A Synchronous Online Social Work PhD Program: Educational Design and Student/Faculty Response

ABSTRACT

Faculty and students evaluate the curriculum design and delivery of a synchronous online PhD program in social work that prepares scholar-practitioners in social work research, education, and organizational practice. The designers envision a collaborative community of scholars and leaders nurtured by a cohort-based, sequenced curriculum, and intentional faculty mentoring. This teaching and learning platform provides an opportunity to engage with a globally diverse population of doctoral students while fostering both relationships and quality learning outcomes. Educational design and pedagogical features of the program are described and analyzed through the collaborative thinking and learning platform of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model’s interdependent elements–teaching, cognitive, and social presence. Eighteen students and ten faculty evaluated the strengths and limitations of the online program across each dimension of the model through student course evaluations, focus-group reflections, and qualitative faculty survey data. Student and faculty respondents specified the benefits of synchronous presence across all three dimensions. They also identified significant barriers, particularly in the areas of teaching and social presence. Implications and recommendations are based on a review of findings that inform pedagogical decisions and design options for online PhD education in social work.     

Survivors of Political Violence: Conceptualizations,Empirical Findings,and Ecological Interventions

There is a vast body of literature on survivors of political violence that has emerged over the past several decades. Most studies focus on the psychological effects of political violence on survivors, as understood within the Western framework of mental health. Studies that conceptualize and examine models that account for the complexity of the ecology of political violence are scarce. This paper synthesizes current conceptual and empirical findings about survivors of political violence. Interventions stemming from an ecological framework are also reviewed.     

Radical change through radical means: learning power

The history of US schooling is a remarkable tale of expanding educational opportunities in the midst of educational inequality. Despite cultural commitments to equality and justice, the US educational system continues to provide clear and consistent advantages for white and wealthier Americans and disadvantages for low-income, students of color. This paper explores why efforts to equalize education have fared so poorly and how US schools and society might become more equitable and just. Our conclusions are straightforward: Equity reforms rarely take hold because they rely on conventional, technical approaches to policymaking and educational change. Instead, equitable, high-quality schooling for all students will likely fare better with social movement activism that addresses the societal norms and politics which cement the status quo. At the heart of such activism is a process we call “learning power.” (The ideas presented here are presented more fully in Jeannie Oakes and John Rogers, Learning Power: Organizing for Education and Justice (New York: Teachers College Press, 2006).) An earlier version of this paper was presented as the 3rd Annual Distinguished Lecture on Educational Change for the Special Interest Group on Educational Change at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association Meeting, San Francisco, California.

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Children's discourse patterns and power relations in teacher‐led and child‐led sharing time

This study investigates children's language and interaction patterns during sharing time in a first grade classroom. When sharing time shifted from a teacher‐led to a child‐led event, corresponding changes appeared in children's language, including in discourse routines, style, content, and frequency of verbal interactions. In child‐led formats, peer culture flourished. Several linguistic routines were developed and used by children as a means of social control, as an agent for group bonding, and as expressions of care and concern. Two different child‐led formats revealed how the event's structure regulated participation and length of turn during sharing sessions. We suggest that teachers create speech situations that children are allowed to control. Such occasions encourage children's language development, learning through language, and the kind of collaboration essential for growth of peer culture.