Relationality as a response to challenges of participatory action research in indigenous contexts: reflections from the field

ABSTRACT

Three researchers share their reflections on the challenges and goodness of fit of using participatory action research (PAR) in studies with indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada. Three central challenges of participatory methodologies are identified: (1) defining what constitutes participation; (2) the extended time required for a PAR study; and (3) researcher positionality. The authors discuss tensions inherent in the western academy when shifting final decision-making authority over research processes away from the academic institution to the indigenous community. A model situating the principles of PAR alongside perspectives and values congruent with the indigenous concept of relationality is presented as a means of mitigating these challenges. This approach aligns PAR principles within culturally-congruent definitions of relationship and encourages researchers to re-imagine participation as a form of relationship, allowing them to engage more deeply and genuinely with indigenous participants.     

Are sexual minority youth overrepresented in foster care,child welfare,and out-of-home placement? Findings from nationally representative data

BackgroundPreliminary evidence suggests that sexual minority (e.g. lesbian, gay, bisexual, and same-sex attracted) youth are overrepresented in child welfare services. Yet, no study to date has been able to test this hypothesis with national data.ObjectiveUsing a two-study design, we test whether sexual minority youth are overrepresented in child welfare, foster care, and out-of-home placement using nationally representative data from the United States.Participants and settingStudy 1 data are from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 14,154; Mean age = 15.4). Study 2 data are from wave three of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II (n = 1309; Mean age = 15.0).MethodsFor Study 1, we use adjusted logistic regression models to test differences in lifetime foster care involvement between sexual minority and heterosexual youth. In Study 2, we calculate a Disproportionality Representation Index (DRI) – a ratio of sample prevalence relative to the general population – to estimate whether sexual minority youth were overrepresented in child welfare and out-of-home care.ResultsStudy 1 results indicate that sexual minority youth are nearly 2.5 times as likely as heterosexual youth to experience foster care placement (aOR = 2.43, 95% CI 1.40, 4.21, p = .002). Results from Study 2 show that sexual minority youth were largely overrepresented in child welfare services (DRI = 1.95–2.48) and out-of-home placement (DRI = 3.69–4.68).ConclusionsFindings are the first to demonstrate sexual minority youth’s overrepresentation in child welfare, foster care, and out-of-home placement using nationally representative data and emphasizes the need for focused research on sexual minority youth involved in the child welfare system.     

A Story of Survival

Abstract

This article looks at the background and roots of the Welsh language and how it is being kept in existence and its usage increased. Broadcasting has its effect on the language, and the language has stimulated trade, writing and research. Television is seen as a supporter, rather than an enemy, of the minority languages.     

‘A Lot Of Nonsense’ ‐ The Story of a Storm in a Teacup

This is the story of a tempest in a tertiary institution. The first section is concerned with the detail of a proposed change to the arrangements for tea and coffee services — it could be called the boring part, but as an administrator I prefer to term it the essential background information. Following this, there are some comments of a meteorological nature on the circumstances of the disturbance; and finally there is an attempt to look at what might be concluded from it.     

Top-down education policy on the inclusion of ethnic minority population in China: A perspective of policy analysis

Abstract

This study examines the educational policy related to the inclusion of ethnic minority population in the contemporary China. It has undergone three stages of the educational policy transformation, including the beginning, development and perfection stages. It is characterized by the steadiness, caution, rapidity, quality improvement, standardization and quality. Through implementing the educational policy of the inclusion of ethnic minority population, it has made retrogress and achievements, which has played a positive role in national integration, maintaining national unity and regional stability, improving the academic level and cross-cultural ability of minority students, and sharing educational resources. However, in current China’s education context, the implementation of education policy is faced with some prominent problems, such as the marginalized educational identity, non-communicative education, relative separation of systems and serious cultural barriers, relative emphasis on explicit education. Therefore, it suggested to construct a new integrative and open ethnic education system, strengthen the consciousness of the united integrated education, and enhancing the bi-directionality of ethnic integration.     

Mentoring in academe: Models for facilitating academic development

Mentoring academics is an integral step in aiding their professional development. This commitment to mentoring is discussed by three criminal justice professors, each in a distinct phase of his career. Three distinct mentoring models are discussed: (1) continuing a mentoring relationship with a dissertation advisor or other mentor from graduate school, (2) developing a new mentoring relationship at an academic institution where one receives a position, and (3) developing a new mentoring relationship with an academic in the same field, but at a totally separate institution. The authors describe their advancement in the field of criminal justice as it relates to the existence of a mentoring model, focusing on identifying the strengths of each model.     

