Everyone knows that educational success is much more likely when students’ imaginations and emotions are caught up in learning. While we have a rich educational literature about holding students’ interest, we do not have very much sustained work on what the imagination is, how it works in learning, or how it may be inspired in the classroom. Addressing the whole curriculum, this book provides insights into each of those areas central to educational success. Engaging the imagination is sometimes seen in opposition to preparing students for testing, but scoring well on tests and being imaginatively active in learning are not mutually exclusive. When students’ imaginations are engaged in learning their educational performance will improve by any test or measure. This book offers a new understanding of how knowledge grows in the mind and how our imagination works and changes during our lifetime. Knowledgeable authors describe innovative teaching methods based on these insights, which offer new ways of planning and teaching.

Learning-Outside-the-Box Centers move students from the classroom to the real world. Learning-Outside-the-Box Centers will help us live in a remarkable world filled with remarkable children who will become entrepreneurs and make a difference in society!

During the past twenty years researchers have made exciting progress in the science of learning (i.e., how people learn) and the science of instruction (i.e., how to help people learn). This Handbook examines learning and instruction in a variety of classroom and non-classroom environments and with a variety of learners, both K-16 students and adult learners. The chapters are written by leading researchers from around the world, all of whom are highly regarded experts on their particular topics. The book is divided into two sections: learning and instruction. The learning section consists of chapters on how people learn in reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, second languages, and physical education, as well as learning to think critically, learning to self-monitor, and learning with motivation. The instruction section consists of chapters on effective instructional methods – feedback, examples, self-explanation, peer interaction, cooperative learning, inquiry, discussion, tutoring, visualizations, and computer simulations. Each chapter reviews empirical research in a specific domain and is structured as follows: Introduction – Defines key constructs and provides illustrative examples or cases. Historical Overview – Summarizes the historical context for the topic or domain. Theoretical Framework – Summarizes major models or theories related to the topic or domain. Current Trends and Issues – Synthesizes the research literature and highlights key findings or conclusions. Practical Implications – Suggests relevance of the research for educational practice. Future Directions – Considers next steps or stages needed for future research.

This important book provides a unique merging of disability studies, critical multiculturalism, and social justice advocacy to develop both the knowledge base and the essential insights for understanding and implementing fully inclusive education. Although inclusion is often viewed in schools as primarily serving students with disabilities, this volume expands the definition to include students with a broad range of traditionally marginalized differences (including but not limited to disabilities, cultural/linguistic/racial background, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and class). Chapters provide 12 key principles important to developing and applying a critical perspective toward educating diverse students and promoting equity and inclusion. Book Features: Personal stories that make concepts accessible to new and pre-service teachers. Application exercises ideal for courses and professional development workshops. Highlight boxes that raise additional questions for discussion and debate. Interactive, multimodal instructional activities to use with many kinds of learners. Additional activities and resources available online at www.tcpress.com. Contributors: Subini Annamma, Laura Atkinson, David J. Connor, Elizabeth Z. Dejewski, David Feingold, Ana Maria García, Kathryn Henn-Reinke, Jodell Heroux, Kathleen Kotel, Elizabeth B. Kozleski, Valerie Owen, Susan Peters, Julie Ramirez, Maryl A. Randel, Janet Sauer, Stacey N. Skoning, Graciela Slesaransky-Poe, Robin M. Smith, Jeannie Zeitli “A powerful call to challenge rigid school practices that attempt to sort and level students. This extremely clear guide helps us move from critique to action, interweaving difficult matters of income disparity, language and religious marginalization, racism, and gender expression and identity. The authors inspire us to engage in the hard work of justice- and equity-oriented pedagogy and to do so collectively, with humor and with passion.” —Celia Oyler, professor of education, Teachers College, Columbia University “Condition Critical offers a critical framework for valuing and responding to student differences grounded in an expansive view of social justice, equity, access, and excellence. Accessible and engaging, each chapter skillfully weaves together first-person narratives, opportunities for self-reflection, and practical examples of key classroom practices. The result is a thoughtful and inspiring book that does more than critique the status quo, it points the way to transforming classrooms and schools for all.” —Beth Ferri, associate professor, School of Education, Syracuse University

Learning outside the classroom has been high on the political agenda for several years now, but recent Ofsted reports indicate that this can be confined to termly or yearly trips, as an 'extra'. This book provides a convincing and readable promotion of regular outdoor learning. It draws on relevant research to reinforce that working in 'real' environments benefits children's all-round development – cognitively, emotionally, physically and spiritually. This is illustrated through a wide range of engaging activities, from how to make a scarecrow, to interpreting a painting in a gallery, from getting the best from a library visit, to how best to attack a medieval castle. This practical guide for busy teachers will help them to link what they do in and out of the class. It's a must for every staffroom bookshelf.

In a rapidly changing world the importance of creativity is more apparent than ever. As a result, creativity is now essential in education. Creative Dimensions of Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century appeals to educators across disciplines teaching at every age level who are challenged daily to develop creative practices that promote innovation, critical thinking and problem solving. The thirty-five original chapters written by educators from different disciplines focus on theoretical and practical strategies for teaching creatively in contexts ranging from mathematics to music, art education to second language learning, aboriginal wisdom to technology and STEM. They explore and illustrate deep learning that is connected to issues vital in education – innovation, identity, engagement, relevance, interaction, collaboration, on-line learning, dynamic assessment, learner autonomy, sensory awareness, social justice, aesthetics, critical thinking, digital media, multi-modal literacy and more. The editors and authors share their passion for creativity, teaching, learning, curriculum, and teacher education in this collection that critically examines creative practices that are appearing in today’s public schools, post-secondary institutions and adult and community learning centres. Creativity is transforming education in the 21st century.

A general introduction to key issues in the philosophy of education. The chapters are accessible to readers with no prior exposure to philosophy of education, and provide both surveys of the general domain they address, and advance the discussion in those domains.

For two thousand years countless people around the world viewed reality through a Christian lens that endowed their lives with meaning, purpose, and coherence. Today, in an era of unprecedented secularization, many have ceased to find meaning not only in Christianity but in life in general. In Converting the Imagination, Patrick Manning offers a probing analysis of this crisis of meaning, marshalling historical and psychological research to shed light on the connections among the disintegration of the Christian worldview, religious disaffiliation, and a growing mental health epidemic. As a response Manning presents an approach to religious education that is at once traditionally grounded in the model of Jesus' own teaching and augmented by modern educational research and cognitive science. Converting the Imagination is an invitation to transform the way we teach about faith and make sense of the world, an invitation that echoes Jesus' invitation to a fuller, more meaningful life. It is sure to captivate scholars and practitioners of religious education, ministers seeking to reengage people who have drifted away from the faith or to support young people suffering from existential anxiety, and anyone in search of deeper meaning in their religious traditions or in their own lives. Converting the Imagination was a finalist for the 2021 Lilly Fellows Program Book Award: https://www.lillyfellows.org/grants-and-prizes/book-award/

This book tells the story of building a campus «learning garden» over a series of cohorts of student teachers and environmental education students. The project began with high ideals, no funding, and a strong desire to do something about the environment: the result was a transformation in attitude toward nature, community and toward the learning process itself. Examining the process through three key metaphors - garden as environment, garden as community, garden as transformation - this book provides a bridge between theory and practice for ecology-centered teaching and learning.

This volume explores the global problem of bullying from an interdisciplinary perspective