This book explores a range of psychosocial resources, and discusses them in relation to lived experiences and outcomes in educational and socioeconomic domains. It offers close insights into the complex relationship between psychosocial resources, such as familial influence, religiosity, aspirations, and socioeconomic progression in Britain. This is achieved by exploring the lived experiences of a sample group of Caribbeans, one of Britain's most internally diverse but discernibly disadvantaged social groups. Detailed accounts of the participants' experiences are offered to provide insights to a wide range of stakeholders in education. Teachers, behaviour specialists, parents, policy advocates, psychologists, social researchers, social justice warriors and lay people will all benefit from this empirically informed perspective on psychosocial resources and their implications for educational attainment and socioeconomic progress. The book implores the reader to appreciate more fully how psychosocial resources play out in outcomes of achievement and progression, and how such outcomes may be improved among members of some disadvantaged social groups. It will be an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and educators in the fields of Education, Sociology, and Psychology.

This volume advocates an optimistic new conceptual and practical approach to adulthood, aging, and education for individuals with intellectual disability (ID) across the lifespan. The compensation age theory (CAT) at the heart of this book suggests that the adulthood period in populations with ID may be characterized by processes of cognitive development, growth, and neural sprouting, rather than stagnation or even decline. Empirical findings indicate the contribution of chronological age, maturity, and accumulating life experiences to adults' continued cognitive growth and intelligence, as a result of direct mediation, cognitive intervention, and academic learning as well as exposure to indirect learning. Grounded in cumulative evidence for the CAT, the book presents comprehensive analysis of a practical holistic educational intervention model for enhancing adults' Cognition (literacy), Affect (including autonomy), and Behavior (adaptive behavior skills), including operative strategies, mediational parameters, and guidance for change agents in diverse settings. This triple CAB model offers detailed tools for promoting the cognitive improvement and invigoration of adults with ID in during ADL, vocational and leisure activities, at all severity levels ranging from mild and moderate to severe and profound, across different ID etiologies including Down syndrome, and even at advanced ages for adults with ID exhibiting comorbid Alzheimer's.

A volume in Advances in Cultural Psychology Series Editor: Jaan Valsiner, Clark University Trust has a constituent role in human societies. It has been treated as a scientific topic in many disciplines. Yet, despite the fact that trust and distrust come to life primarily in human communication and through language, it has seldom been analyzed from a communicative or linguistic perspective. This is the theme of this path-breaking volume. This volume contains 12 chapters, plus introduction and epilogue by the editors. They have been authored by leading specialists on trust in language and communication, coming from many disciplines and from different cultures and countries. Most of the authors share a conceptual basis in dialogical theories. This book is a follow-up volume to two previous volumes on trust within cultural psychology, Trust and Distrust (Markova & Gillespie, 2008) and Trust and Conflict (Markova & Gillespie, 2012). It will be of interest to anyone seriously interested in trust in societies, and in trust and distrust as displayed in communication and language.

This book provides a multidisciplinary view into how individuals and groups interact with the information environments that surround them. The book discusses how informational environments shape our daily lives, and how digital technologies can improve the ways in which people make use of informational environments. It presents the research and outcomes of a seven-year multidisciplinary research initiative, the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Tubingen Informational Environments, jointly conducted by the Leibniz-Institut fur Wissensmedien (IWM) and the Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen. Book chapters from leading international experts in psychology, education, computer science, sociology, and medicine provide a multi-layered and multidisciplinary view on how the interplay between individuals and their informational environments unfolds. Featured topics include: Managing obesity prevention using digital media. Using digital media to assess and promote school teacher competence. Informational environments and their effect on college student dropout. Web-Platforms for game-based learning of orthography and numeracy. How to design adaptive information environments to support self-regulated learning with multimedia. Informational Environments will be of interest to advanced undergraduate students, postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners in various fields of educational psychology, social psychology, education, computer science, communication science, sociology, and medicine.

The Young Adolescent and the Middle School, will focus on issues related to the nature of young adolescence and the intersection of young adolescence with middle level schooling. Examples of topics related to young adolescence include: (a) the developmental characteristics (i.e., physical, emotional, cognitive, social, ethical/moral, psychological), (b) self esteem, (c) identity formation, (d) issues related to gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation, (e) peer pressure (e.g., bullying, suicide, and at-risk behaviors). Possible chapters that focus on the intersection of the nature of young adolescence with middle level schools include: (a) appropriate structures, organizational arrangements, interventions, and practices that are developmentally appropriate; (b) curricular, instructional, and assessment issues as they relate to this developmental period; (c) the characteristics/qualities of teachers and administrators that are essential for effectively working with young adolescents; and (d) issues related to special education; and (e) the involvement of family in middle level schooling. Of particular interest to the editor are manuscripts that present the perspectives of students on various issues related to young adolescence and schooling. Please check with the editor if you have any questions regarding the appropriateness of a topic.

