Religious Education as a Dialogue with Difference addresses current issues over the study of religion in publicly maintained schools. Are liberal, inclusive approaches to the study of religion suited to the aims of education in a democracy? Do liberal democratic aims offer the right framework for the study of religion? By presenting research on English secondary school pupils' motivation in religious education, this volume argues that religious education is best understood as a democratic dialogue with difference. The book offers empirical evidence for this claim, and it demonstrates how learners gain in religious literacy, both through the exercise of democratic citizenship in the classroom and towards the goal of life-long democratic citizenship.

Focusing on a key area of debate within the world of secondary English, the 'knowledge-based curriculum', this book explores in detail the question of knowledge in the teaching of English in secondary schools, drawing on specific concrete cases and a range of academic theories. Knowledge in English also investigates how to teach both facts and skills through the required texts to produce a balanced educational experience. Elliott brings together classic texts with contemporary knowledge and viewpoints to critically examine teaching in the English literature classroom, and situates them within the broader cultural and political context. The book includes discussions on race and gender in texts, Shakespeare and his influence, facts and emotions in poetry, and reading experiences. Knowledge in English is a foundational and accessible guide for researchers, practitioners, teacher educators and teachers around the world. It is a valuable resource for those involved in the English curriculum to keep the subject relevant and useful to students in the contemporary classroom.

Classroom-tested methods for boosting secondary students' writing skills

"The Writing Teacher's Activity-a-Day" offers teachers, homeschoolers, and parents 180 ready-to-use, reproducible activities that enhance writing skills in secondary students. Based on Ledbetter's extensive experience consulting to language arts teachers and school districts across the country, the classroom-tested activities included in this book teach students key literary and writing terms like allegory, elaboration, irony, personification, propaganda, voice, and more--and provide them with engaging examples that serve as models for their own Quick Writes.Contains writing prompts and sample passages in student-friendly language that connects abstract literary concepts to students' own livesWritten by popular workshop presenter and veteran educator Mary Ellen LedbetterOffers a user-friendly, value-packed resource for teaching writing skills

Designed for English language arts teachers in grades 6-12, tutors, parents, learning specialists, homeschoolers, and consultants.

At a time when knowledge is being 're-valued' as central to curriculum concerns, subject English is being called to account. Literary Knowing and the Making of English Teachers puts long-standing debates about knowledge and knowing in English in dialogue with an investigation of how English teachers are made in the 21st century. This book explores, for the first time, the role of literature in shaping English teachers' professional knowledge and identities by examining the impacts, in particular, of their own school teaching in their 'making'. The voices of early career English teachers feature throughout the work, in a series of vignettes providing reflective accounts of their professional learning. The authors bring a range of disciplinary expertise and standpoints to explore the complexity of knowledge and knowing in English. They ask: How do English teachers negotiate competing curriculum demands? How do they understand literary knowledge in a neoliberal context? What is core English knowledge for students, and what role should literature play in the contemporary curriculum? Drawing on a major longitudinal research project, they bring to light what English teachers see as central to their work, the ways they connect teaching with their disciplinary training, and how their understandings of literary practice are contested and reimagined in the classroom. This innovative work is essential reading for scholars and postgraduate students in the fields of teacher education, English education, literary studies and curriculum studies.

* Chapters include pedagogical features: learning objectives, alignment to professional standards for educational leaders, reflective exercises, resource information, and portfolio building activities * This book appeals to a variety of stakeholders interested in innovative strategies to reform schools, including candidates in both teacher education and leadership preparation programs. * The book uses real life case study analysis to explore exemplary programs * While this book acknowledges the key role of afterschool education, it redefines and expands the way that educators can work with the community to reframe the learning experiences for secondary school students as they prepare for postsecondary life.

