In this experimental piece of writing I want to think about the pedagogy of contact and the plight of the hikikomori or social recluse in Japan. I am interested in exploring how the hikikomori practices a kind of contactlessness or what I will call a deadly ipseity of desire. What does it mean to resist contact, to be without contact, to be…

This paper investigates the concepts of hope, despair and the radical imagination, driven by the following questions: Can we exist beyond the binaries of hope and despair, two key concepts that drive educational practices? What is the radical imagination and what are the conditions for it to be put to work in educational spaces? First, education…

In this study we address the need to promote student engagement with school science and the need to measure a more comprehensive conception of engagement considering three dimensions of engagement: emotional, behavioural, and cognitive. We address the first issue by designing and implementing a model-based inquiry instructional sequence focused on…

Cognitive biases restrict and even prevent the acceptance of new information, but the introduction of critical thinking may help control bias. The subject is a case study of how educators with adult students use critical thinking to control cognitive bias. The topic of cognitive bias is well researched, with over 150 different types of bias…

This dissertation research chronicles my experiences with emotions and learning as a student conduct administrator throughout the arduous process of investigating, becoming, and transforming by engaging sociocultural theory. Grounded in Authentic Inquiry (Tobin, 2006), this research centers my lived-experience and nuances the role of emotions in…

Willingness to communicate (WTC) reflects an intersection between instructed second language acquisition and learner psychology. WTC results from the coordinated interaction among complex processes that prepare second language (L2) learners to choose to use their L2 for authentic communication. Prior research has revealed considerable complexity…