This book explores the pedagogical applications of critical thinking in art education and scholarship. In the first part of the book, the author delves into the ways that arts-based educational research has incorporated critical thinking in order to illuminate the context for the subsequent study. The second half of the book focuses on the essay as a genre used in creative nonfiction and film in order to enact the concept of critical thinking in art education. In this way, the book sheds light on a new landscape of thinking arts education and thinking scholarship through the essay that is practiced in creative nonfiction and cinema.

A volume in Research in Curriculum and InstructionSeries Editor: O. L. Davis, Jr. The University of Texas at AustinMatthew Arnold, 19th century English poet, literary critic and school inspector, felt that each agehad to determine that philosophy that was most adequate to its own concerns and contexts. Thisstudy looks at the influence that Matthew Arnold had on John Dewey and attempts to fashion aphilosophy of education that is adequate for our own peculiarly awkward age. Today, Arnold andDewey are embraced by opposing political positions. Arnold, as the apostle of culture, is oftenadvocated by conservative educators who see in him a support for an education founded on greatbooks and Victorian values, while Dewey still has a notably liberal coloring and is not too infrequentlytarred for the excesses of progressive education, even those for which he bears no responsibilityat all. Both, no doubt, are misread by those who rather carelessly use them as idols for theirown politics of education.This study proposes a pluralistic approach to education in which pluralism means not only plurality of voices, but also plurality of processes.Using a model built out of a study of rhetoric and hermeneutics, four aspects of mind are indentified that draw Arnold andDewey into close correspondence. These aspects are the tentacle mind (using Dewey's favorite metaphor for breaking down the barrierbetween mind and body), the critical mind (which builds on the concepts of criticism that animated both Arnold and Dewey's approachto experience), the intentional mind (which attempts a long overdue rehabilitation of the concept of authority and an expansion upon theincreasingly apparent limitations of reader-response theory) and the reflective-response mind (in which the contemplative mind istreated to that active quality that makes it more a true instrumentality and less an obscuring mechanism of isolation).Dewey echoed Matthew Arnold who himself echoed so many of the voices that preceded andwere contemporary with his own. Theirs were awkward echoes, as all such echoes invariablyare. They caught at the intentionality of those voices they echoed, trying for nearness, buthoping, at least, for adequacy. Awkward, but adequate, is what this study offers, but it maywell be what we most need right now.

This book promotes collaborative ways of knowing and group accountability in learning processes to counteract the damaging effects of neoliberal individualism prevalent in educational systems today. These neoliberalist hierarchies imposed through traditional, autocratic knowledge systems have driven much of the United States' educational policies and reforms, including STEM, high stakes testing, individual-based accountability, hierarchical grading systems, and ability grouping tracks. The net effect of such policies and reforms is an education system that perpetuates social inequalities linked with race, class, gender, and sexuality. Instead, the author suggests that accountability pushes past individualism in education by highlighting democratic methods to produce a collective good as opposed to a narrow personal success. In this democratic model, participants contribute to the common goal of elevating the entire group. Drawing from a well of creative praxes, reflexivity, and spiritual engagement, contributors incorporate collective dreaming to envision alternate realities of learning and schooling and summon the spirit into action for change.

This book presents a critical reimagining of education and educational research in addressing practices of representation and their relation to epistemology, subjectivity and ontology in the context of early childhood education. Drawing on posthumanist perspectives and the immanent materialism of Deleuze & Guattari to conceive of early childhood education, childhood and indeed, adult life, in new ways, it highlights the powerful role of language in subjectivity and ontology, and introduces affectensity as a concept which can be put to work to undo habitual relations and meanings. It proposes that ethical becomings require the engagement of an expansion and intensification of a body's affect or capacity, and offers readers a provocation for enhancing creative capacity as an ethic. This book is an important contribution to the discussions on methods for living and of ways of thinking commensurate with the orientation of a posthuman turn.

Winner - AERA 2011 Outstanding Book Award Jacques Rancire: Education, Truth, Emancipation demonstrates the importance of Rancires work for educational theory, and in turn, it shows just how central Rancires educational thought is to his work in political theory and aesthetics. Charles Bingham and Gert Biesta illustrate brilliantly how philosophy can benefit from Rancires particular way of thinking about education, and go on to offer their own provocative account of the relationship between education, truth, and emancipation. Including a new essay by Rancire himself, this book is a must-read for scholars of social theory and all who profess to educate.

