A Publication of Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Abstract: In February of 2008 a group of educators from Boston and Framingham went to Cuba on a trip sponsored by Lesley University. Five of us were bilingual Kindergarten and first grade teachers in public schools. Collectively, we had spent a significant amount of time in classrooms in Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. In the context of Latin America and beyond, we knew Cuba stood out as a nation that had established equity in access to education and had succeeded in eradicating illiteracy. We had no sense, however, of the particulars of the Cuban approach to literacy teaching in the early grades.
Abstract: The concept therapist use of self is examined. Reasons for incorporating the moral awareness of the counselor into this concept are presented and a case example is discussed. The salience of this issue in the context of a post-positivist social science is addressed and contextualized within a multicultural frame. A critique of the notion of therapeutic moral neutrality is presented. The discussion concludes with a proposed framing of the concept of therapist use of self.
Abstract: In his essay “Was ist Aufklarung?” (“What is Enlightenment?”) Immanuel Kant argues that a person who depends on others for opinions in moral, political, and religious issues is immersed in a kind of mental childhood. In his mind they failed to recognize the importance of discussion, debate, and disagreement to the development of autonomous human beings. Kant’s dictum, Sapere Aude, urges us to develop our faculties, and thereby fulfill our potential as free, rational creatures, by participating fearlessly in the conversations that shape our lives.
Abstract: University-level scholars in North American and European often claim that they are committed to helping their students become active in social justice concerns. Paulo Freire’s book, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, claims however that most educational models among the world’s privileged and elite share some complicity in the maintenance of an unjust status-quo of oppression. This article will focus on how Freirean ideas can be applied to students of privilege in order to move them from ignorance, guilty remorse, or paternalistic activism vis-à-vis the world’s oppressed towards a respectful, dialogical inter-relationship.
Abstract: Many students wish to study unconventional subjects. This scholastic guide will help them transform their studies into academically credible pursuits, and deepen their scholarly approach to science, medicine, and critical thinking.