Students’ Reflections on Their Field Practicum: An Analysis of BSW Student Narratives

This qualitative study was undertaken to explore what undergraduate students reflect on during their learning to practice social work in the field. Reflection is essential in the social work field practicum where students learn the practice of social work by doing. Seventeen BSW students’ final field practicum learning papers are analyzed. Four themes emerge that highlight the content of their reflections: situations of uncertainty, opportunities for application, tensions in action, and confrontations with others. This article presents in detail these 4 themes. Discussion includes suggestions for helping students better engage in reflective learning.     

Revising the ISSN Standard: The Challenge of Change

ABSTRACT

The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) has been the standard, eight-digit code used to identify newspapers, journals, magazines, and periodicals on all kinds of media—print and electronic—for the past 40 years. Periodically, the standard must be revised to allow it to accommodate new formats, changes in the publishing industry and information supply chain, and other developments in the information field. Regina Romano Reynolds, director of the U.S. ISSN Center at the Library of Congress, describes the issues that the ISSN International Centre perceives as necessitating a revision of the standard and the likely next steps in the International Organization for Standardization standards revision process.     

COLLABORATION FOR EXCELLENCE: ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AT COLLIN COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

American democracy depends on civic involvement. However, many Americans are increasingly withdrawing from civic responsibility and community involvement. In his best-selling book Bowling Alone , Harvard sociologist Robert D. Putnam presents data showing that Americans have become increasingly unwilling to engage in ways that make American democracy successful. Collin County Community College (CCCC) is addressing civic disengagement through engaged scholarship collaboration between service learning and learning communities programs. Although college students are politically disengaged, most report being or having been involved in some form of community service in the previous year and say they are motivated by giving back to the community and making a difference. Engaged scholarship at CCCC draws on this interest in community service to enhance learning communities, create deeper learning for students, and instill values of citizenship and civic engagement. Learning communities classes blend courses from 2 or more disciplines into a single course with a common theme, enabling students to understand the connection between disciplines. Most integrate a service learning component into that theme, often in the form of a class project promoting civic involvement. Institutional research data reflect increased student retention and success in these classes and a climate of increased communication and objectivity, practical experience in community organizations, and a deeper understanding of democratic ideals. Faculty member focus groups indicate increased satisfaction with teaching, enhanced interdisciplinary knowledge, and feelings of being innovative in the classroom. Engaged scholarship at CCCC enhances student learning, helps develop a unified vision among faculty members, and benefits the community.     

Experiences Situating Mathematical Problem Solving at the Core of Early Childhood Classrooms

Our goal in this article is to discuss the importance of problems in early childhood education for the child’s development and engagement with the mathematics existing in childhood culture. Our assumption is that an important task for young children’s education is to create a democratic and critical environment, in which multiplicity of perspectives is celebrated, along with diversity of concepts and practices, with movement between imaginary and real worlds. In light of this, the goal of this article is to defend a perspective for curriculum and for the role of the mathematics educator, promoting the learning of mathematics through problem solving in early childhood years. In order to discuss and illustrate this perspective we describe the pedagogical practices of two teachers who teach 4- and 5-years-olds, who create for their students an environment rich in problem solving and investigations. In both classrooms, all children individually succeeded in sharing their unique solutions and new knowledge constructed as a result of their inquiries. The experience provides evidence that problem solving affords children the opportunity to raise conjectures, to discuss possibilities and to draw conclusions, even if partial ones, that are then vetted by the group as the authors share their solutions. In this way, the work with problem solving nurtures cooperative learning and promotes the exploration of a diversity of ideas.     

Quality and Equity in Early Childhood Care in Peru

The present study examines educational policy documents and programs on early childhood development and education in Peru. The author provides an evaluation of early childhood learning programs and their outcomes in different education centers in Peru. Health, nutrition, development, and participation are identified as key areas of concern. The study concludes with a reference to the importance of monitoring quality and equity in early childhood care.

