This article draws on data from qualitative research that was conducted with children between 6 and 13?years of age as a part of an 18-month project that explored respectfully engaging with cultural diversity in Australian primary schools. We used persona dolls as a research tool to enable children to explore and articulate their knowledge of…

This paper discusses the effects of children's exposure to violence against their mothers. It particularly considers the sided-effects of this violence on the children's behaviour, self-image and school performance. The research indicates that (1) violence against women victimises not only the mothers but also their children, even if the…

The aim of this research was to explore the way in which talk is used in teacher focus group discussions. The data from these discussions belong to a wider study on the challenges teachers face when introducing foreign-language mediated education. The research presented here provides a careful analysis of the talk between teachers drawing on…

The American legislation of No Child Left Behind resulted in a boom in scripted, prepackaged curricula for improving student outcomes. At the same time, greater attention to the needs of diverse populations also took prominence, resulting in a new area of study, culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy. The current view is that scripted curriculum…

Internationally, there is widespread concern about the need to increase participation in the sciences (particularly the physical sciences), especially among girls/women. This paper draws on data from a five-year, longitudinal study of 10-14-year-old children's science aspirations and career choice to explore the reasons why, even from a young age,…

This paper investigates three English textbooks for primary classes 4, 5 and 6 in Ghana from the "Gateway to English for Primary Schools" series, and their complementary teachers' guides, in order to determine the assumptions about teaching and learning which the books embody. The paper pays particular attention to the approach to language and…

This paper interrogates the relationship between the social distance men have from children, fear, and the social expectation that men will be capable of managing student (mis)behaviours. Briefly, the central argument is that the social distance men, as a group, have from children, and child protection concerns of men working with children can…

Textbooks research over the last two to three decades tends to suggest that the availability of textbooks, especially in schools in developing countries, is associated with student achievement. Such conclusions based largely on quantitative studies provide very little information about pupils' access to and use of books, and the actual interaction…

The research on which this paper is based is a response to the UNESCO directive for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) 2005-2014. Educators are advised to prepare young people for sustainable development and global citizenship and the Arts should be included in programmes in ESD. This paper presents an overview of a research…

Media educators and researchers call for learner-centred, bottom-up pedagogical approaches, which take into account learners' own cultures, knowledge and experiences. Nevertheless, there seem to be gaps between traditional, authoritarian school culture and the interactive, creative media culture that is a significant part of youngsters' lives…

This paper argues against the description of the common approach to English language teaching in the People's Republic of China (PRC) as mimetic and epistemic by exploring the pedagogical practices that primary English language teachers in the PRC adopt for implementing the affective dimension advocated in the new (2001) English language…

This article explores the complex struggles associated with intersections of class, rurality and masculinity, and the ways in which such intersections work to preserve a gendered status quo within and beyond school communities in Australia. Drawing on the stories of Monica and Phoebe, two teachers who understand schooling as a site of…

As attention to social, cultural and physical diversities among student populations is steadily increasing in elementary/primary classrooms, the way in which teaching about those diversities is done necessitates a critical discussion. As most of the research on teachers' responses to classroom diversity is conducted in big-city, multicultural…

The article examines data collected from six primary schools in the ESRC Project: Primary Teacher Identity, Commitment and Career in Performative Cultures, and compares it to classic analyses of teacher commitment made by Dan Lortie and Jennifer Nias in order to assess continuity and change. The "mission" to teach is still there, as is the…

This paper starts from the idea that children learn and construct gendered identities within local communities of masculinity and femininity practice, including peer communities. The data presented come from an ESRC-funded study of tomboy identities, which investigated the enabling and constraining factors for girls in taking up and maintaining…