Resources

The inaugural title of a series in which faculty members at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts will address critical issues in arts education for university faculty, classroom teachers, and students of education, based on the innovation programs in the arts there. The 25 contributions discuss creating the teacher and changing the world, collaborative learning and improvisation, constructing a space for creativity in science, and other topics. (From the Publisher)

Few people have influenced the development of Christian schools in the Reformed tradition in North America and around the world as much as Nicholas Wolterstorff. As a tribute to his contributions, educators Gloria Goris Stronks and Clarence W. Joldersma have drawn together the world-renowned Christian philosopher's thoughts and reflections on Christian education over the last three decades. The guiding principle in making selections was the inclusion of pieces that discuss what makes education truly Christian. Wolterstorff's writings on education are divided into four sections that focus on the nature of Christian education, the criticisms of Christian education, Christian learning within a pluralistic society, and the goals of Christian education. Of special interest is Wolterstorff's increasing concern with the role of justice in Christian education. Educating for Life portrays Wolterstorff's evolving thinking on education while paying tribute to him as one of the premier Christian philosophers of our day. (From the Publisher)

Much of the time, experienced professionals in both education and other fields cannot explain what they are doing, or tell you what they know; and students cannot articulate their learning. Yet professional development and practice are often discussed as if conscious understanding and deliberation are of the essence. The Intuitive Practitioner tackles this apparent paradox head on, and explores the dynamic relationship between reason and intuition in the context of professional practice. Focusing mainly on the professional world of the teacher, but with illustrative discussions of medical and business practice, the contributors delicately unpick the vexed and neglected nature of intuition, and demonstrate the vital role it plays in the development of professional judgement and expertise. (From the Publisher)

At what price entry? Philosopher of education Jane Roland Martin contends that feminist scholars have traded in their idealism for a place in the academy. In Coming of Age in Academe, she looks at the ways that academic feminists have become estranged from women. Determining that this is the "membership fee" the academy exacts on all its members, she calls for the academy's transformation. Part one explores the chilly research climate for feminist scholars, the academic traps of essentialism and aerial distance, and the education gap in the feminist text. In part two, Martin likens the behavior of present-day feminist scholars to nineteenth-century immigrants to the United States and examines their assimilation into the world of work, politics and the professions. She finds that when you look at higher education, you see what a brutal filter of women it is. Part three highlights the academy's "brain drain" and its containment of women and then proposes actions both great and small that aim at fundamental change. In this rousing call to action, Martin concludes that the dissociation from women that the academy demands--its "entrance fee"--can only be stopped by radically reforming the gendered system on which the academy is based. (From the Publisher)

Most six-year-olds can't wait to go to school on that first day in September. It's a sign of coming of age. They get to go to school like the big kids. For an alarmingly large number of these children, however, boredom, anxiety, and fear of learning quickly set in. This happens because societies build schools that achieve much less than they promise, are frustrating for students, and generally fail to help children become adults who can think for themselves. The development of flexible, inquiring minds has rarely been the primary consideration in the design of educational systems. Making students into proper members of society has usually been of much greater concern than developing students who are creative thinkers. Today's schools are organized around yesterday's ideas, needs, and resources. The purpose of this volume is to raise consciousness about the changes needed in the educational system. It is concerned with what is wrong with the educational system and how to improve it. It presents a pragmatic view of what education could be through the use of computer technology — technology permitting us to pursue the radical notion that children must be allowed to guide their own education because interested learners learn more. Children can and will become voracious learners if they are in charge of their own education. This does not mean letting them play video games all day, but it does mean allowing them to pursue the intellectual goals that interest them, rather than being force-fed knowledge according to someone else's schedule. The school system must face the responsibility of creating learning environments that are so much fun that children cannot wait to get up in the morning and go to school. This volume describes the progress being made at The Institute for the Learning Sciences using computers to provide motivating environments for learning — environments that enable students to explore new worlds, and learn things by doing them. This technology will allow society to support what is one of the most important parts of a good educational system: the cultivation of individual initiative in students. This text documents the authors' work from the cognitive psychology which underlies it on through to guided tours of a number of the software learning environments they've developed. (From the Publisher)