White Religious Educators Resisting White Fragility: Lessons From Mystics

Abstract

Decades of work in dismantling racism have not yielded the kind of results for which religious educators have hoped. One primary reason has been what scholars term “white fragility,” a symptom of the structural racism which confers systemic privilege upon White people. Lessons learned from Christian mystics point to powerful ways to confront and resist the siren call of such formation and instead to make resisting racism an integral part of Christian identity for White people.     

Narrative Career Counselling for People with Refugee Backgrounds

For people with refugee backgrounds, pursuing a meaningful career in their country of resettlement is important for their successful integration. However, for many, achieving this is a challenging process. Career counsellors may have a role to play in facilitating the transition and integration of people with refugee backgrounds, and narrative career counselling has much to offer. This article discusses the impact of prolonged transition under difficult circumstances on people with refugee backgrounds, and the potential contribution of narrative career counselling in assisting them. In particular, it identifies cultural considerations for narrative career counsellors who work with people with refugee backgrounds.     

School principals’ views of teacher evaluation policy: lessons learned from two empirical studies

Teacher evaluation accountability policies are emerging worldwide. This study examines principals’ perceptions of teacher evaluation in terms of commonalities and differences arising from two research projects conducted in Portugal and in the US. Perceptions of school principals in regard to a new policy on teacher evaluation as well as its perceived effects at school and conditions for its implementation will be analysed. Findings point to the challenges and successes of coping with mandated accountability measures in two different contexts. Principals balanced perceived conflicting goals, sought maintenance of positive teacher relationships and school culture and managed the tensions of policy implementation and the making sense of its effects at school. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Reading to Learn or Learning to Read? Engaging College Students in Course Readings

Despite instructors' belief that class readings are integral to the learning process, only 20–30% of undergraduate students complete required readings. Failure to complete course reading has been associated with declines in exam and research performance. This article first offers a brief review of the literature on why students do not complete course readings: 1) unpreparedness, 2) lack of motivation, 3) time constraints, and 4) an underestimation of reading importance. We then identify approaches that encourage students to read, enjoy reading, and develop metacognitive knowledge, shown to improve learning.     

Using the Content of Online Privacy Notices to Inform Public Policy: A Longitudinal Analysis of the 1998-2001 U.S. Web Surveys

In the United States, Congress has had a long-standing interest in consumer privacy and the extent to which company practices are based on fair information practices. Previously, public policy was largely informed by anecdotal evidence about the effectiveness of industry self-regulatory programs. However, the Internet has made it possible to unobtrusively sample web sites and their privacy disclosures in a way that is not feasible in the offline world. Beginning in 1998, the Federal Trade Commission relied upon a series of three surveys of web sites to assess whether organizations post online privacy disclosures and whether these disclosures represent the U.S. definition of fair information practices. While each year's survey has provided an important snapshot of U.S. web-site practices, there has been no longitudinal analysis of the multiyear trends. This study compares a subset of equivalent individual-level web-site data for the 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 web surveys. Implications for using this type of research to inform public policy are discussed.     

Gender attitudes in school have changed mainly in peer relational factors over a period of 35 years

The aim of the study is to compare gender patterns of student attitudes toward school, teachers and peers in grade 6 over time. In 1967–68 and in 2003, 1500 pupils responded to the same 40‐item questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis was applied. In the gender comparison the within‐class level was used. The more traditional school factors, Interest in School, View of Teacher, and Work Atmosphere, showed no differences between the two time periods. The factor Interest in School showed that girls were more positive than boys. In contrast to this, changes with more positive attitudes had occurred especially in boys’ peer relational factors. In Relations with Classmates and in View of Fuss, the scores were now equal between the two genders, but in View of Peers, and Lack of Anxiety the boys’ attitudinal scores were significantly higher than those of the girls.