Dans cet ouvrage, écrit par et pour des praticiens, les auteurs prônent la transformation des modèles traditionnels d'enseignement et de formation par des approches plus appropriées aux exigences de la pratique professionnelle.

La méthode de réflexion développée par les auteurs permet de prendre conscience des théories à la base de toute intervention professionnelle, de mesurer le degré d'efficacité des modèles d'action et de résoudre autrement les problèmes. L'ouvrage fourmille d'exemples concrets illustrant la méthode et saura certes intéresser toute personne désireuse de se perfectionner et de mieux comprendre les mécanismes de l'apprentissage.

L’école cherche à préparer les élèves à la vie, mais ce sont des savoirs déconnectés de la réalité qui y sont enseignés. Des réformes contemporaines ont tenté de combler ce fossé qui existe entre l’école et la vie. Au Québec, ce renouveau pédagogique se dessine notamment par l’adoption de programmes d’études en formation générale des adultes visant à développer l’autonomie des apprenants dans l’exercice des rôles qui sont attendus d’eux en situation de vie réelle (planification d’un repas, achat d’électroménagers, préparation d’un budget familial, etc.). Divers travaux ont été menés pour soutenir et baliser l’élaboration de ces programmes, mais peu ont porté sur leur mise en œuvre en classe.

Dans un idéal de démocratisation de l'éducation, la formation à distance se conçoit comme un moyen d'élargir l'accès aux connaissances en surmontant les contraintes spatio-temporelles par un usage adapté des médias et des technologies. Mais les critiques sont souvent assez sévères envers ce procédé qui s'appuie sur une économie de masse pour rejoindre un large public. On lui reproche d'être impersonnel et de se limiter à des situations d'apprentissage individuel, sans réel dialogue entre formateurs et apprenants. Convaincues que la présence est un facteur important en apprentissage, les auteures montrent comment elle peut exister même dans la distance : présence du formateur à l'apprenant, présence des apprenants les uns aux autres.

L’ouvrage Approches affectives, métacognitives et cognitives de la compréhension s’adresse à toute personne enseignante, à tous les personnels scolaires et universitaires qui s’intéressent à la compréhension sous des angles innovateurs, et ce, autant dans une perspective théorique que pratique ou de recherche. Il propose des pistes de réflexion en lien avec l’enseignement à l’accompagnement pédagogique en regard de divers contextes : les représentations des élèves ou des enseignants et enseignantes, la violence à l’école, l’épuisement professionnel, l’autorégulation de l’apprentissage, l’intégration scolaire, les interactions de régulation en classe, le sens critique en formation à l’enseignement et la culture et, enfin, la construction identitaire.

The Art of Teaching Music takes up important aspects of the art of music teaching ranging from organization to serving as conductor to dealing with the disconnect between the ideal of university teaching and the reality in the classroom. Writing for both established teachers and instructors on the rise, Estelle R. Jorgensen opens a conversation about the life and work of the music teacher. The author regards music teaching as interrelated with the rest of lived life, and her themes encompass pedagogical skills as well as matters of character, disposition, value, personality, and musicality. She reflects on musicianship and practical aspects of teaching while drawing on a broad base of theory, research, and personal experience. Although grounded in the practical realities of music teaching, Jorgensen urges music teachers to think and act artfully, imaginatively, hopefully, and courageously toward creating a better world.

Sixty years ago, at the height of World War II, an extraordinary series of gatherings took place at Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts. During the summers of 1942–1944, leading Europeanfigures in the arts and sciences met at the college with their American counterparts for urgent conversations about the future of human civilization in a precarious world. Two Sorbonne professors, the distinguished medievalist Gustave Cohen and the existentialist philosopher Jean Wahl, organized these “Pontigny” sessions, named after an abbey in Burgundy where similar symposia had been held in the decades before the war. Among the participants—many of whom were Jewish or had Jewish backgrounds—were the philosophers Hannah Arendt and Rachel Bespaloff, the poets Marianne Moore and Wallace Stevens, the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss and the linguist Roman Jakobson, and the painters Marc Chagall and Robert Motherwell. In this collection of original essays, Stanley Cavell and Jacques Derrida lead an international group of scholars—including Jed Perl, Mary Ann Caws, Jeffrey Mehlman, and Elisabeth Young-Bruehl—in assessing the lasting impact and contemporary significance of Pontigny-en- Amérique. Rachel Bespaloff, a tragicfigure who wrote a major work on the Iliad, is restored to her rightful place beside Arendt and Simone Weil. Anyone interested in the “intellectual resistance” of Francophone intellectuals and artists, and the inspiring support from such Americanfigures as Stevens and Moore, will want to read this pioneering work of scholarship and historical re-creation.

Arts of Living presents a social history of the humanities and a proposal for the future that places creativity at the heart of higher education. Engaging with the debate launched by Allan Bloom, Harold Bloom, Bill Readings, John Guillory, and others, Kurt Spellmeyer argues that higher education needs to abandon the “culture wars” if it hopes to address the major crises of the century: globalization, the degradation of the environment, the widening chasm between rich and poor, and the clash of cultures.

This diverse collection, like Asian America itself, adds up to something far more vibrant than the sum of its voices. -Eric Liu, author of The Accidental Asian "There's fury, dignity, and self-awareness in these essays. I found the voices to be energetic and the ideas exciting." -Diana Son, playwright (Stop Kiss) and co-producer (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) This refreshing and timely collection of coming-of-age essays, edited and written by young Asian Americans, powerfully captures the joys and struggles of their evolving identities as one of the fastest-growing groups in the nation and poignantly depicts the many oft-conflicting ties they feel to both American and Asian cultures. The essays also highlight the vast cultural diversity within the category of Asian American, yet ultimately reveal how these young people are truly American in their ideals and dreams. Asian American X is more than a book on identity; it is required reading both for young Asian Americans who seek to understand themselves and their social group, and for all who are interested in keeping abreast of the changing American social terrain.

Historically, deaf and hard of hearing people have demonstrated various levels of competence in a multitude of professions, but they also have experienced discrimination and oppression. In five critical sections, this volume responds to the tidal wave of high-stakes testing that has come to dominate educational policy and qualification for various occupations. It provides a digest of relevant research to meet the testing challenge, including work done by educational researchers, legal experts, test developers, and others. Section I frames the contexts facing deaf and hard of hearing individuals and those who test them, including a telling historical perspective. In Section II, chapters explore how deaf and hard of hearing candidates can meet the rigors of test-taking, how to level the playing field with a new approach to assessment, and what to consider to develop fully accessible licensing tests. The final chapter in this part examines the psychometric properties of intellectual assessments when used with deaf and hard of hearing people. Administrative issues constitute Section III, beginning with legal considerations related to equity testing for deaf adults. An exploration of the potential of sign language interpretation in the testing environment follows. Section IV provides case studies of deaf and hard of hearing adults from a variety of professions, including certification testing for therapeutic recreation, preparation strategies for university students, and ways to maximize access to licensure for social workers. A separate chapter addresses the impact of recent federal mandates on assessment of deaf and hard of hearing teachers and teaching candidates. The final section summarizes the current situation and presents recommendations to manage it, concluding with an epilogue on directions for the future.