Showing papers by "Elizabeth J. Tisdell published in 2006"

Engaging spirituality in the transformative higher education classroom

Abstract: This chapter discusses the challenges of fostering spirituality in the higher education classroom and its relationship to the practice of transformative learning.

Spirituality, Cultural Identity, and Epistemology in Culturally Responsive Teaching in Higher Education.

Abstract: This article focuses on how spirituality connects to cultural identity and how it relates to culturally responsive teaching in higher education. It focuses on the development of a culturally responsive epistemology that suggests research and teaching is both a spiritual and intellectual pursuit. For critical multicultural teaching to have transformative power, it must engage in and help learners explore and reclaim their cultural identity. This process often touches on the spiritual, as it engages students' cultural imagination and creativity. I conclude by offering specific suggestions for practice.

Negotiating the Labyrinth from Margin to Center: Adult Degree Program Administrators as Program Planners within Higher Education Institutions

Abstract: This qualitative study examined how eight adult degree program administrators negotiate power and interest while planning programs in specific higher education settings: small, private, nonprofit, higher education institutions. The conceptual framework was grounded in Cervero and Wilson’s program-planning model in combination with Bourdieu’s concept of cultural and social capital and Raven’s consideration of types of power at play in organizations. The primary means of data collection were in-depth interviews and qualitative questionnaires. There were four primary categories of findings dealing with how these adult degree program planners negotiate power and interest, centering on (a) moving the institutional interest in adult learners from the margins closer to the center, (b) gaining influence by drawing on multiple forms of capital, (c) building a bridge of common interests among key players as a way of leveraging power, and (d) balancing institutional expectations for growth with resource limitations.

Difficult dilemmas: The meaning and dynamics of being out in the classroom

Abstract: This chapter explores the dilemmas and perceptions of being open regarding nonheterosexual sexual orientations in the higher education classroom from the individual perspectives of the three coauthors.