Using a critical theory framework, the article explores emancipatory narratives obtained through a case study of women in rural India. In-depth interviews, focus group conversations, observations, and document analysis highlight the complexity of the subsequent set of challenges facing women as it relates to both the education and empowerment for…

This article focuses on the process of conducting a research project which explored the university student experience across three different geopolitical contexts using students studying at an English university as co-inquirers. The project sample included students at different stages of their university experience (undergraduate, postgraduate and…

Delving into the "black box" of schooling can help us better understand the paradoxical reality that schooling for girls can be simultaneously empowering and disempowering. Despite recent interest in developing innovative research methodologies within the field of comparative education, there has been less attention to and reflexivity…

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have played a significant role in development and have contributed to radical changes in some parts of the world in the past three decades or longer. At the same time, there are parts of the world where ICTs have not reached and there has been little or no development arising from the applications of…

Debate remains about how to effectively obtain information from adolescents with disabilities in marginalized areas and how to apply this knowledge to shape rehabilitation activities. This study explored how to empower adolescents in the urban slums of North India to assume greater control over their rehabilitation within the context of a local…

In this study I examine how women in a north Indian city narratively construct their identities in relation to medium of education (MoE)--English only (EME), Hindi only (HME), and a combination of both. I specifically analyze how the participants discursively articulate empowerment or disempowerment while narrating stories connected to their MoEs.…

This study interviewed 29 women from various countries and spiritual backgrounds, between the ages of 16 and 67, seeking to better understand how dance/creative movement supports women during difficult life struggles such as trauma from abuse, relationship breakups, community violence and loss of self, and how it acts as a connection to the…

This paper is intended as a gender issue to the rural finance practitioners. It highlights the questions that need to be asked and addressed to the gender mainstream. It will also be useful to gender experts to wish to increase their understanding on specific gender issues in rural finance through mobile services. It focuses on rural microfinance…

This collection offers a distinctly Asian voice for English language education and addresses some of the unique needs of Asian learners in EFL contexts. Teachers and researchers from nine Asian countries present some of the most current and innovative research in five distinct and fascinating areas of EFL teaching and learning. This book is…

Can economic ties positively influence social relations and actions? If so, how does this influence operate? Microfinance programs, which provide credit through a group-based lending strategy, provide the ideal setting for exploring these questions. This article examines whether structuring socially isolated women into peer-groups for an…

There is in higher education a powerful discourse of "independent learning". While there may be pedagogical rationales to support the desirability of increased independence at the tertiary stage, it may also serve other institutional agendas, such as functioning as a way for academic staff to "manage" the frustrations…