Education, Social Justice, democracy, social rights, and capabilities. Those are the keywords of this study about the processes of guaranteeing the education right. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, in terms of education and pedagogical aims, I could not support a theory, even if is highlighting the importance of it for the education and training contexts. Handling what are the things that really happen, it is necessary. During Chapter 2, I shall explain more fully how is possible to study abstract concepts such as democracy and social rights. Here, it will be sufficient to say that democracy is a situation in the same way as education is. What is the situation that involves the democratic social education right? This situation is the school environment, the last termination of the state, which is committed to increase education and the culture of a country. I then will choose a particular event of that situation as the inclusion of immigrant students, because this event will make the process related to the guaranteeing of the education right, particularly evident. Following the methodical steps I shall introduce in the third chapter, I have constructed a Grounded Theory (GT) through which I shall not only say that schools live in a conflict among social rights to be guaranteed and systematic and political difficulties to make their intervention effective. Already the newspapers refer that, for example those articles I mentioned at the beginning of the introduction. I bring to the attention the ways this conflict exists, outlining the characteristics that are in accordance or not with what is declared by and what is lived in schools. This research has as a result a theory I have named: “structuring conditions†. Indeed, what happens in Italian schools when a foreigner student arrives in the course of the year? How does the school react and how to try to secure the education right? The “structuring of the conditions†explains what happens in Italian schools regard the phenomenon of inclusion of immigrant students. This process evolves according two dynamics: the first is the “sharing of responsiveness†and the second one is the “structuring of educational priorities†. These two dynamics explain what occurs within the teachersâ€TM lived experiences and within the school as an organization. Sharing the sensitivity or responsiveness means that the process of welcoming starts from an attitude that only few teachers have shown: it is taking the load of educational projects that tend to guarantee the right to learning Italian and to construct a well coexistence with all the other students inside the school. Many teachers are still deaf towards these issues. For structuring of priorities, I mean, however, that the processes of activation are led by a very clear priority given to the wellbeing of immigrant students, choice that would set out to build a more effective welcoming and training. In Chapter 4, I will describe the process of schoolsâ€TM activating. These processes have to do with the arrival of foreigners seen as a problem and not as their right. In other words, when it becomes a problem then the school raises the question of ensuring a right. In addition, not only because increasingly there are schools with a very high presence of immigrants, but also because the continuous arrival leads to organizational confusion and difficulties to be remedied. Does schools guarantee the education right effectively? If the right is the right to a social minimum, a foreign child who enters during the year, has its classroom, is included in school life, like everyone, then the answer is yes. The right to enrol in school is given to all but the education right also has another side that is the fact that at the end of schooling everyone should have all the skills acquired to become a citizen. To do this, the school should provide a very good and improving education to all, not just the social minimum. The research reveals that schools lean to ensure not the education right, a very remote target if the 42.5% of foreign students are in delay in or abandon training. Rather, the process through which the school tends to guarantee the education right is making structural, shared and of primary importance what would be the prerequisites of a climate suitable for work. I will define the prerequisites in chapter 4: those are the educational aspects, without which the pure and simple Italian learning would be insolvent to bridge the gaps. Furthermore, it would not be possible learning to stay together, to live in a place educational priorities may build. Making learners autonomous in language and sociability is the warranty of the education right. Moreover, in this context, we would recognise conditions, which are the responsiveness some teachers show, and priorities, that from a last minute answer would become systematic responses to an emergency.

The research focuses on intercultural action in kindergarten multicultural situations. More specifically, the process of practice and theory has been investigated and the relationship between these two elements that should contribute to the same goal of inclusion. The research question of the survey is: "How does unconsciousness influence the circularity of the process between theory and practice in intercultural environment in kindergartens?†The theories from which the research originates suggest a counterproposal to discriminating divisions. They are models of inclusion and of "informal and open cooperation", with the need to review the social visions that relate to colonial concepts, that is a review of archetypes of dominant and subordinate. A perspective that must also take into account the search for a balance between the universalist vision and the perspective that highlights diversity. The survey offers a view on the processes that contrast the realization of inclusion extending to the centrality of teachers' unconscious theories and suggests that the intercultural glance when supported by the pillars of philosophy and anthropology may be wider, particularly with the contribution that can come from psychology, especially social psychology, but not only. The underlying concept is that we can profoundly expand our vision through a number of psychological constructs and that their knowledge can be useful both for understanding the processes involved in inclusion and in planning training paths.

