From the canciÓn de protesta to the nueva trova, 1965-85

A grounded theory was developed to describe the processes of self‐understanding of a group of Chinese women graduate students who were studying in the United States at the time of the research. A basic psychological process, reweaving a fragmented self, was identified from interviews with 20 Chinese women graduate students. Reweaving a fragmented self included three sub‐processes: weaving self, fragmenting self and reweaving self, as occurred across two chronological phases, being women students in their homeland and becoming international women students in a new land. Categories and codes explain and support each of the processes. The implications of this research are theoretical and practical. It contributes to the critical theories of women’s selves in a cultural context by exploring the ways in which these Chinese women graduate students negotiated critical cultural elements in their self‐understanding. It also contributes to American higher education by enhancing educators’ understanding of the diversity of these women students’ experiences, expectations and desires and providing them with information on these students’ self‐understanding.     

‘Really useful ideas’: building users' powers of persuasion. A response to the discussion of the Learning Outcomes Theme Group from a practitioner in the post-compulsory sector

Taking as its starting point the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the failings which that case has demonstrated in justice and the judicial system in England, this article questions the extent to which current models of citizenship education address the reality of young people's lives. The critique focuses particularly on the proposed revisions to the English National Curriculum to be implemented in 2001. It is argued that unless citizenship education provides an opportunity to study the reality of contemporary experience, including the injustices and inequalities which continue to be features of that experience, it will be an ineffectual exercise. There are also severe dangers of the citizenship curriculum being overcrowded with factual knowledge at the expense of opportunities for experiencing democratic processes and playing a part in the formation of learners' identities. Some examples are given of effective work based on the principles outlined in the article. In conclusion, an agenda for research and curriculum development is described.     

Living action research: authoring identities through yaya projects

This article examines the authors’ experiences living action research through an art therapy activity known as YaYa that involved creating and sharing visual representations of themselves as beginning researchers. This activity was part of a graduate course on education action research and students in the course found the activity transformative. The article first explores how four students in the course created and presented their YaYas. It goes on to discuss how the activity provided opportunities for students to imagine and re-imagine authored identities in the figured worlds of teaching and research. The role that visual arts play in transforming consciousness is also used to help understand the powerful impact of the YaYa activity. The YaYa as a visual artistic process opened students up to meaning-making and reconstructing identities that involved not only the mind, but also the emotions, body and spirit. The authors claim that learning action research can itself be a process of action research, and that living such practice is about involving and imagining the whole self in multiple figured worlds.     

Stories of Vocation: Education for Vocational Discernment

Women's stories often have unplanned vocational twists. In oral histories with thirty-four women from diverse contexts, Moore discovers the power of narration to reveal and shape women's vocational journeys. Analysis uncovers qualities of the women's journeys: facing unexpected turns; trusting spiritual-intuitive knowing; analyzing and responding to social contexts; standing for justice; committing to make a difference; helping others be who they can be; building bridges; practicing hospitality; valuing women's communities; caring for self; and practicing humor. By clustering these qualities, five narrative processes emerge. The corresponding educational practices are valuable for religious educators who engage with people in vocational discernment.     

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

Abstract This article examines the historic character and mission of the REA with a view toward the role of this journal in the life of the Association. Early social influences are explored in relation to the Association's unfolding vision of “a democracy of God” in which religion would be a central enterprise of an educated citizenry. George Albert Coe, Harrison Elliott, Herman Wornom, and Randolph C. Miller are discussed as primary shapers of the REA and the field through the mid-twentieth century. The author concludes with challenges to rediscover or renegotiate the relevance of the REA's historic mission in the midst of contemporary opportunities and pressures of economic globalization, geo-political turmoil, and religious and cultural diversity.     

Theoretically and Practically Speaking,What is Needed in Diversity and Equity in Science Teaching and Learning?

This article discusses how issues of diversity and equity are addressed in the preparation of science teachers who are charged with teaching diverse students in schools. Highlighting examples from my own teaching and research and other studies in education, I frame this article in terms of a broad application of theory in science teacher preparation to classroom practices in order to address science achievement and equity for diverse students. I also discuss the relevance of my argument for in-service professional development.