Motivational factors for youth recruitment in voluntary interventions: the case of a community sport program

Recruitment is known to be a challenge for intervention programs targeting youths, including sports programs. Following the popularity of the Alter-Action program of the Montreal-based organization DesÉquilibres, we wanted to understand the motivations and barriers to youths' recruitment in this voluntary sports community program. A qualitative methodology was favored. We conducted 27 semi-structured interviews (n = 27) with participants, 5 (n = 5) with the partners, and we carried out a focus group with 5 (n = 5) of the organization's service practitioners. We also conducted a participant observation with youth cohorts and during preparatory meetings. Five factors influencing recruitment emerged: (1) socialization/belonging; (2) training/physical aspects; (3) ‘extraordinary’ dimension; (4) practicality of the program; and (5) social influences. Four key elements thus appear important to consider when promoting the recruitment of youths in voluntary community programs: (1) favoring social interactions; (2) insisting on the specific and beneficial elements of the program; (3) allowing youths to experiment a trial period; and (4) including testimonies of former participants in the information session. Further recommendations for psychosocial intervention programs targeting youths are discussed in this article.     

Identification of the Gifted Redefined With Ethics and Equity in Mind

Throughout his focus article, Robert Sternberg discusses the theoretical underpinnings and rationale behind his emerging Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership (ACCEL) model. In the process, he raises several critically important issues, including the misuse of IQ testing as the major method for identifying gifted students, the need to address real-life problems by focusing on creativity and concerned citizenship, and the potential for principled, ethical leadership to make a real difference in the world now and in the future. The intent of this response article is to pick up on these major themes, extend the conversation, emphasize the necessity for expanding enrichment programming to include marginalized young people for whom the playing field is not level, and help set the stage for wider implementation of the ACCEL framework to enhance identification, instruction, and learning in gifted education.     

We Are All Teachers: A Collaborative Approach to Digital Collection Development

ABSTRACT

In libraries and archives, efforts to document underrepresented communities and diversify collections can be fraught with political tension. We explore an interdepartmental collaboration to create and preserve a digital collection documenting the Urban Native Relocation Program of the mid- to late-twentieth century in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Involving the Grand Valley State University Libraries, the Kutsche Office of Local History, and the university's Native American Advisory Board, the project serves as a model not just for collaborative collection development but also for community engagement and outreach. We find that process is as important as product in developing collaborative digital collections.     

Examining the Legacy of Urban Catholic Schooling in the U.S.: A Systematic Literature Review

The Urban Review - Research conducted in the twentieth century found urban Catholic schools in the U.S. had a legacy of providing high quality educational opportunities for low-income students and...     

Représentations et fonctionnements cognitifs dans une recherche de panne d’un système d’allumage en mecanique-auto

Fault finding is a puzzling task, at work and in technical and professional training. Our purpose is to contribute to an analysis of the required competencies and mainly to a characterisation of the evolution steps in knowledge and action organisation from novice to expert. Eight grown-up preparing a professional certificate in engine mecanics were observed and filmed while they were working out the diagnosis of an ignition trouble on a real equipment. The theory of functionning registers (deducted from Piaget’s theory) is considered as a relevant frame for our activity analysis. So, four competencies patterns has been outlined on the basis of errors extension, circuit functionning representations which were infered from schema interpretations, and trouble-shooting strategies denoted by control procedures. Some consequences about training are examined.     

Psychological climates in action learning sets: a manager's perspective

Action learning (AL) is often viewed as a process that facilitates professional learning through the creation of a positive psychological climate [Marquardt, M. J. 2000. “Action Learning and Leadership.” The Learning Organisation 7 (5): 233–240; Schein, E. H. 1979. “Personal Change Through Interpersonal Relationships.” In Essays in Interpersonal Dynamics, edited by W. Bennis, J. Van Maanen, E. H. Schein, and F. I. Steele, 129–162]. A psychological climate that fosters an environment in which learning set members feel psychologically safe enough to reflect upon both the successes and the failures in their professional life, without any form of repercussion. However, there has been little attention given to the ways that that psychological climate develops, and the differing facets that create that climate. In response to such deficit, this paper reports the outcomes of interviews with 11 managers, all of whom are former AL set (ALS) members, on their experiences of ALS membership. Drawing upon an interpretivist philosophy, the paper explores the key themes that emerged from the analysis of those interviews. The analysis serves to illustrate the differing facets that collectively contribute to the creation of a positive psychological climate that is conducive for learning. The analysis points to the relative importance of such facets as trust, honesty, vulnerability, reciprocity, confidentiality and personal disclosure, all of which have the capacity to lead to a positive psychological climate in ALSs. This paper is useful for developing an understanding of the differing facets in ALSs that create a psychological climate conducive for learning. As such, it has utility for AL facilitators, set members, academics and educational consultants.     

From External Regulation to Self-Regulation: Early Parenting Precursors of Young Children's Executive Functioning

In keeping with proposals emphasizing the role of early experience in infant brain development, this study investigated the prospective links between quality of parent–infant interactions and subsequent child executive functioning (EF), including working memory, impulse control, and set shifting. Maternal sensitivity, mind-mindedness and autonomy support were assessed when children were 12 to 15 months old ( N  =   80). Child EF was assessed at 18 and 26 months. All three parenting dimensions were found to relate to child EF. Autonomy support was the strongest predictor of EF at each age, independent of general cognitive ability and maternal education. These findings add to previous results on child stress-response systems in suggesting that parent–child relationships may play an important role in children's developing self-regulatory capacities.