This study aimed to explore the impact of eLearning on quality teaching in higher education and to implement Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) that targeted the quality challenges in practice. It was a mixed method research composing of three stages. It initially focused on university teachers’ perception of quality teaching, problems, and strategies in practice to understand the actual usage of eLearning by practitioners. Seventeen university teachers participated in the inquiry of stage 1. It found the common perception of quality teaching was students’ deep understanding of the learning subject. Besides, large class teaching was the most common problem faced by teachers who already achieved quality teaching in small classes, which became the research focus in the inquiry of stage 2. CSCL was selected as a potential eLearning strategy that targeted quality challenges in large class teaching due to its theoretical benefits. the inquiry of stage 2 aimed to explore the impact of CSCL on quality teaching in large classes. Considering the institutional influence on teaching approaches, it defined the case in the university level. Two universities composed of ten teachers were investigated. It found the majority of participants perceived a limited quality in large class teaching, and this limitation was due to two issues: insufficient teacher-student interaction, and the difficulty in checking students’ understanding in the learning process. Besides, CSCL was not widely adopted in practice, and adopted strategies did not target those two issues mentioned above. The inquiry of stage 3 designed and implemented CSCL activities in an authentic large university class with the aim to explore its impact. It indicated CSCL helped to improve teaching quality in large classes – students’ deep understanding - by enhancing interaction and feedback in the learning process. In sum, this three-stage study revealed the practical challenges of quality teaching in higher education, then designed and implemented eLearning activities to tackle them.

L’istruzione e la formazione hanno acquisito un peso progressivamente crescente nell’agenda politica dell’Unione Europea. Chi possiede competenze di basso livello rischia l’esclusione economica e sociale (Consiglio dell’Unione europea, 2008, p.2). In una ricerca su alcune dimensioni della disuguaglianza in Italia (povertà, salute, condizioni abitative) condotta nell’ambito dell’Osservatorio sulle disuguaglianze sociali della Fondazione Ermanno Gorrieri, si rileva come, nell’anno 2006, la maggiore quota percentuale tra le persone a basso reddito fosse costituita in Italia dagli operai (37,6%), seguiti dai pensionati (29,6%) (Brandolini, Saraceno, Schizzerotto, 2009, p.52). In Italia, il tasso medio di abbandono scolastico misurato con l’ultimo test Pisa nel 2009 è del 23,5%, percentuale che esclude gli studenti dei Centri di formazione professionale, essendo questi ultimi disciplinati dalla normativa regionale e pertanto fonte di dati difficilmente comparabili. Questo significa che, mediamente, almeno uno/a studente/ssa italiano/a su quattro è “a rischio di esclusione economica e sociale”. Aggiungendo a questo dato i tassi di dispersione scolastica e di evasione e i risultati circa le competenze di base in uscita al termine del ciclo d’istruzione secondaria (Ministero dell’Istruzione, Università e Ricerca, 2008b), è legittimo pensare che questo problema interessi una fetta ben maggiore di studenti italiani. Questo studio si propone di indagare cosa accade prima dell’abbandono, quando gli studenti sono ancora all’interno del circuito formativo obbligatorio: quali processi interni alla scuola secondaria conducono verso il successo o l’insuccesso scolastico? Quali fattori entrano in gioco, ai diversi livelli? Per fare questo, è stato necessario in primo luogo decostruire e problematizzare la definizione di “insuccesso scolastico”, facendo una comparazione tra le mutevoli descrizioni concettuali che ne sono state date e compiendo una disanima critica delle modalità utilizzate per quantificare il fenomeno, prendendo in esame alcune indagini italiane ed internazionali. Attraverso un breve excursus storico sull’evoluzione del sistema scolastico in Italia e sui riferimenti normativi che lo disciplinano, sia a livello nazionale, sia a livello europeo, si è in seguito fornita una descrizione quantitativa del fenomeno “insuccesso scolastico” in Italia, seguita da una lettura critica dei diversi approcci disciplinari che hanno fatto dell’insuccesso scolastico il loro oggetto d’indagine, in Italia e all’estero. Tra i vari approcci presentati, ci si è focalizzati in particolar modo su quello della sociologia dell’educazione e della critical pedagogy nella sua accezione statunitense: quest’ultimo viene proposto con l’approccio più fecondo nello studio del fenomeno, proponendone un confronto con l’approccio della pedagogia critica italiana. Questo studio si colloca tra le ricerche empiriche che si rifanno all’approccio della critical pedagogy. La metodologia utilizzata è una grounded theory orientata alla social justice, combinata con un approccio etnografico. Lo studio si conclude con la presentazione di un modello teorico che si propone di spiegare il fenomeno “insuccesso scolastico” nelle sue origini, e di fornire utili indicazioni agli operatori sul campo che quotidianamente si misurano con il fenomeno stesso.

