Three interviews each with five people who had articulated a life mission and analysis of their journals delineated the relationship of life mission to self-directed and transformative learning. New learning experiences refocus mission. The stronger and more focused the mission, the stronger and more focused the learner's self-direction. (SK)

Multicultural immigrant workers (n=23) studying English as a second language took photographs about their lives, wrote about them, and displayed them on the Internet. The materials depicted their cross-cultural journeys and transformative experiences. The process increased their communication skills and empowered them to make workplace changes.…

A study of 13 female educators working aborad found their status as professionals superceded female status in host countries; trigger events emanated from personal relationships; and trigger events had four stages: communicating with family about departure, culture "shocks" in the first 3 months, cultural adjustments, and reentry into…

Presents assumptions, advantages, and disadvantages of three curriculum positions for teaching gerontology: (1) transmission (conveying facts); (2) transaction (developing cognitive skills and problem-solving abilities); and (3) transformation (facilitating personal and social change). Offers considerations for choosing positions: audience…

The link between development and learning is explicit in Mezirow's theory of transformational learning. Indeed, numerous studies have documented that growth and development are outcomes of transformational learning. What has not been questioned, and what is argued in this Forum article, is that it appears one must already be at a mature level of…

To benefit from reflective and reflexive actions there is a need to contrast these two terms to understand what each is and is not. Both terms can indicate a level and concern for self-development. For instance, to be reflexive is to self-examine, to consider internal conversation, and use this voice to guide, support, and enhance work.…

Reflection has become a buzzword in the education literature. Differences in the conceptualizations of reflection underlying different studies and lack of theorizing over how these frameworks relate to one another, however, can diminish the contributions such studies can make to our understanding of educational development in higher education.…

This year's E-Learn conference has numerous exciting presentations and keynotes. Many speakers will be discussing how education is changing in the forthcoming years. Among them are Dale Stephens who works with the social movement "Uncollege" that empower students to create their own education, Saul Carliner who talks about Massive Online…

Although many private Christian liberal arts programs exist today that seek to foster servant-leader (SL) development within their students, there is a void of both literature and data that details how servant-leadership development occurs and what contexts may be appropriate or necessary for this development. The purpose of this study was to…

Two perspectives are used to reflect on the learning design of a postgraduate online course--that of the designer/facilitator and that of the learner. While the course focus is on online pedagogical approaches, the main aim is to connect learners with each other and with the facilitator so that together they may investigate, trial, challenge and…

At a time when traditional teacher education is coming under fire, "Transforming Teacher Education" presents a powerful vision of what teacher education could and should be. "Transforming Teacher Education" offers an intimate, reflective account of the development of the renowned Team One teacher education program at Michigan…

This paper explores the metaphor of the "teacher as stranger" as a guide for curriculum inquiry. It describes investigations conducted by educators in an introductory curriculum studies course and illustrates the themes revealed in students' lived-curriculum journals. In particular, it examines several journals to document how…

In this study of peer instructors in three Learning in Retirement Programs, the constructivist elements embedded in Mezirow's theory of transformational learning are examined at the theoretical intersections of transformational learning and developmental constructivism, specifically the work of Robert Kegan, resulting in a suggested developmental…

"Code status" is a prominent feature of end-of-life discussions in U.S. hospitals. This essay analyzes how the rhetoric of code status articulates the terms of end-of-life decision-making in one hospital's "Patient" Preferences Worksheet. The Worksheet signifies the abandonment of the technological fix as the preferred…

Much of the rhetoric about contemporary higher education suggests that colleges and universities need to embrace change due to advances in knowledge, technology, transportation, and more--advances that have dramatically shifted the way one functions in the modern world. But what manner of change for learning itself do the public narratives…