Despite the dramatic shift in demographics occurring within public schools, there is still a dismal amount of research connecting issues of diversity and race with the curricula guiding educational leadership preparation programs. In the field of leadership preparation, little information has been offered as to how professors facilitate social…

This study was designed to investigate Southern Appalachian, first-generation students' expectations of higher education. Research indicates that many first-generation students drop out of college after only 1 semester; however, little research exists concerning the expectations and experiences of first-generation college students from Southern…

Scholarly literature points to an important relationship between transformative learning and pastoral ministry, as well as the need for experiential learning in pastoral ministry formation. The necessary role of critical self-reflection in transformative learning underlines the need for theological field education experiences to foster students'…

Mezirow's theory of transformative learning (1978, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2009) posits "perspective transformation" as a central learning process. Key to this transformation is the critical examination of the individual's deeply held assumptions and beliefs through discourse to examine new perspectives and test new ideas. The availability…

In an increasingly interdependent world, the ability to interact comfortably and confidently with people of other cultures is an important skill. This ability goes beyond cross-cultural strategies which seek to identify cultural differences and learn cultural practices in order to reduce misunderstanding. Becoming intercultural demands a…

Effective professional development is a key component in improving teachers' practices in the educational setting. Although there is current literature related to professional development, there is limited information on teachers' perceptions of reflective practices as forms of professional development. The purposes of the study were to identify…

This paper reports on the opportunities for transformational learning experienced by a group of pre-service teachers who were engaged in service-learning as a pedagogical process with a focus on reflection. Critical social theory informed the design of the reflection process as it enabled a move away from knowledge transmission toward knowledge…

This article focuses on an experienced high school mathematics teacher who changed her practice without participating in planned interventions aimed at producing this change. It reports on the nature of the teacher's change from her perspective and an interpretation and understanding of the change from the researcher's perspective. It illustrates…

In the past decade there has been a marked push for the development of employability skills to be part of the PhD process. This push is generally by stakeholders from above and outside the PhD process, i.e. government and industry, who view skills as a "summative product" of the PhD. In contrast, our study interviewed stakeholders inside…

Can professors, through their casual, random remarks to students, alter lives and transform identities? The answer, based on two exploratory studies described in this article, appears to be yes. Drawing from constructive-developmental ideas of student maturation and from features of chaos theory as applied to the complex dynamic system of…

This paper presents the findings from research using the critical incident technique to identify the use of key competencies for communication management practitioners. Qualitative data was generated from 202 critical incidents reported by 710 respondents. We also present a brief summary of the quantitative data, which identified two superordinate…

From 1998 to 2008, the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) offered its employees a variety of options for formation, a type of reflective practice. The district encompasses 10 locations, seven of them independently accredited colleges. Formation is based primarily on Parker Palmer's model for Circles of Trust as described in "A…

A disorienting dilemma is related to a sense of loss of balance or normalcy complicated by a problem that seemingly has an unsatisfactory solution. According to Mezirow (1998), disorienting dilemmas are also connected to events that have been set into motion, causing a learner to engage in self-examination resulting from feelings emanating from an…

There is an instinctive drive among all humans to make meaning of their daily lives. Because there are no enduring truths, and change is continuous, people cannot always be assured of what they know or believe. It therefore becomes imperative in adulthood that they develop a more critical worldview as they seek ways to better understand the world.…

Burgeoning immigrant populations fuel discussions about preparing preservice teachers to teach students who have limited English proficiency and diverse cultural backgrounds. This article contributes to the conversation by presenting service-learning in immigrant communities as an effective pedagogy to develop an awareness of students' worlds away…