Creating pretence and sharing friendship: modal expressions in children's play

Friendships and play provide children with opportunities for mutual engagement, which both require and facilitate children's language use. Modality is a semantic system in the language associated with children's learning. One way in which modality is realised is through linguistic expressions which allow speakers to moderate the degree of certainty about the truth of propositions (expressions of possibility) and the degree of necessity with respect to proposals (expressions of obligation). No research has explored the relationship between friendship and children's use of modality. This paper reports on the use of both types of modal expression during play between five- and six-year-old children in two friendship contexts. Results showed that possibility expressions occurred at similar rates in both contexts while obligation expressions occurred significantly more often in play in high-level friendships than in low-level friendships. Findings suggest that in high-level friendships modality was used cohesively to create and extend pretend play, whereas in low-level friendships it was used to regulate behaviour. Because modal expressions are important resources for managing interpersonal relationships, for talking about ideas and situations beyond the here and now and for writing for a non-present audience, our findings provide valuable insights for educators of young children.     

Science in Action: How Middle School Students Are Changing Their World Through STEM Service-Learning Projects

The purpose of Science in Action (SIA) was to examine the relationship between implementing quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) service-learning (SL) projects and the effect on students' academic engagement in middle school science, civic responsibility, and resilience to at-risk behaviors. The innovative project funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) included 6,000+ middle school at-risk students (eligible for at least 50% free or reduced-cost lunch), 126 science teachers who integrated STEM problem-based SL pedagogy into science instruction to teach students to solve real problems in schools and communities. The project involved 20 schools and communities with assistance from 120 community partners. Participants completed pre- and post-SL surveys on academic engagement, civic responsibility, and resilience; qualitative data were collected from journals, interviews, focus groups, observations, and field notes. Results highlight exemplary SL projects that demonstrated increased student academic engagement and achievement for students living in high poverty areas with potential at-risk behavior. Implications for future research and educational practices are discussed.     

Outside of School Matters: What We Need to Know in Urban Environments

This article focuses on factors outside of school that we have identified from the established research literature as essential for educators to consider in supporting students in urban environments. We start by conceptualizing what it means for a school to be “urban.” Following this discussion, we describe four outside-of-school factors that emerge from the literature: (1) Understanding Student and Family Homelessness; (2) Understanding Geography and Social Contexts; (3) Understanding Policy and School Funding; and (4) Understanding Parental and Family Involvement. These factors are important to helping educators, especially pre- and in-service teachers, in their understanding of and, consequently, the practices they use to meet the needs of students in these social contexts. We conclude with recommendations for educational practice.     

Developing Empathy Through Design Thinking in Elementary Art Education

Past research has suggested incorporating design thinking in upper elementary art education helps students develop what are known as the Four Cs: collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. As an instructional strategy, design thinking focuses on empathy first and provides a structure for students to work through real-world, complex problems in small groups. This exploratory qualitative case study examined the effects of teaching empathy through design thinking in upper elementary art education. Eight teachers participated, representing public, private, charter, and independent school settings. Data included student observations, interviews, and journal reflections. An analysis of findings resulted in three conclusions: (a) design thinking can foster the development of empathy in preadolescents, (b) art education curricula at the upper elementary level can include design thinking, and (c) design thinking is a valid strategy for teaching empathy. Including empathy within art education promotes a classroom culture that is respectful and understanding of others, with students becoming advocates of justice, equity, and inclusion. As society continues to struggle with bullying, physical violence, and social unrest, teaching empathy has the potential to change how students relate to each other in the classroom, and, ultimately, in the world at large.     

Supporting child and family resilience in the face of political violence: Evidence from a home visit parenting program

Political violence affects more than 25% of children globally, yet little is known about how to support positive adaptation among conflict-affected children. Using a sample of 3797 Nicaraguan child-caregiver dyads (M_AgeTime1 = 1.5 years, M_AgeTime2 = 5.9 years; 51% male), this registered report used a novel quasi-experimental approach to examine how exposure to political violence relates to child and caregiver outcomes, and to test three policy-relevant moderators: participation in a large-scale home visit parenting program, household economic disruption, and media exposure. Results revealed positive associations between political violence and harsh discipline practices (0.33 SD), but there was no evidence that political violence affected children's behavior, caregiver depressive symptoms, or responsive parenting practices, and there was no evidence of moderation.     

Code-switching 101: Black women counselor educators’ personal and professional identity development

The perceptions of personal and professional identity development from four Black women counselor educators were examined through a collaborative autoethnography methodology. Themes identified include (a) intentionality of code-switching, (b) inextricable identities, (c) fight for and with authenticity, and (d) mutual development of personal and professional identities.     

Enabling integrated knowledge acquisition and management in health care teams

Basing treatment, policy and planning decisions on the best available research knowledge remains a central principle in modern health care around the world, yet many health professionals find acquiring and managing published research knowledge challenging. In this paper, we report on a Soft Systems Methodology-based collaborative action research initiative with a specialist mental health service from the United Kingdom's National Health Service. Our objective was to design and implement improvements to their knowledge acquisition and management activities in order to facilitate sustained and effective evidence-based practices. We report on both the factors found to impede effective research knowledge acquisition and management and the development of more integrated knowledge management processes designed to improve the situation.