Intergenerational Stories and the “Othering” of Samoan Youth in Schools

Through a critical cultural assets model, the authors use the methodological practices of collaboration, community site visits, document analysis, and interviews with cultural insiders to explore schools’ continued rejection of academic belonging for people from “othered” communities. They explore the case of Samoan youth—a marginalized cultural group—to contest the shared belief that school-based citizenry is an educational impossibility. Interview data with Samoan elders is analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research methods (Hill et al. in Couns Psychol 24(4):517–572, 1997). They present themes of cultural capacities and academic disconnection to imagine a school context for the integration of cultural assets for “othered” youth (Kliewer and Biklen in Teach Coll Rec 109(12):2579–2600, 2007; Kliewer et al. American Educ Res Assoc J 3(2):163–192, 2006).     

A nationwide comparative study between private and public university students’ soft skills

The main function of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) is to produce skilled and knowledgeable workforce who are able to not only function with minimal guidance but also to contribute effectively to the hiring organizations. Many studies have indicated that most HEIs have somewhat similar course content and thrived at producing students with good academic achievement. But what differentiated them from one another is their ability to develop knowledge workers with the right employability skills or ??soft skills?? such as communication, problem-solving, interpersonal and other skills deemed important as the foundations by which they require to function at work regardless of the nature of employment. This paper reports findings of a large-scale study looking into the soft skills attainment of Malaysian HEI graduates. A quantitative survey design was employed whereby data were obtained through the administration of an instrument called the Malaysian Soft Skills Scale (My3S). My3S consists of 180 items covering seven elements namely Communications, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Teamwork, Moral and Professional Ethics, Leadership, Life Long Learning and Entrepreneurial aspects. The mean scores for the seven My3S subscales were found to be between 6.3 and 7.8 from the maximum possible score of 10. Specifically, comparisons were made between graduates of public and private institutions with respect to the seven elements. Findings of the study suggest that, in general, students of public HEIs scored higher in all seven skills. With respect to gender, male students scored higher than female students in all elements except for teamwork skills and moral and professional ethics. A comparison between fields of study showed that for both types of HEIs, technical students scored the highest in all skills except for moral and professional ethics. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that in addition to offering specific courses to improve soft skills attainment, HEIs need to embed soft skills in their academic curricula.     

Communicating Science to Impact Learning? A Phenomenological Inquiry into 4th and 5th Graders’ Perceptions of Science Information Sources

Rooted in science education and science communication studies, this study examines 4th and 5th grade students’ perceptions of science information sources (SIS) and their use in communicating science to students. It combines situated learning theory with uses and gratifications theory in a qualitative phenomenological analysis. Data were gathered through classroom observations and interviews in four Turkish elementary schools. Focus group interviews with 47 students and individual interviews with 17 teachers and 10 parents were conducted. Participants identified a wide range of SIS, including TV, magazines, newspapers, internet, peers, teachers, families, science centers/museums, science exhibitions, textbooks, science books, and science camps. Students reported using various SIS in school-based and non-school contexts to satisfy their cognitive, affective, personal, and social integrative needs. SIS were used for science courses, homework/project assignments, examination/test preparations, and individual science-related research. Students assessed SIS in terms of the perceived accessibility of the sources, the quality of the content, and the content presentation. In particular, some sources such as teachers, families, TV, science magazines, textbooks, and science centers/museums (“directive sources”) predictably led students to other sources such as teachers, families, internet, and science books (“directed sources”). A small number of sources crossed context boundaries, being useful in both school and out. Results shed light on the connection between science education and science communication in terms of promoting science learning.     

Medical Assistance in Dying: Implications for Canadian Classrooms and the Academy

The recent passing of legislation decriminalizing medically assisted suicide was a landmark in Canadian history. Since the law’s passage, an average of four Canadians per day have chosen to die using medical assistance. With Canadians embracing this option of death, we argue that there will be moments in Canadian schools when this topic will be brought into the classrooms. In this paper, we outline how children view death both emotionally and conceptually, as well as how teachers can discuss death in their classrooms. The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the law, an expiation of how children view death, and a framework for how teachers may be prepared to broach the topic when raised in their classrooms.     

The impact of L2 German on component processes of reading

Background

In Germany, there is a substantial gap in reading literacy between monolingual children and their L2‐speaking peers. Nevertheless, it is still unclear where these performance differences are rooted.

Methods

We investigated children of grades 5, 6 and 7 with comparable socio‐economic status, who completed a battery of tests assessing their linguistic and executive functioning skills as well as their reading performance on the letter, word, sentence and text level.

Results

Whereas L1 speakers showed better linguistic skills, there was no difference between groups in executive functioning. After controlling for individual differences on each level of reading, groups only differed in text comprehension. This effect, however, disappeared when participants' linguistic skills were additionally controlled.

Conclusions

In sum, results show that reading problems in L2 speakers cannot be attributed to deficits on specific component processes of reading, but to a lack of linguistic skills, which negatively affects reading comprehension.     

‘To show or No-show’? Therapist Racial-ethnic Disparities in Clients’ Nonattendance in Therapy

Clients’ nonattendance in therapy poses a significant threat to the effective delivery of mental health services at university counseling centers. As such, researchers have investigated processes related to clients’ nonattendance in an effort to increase treatment utilization and treatment outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research testing the impact of the therapist on clients’ nonattendance patterns. Additionally, it is unknown whether therapists vary in the nonattendance of their racial/ethnic minority (REM) and White clients. Therefore, the present study sought to identify therapist effects in client nonattendance rates, and examine between-therapist disparities in REM and White clients’ nonattendance patterns. Data for this study consisted of 275 REM and 341 White clients seen by 21 therapists at a large university counseling center. Results indicated that therapists accounted for 14% of the variability in clients’ nonattendance. Additionally, therapist effects in nonattendance due to clients’ REM status were identified, suggesting that therapists are a significant source of racial/ethnic disparities in clients’ nonattendance. REM clients’ nonattendance rates were higher compared to White clients for some therapists, but not others. Clinical implications and future research are discussed.