement scheme established to create the conditions to: (i) incubate new designs in the jewellery sector in Birmingham; (ii) support a jewellery company compete more effectively in the global market; (iii) assist a newly qualified graduate jeweller to enter the jewellery sector. It introduces a new theoretical…

In British Columbia, K-12 school Aboriginal students' completion rates are far from equivalent to those of their non-Aboriginal peers. In addition, there is a high degree of variability in Aboriginal students' school completion rates across schools and communities. Administrative data associating approximately 1.5 million school census records of…

Having pursued policies of human rights and multiculturalism, Canadians regard themselves as tolerant. Yet some critics say that when it comes to Aboriginals, Canadians seem xenophobic and discriminatory. This study is the first empirical test of whether Canadian preservice teachers' judgments about the performance of Aboriginal students are…

The cooperative learning strategy of group investigation has been used extensively in elementary and high school classrooms. Whereas this learning strategy seems to benefit low- and middle-achieving students, the performance of high-achieving students seems to change little. This article examines the literature on group investigation as a…

French immersion in Canada was instituted by parents in Quebec who wished their children to learn French in order to have social, political, and economic advantages. Several learning theories and research methods, especially those related to second-language acquisition (SLA), have been used in the field of French immersion. More recently,…

Research supports the position that specialists are the preferred providers of physical education in elementary (primary) school settings. We examined whether specialists delivered more physical education lessons and provided greater opportunities for moderate and vigorous physical activity and whether barriers to curricular and extracurricular…

For more than a century in Canada, debate has been ongoing about the place of men in the classrooms of the nation and their role in ameliorating the problem of boys' underachievement. Using annual reports from provincial departments of education, other government and commission reports, publications by and for teachers, articles and stories from…

This study contributes to ongoing research in the field of school psychology by examining some of the effects of using the Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) to classify students aged 6-16 years according to their results on an individual measure of intelligence, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III, 1991).…

This article presents the processes and outcomes of a year of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support in a North Texas elementary school serving kindergarten through grade 3 students. Included is a description of a school treatment package that incorporated components such as facilitation of the teaming process, a lottery-type system of intermittent…