Completely revised and updated in light of the new SEND 2014 Code of Practice, this new edition describes the different types of difficulties experienced by pupils with speech, language and communication needs. It will help teachers and other professionals to feel more confident by providing expert guidance and practical strategies, and as a professional development tool, will also encourage outstanding practice by suggesting ideas and materials for in-house training sessions. The wide-ranging and accessible chapters explore topics including: Listening skills Phonological awareness Comprehension of language Activities for circle time Working with parents Featuring useful checklists, templates and photocopiable resources, this practical resource contains a wealth of valuable advice and tried-and-tested strategies for identifying children and young people with speech, language and communication needs, ensuring they have the support they need to make exceptional progress.

Spanning scholarly contributions from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, this edited volume seeks to capture and elucidate the distinct challenges, approaches and possible solutions associated with interpreting, adapting and applying language-in-education policies in a range of linguistically complex teaching and learning environments across South Asia. Centring on-the-ground perspectives of scholars, practitioners, pupils, parents and the larger community, the volume offers new insights into one of the most complex, populous, and diverse multilingual educational contexts in the world. Language-in-education policies and practices within this setting represent particularly high stakes issues, playing a pivotal role in determining access to literacy, thereby forming a critical pivot in the reproduction of educational inequality. The broad aim of the collection is thus to highlight the pedagogical, practical, ideological and identity-related implications arising from current language-in-education policies in this region, with the aim of illustrating how systemic inequality is intertwined with such policies and their associated interpretations. Aimed at both academics and practitioners - whether researchers and students in the fields of education, linguistics, sociology, anthropology or South Asian studies, on the one hand, or language policy advisors, curriculum developers, teacher educators, teachers, and members of funding bodies, aid providers or NGOs, on the other - it is anticipated that the accounts in this volume will offer their readership opportunities to consider their wider implications and applications across other rich multilingual settings - be these local, regional, national or global.

This book is a complete guide to Forest School provision and Nature Pedagogy and it examines the models, methods, worldviews and values that underpin teaching in nature. Cree and Robb show how a robust Nature Pedagogy can support learning, behaviour, and physical and emotional wellbeing, and, importantly, a deeper relationship with the natural world. They offer an overview of what a Forest School programme could look like through the year. The Essential Guide to Forest School and Nature Pedagogy provides 'real-life' examples from a variety of contexts, sample session plans and detailed guidance on using language, crafting and working with the natural world. This accessible resource guides readers along the Forest School path, covering topics such as: the history of nature education; our sensory system in nature; Forest School ethos and worldview and playing and crafting in the natural world. Guiding practitioners through planning for a programme, including taking care of a woodland site and preparing all the essential policies and procedures for working with groups and nature, this book is written by dedicated Forest School and nature education experts and is essential reading for settings, schools, youth groups, families and anyone working with children and young people.

Educational Choices, Transitions and Aspirations in Europe analyses educational choices and transitions in eight different European countries/regions and provides an engaging means of considering issues of inequality through international comparisons. The book is underpinned by explorations of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, which share the common goal of highlighting and challenging educational inequalities in relation to political imaginings and discursive constructions of notions of aspirations and choice. Beginning with an overview of the theoretical landscape, the book posits ways of understanding transitional experiences through both a social and a political lens. Comprising of chapters that explore these issues within the context of specific countries and at different stages of young people's transitions, the collection examines the features of different European education systems and how they frame transitions and choices, before providing an overall analysis of systemic, institutional and subjective constraints on these processes. The book uniquely opens and develops an intellectual conversation about different education systems with similar educational challenges and outcomes. Assimilating key issues and solutions, this volume also makes general recommendations for policy and practice that would help to promote greater equity and social justice. The book covers a range of transition points and countries, which should make it essential reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students with an interest in international perspectives on education. It will be particularly useful for those working in education, sociology, social policy, geography, and politics.

