This paper highlights a distinctive way to research and present issues within education using metaphor and the qualitative narrative methodology known as auto ethnography. Auto ethnographic writing links the personal to the cultural and is recognised as a methodology that combines the method with the writing of the text, which in turn explicates…

This chapter provides background theory and practical steps for a possible selves approach to career development in adult education settings. It also identifies methods to foster development, enhance motivation, and manage setbacks.

This paper explores the conflicting philosophies within the widening participation debate. Two categories of inclusive educators are identified, "meritocrats" and "democrats". Among the democratic educators, a subgroup, "transformative" educators, exists, which seeks to invoke changes in society and the education…

This article reports on the authors' experiences as researchers finding out that working with an advocacy organization helped to address the lag between analyzing and drawing conclusions from research and ensuring that relevant findings had an impact. For many in the world of advocacy or those in the world of research, the partnership that is the…

Transformational learning as presented by Jack Mezirow has been critiqued for its Western, rational, and cognitive orientation. This qualitative study was conducted in the African nation of Botswana and examines how that culture shaped the process. In-depth interviews were held with 12 adults who acknowledged having an experience that had…

The focus of this article revolves around democratic learning communities and the work of P-12 teachers and educational leaders as spatialized practice. Through a critical pragmatic lens, we explore what is necessary to transform the social space of contemporary schools into democratically practiced places of learning for teachers: democratic…

This article is a reply to Gewirtz and Cribb's argument for ethical reflexivity, presented in a previous issue of this journal. These authors compared their views with mine, suggesting a way in which the differences between our positions could be overcome. I argue that, while there is certainly substantial agreement, there are also some…

Based on an ongoing qualitative case study in Costa Rica, this article presents the participatory work that the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) is doing with farmers to protect watersheds from erosion and contamination. Specifically, it includes a description of ICE's Watershed Management Agricultural Programme and how farmers…

In this article, a contribution is made to the discussion of reflection on the part of teachers. The discussion to date has shown that reflection must be broad and deep. However, just what constitutes broad and deep reflection and the relations between the two remain unclear. After consideration of the characteristics of broad and deep reflection,…

James Bucky Carter argues for the transformative potential of graphic novels in the English classroom. He advises teachers to be actively aware of the newer and lesser-known graphic novels and suggests approaches for examining the complex social issues the novels address.

This narrative acts as an articulation of a journey of many routes. Following Part I of the same research journey of rootedness/routedness, it debates the nature of transformation and transcendence beyond personal and political paradoxes informed by neoliberalism and related repressive globalizing discourses. Through a more personal, descriptive,…

This study aimed to investigate the transformational impact of introducing significant new learning technology in an Australian university over the time period 2007-2009. The exploration of this transformation is grounded in a social-ecological systems approach to the management of technology enhanced learning environments in the face of constant…

The rapid growth in online and virtual learning opportunities has created culturally diverse classes and corporate training sessions. Instruction for these learning opportunities must adjust to meet participant needs. "Online Course Management: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications" is a comprehensive reference source for the…

In this article, the author responds to the Modern Language Association's report, "Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World" (2007) by arguing for an explicit and interdisciplinary transformative world language learning approach toward environmental and cultural sustainability and economic and political…

This article discusses a unit of work, developed by this author, that encouraged students to "express themselves" by using language to make a difference (i.e., to protest an issue of particular concern.) While the culminating task for this unit was a spoken task requiring students to reflect upon what they had done and how successful…