The influence of mentoring on the academic trajectory of a 17-year-old Black male college sophomore from the United Kingdom: a single case study

There has been a national- and state-level call for colleges and universities to develop targeted mentoring programs for Black males. However, there is limited published scholarship that has investigated the experiences of non-U.S.-born Black males in these college mentoring programs generally, and at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) specifically. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the experiences of a 17-year-old Black male college sophomore from the United Kingdom who enrolled in a HBCU male-focused mentoring program. Findings reveal that he benefited from pre-college mentoring as he developed strategies to respond to racist encounters during his K–12 schooling in the United Kingdom. In the university mentoring program, he benefited most from one-on-one mentoring opportunities with university officials. Implications for universities and future research are discussed.     

Positional matters: school leaders engaging with national equity agendas

ABSTRACT

This paper claims a central role for school leaders (principals or head-teachers) in the enactment of social justice policy in schools, who act as key agents or ‘gate keepers’ for what counts as social justice in their contexts of practice. Social justice means different things in different contexts depending on where leaders – who use policy as an opportunity to advance what they think is achievable within the limits of available resources – are positioned in the field and how that defines their stances. Drawing on qualitative data generated through in-depth interviews with ten secondary school principals in two Australian cities, the paper analyses the engagement of school leaders with nationally prescribed equity-related policies. Our analysis shows that, depending on the institutional ethos and resources of schools and their own social justice dispositions, school leaders tend to take different stances towards nationally defined equity agendas. Their responses range from compliance to compromise to contest. The paper suggests that doing social justice in schools can never be unilateral, as policy documents suppose, but is characterised by context-informed policy translation, mediated by a range of interactive forces and interests.     

Primary School Students' Attitudes towards Reading

This study investigates the applicability to upper primary school children of a multidimensional conceptualization of attitude towards reading which previous research (Lewis and Teale, 1980; Teale and Lewis, 1981) had shown to be useful for characterizing the reading attitudes of secondary school students. Self-report scales designed to measure Individual Development, Utilitarian, and Enjoyment dimensions were found to be both internally consistent (α= 0.65 to 0.88) and stable (r_tr= 0.73 to 0.86). Concurrent validity data based on peer ratings are also provided. Factor analyses showed that primary school students also hold attitudes about reading which are multidimensional. Enjoyment was clearly one facet of their feelings about reading. Although the primary school students did not discriminate between valuing reading as a means of facilitating success at work and at school, they did consistently discriminate between valuing reading and enjoying it. Implications for pedagogical and research issues arising from this conceptualization of attitude towards reading are also discussed.     

Dress for fit: An exploration of female activewear consumption

While the female activewear market is growing rapidly, research on activewear consumption and female consumers is lagging. Existing researchers have failed to produce an in-depth understanding of female consumers’ perceptions of activewear, thereby providing limited insights for the activewear industry. Drawing upon brand association theory and the functional, expressive, and aesthetic model, the authors identify important attributes of activewear brands and how attributes lead to benefits pursued by female activewear consumers. Focus groups were conducted with 72 female activewear consumers in Australia. Findings reveal three product-related attributes (functional design, colour, and size and fit) and two non-product-related attributes (price and model imagery) influence the fulfillment of four benefits (mood enhancement, exercise facilitation, healthy and active lifestyle, and physical fit body image). This research contributes theoretical and empirical knowledge about activewear consumption and the vertical structure of brand associations. Findings of this research can help activewear brands deliver benefits to female consumers through improved product designs and marketing strategies.     

Investigating teachers’ explanations for aggressive classroom discipline strategies in China and Australia

Student misbehaviour can provoke aggressive teacher management (e.g. yelling in anger), adversely effecting students’ learning and attitudes toward school. To investigate this phenomenon, data were obtained from 75 Chinese (typically Eastern) and 192 Victorian (typically Western) secondary teachers who self-reported aggressive management. Results: 49% of Chinese and 59% of Australian teachers adopt aggressive behaviours rarely to sometimes; and, 9% of Chinese and 13% of Australian teachers sometimes or more frequently. The teachers were assessed for levels of support for Attribution, Attachment or Efficacy theory as explanations. The only significant differences were found for Attachment theory with Chinese teachers reporting significantly more support. National setting explained 29% of the variance independent of gender, levels of aggression and years of experience.     

