Russell Tufts University This study examines the potential of designing and teaching online courses to prompt university faculty members to reflect on the essence of good teaching, and as a result reconsider their beliefs concerning effective pedagogy. A phenomenological investigation was conducted based on interviews with six long-time university…

Background/Context: Improved professional development for teachers and principals is central to our national educational agenda. Principals struggle with the challenge of how to build school climates that improve practice in an era of heightened accountability and increasingly complex adaptive challenges. Purpose/Objective/Research Questions/Focus…

The present qualitative case study grounded in critical, socio-constructivist perspectives towards transformative learning and identity development intends to identify and explore the in-depth nature of innovative multicultural educational practice in an urban adolescent ESL [English as a Second Language] class in new times. Data, collected from…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to investigate transformative learning strategies implemented by 10 Title I elementary principals that influence novice teacher retention. Data were gathered by individual interviews. Data were analyzed using Creswell's (2013) description of qualitative research as a collection of data…

The potential of a theory of variation-framed learning study, a teacher professional development approach, to help teachers overcome curricular and pedagogical challenges associated with teaching new science curricula content was explored. With a group of Singapore teachers collaboratively planning and teaching new genetics content,…

In this article, the author utilizes critical and sociocultural approaches to race, language and culture to examine the intersectional experiences of a multiethnic and "mixed race" cohort of students in an inner-city, working-class neighborhood between their elementary and high school years. This article examines the students'…

This qualitative study was designed to examine teachers' and principals' perceptions of the impact of a graduate program designed to prepare teacher leaders. Impact was investigated through interviews with 20 graduates and 6 principals. Using Mezirow's concept of transformational learning, the study documents perceived transformation of teachers'…

The purpose of the research was to explore the self-directed learning and transformational learning experiences among persons with bipolar disorder. A review of previous research pointed out how personal experiences with self-directed learning and transformational learning facilitated individuals' learning to manage HIV, Methicillan-resitant…

Evidence suggests that a disconnect is growing between the information provided in Christian sermons and the life challenges faced by those church attendees. To bridge that divide, the purpose of this study was to better understand the characteristics of a sermon that enhance learning for churchgoers in Christian churches. The guiding question…

This paper explores the interplay between identity reconstruction of indigenous college students and the effects of transformative learning on their self-development and collective action. Seventeen indigenous college students were interviewed for this study. The findings showed that most indigenous college students developed stigmatized identity…

This study examined the impact of an assignment involving intergroup contact (The Voices Project [TVP]) on student racism toward Muslims, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics in Introduction to Psychology. TVP students interviewed members from racial groups and wrote autobiographical memoirs of their lives. A faculty-writing team integrated…

This paper elaborates on a number of key criticisms of Mezirow's transformative learning theory as well as providing arguments that validate it. Our paper exemplifies how Mezirow's theory can help adult educators and prospective school teachers understand that social structures and belief systems can influence student learning, that learners make…

Having a preterm-born child is often fraught with ongoing challenges for the child's mother. Yet little is known regarding how that experience, over time, may influence the mother's health and well-being, how it influences her perceptions and practices of parenting, and the meaning(s) she attributes to it. The purpose of this study was…

Incorporating spirituality and religious themes in environmental education is a way to link learners to their meaning systems. Research has shown that incorporation of a spiritual element in education provides a way for students to have authentic learning experiences and make meaning of the knowledge they acquire in the classroom. This mixed…

This article reports on part of a wider study in which a group of teachers opted for a new model of continuing professional development (CPD) that was offered by one local authority (LA) in Scotland. In collaboration with the LA, the teachers selected the topic of critical literacy and the critical pedagogies that develop from a critical literacy…