This timely resource for teachers, leaders, and policymakers provides breakthrough insights into how to improve students' well-being in schools. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, students' well-being was an increasingly prominent concern among educators, as issues related to mental health, global crises, and social media became impossible to ignore. But what, exactly, is well-being? What does it look like, why is it so important, and what can school systems do to promote it? How does it relate to student achievement and social and emotional learning? World-renowned education experts Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley answer these questions and more in this in-depth exploration of the underlying ideas and research findings related to well-being, coupled with examples of policies and implementations from around the globe. The authors make the case for putting well-being ahead of other priorities, such as scores on high-stakes assessments, and explain the three powerful forces that educators can leverage to set up effective well-being policy and practice: prosperity for all, ethical technology use, and restorative nature. Inspiring, thoughtful, and provocative, Well-Being in Schools: Three Forces That Will Uplift Your Students in a Volatile World offers hope in a time of unprecedented challenges. Looking within and beyond the classroom, it charts a path toward a lofty but achievable goal: improved well-being not only for students but also for society as a whole.

Philosophy developed as a form of rational inquiry practised in the cities of Ancient Greece. It involves the pursuit of wisdom and is both the predecessor and the complement of science, developing those issues that underlie science, and pondering those questions that are beyond the scope of science. In spite of a reputation as a difficult and abstract subject, philosophy is inseparable from our daily life. It has to do with our ideas of ourselves and the universe, and understanding the self and our existential space in the world. Philosophy in education and research maps the relationship between philosophy and research with the objective of advancing critical thinking skills.

What does it mean to teach with empathy?Whether it's planning and delivering instruction or just interacting with others throughout the day, every action you take is an opportunity to demonstrate empathy toward your students, your colleagues, and yourself. "I'm already empathetic to my students and their stories," you may be thinking. But a teacher's actions, even unintentional and especially uninformed, can be implicitly shaming, compounding any disconnect students may already feel and undermining your efforts to create a safe and positive classroom environment. Rather than try to identify who needs empathy, start with the premise that all learners deserve empathy because it is a prerequisite for learning and growth. In Teaching with Empathy, Lisa Westman explores three types of empathy-affective, cognitive, and behavioral-and clarifies how they intertwine with curriculum, learning environment, equity practices, instruction and assessment, and grading and reporting. Through her own experience as an instructional coach, Westman shares tips and tools, real-world classroom examples, powerful stories, and even a bit of herself as she guides you to a better understanding of yourself and others. Ultimately, you'll learn what's possible when you let compassion and acceptance inform all aspects of your daily practice.

"Learner-centered classrooms rely on teachers who are willing to change and grow, and on school leaders who are willing to intelligently support them. Change is never easy, but teaching has never been easy, either. Its goal is too grand for ease."Carol Ann Tomlinson's role in defining and popularizing differentiated instruction has made her one of the most influential voices in modern education. In So Each May Soar, she illuminates the next step forward: creating learner-centered classrooms to help all students gain a deeper understanding of themselves, others, and the world. Join Tomlinson as she explores principles and practices of learner-centered classrooms, including * What it means for teachers to honor themselves, each learner, and the content they teach. * How to assemble a curriculum that ignites students' imaginations and drives discovery. * How to guide classroom experiences that develop the mind of each learner in accordance with that learner's marvelous individuality. * How to shape curriculum, assessment, and instruction to support both equity and excellence. Use this book's curated collection of strategies to reconnect with professional and personal aspirations, build an energized and mutually respectful classroom community, and deliver instruction that feels alive to you and your students. Examples from all kinds of learner-centered classrooms clarify what this approach looks like across grade levels and subject areas and confirm its viability in schools with budgets both big and small. A must-have touchstone for veterans, a beacon for middle-career educators, and a mission statement for those just beginning their careers, So Each May Soar celebrates the commitment of teachers and the opportunity they have to help each young person in their care build a better future and lead a wonderful life.

What will it take to create equitable educational opportunities for all students? According to veteran educator Vernita Mayfield, teachers and school leaders need to learn how to recognize culturally embedded narratives about racial hierarchy and dismantle the systems of privilege and the institutions that perpetuate them with knowledge, action, and advocacy. Cultural Competence Now provides a structure to begin meaningful conversations about race, culture, bias, privilege, and power within the time constraints of an ordinary school. The 56 exercises include activities, discussions, and readings in which to engage during each of the four quarters of the school year. School leaders will discover how to facilitate learning through the four steps-awaken and assess; apply and act; analyze and align; advocate and lead-as you and your colleagues: Increase your awareness of privilege and bias. Adapt your professional practices to meet the needs of all students. Examine policies and practices that inhibit opportunities for marginalized populations. Align resources to eradicate inequity in your school. Mayfield offers advice on establishing a safe environment for professional conversations, setting goals for cultural competency, overcoming resistance, reviewing school data and the school's vision and mission through the lens of race and culture, and strategically managing what can be a transformative yet uncomfortable change process. Cultural Competence Now responds to the urgent need to build the cultural competency of educators-for the sake of children and in the interest of supporting and retaining all educators.

