In the shadow of whiteness: (re)exploring connections between history, enacted culture, and identity in a digital divide initiative

Who we are, our identities, as educators and learners cannot be considered separately from our histories and cultures. As such, many attempts at improving education for historically marginalized minority groups often revolve around finding ways to connect youth culture to curricula. What remains largely unexamined, however, are the history, culture, and identities of White educators and how these forces necessarily impact the ways in which curricula are designed for youth of color. By reconsidering DeGennaro and Brown’s article “Youth Voices: Exploring Connections between History, Enacted Culture and Identity in a Digital Divide Initiative” through a lens of Whiteness, this article aims to illustrate that the histories and identities of African–American learners are dialectically related to the histories and identities of White educators. However, because Whiteness tends to be invisible, White educators have the privilege of not examining who they are and where they come from as part of their own identity development during the teaching and learning process. This article invites White educators to question what it means to educate youth of color by recognizing their own Whiteness as a powerful force in shaping pedagogical activities. By understanding both themselves and their students as racialized, cultural actors, White educators can begin to develop curricula that are truly empowering for minority youth.

Parameterising expertise in coaching: past, present and future

Research into expertise is increasing across a number of domains pertinent to sport. Whilst this increase is particularly apparent in coaching, a key question is how to identify an expert coach? Accordingly, this paper draws upon existing studies into expert coaches to address this issue; in particular, the criteria used to select expert coaches for research purposes and the methods used in expert coach research. Based on these data, we contend that the elements of expertise are not fully reflected within currently accepted criteria which, in turn, results in expert coaching research not necessarily identifying the appropriate individuals to study. The paper concludes with recommendations for more rigorous criteria for selecting expert coaches and highlights the associated implications for the future training and development of expert coaches.     

Condensed Mastery Profile Method for Setting Standards for Diagnostic Assessment Systems

The purpose of this study was to develop a standard‐setting method appropriate for use with a diagnostic assessment that produces profiles of student mastery rather than a single raw or scale score value. The condensed mastery profile method draws from established holistic standard‐setting methods to use rounds of range finding and pinpointing to specify cut points between performance levels. Panelists are convened to review profiles of mastery and specify cut points between performance levels based on the total number of skills mastered. Following panelist specification of cut points, a statistical method is implemented to smooth cut points over grades to decrease between‐grade variability. Procedural evidence, including convergence plots, standard errors of pinpointing ratings, and panelist feedback, suggest the condensed mastery profile method is a useful and technically sound approach for setting performance standards for diagnostic assessment systems.     

Sex and Schooling: The sexual activity of young people and its implications for education

New Zealand has the second highest rate of teenage pregnancy among the developed Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. There is evidence both that the age of sexual activity is falling, and that an increasing proportion of students are sexually active while at school. These quantitative changes are accompanied by other transformations in patterns of sexual behaviour. It seems that middle-class girls are asserting their right to be sexually active while some working-class girls, particularly those from the Polynesian communities, are separating their relations of friendship and sexual interaction with boys. It is suggested that this may be based on a refusal to accept oppressive forms of relationships and the male rules that define them. Some implications of these findings for family strategies of reproduction and school policies are discussed. The analysis draws on a longitudinal programme of research concerned with the progress of students at secondary school.     

The Effects of Liberal Arts Experiences on Liberal Arts Outcomes

Despite scholars’ praise of liberal arts education as a model form, very little research has examined the actual impact of liberal arts education on learning outcomes. The elaborate rhetoric and anecdotal support, long used to advance liberal arts education as the premier type of education with value for all, is no longer sufficient. The practices and conditions that lead to outcomes of a liberally educated student remain an empirical black box. Guided by the work of Pascarella et al. [2005, Liberal arts colleges and liberal arts education: New evidence on impacts. ASHE Higher Education Report, 31(3)], this study examined the extent to which an institutional ethos, that values student–student and student–faculty interaction within a supportive environment characterized by high expectations for developing the intellectual arts, manifests in the lived experiences of students and predicts the development of outcomes theoretically associated with the liberal arts. Specifically, we investigated the construct and predictive validity of the liberal arts experience scale relative to liberal arts outcomes. Using data from the first phase of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, net of student background characteristics and institution attended, we found liberal arts experiences had a positive effect on four of six liberal arts outcomes, including intercultural effectiveness, inclination to inquire and lifelong learning, well-being, and leadership.

Educating queer sexual citizens? A feminist exploration of bisexual and queer young women’s sex education in Tasmania,Australia

There is a well-documented absence of inclusive school-based sex and relationships education (SRE) for Australian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Moreover, relatively few studies specifically examine how bisexual and queer-identifying young Australian women experience SRE. This qualitative study addresses the gap and contributes new perspectives by examining bisexual and queer young women’s experiences of school-based SRE in the state of Tasmania through the lens of sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 Tasmanian bisexual and queer young women, we argue that biomedical, risk-based and heteronormative approaches to SRE reduce young women’s sexual health literacy. By framing SRE around the concept of ‘sexual citizenship’, this article provides important guidance on how SRE can more effectively provide bisexual and queer young women with the skills they need to be effective, engaged sexual citizens.     

Mapping the intersections of gender and college trauma

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the complex juncture of gender and experiences of trauma in college. Two research questions guided this investigation: (a) How does gender intersect with an individual’s experience(s) of trauma during college? and (b) What sociocultural contexts shape the role of gender intersecting with traumatic experiences in college? Data were collected using interviews and visual mapping/written response activities. Analysis revealed three dominant themes when gender was salient in traumatic experience, including: (a) gender norms contributing to the production of trauma; (b) gender norms restricting traumatic recovery; and (c) trauma catalyzing the interrogation of gender norms. Results of this study underscore the importance of continued attention in both research and practice to the complex ways in which systems of oppression around gender, in particular, but other identities broadly, offer both restrictions and possibilities for those navigating traumatic recovery.     

The contemporary rhetoric of the social theories of law

Traditionally, law and justice have been conceived in a cognitive or formal mode, but in today's society the legitimacy of law must be based on its immanence: Does it address and make sense to the everyday concerns of citizens? This essay argues for a critical theory of justice based on the communicative competence of the community.