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Zusammenfassung QUALIT?T UND CHANCENGLEICHHEIT IN DER FRüHKINDLICHEN PFLEGE IN PERU – Die vorliegende Studie untersucht Dokumente zur Bildungspolitik sowie Programme zur frühkindlichen Entwicklung und Erziehung in Peru. Die Autorin bietet eine Auswertung von Programmen zum frühkindlichen Lernen sowie deren Ergebnisse in verschiedenen Bildungszentren in Peru. Gesundheit, Ern?hrung, Entwicklung und Teilhabe werden als Schlüsselthemen identifiziert. Die Studie schlie?t mit einem Verweis auf die wichtige Bedeutung der überprüfung von Qualit?t und Chancengleichheit in der frühkindlichen Pflege.

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Resumen CALIDAD E IGUALDAD DE OPORTUNIDADES EN LA ATENCIóN DE LA PRIMERA INFANCIA EN PERú – Este trabajo examina documentos y programas educativos sobre el desarrollo y la educación de la primera infancia en Perú. La autora proporciona una evaluación de los programas de aprendizaje para la primera infancia y de sus resultados en diferentes centros de ense?anza de Perú. La salud, la nutrición, el desarrollo y la participación se han identificado como áreas de importancia central. El estudio termina indicando cuán importante es controlar la calidad y la igualdad de oportunidades en la atención de la primera infancia.

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Résumé QUALITé ET éQUITé DANS L’ASSISTANCE à LA PRIME ENFANCE AU PéROU – La présente étude examine les documents et les programmes de la politique éducative pour l’éducation et le développement de la prime enfance au Pérou : L’auteur fournit une évaluation des programmes d’apprentissage de la prime enfance et de leurs résultats dans différents centres d’éducation au Pérou. Santé, nutrition, développement et participation sont identifiés comme des domaines clefs de préoccupation. L’étude conclut sur une référence à l’importance de la qualité et de l’équité de l’encadrement dans l’assistance à la prime enfance.

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The author: Regina Moromizato Izu holds a Masters in Social Management from the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Peru and is pursuing doctoral studies in childhood, youth, and social sciences at the Universidad Manizales – CINDE (Colombia). She is currently teaching in alternative early childhood programs at the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Peru. She has conducted various research projects and consulting work for government agencies concerning programs bearing on early childhood, the family, and the community. Contact address: Facultad de Educación, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Peru, Lima, Peru. E-mail: rmoromi@pucp.edu.pe     

Historical Constitution of Public Radio Stations in Brazil

Educational, state, cultural, and university radio stations have already developed over more than 70 years of history in Brazilian radio broadcasting. Currently, there are hundreds of stations transmitting across the country, from the North to the South. Some of them—that in the 1990s included 100 broadcasting stations and among these, the oldest and nationally referenced—up to this decade operated and were referenced as a component of the educational radio system. Mainly from this period on, most of these stations began to call themselves public. And, especially due to their programming, they have been attempting to define themselves within the profile of public radio stations. The purpose of this article is to uncover the historical construction of this group of radio broadcasting stations, by means of a timeframe, from the advent of the non-commercial segment in the 1930s until today. It reconstructs referential models and presents main threads and features of the programming of these stations throughout these seven decades. In this way, it will also evince how Brazil is constructing its model of public radio.     

A Critical Co-Constructed Autoethnography of a Gendered Cross-Cultural Mentoring Between Two Early Career Latin@ Scholars Working in the Deep South

Multicultural mentoring has been suggested to support Latin@ faculty success in their careers, yet current literature on effective mentorships of Latin@ faculty is limited. This critical co-constructed autoethnography draws on critical race theory (CRT) and latin@ critical race theory (LatCrit) frameworks to highlight the lived experiences and key elements of an effective gendered cross-cultural mentoring relationship in a Latin@ pretenure faculty dyad working in a predominantly White institution of higher education located in the Deep South of the United States. Drawing upon a methodological rhythm of sorts, a Black scholar acts as a muse providing testimonios and interpretations of a relationship existing among Latin@ scholars in predominantly White intellectual spaces. Findings from this critical co-constructed autoethnography note that a safe colored space supports effective mentoring, familismo, personalismo, enabling effective cross-cultural mentorship.