Analysing the triad understanding-personal identity-education in three different contexts (scientism, historicism, hermeneutics) make it possible to investigate the kind of thinking that is emphasised most in each context. The implications of thinking to educational practice are stressed at each level of interpretation. The chief shortfalls in the…

The author grew up in Taiwan and in 1995 enrolled in Kent State University's PhD program in sociology. Early in his doctoral career at Kent State, he took a program evaluation course offered by Irwin Deutscher. The textbook he used in the class was Peter Rossi and Walter Williams's 1972 book, "Evaluating Social Programs: Theory, Practice, and…

Liberal Studies (LS) has recently been confirmed to be offered as an independent core subject in the local senior secondary school curriculum in 2009. There had been some controversy concerning its status as an independent core subject to be publicly examined in the coming proposed public examination in Secondary 6. This article argues that the…

The aim of this article is to propose a method for practical theology, the hermeneutical-praxis paradigm, based on discussions of three different methodological approaches to practical theology. This article suggests the hermeneutical-praxis paradigm, which bridges theory and practice, which connects church with society, which correlates theology…

This paper explores how individuals and communities orient themselves to the future by the way they story the past. There is a persistent tendency to think of such narratives as factual and therefore stable. The mutability of such narratives is actually a key adaptive characteristic, ranging from complete repression of individual traumas to public…

Advancement Via Individualized Determination (AVID) provides middle-achieving, underachieving and socio-economically disadvantaged students in grades 4-12 with success strategies, and rigorous coursework that prepares them for high school graduation and college acceptance. Based on a series of interviews with Latina students who had participated…

There is a recurrent conflict concerning law and judgment in the Catholic tradition. The tension between the manner in which just punitive judgments are to be rendered and the possibility of judging justly, if at all, is found frequently in Scripture and in Church history. This paper will give an overview of the dynamics of this tension in…

Over 300,000 children are estimated to be conscripted participants in conflicts throughout the world. Depending on the particular armed group that employs child soldiers, girls represent 6 to 50% of child soldiers. Despite this prevalence of involvement, the experience of girls as soldiers in war and political conflict has rarely been…

Searching for a methodology that would allow the author to "see" across worldviews and articulate them both was the academic challenge of investigating learning ideology across Canadian and Aboriginal worldviews with Aboriginal Nuu-chah-nulth Elders. A mode of inquiry was required permitting the author to hold a Euro-heritage and an…

Cognitive-learning theories hold a unique place in history: they explore the depths of the mind from the perspective of process. This paper discusses the history of cognitive-learning theories and how they grew to shape the way one perceives, organizes, stores, and retrieves information. The paper, after providing a definition and synopsis of…

Most developmental psychologists have encountered some version of the hermeneutic critique. Hermeneuticists assert that the traditional conception of social science research is fundamentally flawed in methodology, in its conception of the human person and human action, and in epistemology. Hermeneuticists maintain that hermeneutics should…

Without acknowledging the privileged position from which physicians conduct research, their inquiry into nursing practice can lead only to a "physician" interpretation of nursing that is likely to be inaccurate and inadequate. (Author/SK)

Using critical theory, the author presents a hermeneutic approach to artifact interpretation and museum program development. (SK)

Currently, the language sciences place together four different forms of mental activity on one plane of language, which results in confusion. This paper presents arguments from metaphysics, hermeneutics, and semiotics to demonstrate that there are actually three planes of language (a biologically-based information processing plane, a literal…

Understanding, self-understanding, and openness are essential for reflection-in-action, the way skilled professionals think as they act. Reflection-on-action is easily lost in the exigencies of a busy professional life, but it is a critical element of reflective practice. (SK)