Drawing from an arts-based research and humanizing methodologies, Dywanna Smith documents transformative and liberatory spaces in ELA middle level classrooms, where students address and counteract discrimination, colorism, sizism, and body shaming. Grounded in an original qualitative study of adolescent Black girls, this book examines how such "truth spaces" serve as a medium for adolescents to self-examine their intersectional identities and give voice to their resilience in the face of marginalization. Incorporating original narratives, including the author's self-actualizing verse novel and the voices of Black female students, Smith shines a light on new culturally sustaining pedagogies and offers much-needed implications for practice. Smith expertly weaves together poetry, research, and empathy; the result is a pioneering text that urges readers to understand the impact of anti-Black violence and the important role literacy sanctuaries can play in supporting Black girls' resilience and development. The novel in verse at the heart of the volume is not only a provocative and necessary call for transformative change, but also a window into a courageous lived experience. This book is essential reading for pre-service teachers, scholars, and students in literacy education, inclusive education, and teacher education.

- examines what "visual teacher learning" (VTL) can contribute to raising the effectiveness of teachers' teaching and pupils' learning - uses a mixed-methods approach to research, which makes it possible not only to describe what teachers learn, but also to explain how they learn - spans the range from scientific scholarship to implementation by presenting evidence-based insights and guidelines for practicing VTL within a single, explicit conceptual framework

Across the country, high school freshmen have the highest rates of failure, discipline problems, and truancy. Defined as the "make it or break it" year, ninth grade can be a trying time for teenagers learning to make their own way in the world. The Ninth Grade Opportunity provides educators with a useful framework to build and implement a team-based Freshman Transition program, ultimately allowing teachers to play an integral role in ensuring every student's success.

Scott Habeeb, Ray Moore and Alan Seibert have over 60 years of combined experience as teachers and administrators, and together have compiled a guidebook centered around a teaming approach that empowers teachers to better meet freshmen needs. Based on concepts behind their popular Freshman Transition workshops, the authors share ideas about why and how teaming teachers works and how it can benefit schools. Road maps provide guidance for teachers to learn specifically how to create a program built around key elements such as: Standardized expectations Learning skills Classroom leadership Parent/teacher contact

Educators everywhere will benefit from the practical advice, expert insight, and helpful tips that transform the ninth grade problem into The Ninth Grade Opportunity, ensuring a successful transition for every high school student.

The second in The Essential SENCO Toolkit series, this resource clarifies and explores the key distinctions between quality first teaching adjustments, resources/support and interventions. It allows practitioners to develop their practice effectively and strategically to capture the true impact of SEND provision, by shifting the focus from the 'who and when' to the 'what and why'. Chapters also include original frameworks - the 4 Functions of Learning Support - to help with the deployment of teaching assistants and to provide a shared language of support, as well as resources that support the application of the 7 Cs Learning Portfolio (introduced in the first book in the series, SEND Assessment) and an intervention index to fully understand the purpose and effectiveness of interventions. Key features offered: An introduction to the 4 Functions of Learning Support, providing a measurable language of learning support to help practitioners to organise and deploy teaching assistants as part of their SEND provision An intervention index to enable individual or MAT-based SENCOs to capture their own evidence base regarding the purpose and impact of interventions Intervention action cards and targeted outcomes for all 49 themes within the 7 Cs Learning Portfolio A photocopiable and downloadable programme of materials that can be used by readers to gain a better understanding of interventions. SEND Intervention will promote confidence and clarity regarding the rationale for SEND provision. This essential resource provides a practical toolkit to support both new and experienced SENCOs and SEN practitioners.

This volume provides a detailed evaluation of a unique education program implemented in secondary schools in Georgia to enhance teachers' religious literacy and their ability to promote this in schools and classrooms. The text demonstrates that religious literacy can be proactively taught to students, whilst also highlighting key considerations and tensions around religious liberty in the American South. Spanning rural, urban, and suburban Georgia, the text presents an original approach to the growing field of religious literacy by foregrounding community voices and perspectives. Using rich empirical data and qualitative interviews with religious and political leaders, scholars, teachers, parents, and students, the book evaluates the challenges, efficacy, and benefits of the program in view of rising political polarization. In doing so, the text tackles historical and contemporary issues around race and religion, and considers tensions between religious and nonreligious groups in the US. Ultimately, the book presents a significant contribution to the dialogue around fostering religious literacy in schools. This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in religious education, teacher education, and religious literacy more broadly. Those interested in the sociology of education, as well as diversity and religion in America, will also benefit from this volume.

