Statistics Anxiety Among Female African American Graduate-Level Social Work Students

ABSTRACT

Studies have found that statistics anxiety among female and minority graduate students is higher than that of their Caucasian counterparts. Both gender and culturally sensitive approaches to teaching statistics need to be developed to reduce student anxiety, especially in graduate programs that are dominated by women and minorities. The current study presents data on pre- and post-course statistics among female African American MSW students enrolled in a gender and culturally sensitive statistics course. A series of t-tests revealed that students had significantly lower levels of anxiety about statistics after the course. Implications for integrating gender and culturally sensitive approaches into the curriculum are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.     

Empowering Culturally Diverse Families of Young Children with Disabilities: The Double ABCX Model

Many culturally diverse families and their young children with disabilities or delays are not provided appropriate early intervention/early childhood special education services, especially not in a culturally sensitive and meaningful context. Families with diverse backgrounds often feel helpless and stressful because their values are not respected, concerns are not identified, and therefore their needs are not met due to the lack of support from appropriate resources. The purpose of this article is to provide a positive strategy to empower families of young children with special needs and who are from culturally diverse backgrounds through a family-centered, strength-focused family system model: Double ABCX model. Procedures of implementing the double ABCX model was described and discussed. Supported by previous research and the current case studies, the double ABCX family adaptation model has found to be an effective approach to serving diverse families of children with disabilities.     

“The music is why I teach”: Intuitive strategies of successful teachers in culturally diverse learning environments

This study explored the classroom learning environments and instructional strategies of four teachers in culturally diverse classrooms. All teachers were deemed successful by their school colleagues, including administrators and instructional specialists, at meeting the needs of their culturally diverse students. The teachers in the study, who were teaching in four different regions of the U.S.A. and who represented different grade levels, taught in schools that contained richly diverse student populations. Using the constant comparative method of data analysis, I conducted a cross-case analysis of the teachers' learning environments. A primary focus of the research was the relationship between teachers' biographies and culturally sensitive classroom instruction. Three themes about culturally sensitive teaching emerged during data analysis: reshaping traditional school curriculum, rethinking the role of the teacher, and acquiring and using cultural sensitivity. Implications for preparing teachers for culturally diverse learning environments are discussed.     

Evaluating the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS): Assessing differences between the first and revised edition

Before 1998, most large-scale studies of center-based child care programs measured quality using the 1980 version of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). To know whether data from studies conducted after 1998 using the revised ECERS-R can be fairly compared to data from studies using the 1980 ECERS, simultaneous assessments using both measures in a sample of 68 classrooms were conducted. The results suggest that the original ECERS and ECERS-R can be viewed, as their authors intended, as comparable measures of quality. Scores were highly correlated and similarly distributed. Principal components analysis resulted in two factors for both measures. Both measures fall short in addressing staff stability and key components of culturally sensitive practice, such as communicating with families in their home language.     

Cultural learning environment of upper secondary science students

The aims of this research were to validate the Cultural Learning Environment Questionnaire in the Brunei context and to evaluate culturally sensitive factors (gender equity, collaboration, deference, competition, teacher authority, modelling and congruence) of upper secondary students’ learning environment. The subjects of this study were 831 upper secondary science students from coeducational schools in Brunei. The data were collected by administering the Cultural Learning Environment Instrument developed by Fisher and Waldrip. Factor analysis and reliability results showed that the instrument was suitable for evaluating the six culturally sensitive factors associated with the cultural learning environment of Bruneian upper secondary students. The results also suggested that students believed both genders were treated equally in their classes. The students viewed that they were to some extent dependent learners; however, they were willing to give their independent views in their classes. The data also suggest that students perceived that they were equally cooperative and competitive. The culturally sensitive factors of the students’ cultural learning environment were not influenced by their gender, but regional variations in values for some of these factors were observed. Further research has been recommended to investigate how the students were equally cooperative and competitive, as well as what factors contributed to the regional differences.     

Design and development of a cross-cultural disposition inventory

Advances in technology have increased the likelihood that engineers will have to work in a global, culturally diverse setting. Many schools of engineering are currently revising their curricula to help students to develop cultural competence. However, our ability to measure cultural dispositions can be a challenge. The purpose of this project was to develop and test an instrument that measures the various aspects of cultural disposition. The results of the validation process verified that the hypothesised model adequately represented the data. The refined instrument produced a four-factor model for the overall construct. The validation process for the instrument verified the existence of specific subcomponents that form the overall cultural disposition construct. There also seems to be a hierarchical relationship within the subcomponents of cultural disposition. Additional research is needed to explore which aspects of cultural disposition affect an individual's ability to work effectively in a culturally diverse engineering team.     

Classroom‐Based Curriculum Development,Artificial Intelligence and History Teaching

The adoption of educational policy measures to close the achievement gap, as well as the significant amount of scholarship dedicated to the subject, are just some of the indicators that reflect the tremendous concern in education about the academic performance of students of colour. Within research aimed at promoting equitable practices in education, culturally relevant teaching has emerged as a good teaching strategy to improve achievement. Using genealogical methods to examine the ways in which culture has become relevant to classroom practice, the author argues that that the perceived difference from white students that made it possible to conceive of children of colour as culturally deficit in the 1960s is also invoked in more recent literature that promotes attending to culture as an equity strategy. The take-up of culturally relevant teaching as something that a teacher can ‘do’, instead of a critical stance that a teacher takes, is also examined and critiqued.     

