This open access book outlines key terms of China's school leadership in Chinese political and legal, financial, administrative, and cultural contexts. It reveals and interprets the real meaning of these practical terms based on existing laws, government documents, school policy texts as well as the latest empirical findings from school leaders and teachers' surveys and interviews in China. Providing a holistic picture of China's school leadership through the unique meanings of these terms, the book offers researchers and graduate students insights into school leadership practice and its context in China. Thus, it would likely intensify readers' knowledge base to analyse and interpret the phenomenon and research data regarding China's school leadership.

This book is the first comprehensive investigation of interlanguage pragmatic issues in a primary school context that is based on both primary school teachers' statements on their own teaching realities, views and preferences, and a thorough investigation of materials used by teachers and recommended by teacher educators in the state the primary schools are located in. It offers a contrastive analysis of primary school learners acquiring English in a typical English as a foreign language school context and their age peers in the same state that are exposed to English in a school immersion context. This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, educators in higher education that focus on English language teaching, second language acquisition and applied linguistics. It is also intended for students who are planning to become primary school teachers of English as a foreign language.

Upper secondary science is the bridge to science-related careers and thereby to human capital formation in science and technology. Quality rather than quantity is what counts at this level and teacher quality is a major determinant. This book looks at upper secondary science teacher quality in eighteen countries from affluent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members to very poor countries. The yardsticks applied to teacher quality are academic and professional education and training, professional practice including the resource base, continuing professional development, and science teacher associations. All country case studies are written to facilitate internal cross-referencing, thereby accentuating the comparative nature of the volume. The book ends with an 'investment guide' that focuses on where and how money is best spent in relation to building up and maintaining a quality upper secondary science teaching force.

An Adventure with Childhood Obesity is an exciting storybook and guidebook pair, designed to help readers understand the physical, social and psychological effects of obesity on children and young people. Down Mount Kenya on a Tea Tray: Wesley had never thought much about his lifestyle or how he looked. He enjoyed eating his way through weekends in front of the telly with his mum. However, fate catapults him to a new life in East Africa and he is forced to face the negative impact that obesity is having on his life. When he rashly promises to climb Mount Kenya along with the rest of his class, an adventure in courage and determination begins ... An exciting and engaging story for children aged 8-12, this book explores some of the challenges faced by obese children. Supporting Childhood Obesity: Providing an easy-to-read introduction to childhood obesity, this guidebook is rooted in current theory, and takes a holistic approach to supporting obese children. Chapters explain the surprisingly complex causes of childhood obesity and highlight that children often have little control over the factors that may lead them to become obese. The physical and psychological consequences of obesity are explored and strategies suggested, ranging from individual and family support, to changes that need to be made at a societal level to tackle this significant public health issue.

This empowering workbook and guide will help children and young people to develop a positive understanding of their autistic identity, whilst providing key adults with the tools needed to support their journey and initiate important conversations. The workbook is highly structured and visual, broken down into key sections such as Interests and Focus, Masking, Emotions and My Autistic Identity Statement to create a personal passport and to develop a deeper understanding of what autism means to the young person as an individual. The accompanying guide provides background information, covering topics such as the social and medical models of disability and Monotropism, as well as a clear approach to help the adult to initiate key conversations, with examples of 'possible prompts' as well as concrete, supportive strategies. Content has been shaped by autistic advisors and contributors, with first-hand experiences woven throughout both books. Having a positive understanding of your autistic identity is an indicator of higher self-esteem and wellbeing as an adult. This set supports the development of this and will be valuable for autistic children and young people aged 10+ and the adults working with them.

The authors of this practical, timely work maintain that the public schools can, and should, play a role in delivering both a good educational start and high-quality care to young children. Addressed to a wide readership including federal and state legislators, state commissioners of social services and education, policy planners, education and advocacy organizations, and public school administrators, this book focuses on the major contemporary child care issues in a readable, understandable format. It will, by virtue of its breadth and authority, change the way those in the field perceive and respond to the critical and sensitive problems of early care.

Many foundational concepts in biology are notoriously difficult to teach. The challenge grows tougher when you add the need to align with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This book makes your job easier by opening your mind to fresh and effective approaches for today's high school classrooms. Hard-to-Teach Biology Concepts provides an Instructional Planning Framework that helps you understand students' learning needs, incorporate appropriate teaching strategies, and interpret the framework and teaching tools through the lens of NGSS. Contributing authors show how they use the framework to teach four NGSS disciplinary core ideas: growth and development of organisms, ecosystems, heredity, and biological evolution. Although the teaching models are specific and illuminating, the book doesn't dictate what's right for you. Veteran teachers and those new to the classroom can use the framework to develop students' conceptual understanding based on what works best for student and teacher.

