title: Human development

authors: Drewery, Wendy

subjects: lifespan development

abstract: This article draws attention to commonalities in the use of the term development in relation to global development as practised by the United Nations Development Programme, and human development as taught in foundation courses for teacher education, nursing, and other social sciences. It argues, following Sen (2009), that the common direction and purpose of these two development projects is towards social justice. Theories of lifespan development affect the lives of persons both through national policy and self-management. Human development cannot and ought not to be sustained as a project for spreading euro-western values. Using the example of youth unemployment, it is argued that popular theories of career development, based on the twentieth century contexts of their authors, promote outdated assumptions, which create real personal turmoil for young adults who are trying to fit themselves into this changing world. The focus of the study of human development is optimal directions; thus for individuals, as for countries, development is both a global and a moral project. Placing emphasis on the global context of human development has far-reaching implications for scholars of lifespan development. These considerations also foreshadow the need to examine the role of lifespan developmental theory in Education, which is an acknowledged tool of global development.

text: Human development This article draws attention to commonalities in the use of the term development in relation to global development as practised by the United Nations Development Programme, and human development as taught in foundation courses for teacher education, nursing, and other social sciences. It argues, following Sen (2009), that the common direction and purpose of these two development projects is towards social justice. Theories of lifespan development affect the lives of persons both through national policy and self-management. Human development cannot and ought not to be sustained as a project for spreading euro-western values. Using the example of youth unemployment, it is argued that popular theories of career development, based on the twentieth century contexts of their authors, promote outdated assumptions, which create real personal turmoil for young adults who are trying to fit themselves into this changing world. The focus of the study of human development is optimal directions; thus for individuals, as for countries, development is both a global and a moral project. Placing emphasis on the global context of human development has far-reaching implications for scholars of lifespan development. These considerations also foreshadow the need to examine the role of lifespan developmental theory in Education, which is an acknowledged tool of global development.

year: 2011

title: The Chinese philosophical/ rhetorical tradition: Debunking some myths

authors: Wu, Huang

subjects: Chinese people

abstract: The article is about a research conducted by the authors reviewing texts in English and Chinese by rhetorical theory and discourse analysis. As stated, many Chinese texts seemed to be misunderstood or misinterpreted, hence a deviation in information from Chinese tradition was found in the texts. Article summarizes some ways in which the texts were misinterpreted and then discussed some potential dangers associated with it.

text: The Chinese philosophical/ rhetorical tradition: Debunking some myths The article is about a research conducted by the authors reviewing texts in English and Chinese by rhetorical theory and discourse analysis. As stated, many Chinese texts seemed to be misunderstood or misinterpreted, hence a deviation in information from Chinese tradition was found in the texts. Article summarizes some ways in which the texts were misinterpreted and then discussed some potential dangers associated with it.

year: 2010-09

title: Exploring the constitution of environment education as situated, critical processes of learning and change: A collaborative synthesis across diverse regional contexts

authors: Eames, Chris W.

subjects: Critical approaches

abstract: This article offers a set of unique vignettes or stories that attempt to illustrate examples of critical approaches to environmental education (EE) in diverse contexts. It draws from the experiences of five environmental educators in four different regions of the world. We detail the history of the emergence of critical consciousness in education in Brazil, and its application in a Brazilian region, then move to examples of critical educational responses to oppression in New Zealand and Zimbabwe, before closing with a critical examination of innovative teaching and research in Europe. Through this breadth of endeavour, we identify commonalities across these contexts such as the importance of participatory action and research to examine peopleenvironment relations, particularly as constituted by indigenous peoples, and to interpret realities in ways that empower through learning-led social-ecological change. We argue that this critical approach can foster emancipation through individual and collective learning in EE processes within very different contexts.

text: Exploring the constitution of environment education as situated, critical processes of learning and change: A collaborative synthesis across diverse regional contexts This article offers a set of unique vignettes or stories that attempt to illustrate examples of critical approaches to environmental education (EE) in diverse contexts. It draws from the experiences of five environmental educators in four different regions of the world. We detail the history of the emergence of critical consciousness in education in Brazil, and its application in a Brazilian region, then move to examples of critical educational responses to oppression in New Zealand and Zimbabwe, before closing with a critical examination of innovative teaching and research in Europe. Through this breadth of endeavour, we identify commonalities across these contexts such as the importance of participatory action and research to examine peopleenvironment relations, particularly as constituted by indigenous peoples, and to interpret realities in ways that empower through learning-led social-ecological change. We argue that this critical approach can foster emancipation through individual and collective learning in EE processes within very different contexts.

year: 2018