The Soul of Higher Education: Contemplative Pedagogy, Research and Institutional Life for the Twenty-first Century contributes to an understanding of the importance and implications of a contemplative grounding for higher education. It is the fourth in a series entitled Advances in Workplace Spirituality: Theory, Research and Application, which is intended to be an authoritative and comprehensive series in the field. This volume consists of chapters written by noted scholars from both Eastern and Western traditions that shed light on the following questions: What is an appropriate epistemological grounding for contemplative higher education? How dues the current dominant epistemology in higher education mitigate against contemplative teaching, learning, and research? What alternatives can be offered? How can a contemplative culture be nurtured in the classroom? What difference does that culture make in teaching and learning? What is the role of individual and institutional leadership in creating and sustaining this culture? What is contemplative research? How can the emerging field of contemplative studies fit into the twenty-first-century university? What can faculty and students learn from contemplative practices about how to find peace of mind in a world of higher education characterized by increasing complexity, financial pressures, and conflicts? What does a contemplative organizational structure look like in higher education? How can committees, faculty meetings, and administrative teams use contemplative practices to work more effectively together? How can contemplative decision-making processes be used in higher education? Given hierarchies, turf wars, and academics' propensity for using argument as a weapon, is it possible to introduce contemplative practices into decision-making situations in appropriate ways?

Given the increasing diversity of the United States and students entering schools, the value of teacher learning in clinical contexts, and the need to elevate the profession, national organizations have been calling for a re-envisioning of teacher preparation that turns teacher education upside down. This change will require PK-12 schools and universities to partner in robust ways to create strong professional learning experiences for aspiring teachers. University faculty, in particular, will not only need to work in schools, but they will need to work with schools in the preparation of future teachers. This collaboration should promote greater equity and justice for our nation's students. The purpose of this book is to support individuals in designing clinically based teacher preparation programs that place equity at the core. Drawing from the literature as well as our experiences in designing and coordinating award-winning teacher education programs, we offer a vision for equity-centered, clinically based preparation that promotes powerful teacher professional learning and develops high-quality, equity-centered teachers for schools. The chapter topics include policy guidelines, partnerships, intentional clinical experiences, coherence, curriculum and coursework, university-based teacher educators, school-based teacher educators, teacher candidate supervision and evaluation, the role of research, and instructional leadership in teacher preparation. While the concepts we share are research-based and grounded in the empirical literature, our primary intention is for this book to be of practical use. We hope that by the time you finish reading, you will feel inspired and equipped to make change within your own program, your institution, and your local context. We begin each chapter with a "Before You Read" section that includes introductory activities or self-assessment questions to prompt reflection about the current state of your teacher preparation program. We also weave examples, a "Spotlight from Practice," in the form of vignettes designed to spark your thinking for program improvement. Finally, we conclude each chapter with a section called "Exercises for Action," which are questions or activities to help you (re)imagine and move toward action in the (re)design of your teacher preparation program. We hope that you will use the exercises by yourself, but perhaps more importantly, with others to stimulate conversations about how you can build upon what you are already doing well to make your program even better.

There is love on these pages, love for nature, the cosmos, the body's deep knowing and students. Learning in Nature focuses on the lives of 6 drama students who gathered weekly at a community arts center during their childhood and adolescence. Before each play rehearsal the students explored contemplative practices such as meditation, yoga, breathing and visualization. After these warm-up sessions the rehearsals were dynamic and highly creative. So, what might happen if these students went out into nature and experimented with the same practices? What would happen, over a year long period, if they stopped the noise of life and just listened, deeply, just looked and inhaled, phenomenologically? Returning the experience of learning to nature, the book tells the story of this group, it tells of their lives and their growing understanding of consciousness, and does so through the complex and rich perspectives of holistic teaching and learning.

Faculty and students confront persistent racial, economic, and social inequities in higher education locally, nationally, and globally. To counter these inequities, there has been a recent focus on universities providing an inclusive curriculum that serves the needs of students from a wide range of backgrounds. Inclusive and equitable courses and instruction are crucial in today's world as calls for racial and social justice grow, particularly in higher education. Universities and instructors must take action and make changes to best serve their students. Cases on Academic Program Redesign for Greater Racial and Social Justice provides an equity-oriented practical guide for those in higher education who are engaged in the work of curricular reform or program development. It also explores practices and approaches to curriculum development that consider program quality and equitable outcomes as mutually beneficial and necessary outcomes. Covering a range of topics such as antiracism and mindful hiring, it is ideal for teachers, instructional designers, curricula developers, administrators, academics, professors, educators, researchers, those working in higher education, and students.

