A case study of the diversity culture of an American university athletic department: perceptions of senior level administrators

The topic of diversity has received considerable attention from scholars who study sport within the context of higher education in the USA. But despite this interest in the topic, an in-depth focus on how college and university athletic departments effectively manage diversity is missing from the literature. Therefore, we conducted an intrinsic case study of an American university athletic department in efforts to highlight its unique diversity culture (i.e. how it creates and sustains a culture of diversity and inclusion) and the potential impact this culture could have on its various educational stakeholders, and how they interact in this organizational or workplace setting. Findings from our qualitative case study with senior level administrators uncovered two major interrelated themes. First, this institution of higher education has a history and culture of valuing diversity, and this in turn has positively impacted the athletic department's commitment to diversity. Second, the integration of the athletic department into the broader university culture, particularly because of its organizational structure, has enabled this department to better embrace diversity and avoid some of the educational challenges many of its peers face. Research and practical implications are discussed in this study.     

Addressing competing logics between the mission of a religious university and the demands of intercollegiate athletics

The purpose of this study was to examine the strategies within a faith-based university for managing competing institutional logics of its NCAA Division II affiliated athletic department. Utilizing a case study methodology, the authors collected data from athletic department members and university administrators and faculty. Within the context of this study, our data indicated that the religious academic culture of the university often conflicted with the athletic expectations of winning and marketing the university. Our findings indicated certain strategies that were effective for resolving the conflicting logics within the athletic department. Particularly, members of the athletic department drew from the strong religious culture of the university to guide their operations. The implications of this research within the field of sport management and broader organizations are discussed.     

Tasks and trajectories in learning to teach

University‐based teacher‐education programmes in the USA confront mounting pressure to demonstrate that graduates will have a significant and positive impact on student achievement. Such pressure has forced teacher educators to wrestle with the question of what constitutes compelling evidence that teacher candidates will indeed have such an impact. This paper presents the deliberations and resulting investigation of a team of university faculty members seeking to account for preservice elementary‐school teachers’ learning and development. It offers a preliminary articulation of a trajectory of learning, and a critique of the tasks and the programmatic experiences from which this trajectory is constructed.     

Moving Toward the Quality of Life

The practice of the self-defense martial arts has much to offer physical education. In this paper we draw on Pierre Bourdieu's sociological theory of the Logic of Practice to present a case that when viewed as a social practice, these movement forms generate certain, specific, practically oriented schemes of dispositions or habitus in the practitioner. We then consider the potential value of using matia1 arts practice in physical education for their ability to offer a glimpse at genuinely alternative ways of relating to oneself and the world through the physical mediunm that would help to compliment and offset the overriding domninance of dualist understandings of the mind /body nexus that currently exists in Western physical education.     

Educating for Commitment: Insights from Postmodernity

Abstract

Secular pluralism in contemporary culture and current theological divisions within churches have important implications for Christian education. This paper addresses the question of how religious commitments can be made and convictions held outside of polarizing and exclusionary understandings of truth, and without the presence of uncontested doctrines. What habits, practices and dispositions should Christians cultivate in this context? It brings resources from postmodern theology and philosophy into conversation with the Anglican tradition, in order to propose ways that Christian education can foster faith commitment in the midst of pluralism and disagreement.

The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.—W. B. Yeats, The Second Coming

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.—Rumi     

Adquisición de morfemas del español

Resumen

Se han aplicado dos pruebas de palabras reales y palabras artificiales (semejante a la de Berko, 1958) a 109 niños hispano-parlantes de tres a seis años de edad, a fin de establecer la evolución en el uso de morfemas de plural, aumentativos y diminutivos, gerundio, pretérito imperfecto de indicativo y pretérito indefinido. Los resultados indican un progreso importante entre los tres y los cuatro años, siendo la curva posterior del desarrollo más suave. Se establece un orden de dificultad de estos morfemas, y se realiza un análisis de los errores cometidos, encontrándose también sobrerregularizaciones con verbos reales irregulares. Se extraen implicaciones acerca del proceso de adquisición de morfemas.     

An Educator's Guide to the Development of Advanced Practice Competencies in Clinical Social Work

The 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards identified 10 core competencies that all social work graduates should master. MSW programs found themselves with a need to identify knowledge, values, and skill statements that reflected what concentration-year students were expected to know and be able to do. In 2009 a group of educators convened at the Council on Social Work Education in Alexandria, VA to develop a model of advanced practice in clinical social work. This article describes the work group's process; identifies and describes the resulting advanced clinical knowledge, values, and skills statements; discusses the key debates and issues that arose during the development of the statements; and concludes with the implications for social work education and practice.