NAPCE Newsletter

It is Jeremy Henzell-Thomas's conviction that the contemporary preoccupation with the so-called ‘clash of civilizations’ is as ill-founded as it is unhelpful. The assumption of an adversarial stance to which it leads is fuelled by, and affirms, a polarized thinking which does disservice to fundamental truths about unity and diversity. Drawing on theology and philosophy, he examines the etymology of key words –‘identity’, ‘authenticity’, ‘originality’, ‘fitra’ (nature) – to argue for the need to transcend difference in order to achieve (universal) identity. ‘We share a common identity as human beings, and, beyond that, a common origin within the source of Creation.’ If we are to honour the spiritual needs of young people and provide an education which is genuinely holistic, we need teachers who are prepared to listen to what young people are saying and to enter into a relationship with them that goes beyond the personal, the social and the moral.     

The Distinctiveness of AIT

Summary

To gain some insight into meeting the information needs of a tertiary institution, some understanding of the tertiary environment and the decision‐making processes is necessary. In a time of rapid social change, society is questioning the value of tertiary education and each institution needs to define goals in terms of what it is trying to accomplish and whom it is trying to serve. The decision structure is a changing combination of bureaucratic and communal relationships between various individuals and groups. There is now a trend towards a more free flow of information within the institution and to the external environment.

Management information systems and other tools of management science are designed to provide information to enable more rational decisions to be made. Much information can be extracted from the operations systems such as staff, students and fiscal. Computers can now be effectively used to store, retrieve and transform large amounts of data as well as to implement some programmed decisions based on information feedback (e.g. inventory control) or on rules (e.g. payroll). Analytical reports from the operations systems can provide a stimulus for decision‐making or information for decision‐making. Some examples are given.

At the policy and planning level, use can also be made of a number of management science tools. The uses of planning, programming and budget systems and modelling are discussed, including a simulation model developed at Macquarie University.

There are no ready recipes for development and use of management information systems and management science tools. However, it is clear that the involvement and support of senior officers is essential.     

The Effects of Busing and School Desegregation on Majority and Minority Student Dropout Rates

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of school desegregation by court-ordered busing on the subsequent dropout rate of majority and minority students. Using before and after busing measures of dropout rates, school records and personal interviews, this research finds majority dropout rates are not affected by desegregation procedures. While the dropout rates of bused minority students appear to be identical to those of non-bused minority students, large disparities between minority rates in various bused sectors indicate highly uneven educational experiences of bused minority students. School socio-economic composition and the expectations of teachers concerning student behavior are used to analyze the disparities, with the conclusion reached that the more favorable expectations of teachers at higher socio-economic climate schools produce lower minority student dropout rates. Desegregation produces a positive benefit for this most crucial dimension of minority student educational accomplishment, when the school to which the minority student is bused is one where teachers' expectations are positive and supportive.     

Community College Student Dropouts from Higher Education: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Model

ABSTRACT

Historically, higher education research has focused on traditional students (i.e., recent high school graduates at a residential, 4-year institutions), but community college students are quickly becoming the new traditional student (Jenkins, 2012). In the fall of 2011, more than one third (36%) of all students enrolled in postsecondary education and almost half (46.7%) of all students enrolled in a public postsecondary institution were enrolled at a community college (Knapp, Kelly-Reid, & Ginder, 2012). However, community colleges have struggled to match the persistence rates at other institutional types. The 2011 2-year public community college national 3-year persistence-to-degree rate was 26.9% (American College Testing [ACT], 2011). The purpose of this paper is to review the literature regarding the most prominent theoretical frameworks for community college student persistence and suggest a new theoretical construct. The resultant framework is termed the Collective Affiliation Model because it views the student’s sense of belonging with the college as only one of many senses of belonging in the student’s life (e.g., family, work). The Collective Affiliation Model does not view student dropout as the student’s inability to integrate into the life of the institution; rather, it views it as the institution’s inability to collectively affiliate with the student. This model’s strength is that it does not work from a student deficit model. Instead, it provides a new framework for researchers and practitioners to better understand and address student drop-out at community colleges.     

“I am more than just a coloured woman”–Narrating undergraduate experiences at a historically white South African university

Abstract

Transformation of South Africa's HWIs is evidenced by a diversification of their student and staff populations. The transition from exclusion to inclusion of black minority student populations and their cultures on to these university campuses has not been without challenge for those accessing these institutions. This article reports on a study that was conducted at Stellenbosch University about the experiences of five black women undergraduate students at this still predominantly white Afrikaans university. The findings show that despite legislated pressure and institutional policy initiatives to transform, these “Coloured” undergraduate students do not experience the university environment as inclusive. What emerged were a prevailing awareness of otherness and an acute awareness of their minority status. The small numbers of minority students, together with a lack of symbols or icons that reflect and acknowledge the presence of diverse cultures exacerbate the feeling of being in the minority or a ‘tolerated otherness”. They experience SU as a university typified by a culture and practices that cling to traditions that are not always sensitive to the impact of history or diversity. This type of organisational culture in which covert and overt resistance to transformation is the norm, hampers the political will to move from policy to practice, and entrench the experience of marginalization.     