This book focuses on how teachers can transmit and practice values through classroom circles that attend to and empower all students' voices. A growing number of teachers are using relational pedagogy, drawing on Indigenous circle practice, as a pedagogical tool. Done well, circles can build and sustain dialogue and peaceful relations. Done poorly, circles reflect and reinforce relations of power, which, if disregarded, can be damaging for participants whose voices are silenced or not sufficiently heard. Parker-Shandal's consideration of teachers' professional learning and training in restorative justice in education focuses on ethnographic, classroom-based research in diverse urban elementary schools. Her data include observations of classrooms, teacher surveys, and interviews with students, teachers, and principals. The book provides a detailed account of the lived experience of students and teachers as they engage with and experience the transformative power of constructive dialogue about conflicts embedded in curriculum subject matter through restorative justice pedagogies.

This book provides a timely and comprehensive response to the widely acknowledged serious failings in our current knowledge of organizational leadership and culture, providing an ecologically inspired approach which unifies knowledge and practice across all of the pivotal organisational elements of leadership, culture, teamwork, creativity, complexity and wisdom. Drawing on case studies from Australia and New Zealand, Branson and Marra argue that just as ecosystems are systems of connected elements through which the energy needed to maintain the health of the system must readily flow, an organisation is also a connected system that equally requires a healthy flow of energy in order to achieve its core purpose. Their theory of organizational ecology describes how organizational connectivity, as revealed by the quality of the relationships among the people and the parts of the organization, provides the conduit through which the essential energy (in the form of knowledge, information, ideas, innovation, and support sharing) must flow. Through the application of the theory of organizational ecology, Branson and Marra illustrate how a leader must grow their leadership knowledge and wisdom in order to develop the organization's people and culture so that it is fully able to accomplish the desired vision, mission and core purpose.

For nearly four decades, Russ Quaglia has been laying the groundwork to inform, reform, and transform schools through student voice. That deep commitment is reflected in this inspirational book. Quaglia and his coauthors at the Quaglia Institute for School Voice & Aspirations deftly synthesize the thoughts and feelings of hundreds of thousands of stakeholders and offer a vision for schools where everyone's voice matters. They posit that students, teachers, administrators, and parents must work and learn together in ways that promote deep understanding and creativity. Making this collaborative effort successful, however, requires widespread recognition that all stakeholders have something to teach, and they all have a role to play in moving the entire school forward. We must abandon the ""us versus them"" fallacy in education; there is only ""us."" To that end, The Power of Voice in Schools: Offers a way forward that can be used in any school. Addresses the importance of everyone's voice in the school community. Articulates the lessons learned from listening to these voices over the past decade. Suggests concrete, practical strategies for combined teams of students, teachers, parents, and administrators to make a difference together. This book reflects the dream of a true partnership in listening, learning, and leading together. When the potential of voice is fully realized, schools will look and feel different. Cooperation will replace competition and conflict, collaboration will replace isolation, and confidence will replace insecurity. Most important, the entire school community will work in partnership with one another for the well-being of students and teachers.

In this introduction to educational policy, practice and professionalism, the authors focus first on providing an historical overview of English policy from the state's first interventions in education through to Thatcherism and the election of the Blair government. Chapters then explore the key contemporary policies of recent times and offer a critique on how they have worked in practice, with reference the hysteria that often surrounds education policy. An important theme is media representation of educational matters and the effects this has on the teaching profession. Commentaries and case studies are presented throughout providing an accessible link to what it was really like to learn, teach and live at the time the policy was in place. This new edition now includes: - an account of the measures taken by the Coalition Government of 2010-15, examining the Coalition's continuities with the previous administration whilst also exploring departures from previous thinking and practices; - updated references and case studies throughout to represent new research and legislation since the first edition; - an extended discussion of globalization and global 'policy borrowing'; - further coverage of social justice theory, including a perspective on identity theory and the role of education in the development of identity and the marginalisation of individuals and groups; - a new historical chapter covering the period 1945 to 1997; - a summary of the development of the curriculum and a critique of the 2014 National curriculum, as pioneered by Michael Gove; and - a new conclusion setting out the trajectory of current policies and how this may affect educational practitioners. This is essential reading for all undergraduate students studying education policy and practice.

Exceptional education, also known as special education, is often grounded within exclusive and deficit mindsets and practices. Research has shown perpetual challenges with disproportionate identification of culturally and linguistically diverse students, especially Black and Indigenous students. Research has also shown perpetual use of inappropriate placement in more restrictive learning environments for marginalized students, often starting in Pre-K. Exceptional education practitioners often engage in practices that place disability before ability in instruction, behavior management, identification and use of related services, and educational setting placement decisions. These practices, among others, have resulted in a crippled system that situates students with exceptionalities in perceptions of deviance, ineptitude, and perpetuate systemic oppression. The Handbook of Research on Challenging Deficit Thinking for Exceptional Education Improvement unites current theory and practices to communicate the next steps to end the current harmful practices and experiences of exceptional students through critical analysis of current practices, mindsets, and policies. With the information this book provides, practitioners have the power to implement direct and explicit actions across levels to end the harm and liberate our most vulnerable populations. Covering topics such as accelerated learning, educator preparation programs, and intersectional perspectives, this book is a dynamic resource for teachers in exceptional education, general teachers, social workers, psychologists, educational leaders, organizational leaders, the criminal justice system, law enforcement agencies, government agencies, policymakers, curriculum designers, testing companies, current educational practitioners, administrators, post-grad students, professors, researchers, and academicians.

