Participatory action research as pedagogy: investigating social and ecological justice learning within a teacher education program

A research collective comprised of teacher candidates, graduate students, and faculty set out to investigate the role and impact of social and ecological justice learning in a teacher education program. Amidst the tensions, negotiations, and articulations of the research design, the collective came to recognize the spaces of participatory action research as sites of growth and efficacy toward justice learning. And, each began to perceive themselves as both impacted by educational structures and as agents enacting their own visions of professional practice. These outcomes are discussed in the context of the growing body of participatory action research, emphasizing the dynamic learning precipitated within the intersections of the research collective. The empirical analysis, involving survey and interview data, brought to bear the rarity of events participants (teacher candidates) recognized as invoking meaningful social and ecological justice learning, and goes some way to describe such learning in terms of embodied experience. The paper closes with a selection of testimonials provided by members of the research collective, offering personal accounts of what was gained through participating in the research process.     

A Design-based Approach to Fostering Understanding of Global Climate Change

To prepare students to make informed decisions and gain coherent understanding about global climate change, we tested and refined a middle school inquiry unit that featured interactive visualizations. Based on evidence from student pre-test responses, we increased emphasis on energy transfer and transformation. The first iteration improved comprehension of the visualizations resulting in better understanding of energy transfer (n?=?67). The second iteration improved understanding of energy transformation (n?=?109) by adding pivotal cases, reducing deceptive clarity, and emphasizing distinguishing of ideas. Focusing student investigations in the second version allowed students to make more normative, personally relevant decisions related to their energy use. These iterative refinements reflected knowledge integration principles and offer guidance for designers of inquiry units.     

Project high hopes summer institute: Curriculum for developing talent in students with special needs

This article examines a summer institute curriculum that was developed for and used with handicapped students who were identified as gifted in the area(s) of visual arts, performing arts, engineering, or life sciences. The students and the summer institute were part of a federally funded Javits program, Project High Hopes. The curriculum was real world, multi‐disciplinary and problem based in that it used a decaying water feature on the school grounds as its focus. Using a creative problem solving process, students identified problems with the water feature, developed solutions, created presentations, and presented their solutions to the school board. Student products are described as are conclusions, results and possible implications for other educational settings.     

Designing the Knowledge Integration Environment

The Knowledge Integration Environment (KIE) activities were designed to promote lifelong science learning. This paper describes the partnership process that guided the design as well as the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration framework that gave the partnership a head start on creating effective materials. KIE activities take advantage of internet materials to engage students in debate of science questions like 'how far does light go?', to make scientifically oriented design decisions, and to critique science claims in the popular press. Other papers in this collection describe the design studies carried out to improve KIE activities. These studies have implications for improving the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration framework and can inform future designers of science instruction.     

Book Reviews

A major role that two‐year colleges play is to provide graduates who are prepared to meet the labor demands of business and industry. Business is no longer content with employees who possess job specific knowledge only, but is seeking employees who possess other attributes as well, such as the ability to solve problems, relate to others, and adapt to changing situations. To meet these demands, a curriculum model has been developed at Spartanburg Technical College to combine job specific content with work‐related skills. Innovative teaching strategies are used to bridge content and skills in such a way so content is not sacrificed, while at the same time, student's work‐related skills are developed. Teaching methodologies are sequentially and strategically placed to allow students to build from a basic to an advanced level of competency for each work‐related skill. The six step process results in several benefits including faculty, student and college development and improved college‐business/industry relations.     

MY MOTHER,YOUR MOTHER: EMBRACING “SLOW MEDICINE”: THE COMPASSIONATE APPROACH TO CARING FOR YOUR AGING LOVED ONES By Dennis McCullough

Dysphagia, or disordered swallowing, is explained relative to normal swallowing. Social, psychological, medical, and economic consequences of dysphasia are discussed with note of the particular prevalence of the disorder among the elderly. A multidisciplinary team approach to treatment is presented with roles of the various professionals defined. Case studies demonstrating the benefits of treatment are presented.     

A legacy of promise: Reflections,suggestions, and directions from contemporary leaders in the field of gifted education

Abstract

Six contemporary leaders from the field of gifted education responded to questions concerning past, present, and future issues surrounding the education of gifted and talented youth. This report was designed to provide expert perspectives on (a) the accomplishments of gifted education, (b) core non‐negotiables about educating gifted children that all teachers should know, and (c) future challenges and directions for this field of study and practice. Qualitative analysis of the responses yielded core themes in each of the major areas, which are reported with summaries of responses and quotes from each respondent.     

Impacts of a Comprehensive School Readiness Curriculum for Preschool Children at Risk for Educational Difficulties

This article reports findings from a cluster‐randomized study of an integrated literacy‐ and math‐focused preschool curriculum, comparing versions with and without an explicit socioemotional lesson component to a business‐as‐usual condition. Participants included 110 classroom teachers from randomized classrooms and approximately eight students from each classroom (N = 760) who averaged 4.48 (SD = 0.44) years of age at the start of the school year. There were positive impacts of the two versions of the curriculum on language, phonological awareness, math, and socioemotional outcomes, but there were no added benefits to academic or socioemotional outcomes for the children receiving explicit socioemotional instruction. Results are discussed with relevance to early childhood theory, policy, and goals of closing the school readiness gap.