Co-creating an educational space

In this paper I generate my living educational theory as an explanation of my educational influences in learning as I research my tutoring with practitioner researchers from a variety of workplace backgrounds. I will show how I have closely inter-related the teaching learning and research processes by providing opportunities for participants to accept responsibility for their own learning and to develop their capacity as learners and researchers. My PhD enquiry ‘How am I creating a pedagogy of the unique through a web of betweenness?’ (Farren, 2006) was integral to the development of my own practice as higher education educator. I clarified the meaning of my embodied values in the course of their emergence in practice. I try to provide an educational space where individuals can create knowledge in collaboration with others. I believe dialogue is fundamental to the learning process. It is a way of opening up to questions and assumptions rather than accepting ready-made solutions. The originality of the contribution is in the constellation of values and understandings I use as explanatory principles in my explanations of educational influence. This constellation includes the unusual combination of an educational response to the flow of energy and meaning in Celtic spirituality and the educational opportunities for learning opened up by digital technology

"I my own professor": Ashton-Warner as New Zealand educational theorist, 1940-60.

The invitation to contribute to this volume addressed me as a New Zealander who had written about how Sylvia Ashton-Warner's fantasies, theories, imagery, and life-history narratives threaded their way through my own. I had written of my youthful encounters with her work in Educating Feminists (Middleton 1993), in which I looked back on reading Spinster in 1960 at age thirteen and reflected on my teenage dreams of life as an artist and beatnik in Parisian cafes and garrets: confined to an Edwardian boarding school hostel in a provincial New Zealand town, I had plotted my escape to what Ashton-Warner described in Myself as "some bohemian studio on the Left Bank in Paris or over a bowl of wine in Italy, me all sophisticated and that, with dozens of lovers, paint everywhere and love and communion and sympathy and all that" (Myself, 212). When, in the early 1970s, I began secondary school teaching and read Teacher, that book built bridges between the frightening urgency of classroom survival, the enticing theories but alien classrooms described by American deschoolers and free-schoolers, and "what I believed myself to be when a girl on the long long road to school, a vagabond and an artist" (I Passed This Way, 307). As a young teacher I, too, had poured my impassioned soul into writing journals and poetry, painting, and playing the piano. Like Ashton-Warner, I had hoped that artistic self-expression could keep the mad woman in my attic at bay, for "asylums are full of artists who failed to say the things they must and famous tombs are full of those who did" (Incense to Idols, 169)

The use of extended reality (XR), wearable, and haptic technologies for learning across engineering disciplines

According to the literature, the majority of engineering degrees are still taught using traditional 19th-century teaching and learning methods. Technology has recently been introduced to help improve the way these degrees are taught. Therefore, this chapter discusses the state-of-the-art and applications of extended reality (XR) technologies, including virtual and augmented realities (VR and AR), as well as wearable and haptic devices, in engineering education. These technologies have demonstrated great potential for application in engineering education and practice. Empirical research supports that pedagogical modalities provide additional channels for information presentation and delivery, facilitating the sensemaking process in learning and teaching. The integration of VR, AR, wearable, and haptic devices into the learning environments can enhance user engagement and create immersive user experiences. This chapter explores their potential for increasing learning-based applicability in teaching and learning engineering

Proceedings of the tenth international conference Models in developing mathematics education: September 11 - 17, 2009, Dresden, Saxony, Germany

This volume contains the papers presented at the International Conference on “Models in Developing Mathematics Education” held from September 11-17, 2009 at The University of Applied Sciences, Dresden, Germany. The Conference was organized jointly by The University of Applied Sciences and The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project - a non-commercial international educational project founded in 1986. The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project is dedicated to the improvement of mathematics education world-wide through the publication and dissemination of innovative ideas. Many prominent mathematics educators have supported and contributed to the project, including the late Hans Freudental, Andrejs Dunkels and Hilary Shuard, as well as Bruce Meserve and Marilyn Suydam, Alan Osborne and Margaret Kasten, Mogens Niss, Tibor Nemetz, Ubi D’Ambrosio, Brian Wilson, Tatsuro Miwa, Henry Pollack, Werner Blum, Roberto Baldino, Waclaw Zawadowski, and many others throughout the world. Information on our project and its future work can be found on Our Project Home Page http://math.unipa.it/~grim/21project.htm It has been our pleasure to edit all of the papers for these Proceedings. Not all papers are about research in mathematics education, a number of them report on innovative experiences in the classroom and on new technology. We believe that “mathematics education” is fundamentally a “practicum” and in order to be “successful” all new materials, new ideas and new research must be tested and implemented in the classroom, the real “chalk face” of our discipline, and of our profession as mathematics educators. These Proceedings begin with a Plenary Paper and then the contributions of the Principal Authors in alphabetical name order. We sincerely thank all of the contributors for their time and creative effort. It is clear from the variety and quality of the papers that the conference has attracted many innovative mathematics educators from around the world. These Proceedings will therefore be useful in reviewing past work and looking ahead to the future