Mastering Primary Design and Technology introduces the primary design and technology curriculum and helps trainees and teachers learn how to plan and teach inspiring lessons that make design and technology learning irresistible. Topics covered include: * Current developments in design and technology * Design and technology as an irresistible activity * Design and technology as a practical activity * Skills to develop in design and technology * Promoting curiosity * Assessing children in design and technology * Practical issues This guide includes examples of children's work, case studies, readings to reflect upon and reflective questions that all help to exemplify what is considered to be best and most innovative practice. The book draws on the experience of a leading professional in primary design and technology, Gill Hope, to provide the essential guide to teaching design and technology for all trainee and qualified primary teachers.

This book calls for a reconceptualisation and decolonisation of the Key Stage 2 national history curriculum. The author applies a range of theories in his research with White-British primary school teachers to show how decolonising the history curriculum can generate new knowledge for all, in the face of imposed Eurocentric starting points for teaching and learning in history, and dominant white-cultural attitudes in primary school education. Through both narrative and biographical methodologies, the author presents how teaching and learning Black-British history in schools can be achieved, and centres his Black-British identity and minority-ethnic group experience alongside the immigrant Black-Jamaican perspective of his mother to support a framework of critical thinking of curriculum decolonisation. This book illustrates the potential of transformative thinking and action that can be employed as social justice for minority-ethnic group children who are marginalized in their educational development and learning by the dominant discourses of British history, national building and national identity.

While considerable evidence indicates that school leaders are able to make important contributions to the success of their students, much less is known about how such contributions are made. This book provides a comprehensive account of research aimed at filling this gap in our knowledge, along with guidelines about how school leaders might use this knowledge for their own school improvement work. Leadership practices known to be effective for improving student success are outlined in the first section of the book while the remaining sections identify four "paths" along which the influence of those practices "flow" to exercise an influence on student success. Each of the Rational, Emotional, Organizational and Family paths are populated by conditions or variables known to have relatively direct effects on student success and also open to influence by effective leadership practices. While the Four Path framework narrows the attention of school leaders to a still-considerable number conditions known to contribute to student success, it leaves school leaders the autonomy to select, for improvement efforts, the sub-set of conditions that make the most sense in their own local circumstances. The approach to leadership described in this book provides evidence-based guidance on what to lead and flexibility on how to lead for purposes of improving student learning.

By implication, a well - prepared teacher is key to the sustainability of a quality education system globally. However, the outbreak of the coronavirus globally exposed many deficiencies in the education system, especially in developing nations. The education sector was not spared at the outbreak of COVID-19 as school systems everywhere were abruptly shut down and children were required to stay at home. Little did educators know that the period would linger longer than expected, hence the need to keep children learning through virtual mode. The vital questions that should be addressed are: Are teachers of early childhood capable of meeting the challenges in an emergency period like this as well as future emergencies? What expertise do they have or should they possess to meet up with the demands of emergency times and situations? Are there challenges to be addressed to enhance teachers on the job performance for any circumstances? How technologically prepared and ready are the teachers of this age for emergency times which may be natural or man-made? Is there a match between early childhood teacher preparation curriculum and societal experiences? This book aims to identify, share, and explain teachers' experiences during and after emergencies, whether they be natural or man-made across all nations. It illuminates cross-cultural commonalities and unique differences in the conceptualizations of teacher effectiveness and practices and empowers teachers on procedures and approaches to manage any form of emergency to the best of their abilities and for their student's benefit. This crucial reference is targeted towards pre-service and in-service teachers, as well as practitioners in early childhood education. Academicians, researchers, and students in education will also benefit from the research contained within this book.

This book explores the experiences of young people as they move through the Irish secondary educational system. Drawing on a rich study which combines survey data with in-depth interviews with students, it addresses the key facets of schooling which influence young people's experiences. With chapters organised thematically, including ability grouping, school climate and the impact of high stakes examinations, the central dimensions of school structure and process is explored. Placing young people's voices centre stage, it explores how they respond to the school context and make decisions that will profoundly affect their future. This book contrasts different types of school settings and examines how gender and social class play out at the school level.