文化回应性教学国际研究现状与趋势——基于WOS数据库的文献计量分析

在文化日益多元的今天,文化回应性教学备受关注。应用计量可视化软件HistCite 分析Web of Science检索平台SSCI数据库收录的文化回应性教学研究文献,绘制了文献引证关系图谱,对相关研究进行分析。研究发现:文化回应性教学研究自2006年后总体呈稳步上升趋势,美国是该领域学术研究最具代表性的国家;研究聚焦于文化回应性教学的内涵理解与课堂实践,文化回应性教学与教师教育;研究内容不断细化、深化与多元化。加强文化回应性教学的理论基础研究,重视本土建构与国际视野的互动研究,增强基于证据的文化回应性教学实施效果研究,推进教师文化回应性教学能力培养的追踪研究是未来的趋势。     

Teaching compassionate research in a global classroom

This essay challenges conventional understandings of how research methods courses are taught in the social sciences and the humanities. Currently, students in American Universities are trained in techniques on how to conduct and disseminate research. While these skills are essential, we argue that, as educators, we need to teach students to recognize that the research process does not simply entail method, logic and reason. It begins with the self and with the assumption that emotions have a place in higher education. By using what we call Compassionate Research as a model, we contend that our humanity becomes the point of entry into the world of research. This pedagogical model relies on three interconnected principles, namely the abilities to question, self-question, and empathize. Its implementation in the classroom helps to foster culturally sensitive research and to promote self-awareness that translates into meaningful interactions with our communities.     

The New Faces of Head Start: Learning from Culturally Diverse Families

In all communities, rural and urban, the increase of culturally diverse families served requires that Head Start programs support family childrearing practices and build upon cultural strengths to enhance social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of the Head Start children. This study augments information, in both theory and practice, about Head Start programs which are based on culturally sensitive, child-centered, curriculum models and authentic parent involvement. The study revisits two family literacy projects that have both a participatory focus and include participants from marginalized groups. In these contexts, research findings reveal family childrearing practices which may be supported and built upon to enhance social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of children in Head Start programs. Practice based on the findings has shown Head Start programs can build rapport through an informal, non- threatening environment, in which staff help parents to feel welcomed and comfortable so that they share the important sociocultural meanings in their lives. This non-threatening environment which enhances multidirectional participatory learning is seen in family literacy groups working in partnership with Head Start.     

The need for culturally sensitive sexuality education in a pluralised Nigeria: But which kind?

A substantial number of studies have been conducted on sexuality education in Nigeria. These provide evidence of the positive impact of sexuality education on the psychosocial well-being of children and youth and the value of sexuality education for the sexual health of young people. Yet another research has investigated the views of parents on the school-based sexuality education of children and the different models and approaches employed. All of these studies implicitly reflect an issue that has not yet been sufficiently discussed. Nigeria is a uniquely pluralised country, with a multitude of cultures and sexual cultures. The implications of this diversity for policy and practice in sexuality education and for how sexuality education has (or has not) responded to this heterogeneity are rarely considered. This article addresses this gap by seeking to conceptualise how sexuality education might proactively address the cultural diversity of Nigeria. It begins by sketching out key features of this diversity in Nigeria and highlights the need for a culturally sensitive approach. Thereafter, there is a critical engagement with three possible approaches that sexuality education might take. Highlighting the weaknesses of monocultural, multicultural and transcultural approaches, this article argues for an open-cultural stance as the best means of fostering culturally sensitive sexuality education.     

Collaboration Between School Personnel in Special Education and Hispanic Families

Building collaborative relationships between school personnel in special education and Hispanic families is a challenge being faced by many professionals today. This article profiles the issues that are paramount in understanding the values and beliefs of the Hispanic family. A four-step collaboration action plan is proposed that includes (a).promoting a positive attitude toward school personnel, (b) assisting school personnel by providing training, (c) gathering information on the family, and (d) developing a culturally sensitive program based on need. School personnel who take the time to understand the unique values and beliefs of the Hispanic culture will more adequately provide culturally sensitive services to Hispanic families and their children with disabilities.     

Biculturalism 101: A Self-Study Exploring Culturally Responsive Practice

ABSTRACT

There has been strong advocacy for teacher educators to be culturally responsive in their teaching, but less attention has been focused on the process and journey of becoming more culturally responsive. In this self-study, two teacher educators enrolled in a year-long, foundation-level Māori language course to learn the indigenous language of their country. Putting themselves into roles as students in a bicultural context was a powerful way to learn about Māoritanga and culturally responsive pedagogy, which they then applied in their own teaching. Data were generated through regular reflective journal entries, with significant moments being identified, discussed, and shared with their critical friend. Discussion highlighted that interactions in a bicultural context generated a great deal more than rudimentary language skills. By incorporating aspects of their experiences into their teaching, Dawn and Alan were able to examine the rationale for their actions as an important commitment to modelling culturally appropriate pedagogy for their students. They acknowledge that their status will always be as “other” but they have respectfully navigated paths to ensure that they practice in ways that are sensitive and appropriate to their rich bicultural context.     

