Play is critical to children’s well-being and development. All students should have access to and adequate time for positive play experiences every day. Learning and Connecting in School Playgrounds invites parents, teachers, principals and education administrators to take another look at their school playgrounds as spaces crucial to learning, well-being and development. This book combines research findings, commentary and the authors’ personal experiences and observations together with the views of teachers, principals, parents and students related to play and play spaces. Key content includes consideration of the role of adults in the school playground, the influence of technology on play, the challenges experienced by children transitioning to new school environments and consideration of strategies to support students’ access and participation in the playground. Cases are presented to illustrate the use of an audit tool to enhance school playgrounds. The future of school playgrounds is also considered through the reported hopes and dreams of adults and students and a range of recommendations are made for the review and development of schools’ outdoor play spaces. Learning and Connecting in School Playgrounds is written with a sense of urgency, calling for the recognition of positive play experiences as invaluable to children’s education. It includes important and challenging insights to inform and guide decision-making and will be an essential resource for all stakeholders who share responsibility for children’s participation and learning during school break-times.

As a teacher, what are a teacher's personal, social and emotional responsibilities in supporting pupils with diverse learning needs? There is no longer a place for a teacher who denies their role in the education of pupils with diverse needs. But understanding how to meet these challenges, particularly in amongst the other challenges of teaching and the classroom, can seem daunting. Drawing on examples from early years to college, this book looks at what inclusion and inclusive practice means in practice and how it relates to different aspects of teaching. Covering issues related to teacher well-being, resilience and other professional skills this book offers the reader the opportunity to use case studies and research to reflect on their own professional practice. Expertly crafted by Sue Soan, drawing on the expertise of a team of practitioners and academics, this book brings together the latest research and current practice. International case studies showcase examples of practice and reflexive questions encourage the reader to explore their experiences, knowledge and expectations to help them to develop as a practitioner.

This book is a research guide for implementing contemporary playground strategies to promote active, healthy students. A number of school playground strategies have succeeded in reducing the decline in students’ activity levels by introducing equipment and policies that encourage further engagement. The book outlines these strategies and ideas and offers insights into their multiple levels of influence on engaging students in school playground activities that can promote student health. It also discusses previous investigations into the effect of playground strategies on students’ activities and the differences between structured and unstructured playground activities; investigations that have explored the translatability and feasibility of specific school playground strategies and potential recommendations for future school playground research. It also provides observations on the features students desire in their playgrounds and what features are important in terms of safe activities, enjoyment levels, which in turn offers suggestions for future research directions.

This fully revised and updated third edition presents teachers with a range of up-to-date evidence-based strategies they can use to tackle the challenges of inclusive education. An essential resource for the busy educator, each of the twenty-nine strategies explored in this book has a substantial research base drawn from a range of countries, a strong theoretical rationale and clear guidelines on their implementation, as well as cautionary advice where necessary. Key features of the third edition include: An easy to follow structure divided into four categories: behavioural approaches, social strategies, cognitive strategies and mixed strategies Eight new chapters, focusing on topical areas such as neuroscience, social and emotional education, visual learning and communication and the transition from school to post-school environments Updated chapters that consider the most diverse and up-to-date research in education, psychology, health and technology Whilst the focus of this book is on children with special educational needs, the strategies are universally applicable, making this essential reading for all classroom teachers, school leaders, teacher educators and students, educational psychologists, special needs coordinators and consultants and educational researchers.

This book is a clear, concise, holistic resource for classroom teachers, with a thoughtful collection of approaches to integrating character education into daily learning and school life.

