School racial climate is an important aspect of the school environment that can have significant implications for youths' development. However, existing research is limited by conceptual and methodological concerns that restrict the ability of researchers and educators to identify "what" about and "how" the racial climate…

With a shift in education from the transition of knowledge to the facilitation of the fullest development of each student, social and emotional guidance of students has moved from the margin to the mainstream of education. With limited resources and many competing demands, however, implementing this social and emotional guidance is not always that…

The aim of this study is to investigate what characterizes the discourse on the role of the outdoor environment in young children's learning in educational policy documents in Iceland. Policy documents, laws and regulations, national curriculum guides for pre- and compulsory school levels, and documents from municipalities were analyzed. A…

This article focuses on teacher identity. Based on two small stories told in a peer group by a beginning teacher, we ask: How does a beginning teacher tell about her identity as part of the micropolitical context of school? Theoretically and methodologically, the research is committed to a narrative approach in understanding teacher identity. The…

The authors evaluated the effectiveness of the Quality Improvement System (QIS) developed and implemented by Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County (Florida) as a voluntary initiative to improve the quality of childcare and education. They adopted a growth model approach to investigate whether childcare sites that participated in…

This qualitative within-site case study ("N" = 10) is a follow-up study to a 2006-2007 investigation that analyzed how 1 high school created a community of care for its ninth-grade students through the implementation of a ninth-grade transition program--Freshman Focus. All participants were interviewed again 3 years later during…

In this study the perception of psychological needs and motivation in a student-centred and a teacher-centred learning environment are compared, using Self Determination Theory as a framework. The self-report Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was completed by 230 students (mean age 16.1 years) in pre-vocational secondary education. School records on…

A framework based on research on bullying and on educational effectiveness was offered to schools to assist them in developing strategies and actions to improve their learning environment, their policy for teaching, and their evaluation mechanisms in order to reduce bullying. At the beginning and end of the intervention, the Revised Olweus…

This paper reports on a study that used activity theory (AT) as a framework to understand the dialogical relationship between three elementary Core French (CF) teachers' personal and professional experiences and their literacy teaching beliefs and practices. This study used a case study design collecting data from three different teachers in…

Stereotype threat (ST) has been linked to under performance and academic disidentification among girls in mathematics and science as well as African Americans in academics. However, it is still unclear whether ST and its negative effects extend to non-Western cultures. The authors explored the effects of ST on Ugandan females in coed and…

Although teaching is frequently cited as a stressful profession, limited recent Norwegian data is available. This study addressed the extent to which organizational climate and individual and organizational well-being outcomes vary between schools in rural, urban, and city locations. Participants were predominantly female (68%), aged 45+ years…

This article describes an empirical exploration of three initiatives in which teachers in secondary education (learn to) research their own practice in collaboration with university-based research institutes, aiming at professional development and knowledge construction. We found evidence of professional development, mainly at the level of the…

In this cross-case study we focus on school-based teacher education in Sweden and Finland. Through the use of focus-group interviews with mathematics teacher educators in Finland and Sweden, the study shows that there are substantial differences in how school-based teacher education is introduced and portrayed in the discourse about teacher…

This paper uses Fraser's (1999) concept of social justice as comprising both redistribution and recognition as a frame to interrogate two "Area-Based Curriculum" projects running since 2008 in Manchester and Peterborough schools. It argues that historic concerns about working with "the local" in cross-curricular activities has originated in a…

Late and limited organisational differentiation is a characteristic which has, until now, distinguished the structure of education -- including teacher education - in the Nordic countries from that of the rest of Europe. However, this tradition is now challenged by utilitarian ideologies, supported by international comparison tests such as PISA…