Imagine a place where passion for learning, authentic connection with colleagues and community, and strengths-based middle grades education thrive. Imagine places of learning and inspiration for teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and teacher candidates. Imagine a Place: Stories From Middle Grades Educators, a new anthology of teacherwritten narratives, focuses on educators' stories that have the power to offer hope, ignite creativity, and provide practical ideas for middle grades teachers. Imagine a Place is filled with stories of joy, stories of relationships, and stories of finding the treasure in challenging situations that provide powerful insight into the world of teaching young adolescent learners. Along with teacher narratives, the editors of this book provide questions and exercises for thoughtful reflections on the themes and issues raised in each story as well as guidance for the reader to write his or her own account of their middle grades teaching experiences. We invite you to join these teachers in their classrooms as they reflect on their experiences with young adolescents in the place we call school.

Teaching and Learning from Within brings together theory, research, and practice on core reflection, an approach that focuses on people's strengths as the springboard for personal growth and serves every human being involved in education-including students, teachers, school principals, and university faculty. This approach supports the essential role of authenticity in the development of the whole person. It has been used in contexts around the world and has shown great promise in helping to re-chart the course for education and to re-think its purpose in global and democratic societies. The book looks at the current educational context and the need for core reflection; introduces the theory and its linkages to previous studies in numerous disciplines; presents various applications in multinational research and practice-with teachers, with students and schools, and with teacher educators; and highlights ongoing work in around the world along with future plans, opportunities, and resources for professional development and research. .

Teaching and Learning from Within brings together theory, research, and practice on core reflection, an approach that focuses on people's strengths as the springboard for personal growth and serves every human being involved in education-including students, teachers, school principals, and university faculty. This approach supports the essential role of authenticity in the development of the whole person. It has been used in contexts around the world and has shown great promise in helping to re-chart the course for education and to re-think its purpose in global and democratic societies. The book looks at the current educational context and the need for core reflection; introduces the theory and its linkages to previous studies in numerous disciplines; presents various applications in multinational research and practice-with teachers, with students and schools, and with teacher educators; and highlights ongoing work in around the world along with future plans, opportunities, and resources for professional development and research. .

Imagine a place where passion for learning, authentic connection with colleagues and community, and strengths-based middle grades education thrive. Imagine places of learning and inspiration for teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and teacher candidates. Imagine a Place: Stories From Middle Grades Educators, a new anthology of teacherwritten narratives, focuses on educators' stories that have the power to offer hope, ignite creativity, and provide practical ideas for middle grades teachers. Imagine a Place is filled with stories of joy, stories of relationships, and stories of finding the treasure in challenging situations that provide powerful insight into the world of teaching young adolescent learners. Along with teacher narratives, the editors of this book provide questions and exercises for thoughtful reflections on the themes and issues raised in each story as well as guidance for the reader to write his or her own account of their middle grades teaching experiences. We invite you to join these teachers in their classrooms as they reflect on their experiences with young adolescents in the place we call school.