This edited collection positions writing at the center of interdisciplinary higher education, and explores how writing instruction, writing scholarship, and writing program administration bring STEM and the humanities together in meaningful, creative, and beneficial ways. Writing professionals are at the forefront of a cross-pollination between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and the arts and humanities. In their work as educators, scholars, and administrators, they collaborate with colleagues in engineering, scientific, technical, and health disciplines, offer new degree programs that allow students to bring the humanities to bear on design experiments, and build an academic culture that promotes a vision of the humanities in the twenty-first century, as well as a vision of technology that is decidedly human. This collection surveys and promotes that work through chapters focused on writing instruction, writing scholarship, and writing program administration, covering topics that include data-driven writing courses, public science communication, non-traditional college students, creative writing, gamification, skills transfer, and Writing Across the Curriculum programs. Writing STEAM will be essential reading for scholars, instructors, and administrators in writing studies, rhetoric and composition, STEM, and a variety of interdisciplinary programs; it will aid in teacher training for both humanities and STEM courses focused on writing and communication.

Inclusive education continues to grow in popularity and acceptance in the United States. However, most teachers - general and special educators - are poorly prepared to be successful in inclusive classrooms and schools. Undoubtedly, the challenge to professionals involves the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. But inclusion requires far more. It calls upon educators to trouble everything they think they know about disability, to question their deepest ethical commitments, to take up the work of the Disability Rights Movement in the public schools, and to leap headlong into the deepest waters of the rich craft tradition of inclusive teaching. This book offers educators the guidance and resources to become great inclusive educators by engaging in a powerful process of personal and professional transformation.

Writing against the grain of popular perception and moral panic, Shauna Pomerantz offers a fascinating look at the importance of style for girls in school. Fighting assumptions that girls today are dupes of media and capitalism, Pomerantz skillfully argues that style is a significant cultural practice that demands to be taken seriously in the lives of girls. By exploring style as "social skin," or a necessary condition of subjectivity, Pomerantz is able to get to the heart of the way girls negotiate a recognizable identity for themselves. Based on a year long ethnography at an urban, multicultural high school in Vancouver's east side, Pomerantz contextualizes style as a form of expression that enables girls to produce fluid and multiple identities, social networks, individual images, expressions of agency and power, and cultural affiliations.

This book establishes a new theoretical and practical framework for multimodal disciplinary literacy (MDL) fused with the subject-specific science pedagogies of senior high school biology, chemistry and physics. It builds a compatible alignment of multiple representation and representation construction approaches to science pedagogy with the social semiotic, systemic functional linguistic-based approaches to explicit teaching of disciplinary literacy. The early part of the book explicates the transdisciplinary negotiated theoretical underpinning of the MDL framework, followed by the research-informed repertoire of learning experiences that are then articulated into a comprehensive framework of options for the planning of classroom work. Practical adoption and adaptation of the framework in biology, chemistry and physics classrooms are detailed in separate chapters. The latter chapters indicate the impact of the collaborative research on teachers' professional learning and students' multimodal disciplinary literacy engagement, concluding with proposals for accommodating emerging developments in MDL in an ever-changing digital communication world. The MDL framework is designed to enable teachers to develop all students' disciplinary literacy competencies. This book will be of interest to researchers, teacher educators and postgraduate students in the field of science education. It will also have appeal to those in literacy education and social semiotics. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This practical handbook offers advice on strategies for meeting the special educational needs of children with Down's syndrome in mainstream schools. The aim is to increase the confidence of support assistants, teachers, SENCOs and senior managers in both primary and secondary schools in providing a quality education for these pupils, while using scarce resources to best effect.
The author offers an introduction to the particular characteristics of children with Down's syndrome and their impact on learning and behaviour. She considers the benefits of inclusive education and the most effective ways in which the National Curriculum can be made accessible. She also examines working with the whole-school, parents and outside agencies, as well as providing practical resources such as photocopiable proformas and checklists, materials for INSET in schools and support services and a list of reading materials.