Dystopia and Education: Insights into Theory, Praxis, and Policy in an age of Utopia Gone Wrong provides an as-of-yet unexplored critical perspective for examining contemporary educational theory, praxis, and policy with particular reference to the current state of dehumanizing and often oppressive policy and practices that have come to demarcate the era of NCLB and RTT. The authors in this collection employ dystopian themes found in literature, film, visual art, and video games as the lens for that critical inquiry. As such Dystopia and Education: Insights into Theory, Praxis, and Policy is an essential contribution to the philosophical/critical tradition in educational scholarship. It is especially valuable because the inquiry undertaken is from a new perspective-one that will extend the critical tradition into a yet unexplored arena. Given the educational climate established by NCLB and RTT, this collection is especially important to the ongoing critical analysis of such policy mandates. There is also a significantly important timeliness to this book given NCLB's utopian expectation of universal academic proficiency among American schoolchildren by the year 2014: as educators race to achieve such a noble yet naive goal, this collection of essays examines the educational environment that has been enacted to achieve such ends, and describes our current state as a utopia-gone wrong.

Education is the foundation to almost all successful lives. It is vital that learning opportunities are available on a global scale, regardless of individual disabilities or differences, and to create more inclusive educational practices. Disability and Equity in Higher Education Accessibility is a comprehensive reference source for the latest scholarly material on emerging methods and trends in disseminating knowledge in higher education, despite traditional hindrances. Featuring extensive coverage on relevant topics such as higher education policies, electronic resources, and inclusion barriers, this publication is ideally designed for educators, academics, students, and researchers interested in expanding their knowledge of disability-inclusive global education.

This book offers insight into engineering careers. With it, the reader may gain a better understanding about a possible career as an engineer, including preparation that will serve in the process. The book offers a number of different engineering career opportunities, looking at specialities and cross-specialty opportunities.The book also provides insight into areas infrequently covered within the college curriculum, such as technical writing skills, presentations, career mentors, ethics, and intellectual property.The book could be a handy reference text for career counselers in high school, college, and industry.

A main staple of today's world that has played a key role in the development of society is education and institutions of higher learning. An ongoing concern, however, has been the lack of access and resources to superior teaching in developing areas of the world. Student engagement and learning environments are just a few elements that play into the success of colleges in areas like the Coast Region of Kenya. Research must be done in understanding the correlation between the tools that these institutions are equipped with and the educational results of their students. Effects of Engagement and Resources on Learning Outcomes in Vocational Colleges: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential reference source that discusses the relationship between college resources and students' learning outcomes as well as contributing factors in promoting quality education and training. Featuring research on topics such as research philosophies, teaching workloads, and student engagement, this book is ideally designed for teachers, deans, researchers, education professionals, administrators, policymakers, government officials, and academicians seeking coverage on the methods of acquiring and maintaining quality education in developing countries.

If we hope to initiate, implement, assess, and sustain change, we need to reposition ourselves to see, engage with, and understand the world in ways that may be new to us. This book, Storied Inquiries in International Landscapes: An Anthology of Educational Research, culled from the 15 issues of the Journal of Critical Inquiry Into Curriculum and Instruction (JCI >CI), synergizes readers to do just that. Those who spend time with the collected works in this volume can expect to be immersed in a diverse array of compelling experiences, each of which explores the challenges of human relations and culturally responsible education through traditional research venues as well as arts-informed methods. These meaning-filled approaches include inquiry through the creation of collage, found poetry, photographic imagery, quilting, metaphorical analysis, and narrative. The engaging experiences their authors have crafted for us teach us a great deal about how activists, artists, researchers, and teachers who possess a deep passion for their work acknowledge silenced voices; represent them from a variety of perspectives; and in doing so, move readers toward personal, professional, or social action in their own lives. This anthology is intended to serve the multiple audiences who have expressed a similar passion for liberatory pedagogy, social justice, and human rights work over the years, as well as those who are just discovering it for the first time. ENDORSEMENTS: Teaching/Learning Indigenous, Intercultural Worldviews is a welcome new book series which holds promise for linking narratives of human rights struggles to the growing movement to decolonize scholarship and practice in education for diversity. The series offers a new dialogue space for Indigenous and ally voices-especially for those actively engaged in the work of social justice and work on "the edge of each other's battles" (Audre Lorde). Dr. Beth Blue Swadener, Arizona State University

This book explores the history of the unschooling movement and the forces shaping the trajectory of the movement in current times. As an increasing number of families choose to unschool, it becomes important to further study this philosophical and educational movement. It is also essential to ascribe theory to the movement, to gain greater understanding of its workings as well as to increase the legitimacy of unschooling itself. In this book, Riley provides a useful overview of the unschooling movement, grounding her study in the choices and challenges facing families as they consider different paths towards educating their children outside of traditional school systems.