Inspiring Primary Learners offers trainee and qualified teachers high-quality case studies of outstanding practice in contemporary classrooms across the country. Expert authors unravel and reveal the theory and evidence that underpins lessons, helping you make connections with your own practice and understand what ‘excellent’ looks like, within each context, and how it is achieved. Illustrated throughout with interviews, photos, and examples of children’s work, it covers a range of primary subjects and key topics including creating displays, outdoor learning, and developing a reading for pleasure culture. The voice of the practitioner is evident throughout as teachers share their own experience, difficulties, and solutions to ensure that children are inspired by their learning. Written in two parts, the first exemplifies examples of practice for each National Curriculum subject, whilst the second focuses on the wider curriculum and explores issues pertinent to the primary classroom, highlighting important discussions on topics such as: Reading for pleasure Writing for pleasure Creating a dynamic and responsive curriculum Creating inspiring displays Outdoor learning Pedagogy for imagination Relationships and Sex Education This key text shows how, even within the contested space of education, practitioners can inspire their primary learners through teaching with passion and purpose for the empowerment of the children in their class. For all new teachers, it provides advice and ideas for effective and engaging learning experiences across the curriculum.

Providing a new perspective on the undeniable relationship between education reform and democratic revitalization, Nicholas V. Longo uncovers and examines practical models in which communities play an essential role in teaching the art of democracy.

For the past forty years Anne Taylor has studied how schools, classrooms, playgrounds, homes, museums, and parks affect children and how they learn. As a result, she has developed a holistic, sustainable philosophy of learning environment design. She argues persuasively that architects must integrate their design knowledge with an understanding of the developmental needs of learners, while at the same time educators, parents, and students must broaden their awareness of the built, natural, and cultural environment to maximize the learning experience. In other words, schools and other environments can themselves become "three-dimensional textbooks." When architects are cognizant of newer models of education and educators view the environment as more than a box in which to teach prescribed lessons, the result is an informed architecture that enables children to discover the power of their own learning. The book presents numerous examples of dynamic designs that are the result of interdisciplinary understanding of place. Taylor includes designer perspectives, forums derived from commentary by outside contributors involved in school planning, and a wealth of photographs of thoughtful and effective solutions to create learning environments from comprehensive design criteria. Because the concept of "school" is enlarged to a community campus, the book also spawns a new model of teaching and learning. This book is essential reading for educators, architects, and community members who are anxious to transform education in America and elsewhere. "Anne Taylor is the most outstanding educator, leading proponent, and practitioner in the three-dimensional textbook field. Her work is the finest resource available for connecting students (young and old) to their learning environments, and visa versa."--Edward E. Kirkbride, NCARB, REFP "Before Western man divided the universe into discrete subject matter areas, the order in the universe was (and still is) both interdisciplinary and holistic. The branching of trees, spiraling of shells, meandering of streams, and the radial designs of flowers, for example, represent an analogy of mathematics, biology, and art. The current artificial separation of subject matter is in contrast to the way the world is constructed and the way children perceive it. Architecture and the study of the built, natural, and cultural environment synthesize the world of material things and the world of ideas. Further more, it helps us to realize that we are a part of not apart from the environment. This book is a tool and a gift to designers, educators, and students everywhere to assist them in seeing the meaning behind all that we view and use for living on earth. To know our precious relationship to our surroundings is the intent of this book. In this way, life is a work of art and each of us is an artist."--Anne Taylor

How does the world's oral majority--adults with limited formal education (ALFE)--really prefer to learn? Few pause long enough to ask those who eschew print. The result of scholarly research and prolonged immersion in the Cambodian culture, Connected Learning exposes the truth about orality--the shame associated with limited formal education; the unfortunate misnomer that is orality; the place of spirituality, grace, and hope; and the obvious but overlooked learning preferences. ALFE have different ways of learning and knowing, a different epistemology and culture from print learners, even though we all begin alike. The choice is not between Ong's orality or literacy, but between learning from people or from print. Dr. Thigpen, a veteran cross-cultural worker, shares remedies for the hegemony and inequities unwittingly fostered by the literate minority. In a dominant culture where learning from people is prime, how can educators with a preference for print adapt? Providing an important tool in the Learning Quadrants diagram, Connected Learning advises teaching to the quadrant and calls for seven necessary shifts in teaching. Anyone versed in orality will admit these findings have "global implications and applications" (Steffen). The reader who heeds will positively impact a huge portion of humanity.