Using Photovoice as a Tool to Engage Social Work Students in Social Justice

In order to ensure that social workers graduating from social work programs embrace social justice's central role in their professional careers, educators must find creative, theoretically grounded, practice-relevant ways of conveying this value and socializing social work students. This article describes the use of Photovoice as one tool for helping convey that value and describes its theoretical underpinning and use in a social work course. Originally developed as a participatory action research approach largely in public health, Photovoice can also serve as a powerful social work tool that facilitates the development of critical consciousness among community members who photograph and discuss elements of their lives and community. The author describes using this strategy with social work students, asking them as community members themselves to engage in the process of documenting, discussing, and transforming their analysis into an advocacy plan using the photographs. Through this process, the students learn about the power of collaborative creativity and strategic messaging. In the process of demonstrating the importance of relationship and the power of “problem-posing” the professor, as facilitator, role-models while teaching and engendering increasing critical consciousness among class participants.     

促进学生体验的教学策略

体验,作为一种活动,即主体亲历某件事并获得相应的认识和情感。亲历包括亲身经历和心理上的经历(如移情、回顾与反思)。体验,作为活动的结果,即主体从其亲历中获得的认识和情感。体验的特征主要表现为:主体性、意义性、非规定性。体验的生成过程是一种复杂的心理活动,同时受到外在环境的制约。体验的对象不只是情感,还可以是学习过程中与人合作的经验、方法以及策略运用之得失、人与人之间的交往等。促进学生体验的教学策略具体是:发展学生的主体性、注重教学的情境性、关注教学关系的建构、实施质性评价、提高教师自身的语言能力、注重理性思维的引导。     

Efficient Social Justice: How Critical Race Theory Research can Inform Social Movement Strategy Development

Critical Race Theory (CRT) scholars in Education, like activists, are intent on dismantling racism in education (and society at large), and often do so by engaging the problem of racial injustice through social science research. CRT research creates a wealth of awareness about how racism functions, and as a result, inspires social agency to create a more just society. This conceptual piece explores how CRT research, when joined with the efforts of activists, is even more potent with capacity to realize social justice. In the paper, the tenets of CRT in Education are outlined, and serve as the foundation of a model that reveal how each tenet can shape research designs, that inform decision making in social movement strategy development. The model is inspired by the author’s personal experiences with combining CRT research with social movement strategy development, and is intended to serve as an impetus for increased dialogue about how CRT social science research, particularly in Education, can support activists’ goals to dismantle racism.     

Mentoring Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Mathematics Research Students: Junior Faculty Experiences

Abstract

To be successful, junior faculty must properly manage their time in the face of expanding responsibilities. One such responsibility is supervising undergraduate research projects. Student research projects (either single or multi-student) can be undertaken as a full-time summer experience, or as a part-time academic year commitment. With many potential undergraduate research formats, and with different types of students, junior faculty may find challenges in forming their research group, establishing a structure that promotes student productivity, picking an appropriate project, or in effectively mentoring their students. This article draws from the authors’ experiences to help junior faculty navigate these complexities so that all parties reap the benefits of undergraduate research in interdisciplinary mathematical disciplines.     

Pathways to Undergraduate Research Experiences: a Multi-Institutional Study

The positive impact of undergraduate research experiences on students’ post-secondary success is well-documented. However, these conclusions are drawn from undergraduate students who already participate; very little research has explored the pathways by which students enter these experiences. Using data from a multi-institutional survey, we examined students’ reasons for participating and differences across institutions and demographic groups. Overall, students cited social and experiential reasons as key motivators for participation and a perceived lack of research readiness as a key barrier. Differences were also found across academic year. Implications from this study address issues of access, preparation, and institutional policies around undergraduate research.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Perspectivesand Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research: Part II

Abstract

This issue is the second of a special PRIMUS two-part issue collecting articles on undergraduate research from experienced faculty mentors. We offer it as a valuable resource for faculty leading undergraduate research programs. This issue presents a collection of papers offering advice on a variety of specific topics important for leaders of undergraduate research programs. Issues of finding and designing appropriate and accessible research projects, assessing undergraduate research, and publicizing it in the media are addressed.     

