Contemporary Issues In Elementary Education

Co-Published with the Association For Science Teacher Education. Reflecting recent policy and standards initiatives, emerging research agendas, and key innovations, this volume provides a contemporary overview of important developments and issues that have that have in recent years shaped elementary science education pre-service courses and professional development, and practices that are shaping future directions in the field. Contributors from several countries who are actively engaged in research and design in elementary science education address: *Conceptual issues which impinge on contemporary science teacher education; *Intersections of content, pedagogy, and practice; and *Professional development as a contextualized practice. Elementary Science Teacher Education: International Perspectives on Contemporary Issues and Practice offers a clear picture of the current state of the field and directions for the future--to the benefit of elementary science teacher educators, aspiring teacher educators, school policy makers, other professionals involved in science education and, ultimately, the millions of elementary school children who will gain from improved practice.

This book was developed as part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the journal Education 3–13, which has always had primary education as its main focus. The journal has been published by Routledge since 2007 and is the most important academic publication in the field internationally. This book has been edited by a team of academics and senior practitioners, all of whom are members of the Board of the journal or the Association for the Study of Primary Education (which is the owning body of the journal). It will serve as an excellent resource to researchers and students of primary education. Topics include major contemporary issues such as key challenges in the field, learning and teaching, wellbeing, teachers’ work and professionalism, and outdoor learning. The chapters in this book comprise articles published in Education 3–13 in the last ten years.

Contemporary Issues of Equity in Education argues that equity and social justice must be brought back to the centre of discussions about education. It traces international, system-wide and local effects of policies that increase marketization and competition between students, schools and systems, whilst erasing wider considerations of the socio-cultural contexts that shape educational experiences and outcomes. Leading researchers interrogate the design of educational systems for social justice, fairness and inclusion at multiple levels from classrooms and schools through to universities and initial teacher education. Chapters trace the ways in which gender, ethnicity, class, and refugee experiences intersect with indices of socio-economic disadvantage in ways that directly impact on young people’s learning and on the pedagogical work of teachers. The book demonstrates collaborative and inclusive approaches for researching schooling in disadvantaged communities. It offers strategies and practices for reimagining schools and universities in ways that enable young people in high poverty and culturally and linguistically diverse communities to effectively engage with education.

Balanced yet eclectic in its approach, Contemporary Issues in Curriculum reflects the emergent trends in the field of curriculum. The fourth edition of this issues-oriented collection offers 40 articles by the major thinkers in curriculum study. Designed for students in curriculum, instruction, administration, and teacher education, it explores the issues that affect implementation, planning, and evaluation of curriculum at all levels of learning. The editors have organized the collection into six Parts: Curriculum and Philosophy, Curriculum and Teaching, Curriculum and Learning, Curriculum and Instruction, Curriculum and Supervision, and Curriculum and Policy. The readings reflect both traditionally held beliefs and those that are more controversial in nature, providing students and practitioners the opportunity to investigate the breadth of issues that affect curriculum and to access such information in a single source. Readers are encouraged to examine and debate these issues, to formulate their own ideas, and to shape what direction the field of curriculum should take. The fourth edition features 14 new articles, by such leading scholars as John Goodlad, Linda Darling-Hammond, Evans Clinchy, Andrew Gitlin, Stacey Ornstein, Geneva Gay, David Perkins, Harry Wong, Frank Levy, Richard Murnane, Robert Slavin, Allan Odden, Richard Rothstein, Alan Ornstein, and Edward Pajak.

Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, our education system has undergone dramatic changes and this in turn has raised a number of controversial issues and questions. This reader brings together key articles, both recently published and specially commissioned, which address these issues and place them in context. Issues covered include: *the curriculum * teaching and learning *assessment *school effectiveness and improvement. Various themes run throughout the book include, the quest for quality within a social context, the application of theory and research to practice, and the positive roles played by both teachers and students in adapting to recent change.

This book is the fifth in a series on research and theory dedicated to advancing our understanding of schools through empirical study and theoretical analysis. Scholars, both young and established, are invited to publish original analyses, but we especially encourage young scholars to contribute to this series. The current volume is similar to its predecessors in that it provides a mix of beginning and established scholars and a broad range of theoretical perspectives; in all 14 authors contributed to 9 separate but related analyses, which were selected for publication this year.

Contemporary Issues in Art Education by Yvonne Gaudelius and Peg Speirs is a collection of essays that are framed around social issues, art, and teaching. Using an issues-based approach, the authors provide a valuable resource for teaching issues-based content, especially as these issues are explored through contemporary art and visual culture in the classroom. The authors present ideas for educators at all levels who want to incorporate an issues-based approach to teaching. This book combines theoretical perspectives with tangible and practical strategies for generating content and pedagogical approaches. The book, while primarily written for pre-service elementary teachers, will prove useful to general classroom teachers and art educators at all levels, whether they are teaching in the K-12 or the college classroom. The authors in this book are highly respected within the field of art education. They provide thoughtful approaches to a realm of complex ideas encompassing artistic, social, political, and educational issues. Readers will develop and understanding of a variety of ways to teach about such issues in the classroom, how to draw upon the contemporary artworld, and a sense of the critical frameworks within which we need to explore such issues.