Contains stories, puzzles and simple Spanish phrases to learn.

This Winter 2009 (VII, 1) issue of Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self- Knowledge, entitled “Teaching Transformations 2009” and dedicated to the chronicling of representative experiences of teaching transformation in the New England area and elsewhere, brings together selected proceedings of the annual conferences of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching (CIT) and the New England Center for Inclusive Teaching (NECIT) recently held at UMass Boston. The first seven studies in the issue were gathered through the conference activities of NECIT. The second series of articles emerged from the conversations and presentations at the annual CIT conference at UMass Boston. The contributions have a common interest in advancing teaching and learning practices that transform the self and the world in favor of more just, inclusive, and participatory outcomes. The editors believe that the most central and distinguishing defining features of NECIT and CIT, i.e., the three-fold concerns with promoting pedagogical reflexivity, student learning empathy, and faculty agency, are well advocated for and respresented in the papers shared in this volume. Contributors include: Jay R. Dee (also as journal issue guest editor), Vivian Zamel (also as journal issue guest editor), Cheryl J. Daly, Maria Natalicia Rocha-Tracy, Darlene Ferguson-Russell, John Fobanjong, Patricia White, LeeAnn Griggs, Sally Barney, Janet Brown-Sederberg, Elizabeth Collins, Susan Keith, Lisa Iannacci, Kimberly Smirles, Ann Wetherilt, Melanie Murphy, Elijah Patterson, Janet D. Johnson, Elizabeth H. Rowell, Mary Ball Howkins, Duane Wright, Wayne-Daniel Berard, Alexandria Hallam, Anne Geiwitz, Matthew R. Kerzner, Angelika Festa, and Mohammad Tamdgidi (also as journal editor-in-chief). Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge is a publication of OKCIR: The Omar Khayyam Center for Integrative Research in Utopia, Mysticism, and Science (Utopystics). For more information about OKCIR and other issues in its journal’s Edited Collection as well as Monograph and Translation series visit OKCIR’s homepage.

Join Dora as she shares with her friends three of her favourite fairytales.

Dora and her friends retrieve their costume chest from the Pirate Piggies.

This Dora the Explorer lift-the-flap story is perfect for back-to-school! Boots and Tico are super excited because it's their first day of school. At school, Boots gets to learn Spanish and Tico gets to learn English. Readers will love exploring their first day of school in this fun and interactive format!

A discussion of pop culture messages about masculinity, their impact on boys, and the benefits of introducing more gender balance to boys lives. When most people think about gender stereotypes and children, they envision princesses, dolls, and pink clothing. Few consider the warriors, muscle-bound action figures, and T-shirts covered in graffiti and skulls that are assumed to signify masculinity. The pop culture environment that surrounds boys introduces them to a world where traditionally masculine traitslike toughness, aggression, and stoicismare highly esteemed and where female influence is all but absent. The Achilles Effect explores gender bias in the entertainment aimed at primary school boys, focusing on the dominant themes in childrens TV shows, toy advertising, movies, and books: gender stereotypes of both sexes, male dominance, negative portrayals of fathers, breaking of the mother/son bond, and the devaluing of femininity. It examines the gender messages sent by pop culture, provides strategies for countering these messages, and encourages discussion of a vitally important issue that is rarely talked aboutboys and their often skewed understanding of gender. The Achilles Effect is a guide for parents, educators, and students who want to learn more about male and female stereotypes, their continued strong presence in kids pop culture, and their effect on young boys.