Teaching Interpreted Counseling Practice: A Step Toward Multicultural Competence

We conducted an interpretative phenomenological analysis of five counseling students' experiences collaborating with American Sign Language–interpreting students during counseling practice sessions. Themes were identified in developmental domains of counselor self-awareness, counseling relationship, and advocacy interventions. Interdisciplinary collaboration led students to address cultural deficiency models and increase multicultural competency and efforts in social justice.     

Same-sex intimacies in Syariffudin's Mairil and the queering of authenticity

ABSTRACT

The rise in LGBT-themed novels in Indonesia over the last decade demonstrates the sea-change in social attitudes and the public presence of sexual and gender minorities in Indonesia. The genre emerges from the popularity of sexually-charged novels by female authors such as Ayu Utami and Djenar Maesa Ayu. However, many novels were criticised for the supposed westernisation of Indonesian culture that threatens the national identity and moral disposition of its readers. This article explores the underlying themes of these criticisms—nationhood, cultural authenticity, and morality—and juxtaposes them with the claims of cultural authenticity and legitimacy made by gay and lesbi Indonesians. Representations of “traditional” homoeroticisms in the novel Mairil by Syarifuddin bring these lines of arguments together and synthesise a discursive space where cultural and national authenticities are “queered.” It is my contention that religious and traditional elements that foster same-sex practices offer a key to queer legitimacy for Indonesian sexual minorities.     

Do self-efficacy,incentives and confidence in public speaking influence how students self-assess? / ¿Influyen la autoeficacia,los incentivos y la confianza para hablar en público en cómo se autoevalúan los estudiantes?

The development of a critical spirit as well as the capacity to self-assess and oral presentation competence are essential in relation to students’ future employability. This study examines the influence of confidence, self-efficacy and the existence of incentives on student self-assessments of their oral presentation competence during an educational activity, taking into account the students’ gender. Data from 201 self-assessments was analysed using different statistical techniques. The results show that the existence of rewards is the only variable that has a significant influence on the self-assessment of male students, while those of female students are determined, above all, by their self-efficacy. The results suggest the need to increase student training on self-assessment, taking these differences into account. They also highlight the need to implement initiatives aimed at improving speakers’ confidence in public speaking as well as self-efficacy levels.     

Infectious diseases citation patterns: mapping the literature 2008–2010

Objectives:

The research identified the publication types and ages most frequently cited in the infectious diseases literature and the most commonly cited journals.

Methods:

From 2008–2010, 5,056 articles in 5 infectious diseases journals cited 166,650 items. Two random samples were drawn: one (n = 1,060) from the total set of citations and one (n = 1,060) from the citations to journal articles. For each sample citation, publication type and date, age of cited item, and inclusion of uniform resource locator (URL) were collected. For each item in the cited journal articles sample, journal title, publication date, and age of the cited article were collected. Bradford zones were used for further analysis.

Results:

Journal articles (91%, n = 963) made up the bulk of cited items, followed by miscellaneous items (4.6%, n = 49). Dates of publication for cited items ranged from 1933–2010 (mean = 2001, mode = 2007). Over half (50.2%, n = 483) of cited journal articles were published within the previous 5 years. The journal article citations included 358 unique journal titles.

Discussion:

The citations to current and older publications in a range of disciplines, heavy citation of journals, and citation of miscellaneous and government documents revealed the depth and breadth of resources needed for the study of infectious diseases.

Highlights

• Literature on infectious diseases is multidisciplinary, encompassing medical specialties, public health, and the medical sciences.
• Infectious disease publications cite journal articles more than 90% of the time. Cited journal articles greatly range in age at citation: more than a quarter were over 10 years old.
• Infectious disease citation patterns resemble clinical medicine citation patterns more than public health citation patterns.

Implications

• Infectious disease professionals need access to general medicine titles as well as infectious disease, immunology, virology, microbiology, and public health literature.
• Librarians serving infectious disease researchers and practitioners should provide access to older materials, especially journal back files, to support the cyclical needs of their patrons.

     

STRATEGIES TO STRENGTHEN EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN GHANA,WEST AFRICA

The field of early care and education has been challenged to raise the level of quality for young children by increasing the number of practitioners with college degrees. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of early care and education professionals working in the field and enrolled in community college early childhood classes, about the benefits of attending classes, and the factors that motivated them to pursue a college degree. The majority of the participants were not attending college for the first time and previously attempted to return to school to complete a certificate or an associate degree. Motivational factors and perceived benefits, which varied by teachers and directors, were influenced by the number of years that the practitioners worked in the field. Personal goals and professional development were main motivators, but younger teachers also valued the degree for their future careers. Directors played a pivotal role in motivating teachers to enroll in college, while scholarship assistance made it possible to act on desires to go to college. These findings point to differentiated, targeted marketing and recruitment for teachers and directors, relevant early childhood college coursework, and continuous available funding to complete degrees.     

Academia’s Most Wanted: The Characteristics of Desirable Academic Job Candidates in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Although personal opinions and anecdotal evidence abound, there is a dearth of systematic research into the characteristics that academic criminology and criminal justice departments seek in job candidates. The current study uses a nationally representative sample of faculty members to assess the extent to which a wide array of attributes affects whether an applicant for an assistant professor position would be invited for an on‐campus interview. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we find that several applicant characteristics are related to the likelihood of an interview and that some of these relationships are conditioned by the characteristics of the faculty who decide whether to extend an invitation. We discuss the implications of our findings for the nature of the discipline, and for mentoring doctoral students, designing PhD program experiences, and hiring new colleagues.     

Teacher counternarratives: transgressing and ‘restorying’ disability in education

This inquiry aims to explore the disconnect between the disability studies in education (DSE) perspectives on inclusive schooling held by a group of dually certified inclusive educators and the everyday, lived experiences of these same teachers who find themselves teaching students with labelled disabilities within the confines of the special education bureaucracy. Through a collaborative inquiry circle (with a teacher educator who is a faculty member in a dual-certification programme informed by a DSE perspective and seven teachers who are graduates of this teacher education programme), this study aims to: (1) articulate the dominant narratives or storylines about disability in education that may ‘discipline’ teachers' practice within the special education bureaucracy; (2) illustrate some of the ways in which teachers do resist and transgress the discursive structures of schooling in ways that enable them to ‘restory’ disability in education; and (3) explore the implications of this work for preparing teachers to be dually certified, inclusive educators of all children in public schools.     

What contributes to teaching assistant development: differential responses to key design features

Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) need effective, appropriate professional development opportunities that offer both meaningful foundations and strategically useful tools for their teaching. This study examined and explored the perceptions of TAs with regard to the nature, content, and design characteristics of training and development for teaching in the research university. A group of 210 graduate teaching assistants at a research university reported their perceptions of a range of design elements of training sessions and activities. TAs perceived that training contributed to their learning and development, promoting skills and strategies helpful for their teaching. More focused, strategic sessions received higher overall scores than more general foundational sessions, though strategic sessions were grounded in the more foundational ones. Design features that TAs reported most significantly contributed to their development were: expertise of speakers, structural design of events, and quality of support materials. Eighty percent of TAs reported intentions to continue learning about instructional theory and practice. Findings include consistency with some previous research-based principles of training and development, but also raise new questions regarding TAs’ needs and how to address them.