Discusses student criticism of higher education. Responds in the context of moral questions. Argues that education is about the development of a moral imagination. Suggests that students be encouraged to locate their own questions in material to be studied. Concludes that through storytelling teachers and students can find common ground as well as…

Describes the author's experience in telling children's stories from a wide variety of cultures and to diverse audiences. The pitfalls of telling stories outside one's own culture and how to avoid them are covered. Anecdotes of the author's success in helping children build bridges to other cultures are included. (KRN)

The author relates the quality of her educational experiences and the influence of her college teachers that led her to pursue graduate degrees. She criticizes the educational philosophy underlying the University of Alberta (Canada) publication, "Quality First," that narrowly envisions the future of higher education in Canada. (LP)

Presents narratives from Asian American parents about their lesbian daughters or gay sons. The chapter focuses on four emerging themes: (1) the attitudes of parents before disclosure or discovery; (2) the attitudes and reactions of parents after disclosure or discovery; (3) disclosure to friends and their communities; and (4) advice for other…

The author reflects on his first teaching experience 20 years ago at a residential outdoor and environmental education school in Ontario (Canada). He stresses the importance of documenting outdoor experiences through personal narratives as a means of bringing attention to the value of outdoor learning and connecting learners with their natural…

Provides a profile of Abdulalim Shabazz and his philosophy and practices relating to excellence in mathematics education. Highlights include his career at Clark Atlanta University; graduate mathematics students; teaching students based on need rather than test scores and background requirements; and gender equity in higher education, especially…

Describes an instructor's experience teaching English composition at Turtle Mountain Community College during the summer of 1990. Explores the difficulties of bicultural education at Indian reservations and recognizes the real meaning of cultural exchanges between American culture and Indian culture. (IH)

Seven Native American women (including Mohawk, Bolivian, Apache, Nicaraguan Miskito, and Hopi women) discuss women's responsibilities and roles within the family and community, spirituality, birth and puberty ceremonies, child rearing and traditional education of the young (particularly girls), the healing of men through women, union organizing in…

Reflections on the solitary, personal experience of reading and writing contrasted to the "rampant technocapitalism" of the computer presentation of data. Technology may have reconfigured reading; written language; and the publication, distribution, promotion, and place of books, but as long as there is concern for imaginative…

A teacher who became computer literate by playing with one over the summer, describes how even just one computer in the classroom can help differentiate curriculum, be used for individualized instruction, augment resource materials, access the World Wide Web for the latest discoveries, assist visual learners, and create new student and teacher…

Reflects upon experiences with the First Nations' Partnerships and the European Commission Child Care Network to argue that efforts to understand quality care have been insufficiently sensitive to socioecological and cultural factors related to defining and assessing quality. Argues for a reconceptualization of early childhood care, and presents…

Talks about how the author came to be a feminist and a writer. Discusses the domestic settings within which she grew up, her writing processes, how her interests and concerns influence her writing, why she chooses to give women priority in her writing world, and the importance of bearing witness to the world with one's own story. (SR)

A seventh-grade teacher describes how her students gradually became engaged in a year-long project on Thoreau. Although initially resistant and unenthusiastic, the students became interested after two field trips involving living-history experiences, and went on to write a play involving Thoreau, his contemporary and 20th-century…

Author, consultant, and teacher educator Grant Wiggins recalls his own and his students' memorable learning experiences and discusses the impact of those experiences on his evolution as a teacher, the importance of the teacher/student relationship to student learning, and the likelihood that the student understands less of what the teacher says…

A teacher with National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification discusses her work to achieve that certification, focusing on peer pressure and self-doubts, the National Board certification process, and support she received from her students and peers in the process. (SM)