Eugene J. Meehan's immediate purpose in this study is to explain the essentials of a promising approach to measuring and improving cognitive performance, and to summarize the exceptional results obtained thus far from years of experimental applications in the United States and abroad. The approach depends upon two primary constructs: first, a concept labeled cognitive skill or cognitive competence, which is identified with the individual's capacity to acquire, assess, and apply knowledge; and second, a theory of knowledge that is limited in scope but focused on the development and use of knowledge in the conduct of human affairs. Meehan's extended purpose, the reason for being concerned with measuring and improving cognitive competence, is the glaring inadequacy of intellectual performance of those educated in the United States and elsewhere, compared to current needs. This study details the strong theoretical base, examines the process of testing cognitive skill, and investigates the relationship between cognitive skill and real-world achievement. Meehan argues that a useful measure of the concept of cognitive skill testing can be created and stabilized, and that the skills included can be improved selectively and systematically. The book concludes with a discussion of the principal areas of uncertainty, including the long-range effects of cognitive training and the factors that influence retention--particularly in societies that maintain a generally anti-intellectual environment, or where methodological and analytical criticism is not a regular part of everyday practice, even among the well-educated. The significant research, testing, and results which show actual progress in improving educational practice as detailed in this book will interest methodologists, educators, and social scientists.

The spread of English as an international language along with the desire to maintain local languages lead us to consider multilingualism as the norm rather than the exception. Consequently, bi/multilingual education has bloomed over the last decades. This volume deals with one such type of education currently in the spotlight as an essentially European strategy to multilingualism, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), in which curricular content is taught through a foreign language. The book contributes new empirical evidence on its effects on linguistic and attitudinal outcomes focusing on bi/multilingual learners who acquire English as an additional language. Moreover, it presents critical analyses of factors influencing multilingual education, the effects of CLIL on both language and content learning, and the contrast between CLIL and other models of instruction. The research presented suggests that CLIL can greatly enhance language acquisition in multilingual settings.

Cultivating motivation is crucial to a language learner's success - and therefore crucial for the language teacher and researcher to understand. This fully revised edition of a groundbreaking work reflects the dramatic changes the field of motivation research has undergone in recent years, including the impact of language globalisation and various dynamic and relational research methodologies, and offers ways in which this research can be put to practical use in the classroom and in research. Key new features and material: * A brand new chapter on current socio-dynamic and complex systems perspectives * New approaches to motivating students based on the L2 Motivational Self System * Illustrative summaries of qualitative and mixed methods studies * Samples of new self-related motivation measures Providing a clear and comprehensive theory-driven account of motivation, Teaching and Researching Motivation examines how theoretical insights can be used in everyday teaching practice, and offers practical tips. The final section provides a range of useful resources, including relevant websites, key reference works and tried and tested example questionnaires. Written in an accessible style and illustrated with concrete examples, it is an invaluable resource for teachers and researchers alike.

This book discusses how we can inspire today's youth to engage in challenging and productive discussions around the past, present and future role of animals in science education. Animals play a large role in the sciences and science education and yet they remain one of the least visible topics in the educational literature. This book is intended to cultivate research topics, conversations, and dispositions for the ethical use of animals in science and education. This book explores the vital role of animals with/in science education, specimens, protected species, and other associated issues with regards to the role of animals in science. Topics explored include ethical, curriculum and pedagogical dimensions, involving invertebrates, engineering solutions that contribute to ecosystems, the experiences of animals under our care, aesthetic and contemplative practices alongside science, school-based ethical dialogue, nature study for promoting inquiry and sustainability, the challenge of whether animals need to be used for science whatsoever, reconceptualizing museum specimens, cultivating socioscientific issues and epistemic practice, cultural integrity and citizen science, the care and nurturance of gender-balanced curriculum choices for science education, and theoretical conversations around cultivating critical thinking skills and ethical dispositions. The diverse authors in this book take on the logic of domination and symbolic violence embodied within the scientific enterprise that has systematically subjugated animals and nature, and emboldened the anthropocentric and exploitative expressions for the future role of animals. At a time when animals are getting excluded from classrooms (too dangerous! too many allergies! too dirty!), this book is an important counterpoint. Interacting with animals helps students develop empathy, learn to care for living things, engage with content. We need more animals in the science curriculum, not less. David Sobel, Senior Faculty, Education Department, Antioch University New England

This book provides an overview of the state-of-the art of psychological research on learning and knowledge exchange with digital media, based on a comprehensive research program that was realized at the Leibniz-Institut fur Wissensmedien(IWM) during the last decade. The dramatic rise of new tools and technologies, including both hardware devices like smartphones, tablets, multitouch-tables, or stereoscopic screens as well as software environments like Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter or MOOCs - has fundamentally reshaped teaching, learning, and knowledge exchange. The authors describe an area of digital learning in light of these recent technological developments, specify the relevant theoretical approaches, summarize the main research results from the lab, and discuss their theoretical and practical implications.

