Preservice teachers do not enter teacher education institutions unfamiliar with the educational process, but rather with thousands of hours of experience in classrooms. As such, they hold beliefs about what it means to teach, which can often form barriers to understanding and implementing more innovative, student-centered, knowledge-construction…

The consideration of threshold concepts is offered in the context of biological education as a theoretical framework that may have utility in the teaching and learning of biology at all levels. Threshold concepts may provide a mechanism to explain the observed punctuated nature of conceptual change. This perspective raises the profile of periods…

In this article, the author discusses how reflection can be used as self-assessment. Reflection involves not only thinking about a learning experience, but also questioning parts of the experience. Reflection is thinking about what one knows from the learning experience, what one might do differently the next time. Reflection is wondering about…

This article is based upon a 2006 review of the research methodologies identified in the articles of two educational leadership journals. It found the use of narrative and biographical approaches specific to the field of educational leadership appears rare. This article examines the stories told by Yukon school principals in Indigenous contexts to…

This article reports the results of a qualitative study of 12 graduate international students' struggles to adapt to new multicultural and academic environments. The focus is on how they dealt with diversity while struggling to succeed academically and how, although experiencing numerous disorienting dilemmas, students did not critically reflect…

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) though in its youth, is perceived by many as transforming the academy. Will the transformation of the academy promised by SoTL be a mere shifting of priorities from research in the disciplines to research in pedagogy? Or will SoTL pursue transformation of the conception of teaching and learning…

Transformative Learning Theory has become one of the leading adult learning theories today and yet students, practitioners, and faculty can find it difficult to use. This useful theory has been applied to a variety of settings, including helping to describe the process which occurs as life mission is related to self directed learning. In the book,…

One of the hallmarks of sex education traditionally has been its Cartesian endorsement of mind/body dualism; we have preferred to equate "self" as synonymous with "mind", and have invested heavily in believing in the valence of rationality-based sexualities education. We generally do not consider the way "self" negotiates, interprets and relates…

Teachers constantly question their own practice. Often, their questions remain unexplored. Collegial observation provides one way to see teaching differently and understand the tensions involved in incorporating new theoretical understandings into practice. Gebhard (1999) argues that conversations preceding and following such observations are…

This study examines the variables which help direct students to a deep learning approach to science lessons, with the aim of guiding programmers and teachers in primary education. The sample was composed of a total of 164 primary school students. The Learning Approaches to Science Scale developed by Ünal (2005) for Science and Technology lessons…

The role of university-based mentors providing support for pre-service teachers (PSTs) on professional experience placements has long been an element of teacher education programs. These mentors often face challenging situations as they confront their own assumptions about teaching and learning, while also supporting PSTs who may be experiencing…

In this case study the authors investigate how a Native Greenlandic teacher planned and implemented the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence Standards for Effective Pedagogy, an instructional model that builds upon students' cultural and linguistic strengths. Researchers and educators interested in transformative education…

Research shows that introductory courses in college provide an opportunity to invoke transformative learning, enhance students' ability to take the role of the "other," and encourage an authentic learning experience (Mezirow 1997). Few studies, however, have examined transformative approaches wherein students examine heterosexist ideologies. This…

This paper shares the findings from a three year Participatory Action Research Study around the selection, implementation and effectiveness of educational technologies for enhancing learning in a Teacher Education subject for second year pre-service primary teachers. The innovative Project-Based subject is described using a critical lens. The…

This essay highlights a range of questions that arise when white suburban students engage urban neighborhoods of poverty and color in the United States. How can involvement in an "other" context move beyond "educational tourism"? The essay presents a pedagogical style that raises questions of the kind of socialized body one…