Reappraising ideas associated with Ernst Bloch, Roland Barthes and Gaston Bachelard within the context of a utopian pedagogy, Hope, Utopia and Creativity in Higher Education reframes the transformative, creative and collaborative potential of education offering new concepts, tactics and pedagogical possibilities. Craig A. Hammond explores ways of analysing and democratising not only pedagogical conception, knowledge and delivery, but also the learning experience, and processes of negotiation and peer-assessment. Hammond shows how the incorporation of already existent learner hopes, daydreams, and creative possibilities can open up new opportunities for thinking about popular culture and memory, learning and knowledge, and collaborative communities of support. Drawing together theoretical and cultural material in a teaching and learning environment of empowerment, Hammond illustrates that formative articulations of alternative, utopian futures, across sociological, humanities, and education studies subjects and curricula, becomes possible.

This book explores the role of the university in upholding democratic values for societal change. The chapters advocate for the moral virtue of democratic patriotism: the editors and contributors argue that universities, as institutions of higher learning, can encourage the creation of critical and patriotic citizens. The book suggests that non-violence, tolerance, and peaceful co-existence ought to manifest through pedagogical university actions on the basis of educators' desire to cultivate reflectiveness, criticality, and deliberative inquiry in and through their academic programmes. In a way, universities can respond more positively to the violence on our campuses and in society if public and controversial issues were to be addressed through an education for democratic citizenship and human rights.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion are at the forefront of current discussion, as these issues have become an international concern for politicians, government agencies, social activists, and the general public. Higher education institutions internationally face considerable challenges in terms of diversity management of both their students and staff, which limits the success of individuals, institutions, and the sector as a whole. The Handbook of Research on Practices for Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education reports on current challenges that higher education institutions face in terms of diversity management and provides crucial research on the application of strategies designed to increase organizational change and support and integrate diverse individuals, including physically disabled individuals, women, and people of color, into higher education institutions. Covering a range of topics such as cultural intelligence and racial diversity, this reference work is ideal for researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, policymakers, educators, and students.

The 21st century and its many challenges (invasion of digital technology, climate change, health crises, political crises, etc.) alert us that we need new educational responses, led by new education professionals. Research has shown that for these professionals to change in a substantial and profound way, they must change their identity, that is, the way in which they give meaning and meaning to their professional work. This book exposes, based on one of the most current and advanced theories for analyzing identity change -the theory of the dialogical self-, what changes should take place and how to promote them in eleven fundamental professional profiles in current education (teachers of student-teachers, primary & secondary teachers, inclusive teachers, inquiring teachers, mentors, school principals, university teachers, academic advisors, technologic/hybrid teachers, Learning specialists & educational researchers).

Our current educational initiatives, NCLB and "Race to the Top," are competitive models that reward victory and punish defeat. In order to win the "Race to the Top" we have to hope or plan that our fellow students and teachers as well as our neighboring states and schools, will fail. "Race to the Top" therefore insures that we will be a nation of losers and that we will be pitted against our fellow citizens. We must engender a more cooperative spirit, one that does not endorse an 'us vs. them' mentality in which it is believed that the 'them' are taking away from the 'us'. We need to reframe our educational philosophy into a model that values each student for his or her individuality and uniqueness, that prepares the student with confidence and pride for the worlds of social and civic work, and for the personal and professional relationships they will enter upon graduation. We need to value the whole child and address key issues that influence our ability to find happiness in accordance with the essence of what it means to be human: satisfying interpersonal relationships, satisfaction in work commensurate with our interests and skills, and satisfying participation in our civic and political spheres, in other words, to achieve the highest standards of intellectual, social, emotional, physical and spiritual health.

As a teen I bet you have been told many times or in your subconscious mind, you have the idea that having too much money is evil or bad. Then again you might have heard people talk about how only the mean and bad guys have all the money or that money is not easy to come by. Have you however wondered why most of the grown-ups you know have become given-ups? Have you noticed the frustrations that most adults are going through living average lives?Truth is your own mindset can make or break you. The society and the environment in which we find ourselves have succeeded in making the majority of people think there is barely enough and have programmed people to live in mediocrity. As a young person, are you prepared to tow this line or are you prepared to change your mindset, to shift your consciousness and awareness to abundance? This book throws light on how most minds are untapped and exposes the hidden capabilities of the young millionaire's mind. Do you want to set your mental frequency to abundance? It is your rightful position in life. "Millionaires are made, not born." Laura Lyseight Once you start thinking right at this stage in your life, the rest will be history, because you will surely make your millions and even billions. "You are only young once and if you work it right, once is enough." Joe E. Lewis