School improvement frameworks and their associated reform efforts often have limited durability and are frequently not fully implemented. Improving their viability, requires a more realistic understanding of contextual organisational structures and the school culture in which the reform is to be implemented. Internationally, and in Australia…

Proactive classroom management is associated with increased teacher wellbeing and improved student learning outcomes. Yet research indicates that many teachers over-report and underuse practices associated with this approach. The research findings reported here were drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted with 26 government secondary…

This qualitative case study investigates student and school staff perceptions of transitions and changing social dynamics due to a temporary closure of an elementary school undergoing redesign in an inner-city neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 75 students (Kindergarten to Grade 8) and 28 staff who…

The understanding of youth participation in the current article relates to ideas of citizenship and active involvement in global concerns. In this understanding of the term, schools are important agents for education for global citizenship, and play a role in the developing engagement of young people. Using data from focus groups with teachers (n…

The role of schools in both educating children about loss and change and supporting bereavement experiences is emphasised, yet, school staff report low confidence in being able to support children when someone dies. This article reports on an evaluation of bereavement training that was offered to eight schools in Scotland and aimed to assist…

The effective schools literature has shown that school-contextual aspects matter for students' academic and social outcomes. A potential link here may be the quality of the relationships between teachers and students, but few studies have investigated whether features of school effectiveness are in fact associated with students' perceptions of…

Despite the extensive research on parental psychological control, no study has explored the relation between parental and teacher psychological control, maladaptive perfectionism and learned helplessness (LH). The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) whether perceived teacher psychological control predicts positively LH, (2) whether…

This article sets out to explore how young people understand and experience the notions of democracy and participation in their secondary schools. We draw on their own words to examine their perspective on "participation" in everyday life at school to understand what kind of democratic education they are participating in. The article…

Listening to and reflecting on the voices and personal stories of adolescent students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is critically important to developing more inclusive approaches to their education. This article considers the experiences of nine adolescents with an ASD on their inclusive education in a large urban secondary school in…

This article presents results from a research project exploring the relational interplay between school staff and students, its functions and complexity in the secondary school context. School relationships (between students and different kinds of staff) are more or less indirectly related to educational content: subject matter as well as norms…

This article introduces a theoretical framework for studying school improvement processes such as making school environments safer. Using concepts from spatial theory, in which distinctions between mental, social and physical space are applied makes for a multidimensional analysis of processes of change. In a multilevel case study, these were…

This article presents a model of teacher research supported by academic partners to develop a better understanding of the barriers to education faced by young people growing up in poverty. It critiques politicians' demands for teachers to "close the gap" for ignoring the cumulative intergenerational effects of deprivation. The authors…

Much has been written about what constitutes effective literacy teaching and learning, the power of effective "teacher talk" and the impact on student learning outcomes. There is a growing body of research into pedagogical change to improve literacy outcomes and the implementation of schoolwide approaches to teaching and learning,…

Although change can be considered an inevitable part of life, the process itself can be both challenging and confronting. This is no less the case than for early adolescents as they negotiate the transition from primary to secondary school. Whilst this transition can be considered a regular part of the formal school experience, it can represent a…

This mixed-methods study examined elementary teachers' perceptions of teacher-student bullying. Grounded in previous research on peer bullying, the study posed several questions: to what extent did teachers perceive bullying of students by other teachers as a serious matter requiring intervention? Did they perceive teacher bullying as more serious…