Latin American immigrant women and intergenerational sex education

People of Latin American descent make up the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the USA. Rates of pregnancy, childbirth, and sexually transmitted infections among people of Latin American descent are higher than among other ethnic groups. This paper builds on research that suggests that among families of Latin American descent, mothers have a particularly strong influence on the sexual attitudes and behaviours of their children, yet that parents of Latin American descent communicate less with their children about sex than parents of other ethnic groups. It examines the messages about sex women received as children in their countries of origin, and how these messages and their views of the USA influence the sexual education women provide for their children. On the basis of data from focus groups, we suggest that, in spite of the persistence of sexual silence, some women's self-reflective analyses of their own sexual education as well as their views of the USA as a sexually more open society contribute to their views of silence as dangerous and trigger more open communication with sons and daughters. Mothers hope to break the cycle of unwanted pregnancy by speaking with daughters about the consequences of menstruation and with sons about contraception.     

Examining the Validity of Standards-Based Assessments for Initially Fluent Students and Former English Language Learners

To date, assessment validity research on non-native English speaking students in the United States has focused exclusively on those who are presently English language learners (ELLs). However, little, if any, research has been conducted on two other sizable groups of language minority students: (a) bilingual or multilingual students who were already English proficient when they entered the school system (IFEPs), and (b) former English language learners, those students who were once classified as ELLs but are now reclassified as being English proficient (RFEPs). This study investigated the validity of several standards-based assessments in mathematics and science for these two student groups and found a very high degree of score comparability, when compared with native English speakers, for the IFEPs, whereas a moderate to high degree of score comparability was observed for the RFEPs. Thus, test scores for these two groups on the assessments we studied appear to be valid indicators of their content knowledge, to a degree similar to that of native English speakers.     

Medical teachers' professional development – perceived barriers and opportunities

This paper explores medical teachers' perceived barriers and opportunities for educational and professional development. Data has been gathered through 19 semi-structured interviews with participants on a staff development course 1 year after their participation. The analysis shows that most perceived barriers are found on an organisational level, whilst motivation for development is found on an individual level and often related to the notion of teaching as a ‘private business’. However, what some respondents perceive as barriers are by others seen as opportunities. Some of these differences in perception may be explained by self-efficacy beliefs.     

Conviviality as a politics of endurance: the refugee emergency and the consolations of artistic intervention

ABSTRACT

Against the impasse of despair in the public response to the refugee emergency, artistic interventions emerge to offer fleeting significant opportunities for restorative and reparative action. This article takes up conviviality as a conceptual tool to understand artistic interventions to the forced migration and asylum issues that variably aim for healing, empathy, and reflexivity. Drawing on comparative research consisting of interviews of artists in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States and textual analyses of their performances, we discuss specific motivations and diverse representational practices that aim to enact togetherness-in-difference. We discuss the potentials and risks of convivial artistic productions, which we argue produce a politics of endurance that, as Feldman has said, helps “people live better with circumstances they cannot change.”     

The editorial playlist as container technology: on Spotify and the logistical role of digital music packages

ABSTRACT

This article explores the role of editorial playlists in Spotify’s streaming economy. In particular, it approaches Spotify’s playlists as container technologies – i.e. technical solutions that assemble, preserve, and transport music objects and thereby uphold logistical operations within the music industry. Such an approach seeks to complement previous research concerning playlists, which has often analyzed their emotional and affective dimensions but paid less attention to how playlists enhance calculative, mathematical, and logistical retail flows within the online music economy. On the one hand, the article considers how playlists – like containers in general – materialize principles of modularization and automation in ways that enhance control and remote oversight. On the other hand, it discusses how the playlist is far from a perfected means of measurement and control, and sometimes acts as an unruly transport device. Ultimately, the article shows how the playlist format occupies an uneasy position between order and disorder within the digital music economy which has not yet been fully accounted for in the context of music-oriented media studies.     

Co-existing Notions of Research Quality: A Framework to Study Context-specific Understandings of Good Research

Minerva - Notions of research quality are contextual in many respects: they vary between fields of research, between review contexts and between policy contexts. Yet, the role of these co-existing...     

“Excellent Library”—A Holistic Quality Model and Certificate for Libraries: Concept and Experiences from Germany

In Germany, more than 15 libraries are operating successfully with the quality model Excellent Library. They are part of a research project at Stuttgart Media University where the quality model and certificate have been developed since 2008. The article reflects the experiences of the project: A short introduction to the German library system and quality projects in German libraries will be followed by an overview over the model and certificate. Furthermore, the challenging process of becoming an Excellent Library and related effects will be described.     

Governing Boards in Public Higher Education Institutions: A perspective from the United States

Governing boards have a long tradition and prominent role in U.S. higher education. The diversity of institutional types, and thus governing boards, represents a multifaceted tapestry of functions, roles, and responsibilities. This paper will attempt to define the parameters of public higher education governing boards in the USA and offer critical insights into their degree of effectiveness. It is the author’s position that both positive and negative lessons can be learned through an examination of these public governing boards in the USA. The recent emergence of university boards in Europe is examined and their characteristics are compared against the characteristics of public and private boards in the USA.