Spoken Soul: The Language of Black Imagination and Reality

Despite American schools administrators' refusal to accept the language of African-American students and their overzealousness to frame language and literacy skills in terms of an “achievement gap,” African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the language of African-American imagination and reality. This article discusses the characteristics of AAVE that make it a real language, as well as The Dozens—an original use of AAVE and one of many creative vehicles of expression used in the African-American community. The article also describes how African-American adult learners used AAVE in their composition class discussions and writings.     

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH REPORTED IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE : 1990-2000

This article reports the results of a review of research published in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice from 1990-2000 regarding the African-American experience in community colleges. The authors found three major themes related to articles published over the 10-year period: (a) environmental factors related to student success, (b) the need for faculty diversity, and (c) race and community college administration. The authors found that more research needs to be done to understand and improve the African-American experience in community colleges.     

Challenges to Apprenticeship Learning in Religious Education: Narrow Use of the Apprenticeship Model and Current Developments in Youth Ministry

In 2012, I proposed the apprenticeship model as a promising catechetical model for church communities in which catechists might be hope generators, and the church community becomes a community of hope. This article argues that the original meaning of the apprenticeship model is challenged by an emphasis in youth ministry practices on the individual relationship between youth ministers and youngsters and on finding individual forms of religious sense in life in favor of the ideal to acculturate a new generation in faith communities. The article discusses the implications for religious education practices that teach young people to learn to hope.     

Religious diversity,inter‐ethnic relations and the Catholic school: introducing the responsive approach to single faith schooling

The article offers a case study of the ways in which a Catholic primary school located in the centre of a large South‐Asian community in Leicester, UK, responded to the religious and ethnic diversity of its surroundings. The school, Our Saviour’s, engaged in shared activities with a neighbouring school which had a majority intake of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh children. Approaches to religious education at Our Saviour’s combined with weekly shared activities with the neighbouring school resulted in improved inter‐ethnic relations in the surrounding community, as children from both schools began socialising after school hours. This article draws on ethnographic research to give a case study of the ways in which Our Saviour’s employed a responsive approach to single faith schooling by engaging with religious and ethnic diversity as a means of promoting dialogue.     

THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATOR AS CULTURAL SPEC-ACTOR: RESEARCHING SELF IN INTERCULTURAL PEDAGOGY

This article seeks to explore notions regarding the conceptualization of culture in the field of Christian religious education. These conceptualizations are central to understanding the social nature of faith communities and the role of religious educators as they respond to this nature. The author proposes that the faith community is intercultural in that people with distinct cultural perspectives come together to forge a shared religious identity. Consequently, the vocation of the religious educator is presented as a call to be a specactor1, a practitioner who constantly assesses his/her own cultural orientations in relation to those of the learners. The article concludes the paper with some suggestions on how to develop a contrastive pedagogy that takes into account both the intercultural dynamics of the Christian educational experience and the vocation of the intercultural religious educator.     

Religious education in the experience of young people from mixed‐faith families

On the basis of a recent ethnographic study at the University of Warwick of the religious identity formation of young people in ‘mixed‐faith’ families, this article focuses on their (and their parents’) experiences and perceptions of religious education (RE) and of religious nurture in the community. The young people’s experience of RE differed between primary and secondary school and only a few were engaged in supplementary classes. We highlight the complementarity between school and home in young people’s religious learning and draw out implications for RE.     

Religious and spiritual markers in community involvement

This article reports on some of the research findings of a major, multi-site case study of character formation in young people in England. Religion was not the focus of this research, but emerged as significant in each case study. In particular, the religious and spiritual beliefs and practices of young people were positively connected with their level of community involvement. The research provides evidence that indicates an association between young religious believers and those who are constructively engaged in both their communities as well as being politically minded. The main methods of data collection for this article included semi-structured discussions/interviews together with semi-structured individual and questionnaire surveys.     

Christianity and rural community literacy practices in Uganda

In this article, we examine how Christianity provides the impetus for local literacy practices in a rural community in Uganda. These Christian literacy practices form a central part of the literacy activities of the community and are manifested in a variety of contexts from public to private, using a wide variety of readily available religious texts in the community. Through examination of Christian literacy practices, the authors suggest that ethnographic research has the potential to generate information that can be used to enhance literacy learning in rural community life.     

Called into crucible: Vocation and moral injury in U.S. public school teachers

This article reports some of the results of interviews with 120 Israeli Druze, 60 middle-aged adults and 60 young adults, regarding values, views of the Druze community, and personal identity. All participants expressed commitment to and love for traditional Druze values of familial respect, respect for others, modesty in dress and behavior, and commitment to Druze beliefs about one, all-powerful God and the reincarnation of Druze souls within the Druze community. Because the Druze religion is secret, open for study only to those Druze who live according to the letter of the religious law, most Druze today are not religious, defining themselves as traditional. Education in Druze values, mostly in the family, is the extent of their religious education. Most participants expressed a need for there to be some religious concessions made by the sheiks who set and enforce religious policy, in order that more people may pursue higher education and work outside the village and also study the inner secrets of their religion. Without this the Druze religion may be in danger. Connection is drawn between the Druze and other traditional religious societies.     

Healing after traumatic events: Aligning interventions with cultural background and religious and spiritual beliefs

Historically, disaster response efforts have focused primarily on basic physical survival and safety—addressing medical emergencies and ensuring adequate shelter and supplies of food and water. However, in addition to physical survival, relief efforts must also consider strategies to promote emotional healing and psychological well-being. In particular, those who intervene must consider the acceptability of intervention strategies, taking into account survivors' cultural background, religious customs, and spiritual beliefs. This article offers recommendations to better align school-based therapeutic interventions with children's religious and spiritual beliefs.     

