An Adventure: from reflective practice to spirituality

Abstract

This article stems from reflective practice undertaken by the author. It represents an attempt to bring together some of the questions which occurred to her about the nature of community education when she worked as a practitioner in that field with more recent considerations about the ‘taken for granteds’ of her present professional practice as a facilitator of reflective practice for adult educators. Using metaphor and a model derived from Eastern philosophical traditions, the article suggests that the concept of spirituality may be a useful addition to the discourse about (community) education in general and reflective practice in particular.     

Book reviews

Acting as the mentor for a cohort of post-baccalaureate teacher certification students was a learning experience. Working as interns in an urban middle school over the course of a year, the students learned about the culture of a struggling school, the needs of the young adolescents they were teaching, and what it means to be a teacher in such a school. Not all of their lessons were positive ones, however, as socialization into the culture often prevailed over critique. As a result of reflecting on the year, I saw how I also was socialized by the culture, and guilty of some of the same attitudes myself and my students criticized in the school. My reflections point to some necessary components of the kind of partnerships sought by public schools and universities.     

The sociocultural factors that influence a novice teacher’s LGBT activism

Despite growing support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States, the Southeastern region continues to pass legislation that discriminates against those who do not fit normative notions of sexuality and gender. This opposition affects LGBT students and the teachers who identify as LGBT activists. This study of two years of data is an analysis of one novice teacher’s efforts to advocate on behalf of LGBT students despite the resistance that she faced from sociocultural factors influencing her students, classroom, and her teaching practices. An examination of the social, cultural, and political limitations she faced suggest that research advocating curricular changes and findings suggesting that teachers resist sexuality- and gender-based topics ignore the many sociocultural factors acting on educators in the Southeastern US as they strive to be LGBT activists.     

Re-presenting Sport: How Instant Replay and Perceived Violence Impact Enjoyment of Mediated Sports

Several long-standing theories intersect in discussing the impact of community characteristics and of the mass media. The structural pluralism model popularized by Tichenor and his colleagues says that social structure influences how mass media operate in communities because they respond to how power is distributed in the social system, whereas the linear model says that the increasing size of a community's population leads to more social differentiation and diversity and corresponding increases in subcultures with their own beliefs, customs, and behaviors. Recently, there has been a concern about how changes in society have led to a decline in organizational activity and the network of relationships and trust that constitute “social capital.” This article examines the impact of population and diversity (using census data) on individuals’ media use, interpersonal discussion and civic engagement (measured in a national survey), and the relationship among these variables. Analysis of a structural model provides evidence that the “linear hypothesis” can be combined with structural pluralism, with size—measured by population—impacting diversity, which influences the relationships that people have with their community. Concurrently, social categories influence people's communication patterns and community relationships, and communication impacts civic engagement.     

“Ask a Librarian” Pages as Reference Gateways to Academic Libraries

A library's web site is a virtual “front door” to its services and collections. Libraries can use their “Ask a Librarian” pages to promote reference services and to inform patrons about the different options available. Much variation is found in the naming of those pages and the number and type of reference contact options they include. This article reports the results of an examination of the reference assistance pages of libraries that are members of the Association of Research Libraries. In particular, the study attempted to determine whether virtual modes of reference service are being promoted at the expense of traditional options.     

Using WorldShare Collection Evaluation to Analyze Physical Science and Engineering Monograph Holdings by Discipline

Academic libraries are challenged with managing collection budgets for purchasing multidisciplinary ebook packages while equitably distributing funds for print and electronic monographs across subjects. McGill Library's science and engineering monograph holdings were analyzed using OCLC's WorldShare Collection Evaluation (WCE). Researchers mapped Conspectus subject divisions and categories to relevant university departments and evaluated holdings in comparison with department metrics to provide a fuller picture for collection development decision making. Findings show that WCE can be used in combination with circulation data and enrollment and staffing numbers to provide insight into the purchasing and use patterns of monographs down to the department level.