(2016). Dialogic Pedagogies in Educational Settings for Active Citizenship, Social Cohesion and Peacebuilding in Lebanon. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, v11 n1 p44-62 Mar. Many educational programmes in societies affected by armed conflict aim to promote dialogic engagement as a fundamental aim and pedagogy for social reconstruction. Despite supporting government policies, classrooms show very little or no evidence of dialogic practices where learners (co-)construct knowledge with peers and engage in critical and appreciative inquiry. In the case of Lebanon, I examine the approaches of promoting dialogic pedagogies through formal and non-formal educational programmes. The conceptual framework draws on literature from Bakhtin, Habermas, Islamic and Arab scholars and researchers in effective learning. Evidence is gathered from (1) classroom observations and conversations with teachers from seven schools and (2) students' written reflections from a 10-day residential programme. Evidence suggests that dialogic engagement is largely dependent on facilitators' approaches to knowledge construction. Even with intervention to support teachers in facilitating… [Direct]
(2012). Analyzing and Critiquing the Concepts of Professional Autonomy and Accountability through the Prisms of Decentralization and Constructivist Theory. International Journal of Educational Reform, v21 n4 p224-237 Fall. This analysis and synthesis explores constructs of professional autonomy and accountability using constructivist theory and practice to examine the organizational dynamics of centralization/decentralization, particularly as applied to educational organizations. Major schools of constructivist thought are explored to shed light on centralization/decentralization dynamics, which then are used to explore constructs of professional autonomy and accountability. Oldroyd's comparison of the United States and United Kingdom's heavy focus on "education for results," or accountability, is compared with Scandinavia's preference for "education for learning." The former results in centralization and accountability; the latter emphasizes the local locus of control, thus supporting autonomy. (Contains 2 notes.)… [Direct]
(2015). "Whether and How?" History Education about Recent and Ongoing Conflict: A Review of Research. Journal on Education in Emergencies, v1 n1 p115-141 Oct. This article reviews research on history education that addresses recent or ongoing conflict since 1990. History education is recognized as a key site for constructing identity, transmitting collective memory, and shaping "imagined communities," which makes its revision or reform a complex and important part of education in emergencies work. The article reviews 42 empirical studies from 11 countries, exploring whether recent conflict forms part of national curricula and, where it does, how this teaching is approached. Young people learn about recent conflict in all of the cases reviewed; in the majority, curriculum is one source for this learning, but in some cases the history of recent conflict is taught without curricular guidance or not at all. Where recent conflict is taught, the review finds a reliance on a traditional, collective memory approach to disseminating national narratives, although often in social studies rather than history classrooms. In many cases, these… [Direct]
(2012). Crisis in Adult Learning and Education in the United States–And a Postscript of Hope. Online Submission We in the U.S. live at the edge of radical possibilities, but few seem to actually see openings available for profound change, or perhaps have become simply too paralyzed to act. After all, the U.S. government in the post 9-11 world has placed \national security\ above \liberty\ and taken unprecedented measures to monitor citizens' activities–including warrantless (without court approved) surveillance. We are surrounded by the seemingly immovable forces of a panopticon (Foucault's notion of an instrument of discipline), of colonization of our lifeworlds, of systemic injustice, of crushing inequalities, of hyper consumerism and commercialization, of greed, power and violence against people, animals and the Planet. This paper contemplates, who are raising voices of resistance, of righteous indignation and just rage, and of revolutionary change at this time? Who dares to confront the political and the powerful, and when they do, what are the consequences? \Where is the soul and… [PDF]
(2012). No More Hiroshimas! Assessing Personal Narratives of Survivors of Hiroshima on a Campus Community Using University-Wide Goals and an Applied Project in a Graduate Research Methods Course. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, v4 p45-61 Fall. Guest speakers are a common feature in institutions of higher learning. Being so common, we might assume that exposure to individuals discussing a distinctive life experience has a positive impact on students. However, there is virtually no research on assessing the impact of guest speakers intended for the entire campus community. This paper offers a framework to assess campus-wide co-curricular initiatives aligning with overarching institutional goals and/or mission, rather than specific course outcomes. The assessment framework was applied to a large scale university-wide co-curricular project. In September 2010, three atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima, Japan and their interpreters completed a 10-day residency at a mid-sized, Midwestern university. The speakers shared their stories of survival and pleas for peace to over 1,000 members of the campus and community. A survey assessed the impact on students who saw the speakers in terms of two university goals: "engaged"… [PDF]