In questo lavoro di tesi sono stati delineati i tratti salienti dell’approccio educativo montessoriano, evidenziandone da una parte la profonda complessità nonché attualità che lo caratterizzata e dall’altra le numerose conferme sia dalla didattica considerata innovativa, sia dalle scienze psicologiche. È stato inoltre presentato un percorso di ricerca volto a monitorare la recente sperimentazione dell'approccio pedagogico montessoriano in alcune scuole primarie della provincia di Trento. La ricerca é stata condotta utilizzando sia strumenti di natura qualitativa (come una check list osservativa prodotta ad hoc per la ricerca), sia questionari standardizzati, con l'intento di confrontare i dati raccolti con un campione rappresentativo di una più vasta realtà scolastica.

The focus of the thesis is on i) theoretically investigating how meditation and education can work together, and ii) empirically studying the educational and cognitive effects of meditation on adult subject, with special regard to the subjective experience description. In concrete, it is my intention here to assess the value of mindfulness meditation in terms of changes in the so-called ‘first-person perspective’ (FPP), that is how meditation affects the self-perception and self-description in expert and beginner meditators. Indeed, through a qualitative study I will assess the educational outcomes of a two months long period of meditation in terms of self-perception and experience description skills on healthy adults, both beginners and experts. The structure of the thesis is the follow. In the first chapter I will consider the theoretical framework on which my thesis is based on. In particular I will present a short overview of the encounter of phenomenological tradition and cognitive sciences during the last decade of the XXth Century, an encounter that has produced the so-called ‘Embodied Theory’. I will especially discuss the themes of consciousness and body consciousness that are fundamental for my thesis. Another short overview is presented about meditation tradition and, especially, about what mindfulness meditation is and where it comes from. The second chapter is dedicated to present how mindfulness meditation practice affects the person. Considering the utility for a pedagogical discourse to evaluate the neuroscientific and cognitive aspects of meditation, we will discuss the main effects of meditation on the brain and the mind; then, I will discuss how meditation fits with phenomenological pedagogical theory and practice, and how it can be considered as a form of experiential education, with special regard to adult education. Then, in the third chapter, the results of a qualitative study on self-perception and body perception will be presented and discussed. Finally, in the fourth one, some general conclusions will be outlined about the educational value of meditation, and some suggestions and critics will be outlined with regard to the didactic and teaching programs of meditation courses.

