Children who are sighted learn concepts and gain experience through incidental learning, the observation of events and interactions in their environment. Students with visual impairment need to be systematically, sequentially, and concretely taught through hands-on-experiences. Historically, students got this learning through channels other than schools. The teaching of recreation, adaptive sports, social life opportunities, and career education require this specific systematic approach. Individuals with vision impairment may also require specific interventions to learn independent living skills, self-advocacy, and community relationships.

ECC Essentials: Teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum to Students with Visual Impairments is the first comprehensive book for teachers of students with visual impairments to focus on the nine areas of the ECC that encompass the unique skills children and adolescents with visual impairments need to learn in order to access the core educational curriculum and become independent individuals, by providing the rationale, suggestions, and strategies necessary to implement instruction. The nine areas include compensatory access, sensory efficiency, assistive technology, orientation and mobility, independent living, social interaction, recreation and leisure, career education, and self-determination. ECC Essentials helps teachers manage time efficiently and effectively; work with students of different ages and ability levels; collaborate with parents and other members of the educational team; conduct assessments; align instruction with state standards and the general education core curriculum; and maximize planning effectiveness. The book includes learning activities that combine several areas of the ECC; information about additional resources; specific guidelines and strategies for teaching each of the nine areas of the ECC. ECC Essentials provides teachers with a road map for helping their students achieve success in school and in life.

Using the practical advice from itinerant teachers within the US, each chapter develops strategies for working with students with visual impairments. It discusses the rights, expectations and demands of itinerant teaching, as well as the provision of services within a variety of environments.

Offering a conceptual framework for teaching the visual arts (K-12 and higher education) from a cultural standpoint, the author discusses visual culture in a democracy.

This book is an open letter to teachers offering guidance and encouragement for nurturing students in ways that make teaching and learning meaningful. The authors promote an approach to teaching that fosters self-knowledge, creativity, curiosity, and an appreciation for our planet. Central to their philosophy is the question of what we humans need in order to live meaningful lives, and the answer lies in healthy relationships with ourselves, each other, and the world.

A People’s Curriculum for the Earth is a collection of articles, role plays, simulations, stories, poems, and graphics to help breathe life into teaching about the environmental crisis. The book features some of the best articles from Rethinking Schools magazine alongside classroom-friendly readings on climate change, energy, water, food, and pollution—as well as on people who are working to make things better. A People’s Curriculum for the Earth has the breadth and depth ofRethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World, one of the most popular books we’ve published. At a time when it’s becoming increasingly obvious that life on Earth is at risk, here is a resource that helps students see what’s wrong and imagine solutions. Praise for A People's Curriculum for the Earth "To really confront the climate crisis, we need to think differently, build differently, and teach differently. A People’s Curriculum for the Earth is an educator’s toolkit for our times." — Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate "This volume is a marvelous example of justice in ALL facets of our lives—civil, social, educational, economic, and yes, environmental. Bravo to the Rethinking Schools team for pulling this collection together and making us think more holistically about what we mean when we talk about justice." — Gloria Ladson-Billings, Kellner Family Chair in Urban Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison "Bigelow and Swinehart have created a critical resource for today’s young people about humanity’s responsibility for the Earth. This book can engender the shift in perspective so needed at this point on the clock of the universe." — Gregory Smith, Professor of Education, Lewis & Clark College, co-author with David Sobel of Place- and Community-based Education in Schools

Reform the schools, improve teaching: these battle cries of American education have been echoing for twenty years. So why does teaching change so little? Arguing that too many would-be reformers know nothing about the conflicting demands of teaching, Mary Kennedy takes us into the controlled commotion of the classroom, revealing how painstakingly teachers plan their lessons, and how many different ways things go awry. Teachers try simultaneously to keep track of materials, time, students, and ideas. In their effort to hold all of these things together, they can inadvertently quash students' enthusiasm and miss valuable teachable moments. Kennedy argues that pedagogical reform proposals that do not acknowledge all of the things teachers need to do are bound to fail. If reformers want students to learn, they must address all of the problems teachers face, not just those that interest them.