Nomadic political ontology and transnational academic mobility

ABSTRACT

Transnational academic mobility is often characterized in relation to terms such as ‘brain drain’, ‘brain gain’, or ‘brain circulation’ – terms that isolate researchers’ minds from their bodies, while saying nothing about their political identities as foreign nationals. In this paper, I explore the possibilities of a more ‘nomadic political ontology’, where the body is ‘multifunctional and complex, a transformer of flows and energies, affects, desires and imaginings’ (p. 25). In this sense, academic mobility is not only the outcome of national innovation and economic competitiveness strategies, but also sets the conditions for epistemic and ontological change at the level of the individual. In this paper, I explore a personal account of the nomadic political ontology of academic mobility to exemplify the interrelationships between nationalism, academic belonging and transnationalism. My experiences as a transnational subject affect the stability and scope of my work as a policy-oriented researcher who studies the academic profession and the internationalization of higher education. My positionality in relation to my research focus is likely not unique to the field of higher education studies or educational research more broadly, which permits a wider applicability of this exploration beyond personal narrative and a particular national context. This personal reflection, guided by nomadic theory and post-structural possibilities, offers a viewpoint of the academic profession beyond the standard mobility discourse.     

Do Courts Consider the Degree of Discipline When Adjudicating Off-campus Student Speech?

The purpose of this legal analysis was to determine if there was evidence suggesting that courts, when ruling on off-campus student speech cases that result in on-campus discipline, take into consideration the degree of discipline imposed by school officials. The analysis consisted of reviewing the 34 adjudicated and published cases that specifically address the issue of off-campus student speech resulting in on-campus discipline, dividing the cases into reasonable and unreasonable discipline groups, and documenting the outcomes of the cases in the two groups. Further analysis of themes in off-campus speech, the response by schools, and similarities in court decisions were noted.     

Parents’ Use of the V-Chip and Perceptions of Television Ratings: The Role of Family Characteristics and the Home Media Environment

Nearly 20 years after the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it is unclear how its mandates influence current parents’ mediation behavior. Parents of 2- to 17-year-old children (N = 1,431) were surveyed about their awareness and perceptions of the TV ratings system and use of the V-chip. Most (81%) parents knew about the ratings system and found it to be only “somewhat useful.” Only 16% of those parents had ever used the V-chip. Ratings awareness and perceptions and V-chip use varied with family characteristics. Policymakers should revisit how to provide better tools for mediating children’s viewing in this new information age.     

University Mathematics and Science Faculty Modeling Their Understanding of Reform Based Instruction in a Teacher Preparation Program: Voices of Faculty and Teacher Candidates

This study was conducted in a reform-based mathematics and science teacher education program in the USA, the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation(MCTP). The goal of the undergraduate program was to prepare upper elementary/middle level specialists in mathematics and science. One significant aspect of the MCTP was the expectation that the program's professors (in mathematics and science) would model a new vision of effective pedagogy based on reform-based recommendations. We determined, in general, that the program's mathematics and science content professors accepted the dual role of modeling effective instruction at the same time they were delivering content. However, this dual responsibility raised in their minds an ‘issue of appropriate balance’ between content and pedagogical foci in their courses. Previously, the professors' had not questioned a focus heavily tilted toward content coverage. We also determined that the program's teacher candidates believed that the mathematics and science professors modeled effective instruction. One of the primary reasons that the teacher candidates believed that their professors were modeling effective instruction was that the focus in the courses was primarily on conceptual understanding, not memorization. A major implication was that the professors' modeling of reform-based instruction prompted the teacher candidates to develop a new vision of mathematics and science teaching shaped by their professors' example.     

Cultural congruence and unbalanced power between home and school in rural Ghana and the impact on school children*

This ethnographic inquiry examines the cultural congruence between home and school in rural Ghana, exploring the cultural norms of child-rearing practices within families and the institution of schooling. The data illustrate both the agreement between home and school in regard to discipline practices and instruction in morality, while simultaneously highlighting a power differential between home and school. The authors highlight the power dynamics between home and school, and discuss the burden children bear in managing the home–school relationship in rural Ghana.     

Consumerism and Gender in an Era of School Choice: A look at US Charter Schools

This article concerns gendered dimensions of parental involvement in two US charter schools. Drawing on the narratives of parents who have founded charter schools, and on conversations with school administrators and parents in the main public school district, it presents an analysis of the way parent-teacher interactions are being reframed in the context of school choice. The author argues that in a context in which parents are being asked both to produce and consume new educational programs, parents-practically speaking, mothers-who involve themselves in organizing charter schools run the risk of being seen as stepping out of their roles as consumers and caregivers. The implications of mothers' involvement in charter schools for parent-teacher interactions and for the trajectory of school reform are explored.     

Randomized trial of a statewide home visiting program to prevent child abuse: impact in reducing parental risk factors

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of a home visiting program in reducing malleable parental risk factors for child abuse in families of newborns identified, through population-based screening, as at-risk of child abuse. METHODS: This randomized trial focused on Healthy Start Program (HSP) sites operated by three community-based organizations on Oahu, HI, USA. From 11/94 to 12/95, 643 families were enrolled and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Mothers in both groups were interviewed annually for 3 years (88% follow-up each year) to measure mental health, substance use, and partner violence. HSP records were reviewed to measure home visiting services provided. Home visitors were surveyed annually to measure their perceived competence. RESULTS: Malleable parental risks for child abuse were common at baseline. There was no significant overall program effect on any risk or on at-risk mothers' desire for and use of community services to address risks. There was a significant reduction in one measure of poor mental health at one agency and a significant reduction in maternal problem alcohol use and repeated incidents of physical partner violence for families receiving > or =75% of visits called for in the model. Home visitors often failed to recognize parental risks and seldom linked families with community resources. HSP training programs were under-developed in preparing staff to address risks and to link families with community resources. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the home visiting program did not reduce major risk factors for child abuse that made families eligible for service. Research is needed to develop and test strategies to improve home visiting effectiveness in reducing parental risks for child abuse.     

CACREP's Relevance to Professionalism for School Counselor Educators

Archival data from 1994 to 2003 were used to examine the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Program's (CACREP) association with professionalism for school counselor educators. Indicators of professionalism included school counselor educators' contributions to the profession (i.e., journal publications and conference presentations), leadership in professional organizations, and pursuit of counseling credentials. Data analysis revealed weak (small effect sizes), yet statistically significant, relationships between CACREP accreditation and indicators of professionalism for school counselor educators.