An account of what it was like to be educated at a school that was so radical, pupils were not required to attend lessons; and what happened to the pupils afterwards.

Universities across the world strive to be engaged institutions whose purpose is to foster positive social change through teaching, research and community engagement. The integration of these roles may sometimes hinder authentic engagement. Community engagement research in South Africa: histories, methods, theories and practice proposes a transformative model for engagement, in which societal involvement is the driving force behind all activities of the university. This overarching focus serves to blur the divisions between the core higher education and training activities as research becomes more community-based and teaching prepares students to be agents to be informed by research through teaching and learning, and to be agents for positive social change in all spheres of life. This idea is explored throughout the book, with chapters written by renowned community engagement practitioners and scholars of various disciplines. Contributions map community engagement interventions in the intersections of fields such as education, the social sciences, psychology, health, planning, engineering and architecture. They share best practices and draw from theoretical scholarship and practical experience, innovative ways of conceptualising, establishing and "community experiencing" projects. Based on original research, contributors encourage thought of modelling the practical implementation of community engagement at universities.

In K-12 education, your job title or place of work should not prevent you from offering unique insights and pathways for creating change. You have a voice. Working in education today is to continually be on the precipice of change. However, far too many educators don't recognize the power they have to control and shape that change into what's best for students. Individual contributions create collective change, and you are an integral part of the change inevitably happening around you. With that in mind, Ashley Lamb-Sinclair invites you to identify and examine your personal leadership style (or change archetype), which includes what motivates you, how you respond to adversity, how you position yourself in the larger story, how you help move that story forward, and how you deal with the unexpected. How do you create change? You might be a Diplomat if you build relationships and value fairness and integrity. Champion if you are passionate about a cause and advocate for people and ideals. Creative if you approach things through novelty and ingenuity. Storyteller if you are thoughtful, attentive to details, and a clear communicator. Inventor if you are a forward thinker who operates through free experimentation. Sage if you are perceptive, insightful, and persuasive. Investigator if you have an analytical curiosity, ask probing questions, and conduct thorough research. Guardian if you have compassion for and are drawn to nurture and protect others.Many schools tend to ignore or underestimate the powerful catalysts for change that exist in their buildings. Don't let the change story continue without its most vital character-you! Find the lightning bolts of lasting change only you can wield. Become unstoppable!

It's time to move our assessment practices from the 1950s to the century we're living in. It's time to invest in our teachers and local school leaders instead of in more tests. It's time to help all students understand how to unleash their strengths and gain a sense of themselves as learners capable of choosing their own paths to success. In The Perfect Assessment System, Rick Stiggins calls for the ground-up redevelopment of assessment in U.S. education. Speaking from more than 40 years of experience in the field-and speaking for all learners who hope to succeed, the teachers who want them to succeed, and the local school leaders whose aspirations for success have been thwarted by assessment traditions-Stiggins maps out the adjustments in practice and culture necessary to generate both accurate accountability data and the specific evidence of individual mastery that will support sound instructional decision making and better learning in the classroom. He addresses: Assessment purpose-how (and why) to clarify the reason for every assessment and the users it will serve. Learning targets to be assessed-how to make sure we focus on the right competencies and set consistent definitions of success. Assessment quality-how to ensure every assessment, at every level, is an excellent one. Communication of assessment results-how to share information in ways that best support diverse purposes. Assessment impact-how to link assessment to truly productive, universal student motivation. We have not yet begun to explore assessment's true potential to enhance both school quality and student well-being. Stiggins kicks off this critical conversation and charts a course for a new system that promises much higher levels of student success at a fraction of our current testing costs. The door is open for assessment reform; here is a bold plan for getting it right.