(2015). Conflict, Militarization, and Their After-Effects: Key Challenges for TESOL. TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect, v49 n2 p309-332 Jun. Skyrocketing military spending, ongoing military conflicts, and human displacement worldwide have significant consequences for the teaching and learning of English. TESOL increasingly requires a robust research base that can provide informed, critical guidance in preparing English language teachers for work in and near conflict zones, for teaching refugees and asylum seekers, and, more broadly, for teaching English in highly militarized times. This investigation, which takes the form of a transdisciplinary, translocal literature review, consolidates and extends TESOL's peace-conflict studies through a close examination of two areas that are connected but rarely considered in tandem: TESOL's multiple involvements and entanglements in armed and militarized conflicts and their aftermath, and the challenges of teaching English in a conflict zone or for students who have escaped or been exiled from one. Implications for pedagogy and further research are suggested. The argument is, in… [Direct]
(2014). In-School Psychosocial Support Services for Safeguarding Children's Rights: Results and Implications of a Botswana Study. School Psychology International, v35 n3 p280-293 Jun. In-school psychosocial support services are intended to create safe learning environments for children, enabling the children to attain age-appropriate developmental tasks. This study investigated protections to children's right to safe learning environments through the provision of in-school psychosocial support services. Participants were 230 learners from a cross-section of Botswana schools (females?=?124, males 106; age range 10.7-17.7 years; school grades 5 to 12; median age?=?14.5 years, SD?=?3.65 years). Data on learner access, utilization, and preferences of in-school psychosocial support services were collected using focus group discussions, individual interviews, and a semi-structured survey. The data were analysed thematically and with supplemental quantitative analysis. A social risk management analysis approach was adopted for the interpretation of findings. Learners perceived their schooling rights to be protected when they had direct input into the type, scope, and… [Direct]
(2015). Social Justice Practices on Gender, Race, and Environment within a School in Granada. Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, v51 n5 p351-367. In this article we discuss the experience of the Institute Il√≠beris, a public high school in a small town in Granada, Spain, that has been engaged in innovative ways of teaching. Located in Atarfe, one of the few rural Spanish municipalities with expanding, rather than shrinking demographics, in the last 2 decades the Institute Il√≠beris has experienced the challenges of educating for democracy with an increasing diverse student body. This article focuses on the innovative and committed response of the entire school to address these challenges. By looking at the programs that the school prioritized in the articulation of this response, our article attempts to highlight an unorthodox Spanish school that has been successful in educating all of their students, respecting their ethnic and religious values while encouraging the students to do the same with their peers…. [Direct]
(2012). Multicultural Religious Education in a Trinitarian Perspective. Religious Education, v107 n3 p247-261. Multiculturalism is now confronted with pressures of maintaining a balance between unity and diversity on the one hand and building a global civic culture aiming at civic equality, liberty, toleration, and recognition in a global, transnational community on the other hand. With these difficulties, this article attempts to provide a model of multicultural education in a Trinitarian perspective in which students and teachers mirror the triune divine community and participate in communion, allowing them to move beyond the dichotomy between unity and diversity and universalization and pluralization toward a shared understanding and promote peaceful coexistence among global societies with adequate theological and educational principles. This article, based on the doctrine of Trinity and grounded in an awareness and analysis of the realities of social situations, suggests positive hope for God's future and a concrete model for human society in which equality, openness, and relationality… [Direct]
(2013). Tokugawa Japan and Industrial Revolution Britain: Two Misunderstood Societies. Social Education, v77 n2 p74-77 Mar-Apr. In this article, the author presents a truer picture than economic historians have previously had of the economies of Tokugawa Japan, and Britain during the Industrial Revolution. Though substantially different, both societies were prosperous compared to most of the rest of the world. Japan's economic success began in the Tokugawa period (1603-1867), an era marked by rising affluence, flourishing commerce, and peace. Tokugawa prosperity rested upon a productive agricultural sector. Domestic trade also occurred through the shipments of large bulk commodities such as rice on both western and eastern routes off the coasts of the Sea of Japan and the Pacific. Commercial establishments were not heavily taxed, and gave merchants productivity incentives. Large financial houses had branches throughout Japan and small and large retail concerns proliferated. Private urban firms owned gigantic warehouses for storage of consumer goods. Japan's Tokugawa period helped build the foundation for that… [Direct]