Towards a multidimensional model for evaluating electronic government: Proposing a more comprehensive and integrative perspective

The use of information and communication technologies has been a key strategy for government reform. It offers diverse benefits, ranging from efficiency and effectiveness to transparency and greater democratic participation. Governments in many parts of the world have invested vast resources into electronic government projects with the expectation of achieving these and other outcomes. However, the results in many cases are limited and there is no comprehensive way to evaluate these initiatives at the aggregate level. A method for measuring and evaluating electronic government that identifies its advances and problems is needed. Previous efforts to do so are limited in terms of scope and dimensions being considered. Based on a review of current literature and the analysis of international best practices, this paper proposes a multidimensional model for measuring and evaluating electronic government. It also includes examples, a proposal of how to operationalize it, and several recommendations for practical use.     

Government innovation through social media

Social media in government is becoming one of the major trends in Electronic Government (e-government) research and practice worldwide. During the last few years, several authors have addressed the potential of social media for the innovation of public sector organizations. Most of these contributions have focused on the technical dimensions of social media, while other aspects have not attracted equal attention. In contrast, this introductory article interrogates the role of social media in the basic areas of e-government: government information flows and the availability of government information; the use of information technology to create and provide innovative government services; the impact of information technology on the relationships between the governed and those governing; and the increasing importance of information policies and information technologies for democratic practices. Accordingly, the next few pages propose and develop three dimensions of social media in government: tools, goals, and topics. We think that these dimensions could help to better understand the use of social media in government settings. Then, after a brief review of current trends in social media and government research, we present the articles included in this special issue. Finally, we present some practical lessons and suggest ideas for future research. This special issue could be seen as a starting point for the development of innovation through social media in public administrations around the world.     

Classroom management and teachers’ coping strategies: Inside classrooms in Australia, China and Israel

This paper discusses the degree to which recently reported relationships between the classroom management techniques and coping styles of Australian teachers apply in two other national settings: China and Israel. Little is known about which teacher characteristics relate to their approach to classroom management, although researchers in Australia have recently found that teachers’ coping styles appear to predict the management techniques they utilize in classrooms. In this study, 772 teachers from a range of schools in Australia, China, and Israel completed questionnaires asking how frequently they use six classroom management techniques—hinting, discussion, involvement, recognition and reward, punishment, and aggression—and how often they use a range of coping behaviours. The analysis showed that some of the Australian findings were replicated only in Israel and others only in China, revealing national variations in the links between management techniques and coping styles, which have wider implications for investigations in this area. The implications of these findings are discussed, as are their potential ramifications for future research.     

Evaluation of a learning analytics tool for supporting teachers in the creation and evaluation of accessible and quality open educational resources

The learning analytics (LA) field seeks to analyze data about students’ interactions, and it has been applied in the development of tools for supporting both learning and teaching processes. Recent research has paid attention on how LA may benefit teachers in the creation of educational resources. However, most of the research on LA solutions is carried out to support teachers in analyzing students’ behavior data collected as they interact with virtual learning environments. While solutions to support teachers in different virtual learning and teaching contexts have become important, to date little research has been done on how LA solutions can help teachers to create and evaluate Open Educational Resources (OERs). This study aims at presenting the evaluation of a LA tool for supporting teachers in the creation and evaluation of accessible and quality OERs considering that both processes fall within the competences that teachers can acquire and strengthen by participating as authors (creation) and evaluators (evaluation) of OERs. The study was conducted with Colombian teachers and the results obtained highlight the positive effect the tool had on the teachers’ acquisition of the competences and the positive attitude they had toward using the tool.