In the course of examining the holistic and embodied expressions of self-conceptualization among six women academics from working- and poverty-class backgrounds, artful "happenings" became a generative tool for inquiry and analysis and provided interpretive directions. The author's approach to arts-based inquiry and the value of such an approach…

In arts-based research, the mode of inquiry through an art form generates new insights that would not have been revealed through a traditional written format. Three sets of criteria for evaluating arts-based research are presented that privilege the written word. Additional criteria are offered for visual arts-based research. (Contains 22…

Art learning is an embodied practice learned through praxis. An unconventional style of conducting research on such learning is presented, in which doing the work changes the intent, which in turn changes the work, subsequently changing the intent again, and so on. The process leads to discovery and new insights. (TD)

Traditional discursive practices in reporting research results serve as structures that reinforce dominant ideologies and suppress others. A project in which survivors of childhood trauma represented their experiences in quilt blocks demonstrates how alternative representational forms acknowledge a component of society that neutral, "objective"…

An expressive way of presenting forms of adult education practice was developed using a phenomenological methodology. A case study of a cross-cultural awareness course in Aboriginal Australia illustrates the textual genres used: backgrounding, sketching, poetized reflection, intuiting and distilling using metaphorical and imagistic language, and…

To reverse the decline in volunteerism in education, administrators must understand the difference between true volunteering and participation coerced under the guise of volunteering. Appreciation is essential for promoting volunteerism, for no one wishes to be considered without value. But if coercion and exploitation are part of the growing…

Analysis of all January and June 2000 test scores for Alberta high school seniors found weak relationships between gender and both diploma examination and school-awarded scores. The largest statistical effect for gender was that the difference between the two sets of scores was greater for girls than boys, with school-awarded scores being higher.…

A grade 6/7 teacher and a teacher educator-researcher team-taught science to 29 students by framing science projects as adventure. Ethnographic data revealed that small-group instruction, whole-class discussions, and presentations to outside audiences provided progressive opportunities for students to exchange ideas and motivated students and…

A study examined teacher attitudes toward a new children's rights curriculum. Surveys of 31 eighth-grade Nova Scotia teachers and their 906 students found that the more teachers used the curriculum, the higher they rated it and the more they supported children's rights. Student support for adult rights reflected their teachers' support for…

Interviews with 13 creative Ontario high school seniors examined school conditions that fostered creativity. Extracurricular activities and sports provided opportunities to display creativity not found in regular school routines. Others' ideas often sparked creativity. Classrooms, assignments, and teachers that encouraged exploration, hands-on…

Analysis of three Canadian grade 10 social studies textbooks illustrates how the discrimination and persecution endured by Japanese Canadians have been marginalized. As long as textbooks present perspectives of the dominant social group, inequalities embedded in society will remain hidden. Using textbooks critically to interrogate biases inherent…

Modern educational practice, inspired by the scientific rationalism of the 17th and 18th centuries, focuses on control, certainty, and order, thus rendering students' experiences superficial. Generativity "finds" the curriculum in students' life experiences, giving them relevance and the opportunity to be explored. Where life is not the source of…

Instrumental aims in vocational education pose a genuine threat to democratic citizenship by undermining student critique of prevailing social circumstances. By employing a broadened Aristotelian framework, career education can combine work-related subject matter with critical learning objectives, but that would require significant reform in…

Three methods of library instruction were used with 49 students in an urban graduate teacher education program: campus-based class with face-to-face instruction, campus-based class with Web-based tutorial, and Web-based tutorial. All groups improved their efficacy beliefs and library skills, but gains differed significantly between some groups.…

A study investigated Indigenous community perceptions of White school administrators in northern Canada via 44 individual and focus group interviews with local stakeholders at four schools. Community perceptions of effective school leadership were inconsistent, and communities and administrators were often at odds with regard to the role and…