eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
K-12 Teacher Inquiry and Reflections describes a graduate program for PK-12 teachers who have engaged in systematically studying their own classrooms. The teachers explain their action research projects and the enduring impact the MA with a focus on Reflective Practice (MARP) has had on their teaching.
This unique book discusses and illustrates the ways the arts have influenced curriculum inquiry and the teaching and learning process. It is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on aesthetic, epistemological, ethical, ontological, and political explanations of the influence of the arts on curricula. The second part offers personal accounts by well-known scholars who have been influenced by works of art and who have translated those influences into their classroom curricula and teaching.
Education is a field in which reflective practice is imperative for teacher and student success and for maintaining the desire to remain in the profession. During times of uncertainty, particularly as teachers faced the dual pandemics of social injustice and the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, they have felt demoralized and powerless. As a result, burnout among educators is becoming increasingly prevalent. It is crucial for teachers to hear reflections of others’ experiences to remind them that they are not alone in their work, provide opportunities for them to find connections with fellow educators, and encourage them to engage in reflective practices of their own. Teacher Reflections on Transitioning From K-12 to Higher Education Classrooms provides a collection of reflections from educators on their varied experiences within education and how and why they have pursued a place in academia. This book speaks to the humanistic side of academia by acknowledging the multiple passions, professions, and pathways that led each of the authors to academia. It is unique in that it is laced with the lived realities of the human side of academia from a shared stories perspective. Covering topics such as lifelong learners and identity shifts, this major reference work is ideal for academicians, researchers, scholars, practitioners, principals, administrators, educators, and students.
The field of TESOL encompasses English teachers who teach English as an additional language in English-dominant countries and those teachers who teach English as a foreign language in countries where a language other than English is the official language. This range of educators teaches English to children, adolescents, and adults in primary, secondary, post-secondary, popular education, and language academies or tutoring centers. The diversity of learners and contexts within the TESOL field presents a unique opportunity for educators to address varied educational and societal needs. This opportunity calls for TESOL educators who can support the whole learner in a range of contexts for the greater social good. There is an urgent need for readily reproducible and step-by-step research-based practices and current standards in TESOL that bridge the gap between critical scholarship and equitable teaching practices. This book would serve as a critical addition to current literature in TESOL. TESOL Guide for Critical Praxis in Teaching, Inquiry, and Advocacy is an essential reference that provides practical and equitable step-by-step guides for TESOL educators through the current best practices and methods for effective and equity-minded teaching, critical inquiry, and transformative advocacy. This book is of particular value as it bridges theories to practices with a critical look at racial and social justice in English language teaching, which will lead to the integration of social justice-focused practice across the new curriculum. Covering topics such as integrated language instruction, equity and inclusivity, critical consciousness, and online learning, this text is essential for in-service and pre-service TESOL educators, education students, researchers, administrators, teacher educators, and academicians.
In light of recent sociological events and the COVID-19 pandemic, education has undergone an incredible change in both policy and delivery. As a result, many educators have sought different career paths. It is essential to maintain a concentrated effort to retain educators; however, recruiting teachers into the profession is only one area of focus; there must be intentional support for teacher development along the educator continuum in order to sustain the profession through institutional struggles. The Handbook of Research on the Educator Continuum and Development of Teachers expands on the body of research related to the educator continuum with a holistic view of teacher development. This book combines theory, concepts, and research studies that pinpoint facets of the educator continuum, providing researchers with scholarly contributions that advance the profession. Covering topics such as instructional coaching, special educator career development, and teacher retention, this major reference work is a valuable resource for educational faculty and administration, teacher colleges, educators of K-12 and higher education, pre-service teachers, government officials, teacher education administrators, libraries, researchers, and academicians.
Philosophers have warned of the perils of a life spent without reflection, but what constitutes reflective inquiry - and why it’s necessary in our lives - can be an elusive concept. Synthesizing ideas from minds as diverse as John Dewey and Paulo Freire, theHandbook of Reflection and Reflective Inquiry presents reflective thought in its most vital aspects, not as a fanciful or nostalgic exercise, but as a powerful means of seeing familiar events anew, encouraging critical thinking and crucial insight, teaching and learning. In its opening pages, two seasoned educators, Maxine Greene and Lee Shulman, discuss reflective inquiry as a form of active attention (Thoreau’s "wide-awakeness"), an act of consciousness, and a process by which people can understand themselves, their work (particularly in the form of life projects), and others. Building on this foundation, the Handbook analyzes through the work of 40 internationally oriented authors: - Definitional issues concerning reflection, what it is and is not; - Worldwide social and moral conditions contributing to the growing interest in reflective inquiry in professional education; - Reflection as promoted across professional educational domains, including K-12 education, teacher education, occupational therapy, and the law; - Methods of facilitating and scaffolding reflective engagement; - Current pedagogical and research practices in reflection; - Approaches to assessing reflective inquiry. Educators across the professions as well as adult educators, counselors and psychologists, and curriculum developers concerned with adult learning will find the Handbook of Reflection and Reflective Inquiry an invaluable teaching tool for challenging times.
Co-published with the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI), Educational Change in International Early Childhood Contexts: Crossing Borders of Reflection examines the role of teacher reflection in a variety of educational contexts worldwide. Using a case study approach that integrates research, theory, policy, and practice, international contributors show how, in some settings, local traditions and values are honored while, in others, international educational ideas and programs become modified to suit local needs. Cases from Japan, China, Palestine, South Africa, Kenya, Finland, Italy, and New Zealand are discussed, as well as models from the United States. Through its thorough investigation into teacher reflection practices throughout the world, Educational Change in International Early Childhood Contexts: Crossing Borders of Reflection focuses on the transformative value of these practices to promote change in early childhood education. Framing commentary from Linda R. Kroll and Daniel R. Meier provides context and places the case studies in conversation with one another, allowing for productive international comparisons in this dynamic collection.
If you're a science teacher, this collection will show you paths that others have found to deepen their understanding of the philosophy and practice of teacher research. If you're a science-teacher educator, it will give you examples about the many ways in-service teachers can conduct inquiry. Either way, Teacher Research provides a memorable passage into 'learning and growing'.
Equity, diversity, and social justice are the values to which global democracies aspire. These elements have strong implications for our children and their schools. They are truly timely issues for all educators. The experiences of the author as a teacher, mother, and immigrant are woven throughout the text. This work is a compilation of essays that address the issues of schooling in relationship to diversity and literacy in pluralistic democracies. The essays offer theoretical perspectives, suggestions for practice, and useful resources to ensure an equitable education for all children. This book encourages educators to reflect on their role as agents of change in schools, and advocates of social justice.
Urban Teaching in America: Theory, Research, and Practice in K-12 Classrooms is a brief yet comprehensive overview of urban teaching. Undergraduate and graduate students who are new to the urban context will develop a deeper understanding of the urban teaching environment and the challenges and opportunities they can expect to face while teaching in it. The authors have combined the work of urban education theorists, researchers, and practitioners to demonstrate that urban students bring many resources to their learning environment and can often serve as educators to the teachers themselves. Readers will feel prepared to challenge, rather than maintain, the status quo after reading this book.
