This study, available as a pdf, examined the ways professors in teacher education departments in two universities in East Java translated and adapted Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) methods. To map the ways they adapted and understood cooperative learning (CL) and non-coercive classroom management (NCCM), a critical ethnography (a blend of ethnography and action research) was done based on Carspecken’s (1996) design. It was conducted from October 2004 to February 2008 in two universities in East Java. The results were based upon field work that included passive and participatory observations, semi-structured interviews, document analysis, surveys, and critical dialogues with primary informants. Analysis was framed using Roger’s (1995) diffusion stages. Findings indicated that although there were some very serious challenges to the adoption of these two innovations, there were points where bridges could be built in both practice and understanding. Barriers included informants’ struggles to shift from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction while still maintaining culturally prescribed expressions of authority. Related themes were challenges instructors encountered in engaging students through facilitation practices and reciprocal communication.
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Virginia Tech shooting: Lessons for dismantling norms about violence
10-page Powerpoint presentation given at the Second International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education, which “offers a Preliminary inquiry into pedagogical actions for addressing the intersections among gender, race, ethnicity, social class, mental illness, and violence, the limitations of the thinking that pervaded the recent public discourse on the Virginia Tech Shooting will be revealed and a responsive pedagogical action proposed.”