learning Archives

Leading with integrity: How principals influence teacher effectiveness without derailing morale

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Professor Grant reimagines instructional leadership by integrating leadership styles to predict and improve teacher effectiveness and teacher morale.

It was JF Kennedy who said that leadership and learning are indispensable to one another, but what makes for good leadership in educational settings? In a new study, David Grant of the University of Redlands in the United States integrates practices from diverse leadership models which have been debated for many years. His research determined which practices have the greatest […]

Steering STEM education development through play

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Chelsea Cutting and Tom Lowrie explore the importance of play and intuition in children’s early connections with STEM learning.

The growing importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for learning at school and beyond is placing increased emphasis on building the framework for their experiences in early childhood. However, designing the learning progressions children experience during this time undervalues a remarkable fact: children’s connection with STEM is intuitive. Chelsea Cutting of the University of South Australia’s Mount Gambier-based […]

The dangers of labels: English as a Second Language

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According to the US Census, one-fifth of the American population speaks English as a Second Language (ESL) and speaks another language at home. Professor Lee Gunderson of the University of British Columbia in Canada investigates the negative consequences for people labelled as ESL or English Language Learner (ELL) in the United States. Having first raised these concerns more than 20 […]

Reframing understanding as a phase transition

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When understanding comes to us, it can come suddenly. As we finally see how the different parts of a problem fall into place, it can bring about feelings of satisfaction, and perhaps even frustration that we did not discern the seemingly obvious solution beforehand. In their research, Dipl.-Phil. Elena Popova and Professor Valentin Popov at Technische Universität Berlin argue that […]

The Benefits of Exercise on the Mind

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Music and performance arts are linked with increased cognitive function.

Exercise has long been advocated as a way to enhance physical health, but it has also been shown to have several benefits on the mind. More recently, research has focused on how exercise can improve cognitive function. Over the past three decades, Drs Phillip D. Tomporowski and Caterina Pesce from the University of Georgia and the University of Rome, respectively, […]

You are your most important teacher (and what to do about it)

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Dr Robert Hahn, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Emory University, Atlanta, describes how learning is an internal dialogue, as we continuously build on the knowledge we already possess in our minds. His synthesis of research shows that your most important teacher is actually yourself. He argues that the classroom that recognises that we can learn how […]

Human learning: A story of identity and communication

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Anna Sfard is a Professor Emerita at the University of Haifa, Israel. In her role as a learning scientist, she investigates relations between thinking and communication. Linking learning with the notion of identity, her work has already provided several innovative acumens including understanding how identities encompass culture in learning processes; the identification of emotions as a principal factor responsible for the […]