There have been deep changes in societies during the last decade. As a result, schools face new challenges, such as avoiding exclusion by promoting inclusion. In this paper we present the findings of our efforts to use collaborative work as a mediation tool in order to achieve more inclusive learning settings. This work starts from the assumption…

Being a "student" has been and remains a highly desirable status for young people and their families in Kyrgyzstan. "Giving their children education" (dat detyam obrazovaniye)--meaning "higher education"--has become an imperative for many parents, even in a time of serious economic and social decline. The numbers of…

Language shift is the process by which a speech community in a contact situation (i.e. consisting of bilingual speakers) gradually stops using one of its two languages in favor of the other. The causal factors of language shift are generally considered to be social, and researchers have focused on speakers' attitudes (both explicit and unstated)…

This article examines how Chicana/o and Latina/o youth employed their political-historical knowledge to "talk back" to the xenophobia and political contradictions that underlie the (im)migration "debate." A literacy unit that honed bilingual students' everyday translating created opportunities for students to utilize this political-historical…

This paper describes an innovative pilot project at the University of Canberra aimed at providing pre-service early childhood teachers with the skills, confidence and ideological change required to include technology-enhanced learning as part of the early childhood curriculum. The impact of the project was evaluated through participant…

Qualitative research has increased in popularity among social scientists. While substantial attention has been given to various methods of qualitative analysis, there is a need to focus on strategies for collecting diverse forms of qualitative data. In this article, the authors discuss four sources of qualitative data: participant observation,…

This qualitative research was designed to understand how the social integration process in the workplace unfolds with adults who have intellectual disabilities. Participant observation and interviews permitted an in-depth examination of 10 integration situations within a company, with regard for the actions and perceptions of the stakeholders.…

This paper reviews New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's education reform agenda, "Children first", in the light of organizational theory. I argue that this reform agenda reflects both coercive and mimetic isomorphism, as Bloomberg uses mayoral control to apply business concepts and practices to New York City's public school system.…

This study examined student artwork as free expression in order to conduct an analysis of diaspora as related to urban, middle school students learning English. Subjects consisted of middle school students representing a variety of countries with Spanish being the primary first language of the majority of participants. Using a qualitative approach…

This research examined a program of concurrent high school-university studies aimed at promoting students living in underprivileged areas to continue on to higher education. High school students attended university once a week for learning enrichment or participating in full academic courses. Data were collected through interviews and documented…

Context: Networks are seen as important vehicles for educators' professional development because they provide opportunities for educators to develop their teaching and leadership capacities and establish forums for educator resistance. Networks that also function as intermediary organizations provide spaces in which educators and network leaders…

This article looks at the competing language ideologies that preschool children negotiate in "Mi Clase Magica" (MCM), a Spanish-English bilingual/bicultural after-school program in San Diego. It examines children's language choice in interactions with peers and adults taking place at computer and "tareas" (homework) activities.…

This article examines the role of intergenerational relationships in the lives of experienced poets and writers ("soldiers") and emerging poets and writers in what the author terms Participatory Literacy Communities (PLCs). Drawing from Wenger's (1998) concept of communities of practice, the author uses data from two examples of PLCs--Black…

Peer tutoring in Higher Education is being used with increasing frequency to aid in student learning, motivation, and empowerment. Although an extensive body of research documents the efficacy of such programs, it exhibits a surprising lack of awareness of the social dynamics involved. This study focuses on peer tutors and students as they…

Background/Context: This article returns to and expands upon Cremin's and Garfinkel's ideas about education as work--deliberate, systematic, and sustained work--that changes one's consociates, whether planned or not. That is, education must be seen as occurring everywhere, to and by everyone, in many contexts other than in classrooms or schools.…