Shaping up to womanhood: A study of the relationship between gender and girls' physical education in a city-based Local Education Authority

The thesis examines how images of 'femininity' and the construction of gender-appropriate behaviour are reinforced and potentially challenged by the structure, content and teaching of girls' physical education in secondary schooling. The research involves both historical and contemporary investigation.. The qualitative methodology used for the contemporary research focuses on an in-depth case study cf an inner city local education authority. Open-ended interviews were conducted with advisory staff, teaching staff and education committee members involved in secondary school reorganization. This was followed by close observation in four selected case study schools. The research techniques were grounded in a feminist methodology The historical analysis identifies gender ideologies relating to physical ability/capacity, motherhood! domesticity and sexuality which underpinned the development of girls' physical education. The contemporary research concludes that images of femininity continue to find expression in the assumptions of women physical education staff although they are specific to their particular historical location in the 1980s. The case study observations provide evidence cu f the institutionalization of gender ideologies in the policies, priorities and practices of girls' physical education. Three central issues emerge from the research: the significance of ideologies of the physical and the politics of sexuality; the relationship between young women's subcultures, leisure and physical education; the debates surrounding mixed versus single-sex organization. These issues are critically analysed in relation to relevant literature, evidence from the research material and current feminist theoretical debates. The thesis concludes by suggesting future directions for girls' physical education and future research in related areas. The research points to the need for a feminist analysis and approach to girls' physical education in order to initiate debate and anti-sexist policy innovation and also to contribute to wider feminist theoretical analysis particularly in relation to an understanding of physicality, sexuality and patriarchal power relations

“Your Body is for You”: Possibilities for Size Acceptance, Criticality, and Social-Emotional Wellness in Upper Elementary English Language Arts Education

This Integrated Master’s Project explores how body image literature can be used in upper elementary classrooms (grades 3 to 5) to support critical literacy and psychosocial development, and vice-versa. Using the approaches Health at Every Size® (HAES), affect theory, and critical literacy, I propose a new analytical framework for thinking about weight stigma and children’s self-image through the lens of literature. There is a growing presence of fiction and nonfiction books that address weight stigma and center children’s experiences of their bodies, and incorporating these books into literacy/English Language Arts (ELA) curricula can help educators shape their classrooms into spaces of care and critical consciousness. At the heart of my project is Phoebe the Mighty Mermaid: an original picture book about a nine-year-old girl who learns with the help of her family to accept her body as it is, even when the process proves to be difficult. In a society where children are continuously exposed to “the thin ideal,” literature provides a powerful counter-narrative and an opportunity for educators to raise awareness of weight discrimination and promote self-acceptance

Health and wellbeing in an outdoor and adventure sports context

While the world responds to the latest health issue, it is perhaps timely that we think broadly about human and planetary health and wellbeing. Across the globe, there is a call for a different future, one that prioritises wellbeing. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, governments such as those in Bhutan, Wales and New Zealand had recognised the importance of wellbeing and working within natural systems. Ultimately, human beings are a part of nature, and our health and wellbeing depend on the health and wellbeing of our planet’s ecosystems. This book explores how an important emerging sector, adventure and outdoor sports, plays a part in providing for the health and wellbeing of people in relation to the natural world. From a human perspective, health involves more than managing disease: it includes the potential for optimum wellbeing and flourishing. Globally, there are still challenges that require focused attention. For example, in 2010, mental illness and substance abuse combined were the leading cause of non-fatal illness worldwide, and the fifth-biggest cause of death and disease. In September 2015, the United Nations recognised mental health and wellbeing as priorities within the global development agenda. The natural environment has been presented as an important aspect of the global health improvement plan. The last two decades have witnessed a plethora of research from a vast array of fields—including public health, ecology, geography, forestry, psychology, education, sport science and psychiatry—suggesting that physical activity in nature and a feeling of being part of nature enhance health and wellbeing. The relationship between being in nature and good health and wellbeing is recognised anecdotally, and research evidence on outcomes is growing. However, theoretical approaches that can support the interpretation of findings and the design of interventions and experiences are still developing. Research is beginning to consider the importance of individual differences, such as in feelings of connection to nature and the person–environment relationship. Outdoor and adventure sports and activities (from forest schools to extreme sports and more) are, potentially, ideal examples of physical activity in nature, and are perhaps best placed to reconnect people to the natural world. For this manuscript, we adopted a broad definition of sport, including the dimensions of self-development and recreation. Specifically, sports are considered to be multi-faceted, boundary-crossing activities, which do not necessarily involve structured competitive activity, regulated performance environments, rules or institutions. This manuscript brings together cutting-edge research and thought on the role of outdoor and adventure activities in enhancing mental health and psychological wellbeing. We are very grateful for the foresight of Mark Robinson and Carnegie Great Outdoors for their support in ensuring the publication of this collection.Ye