Critical Conversations on Social Justice in Undergraduate Mathematics

Abstract

This article explores how critical conversations engage undergraduate mathematics faculty in a community of practice that enhances their knowledge about teaching and learning mathematics for social justice. More broadly, critical conversations are defined as a cooperative learning strategy that can be used to identify, explore, and respond to various interests and issues situated across differing values and beliefs. We present a case study of a critical conversation that took place at a 2016 Mathematics for Social Justice workshop organized by a group of junior faculty. Participant reflections situate perspectives that can help novice and experienced instructors design conversations about teaching mathematics for social justice. Specifically, individual and group reflections highlight the importance of: (i) framing and reflecting on the conversation; (ii) exploring implications and content connections; and (iii) identifying barriers. Implications for faculty members and mathematics departments are provided.     

Affirming Cultures,Communities and Experiences: Teaching for Social Justice in Teacher Education Literacy Courses

In this article we share several activities we use in our teacher education literacy courses that incorporate a social justice lens. For each activity we suggest resources, offer examples we have created and used in our teaching, and share research to support each activity. The activities build on each other, with the intent of increasing preservice teacher knowledge of how to teach for social justice by moving beyond awareness and understanding lived experiences of students to affirming cultures and experiences of all students, creating inclusive and equitable classrooms. By experiencing teaching from this stance in our courses, we hope that our preservice teachers take up and teach from a social justice stance in their future classrooms.     

Don't speak to me in English: Communication apprehension in Puerto Rico

Comparison of communication apprehension levels of Puerto Rican college students with U.S. mainland students indicate the Puerto Ricans are much less apprehensive about communication in their native language than are the U.S. students but are much more apprehensive about communication in English. Additional findings indicate that apprehension in a first language is a much better predictor of apprehension in a second language than is self‐perceived competence in that second language. It is suggested that the problem of communication apprehension must be addressed by second language teachers if students are to be taught to be truly bilingual.     

Utilizing Research on Prospective Teachers' Beliefs to Inform Urban Field Experiences

Beliefs about teaching students from cultures and contexts different from their own strongly influence what prospective teachers are willing and able to learn about urban teaching. The objectives of the study were to (1) describe and analyze the beliefs our prospective teachers had about becoming professional teachers in an urban context; (2) analyze how the field experiences in an introductory education course supported or inhibited prospective teachers' examination of those beliefs; and (3) provide implications for designing meaningful field experiences. The results provided insight into three dilemmas that should be considered when designing field experiences.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Perspectives and Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research: Part I

Abstract

This issue is the first of a special PRIMUS two-part issue collecting articles from experienced faculty mentors. We offer it as a valuable resource for faculty leading undergraduate research programs. It is inspired by the “Regional Faculty Workshop on REU Issues” in 2013 and the Joint Mathematics Meeting 2015 Mathematical Association of America’s “Themed Session on Perspectives and Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research.” This issue consists of seven papers focusing on the larger issues involved in creating, running, and sustaining an undergraduate research program in mathematics.     

Using Movies to Illustrate Ethical Dilemmas in Undergraduate Criminal Justice Classes

Ethics education in criminal justice programs has increased in popularity, but instructors sometimes struggle to teach ethics in such a way that students retain what they have learned and apply ethical principles in the criminal justice field upon graduation. The current research highlights that there are several benefits of presenting ethical dilemmas to students through popular movies such as Mississippi Burning and Road to Perdition. Compared to the control group (Section A) that was taught in a traditional lecture format, students who were required to identify ethical dilemmas in movies (Section B) were more likely to understand the complexities of such situations, to rate unethical behavior properly, and to see how ethical principles could be applied to their everyday lives.     

University Mental Health Professionals in Puerto Rico: Suicide Experiences,Attitudes, Practices,and Intervention Skills

This study explored suicide knowledge, experiences, attitudes, practices, and intervention skills of mental health professionals (n?=?52) working in counseling centers of Puerto Rican public and private universities. Intervention skills were examined using a Spanish version of the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory (SIRI-2; Neimeyer & Bonelle, 1997 Neimeyer, R. A. and Bonnelle, K. 1997. The Suicide Intervention Response Inventory: A revision and validation. Death Studies, 21: 59–81. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Results suggest inadequate screening practices, difficulty in exploring and assessing suicidal ideation/conduct and intent, and a lack of knowledge of risk factors. Results point to the need for further training in suicide screening and risk assessment as an early intervention strategy for prevention. Implications for future studies and practice are discussed.     

