Transformative learning has been widely discussed in the literature for challenging and reshaping learners' assumptions and beliefs. However, there is a gap in the practical demonstration of how transformative learning can be effectively designed and implemented in real-world contexts. This design-based study fills this gap by designing a mock…

Oscar Wilde was described by W. B. Yeats as "a man of action, a born dramatist." Although people did not recognize him as a serious playwright until the 1890s, Wilde had managed to find other outlets for his theatrical passion, for example in writing fiction. In this paper, it is argued that Wilde incorporates metadrama into his 1888…

The present paper inquires whether a meticulous program designed to resolve Interdisciplinary Societal Dilemmas through dialogic argumentation advances epistemic practices. To delineate how epistemic practices are manifested in classroom discussions, we adopted the Actor-Network Theory (ANT), which explores the interactions and agencies of human…

Online activism is a space of opportunity for students to encounter social justice issues, explore the possibilities of visual rhetoric, practice persuasive speaking skills, and actively contribute to the momentum of social movements. At the same time, digital activism raises concerns about "slacktivism," limiting the necessary…

Issues in society such as immigration and racial inequality threaten to derail classroom discussions. Likewise, issues in higher education such as general education (GE) reform threaten to obstruct faculty committee discussions. We want students to engage in classroom discussions through a comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, and events…

Michael Young's notion of powerful knowledge is attractive to many: to teachers wishing the best for disadvantaged students, to neoliberal governments that continually stress the need for teachers and students to improve their performance. This essay takes issue with this understanding of education. Firstly, it shows how classrooms are mediated by…

This article explains why elementary school children need civic education, identifies common obstacles that frustrate efforts, then describes how the Storypath approach can provide all students with opportunities for powerful civic learning. An actual application in a culturally diverse fourth-grade classroom illustrates how children grappled with…

The study of current events can take several forms, and the right current event to study as a class depends on the educational purposes, the curricular standards the authors want to address, and the resources they have available to meet them, and what the needs and abilities are of the students present in the class. In this article, they focus on…

A central aim of social studies curriculum is to prepare young people for making "informed and reasoned decisions for the public good" concerning consequential problems like global climate change. By developing students' "vision of a good society" and exploring what actions and policies move our society in this direction,…

This is an exploratory design study of a novel system for learning programming and 3D role-playing game design as tools for social change. This study was conducted at two sites. Participants in the study were ages 9-14 and worked for up to 15 hours with the platform to learn how to program and design video games with personally or socially…

A traditional debate format, in which a small group of students is given the task of presenting arguments for or against a particular issue, can promote pro and con dualism that is both incomplete and counter to developing a sociological imagination. In this article, the authors describe their efforts to avoid this kind of dualism through the…

The author concludes that the office wife" phenomenon involves both social and intrapsychic factors. Such affairs are the products of structured office interaction and most likely contribute to the stability of the marriages of the participants. (Author/BY)

Describes a complex role play used in a high school English class in which students take on roles from a simulated society with three distinct ethnic groups with differing interests and demands. Describes how students learn the hard truths of group dynamics in this extended role-play, discussion, and negotiation. (SR)

Although games are not usually thought of as aids to planning, a special type of game can be helpful when problems are complex, factors determining resolution are imperfectly understood, and numerous views coexist. Objectives of the education system planning game are to illuminate major issues of educational planning, to increase the participants'…

Examines the performance of texts ("trigger scripting") as a method of modifying sexual attitudes and assertiveness in a dating context in order to prevent date rape or unwanted sexual aggression. Suggests that live performance alone and live performance plus discussion cam modify sexual attitudes and increase awareness of the issues.…