In recent decades, Latin American countries have experienced increased enrollment, yet many children and youth remain outside the education system, questioning its relevance. In this context, teachers are called to be aware of and value children and youth's cultural diversity to harness it as the basis for relevant and transformative education. In…

This article troubles a pervasive concept within higher education studies: authentic assessment. Authentic assessment is well-established within higher education, and yet its common usage leaves it limited in possibility. Often understood as a practice focused on tasks, where assessments represent a 'reality' beyond universities, authentic…

This qualitative study is based on a series of interviews conducted with students (n=6) who participated in the inaugural cohort of a year-long students-as-partners program called CTL Scholars. As one of the first students-as-partners programs implemented at this large, dispersed, public research institution, students of diverse majors and…

With critical social design put into practice, this study described and investigated transformative teaching and emancipation pieces of evidence from 21 Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH) pre-service teachers. The participants' reflection logs were analyzed, with Butin's technical lens framework as a guide. Findings revealed that…

This research demonstrates that cooperative inquiry (CI) offers authentic opportunities for academics to transform their teaching, paving the way for additional collaborative practices in higher education across a range of disciplines. Using data from cycles of action and reflection, a multidisciplinary group of seven tertiary teachers committed…

As the number of adults seeking to learn the piano increases, so too does the need for piano teachers to understand how to better facilitate their learning. Self-direction is an oft-cited requirement of adult learning, but one that is often absent from piano studios. This practitioner-based research investigates the role of the teacher in…

Reflection is a high impact practice that develops teacher candidates' learning. Critical reflection requires teacher candidates to continually examine their own thoughts, perspectives, biases, and actions. Reflective practice facilitates the development of new knowledge, skills, and dispositions in teacher candidates by fostering critical…

Service-learning environments are complex learning contexts that generate a level of disequilibrium or anxiety that may or may not result in transformative learning. This phenomenological study examined student reflective writings from an Honors service-learning course at a medium-sized mid-western university for evidences of transformative…

This study examines the effectiveness of service-learning as a pedagogical approach that seeks to bridge the gap of understanding between predominantly White undergraduate preservice teachers (PSTs) and diverse students at a local elementary school. Analysis of "before" and "after" reflective papers and surveys from 23 PSTs…

In the early summer of 2009 David Dietrich was a tenured faculty member at Lambuth University, a small liberal arts college when a friend from the University of Tennessee (UTM) at Martin called about a job opportunity. Because Lambuth had been struggling financially for many years and there was talk of the school closing its doors, Dietrich was…

The journey to cultural competence encompasses traveling an ever-expanding path increasing in size with the addition of each of five stages of development: conscientization, self-assessment, self-efficacy, agency, and, finally, critical consciousness as the unifying body within the educational enterprise. The increasing stages create a spiral…

Within the field of second language teacher education (SLTE), narrative has largely functioned as a vehicle for teacher inquiry, based on the assumption that such inquiry will ultimately bring about productive change in teachers and their teaching practices. Less attention has been paid to documenting what this change looks like or how engagement…

At the beginning of my academic journey I held the belief that I would learn to teach simply by teaching. To my dismay, I had underestimated the complicated nature of teaching in higher education and gave little consideration to the ways students learn. Feeling overwhelmed by my situation, I began questioning my teaching practices and student…

Using technology to develop a collaborative-reflective teaching practice in a world language education methods course block for teaching certification creates unique opportunities for world language education undergraduates to learn to develop synthecultural competence for education. Such a program allows undergraduates to expand their capacity to…

This article involved a series of investigations influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to early education as well as ideas of Paulo Freire. Within a Reggio-influenced classroom, teacher professional development is seen as essential, whereas for Paulo Freire, both teacher and the student are learners. These 2 ideas were brought together in a…