This book combines perspectives from psychology, spiritual education and digital teaching pedagogies in a transnational framework to discuss the Education in Human Values Program (EHV) for child development, with a focus on silent sitting, mindfulness, meditation and story-telling as tools in the classroom. Through positive guidance in the early stages of child development using EHV tools, teachers will be better equipped to handle disciplinary issues in primary and secondary schools. These practices are also useful for the higher education community, as teachers and educators from tertiary institutions may adopt these practices in their teaching and become reflective practitioners. Topics such as teacher morale and school climate and its impact on children are discussed in relation to building resilience, reflective capacities, and inner strength (shared values) using an intrinsic and transformational approach. The discussions also include perspectives from the neurosciences. With contributions from teachers and educators from the US, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong and Mauritius, this edited volume addresses the challenges, strengths and weaknesses associated with daily teaching practices in primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions. The content is relevant to policymakers and researchers in child development studies, with a particular focus on the impact of silent sitting, mindful practices, and meditation on children’s self-regulation and resilience. The authors collectively espouse that silent sitting techniques can help a child to grow and discover their hidden potential, thus enhancing their social, emotional, spiritual and physical capacities.

Presenting Values Education as a solution to major challenges in education such as student disengagement and teacher burnout, this book provides a wealth of practical advice about how to implement the Education in Human Values approach in schools, promoting wellness and improved educational outcomes. Values Education is a world-wide movement and comes in several forms. This book explains the need for and nature of values education, provides practical, easy strategies for implementing the Education in Human Values (EHV) approach, and outlines the educational theories that underpin it. The practical strategies in this book can be implemented in small increments in all aspects of school life. The focus is on both student and teacher wellbeing. The methods can also be used by teachers to address their own professional and personal challenges and to help them cope with difficult situations that cannot be changed. Written for teachers, teacher educators, and teachers in training, this book is the one-stop-shop for gaining a better understanding of values education, how it can support whole-school wellbeing and how to implement it effectively.

Why children should be taught coding not as a technical skill but as a new literacy—a way to express themselves and engage with the world. Today, schools are introducing STEM education and robotics to children in ever-lower grades. In Beyond Coding, Marina Umaschi Bers lays out a pedagogical roadmap for teaching code that encompasses the cultivation of character along with technical knowledge and skills. Presenting code as a universal language, she shows how children discover new ways of thinking, relating, and behaving through creative coding activities. Today’s children will undoubtedly have the technical knowledge to change the world. But cultivating strength of character, socioeconomic maturity, and a moral compass alongside that knowledge, says Bers, is crucial. Bers, a leading proponent of teaching computational thinking and coding as early as preschool and kindergarten, presents examples of children and teachers using the Scratch Jr. and Kibo robotics platforms to make explicit some of the positive values implicit in the process of learning computer science. If we are to do right by our children, our approach to coding must incorporate the elements of a moral education: the use of narrative to explore identity and values, the development of logical thinking to think critically and solve technical and ethical problems, and experiences in the community to enable personal relationships. Through learning the language of programming, says Bers, it is possible for diverse cultural and religious groups to find points of connection, put assumptions and stereotypes behind them, and work together toward a common goal.

What makes a great teacher great? Who are the professors students remember long after graduation? This book, the conclusion of a fifteen-year study of nearly one hundred college teachers in a wide variety of fields and universities, offers valuable answers for all educators. The short answer is—it’s not what teachers do, it’s what they understand. Lesson plans and lecture notes matter less than the special way teachers comprehend the subject and value human learning. Whether historians or physicists, in El Paso or St. Paul, the best teachers know their subjects inside and out—but they also know how to engage and challenge students and to provoke impassioned responses. Most of all, they believe two things fervently: that teaching matters and that students can learn. In stories both humorous and touching, Ken Bain describes examples of ingenuity and compassion, of students’ discoveries of new ideas and the depth of their own potential. What the Best College Teachers Do is a treasure trove of insight and inspiration for first-year teachers and seasoned educators.

The International Handbook of Teacher and School Development brings together a collection of research and evidence-based authoritative writings which focus on international teacher and school development. Drawing on research from eighteen countries across seven continents, the forty chapters are grouped into ten themes which represent key aspects of teacher and school development: Issues of Professionalism and Performativity What Being an Effective Teacher Really Means Reason and Emotion in Teaching Schools in Different Circumstances Student Voices in a Global Context Professional Learning and Development Innovative Pedagogies School Effectiveness and Improvement Successful Schools, Successful Leader Professional Communities: their practices, problems & possibilities Each theme expertly adds to the existing knowledge base about teacher and school development internationally. They are individually important in shaping and understanding an appreciation of the underlying conditions which influence teachers and schools, both positively and negatively, and the possibilities for their further development. This essential handbook will be of interest to teacher educators, researchers in the field of teacher education and policy makers.

Teacher Education and Practice, a peer-refereed journal, is dedicated to the encouragement and the dissemination of research and scholarship related to professional education. The journal is concerned, in the broadest sense, with teacher preparation, practice and policy issues related to the teaching profession, as well as being concerned with learning in the school setting. The journal also serves as a forum for the exchange of diverse ideas and points of view within these purposes. As a forum, the journal offers a public space in which to critically examine current discourse and practice as well as engage in generative dialogue. Alternative forms of inquiry and representation are invited, and authors from a variety of backgrounds and diverse perspectives are encouraged to contribute. Teacher Education & Practice is published by Rowman & Littlefield.

The Path describes the journey that starts the moment a person is born. In this book, Desislava shares personal stories that helped her evolve as a person. She discusses in-depth universal and natural laws that she discovered through personal experiences in her life. In order to find true happiness and inner peace and joy, one needs to bring awareness and attention to the internal world. Desislava shares different mindfulness techniques that helped her and her students find balance and release stress. This book also describes in-depth life lessons learned by a teacher who followed her passion to inspire more people to live their life with purpose and to connect with their divine nature. She explains how one can unleash his or her potential and discover who one truly is by accepting challenges and by being persistent, determined, and open for change. This book will guide you through the various stages of life that will help you answer the question, Who am I? The moment Desislava discovered her true nature, she realized it was time to share with everyone the wisdom hidden deep inside each one of us so that there is peace, true happiness, and joy on this magnificent planet.