The Teaching of English in Puerto Rico: One Hundred Years of Degrees of Bilingualism

The bilingual policies of the University of Puerto Rico are described in the context of bilingualism in Puerto Rico as a whole, given that the second language, English, was a relatively recent imposition coming after several centuries of thorough Hispanization. Although Puerto Rico is profoundly Hispanic in terms of both language and culture, its people understand the need to be proficient in English. Thus the University of Puerto Rico is taking many steps to make sure that its students become proficient in both Spanish and English. A number of programmes are described, and the results in terms of improved knowledge of English, in particular, are detailed.     

Undergraduate Research Experiences in Parallel Processing

This paper describes a research project that was designed to provide a group of bright undergraduate students with a meaningful research experience that would encourage and motivate them to attend graduate school for further education and research. The project illustrated basic research techniques and the nature of the job of a researcher to undergraduates who had had limited or no opportunities for research. The students were involved in all phases of the project to ensure that they would gain the confidence needed to do research on their own. In this project the students were given an opportunity to do research that involved parallel processing.     

An Applied Project-Driven Approach to Undergraduate Research Experiences

Abstract

In this paper I will outline the process I have developed for conducting applied mathematics research with undergraduates and give some examples of the projects we have worked on. Several of these projects have led to refereed publications that could be used to illustrate topics taught in the undergraduate curriculum.     

Sexual Justice Is Social Justice: An Activity to Expand Social Work Students Understanding of Sexual Rights and Injustices

Social work education could benefit from an explicit educational framework that combines social justice and sexuality: sexual justice. However, there is a paucity of literature in social work discussing this critical issue. This article helps equip social workers to challenge social injustice through a lens of sexuality and builds a conceptual framework by examining sexual justice through pillars of social work: human dignity, community and solidarity, rights and responsibilities, priority for the poor and vulnerable, and peace. An activity providing micro and macro case discussions is presented to help infuse sexual justice into social work programs.     

Using Supervision to Prepare Social Justice Counseling Advocates

Over the past several years, there has been an increased focus on integrating not only multiculturalism in the counseling profession, but also advocacy and social justice. Although the professional literature addresses the importance of cultural competence in supervision, there is a paucity of information about social justice advocacy in relation to the process of counseling supervision. In this article, the authors share a rationale for integrating a social justice advocacy orientation in supervision, discuss the connection between diversity and social justice advocacy counseling competence, address challenges faced by supervisors, and suggest specific strategies for use in supervision to prepare counselors to be social justice counseling advocates.     

Visualizing Social Justice: Using Controversial Images in Social Studies Classrooms

In this article, we promote the use of controversial images to enhance the discussion of social justice issues in schools. Controversial images provide rich opportunities for students to question what is occurring currently in society as well as what has occurred in the past. We provide an example set of activities to be used in teacher education that can help future teachers explore engaging methods for teaching with controversial images, discuss tensions involved with the use of controversial images, and to develop connections between using controversial images and teaching for social justice.     

Using GIS to Apply Learning across the Undergraduate Criminal Justice Curriculum

Geographical information systems (GIS) utilization has exploded in criminal justice over the last decade, but there is scant mention of pedagogical models published in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, with a content analysis revealing just one GIS-based article published since 2001. This work proposes a GIS-based pedagogical model to move the discussion beyond crime mapping to applying, integrating, and enhancing learning across the criminal justice curriculum. Four pertinent data sources from New York City are integrated to provide an example framework for studying NYPD stop and frisk policy in upper level undergraduate-level criminal justice courses. Using ArcGIS specifically, the model incorporates sociology, criminological theory, corrections, diversity/multiculturalism, research methods, statistics, policing, and policy knowledge to coalesce prior student learning, while enhancing spatial thinking and analytical skills relative to an important social policy. Example maps, assignments, and approaches are included, as are the limitations of such a pedagogical model.