This article explores the pedagogical potential of closely reading and writing hardboiled detective fiction in a Canadian secondary English Language Arts classroom. Grounded in narrative theory and co-taught with a local high-school teacher, the unit focused on the cynical narration and stylistic elements of authors like Raymond Chandler and…

The aim of this study was to explore whether Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVE) improve the creativity of users regardless of their creative potential profile. The study involved brainstorming sessions in two settings: a real meeting room (RE) and a similar meeting room in a virtual environment (VE). Twenty groups of three users of public…

The use of "participatory research" and "participation" to promote the empowerment of the poor and marginalised began in the 1970s and gained momentum in the early 1980s. The approach builds on the "learning for change" paradigm in which everyday experience is the basis for developing agency, and committing to and…

Shifting from a traditional lecture-based teaching approach to a student-centred approach, such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL), demands significant changes in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). It requires changes for teachers, students, institutional management, and even the physical learning environment. Once a university is not designed…

Young people's engagement with urban public space has been facing a number of obstacles that reflect a lack of understanding of their needs, values and priorities. The emergence of digital devices and social media as integral elements of youth culture adds further urgency to the need to understand how young people themselves visually articulate…

Drawing on our experience teaching a 2-week field-based geography course on urban environmental issues, we reinforce the value of field-based experiential education (EE) especially as it faces growing threats. We show how such experience can enable students to understand the diversity of urban environmental challenges in situ; grasp cities as…

To reflect on education and citizenship, we have selected a singular experience related to the fight for housing. In this specific case, the struggle is linked to an endeavour for maintaining traditional ways of life in the place where people were born and raised. Our theoretical framework is related to several authors, such as Freire, Gramsci,…

This study utilized qualitative methods and the urban political ecology (UPE) framework to situate changes in scope and content of undergraduate geography curriculum in Nigeria within the domain of education for sustainability. It was stimulated by significant curriculum-related events in the geography department of the University of Nigeria, and…

This article examines how martial arts students retell their stories about being left behind and how they have experienced, viewed, and struggled with the invisible violence. Popularly known as the "hometown of Chinese martial arts," Dengfeng is home to 48 registered martial arts schools and more than 70,000 full-time students. Drawing…

Mixed methods research (MMR) is useful for addressing complex and multidisciplinary urban problems. This article demonstrates an integrated MMR approach with a novel two-phase exploratory sequential design while studying play, play space, and children's (age 7-15 years) location preference for play in three residential areas in Dhaka. We used…

In Turkey, the social and economic changes of the past couple of decades have facilitated a neoliberal reconstruction of the city and a concomitant reorganisation of its educational spaces. The interaction between the urban space economy and school spaces has been documented by various studies, most of which point to the interplay between…

Urbanization almost invariably accompanies development, and the cities of India and China are experiencing spectacular increases in population. The concentration of millions of people in a small mass creates challenges for public policy, especially in the areas of basic infrastructure, public health, traffic congestion, and often law enforcement…

Street children, as the offspring of complex contemporary urban environments, represent one of our most serious global challenges. Article discusses the causes of this phenomenon, characteristics of street children throughout the world, and specific circumstances in Nepal, Indonesia, India, Latin America, and the Philippines. (Author/EMK)

This paper presents the results of an exploratory, small-scale qualitative research enquiry into the perceptions and experiences of young people in communities afflicted by deprivation in Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The context within which we address this focus contains a culture reputed to involve sectarianism, territoriality and gangs.…

This article compares American and Albanian college students' urban political experiences in order to understand the relevance of American models of urban politics to developing nations. Urban growth in Albania has created needs for teaching students about urban governance. The evidence presented here suggests that Albanians' conceptions of urban…