Operationalizing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A Synthesis of Classroom-Based Research

In this article, we present a synthesis of classroom-based research on the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy. We examine 45 classroom-based research studies from 1995 to the present, highlighting culturally relevant pedagogy as enacted in classrooms. In the final section we address a few conundra and unanswered questions stemming from the research. By describing and synthesizing how others have operationalized culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom, we offer illustrative discussion points that will assist preservice teachers, experienced teachers, and teacher educators in developing a more holistic understanding of what culturally relevant pedagogy “looks like” in classrooms.     

Building on existing informal learning in Traveller communities through family literacy programmes: an Irish case study

Focusing on Ireland, this paper explores the potential role family literacy programmes can play in influencing educational attainment and in fostering positive attitudes towards formal learning in Traveller families. It is often claimed that members of the Traveller community tend to undervalue learning; that they are uninterested in their children's education and perceive it holds little relevance to adult life. However, research shows that significant forms of learning do take place within the family, for example, skills-based work-related learning. Further, there is evidence to suggest that some Traveller parents believe there is value in educating their children and there is a growing recognition, especially by mothers, that children need to achieve academically, particularly where there are concerns that migrant workers are accessing the jobs, Travellers have traditionally performed. Drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and field, the author argues that family literacy programmes can potentially offer an alternative space in which to engage Travellers in formal education and that such engagement has the potential to impact positively on the academic attainment and achievement of Traveller children by helping mothers recognise, and build on, the informal learning in which they are already engaged.     

Impact of training on change in practice for education assistants in a group of international private schools in Hong Kong

This paper reports research that evaluated the efficacy of training for education assistants and its impact upon changing practices in a group of private international schools in Hong Kong, China. Two cohorts of education assistants received training through an education institute. The focus was on supporting and fostering inclusive practices in schools. The expectations and perceptions of the education assistants regarding the training was recorded through survey and focus group interviews and discussed alongside international literature in the area of classroom support and inclusive schooling. The paper concludes that the provision of training was successful in meeting education assistants’ expectations and in increasing personal confidence and raising self‐esteem, but that they face many challenges if their learning is to be applied. The research further reveals that education assistants within Hong Kong schools lack clarity in their role and a narrow understanding of how they may be most appropriately utilised within schools has led to a limiting of their deployment. Implications for training providers and the teaching profession are discussed.     

Evaluation of a randomized intervention to delay sexual initiation among fifth-graders followed through the sixth grade

US adolescents initiate sex at increasingly younger ages, yet few pregnancy prevention interventions for children as young as 10–12 years old have been evaluated. Sixteen Washington, DC schools were randomly assigned to intervention versus control conditions. Beginning in 2001/02 with fifth-grade students and continuing during the sixth grade, students completed pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys each school year. Each year, the intervention included 10–13 classroom sessions related to delaying sexual initiation. Linear hierarchical models compared outcome changes between intervention and control groups by gender over time. Results show the intervention significantly decreased a rise over time in the anticipation of having sex in the next 12 months among intervention boys versus control boys, but it had no other outcome effects. Among girls, the intervention had no significant outcome effects. One exception is that for both genders, compared with control students, intervention students increased their pubertal knowledge. In conclusion, a school-based curriculum to delay sexual involvement among fifth-grade and sixth-grade high-risk youths had limited impact. Additional research is necessary to outline effective interventions, and more intensive, comprehensive interventions may be required to counteract adverse circumstances in students' lives and pervasive influences toward early sex.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00341471     

Including Pupils with Special Educational Needs: beyond rhetoric and towards an understanding of effective classroom practice

The future of educational provision for pupils with special educational needs can be seen to be central to educational debate across Europe and the USA. Legislation from many countries has focused upon the means by which the achievement of a more inclusive education system can be achieved. This article suggests that whilst the socio‐political and moral arguments for inclusion have been well established, insufficient attention has been given to the development of an understanding of classroom practices which are conducive to creating an inclusive education system. The moral imperative for inclusion is clear and few teachers would deny that a move towards a more equitable education system should be regarded as a priority. Yet, moves towards the achievement of greater inclusion have been slow. Existing research has demonstrated that under some circumstances inclusion can be efficacious, yet many teachers remain uncertain with regard to its implementation in their schools. This article argues that there is a need to move forward from debating the justification of inclusion and to shift efforts in the direction of an analysis of effective classroom practice to meet the needs of those pupils who are currently presenting the greatest challenges to teachers.     