Desert-Based Muslim Religious Education: Mahdara as a Model

As one of the oldest surviving educational religious models in the history of Muslim education, Mahdara remains a poorly studied desert-based religious institution of traditional learning. In its Bedouin context, the Mahdara produced religious scholars no less competent in the mastery of religious Islamic sciences than graduates of other reputable Islamic learning institutions. This article explores the historical development of the Mahdara, its academic program, social system, and contribution to the Mauritanian community while highlighting the major problems modernity poses to it in its struggle to preserve its sociohistorical position in society.     

A challenge to traditional theory: Critical race theory,African-American community organizers,and education

The following article, through the tenets of critical race theory, seeks to investigate the relationship between theory and practice in school–community relationships. By investigating the views, values, and perceptions of three African-American community organizers in Chicago, Illinois, the following account offers a “challenge” to traditional theoretical constructs in addressing the needs of students of color in urban schools. The work of community organizers in schools highlights the necessity of viable relationships between schools and communities in the execution of viable approaches to critically analyze the world of young people while developing practical approaches to address their realities. In an attempt to challenge hegemony in public education the author offers critical race theory as a feasible construct in praxis development.     

Between ethos and practice: are Ireland’s new multi-denominational primary schools equal and inclusive?

This article explores the ethos of multi-denominational primary schools in the context of increasing cultural and religious diversity in the Republic of Ireland. In particular, it investigates how the official ethos is played out in day-to-day school interactions. The mixed-methods study draws on data collected from 11 community national schools focussing on the perspectives of principals, teachers and pupils. The data indicates while schools’ formal ethos sets out guiding principles and standards, a closer look reveals the specific identity of each individual school within the broader formal framework. The article presents a new perspective on school ethos research by exploring the extent to which it guides the promotion of diversity and tolerance in a multi-faith context. While the study is carried out in Ireland, it is also of interest to other jurisdictions where schools are faced with increasing religious diversity among their student population.     

An Investigation of High-Achieving African-American Students Attending Community Colleges: A Mixed Methods Research Study

While much more research has been conducted about African-American college students in recent decades, there still exists a need for further explorations concerning factors related to student success and retention. For example, articles often explore the experiences of African-American students at four-year institutions and often use deficit frameworks instead of focusing on the experiences of successful students. To add to what is known, this article summarizes the findings of a multi-institutional mixed methods research study that explored the experiences of high-achieving African-American students attending community colleges. Specifically, the researchers explored noncognitive factors that influenced high academic achievement—defined as grade point average (GPA) higher than 3.00, why students considered leaving an institution, and why students decided to remain enrolled. Findings suggested that studying alone promoted a high cumulative GPA and increased the likelihood students never seriously considered leaving their institution. Studying alone, family relationships, hours spent studying with family, engaged and supportive faculty, financial aid, and the strive to succeed also promoted persistence. Relating to sex differences, student organizational involvement appeared to be more important for male persistence than female persistence at a significant level. The article closes with implications for future research and practice.     

Meeting health,mental health,and housing needs of older adults: A case review of the congregational social work education initiative

This article presents results from an innovative social work field education program, which prepares BSW and MSW students to work in interdisciplinary teams with congregational nurses as they serve persons age 55+ or older. The Congregational Social Work Education Initiative is a field education project based on an applied interdisciplinary model, whereby social work students at the graduate and undergraduate level partner with congregational nurses to serve at-risk members of congregations and religious affiliated organizations (RAOs). Students and nurses provide free health, mental health, and wellness services to address individual, family, group, and community health, mental health, and housing issues. Funded by community health foundations, it trains BSW and MSW students for professional practice in congregational and community religious affiliated settings through interdisciplinary and collaborative methods. Information on the development of the model and case illustrations are provided so other social work educational programs and congregational nurse programs might duplicate its success.     

The trickster figure in African-American teaching: Pre- and postdesegregation

This paper explores African-American cultural performance as it exists in education. It focuses on the trickster performance and reveals this community tradition in action through research conducted with African-American educators at two urban schools in the South. The goal of the research is to increase the recognition and use of cultural performance in schools and to create an enhanced learning environment.     

Enhancing contextualized curriculum: integrated identity in young Shi’i Muslim Arabic-Canadian students’ social worlds

This research explored 10 young female Shi’i Muslim Arabic-Canadian students’ experiences associated with wearing the Hijab (headscarf) within their home, community, and predominantly White Canadian public elementary school environments. The in-depth case study sought to address the dearth of information about Shi’is’ experiences in schools through methodological strategies comprising 10 semi-structured interviews, two focus-group meetings and field notes. This qualitative study provides a transdisciplinary approach based on Phelan, Davidson, and Cao Yu’s social-world model encompassing religious, gendered, social, cultural and political differences that create social boundaries in study participants’ home, community and school environments. Specifically, this article focuses on participants’ school experiences and their strategies for preserving their religious identities. Research findings shed light on the interrelatedness of internal and external diversity within participants’ social worlds, the moral values of religious ritual stories, and the important role of contextualized curriculum in fostering equity and social justice.     

The Table: Christian Education as Performative Art

Children and young people have the inalienable right to be part of a learning community. Nobody can learn on his/her own. Education is always a communal enterprise. In this article the concept of the “spiritual learning community” is developed as a contemporary answer to the socioeducational issues raised by Martin Buber and John Dewey in the 1930s. Cultural and religious diversity today stimulate education and schooling more than ever before to reconsider the narrative-communicative and spiritual dimension of every learning process. The spiritual dimension of the learning community relates to a specific habitus, namely of de-centration from the self and dedication to the other, and to a specific focus, namely on existential questions as content of the learning process. Insights from philosophy of education and from European religious education theory and concrete experiences of teacher education at the universities of Dortmund (Germany) and Wien (Austria) form the horizon for this reflection.