Adult educators in higher education settings often facilitate topics that stir difficult dialogues on race and racism. In the United States, an increased population of racially diverse individuals set against the backdrop of our current sociopolitical climate, suggests the need for authentic conversations surrounding race remain critical. By…

In this article Kerry Apps introduces students to the significance of the witch-hunts in the modern era, at the time when they occurred, and in the middle of the eighteenth century. She presents her rationale for choosing the witch-hunts as a focus for the study of significance, and shows how her thinking about her teaching has evolved through her…

This article defines the process of adaptive teaching in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We assert that teachers who possess a well-developed STEM pedagogical content knowledge, a constructivist paradigm of teaching and learning, and an ability to draw on a vision while reflecting on and during teaching to help negotiate…

In this article, the collection of articles in this issue are synthesized to discuss conceptualizations of adaptive teaching as a means to foster spaces for adaptive teaching in today's complex educational system. Themes that exist across this collection of articles include adaptive teachers as constructivists, adaptive teachers as knowledgeable…

Recently a dichotomy has developed in the field of TESOL between native English speaker teachers (NESTs) and non-native English speaker teachers (NNESTs) with some in each camp promoting one over the other, but this only separates rather than unifies our profession. In this article I suggest that it is not in anybody's interests to continue with…

In this article, the authors advocate the practice of reflection and reflective thinking skill development. More specifically, they offer definitions of reflection, identify reasons that may inhibit preservice teachers' reflection, and suggest practices that specifically encourage reflection on teaching among preservice and inservice…

This volume has offered both the theory and practice for a model of contemplative teaching and learning in community colleges--a way of teaching, of learning, of thinking that has often been missing in higher education. Contemplative teaching and learning, with its focus on community, reflection, and mindfulness--in short, on what it means to be…

Three decades ago, Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli reflected on the state of the art in gifted and talented programs. His work in schools and his evaluation of existing programs made it patently clear it was time to review existing definitions of gifted and talented students and to develop defensible programs for the gifted and talented. The result was the…

This article describes how action learning can be accompanied by a project to encourage shared learning about organisation culture, the external environment, political context and team dynamics, while allowing space for personal issues. It drives forward reflective practice and encourages sets to deliver a tangible pay-back to the organisation.…

Initially, the author began her teacher inquiry project by focusing on the superhero play she had been observing in her classroom and on her concerns about how it might be impacting the classroom community. Through an ongoing process of self-reflection and reading research, she was able to open herself up to interacting and engaging with the…

This article describes the initiatives of one community college district and its individual colleges to engage faculty in the scholarship of teaching and learning. The authors also discuss how these models take the step from effective and scholarly teaching to a scholarship of teaching and learning by encouraging faculty not only to reflect on…

Burke's own teacher-research has resulted in solutions for real classroom situations. In this, his last contribution as a column editor for "VM," he offers two more practical ideas for helping students achieve, and sends his readers off with advice to look to their own classrooms for solutions to the ever-present challenges of teaching. (Contains…

Through reading and reflecting on the words of Atwell, Rief, Moffett, and Graves, Maltese began to think like a teacher-researcher, and questioned her writing workshop practices. Once she began to consider audience as a motivating factor, writing became more meaningful for her students, encompassing a wide range of possibilities. Working from a…

This paper presents a model of adult reasoning that is consistent with a set of related psychological theories of learning known collectively as constructivism. Three general factors comprise the model: (1) personal epistemology (defined as beliefs about learning, dispositions toward thinking, and assumptions about knowledge itself); (2) sustained…

Describes 8 activities the authors have used in their teacher education courses that help prospective teachers develop the self-reflection and self-analysis; build an effective value base for teaching; integrate their personal and practical knowledge into a coherent system of values that will serve them in their profession; and construct personal…