When child-raising involves violence, a conflict of values arises between the parents' autonomy and the children's right to equal participation in a democratic society. In this article I discuss, from the perspective of discourse analysis, how a dichotomous understanding of the public versus private sphere can constitute a threat to children's…

The Japanese martial art of aikido affords a framework for understanding argument as harmonization rather than confrontation. Two movements, circling away ("tenkan") and entering in ("irimi"), suggest tactics for arguing with adversaries. The ethical imperative of aikido involves protecting one's adversary from harm, using the least force…

As the result of an extensive self-study for the purpose of reaccreditation, the Department of Theology at The University of Portland began offering a new series of courses called Theological Perspective Courses (THEP). THEP courses are upper division and offered by theology faculty in conjunction with another department that has required core…

Students need more than the facts. They need a basic understanding of history--where people came from or how civilizations have evolved and interacted. But they also need to understand why this knowledge is important and how it relates to their present. History doesn't just happen; it is made--made by real people who faced real challenges, who had…

Everybody knows how easy it is for students to react negatively to people who act or think differently from themselves. To counterbalance students' often egocentric and ethnocentric views (which are normal for this age), teaching team collaborates to integrate voices from the world across the curriculum. They want their students to be learning…

Learning cycles were developed in Brazil as an innovative project in order to address the needs and characteristics of the country's growing heterogeneous urban population. This new school model aims at reducing dropout rates and student failure as well as providing a non-interrupted school experience for diverse learners. In this article, the…

Over the last decade, as educators have increasingly experimented with social technologies and interactive pedagogies, the concept of a "course" has been significantly challenged. In particular, questions have arisen as to the key value of the course in the educational system. The numerous high-profile open courseware initiatives from elite…

This article offers an account of a doctoral insider research project that became problematic. The project was investigating mathematics teaching in a university in the UK, and by contrasting the research account with research diary entries pertaining to two interviewees, different interpretations of the interview data are evident. These…

From the first days of medical school, students are socialized into the medical environment. They are trained to view patients as the "other." The medical humanities have been introduced into the curriculum of most medical schools as a means to counteract the possible effects of this "othering." In particular, writing exercises…

Simple role-play simulations can not only demonstrate the dynamics of a conflict but also create awareness of multiple perspectives even among populations relatively set in their opinions. To teach my student population of military officers, I utilize simple, nongame simulations of multisided Middle East conflicts that not only facilitate learning…

In this chapter, the authors consider various teaching roles that student affairs professionals may fulfill in learning communities, as well as the potential professional development that results from involvement.

Theory of mind (ToM) is key to the development of one's social skills. Without ToM, children (or adults) cannot understand or infer the thoughts, feelings, or intentions of others. A lack of ToM skills is considered by some to be a core deficit in autism. ToM affects all interpersonal interactions as well as academics, daily living, following…

Autism is characterized by deficits in pretend play, perspective taking, initiating and responding to others, and other profound social impairments. As the incidence of children being identified with autism increases, so does the need for effective interventions that target social skills development. Over the last decade, social skills…

People often learn actions by watching others. The authors propose and test the hypothesis that perspective taking promotes encoding a hierarchical representation of an actor's goals and subgoals-a key process for observational learning. Observers segmented videos of an object assembly task into coarse and fine action units. They described what…

Much contemporary theorising on educational decision-making starts from the premise that the process of decision-making is a deeply embedded social practice, which is inextricably linked to behaviours, attitudes and dispositions which hold sway within an individual's social network. Drawing on data from a project focusing on decision-making…