In a time of intellectual and emotional overload in education, this paper offers room for breathing through a pedagogy of emptiness from a Daoist perspective. It begins by introducing the concept of Daoist emptiness through three intertwining features--generative, transcendent, and inclusive--important for rethinking pedagogy. It then moves to…

This reflective essay advances a model of transformative education based on the collaborative experiences of a professor and three students who sought greater opportunities for flourishing through reflective and contemplative methods in an instructor-created open space. Open space derives from research in education, child psychology, and…

Maintaining a learning community's status as a high-impact practice involves understanding the factors that contribute to their effectiveness in increasing retention, engagement, and overall academic success. By creating diverse small groups in which students are encouraged to support one another academically, both during and outside of class, the…

A good working relationship between an architect and a client is crucial to the success of any architectural project. However, client engagement is often absent or difficult to replicate within the classroom teaching of architecture students. In order to address some of these gaps and also to attempt to inculcate a sense of a client-architect…

Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) have gained more prominence in education of late; however, the question of their theoretically sound implementation remains relatively understudied. The current article addresses this gap through the explanation of how a MUVE platform Second Life was used in an undergraduate course for pre-service teachers.…

In this article, researchers discuss how relational theory (Bourriaud, 2002) can be used to understand the experiences of five migrant women participating in a museum art program called "Learning ART Together." We posit that museums and art centers, like many institutions, are constantly working in tension with rigid institutional…

Hospitality is the Christian imperative of welcoming the stranger to our table, which serves as a living metaphor for the salvation God extends to all of us, welcoming us as sinners to his table of abundance. As we transition from the era of missions to the era of world Christianity, a hospitality framework is helpful for the concomitant task of…

As antiviolence activists and university professors teaching and learning about violence prevention and feminist movements, authors Laurie Fuller and Ann Russo write that they are inspired by the collaborative visioning of Critical Resistance and Incite! Women of Color Against Violence with regard to ending violence without reproducing it. Fuller…

This Reflection on Practice is based upon a change in the undergraduate course "Family and Community Relations." Historically, this course has been taught on campus in a lecture format, as well as small and large group activities. However, during a spring semester at a midsized Midwestern University, it was altered to provide more direct…

Because researchers know so much more about the brain and development than they did when the 20th-century U.S. education system was designed, this knowledge can now be used to design a system in which all individuals are able to take advantage of high-quality opportunities for transformative learning and development. This playbook suggests a set…

James E. Longhurst and Juanita Capri Brown introduce us to the Five habits of mind practiced in the Glasswing Healing Racism, program, which is designed to foster personal transformation, interpersonal understanding, and racial equity. Longhurst and Brown note that the topic of racism is not typically brought up in mixed company. It can elicit a…

Coming to understand how cultural differences influence interactions between educators and students and their parents is a complex and perhaps life-long discovery. Culture helps to define groups' belief systems and expectations for appropriate behavior, often at a hidden level. Pre-service teachers need multiple opportunities to interact with…

Engaging students has been seen as the key to promoting their achievement in higher education institutions. However, there is an important stage prior to this: the development of a positive student identity which influences students' motivation to engage. As the student body has evolved from full-time, on-campus students entering university…

A transformative learning experience (TLE) is an especially meaningful encounter that leaves a lasting impact on a person's sense of competence or place in the world. The construct of TLE is presented in transactional terms as an irreducible interplay between learner and the world (including the natural world, artifacts, and other people).…

Educators know that to engage learners in the enterprise of critical thinking, learner's need to care enough to pay attention, and feel safe enough to take intellectual risks. When interacting asynchronously in online forums, it can become even more challenging to create a space that encourages reflective, integrative, and higher order thinking.…