Dear hatice zeynep inan,
A warm hello from a chilly Japan. Just a short note to say how much I enjoyed your account. The text read beautifully, it was engaging and full of passion, I felt as though I was along side you, it would be nice to be a child for longer than a day..smile. I would like to see just a little further explanation of your understanding and use of inclusionality but once again thank you for a great insight and read.

my deepest respects
Je Kan

Dr Je Kan Adler-Collins Ph.D MA PGCE REMT RN

Associate Professor of Nursing

Health Promotion Centre

Fukuoka Prefectural University

Ita 4395

Tagawa City

Fukuoka prefecture

Japan

8258585

tel:(Direct) +81 947 42 1367

fax: +81 947 42 6171

http: www.living-action-research.org

msn: jekan500@msn.com

In the pursuit of learning every day some thing is acquired.

In the pursuit of the Tao, every day some thing is dropped.

Lao Tsu.Tao Te Ching: 48

This review is from Jerry Allender - one of the formal reviewers of the paper:

After reading this paper by Hatice Zeynep Inan, there is only one answer to the question posed in the title: delightfully yes! This is well-written paper that needs no changes. The writing is careful, crafted, to the point, and communicates easily. There is a problem defined, a method presented, data collected, an analysis, interpretations, and there are conclusions. Bravo!

That said, I have more specific comments. The data actually are more than what are identified. The photographs, the story itself, and the writing about this grand experience qualify as the data that bring the truth of the study to the reader. Looking at these photos is incontrovertible evidence of the success of the project.

Behind the project is not only a living theory, but theory alive. It makes me think about teaching ethics to junior high students that I am doing right now. My teaching and my research are intertwined as they are for Inan. I am thinking to call this living teaching as well as living theory, because the work and experience are moving through time and space essentially without rehearsal. These experiences, Inan's experiences, are those of creative teaching and learning for all in each moment. The paper affirms my thinking.

Embodied in the paper is the understanding that teachers need to engage in the learning they expect of their students. This is one excellent example, and there are so many students, so many teachers, and so many teacher educators involved in practical success. This is what makes the research truly significant, not the numbers.

Many years ago, Donna and I lived with a family in Japan in a small town between Kyoto and Nara with our young children. We were all invited to an outdoor games day at a school across the street. Seeing the pictures that illustrate this paper bring it all back. And with what it brings, I am acutely reminded how universal this kind of creative experiencing together, younger and older can be. Yet, the particular wonder it also apparent: this research takes place in Turkey, where something is happening that is more unusual than in some more Western countries--in the US for sure where I live.

I have to thank you Jack for giving me the opportunity to review Inan's paper. I am enriched. Please convey my review to the author something of our long friendship and a hint of how often I ask papers to be radically changed before they are ready for publication. I do not write this letter lightly nor uncritically.

Dear Hatice - here is the review from Dean Tian Fengjun - he asked me to post it for you:

Review for Hatice Zeynep Inan’s “Teacher candidates’ experiences in the society-service course: examining the project ‘do you want to be a child for one-day?’” by TIAN Fengjun

Hatice Zeynep Inan’s paper, “Teacher candidates’ experiences in the society-service course: examining the project ‘do you want to be a child for one-day?’”, is mainly talking about educational practice on creativity and creative thinking for teacher candidates at one Turkey university through a course named “Society-Service Course” and by which students can create a project for contributing to society some way. The paper consists of four parts which mainly discussing about Living the Living Theory at the University, Creativity and ECE Teacher Candidates, Improving the Society-Service Course and, YC Project :Do You Want to Be a Child for One Day? In part One (listed as a) in the paper), the author, precisely yet clearly, explains well of the Living Theory and how the theory can be understood well by university teachers and students; In Part Two, it gives a good account for culture awareness for teachers and students to live Living Theory by educating their creativity and creative skills; In Part Three, the author makes a clear observation about the implementation of the project, which is designed to improve the quality and change the form of the course, and which is very well to meet the objectives of the course; The last part presents the results and values of the project, this is proved by some statistic data and comments.

As a course itself, it is quite valuable and very beneficial for university students, for they can enrich themselves by getting knowledge to practice creativity and creative thinking, and to make their minds about how they can do social service well, and in result to make good improvement for people’s lives as well. What’s more important about the project is to make students, or teacher candidates as the author preferred, know well of the significance of the course and can put their course knowledge into practice.

The Project, designed from the basis of the course, makes a good response for its legitimation and practicality. Activities are in rehearsal, teacher candidates and preschoolers are put together for free practice. Students and preschoolers’ creativity and creative thinking are promoted (see pictures, video tips and other data as proof).

Living Theory is being put into practice by a form of the project activities. Course learners, project designers and practitioners are experimenting or living how well they are enjoying the chance of being a child, and how wonderful of imagining the child life, how productive it is to help preschoolers doing their own interest, how valuable it is to share ideas among themselves indoors and outdoors with other community.
Suggestions: It’s good enough if the author could get more exact data from teacher candidates and preschoolers about their particular experiences of doing practices by the project, or with more pictures and words from them, otherwise, it feels lack of the value of the reform of the course and the project. Anyhow, I appreciated much of the paper by Hatice Zeynep Inan.