Creating Learning Settings examines the design and implementation of learning settings informed by the newest, most expansive insights into how people learn in the post-industrial age. Educators today are tasked with moving beyond the fixed, traditional practices that have long dominated formal schooling and becoming more dynamic and strategic in arranging learners, facilitators, resources, on-site and virtual environments, and learning experiences. Integrating contemporary theoretical approaches and empirical studies, this book offers a systematic approach to creating settings that leverage the physical, digital, resource, and social dimensions necessary to support learning.

This accessible, reader-friendly resource provides important information and helpful strategies for preschool and kindergarden teachers in inclusive environments who have little or no training in special education and assisting students with special needs.

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness of the need for social emotional learning throughout all educational contexts. Given this, schools, most often P-12 settings, have begun to embrace practices for addressing social emotional learning. While there is a growing body of research and literature on common practices of social emotional learning, there is no standard for its implementation. Exploring Social Emotional Learning in Diverse Academic Settings highlights unique and varied approaches to addressing social emotional learning and wellbeing in educational settings. It features a broad perspective on the topic, presenting approaches from a range of educational locations and contexts. Covering topics such as personal empowerment, academic challenges, and teacher stress, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for administrators and educators of both P-12 and higher education, school counselors, government officials, pre-service teachers, teacher educators, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

As a result of the mandates of the Individual with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), inclusive practices have become the norm for addressing the needs of all learners. In addition, these mandates require that steps must be taken to guarantee that all students are successful in all school settings, regardless of ability. Possibly now more than ever, educators should be experts in building collaborative relationships for inclusive settings. The perceived positive benefits of collaboration among teachers for inclusive settings creates a topic of interest. Research has begun to focus on the study of the deep, or integrated, collaborative relationships between special education and general education teachers and the use of inclusive learning communities to support practice. Building Integrated Collaborative Relationships for Inclusive Learning Settings provides background information on special education law, inclusion, and strategies for integrated collaborative relationships that include the creation of inclusion professional learning communities and a map for intended collaboration. Moreover, the book provides insights and supports professionals concerned with the evolving environment of schools and education and how to best meet the needs of all learners. This book is intended for teachers, special education teachers, counsellors, professionals, and researchers working in the field of education, and inservice and preservice teachers, administrators, teacher educators, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students looking to improve their understanding on how to build and maintain practices to support inclusive learning settings.

The key question this book addresses is how to identify and create optimal conditions for the kind of learning and development that is especially important for effectively functioning in the 21st century. Taking a new approach to this long-debated issue, it looks at how a design research-based science of learning (with its practical models and related design research) can provide insights and integrated models of how human beings actually function and grow in the social dynamics of educational settings with all their affordances and constraints. More specifically: How can specific domains or subject matters be taught for broad intellectual development? How can technology be integrated in enhancing human functioning? How can the social organization of classroom learning be optimized to create social norms for promoting deep intellectual engagement and personal growth? Part I is concerned with broad conceptual and technical issues regarding cultivating intellectual potential, with a focus on how design research might fill in an important a niche in addressing these issues. Part II presents specific design work in terms of design principles, models, and prototypes.

Effective online teaching is a well-documented topic, however, this book is different because it specifically addresses the effective and affective pedagogy and learning. It provides methods for building a strong and meaningful online environment that builds community, relationships, and establishes the social presence of each individual learner. This book provides a different perspective as it is written by experienced faculty members in higher education, all of whom have been teaching online for a decade or more. It also addresses the how and why establishing social presence as a necessity for effective online learning. This book addresses the “Why?” in the need for understanding contemporary approaches for exemplar online teaching with the establishment of social presence. With an increase in online learning, there is a shift in how current teaching practices are impacted and what is important to student learning in this change. This book describes the importance of strong andragogical practices in online teaching: rigor, teacher and learner mindset, and the importance of constructing social presence. Effective Learning Environments in Higher Education Online Settings: Establishing Social Presence provides pedagogical tools for enhancing the online learning experience. A relevant guide for constructing and teaching virtual / distance / elearning / online / hybrid / blended courses, faculty, instructional designers, professional development leaders, and administrators will find this book a practical and valuable resource for building community and establishing social presence in authentic ways.

Language teaching programs have to respond to the need for distance education, with teachers working to transfer their material onto online platforms and/or learning management systems (LMS) even though their materials are not designed with distance learning in mind. COVID-19 has led to English language teaching programs extending their teaching online for the unforeseeable future and trying to adjust the material to deliver high-quality practice. The education emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the world needs an education system that favors flexibility and resilience to equip educators to face unpredictable emergencies that may arise. Transferring Language Learning and Teaching From Face-to-Face to Online Settings examines the phenomenon of emergency language education further and provides an avenue for language teachers and researchers to share their experience, thoughts, and suggestions about transferring their material and teaching approaches from face-to-face (f2f) to an online setting. The edited volume offers a platform for exploring how the field of language teaching is adapting to changes that have derived from the pandemic, with a strong focus on the challenges faced and ways to move forward. Covering topics such as digital pedagogy and teacher education, it is ideal for instructors, faculty trainers, instructional designers, administrators, policymakers, researchers, teachers, teacher educators, and students.

This comprehensive, research-based resource illuminates the challenges and benefits of integrating community-based transformational learning (CBTL) experiences of teachers, students, and the community in early childhood settings. Balancing historical context with theoretical underpinnings, ongoing research, and current practice, this multi-authored volume demystifies the praxeology of CBTL. It uses annotated case studies to explore the importance of considering contextual factors (i.e., cultural practices, community health and demographics, and student level) that may influence what early-years students gain from CBTL experiences, and it encourages a community dialogue that is both challenging and affirming to support students' confidence in their own capacity to make a better world for all people. As the first CBTL book specific to early childhood settings, it is key reading for future teachers. It is also of great interest to current educators, administrators, and community organizers who want to help center CBTL as a vital part of early childhood curriculum.

Academic education plays an important role in the development of professionalism of adult educators. Given the interconnectedness of adult education with global and international developments, this international and comparative study illustrates the need for a systematic and comprehensive internationalisation of adult education programmes and the relevance of international teaching and learning settings for the development of professionalism in adult education. Based on focus group and graduate interviews of three master’s programmes with a focus on adult education at the Universities of Würzburg, Belgrade and Florence, similarities and differences in the internationalisation of the programmes are revealed and supporting factors for the development of professionalism are highlighted.