This edited volume explores how primary school teachers create rich opportunities for science learning, higher order thinking and reasoning, and how the teaching of science in Australia, Germany and Taiwan is culturally framed. It draws from the international and cross-cultural science education study EQUALPRIME: Exploring quality primary education in different cultures: A cross-national study of teaching and learning in primary science classrooms. Video cases of Year 4 science teaching were gathered by research teams based at Edith Cowan University, Deakin University, the Freie Universitat Berlin, the National Taiwan Normal University and the National Taipei University of Education. Meetings of these research teams over a five year period at which data were shared, analysed and interpreted have revealed significant new insights into the social and cultural framing of primary science teaching, the complexities of conducting cross-cultural video-based research studies, and the strategies and semiotic resources employed by teachers to engage students in reasoning and meaning making. The book's purpose is to disseminate the new insights into quality science teaching and how it is framed in different cultures; methodological advancements in the field of video-based classroom research in cross-cultural settings; and, implications for practice, teacher education and research. "The chapters (of this book) address issues of contemporary relevance and theoretical significance: embodiment, discursive moves, the social unit of learning and instruction, inquiry, and reasoning through representations. Through all of these, the EQUALPRIME team manages to connect the multiple cultural perspectives that characterise this research study. The 'meta-reflection' chapters offer a different form of connection, linking cultural and theoretical perspectives on reasoning, quality teaching and video-based research methodologies. The final two chapters offer connective links to implications for practice in teacher education and in cross-cultural comparative research into teaching and learning. These multiple and extensive connections constitute one of the books most significant accomplishments. The EQUALPRIME project, as reported in this book, provides an important empirical base that must be considered by any system seeking to promote sophisticated science learning and instructional practices in primary school classrooms. By exploring the classroom realisation of aspirational science pedagogies, the EQUALPRIME project also speaks to those involved in teacher education and to teachers. I commend this book to the reader. It offers important insights, together with a model of effective, collegial, collaborative inter-cultural research. It will help us to move forward in important ways". Professor David Clarke, Melbourne University

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.

This book presents a pioneering longitudinal study on English language instruction at the elementary school (ELES) level in the Japanese public school system. It attempts to identify those domains most sensitive to early English instruction by employing a state-of-the-art quantitative research methodology. English education was formally introduced in Japan for fifth and sixth graders in 2011 and is still in its infancy as a program. This study compares two groups (Grade 7 and 8) of students, one with ELES and one without, in order to shed light on their experiences. Comparisons are carried out not only quantitatively, measuring changes in English skills (listening, speaking, reading, and vocabulary / grammar) and the ELES students' affective aspects, but also qualitatively through in-depth interviews. Thus, this study attempts to capture the ELES students' experiences from a multi-dimensional perspective. The comprehensive literature review provided offers a valuable resource not only for researchers looking for a quick digest of the literature in this field before undertaking their own research, but also for policy-makers seeking to assess how to best implement ELES.

Public school students in many states are given the opportunity to choose a potential job to pursue or path of study in one of the 16 national career clusters delineated by the U.S. Department of Education. Some of these career clusters include (1) agriculture, food and natural resources; (2) audio/visual technology and communications; (3) architecture and construction; (4) business, management and administration and (5) education and training. This book provides an excerpt of interviews of 57 professionals in different occupations (teacher, lawyer, doctor, entrepreneur, etc.) to help students learn of jobs for successful employment. The book is also designed to help students visualize how their background fits certain characteristics of professionals so they become inspired to pursue a defined career path. Each professional's occupation in the chapters is linked to one of the 16 national career clusters supported by definitions of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium. Finally, the book provides a review of best practices various schools have used across the country to prepare students for college and careers.

This book uses practice theory to examine the role of 'middle-leadership'. In particular, it investigates the practices of 'leading in the middle' in the cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political domains - i.e., the sayings, doings and relatings of middle leading. This perspective acknowledges the ecological arrangement of leading practices in schools, and the necessity of considering the unavoidable reality of the site. The analysis is used to promote the need to view leading in the middle as a form of praxis - a morally and ethically informed practice that requires thoughtful decision-making and action in situations where the outcomes are not always clear. This book focuses on the practice of leading for those in 'middle management' positions in primary and secondary schools, such as those responsible for curriculum leadership, including senior teachers, assistant principals, and curriculum leaders. In their positions that bridge 'management' and 'the classroom' they are significant leaders in promoting and sustaining effective pedagogy for good learning outcomes, and they have to continue to provide high-quality teaching in their own classrooms, while simultaneously being a mentor, coach, supporter and evaluator for their colleagues.