Literacy is the foundation for all learning and must be accessible to all students. This fundamental truth is where Kimberly Parker begins to explore how culturally relevant teaching can help students work toward justice. Her goal is to make the literacy classroom a place where students can safely talk about key issues, move to dismantle inequities, and collaborate with one another. Introducing diverse texts is an essential part of the journey, but teachers must also be equipped with culturally relevant pedagogy to improve literacy instruction for all. In Literacy Is Liberation, Parker gives teachers the tools to build culturally relevant intentional literacy communities (CRILCs) with students. Through CRILCs, teachers can better shape their literacy instruction by Reflecting on the connections between behaviors, beliefs, and racial identity. Identifying the characteristics of culturally relevant literacy instruction and grounding their practice within a strengths-based framework. Curating a culturally inclusive library of core texts, choice reading, and personal reading, and teaching inclusive texts with confidence. Developing strategies to respond to roadblocks for students, administrators, and teachers. Building curriculum that can foster critical conversations between students about difficult subjects-including race. In a culturally relevant classroom, it is important for students and teachers to get to know one another, be vulnerable, heal, and do the hard work to help everyone become a literacy high achiever. Through the practices in this book, teachers can create the more inclusive, representative, and equitable classroom environment that all students deserve.

Educational preparation is currently steered by two oppositional forces in contemporary society: global connectedness and local diversity. The traditional notion that literacy entails the technical ability to decode abstract letters in order to recognise and form words and sentences is contested by the pedagogy of multiliteracies - that there is a wealth of linguistic and cultural pluralism in the world and that people can be part of multiple life contexts that overlap in interest, affiliation and education. Multiliteracies in education develops a pedagogical framework to weave multiliteracies into the fabric of the South African classroom. Multiliteracies in education takes the approach that knowledge is contextually situated and rapidly changing and diverse, which calls for new skills and flexibility, and the ability to work in teams. Chapters are sequenced according to the four pillars of the multiliteracies framework: overt instruction, situated practice, critical framing and transformed practice.

Underscoring the complex relationship between civic engagement and education at all stages of life, this innovative Handbook identifies the contemporary challenges and best approaches and practices to encourage civic engagement within education. Chapters cover the theoretical and historical background of civic engagement and education, ideological and social movements, civic-oriented education, curriculum, and outcomes. Using empirical comparative data and unique context-specific studies, the Handbook explores ecopedagogy, education in emergencies, and the novel concept of social contract pedagogy. Addressing contemporary challenges to civic engagement in education, it examines polarization and extremism, accelerating planetary and societal changes, environmental crises, the digital divide, and post-Covid civic education. Ultimately, it finds that civic engagement is best supported by education practices that are characterized by humanizing, negotiated, collaborative, and dialogical approaches which encourage students to develop civic knowledge, critical thinking skills, and moral and ethical values. Interdisciplinary and international in scope, this Handbook will prove vital to students and scholars of sociology and education studies. Its holistic understanding of how civic engagement and education interrelate at local, regional, and global levels will also be useful to policymakers concerned with improving civic and student support, engagement, and participation in education.

One of the most vexing problems confronting educators today is the chronic achievement gap between black male students and their peers. In this inspiring and thought-provoking book, veteran educator Baruti K. Kafele offers a blueprint for lifting black males up and ensuring their success in the classroom and beyond. Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life offers proven strategies for getting black male students in middle school and high school to value learning, improve their grades, and maintain high standards for themselves. The author shows how simple but powerful measures to instill self-worth in young black males can not only raise these students' achievement, but also profoundly alter their lives for the better. This book will help you to help students: Reverse the destructive effects of negative influences, whether among peers or in the popular culture. Surmount adverse conditions at home or in their communities. Participate in mentorship programs with successful black male adults. Take pride in their heritage by learning about great figures and achievements in black history. Whether your school is urban or rural, all-black or mixed, you'll find this book to be an insightful resource that addresses the root causes of low achievement among young black males and offers a clear path to overcoming them.

Within today's multilingual communities, a growing percentage of students are emergent bilinguals-bringing to school a home language other than English and thus poised to become bilingual as they acquire the new language. As a result, school leaders need to have essential background knowledge and a wealth of strategies at their fingertips to ensure that all students are prepared for college, career, and civic engagement. In Learning in a New Language, author Lori Helman offers educational leaders a comprehensive and accessible guide to best practices for supporting students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in a school environment that embraces equity. Helman discusses: Changing demographics that require educational leaders to enlarge and enhance their approaches. The importance of engaging families in forming a cohesive school community that contributes to student success. Fundamental approaches to creating equity for linguistically diverse students in the school change process. The role of language in academic learning and what makes learning in a new language unique. Evidence-based strategies for literacy and content-area classrooms. Practical tips for where to start in supporting emergent bilinguals in the classroom, and presents dozens of online resources for further exploration. The responsibilities of educational leaders continue to expand as they work toward managing school sites and ensuring equity of student opportunity and achievement. Helman provides a one-stop resource for the foundational knowledge and practical guidance needed to strategically take on these responsibilities.