This paper describes an empirical study of mentor and mentee behaviors deemed critical for developing healthy mentoring relationships and effective mentoring during the "start up" and "on going" stages of a formal mentoring scheme within a major UK public sector organization. Several identified behavioral categories (criteria)…

Shadowing entails a researcher closely following a subject over a period of time to investigate what people actually do in the course of their everyday lives, not what their roles dictate of them. Behaviors, opinions, actions, and explanations for those actions are reflected in the resulting thick, descriptive data. There is little written that…

Although a well-corroborated scientific theory, the theory of evolution has continued to cause dilemmas for some individuals who have not easily been able to accommodate the concepts of this theory within their cognitive culture. The reason lies in the overlap of some ideas that the theory advocates with other social, epistemological, and…

Although most educators would agree that enacting cultural relevance in the classroom is always a complex process, we have too few examples in the research literature of what that complexity looks like and how it plays out in highly diverse classrooms. Drawing on a range of qualitative data sources, this case study examines how one teacher's…

Between 1998 and 2004, the higher education systems of Germany, France and the Netherlands underwent major changes. The changes were framed in the context of the Bologna process, and linked to the reform of degree structure towards a system of undergraduate and graduate cycles. This article investigates how a key feature of these systems was…

In order to understand how age and motor difficulties impact on daily routines, this qualitative investigation used focus groups and in-depth interviews with Australian and Canadian parents to examine the daily routines of younger (5 to 7 years of age) and older children (8 to 9 years of age) with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder…

This is the third and final article in this series. The first article reviewed the literature for research studies on successful developmental programs and students. The second article reported on the qualitative research methods and results documented from a purposive sample of twenty successful developmental mathematics students 3-5 years after…

This article complicates how Canadian universities are pressured to capitalize on research and how these same pressures affect both the collaborative and community-based research within the academy by privileging one type of research and relationships within community over others. Through examining historical influences on Research Ethics Boards…

Exploring the complicated issues of assessment in the arts, the authors discuss assessment of arts education and arts programs from a qualitative perspective: experiential, naturalistic, and ethnographic interpretation. With special attention to the practices of teaching, learning, and administration of education in the arts, quality is sought…

This paper proposes a critical reflection on the use of quantitative sources for the historian of education. It identifies and discusses key promises and challenges related to the construction and interpretation of historical statistics in education, drawing on a number of British and some French historiographical examples. Ultimately, the article…

The value of collaboration between parents and educators is well-recognized. However, many preservice educators feel they lack the skills and confidence needed to establish and maintain effective partnerships with parents. This qualitative study was designed to explore one approach to improving teacher preparation with respect to…

This qualitative study examines the Samoan family and culture as possible sources of risk and/or protection for delinquency among Samoan youth. Study participants included Samoan American youth and parents living in one U.S. state. Data were collected via individual interviews. Results indicate that family practices, dynamics, and socioeconomic…

This study is part of a larger qualitative research project which examines visual imagery created through projective art tasks undertaken by young Kuwaiti women who were resident in Kuwait during the 1990 Saddam-Hussein-led Iraqi invasion of their country. The purpose of this article is to present evidence from the study as it is evolving. This…

By designing effective learning opportunities for older adults, educators can make a positive contribution to the problem of a "graying America." Because older adults themselves may offer important insights on what helps and hinders their learning, this qualitative study explored the perceptions of 36 older learners on effective and ineffective…

This qualitative study used Critical Race Theory as a theoretical framework to examine the meaning, context, and process by which 12 African American students in gifted education programs formulated perceptions of their experiences in those programs. The following themes emerged from the semistructured, biographical questionnaires and individual…