Teaching Science for Empowerment In an Urban Classroom: A Case Study of a Hmong Teacher

This is a case study of Lee, a Hmong teacher, who reflects on her own schooling experiences in order to develop a culturally sensitive pedagogy based on empowerment and funds of knowledge. The findings indicate that Lee teaches science effectively using culturally sensitive pedagogy—utilizing Hmong students' and parents' funds of knowledge in science teaching and learning. The findings further indicate that Lee negotiates challenges and tensions associated with her science instructions by partnering with parents and some teachers.     

Are you looking to teach? Cultural,temporal and dynamic insights into expert teacher gaze

We know that teachers' gaze patterns affect student learning, that experts and novices differ in their gaze during teaching and that gaze patterns differ by culture in non-educational settings. However, teacher gaze research is limited to Western cultural contexts and largely to laboratory settings. We explored expert and novice teacher gaze in real-world classrooms in two cultural contexts: Hong Kong and the UK. Forty teachers wore eye-tracking glasses during teacher-centred activities. We analysed ‘communicative gaze’ (gaze during talking) and ‘attentional gaze’ (gaze during questioning). We compared static (i.e., aggregated) and dynamic (i.e., structural) measures across expertise and cultures. Expert teachers looked longer at students and showed greater gaze efficiency than novices did, during attentional and communicative gaze. Expert teacher gaze was also more strategically consistent. In terms of cultural differences, UK teachers displayed greater attentional efficiency whereas Hong Kong teachers displayed greater efficiency in their communicative gaze. Our research underscores the value of going beyond conventional static analyses for culturally sensitive gaze research.     

Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching: A Research Synthesis

The purpose of this article is to synthesize empirical research conducted on culturally responsive mathematics teaching (CRMT) with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners. Thirty-five published studies between 1993 and 2018 met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Criteria included: (a) the study was published in a peer-reviewed journal, (b) the study was conducted within a K-12 U.S. public school context with practicing teachers, (c) culturally responsive teaching or culturally relevant pedagogy was part of the study’s theoretical framework, and (d) information about methods was reported. Findings reveal the value of CRMT in fostering equitable and inclusive mathematics learning environments. More research on CRMT with CLD students in school settings is warranted. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

     

A cultural embrace

Conclusion As culture is at the heart of meaning making, it warrants exacting attention in the systemic design process. As Gustafson & Powell (1991) point out, too often models are not tested for validity and reliability. It is for this reason that we emphasize that research must critically evaluate this expanded ADDIE model. As technology enables us to increase our interaction with the peoples of the world, we are enriched by the incessant shifts in our own cultural paradigms. Attention to this cultural dynamism and incessant interplay leads to both improved designs and improved designers. As instructional designers, we must be able to critically analyze our learner’s cultures and allow it to strengthen the instructional design process. In this way we address our ethical commitment to creating culturally sensitive products. His research interests include culture, identity development, and meaning making in technology rich environments. His research interests are in the areas of Educational Gerontology, Instructional Design, and the Digital Divide. His research interests include Systemic Change and the Digital Divide.     

Towards an ethic of cultural responsiveness in researching Māori and Tongan children’s learning in everyday settings

ABSTRACT

To inform a larger research programme on informal teaching and learning in everyday settings in Aotearoa New Zealand, two parallel pilot studies were conducted to determine an appropriate method for capturing the everyday learning of culturally and socio-economically diverse children. The studies took place during the six-week holiday break between school years. In one, three Māori children participated, in the other three Tongan children. This paper discusses the unanticipated issues that arose as a result of the ‘ethic of cultural responsiveness’ that the research team developed during the course of the research. These included: the insights made visible by culturally informed interpretation of unremarkable everyday activities; the effects on family dynamics of the research; and responsibilities to participants. It is argued that for Māori and Tongan children culture and family are central to everyday learning and therefore the research process and interpretation of data must be culturally informed.     

Veivosaki-yaga: a culturally appropriate Indigenous research method in Fiji

This article reports on the development of a new culturally sensitive approach to collecting group discussion data in the Pacific: veivosaki-yaga. The new approach was developed during a project on Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) in multicultural Fiji. One challenge was to gain understanding from villages of parental attitudes towards TVET. While focus groups proved to answer the purpose for Indian Fijian parents, they were deemed culturally inappropriate for Indigenous Fijian parents. As a ‘de-colonising’ Pacific methodology, veivosaki-yaga was judged to offer a culturally appropriate framework. Arising from strategic communication conventions in Indigenous Fijian culture, veivosaki-yaga means ‘worthwhile discussion’ – of serious topics. It differs from the now well-known Pacific methodology approach of talanoa, which is based on much more informal and free-flowing discussion. This paper does not engage the findings of the original project as such, but seeks to convey the value of a culturally appropriate methodological approach devised therein. It contributes to the currently evolving literature on Pacific methodologies in the field of qualitative educational research.