Debates in Modern Languages Education offers a comprehensive introduction and synthesis of the major themes and research evidence in language learning and teaching today, providing an up-to-date, authoritative review of traditional and contemporary issues in language teaching. With chapters by leading experts in the field, thematic sections explore and consider: the importance of a wide range of different knowledge bases and skills for effective teaching how to become expert practitioners approaches to teaching with reference to relevant theories, complex constructs, and empirical research the innovations and ideas that shape and will shape the discipline for the next decade. Each thought-provoking chapter is supported by reference to further reading and additional material to encourage deeper exploration which will help the reader to fully engage in the debates presented. This book is a valuable resource for any student or practising teacher engaged in initial teacher education, continuing professional development and Masters level study.

Over half of England's secondary schools are now academies. While their impact on achievement has been debated, the social and cultural outcomes prompted by this neoliberal educational model has received less scrutiny. This book draws on original research based at Dreamfields Academy, a celebrated flagship secondary school in a large English city, to show how the accelerated marketization and centralization of education is reproducing raced, classed and gendered inequalities. The book also examines the complex stories underlying Dreamfields' glossy veneer of success and shows how students, teachers and parents navigate the everyday demands of Dreamfields' results-driven conveyor belt. Hopes and dreams are effectively harnessed and mobilized to enact insidious forms of social control, as education develops new sites and discourses of surveillance. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4, Quality education -- .

This book offers a detailed look into the how and what of mathematics instruction in Singapore. It presents multiple aspects of mathematics instruction in schools, ranging from the unique instructional core, practices that promote mastery, development of conceptual knowledge through learning experiences, nurturing of positive attitudes, self-regulation of learning and development and use of instructional materials for making connections across mathematical ideas, developing mathematical reasoning, and developing fluency in applying mathematical knowledge in problem solving.The book presents a methodology that is successful in documenting classroom instruction in a comprehensive manner. The research findings illuminate instruction methods that are culturally situated, robust and proven to impact student learning. It demonstrates how a unique data source can be analysed through multiple lenses and provides readers with a rich portrait of how the school mathematics instruction is enacted in Singapore secondary schools.

* This book offers theoretical, methodological, curricula and pedagogical illustrations of teaching racial and linguistic diversity in the classroom drawn from cutting-edge research * A good fit for preservice English teachers, this book provides a comprehensive set of tools for counteracting racism and deficit perspectives in the classroom * A timely book at in a climate of heightened racial tension and violence, this book furthers the literature on critical race scholarship by presenting a new framework, Critical Race English Education, to identify and combat dehumanizing pedagogy and racism.

* Provides reader-friendly Biographic Biliteracy Profiles to illustrate the diverse ways that bilingual reading behaviors are enacted within a translanguaging context. * Introduces how Biographic Biliteracy Profiles can act as a type of transformative assessment that can shed light on how bilingual readers make sense of texts in the context of their home and school environments. * Offers in-depth analysis, narratives, and insights through the lens of 5 bilingual readers from Spanish, Greek, Japanese and English backgrounds * Examines the role of bilingual readers' identities in the process of becoming biliterate and translanguaging

For the first time in educational publishing, Teaching Truly offers K-16 teachers course-specific guidelines for indigenizing mainstream education. The goal is to facilitate greater educational integrity and relevance in the classroom now, without waiting for more "reforms" to policy, standards or curricula in general. Incorporating reality-based teaching common in traditional Indigenous learning cultures, each chapter first exposes educational hegemony, including that existing within the new "common core standards", and then offers alternative, time-tested perspectives and exercises to counter and/or counter-balance such hegemony. Addressing eight common subject areas, the material can be adapted for different grade levels and can be applied to other mainstream courses.