Grounded in research, Vibrant Learning, focuses on language-rich, literacy-based, collaborative classrooms as the foundation for transforming content area learning. The authors emphasize three areas: (1) strategies to support student understanding of concepts, (2) ideas to encourage student engagement, and (3) creating a lively and respectful classroom environment to foster an integrative approach to learning. Knowledgeable teachers with a repertoire of effective instructional strategies make genuine learning possible. With that in mind, this book presents a solid theoretical background and a set of practical tools in each of its chapters, ranging from assessment, compression, vocabulary, motivation, to integration for the content area teacher.

This book explains how a teaching system focused on identifying and stoking each student's strengths-rather than concentrating on deficits-can bring remarkable academic improvement and achievement. It's a familiar and seemingly logical model: to improve performance, identify weaknesses and target these problem areas. Could doing the opposite be a better way? Licensed clinical psychologist Elsie Jones-Smith argues that strengths-based systems are indeed more effective-not just in social work, where the philosophy became popular; or in the business world, where the concept is increasingly being embraced-but in the academic setting as well. Spotlighting the Strengths of Every Single Student: Why U.S. Schools Need a New, Strengths-Based Approach explains how and why a system that focuses on students' strengths enables kids to be self-confident, goal-directed, and to possess a stronger sense of self-efficacy, self-control, and academic achievement. Jones-Smith also explains how such a system spurs appreciation and advancement of multiple intelligences, which in turn gives students the ability to address weaknesses-on their own. Another plus: this approach has also been shown to generally reduce school disciplinary actions and increase class attendance time. Contains 25 teaching strategies that are part of the strength-based program Offers powerful vignettes to illustrate key points

This book brings together a variety of contemporary approaches to learning that by and large follow the structuralist path to understand learning, a path both ecological and dynamic. The book views the learning processes as they take place in the course of personenvironment relationships.

This book presents innovative instructional interventions designed to support inquiry project-based learning as an approach to equip students with 21st century skills. Instructional techniques include collaborative team-based teaching, social constructivist game design and game play, and productive uses of social media such as wikis and other online communication affordances. The book will be of interest to researchers seeking a summary of recent empirical studies in the inquiry project-based learning domain that employ new technologies as constructive media for student synthesis and creation. The book also bridges the gap between empirical works and a range of national- and international-level educational standards frameworks such as the P21, the OECD framework, AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, and the Common Core State Standards in the US. Of particular interest to education practitioners, the book offers detailed descriptions of inquiry project-based learning interventions that can be directly reproduced in today's schools. Further, the book provides research-driven guidelines for the evaluation of student inquiry project-based learning. Lastly, it offers education policymakers insight into establishing anchors and spaces for applying inquiry project-based learning opportunities for youth today in the context of existing and current education reform efforts. The aim of this book is to support education leaders', practitioners' and researchers' efforts in advancing inspiring and motivating student learning through transformative social constructivist inquiry-based knowledge-building with information technologies. We propose that preparing students with inquiry mindsets and dispositions can promote greater agency, critical thinking and resourcefulness, qualities needed for addressing the complex societal challenges they may face.

The first volume in this ground-breaking series focuses on the origins and early development of numerical cognition in non-human primates, lower vertebrates, human infants, and preschool children. The text will help readers understand the nature and complexity of these foundational quantitative concepts and skills along with evolutionary precursors and early developmental trajectories.

This edited volume highlights the rich and complex educational debates around Critical Disability Studies in Education (DSE), critical mental health, and crip theories. Chapter authors use the term Dis/ability to criticize aspects of education research and international development that do not center the experiences of dis/abled students and people with dis/abilities. Through case studies from around the Americas, chapters highlight how top-down approaches to disabilities further oppress rather than emancipate. The volume prioritizes the spaces of resistance where local initiatives speak back to the demands imposed by an ever-globalizing world shaped by colonialism and imperialism, undergird by intersectional ableism. Voices of disabled students and people with dis/abilities counter-narrate the personal, interpersonal, structural, and political ways in which biomedical and psychological models of disability have impacted their well-being throughout education and society in the Americas. Through a critical sentipensante approach that centers the "epistemologies of the south," this volume challenges global mental health and dis/ability hegemony in the Americas.

This book shares with English readers Chinese theoretical and practical explorations of moral education curriculum for primary schools within the basic education curriculum reform project since 2001.The book expounds this moral education curriculum reform and focuses on three main ideas: The curriculum's aim is to enrich children's experiences and reflect their own lives; the curriculum's content is originated from children's lives; the curriculum's structure is developed from children's learning approach in their morality and social study. In this book, light is also shed on how to construct moral education textbooks, direct moral instruction, and moral teacher identity in the perspective of moral learning; how to knit law education and Chinese traditional culture education in moral curriculum. This is the first comprehensive book focusing on Chinese moral education curriculum reform. It will appeal to researchers, research students, and writers of moral education textbooks. It is also suitable for teacher training programs to help future teachers learn about moral education curriculum and help them effectively design and organize it for children's morality study.