This paper explores and challenges our assumptions as lecturers about preservice teachers' knowledge and beliefs entering a mandatory Indigenous Studies subject. A total of 38 focus groups were conducted over two years (2011-2012) with preservice teachers enrolled in teaching degrees at the University of Sydney. Findings were analysed to identify…

The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to examine the effects of reflective journals on students' learning, how they foster students' growth mindset, and the students' own perceptions of the journaling process. To this end, 15 students enrolled in an introduction to nutrition course participated in writing reflective journals about…

This article discusses research with development education practitioners in Britain and Spain, to explore their conceptions of pedagogical approaches to development education and how these relate to transformative learning theory. Development education is a process designed to generate informed action, which implies the objective of transformation…

In addition to providing a useful repository for learning products, ePortfolios provide enhanced opportunities for the development of advanced learning skills. It can be argued, however, that ePortfolios are not being implemented effectively towards fulfilling this important function. This paper presents an investigation of an ePortfolio…

This study aimed to develop an automatic classification system, namely ACTIVE, for generating immediate and individualised feedback on students' reflective entries about their second language (L2) learning experiences. It also aimed to explore students' attitudes towards using the system to support the development of their reflective skills in L2…

The concepts of reflection and reflective practice have become the core of many teacher education programmes, with critical reflection as the goal for many teacher educators. This study examined the use of a videoconference discussion in an instructional methodology course as a means to enrich the process of reflection and encourage critical…

This paper discusses pre-service teachers' responses to a critical analysis of gender/power relations using examples from a final assessment for an intensive elective unit called Teaching Sexuality in the Middle Years. This unit critically examines gender/power relations, the production of difference, heteronormativity and pleasure and desire,…

This article explores how 14 diverse, Canadian activist-facilitators working in international development experience and understand "critical reflection" as a component of participatory methodologies in facilitation practices. The findings, based on my doctoral study, demonstrate that although critical reflection is often discussed as…

This paper critically evaluates the use of journals as a pedagogic tool to encourage reflection, critique and self-analysis by students. Based within a postgraduate teaching module that has operated annually since 2008 and was awarded the Royal Town Planning Institute's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2009, reflexive journals were employed as a…

This paper presents a flexible framework of principles for teaching critical thinking and reflective practice skills at the postgraduate level. It reports on a collaborative project between four UK institutions providing postgraduate programmes in deaf education. Through a critical review of current theories of critical thinking and reflective…

This paper reports the outcomes of the second action cycle of an ongoing project at Edith Cowan University (ECU) called "Transition to Sustainability: ECU South West" which is located in a small, single faculty regional university campus. The overall project has comprised three action research cycles, the first of which was the planning…

This paper presents an examination of the learning of pre-service Visual Arts teachers through dialogic pedagogy. Dialogic education gives students the power to speak in their own voices, and through the interactions which take place between them, relationships, identities and ideologies are constructed. The dialogic process examined in this paper…

Teacher perceptions about diversity and the achievement gap were examined. Participants were alternative teacher licensure candidates at the student teaching phase of their preparation program. Two-hour individual, in-depth, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the participants. Additionally, the participants participated in…

In post-conflict and divided societies, global citizenship education has been described as a central element of peacebuilding education, whereby critical pedagogy is seen as a tool to advance students' thinking, transform their views and promote democratic behaviours. The present study investigates understandings of and attitudes to global…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of students and faculty involved in a living-learning first-year experience program at a small, liberal arts institution about developing skills for life-long learning including critical thinking, written communication, and reflection and engagement across disciplines. The researcher…