ABSTRACT
This book echoes and enhances the generative, dialogic, knowledge-building process that took place at the AMLE 2021 conference, reflecting the way in which middle-level researchers work collaboratively and draw ideas and inspiration for their studies from prior research and accounts of practice, as well as their own experiences in the field.
Each of the five sections features a recent study presented at the roundtable session at the 2021 AMLE conference, accompanied by two companion pieces offering different perspectives on the work. In the latter, the authors enrich and extend the original research by incorporating feedback from the conference session discussions, revisiting their findings and conclusions, considering alternative approaches to further research, and proposing new or clarified implications for practice. Addressing themes across theoretical frameworks and diversity of research design, and with topics ranging from music education to teacher agency and the productive struggle, the volume crucially presents and discusses recent innovations in the field with a view to prompting future research questions and deeper inquiry.
As such, it will benefit researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of middle level education, educational research, and specifically research methods in education. Those interested in teaching and learning, and adolescent development more broadly will also benefit from this volume.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |10 pages
Introduction
part I|40 pages
Studying the Schools to Watch Program
chapter Chapter 2|8 pages
Reflection on Illinois Horizon Schools
chapter Chapter 3|21 pages
Illinois Horizon Schools
chapter Chapter 4|9 pages
Findings from the Illinois Horizon Schools
part II|43 pages
Community School Reform Research
chapter Chapter 5|7 pages
Community School Reform and Middle Level School Culture and Community
chapter Chapter 7|10 pages
Exploring the Possibility of Creating a Community School in a Rural Setting in the Deep South
part III|45 pages
Teacher Agency in Curriculum Processes
chapter Chapter 8|8 pages
Better Together
chapter Chapter 9|27 pages
Teachers as Curriculum Designers
chapter Chapter 10|8 pages
The What Informs, the How Transforms
part IV|44 pages
Social-Emotional Learning and Character Development in the Middle Grades
chapter Chapter 12|25 pages
It's Not All or Nothing
part V|51 pages
Music Education Research in the Middle Grades
chapter Chapter 14|10 pages
Considering Young Adolescent Intrinsic Motivation in Music Learning
chapter Chapter 15|33 pages
Music Teachers' Perceptions of General Music as a Required Middle Level Course
chapter Chapter 16|6 pages
The Continuing Conundrums of Music Learning and Teaching in Middle Schools
part |9 pages
Conclusion