This article focuses on social agents' own understandings of socio-economic mobility and social achievement, exploring the possibilities offered by the tool of "family" life history in the context of formerly Untouchable communities in western India, Maharashtra. While arguing in favour of family life histories as both resource and…

Ten brief biographical case studies of famous men who were considered learning handicapped as children are presented to make the point that labels are often erroneously applied. (KC)

The opinion in this paper is that there is a need to reexamine the meaning of constructivism in an age where the concept has come to mean different things to different people. This paper examines one person's understanding of constructivism in order to uncover multiple meanings of the term in ways that ultimately affect teachers' practice in K-12…

Despite a long history in the arts and humanities as curricular mainstays and a continuing presence as sociocultural mythological anchors, biographies and other forms of life writing have been neglected as sources for teaching educational leadership. Besides biographies, these include autobiographies, portraits, profiles, case studies, memoirs,…

New research on teaching involves qualitative, or ethnographic, methods. It is highly descriptive and often relies on narrative inquiry, which is embedded with messages about power, justice, and inequality. The new research relies on language and dialogue, using metaphors, stories, biographies, autobiographies, conversations, exemplars,…

This collection examines many influences of biographical inquiry in education and discusses methodological issues from the perspectives of veteran and novice biographers. The section on qualitative research and educational biography contains the following chapters: "Musings on Life Writing: Biography and Case Studies in Teacher Education" (Robert…

Looks at the lives of two well-known writers to explore how diverse experiences produce literate adults. Discusses Agatha Christie and Jack London who used reading and writing to earn a living and to gain international reputations. (MG)

This document contains three papers from a symposium on the past, present, and future of human resource development (HRD). "Revisiting the New Deal: A Longitudinal Case Study" (Judy Pate, Graeme Martin, Jim McGoldrick) draws upon data from a longitudinal case study of the links between job security and HRD to examine the new…

The following papers (with nine in French) are included: "Refocusing the Multicultural Discourse in Adult Education" (Acton); "University Extension and the Service University" (Archer); "Linking Cases to Course Content" (Block); "The Effects of Education on Food Security among Low Income Urban Adults"…