Questa ricerca si occupa delle pratiche di lavoro, in quanto pratiche eminentemente linguistiche, dei mediatori che prestano servizio presso due Centri per la Mediazione Sociale e dei Conflitti. Essa è nata dall’interesse per la «agentività del linguaggio» (Duranti, 2004) nei contesti educativi coniugato con la convinzione che i conflitti sociali richiedono un nuovo ed urgente impegno di riflessione da parte delle scienze dell’educazione (Contini e Genovese, 1997; Zannoni, 2012). La maggior parte degli studi esistenti sulla mediazione sono stati condotti con approcci di ricerca che ne ignorano gli aspetti interazionali-linguistici e che trattano la mediazione come se fosse una «scatola nera» (Garcia, 2000). Scopo della ricerca è stato aprire la scatola nera e indagare «le azioni discorsive incarnate» (Goodwin, C.,1979, 1994, 2000) attraverso cui la mediazione è effettivamente realizzata dai membri nei loro corsi pratici di azione. Lo studio - di tipo etnografico - è stato condotto utilizzando sia l’osservazione partecipante che la video-registrazione di alcuni specifici eventi comunicativi (Hymes, 1974) selezionati quali unità di raccolta nella fase esplorativa del fieldwork: i momenti che i mediatori dedicano alla discussione dei casi di conflitto. Sul piano metodologico l’incrocio tra le conoscenze etnografiche relative al contesto e i dati che emergono grazie all’Analisi della Conversazione è stato necessario per comprendere il ruolo cruciale del linguaggio nelle pratiche di lavoro dei mediatori e il suo impatto sui relativi esiti. A partire dalla posizione epistemologica implicata dalla pedagogia fenomenologica, (Bertolini, 1988; Caronia, 2011) la ricerca propone una descrizione interpretativa di pratiche di lavoro che -sotto la lente d’ingrandimento dell’analisi- mostrano le loro implicazioni e conseguenze oltre a quanto è immediatamente visibile. Da questo punto di vista, si colloca in quel versante di ricerche pedagogiche che hanno come obiettivo la promozione dell’accountability istituzionale e la diffusione dei processi di autocorrezione nelle organizzazioni. / This research investigates the working practices - as eminently linguistic practices - that take place in two public Centers for Social Mediation. It originates by the interest for the “agentivity of language” (Duranti, 2004) in educational contexts, together with the conviction that social conflicts require a new and urgent commitment by the scholars in the field of education studies (Contini and Genovese, 1997 ; Zannoni, 2012). Most of the existing studies on mediation were done with research approaches that ignore the interactional-linguistic aspects, treating mediation as if it were a "black box" (Garcia, 2000). Purpose of this research has been to open the black box and investigate “the discoursive embodied actions" (Goodwin, C., 1979, 1994, 2000) through which mediation is actually realized by the members, in their practical courses of action. The sresearch - an ethnographic study- was conducted using both participant observation and video-recording of some specific communicative events (Hymes, 1974) selected in the exploratory phase of fieldwork: the meeting of the mediators dedicated to the discussion of the «cases of conflict». Assuming the epistemology implied by the «Phenomenological Pedagogy» (Bertolini, 1988; Caronia, 2011), the research proposes an interpretive description of the work practices that - under the «hand lens» of the analysis- show their implications and consequences beyond what it is immediately visible. From this point of view, it is part of the family of educational research aimed to promote institutional accountability and dissemination of self-correction processes in organizations

Afin d’optimiser les composants de l’industrie de la microélectronique, il est essentiel d’établir le lien entre la texture cristallographique des matériaux constitutifs et leurs propriétés électriques, thermiques et mécaniques. Ainsi, il est nécessaire de disposer d’outils capables de cartographier la morphologie et l’orientation cristallographique des grains à l’échelle nanométrique. La technique ACOM, implémentée sur un Microscope Electronique en Transmission (MET), permet d’obtenir ces informations en exploitant les figures de diffraction électronique. Dans cette thèse, les capacités de cette technique sont évaluées, à la fois pour déterminer la microtexture de matériaux confinés dans quelques dizaines de nanomètres, et pour répondre aux problématiques associées à la fabrication de nouveaux circuits. Cette étude montre dans un premier temps l’importance de l’optimisation des conditions opératoires du MET afin de diminuer les erreurs d’indexation. Des analyses quantitatives de microtexture sont ensuite menées sur des films minces de siliciures de nickel-platine pour différents dopage du substrat, concentration en platine, et température de recuit. Enfin, le cas d’une superposition de signaux de diffraction observé lorsque plusieurs grains sont contenus dans l’épaisseur de l’échantillon est étudié. Les résultats montrent que les erreurs d’indexation restent rares dans ce cas et que les grains de plus large fraction volumique sont majoritairement sélectionnés par l’algorithme d’indexation. Une méthode est alors proposée pour traiter la totalité de l’information détectée dans les clichés de diffraction. Elle s’appuie sur l’indexation successive des orientations cristallographiques après soustraction préalable des réflexions associées à l’orientation précédemment indexée. Les capacités de cet outil en termes de caractérisation de la morphologie des grains superposés sont finalement comparées à deux autres techniques basées sur la reconstruction d’images en champ sombre et sur la factorisation en matrices non-négatives. / The development of advanced nodes in microelectronics requires to understand the impact of crystal size and orientation on the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of materials. New tools have been developed to map the grains orientation and morphology of nanometer-scaled structures. Among them, the Automated Crystal Orientation Mapping technique used on a Transmission Electron Microscope (ACOM-TEM) is based on the indexation of electron diffraction patterns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the abilities and limitations of the ACOM-TEM technique for the characterization of microelectronics-related materials. Consequently, its ability to analyze nano-sized materials and the possibility of answering problematics related to microelectronics front-end fabrication challenges were investigated. The study highlighted in the first place the importance of the TEM illumination settings. The results showed that minimizing the electron probe convergence angle even at the cost of a larger size has decreased mis-indexation issues. These optimum settings were used to perform quantitative texture analysis of NiPt-silicide thin films. Finally, the case of superimposed diffraction patterns related to overlapping grains was analyzed. Experiments showed that mis-indexing remains limited despite the superimposition and that grains with larger fraction volume were preferentially selected by template matching. A dedicated method was also proposed to overcome crystal overlapping issues. The approach is based on iterative re-indexation of diffraction patterns after subtraction of the reflections related to the previous ACOM best match. Considering the same diffraction patterns data-set, the capabilities of this method to recover the grains size and morphology were compared to two recent techniques based respectively on the analysis of virtual dark field (VDF) images and non-negative matrix factorization (NMF).

