In this article, we consider the efficacy of criticality in cultural context for transformative teacher education. We present data about how a small purposive sample of educators who participated in a culturally based university course found the experience to be pivotal in their personal and professional development. For this article we ask: (a)…

We are thesis examiners within the Australian academic system who formed a community of practice to try to resolve some of the issues we were facing. Stories of examiners reflecting on and examining their own practice are a notable silence in the higher degree research literature. In this study we have adopted a storytelling inquiry method that…

An in-depth, 2-year instrumental case study considered the degree to which ongoing reflection, within the context of mentoring relationships and administrative portfolio writing, supported the development of administrative leadership practice within an Administrative Leadership Academy: Entry Year Program. By observing the ways in which entry-year…

Purpose: To provide a history of the emergence of quality systems from the mid-1980s. To show how quality became a primary policy concern in higher education policy. To map the development of quality processes and raise questions about dominant approaches and express concerns for the future. Design/methodology/approach: Historical document…

Opportunities for future teachers to reflect on their own learning helps them be more thoughtful about their students' learning. Putting theory into action, Montclair State University developed a required course entitled "Program Planning in Early Childhood Education." The course, taken by all preservice teachers before their student teaching…

Several national trends are converging to impact adult education today. First, the increasing presence of adults in higher education is accentuated by the expansive Baby Boom generation who are demanding greater access to the higher education system in the United States. Second, regarding workforce and economic development in the 21st century,…

This chapter discusses the challenges of fostering spirituality in the higher education classroom and its relationship to the practice of transformative learning.

How do and should students develop--emotionally, socially, intellectually, morally, and spiritually--on a college campus and, more particularly, as members of a residential learning community? What advantages does a learning community offer over the more fragmented and specialized cafeteria of courses in place on most campuses? What new structures…

This article revisits the pedagogical dilemma of maintaining neutrality in the religious studies/theology classroom. I argue that if the boundary between teaching about religion and actually teaching spirituality seems to be vanishing, it is because the boundary was inappropriately constructed in the first place. To the extent that the religious…

In this article the authors discuss issues faced by early career researchers, including the dichotomy, which many research textbooks and journal articles create and perpetuate between qualitative and quantitative research methodology despite considerable literature to support the use of mixed methods. The authors review current research literature…

Critical reflection promotes the questioning of assumptions, the rendering visible of the otherwise invisible. This article describes and analyzes the teaching and learning of critical reflection in the context of an internship program at the University of Sydney within the framework of completing a reflexive report for assessment. The authors…

Societal and organizational change requires people to change their professional identity continuously. Starting from two theoretical traditions that address identity and learning, the authors analysed the learning narratives of two sets of learners--participants in a two-year experiential learning programme and student interns, both in the domain…

On a recent visit to Murmansk, Russia to explore collaborative possibilities between the University of North Florida and Murmansk State Pedagogical University (MSPU), two educators jumped at the chance to visit a local kindergarten. As a former kindergarten teacher, one was curious to see how this kindergarten varied from what she had experienced…

The continued persistence of sexism and institutional gender bias in schools is well documented. The empirical research in this area has uncovered a host of negative outcomes associated with gender inequity for all children. Research suggests that schools provide an excellent forum in which issues of gender inequities may be examined and…

Action research includes a variety of methods engaged in by practitioners who wish to learn more about their work and the possibility of constructively changing it. This paper describes an action research dissertation project that focused on the work of a group of community activists to construct new understandings of their work and, as a result,…