New Issue of Childhood Education Innovations: Articles on Supporting Refugee Learners, Empowering Students, Bolstering Transformative Leadership, and More
The newest issue of Childhood Education: Innovations features unique, stimulating information about educational programs around the world. The November/December 2024 issue includes articles on innovation, humane education, and more.
Two of these articles are currently freely available to the public, while the others are available to magazine subscribers or for a download fee. Links to the free articles are below. Subscribe to access the full issue here.
Articles in the January/February 2025 Issue
“Ladder to Learning: Supporting Refugee Learners in Uganda”
Young African Refugees for Integral Development (YARID), a refugee-run organization, and Street Child, an international organization specializing in education in emergencies, collaboratively conceptualized and created a simpler, more scalable, and sustainable program to help refugee learners acquire foundational skills in English and thus making it possible to transition into state schools in Uganda. This program is called Ladder to Learning (LTL). LTL is the first and only language intervention for refugee learners in Uganda, allowing refugee learners to acquire language skills in a safe, secure, and stable space, with strong, supported transitions into state schools.
“Deeper Level Learning in 1, 2, 3! Observing Students’ Involvement in Vietnam”
This is the story of a teacher in Vietnam who received training on process-oriented child monitoring (POM), delivered by VVOB-Education for Development in conjunction with the provincial Department of Education. During the training, Teacher Tinh learned that POM is a child observation approach that can be used to determine students’ levels of well-being and involvement in the classroom, which helps a teacher understand if deep-level learning is taking place.
“A Transformative Leadership Approach to Public Education In South Africa”
Leaders for Education, a program of Citizen Leader Lab, focuses on leadership development and support for principals in underprivileged communities. The program aims to equip principals as effective change agents capable of transforming their schools into thriving environments for teaching and learning. The approach involves partnering with private-sector business leaders, who collaborate with principals to bolster capacity building and drive positive change. By focusing on improving the quality of education, Leaders for Education provides support to principals from under-resourced schools, equipping them with essential skills through business partnerships.
“Empowering Students to Change the World”
To integrate a focus on current issues into the schoolwide curriculum, the leadership team at Heritage Middle School used Global Leaders — a school-wide framework that emphasizes connections between local actions and global impacts. Students became not only more engaged in their school work and global issues but also excited about making changes to improve their community. Every lesson recognizes the interconnectedness of local and global issues, cultivates essential global competencies, and encourages students to take proactive steps in their local communities. Each of these elements created momentum for community initiatives.
“Partnering, Co-learning, and Co-creation: Cornerstones of Teacher Well-being, Innovation, Learning, and Leadership”
Two teachers — one in Ukraine and one in the United States — talk about how they came to know each other, the connections they found in their work despite teaching in very different contexts, and the professional project they decided to pursue together. They share what supported their co-learning and co-creative project work and offer inspiration and motivation for educators around the world to find their allies, innovative partners, and critical friends.
“From Conceptualization to Construction: A Model Playscape in Tanzania”
This article describes a project to construct a playscape that will serve as a hub for innovation and learning at Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE). This project, funded by a private donor, is part of the Tanzania Partnership Program (TPP), a longstanding partnership between faculty at DUCE in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Michigan State University in Michigan, USA. The playscape is the centerpiece and the first step in a broader agenda to develop a feasible, sustainable, and contextually relevant approach to play-based learning that can support pedagogical change throughout Tanzania.
“Playful Parenting for All Caregivers”
Target 4.2 of SDG 4 is dedicated to “ensuring that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood care and education.” In Guatemala, Come Play with Me contributes to this target and involves other actors to facilitate reaching the goal. According to the 2018 Census, 65% of families in Guatemala listen to the radio. Thus, using radio ensured that information to promote playful parenting reached even the most remote indigenous communities without electricity.
“Making Our Way to the Rug: Building Engagement in Transitional Kindergarten”
While serving as a Literacy Specialist for two years, the author had observed students opting out of whole-group learning. She considered what barriers might be preventing children in her transitional kindergarten from engaging with the whole-group learning. Here, she describes her tailored Animal ABC curriculum, designed to drawing her students into whole-group activities while introducing them to the background knowledge they would need to be most successful in kindergarten.
“Teaching Civic Responsibility to Young Children”
Young children must what it means to be a citizen, and that citizens hold civic responsibilities that lead to building stronger communities. As a 1st-grade teacher in an inner-city school, the author of this article saw a need for her students to learn about civic responsibility. Teaching civic responsibility to young children through project-based learning that developed their understanding of “community” is an effective way to educate them about their rights and responsibilities as citizens and the importance of being actively engaged in the democratic process.
“Understanding the Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Wellbeing”
How does social media contribute to youth’s declining wellbeing? To address this question, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) assembled a team of researchers from diverse fields to draft a consensus report on the impacts of social media for adolescents. Although initially focused on mental health, the committee took a broader perspective on overall wellbeing, including both mental and physical health, to consider not just the absence of illness, but whether a child is thriving. Though this question seems straightforward, answering it was not. This article explains some of the challenges and highlights the conclusions and recommendations based the research to date.
About Childhood Education International
CE International works in partnership to co-create innovative solutions to education challenges and build bright futures for all children.
CE International designs and co-develops inclusive, equitable, and holistic approaches for children’s development and learning through teacher professional development and capacity-building for organizations and key stakeholders.
- The Center for Professional Development supports educators through professional learning rooted in holistic and sustainable learning principles.
- The Center for Business Champions supports the development of partnerships between child development and business leaders.
- Through technical assistance and consulting services, CE International develops innovative solutions to pressing challenges through Education Diplomacy, systems leadership, social-emotional learning, and more.
- In collaboration with partners, networks, and coalitions, CE International co-creates innovative solutions to collectively address education challenges.
CE International’s priority areas include ECD; inclusive education; education during migration, displacement, and emergencies; education for sustainable development; and child rights.