Health Care Professions: Career Information on the Internet for Students

The United States is currently experiencing a nursing shortage, and it is expected to worsen in the next ten years. Physician shortages are also projected. Some allied health professions are also experiencing personnel shortages. Health sciences libraries can be of service in addressing the shortages by making information available on health care careers. Internet sites and resources on health care career decisions are discussed in this article.     

Getting the actor to act

The hypothesis that a self‐contradictory communication is less persuasive than a non‐contradictory one was tested. The data supported the hypothesis only for those subjects who perceived the contradiction; neither open and closed‐mindedness nor initial attitude toward the policy advocated in the communication accurately distinguished the perceivers of the contradiction from the non‐perceivers.     

A refined view of download time impacts on e‐consumer attitudes and patronage intentions toward e‐retailers

Abstract

The following paper is a case study analysis of the Sony Corporation; a leading transnational media corporation in the production and sale of consumer electronics, music and film entertainment and videogame technology. There are two main parts to this study. Part I, examines the history and development of the Sony Corporation. This paper argues that the business strategies and corporate culture of a company are often a direct reflection of the person (or persons) who were responsible for developing the organization and its business mission. Part II. examines the Sony Corporation from the standpoint of business strategy. Special attention is given to the subject of organizational culture and strategic decision‐making. A second argument of this paper is that while Sony is a transnational media corporation, the organization is decidedly Japanese in its business values. The significance of this research lies in its revelations concerning the complex changes facing a company that was once historically Japanese in its origins but is tecoming increasingly transnational ïn scope and operations.     

Should great lakes city build a new power plant? How youth navigate socioscientific issues

There is a growing consensus that simply learning enough science to decipher public debates on socioscientific issues will not make citizens better equipped to handle the complex and ill‐structured problems these controversial issues present. This study highlights the interaction and complex interplay between youth authored and appropriated frames for making sense of socioscientific issues. To do so, we analyze how two middle‐school aged youth, in an after‐school program focused on green energy technologies, made sense of and took a stance on whether their city should build a new hybrid power plant over the course of a 13‐week unit. Using critical sociocultural perspectives on learning and qualitative case study, we examined how the two youth navigated the issue and the resources, scientific and otherwise, they leveraged in defining the problem spaces involved in whether their city should build a new power plant. Our findings indicate that the scientific knowledge youth brought with them and acquired over the course of the investigation influenced how they made sense of the issue, but their knowledge was deeply connected to a range of personal and public discourses that influenced how they defined the issue and why it mattered to them. In particular, it was through how they framed their range of knowledge and experiences that they were able to recognize the multi‐dimensional nature of the problem and propose complex solutions resonant with the science they understood. Our study offers conceptual tools for teaching and learning socioscientific issues. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 541–567, 2012     

Components and context: exploring sources of reading difficulties for language minority learners and native english speakers in urban schools

Drawing on the cognitive and ecological domains within the componential model of reading, this longitudinal study explores heterogeneity in the sources of reading difficulties for language minority learners and native English speakers in urban schools. Students (N = 150) were followed from first through third grade and assessed annually on standardized English language and reading measures. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the relative contributions of code-related and linguistic comprehension skills in first and second grade to third grade reading comprehension. Linguistic comprehension and the interaction between linguistic comprehension and code-related skills each explained substantial variation in reading comprehension. Among students with low reading comprehension, more than 80% demonstrated weaknesses in linguistic comprehension alone, whereas approximately 15% demonstrated weaknesses in both linguistic comprehension and code-related skills. Results were remarkably similar for the language minority learners and native English speakers, suggesting the importance of their shared socioeconomic backgrounds and schooling contexts.