Il presente lavoro, focalizzandosi in particolare sull’istruzione universitaria e superiore, indaga il fenomeno che in Italia prende spesso il nome generico di “dispersione”, un problema strutturale e complesso che riguarda molti Paesi. A partire da una disamina complessiva della letteratura nazionale e internazionale sono stati analizzati dettagliatamente i termini utilizzati per denominare il fenomeno (in particolare drop-out, underachievement, dispersione e il corollario che a questi si accompagna) (primo capitolo). Successivamente l’analisi si è concentrata sui numerosi modelli teorici di analisi dei fenomeni di abbandono, elaborati soprattutto a partire dagli anni Settanta del Novecento e in particolar modo negli Stati Uniti (secondo capitolo). Dopo aver delineato questo quadro teorico, si è passati ad una disamina storico–statistico–normativa dei documenti istituzionali riferiti al contesto europeo (terzo capitolo) considerando le raccomandazioni relative all’educazione e all’istruzione definite a partire dalla European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Ne emerge un quadro frammentario e lasciato alla capacità/volontà delle singole istituzioni di recepire le raccomandazioni che arrivano dai documenti ufficiali. Infine, sono state considerate le strategie e le azioni (le strade) e gli strumenti (le bussole) messi in campo per prevenire e contrastare il fenomeno (quarto capitolo). L’attenzione è stata posta in particolare sul Personal Development Plan, uno strumento “riflessivo” che ha consentito, soprattutto in ambito anglosassone, di ottenere interessanti risultati. Alla fine del lavoro, viene presentata la ricerca sul campo condotta con riferimento alla realtà trentina, coinvolgendo alcune scuole secondarie di secondo grado e alcuni studenti del Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università di Trento (capitolo quinto). Nella ricerca è stata sperimentata una forma di peer orientation ed è stato utilizzato in parte lo strumento del PDP pur riveduto e adattato al contesto considerato. Da questo lavoro è emersa complessivamente una certa incapacità delle istituzioni di stimolare pratiche riflessive, di accompagnare, di creare “comunità”, di attivare il desiderio di conoscere e di apprendere per tutta la vita. Parallelamente è stata rilevata un’assenza di regia, circa eventuali azioni messe in essere per favorire il successo negli studi dalle istituzioni educative e formative considerate. Solo strategie ragionate mirate e soprattutto coordinate possono implementare azioni efficaci ed individuare gli strumenti adatti per “allenare” giovani e adulti ad essere soggetti attivi e riflessivi, in grado di divenire motore del proprio cambiamento e parte attiva e responsabile della società.