(2012). The Paradox of Meaning Well while Causing Harm: A Discussion about the Limits of Tolerance within Democratic Societies. Journal of Moral Education, v41 n4 p457-471. Curriculum guidelines in many democratic countries argue for the need to practice tolerance as a means to creating peaceful relations. Through moral education, young people are believed to be able to develop a way of being that respects plurality and decreases interpersonal violence in society. But where do students' personal involvements or the issue of unpredictability accompanying inter-personal relations fit into the discussion? This article draws on four young people's narratives as starting points to discuss the gap between progressive educational ideals and embodied ideals when it comes to stimulating peaceful relationships. The study indicates that these youths see themselves as persons who do not want to expose others to strong emotions (similar to the educational ideals of being tolerant), while at the same time struggling with strong emotions that tend to hurt themselves and/or others and paralyse their ability to actively interfere when people are being hurt. In order to… [Direct]
(2012). Immigrant Identity in Teacher Preparation. Teacher Education and Practice, v25 n4 p474-495 Fall. In this article, I report research on representations of immigrant identities in one university where teacher candidates matriculated in undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The case study occurred in a community where immigrants were highly visible. A content analysis of curriculum for teacher preparation provided a view of factors that shape identity and perceptions of it. The research addressed the need for examination of teacher education's role in identity construction, especially in contexts of social tension surrounding the presence of immigrants. It answered questions about how and where immigrant identities were presented in the curriculum, as well as what values those presentations revealed. Focal points of the analysis were frames of immigrants as needers and contributors in their new nation. The analysis further identified levels of multicultural education that education about and for immigrants involved. The findings confirm recommendations for critical analysis… [Direct]
(2014). "'I Am Canada': Exploring Social Responsibility in Social Studies Using Young Adult Historical Fiction". Canadian Social Studies, v47 n1 p26-43. This paper explores educating for democratic citizenship with a focus on the intersection between reading and values, specifically the nurturing of social responsibility. Using a pre-designed framework for teaching for social responsibility, excerpts from a young adult historical fiction series are used to consider learning possibilities in the social studies classroom…. [PDF]
(2013). From Study Abroad to Global Studies: Reconstructing International Education for a Globalized World. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, v22 p25-36 Win 2012-Spr. Study abroad has become a substantial enterprise as educators embraced the idea that learning about other cultures is a critical component of becoming an educated person, succeeding at work, and serving as an effective citizen (Bok, 2006). Studies now show that study abroad is positively related to student persistence and success, and liberal educators purport that it is an essential element of learning for personal and social responsibility (Association of American Colleges & Universities.). Scholarly assessments however have concluded that the empirical evidence for the effects of study abroad is weak (Pascarella and Terenzini). This article is an attempt by the author to understand this apparent lack of real progress and impact in study abroad and how its limitations can be transcended. Theodore Long addresses these issues in this article from a broad perspective, focusing on defining structures and central tendencies. Long exposes three major limitations in the fundamental… [PDF]
(2011). Toleration and Coexistence in Conflicting Societies: Some Tensions and Implications for Education. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, v19 n3 p385-402. In this paper, the author shows that the issue of whether toleration promotes coexistence is controversial and therefore needs careful consideration in light of the complexities that are involved in understanding and teaching toleration in the schools of conflict and post-conflict societies. In particular, this paper offers a critique to the interpretation of toleration-as-respect as a means of fostering coexistence in education. A vignette from the author's ethnographic research is used to support the argument that the assumption about a "naturalised" link between toleration and coexistence is problematic and might well be counter-productive. It is shown that there exists an alternative interpretation of tolerance that highlights the antagonism between conflicting communities. Finally, the paper proposes an account of how an ethics of responsibility and hospitality may provide valuable alternatives that enrich existing interpretations of toleration and coexistence in… [Direct]