The Handbook on Teaching Social Issues, 2nd edition, provides teachers and teacher educators with a comprehensive guide to teaching social issues in the classroom. This second edition re-frames the teaching of social issues with a dedicated emphasis on issues of social justice. It raises the potential for a new and stronger focus on social issues instruction in schools. Contributors include many of the leading experts in the field of social studies education. Issues-centered social studies is an approach to teaching history, government, geography, economics and other subject related courses through a focus on persistent social issues. The emphasis is on problematic questions that need to be addressed and investigated in-depth to increase social understanding, active participation, and social progress. Questions or issues may address problems of the past, present, or future, and involve disagreement over facts, definitions, values, and beliefs arising in the study of any of the social studies disciplines, or other aspects of human affairs. The authors and editor believe that this approach should be at the heart of social studies instruction in schools.

This book is one English professor's assessment of university life in the early 21st century. From rising mental health concerns and trigger warnings to learning management systems and the COVID pandemic, Christopher Schaberg reflects on the rapidly evolving landscape of higher education. Adopting an interdisciplinary public humanities approach, Schaberg considers the frequently exhausting and depressing realities of college today. Yet in these meditations he also finds hope: collaboration, mentoring, less grading, surface reading, and other pedagogical strategies open up opportunities to reinvigorate teaching and learning in the current turbulent decade.

Linguists, researchers, and other practitioners in language education acknowledge that the resolution of language problems associated with breaking down language and cultural barriers that hinder the growth of learners' self-identities and national identities is ongoing. In fact, even with decades of research in home language use in the classroom, there are still classrooms worldwide where learners are deprived of the opportunity of building their self-esteem, confidence, and autonomy by communicating with their native language. The global nature of communication requires speakers to use all the languages in their repertoire effectively, thus reinforcing the need to encourage home language use in classrooms. Transformative Pedagogical Perspectives on Home Language Use in Classrooms is a cutting-edge research publication on the effective use of home language in the classroom that emphasizes the significance of this activity to the success of the overall language development of the learner. Particular attention is given to transformative pedagogy and the provision of valuable insights into how the teacher can guide and assist learners in the development of critical thinking skills. In addition, the book provides content that enables practitioners in language education and parents to explore their roles in assisting children in breaking down the language and cultural barriers that hinder the growth of their self-identity and national identity. Highlighting topics such as engineering education, cultural responsiveness, and transformative pedagogy, this book is essential for linguists, academicians, education professionals, curriculum designers, policymakers, administrators, instructional designers, researchers, and students.

Education, Occupation and Social Origin is a must-read book for anyone even faintly interested in social inequality. Comparing across many cohorts in 14 nations, the disheartening conclusion that here emerges is the lack of any genuine equalization of life chances. Advantage breeds advantage and, alas, educational expansion has not proven to be the great social leveler. This volume delivers the most up-to-date evidence, and it does it with scientific rigor and bravura. From the first to the last page this is world-class scholarship that will define our research agenda for many years to come.' - Gosta Esping-Andersen, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain Questioning the assumption that education is the 'great social equalizer', this book takes a comparative approach to the Social Origin-Education-Destination triangle by examining advantage in 14 different countries, including case studies from Europe, Israel, the USA, Russia and Japan. Contributions from leading experts examine the relation between family background, education and occupational achievement over time and across educational levels, focussing on the relationship between individuals' social origins and their income and occupational outcomes. Providing new theoretical insights, this book eloquently analyses a variety of barriers to social mobility. Using concepts of compensatory and boosting advantage to explain the intergenerational transmission of social inequality, it refutes the notion of contemporary societies as education-based and meritocratic, showing that in most of the countries studied there is no sign of decreasing intergenerational association, despite the expansion of education. With its multitude of pertinent case studies, Education, Occupation and Social Origin will be of interest to academics and students of social policy as well as those interested in social inequalities and their evolution over time. It will also be a useful reference for governmental policy makers in the wake of the current economic crisis. Contributors: S. Arita, G. Ballarino, E. Bar Haim, C. Barone, F. Bernardi, A. Bessudnov, E. Bihagen, C. Blank, M. Bouchet-Valat, M. Gratz, J. Harkoenen, T. Keller, F. Lagana, A. Mastekaasa, N. Panichella, C. Peugny, R. Pollack, P. Robert, Y. Sato, Y. Shavit, J. Tolsma, F. Torche, L.-A. Vallet, L. Vandecasteele, M.H.J. Wolbers