Lo scopo di questa tesi è affrontare l'internazionalizzazione di un’università in termini di sviluppo e valutazione della competenza interculturale attraverso un intervento pedagogico efficace e sostenibile che prepari gli studenti a vivere in un mondo globalizzato. La mia ricerca ha utilizzato un approccio randomizzato e metodi misti sperimentali con una combinazione di otto distinti studi longitudinali e trasversali che hanno coinvolto un totale di 16.787 studenti iscritti presso università statunitensi, esaminati nel corso dei quattro anni di studio, dal primo anno fino alla laurea, con una particolare attenzione per 3.725 studenti della Bellarmine University di Louisville, in Kentucky. Si è lavorato inoltre con il più grande insieme di dati di studi IDI intrapresi fino ad oggi, con 1.812 partecipanti contro i 1.159 dell'ultimo lavoro sull’impatto degli studi IDI sui corsi all'estero, il Georgetown Consortium Study, facente riferimento al periodo 2003-2005. La mia ricerca su queste serie di dati si è concentrata in particolare sull’efficacia di uno specifico curriculum d'intervento per studenti coinvolti in programmi di studio all’estero. Ho analizzato il livello di sviluppo della competenza interculturale attraverso la somministrazione di test precedenti e successivi al loro periodo all’estero in merito a una varietà di esperienze universitarie, dando particolare attenzione sia in termini quantitativi sia qualitativi all'impatto dei corsi interculturali seguiti all'estero. L'approccio pedagogico è stato progettato dal ricercatore con l’intento di riflettere l’attuale cambiamento di paradigma in atto nell'apprendimento all'estero e si basa su un intervento guidato allo scopo di raggiungere risultati di apprendimento espliciti piuttosto che lasciare l'apprendimento interculturale al caso. I risultati dei miei vari studi forniscono risposte decisamente positive alla domanda centrale di questo progetto: “Se l'internazionalizzazione dell'istruzione superiore è in parte misurata dal livello di competenza interculturale sviluppata dai suoi laureati, può allora un’esperienza universitaria di quattro anni, come quella delle università statunitensi di studi umanistici, sviluppare competenze interculturali attraverso una serie di attività ed esperienze di apprendimento curricolare ed extracurricolare, sia all’interno dell’università che al di fuori di essa? Se sì, in che misura?” 7 Le conclusioni tratte dai risultati dei vari studi quantitativi e qualitativi contenuti in questo elaborato supportano fortemente il mio quadro di intervento pedagogico, denominato Framework for Reflective Intervention in Learning Abroad (FRILA) e basato sulla teoria dell'apprendimento esperienziale, il modello di sviluppo della sensibilità interculturale (la teoria DMIS) (Bennett, 1986) e la pedagogia culturalmente rilevante per l'apprendimento all'estero. Le implicazioni di questa ricerca nell’ambito dell'istruzione internazionale sono tali che, per ottenere una vera trasformazione durante l'apprendimento all'estero, è fondamentale che le università offrano agli studenti la possibilità di accedere a un programma guidato che ponga l’enfasi sul coinvolgimento e la riflessione. / The purpose of this study is to address the internationalization of a university in terms of the development and assessment of intercultural competence via an effective and sustainable intervention pedagogy in support of preparing students for a globalized world. My research utilized a randomized experimental, mixed methods approach with a combination of eight separate longitudinal and cross-sectional studies referencing a total of 16,787 students at U.S. institutions over four years from freshmen year until graduation with particular focus on 3725 students at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, including the largest data set of IDI studies undertaken to date, 1812 participants versus 1159 in the last IDI study abroad impact study, the Georgetown Consortium Study in 2003-2005. My research involving these data sets focused specifically on the effectiveness of a special intervention curriculum for students engaged in learning abroad. I analyzed the level of intercultural competence development through pre and post testing vis-à-vis a variety of high impact college experiences, giving special quantitative and qualitative research attention to the impact of intercultural course work abroad. The pedagogical approach was designed by the researcher to reflect the current paradigm shift in learning abroad, relying on guided intervention to achieve explicit learning outcomes rather than leaving intercultural learning to chance. The findings from my various studies provide compelling positive answers to this research’s central question: “If the impact of internationalization of higher education is in part measured by the level of intercultural competence developed by its graduates, can a U.S. liberal arts college experience over four years develop intercultural competence via curricular and extracurricular learning on and off campus, and if it can to what extent?” 5 Conclusions from the findings from the various quantitative and qualitative studies reflected in this dissertation, strongly support my intervention pedagogy framework, referred to as the Framework for Reflective Intervention in Learning Abroad (FRILA), based on experiential learning theory, the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS theory) (Bennett, 1986), and culturally relevant pedagogy in learning abroad. The implications of this research for the field of international education are such that in order for real transformation to occur during learning abroad, it is imperative that universities give students access to a guided curriculum with emphasis on engagement and reflection.