Teaching and Learning: International Best Practice(Research on Sociocultural Influences on Motivation and Learning)

Our highly interconnected global education environment provides unprecedented opportunities for teaching professionals and educational researchers to share best practice in teaching and learning across international borders and sociocultural frontiers. This volume presents a diverse range of innovative educational best practices from around the world – particularly those practices that directly strengthen and enhance student motivation and achievement in a broad range of sociocultural contexts. These practices include: enhancing teaching and learning environments, particularly in relation to provision of high quality infrastructure for 21st Century (digital) learning; designing and managing after-school homework support; recruiting, developing and retaining high-quality teaching staff; promoting international and multicultural awareness through deliberate exposure to varied cultural experiences and perspectives; optimizing the benefit of project work for student academic and social outcomes; designing educational interventions based on self-concept research; and developing an international service learning course for tertiary students. The editors of the present volume have gathered over thirty renowned educators and researchers from Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States, to share their experiences in developing best practices in teaching and learning in socioculturally and educationally diverse contexts. These practices, guided and underpinned by cutting edge educational/psychological theories and research, are believed to be adaptable to many diverse educational and sociocultural contexts. The editors invite researchers, professionals, educators, teachers, lecturers, policy-makers, and curriculum developers to think, reflect, and take action on how to utilize the underlying principles of the best practices in the present Volume to their own settings.

Table of Contents:
SETTING THE STAGE.; Best International Practice in Teaching and Learning: From Theories to Principles to Actions, Arief D. Liem and Dennis M. McInerney.; PART I: BEST PRACTICES FOR OPTIMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, INSTRUCTION, AND TEACHER TRAINING. Constructing High Quality Learning Environments for Twenty-First Century Learners, La Tefy Schoen. Learning the Craft of Teaching and Learning From World's Best Practice: The Case of Finland, Juhani E. Tuovinen. Best Practice in Designing and Managing After-School Homework Support: A Sociocultural Interpretation of Homework and Affording Learning Through Homework Practices, Mike Horsley and Richard Walker. Improving American Schools: Perceptions of Adults and Students, Paris Strom and Robert Strom. Attracting, Training, and Retaining High Quality Teachers: The Effect of Initial Teacher Education in Enhancing Student Teacher Motivation, Achievement, and Retention, Catherine Sinclair.; PART II: BEST PRACTICES FOR STUDENT MOTIVATION, LEARNING, SELF-CONCEPT, AND SOCIAL PROCESS. Curiosity and Primary Source Materials: Making History Come Alive, Thomas G. Reio, Jr. Making Classroom Social Practices Explicit: Developing Motivation Through Participation in Collaborative Leadership Opportunities, Judith MacCallum and Veronica Morcom. Effective Practices in Group Project Work: Exploring the Views of Students and Teachers, Caroline Koh, C. K. John Wang, Oon Seng Tan, Jessie Ee, and Woon Chia Liu. Exploring Student Learning in an International Service-Learning Course: Sociocultural and Transformational Experiences in Cambodia, Valerie C. McKay, Natasha Gaffoglio, and Elena Esquibel. International Best Practice in Effective Educational Interventions: Why Self-Concept Matters and Examples From Bullying, Peer Support, Reading, and Mathematics Research, Rhonda G. Craven and Alexander S. Yeung.; PART III: BEST PRACTICES FOR LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS. Literacy, Behavior, and Auditory Processing: Effective Pedagogical Practice That Maximizes Students' Behavioral, Motivational, and Achievement Progress, Katherine S. Rowe and Kenneth J. Rowe. How Different Are They? Students Receiving Learning Assistance in the Classroom in Norwegian Secondary Schools, Lihong Huang. ""I'm the Expert Now"": Digital Storytelling and Transforming Literacies Among Displaced Children, JuliAnna Avila, Charles Underwood, and Scott Woodbridge. The Influence of Culture on Students' Classroom Social Interactions: Implications for Best Teaching and Learning Practice in Multicultural and International Education, Arief D. Liem, Elizabeth Nair, Allan B. I Bernado and Paulus H. Prasetva. Index. About the Authors.