The Story of the Unlucky Teacher and her Koalas is a must read for any educator who believes that all children have the ability to learn and be successful. The Unlucky Teacher's koalas are representative of the students who attend America's public schools-students who are poor and hungry, students who have learning disabilities or physical impairments, students who have been taught not to believe in themselves. Refusing to allow the stress of high stakes tests and humiliating comments from the community deter her, The Unlucky Teacher leads her koalas and their families to a triumphant victory that defies the societal stigmas that are pervasive in the koala bears' everyday lives.

College and career readiness is essential to promoting the success of all students. Educational and economic changes in today's society demands well thought out strategies for preparing students to survive academically, socially, and financially in the future. African American students are at a disadvantage in this strategic planning process due to a long history of racism, injustice, and marginalization. African American Students' Career and College Readiness: The Journey Unraveled explores the historical, legal, and socio-political issues of education affecting African American students and their career and college readiness. Each chapter has been written based on the authors' experience and passion for the success of students in the African American population. Some of the chapters will appear to be written in a more conversational and idiomatic tone, whereas others are presented in a more erudite format. Each chapter, however, presents a contextual portrayal of the contemporary, and often dysfunctional, pattern of society's approach to supporting this population. Contributors also present progressive paradigms for future achievements. Through the pages of this book, readers will understand and hopefully appreciate what can be done to promote positive college bound self-efficacy, procurement of resources in the high school to college transition, exposure and access to college possibilities, and implications for practice in school counseling, education leadership, and higher education.

Improving Professional Learning through In-House Inquiry shows how to identify the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) needs of an individual or team and then to meet those needs through carrying out specific inquiry within the organisation. Middlewood and Abbott demonstrate how the most effective professional learning occurs when the the needs of an organisation are identified at all levels and provide clear support for following this approach. The authors also show that effective student involvement is key because it clearly links CPD with the ultimate aim: to meet students' learning needs. Examples of how this has been achieved successfully in schools and colleges are drawn on throughout, showcasing a variety of settings in various countries. Four extended case studies from different types of educational institutions are provided to illustrate learning journeys.

Storytelling is an ideal avenue for language learners to share their experiences and journeys and find a sense of identity. Everyone who has learned an additional language has a story to tell, but there is a unique type of autoethnographic and linguistic story that can be read in scholarly platforms. Autoethnographic Perspectives on Multilingual Life Stories presents the life stories of multilingual people and their experiences by using autoethnography as a research method. It proposes narrative as an autobiographical research method that provides the technique and opportunity to express how transnationals construct their identities in foreign and new contexts through partial or full life stories. Covering topics such as identity, life stories, and self-discovery, this reference work is ideal for academicians, researchers, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

"Segregation now, Segregation tomorrow, Segregation forever". Was there some truth behind this famous speech given by George Wallace? Did African Americans truly benefit from the results of Brown v. the Board of Education or did they get the short end of the stick? Over the years, the Black community has suffered major loses in the areas of education, business and gender identity due to integration. The founders of the NAACP objectives were to unite and educate a suppressed race that would fight against social injustice and bring capital into the Black community. Initially, these ideologies were well represented by this noble organization; however during and after the decision of the Brown versus the Board of Education case things drastically changed. The once unified organization began to have major conflicts with Black educators. Some rejoiced over this landmark victory, citing that justice had finally prevailed, while other embraced for the worst, believing that the outcome from the case was only a Pyrrhic victory. This book aims to understand the effects of integration on the African American community and offers inspiration to those who want to change and build a better and strong Black community.

This book examines Norwegian education throughout the course of the 19th century, and discusses its development in light of broader transnational impulses. The nineteenth century is regarded as a period of increasing national consciousness in Norway, pointing forward to the political independency that the country was granted in 1905. Education played an important role in this process of nationalisation: the author posits that transnational - for the most part Scandinavian - impulses were more decisive for the development of Norwegian education than has been acknowledged in previous research. Drawing on the work of educator and school bureaucrat Hartvig Nissen, who is recognised as the most important educational strategist in 19th century Norway, this book will be of interest to scholars of the history of education and Norwegian education more generally.

Although both school-university transitions and cross-border transitions have been widely explored, comparatively little research has been conducted on those students who undergo both transitions at the same time. This book reports on a longitudinal qualitative study investigating the major issues faced by nine Mainland Chinese students during their first year at a Hong Kong university from the perspective of learner autonomy. It argues that the school-university transition is especially challenging for students going through a cross-border transition at the same time, which usually involves a linguistic and cultural adjustment, and challenges their autonomy in three domains: managing their personal lives; academic learning; and English learning. Adopting the perspective of autonomy enables us to better understand student transitions so that more appropriate support can be provided for this group. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable asset for educators at both the secondary and post-secondary levels, and underscores the need to help students bridge the gap between school and university, and thus advance along the continuum of autonomy more smoothly. It also has practical implications for students who are studying or intend to study abroad.

Within education there have been some notable attempts to frame social justice in ways that can help to explain and understand the practices of those working in schools, especially school leaders. The research contained in this book seeks to enhance our understanding of school leaders' actions as they work to promote socially just practices and/or outcomes in a range of different national contexts. The unique nature of this research is that studies took place in numerous schools across the globe in avariety of contexts yet utilized the same research protocols. This has allowed the researchers to draw conclusions at an international level about social justice decision making, the supports and barriers brought on school leaders by national policy and mandates, and the essential nature of context in the work of social justice leadership. The audience will include scholars on a global scale, given that cases in the book include authors and principals from around the world. The book can also serve as a text for leadership preparation courses as well as courses in social justice, research design, and qualitative research methodologies. Courses in human relations and communication can use the content as examples of the negotiations and challenges of teamwork in international settings. A primary audience for the book is system/school level leaders in contexts and communities throughout the world for understanding comparative leadership and social justice decision making. Current principals will find the cases useful as reflexive tools for their own work. Educational leaders, educational reformers, and policy makers will benefit from this book as they seek to understand the impact of their work and its influence on promoting equity in schools across the globe.