Bücher der Reihe SpringerBriefs in Education

This book focuses on the attitudes of Macao tertiary students toward language after the handover. It shares the findings of a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews, which were conducted among freshmen of the University of Macao to investigate their attitudes toward Cantonese, Putonghua, English, and Portuguese, as well as their attitudes toward Macao's language planning and language policy. Utilizing a multidimensional and multilayered perspective in the study, this book also demonstrates the orientations of Macao tertiary students and the correlation between their social categories (gender and social class) and their attitudes toward language.

This book showcases a case study of the development of a generalist early childhood education (ECE) teacher into a confident and competent teacher of science in early childhood with support from a mentor. It argues that with guided mentoring, and later, timely support of a mentor as and when required, ECE teachers can deliver the curriculum, teach science by providing opportunities to explore and then build on children¿s interest through intentionally planned activities, dialogue, and discourse.It presents a comprehensive literature review and research design including theoretical frames and methodology. It includes a chapter on teacher development and discusses different approaches to science investigations practiced by the teacher in the case study. The book provides evidence of children¿s science learning and presents the findings as response to research questions. It also includes a model of teaching as inquiry in the context of early childhood education.

This book provides an overview of the Theory of Practice Architectures (TPA), and the associated Theory of Ecology of Practices, in a manner accessible for a broader audience. The authors are part of the authorial team that developed the Theory of Practice Architectures from a strong empirical base, with its initial publication in 'Changing Practices, Changing Education' (Kemmis et al., Springer, 2014). This book follows on from that publication with a singluar focus on the Theory of Practice Architectures, and shows how it can be used as a theoretical framework for a range of empirical research projects. It first outlines and describes both the Theory of Practice Architectures and the Theory of Ecology of Practices, illustrating them with a range of relevant practical examples. Then, it focuses explicitly on designing and undertaking empirical research, analyzing data and reporting findings using the Theory of Practice Architectures. In this way, this book shows specifically and overtly explicate ways that research can be designed, and how data can be collected and analyzed, drawing on the Theory of Practice Architectures as a foundational framework. It also showcases a range of specific examples to allow readers to see the ideas as they have been employed in practice.

This interesting book discusses why, as an activity, topic and metaphor, play and game have become an integral part of modern life. Empirically exemplary and theoretically grounded, this book discusses the developments and expansions in gaming, from easily accessible casual games to the galaxy-spanning gaming worlds of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). It shows how gaming has become a focal point of the entertainment industry, marked by boundless professionalization and monetization, especially in the realm of sports, and how games become global platforms for social networks, where players from all over the world meet in digital sandboxes. The combination of the virtual and the ludic creates hyperreal spaces in which people try out new forms of interaction, cooperation, and even brainstorming. The authors ask if this behavior has become the new way of life and the new normal, and if this heralds the ludic century. They take readers on a journey to understand the dynamics of today's gaming society, and base their observations and analyses on an original theory of play, which, in contrast to social normalcy, revolves around the allure and threats of the unexpected. This book is of interest to students and researchers of social science and communication studies, especially those working on the interface of AI and society.

This book challenges the dominant expertise professionalism rationale for music education by responding to the call to develop ¿ecological awareness¿ at a time when all professions have a moral obligation to place sustainable and interdependent life at the center. The book aims to expand music education¿s professional horizons to acknowledge the responsibility of the music field to contribute to the demands of complex questions of sustainability and identify the ways in which sustainable music education may be strengthened through an activist relational ecological stance. It suggests a radical moral turn by asking: What if music education is recognised as part of the problem of sustaining unsustainability? and What if music teacher education was developed in and through dialogue with a futures perspective? These questions are interrogated through a critical analysis of the historical positioning of music in education and an interdisciplinary application of theories of ecology and professionalism.

This book reports a systematic synthesis of research on teachers' use of adjustments to support students with special educational needs who are currently in their mainstream classrooms. It presents a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of both quantitative and qualitative data, including studies involving observation, artefact examination, interviews, and surveys. It offers a holistic understanding of the current practices used by teachers to fulfil the intent of international inclusive education policy, and support the inclusion of students with a range of needs within the context of mainstream classrooms and programmes. This book also offers a range of recommendations for improving practice.