Contemporary learning research and development that is embedded in primary and secondary schooling is increasingly acknowledging the significance of a variation approach for enhancing the possibility of learning. However, the variation approach has so far attracted very little attention in higher education, but where it has, the results have been…

The purpose of this research was to study the design and implementation of a newly developed, two-semester, action research course in a Master of Arts in Teaching program. Over a four-year period, we (the instructors) used action research methodologies for analysis and evaluation of the course. Throughout this study, students expressed varying…

The Developing Families Project-South Africa (DFP-SA) is a community-based model of education and training for the care, support and education of vulnerable children birth-to-three and their caregivers, guardians and families in rural and peri-urban townships. The approach fosters interactive learning among community members about early care and…

Transformational learning, according to Mezirow (1981), involves transforming taken-for-granted frames of reference into more discriminating, flexible "habits of mind". In teacher education, transformative learning impacts on the development of students' action theories, self-efficacy and professional attributes. Although considered…

The internship is a crucial part of leadership preparation programs for bridging the gap between theory and practice. As such, the purpose of this article is to explore what the literature says about the internship and to extend thinking by conceiving of how the internship experience might be transformational for prospective leaders. This article…

Many continuing adult and professional education programs have heeded the call of what Packer and Greco-Brooks (1998) refer to as the "ontological work of school," or helping "change the kinds of person their students become" (p. 134). This new "ontological" work attempts to incorporate critical pedagogy to stimulate critical self-reflection and…

This paper examines a core leadership strategy for transforming learning and teaching in distance education through flexible and blended learning. It focuses on a project centred on distributive leadership that involves collaboration, shared purpose, responsibility and recognition of leadership irrespective of role or position within an…

For their 56th annual meeting, the Association of Educators and Researchers (ALER) met in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Amway Grand Hotel. This year's conference theme was Literacy Is Transformative, which was also used as the title for this year's Yearbook, Volume 35. Included are double-peer reviewed papers, the presidential address,…

This article describes the transformational learning of our educational leadership faculty team as we developed assessments for an equity-centered pedagogy. This piece is taken from a larger study of new leaders' action research projects. The Equity Plan is designed to disrupt inequitable schooling practices by engaging students of educational…

Over the past decade or so, an educational evolution has been redefining our understanding and practices of adult community education (ACE) in profound and comprehensive ways. The name of this transformation is e-learning. A bountiful interpretation and practice of "e-learning" in ACE results inevitably in extending our educational work;…

This study examined the impact on 16 middle-school teachers' conceptions of mathematics learning and teaching of reflections on their learning experiences within mathematics professional development. The research questions were: In their reflections, what do teachers express about how they best learned mathematics through these learning…

The issue of how to produce high quality teachers is an ongoing concern for teacher educators worldwide. Research studies consistently conclude that despite the best efforts of teacher educators to provide programs that equip new teachers well for their work in schools, many new teachers find it difficult to enact what they have learned in…

Since the early 1980s, policy makers and educational leaders have pinned high hopes on mentoring as a vehicle for reforming teaching and teacher education (Feiman-Nemser, 1996). A review of literature written throughout the evolution of mentoring illustrated that researchers focused most of their attention on a relatively narrow aspect of…

Philosophical inquiry (Lipman, Sharp & Oscanyan, 1980) has the capacity to push boundaries in teaching and learning interactions with students and improve teacher's pedagogical experiences (Scholl, Nichols, Burgh, 2008). This paper focuses on the potential for Philosophy to foster pedagogical transformation. Two groups of primary school…

This article is about locating equity concerns "within" epistemic processes in school mathematics professional development. The professional development literature indicates a focus on subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge without explicit attention to equity concerns as they arise in professional development practice. Though scholars…