The trouble with education research is that the research is burdened with trouble before it begins. Working as a poststructural education researcher and engaged in a recent research project that sought to engage with questions of teacher identity, I employed an alternative data elicitation method of literary response groups--similar to that of…

This study reports on how student teachers' workplace experiences were transformed into learning experiences. In total, 26 stories from 10 student teachers were collected by means of digital logs and in-depth interviews and unraveled using a new technique of reconstructing stories into webs. In these webs, the factors that played a role in student…

This article describes how two university professors teamed up to initiate a university-sponsored physical activity and wellness expo in an effort to promote an authentic and transformative learning experience for preservice students.

The following review of literature illuminates self-advocacy from a North American transformational learning perspective via meaningful impacts, which arise for adults with developmental disabilities, as well as various communities and their members. For adults with developmental disabilities, increased leadership capabilities and the evolution of…

The past 20 years or so have seen increasing concern that our schooling system, set up for a different age, is not able to prepare today's learners for the fast-changing world they will live and work in. Strong arguments for radical change--not gradual improvement--have been made, from a number of quarters. There is some consensus about the broad…

The recent student unrest in South African public higher education institutions highlighted the call for the decolonisation of education across post-colonial countries. This research explored the construct of the "decolonisation of education" through the lens of students of different nationalities across Africa, their perspectives on…

In discussing personal stances professionals might take towards their practice, Hoyle contrasts two orientations that can be placed at the ends of a continuum. The first pole, the so-called "restricted" stance, is characterised by teachers relying principally on experience and intuition, and focusing on daily classroom practicalities.…

This article revisits the notion that to facilitate quality learning requires teachers in higher education to have pedagogical content knowledge. It constructs pedagogical content knowledge as a teaching and learning space that brings content and pedagogy together. On the content knowledge side, it suggests that threshold concepts, akin to a…

Findings "from" neuroscience and psychological research reveal that the mind's "default" state is "wandering" bearing directly on our well-being. These findings raise difficult questions as to the premises underlying the curriculum rendered as a "mind-altering device" (Eisner, 1993). This article analyzes…

Teaching and learning about complex scientific content, such as biological evolution, is challenging in part because students have a difficult time seeing the relevance of evolution in their everyday lives. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of the Teaching for Transformative Experiences in Science (TTES) model (Pugh, 2002)…

This article was first published in 1982 in "Educational Analysis" (4, 75-91) and republished in 1998 (Hirst, P. H., & White, P. (Eds.), "Philosophy of education: Major themes in the analytic tradition," Vol. 1, "Philosophy and education, Part 1," pp. 61-78. London: Routledge). I was then a lecturer in philosophy…

Adult educators often struggle with finding creative ways to help students understand adult learning theories and applications of those theories in professional practice. Media analysis of popular culture can uncomplicate this task by engaging learners in understanding concepts, principles or theories (Baumgartner & Merriam, 1999). The purpose of…

The study of transformative learning within collaborative teams was conducted to gain new applicable knowledge used to influence overall school improvement and implementation of professional learning communities. To obtain this new knowledge, the Professional Learning Community Collaborative Team Survey (CTS) was developed and psychometrically…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how lived experiences prompt first-generation college students to engage as peer mentors, and how they experienced leadership development. Participants included thirteen first-generation college students, who engaged in peer mentoring. An explanatory model that surfaced from data collection…

This research examined how Rumi's poetry impacts the lives of individuals who study his teachings, written 800 years ago in his masterpiece, "Mathnawi." After teaching Rumi for the last 15 years, I was aware of positive changes in my students' lives but wanted a more in-depth understanding of what drew the students to Rumi's poetry and…