Listening to Student Concerns: An Instructional Strategy to Expand Student Perspectives

It is well documented in the literature that relationships influence the lives of young children (birth to second grade). Consequently, it is essential that young children's caregivers and teachers build professional relationships with children's parents, because these relationships influence the children's present and later learning environments both at home and in school. While listening to parents is a well-established value in the field of Early Childhood Care and Education, details about what “listening to parents” means seem less clear in the literature, research, and our own pedagogy as early childhood educators. Incidentally, teacher candidates and advanced teacher students (hereafter referred to as “our students”) sometimes voice concerns related specifically to listening to parents. Yet, answers to such concerns also seem limited in the literature and the research. Therefore, the intent of this reflective position paper is threefold: to provide my fellow teacher educators with three literature-based reasons to share with our students about why it is important to listen to parents; to indentify familiar comments, concerns, and feelings that our students have voiced about listening to parents; and to provide five practical cooperative-learning activities that will potentially influence our students' practices.     

Timeless and Timely Advice: A Commentary on “Consultation to Facilitate Planned Organizational Change in Schools,” an article by Joseph E. Zins and Robert J. Illback

This commentary on Zins and Illback's (1995) Zins, J. E. and Illback, R. J. 1995. Consultation to facilitate planned organizational change in schools. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 6: 237–245. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] article, Consultation to Facilitate Planned Organizational Change in Schools, argues that the authors provided a solid foundation for well-planned, proactive, sustainable, internally-driven systemic change in schools that has yet to be widely realized. Their school organizational change model and more recent change models provide guidance for realizing a change from an individual, remedial focus to a population-based and preventative practice.     

Field-based teacher education in literacy: preparing teachers in real classroom contexts

For the past two decades, scholars have advocated for reforms in teacher education that emphasize relevant connections between theory and practice in university coursework and focus on clinical experiences. This paper is based on our experiences in designing and implementing an integrated literacy methods course in a field-based teacher education program. We describe issues involved in helping preservice teachers learn to differentiate literacy instruction for diverse learners in urban schools and describe how we use Grossman’s framework of representation, decomposition, and approximation of practice to connect theory and practice. We offer insights about the importance of using recursive cycles of practice and carefully scaffolded learning through attention to different aspects of practice. Initial successes and challenges in implementing field-based literacy education are discussed.     

Going Where They Are: Intentionally Embedding Librarians in Courses and Measuring the Impact on Student Learning

ABSTRACT

The concept of embedded librarians is a way for academic librarians to be intentionally and strategically inserted in the learning and teaching process through a variety of initiatives. In a mid-size university, in order to better address the research and curricular needs of students and faculty members, librarians became more intentional about embedding themselves in academic departments and online courses. To assess the impact upon student learning, the librarians are working on a pilot project utilizing a variety of methods. This article describes the first phase of this assessment project, a survey of faculty teaching course in which faculty were embedded. Finally, information on next steps to assess the embedded librarian program using student surveys, focus groups, and interviews is presented.     

Insights into the Integration of Traditional Filipino Arts in Art and Design Education: Voices from the Academe

This article presents the first segment of a qualitative study that explores the feasibility of integrating traditional arts in Philippine art and design education. The views of educators on traditional arts were sought to provide an impetus for the study and a springboard for discussion regarding the relevance of traditional Filipino arts in a predominantly Westernised educational system. The educators’ views and opinions on the central question, ‘Why and how should the study of traditional Filipino arts be integrated in the art and design programme?’ will be used to guide a trial integration of the learning of traditional arts in tertiary art and design classes. They will form part of the multiple perspectives that will be gathered from various sectors throughout the course of research. This phenomenological study, on the whole, seeks to uncover the potentials of traditional arts as a rich resource for learning, particularly for students of art and design.     

Teaching the Mediterranean Diet in Italy

ABSTRACT:  Problem-based learning (PBL) can provide an enhanced appreciation of the relationship between culture and food for students who aspire to become dietitians or nutrition educators; however, large university classes often inhibit the use of PBL. A professor who specializes in research documenting the relationships among food and culture took 17 Canadian university students, many of whom were studying nutrition and food science, to southern Italy where they learned about Mediterranean diets and Italian food culture. PBL was implemented by encouraging students to work together to solve problems, and by the completion of assignments that promoted observation of and interaction with the local culture. Students evaluated the experience positively with majority agreement that the quality of course content was excellent, that knowledge of the subject areas increased, and that the courses challenged students to critically think about issues. Despite a focused effort on PBL in the courses, not all students agreed that the courses helped them to develop the ability to solve real problems in this field. This may have been due to unawareness of dietetic competencies by some students. Many of the assignments used in Italy could be adopted for use in food culture classes in North America, or by postsecondary instructors planning travel study programs in Italy.     

Anatomy as a Model Environment for Acquiring Professional Competencies in Medicine: Experiences at Harvard Medical School

Anatomy education provides students with opportunities to learn structure and function of the human body, to acquire professional competencies such as teamwork, interpersonal skills, self-awareness, and to reflect on and practice medical ethics. The fulfillment of this wide potential can present challenges in courses that are part of an integrated curriculum and shorter than traditional courses. This new reality, together with students' increasing concern about the stresses within medical education, led to efforts at Harvard Medical School to implement practical steps toward an optimal learning environment in anatomy. These were based on core elements of ethical anatomy education and principles of trauma-informed care. Anatomy is conceptualized here as the “first clinical discipline,” with relational interactions between anatomical educators, medical students, and body donors/patients. Essential prerequisites for the implementation of this work were support by the medical school leadership, open partnership between engaged students and faculty, faculty coordination, and peer-teaching. Specific interventions included pre-course faculty development on course philosophy and invitations to students to share their thoughts on anatomy. Student responses were integrated in course introductions, combined with a pre-dissection laboratory visit, an introductory guide, and a module on the history and ethics of anatomy. During the course, team-building activities were scheduled, and self-reflection encouraged, for example, through written exercises, and elective life-body drawing. Students' responses to the interventions were overall positive, but need further evaluation. This first attempt of a systematic implementation of an optimal learning environment in anatomy led to the identification of areas in need of adjustment.     

Linking Employment to Attachment: The Mediating Effects of Maternal Separation Anxiety and Interactive Behavior

This study examined the effects of maternal employment and separation anxiety on maternal interactive behavior and infant attachment. 73 mother-infant pairs participated in a laboratory free-play session when infants were 5 and 10 months of age and in the Strange Situation when the infants were 18 months of age. Maternal feelings about being separated from her infant were assessed by questionnaire at 5 months. Employed mothers returned to work before the infants' fifth month, and nonemployed mothers did not work outside the home through their infants' tenth month. Employed mothers who reported high levels of separation anxiety were more likely to exhibit intrusive behaviors at 10 months. While employment was not directly related to attachment, we found infants of high-anxiety employed mothers to develop anxious-avoidant attachments. The results suggest that maternal separation anxiety and interactive style may be important mediators between employment and later infant outcome.