This article seeks to elaborate the step of epistemological affirmation that exists within every movement of learning. My epistemological method is rooted in philosophical hermeneutics in contrast to empirical or rationalist traditions. I argue that any movement of learning is based upon an entry into a hermeneutical circle: one is thrown into, or…

This article provides an analysis of two colonial reports, the Barnes and the Fenn-Wu Reports on education in the British colony of Malaya. The popular stance on the Barnes and the Fenn-Wu Reports is that one is an effect or reply to the other. We argue on the contrary that the two reports construct a common argument on nation-building which…

The present study examined conversations of 164 mothers from seven different cultural contexts when reminiscing with their 3-year-old children. We chose samples based on their sociodemographic profiles, which represented three different cultural models: (1) autonomy (urban middle-class families from Western societies), (2) relatedness (rural…

This commentary was written while the author was visiting the 30th International Congress of Psychology in Cape Town, South Africa. Looking at the program, he could see that psychological research on non-Western populations and internationally comparative research seems to be much "en vogue"! However, much of the research he has seen left him--as…

C. Mamo Kim is a Native Hawaiian leader and political activist in Hawai'i. In 1986 she began healing people of diseases from which their doctors had already pronounced they would be imminently dying or chronically doomed to suffer. By merely placing her hands on or near the body she was able to completely reverse the diseases or chronic…

This article argues that transformative learning becomes increasingly essential for educators in the changing landscape of the adult and higher education institutions of the United States that has continuously hosted highest numbers of international students among other countries. First, it presents a context discussing learning for…

First conceptualized in the 1960s, the term culture-bound disorders refers to a classification of mental disorders or syndromes that are considered specific or closely related to cultural factors and or particular ethnocultural groups. In Japan, two culture-bound disorders, "taijin kyofusho" and "hikikomori," have seized the interest of…

This research illuminated how five first-year teachers described the intercultural development that occurred while student teaching in a non-Western culture, and the value that those experiences abroad brought to their classrooms during their first year of teaching. The focus was to capture the essence of the experiences abroad as perceived and…

"The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Education" is the first authoritative reference work to provide an international analysis of the relationship between power, knowledge, education, and schooling. Rather than focusing solely on questions of how we teach efficiently and effectively, contributors to this volume push further to also…

Students at the National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM) are eligible to concurrently study both Western medicine, as reflected by the Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) program, and Eastern medicine, as exhibited by the Master of Science in Oriental Medicine (MSOM) degree program. The dual track is unique in that the dominant Western…

This book takes a critical look at why issues of language in higher education are routinely marginalised, despite the growing internationalisation of universities. Through analyses of a variety of intercultural encounters, the book highlights the range of interpretative possibilities available for understanding these encounters, and suggests the…

Many students enter classes with a very Orientalist mental map of the region usually called the "Middle East." This is understandable considering the information and images of the region that pervade our media landscape. In an effort to teach student how to critically examine media sources themselves, the author utilizes a blog format…

Education is under pressure to respond to the changing modern world. Education system worldwide aims to develop students into well-rounded citizens and help them become creative problem-solvers. Several theories have been proposed in the research literature which emphasizes the importance of social and cultural context to creativity. Eastern and…

Critical reflection on the course of the Western university system has never been more important than at the juncture of its exportation around the world. The importation of Western academic institutions in the modernizing states of the Muslim world is fraught with contradictions, responding to the desire to craft a citizenship recognizable to the…

Western pedagogy and its preconceived notions of the non-Western world can limit scholars from developing accurate understandings of culturally different societies. Western academics teaching at foreign and Western institutions abroad must be mindful of how ingrained and subconscious Orientalist thinking can distort and hinder their interactions…