The Commonwealth government provides fee exemption for any Australian who undertakes a PhD. This policy is presumably based on the "clever country" assumption that an educated population will develop and contribute to social and economic capital. Enrolment numbers therefore continue to increase, and a PhD is no longer an elite…

This study examines the study-abroad experiences of pre-service teacher candidates at the Faculty of Education, York University, using transformative learning theory. Disorienting experiences are a crucial first step for perspective transformation; students reported facing racial dynamics, "outsider" status, risk-taking behavior and…

Recent scholarship and the news media have identified a lack of critical thinking and ethical behavior in the business world. These deficiencies have led to faulty decision-making, ineffective planning, and frequent organizational dysfunction. This situation has focused attention on both practitioners in the field of business and on the university…

Rural African classrooms are still practising discourses and pedagogies that contribute towards students' continued underachievement and marginalisation. The use of behaviourist-based pedagogical approaches and the exclusion of learners' socio-cultural experiences including their mother tongue (MT) still characterise most classroom practices. The…

Based on data released December 3, 2013, from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), this Alliance for Excellent Education report reveals that the United States struggles to produce top performers in reading, math, and science at the rates of its international peers. These students, who the report calls the "deepest…

Many educators feel like the proverbial "bad child" who is always in trouble and told all the things he cannot do. A cacophony of voices arising from such books as "Disrupting Class" (2008), "Grown Up Digital" (2008), and "The World is Flat" (2007), declares the shortcomings of education and dire…

Research on service-learning has focused mainly on student outcomes. However, this study addresses the transformative change that three faculty members from different disciplines experienced during a semester-long fellowship on service-learning as a pedagogical method. Through their personal reflections, the authors show how service-learning and…

While every child has individual needs, living in poverty further compounds the issues many students bring to school. This reality was brought home to the author in a way that compelled her to take a hard look at her approach to teaching. What started her reflection was a professional development experience on understanding poverty. The principal…

This study explored the role of reflection in the personal life-coaching process and the ways it affects clients' change, as perceived by both coach and client. Underlying this study is that coaching is currently recognized as a learning process, yet how reflection is understood or used is currently unspecified. Insights gained from the adult…

Through narrative inquiry, this study investigated the role of personal and professional aspects of teaching and learning which teachers have developed and practiced, in relation to the dispositions, values, beliefs and knowledge that may assist them in successfully transforming to inquiry-based teaching, specifically in the implementation of the…

A critical task for communication educators is preparing students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for active and responsible participation within a rapidly changing global community. Given the complex nature of the challenges citizens will tackle in this century, there is a pressing need for educational approaches that will cultivate…

Although scholarship demonstrates the value and need for teaching grounded in equity, diversity and social justice, little research has explored the relationship between transformative professional development and transformative teaching. This survey research study conducted in 25 US diverse elementary schools investigated statistical…

This paper examines empirical data with regard to recent theorizing and conceptualizing of children's citizenship. It draws on a doctoral study where the author told social justice stories to one class of children aged five to six years to investigate the active citizenship that the stories set in motion. By imagining this action research study…

Increasing numbers of "teaching-only" staff are being appointed in higher education institutions in the UK. At one research-intensive university, a new category of academic staff was recently introduced: University Teachers, who are required to engage in scholarly activity as part of their conditions of employment. For many this…

In this chapter, the author will explore the significance of race from a social constructionist perspective. He will focus on immigration laws and on examples of legal cases that have set the stage for current definitions of whiteness and racial identification. A community-based transformational organizing model will be presented. The model will…