Mara Sapon-Shevin – författare

Playing Favorites examines the ways in which gifted education disrupts the classroom community, deskills regular classroom teachers, limits their ability and willingness to meet individual needs, and impairs the creation of a climate of inclusion and acceptance of difference. Sapon-Shevin shows here that current models of gifted education are elitist and meritocratic, treating some children, not just differently than others, but better; and that in large urban districts, gifted education programs are often racist as well. By creating and funding gifted programs, the author contends, schools engage in a form of "educational triage," serving those children for whom inadequate programming and educational failure would not be acceptable while maintaining the status quo for the majority of the school population.This book provides support for teachers, parents, and administrators who have found themselves caught in the struggle of insuring an appropriate education for some children without sacrificing the good of all. Incorporating the words of teachers, parents, and students, as well as related research and theory, this book analyzes the relationship between diversity, community, and social justice. Sapon-Shevin challenges the reader to reconsider ways in which schools can meet individual educational needs while preserving communities of learners as well as the commitment to the education of all children. Finally, the book extends the challenge and assurance that we need not choose between quality education for some and mediocre education for all.

Explores cooperative learning practices.Winner of the 2004 Critics' Choice Award presented by the American Educational Studies Association Teacher educators from ten institutions and programs in the United States, Canada, and Germany describe the ways in which they have changed teacher preparation to more fully incorporate cooperative learning concepts. Analytical commentaries on the programs highlight the learning experience of these programs as well as underlying issues of needed reforms in teacher education.Included among best practices in education, cooperative learning may require a shift in program philosophy and disciplinary areas to meet the challenge of complex organizations and diverse student populations. As the essays in the volume demonstrate, a new alignment of field experiences to provide support for novices to implement cooperative strategies, and to receive timely and effective supervision for these attempts, may also be required.

Explores cooperative learning practices.Winner of the 2004 Critics' Choice Award presented by the American Educational Studies Association Teacher educators from ten institutions and programs in the United States, Canada, and Germany describe the ways in which they have changed teacher preparation to more fully incorporate cooperative learning concepts. Analytical commentaries on the programs highlight the learning experience of these programs as well as underlying issues of needed reforms in teacher education.Included among best practices in education, cooperative learning may require a shift in program philosophy and disciplinary areas to meet the challenge of complex organizations and diverse student populations. As the essays in the volume demonstrate, a new alignment of field experiences to provide support for novices to implement cooperative strategies, and to receive timely and effective supervision for these attempts, may also be required.

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 marginalised 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.

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 marginalised 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.

This edited volume investigates the effects of shifting configurations and conceptualizations of the experience and meaning of home as it is embodied in early childhood care and education (ECCE).

This edited volume investigates the effects of shifting configurations and conceptualizations of the experience and meaning of home as it is embodied in early childhood care and education (ECCE). As the globalized early learning agenda drives more children to attend ECCE institutions, these institutions increasingly employ the concept of home through their curriculum and daily operations by attempting to foster a homelike environment or by incorporating items from children''s homes into play. Chapters seek to recognize the complexity of a concept that is often taken for granted by exploring ways of being and thinking that share an interest in the notion of home. Authors offer multiple lenses and approaches to make sense of home as a conceptual space that operates in complex and often interrelated ways, including as an intellectual space, a built environment, a disciplinary technology, and a threshold.