Notes on Contributors

Abstract

This article reports on research analysing how primary initial teacher educators define and participate in research activities. A representative sample of teacher educators in one institution in the UK were interviewed in depth to identify individuals' perceptions of the place of research in their work. All the interviewees saw their most important role as teaching and supporting students. In all cases, research was seen as a low priority. Engagement in research was seen as moving away from the practical, school and student centred world of primary initial teacher education towards a more conventionally ‘academic’ world. The established researchers within the teacher education community were seen as a privileged elite.

Two clusters of factors which influence these perceptions are defined as: firstly, the effects of the changing nature of the institution and internal structures it has generated in response to national changes; and secondly, the ways in which the interviewees define their work its conditions and its underlying values. These factors and the tensions they cause are explored in relation to the pressures placed on the teacher education communities by the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise and the development of increased partnerships with schools.     

Agricultural Distance Education in China

Abstract

The writer reports on a project involving the major agricultural distance education institution in China. The Central Agricultural Broadcasting School (CABS) is a relatively new institution organized to address rural development needs as a foundation to the modernization of the country. The project, supported by an international agency, was constructed to assist CABS in strengthening its audio‐visual design and production capabilities. The writer describes the design, activities and outcome of the project, and cites the lessons learned from it. He maintains that the main reason for the positive results of the project stemmed from careful assessment of the needs of the recipient and from flexibility in adapting to different conditions arising from unforeseen circumstances often occurring in international projects.     

The Recruitment of New Teachers from Minority Ethnic Groups

This article reports on part of a larger, ongoing two-year investigation supported by the Teacher Training Agency into the recruitment of new teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds via Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England. The authors focus here on interviews with admissions tutors, course directors and other senior staff at teacher training institutions. The interviews revealed differences between institutions in the measures taken to attract minority ethnic students. The research indicates a need for much clearer guidelines for admissions tutors on the issues surrounding the question of 'positive action' on the recruitment of new teachers from minority ethnic groups.     

The worldly space: the digital university in network time

Abstract

This article considers the effect of information technology upon teaching, learning and research in the ‘digital university’. In less than a generation the university has become a business like any other. It does so in the determining context of neoliberal globalisation and the computer revolution. The university develops through what we may now see as a disastrous ‘category error’. The article argues that humans are analogue creatures who have constructed analogue worlds that they recognise in large measure, in nature. Digital logic is nowhere recognised in nature, and is ultimately alien to us. The university is the key institution for enabling us to understand who and what we are, yet it is being undermined through the suffusion of the market logic and the digital technologies that drive it from a past we look to less, to a present we dwell in more, and a future we are less able to shape.     

Reflections on Equipping Candidates to Teach Literacy in Culturally Diverse Schools

Abstract

This essay reflects on ways to equip teacher candidates so they are not only prepared to answer tough questions, but are educated for the linguistic and literacy challenges of today’s classrooms. We recognize that with an ever-growing majority minority population, it is time to change the teacher preparation system, and to support current teachers and the preparation of future teachers for the field; these changes need to be soon and are imperative.     

State Broadcasting and Minority Languages: the Case of Irish in Ireland

Abstract

The scale and content of minority language programmes in State broadcasting services reflect (a) technical/operational, (b) language planning and (c) ideological considerations. These three elements form the environment within which broadcasting policy is formulated and within which, over time, it changes. Irish language broadcasting in Ireland is discussed from this viewpoint.     

Whither the Enterprise Culture: An Examination of Young People's Job Values

Abstract

The proceeding decade has seen much official effort expended on encouraging the growth of an ‘enterprise culture’. The present report considers the extent to which enterprise has come to be valued by young people today. Data on work values from the ESRC's 16‐19 Initiative indicate that enterprise values are largely rejected in favour of the traditional attractions of good pay and prospects. The entrepreneurial minority tend to be more committed than others to a meritocratic society, but holding entrepreneurial values is unconnected with political affiliation. Attempts to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit appears to have failed to influence young people's notions of work.     

The Undergraduate Teaching Evaluation System in China: Progress,Problems and Suggestions

Abstract

To improve the quality of its colleges and universities, China has carried out five rounds of government-led evaluation of undergraduate teaching since the 1990s, and has gradually developed a “five-in-one” evaluation system. The evaluation system in China not only draws lessons from the systems of other countries, but also has its own characteristics. Nevertheless, problems persist in terms of the diversity of evaluation subjects, predominance of government management, lack of system standardization, somewhat arbitrary implementation, poor feedback channels for evaluation findings, and difficulty realizing the improvement function. In the future, China must increase the enthusiasm of colleges and universities by enhancing their role as evaluation subjects, while also strengthening evaluation laws, improving evaluation feedback channels, and genuinely allowing evaluation to play its critical role in improving education quality.