This article explores how far it is possible to develop a pedagogy of critical hope in the current neo-liberal, marketized climate of higher education. It first considers relevant insights from the works of Gramsci, Freire and the literature on academic literacies and then shows how I have begun to apply these insights through teaching social…

Scholars have provided numerous critical analyses of the structural causes of poverty. Unfortunately, many teachers are still led to believe, via best selling books and mainstream discourse, that behaviors, neighborhoods, and families determine educational outcomes. This "culture of poverty" theory must be disproved; educators need to be…

Purpose: Developing interpersonal relationships is widely recognised as a key managerial capability, but business schools have been criticised for the limited attention given to the subject. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to address this deficiency in the area of teaching workplace relationships. Design/methodology/approach: The paper…

"An Enterprising Approach to Regional Growth: Implications for Policy and the Role of Vocational Education and Training" explores patterns of regional economic growth in Australia over the period 1984 to 2002 with the aim of identifying the drivers of variation in regional growth; the research also aimed to identify regional…

This study sought to ascertain the specific motivations behind doctoral alumni giving. Most U.S. colleges and universities depend on alumni giving to supplement revenues from tuition and governmental support; however, relatively little alumni giving is generated from PhD graduates. The result is untapped revenue for doctoral-granting institutions.…

This dissertation explores the use of formal and informal networks through cyber- and traditional communication methods in the college search and selection process by native and immigrant students to examine various postulates and propositions of social capital theory. In addition, the analysis of cybernetworks used by disadvantaged, college bound…

This paper draws on the psychological theories of self-efficacy and the self-concept to understand students' self-confidence in academic study in higher education as measured by the Academic Behavioural Confidence scale (ABC). In doing this, expectancy-value theory and self-efficacy theory are considered and contrasted with self-concept and…

This article examines the online discourse that took place in representative threads from two classes, seeking to document indicators that students did or did not engage in co-construction of knowledge. Stahl's (2006) social theory of computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is used along with discourse analysis methods to examine these…

Relationships among the Big Five personality factors (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), career interests, and career self-efficacy (using Holland's realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional types for both of the latter) were examined. Among a sample of 147 college students,…

This paper examines some of the dominant discourses related to poverty and education such as those offered by the prominent political ideologies, those presented by educators who write about poverty, those embedded in popular culture, and those surrounding current teacher education curricula. Furthermore, this study evaluates the impact these…

In this essay the author discusses the effects of globalization on Canadian community colleges. She applies contemporary social theories culled from the fields of feminism, geography and political science to understand one hidden manifestation of globalization in community colleges: involvement in global civil society via participation in…

Introduction: This study investigates the processes involved in the development of a broadband community network in the Northeast USA. A community network project was studied by tracing the developmental processes from network design to the stabilisation of information infrastructure. Method: A case study was conducted on the broadband community…

Numerous studies have shown that thinking aloud while reading can be an effective instructional technique in helping students improve their reading comprehension. However, most of the studies that examined the effects of think-aloud involve subjects reading individually and carried out in isolation away from the classroom context. Recently,…

In this article, Lewin's (1951) social field theory is used as a framework for analyzing the potential for implementing scalable and sustainable e-learning initiatives in the academy. Powerful external economic and social forces coming to bear on academic leadership decisions are considered. The impacts of the emergence of the global learning…

While research has been conducted concerning the effects of school-based mentoring on at risk students, limited work has focused on the volunteer mentors. This study examined the motivations of adult volunteers and the benefits of their participation in a six-month, school-based mentoring program. A total of 31 volunteers completed adapted…