Classrooms tend to be absolute spaces, places where fluidity is rejected and nearly everything--from people, to ideas, to practices and policies--is viewed and organized through binary logic. Because binary logic is implicitly accepted as the natural order in schools and the structures resulting from it are highly unmalleable, individuals who…

This article is based upon two studies applying a life history approach, letting 15- to 16-year-olds reconstruct their own childhood in preschool and school, to see what meaning and importance children's experiences have in forming their self-concepts and philosophy of life. A combination of methods was used: written life stories, round tours in…

The author's ninth grade world history students communicated the connection they felt to three women whose stories they evaluated in class. The women represented ordinary people living during time periods being studied, and their personal stories demonstrated how the political, economic and cultural events had an impact on people in unique and…

Provides selected student contributions in a pilot multicultural oral history seminar for ninth graders. The seminar's purpose was to elicit student participation in sharing their feelings about their old and new cultural worlds and to allow student collaboration in curriculum development. The common themes expressed involve adaptation and the…