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…

Quantitative and qualitative data collected from students who have completed a Master of Science in Education Learning Community Program support the effectiveness of the learning community model in facilitating professional growth and transformation. Instructors model constructivist theory. Peer review, collaboration, and reflective analysis of…

The perceived benefits of Wellness Education in University environments are substantiated by a number of studies in relation to the place, impact and purpose of Wellness curricula. Many authors recommend that Wellness curriculum design must include personal experiences, reflective practice and active self-managed learning approaches in order to…

In this paper, the authors engage in a dialogue to illustrate their teaching practice with experiential arts-based diversity learning. The adult education theoretical frameworks of transformative learning/unlearning and experiential learning frame the paper. Examples of experiential arts-based diversity learning include: participating in…

The attachment theory of John Bowlby has had an enduring impact on our understanding of child development. But these ideas are a neglected and forgotten discourse in adult education. In this paper concepts such as secure and insecure attachments, internal working models, and the strange situation along with the more contemporary concept of…

Continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers is a neglected area of teacher development in South Africa. The introduction of a new national curriculum in the post-apartheid era presents enormous challenges for teachers. CPD initiatives in South Africa thus far have been fragmented, diluted and have had little direct influence on teachers'…

This paper examines the framings that the fields of the social studies of science and science education use for each other. It is shown that the social studies of science frames science education as passive and timeless. Science education frames science studies as a set of representations to better capture how science works. The paper then…

In this article, an analysis and critique of one small but pedagogically significant component of classroom discourse (instructors' use of long-familiar questioning routines in whole-group classroom discussion) is used to support the larger argument that analysis of classroom discourse at the college level offers many valuable ways to reflect on,…

Catalyst-Clemente is an innovative educational program based upon a collaboration involving Australian Catholic University, Mission Australia and the St Vincent de Paul Society. The program enhances the transformational learning opportunities and re-engagement of disadvantaged people within the community. This paper reports on the origins and…

This article explores the informal learning processes and the changes in the values of a group of 200 Latin American immigrants to Canada. Results show that the majority of the respondents underwent at least one political or civic learning process, like increasing tolerance or environmental responsibility. The findings also suggest a number of…

After attending a session at a conference and experiencing transformative learning, educator often attempt to use those same activities to replicate that learning for others in their own educational environment. They tend to remember and rely on "that great activity" and lose sight of the complexities of why or how that learning occurred. The…

Reflective decision making is an important component in a teacher's professional expertise, and aptness for integrating it into professional practice can be nurtured in most teachers. This article uses vignettes from student teachers' journals to describe four modes of thinking that can provide a useful framework for fostering growth in novice and…

Rhetoric about "all children" abounds in public education, yet many aspects of schooling continues to marginalize large numbers of students. Despite good intentions, the assumptions, attitudes, and conditions that can preclude students' success are often invisible to educational policymakers and practitioners. These students are not…

Departing from a methodological experiment performed by the authors, this article reflects on and discusses issues of ethics and politics in poetic strategies of "representation". In relation to the experiment the article questions how to conceive the notion of connectedness between empirical time and the reconstruction of it in poststructuralist…

Learning about social justice is far different from engaging in the emotion-laden work of learning social justice. Frequently, instructors of aspiring educational leaders find that when social justice content is introduced, the adult classroom becomes a messy community, filled with untidy and unexamined viewpoints, multiple stereotypes, and…