Building National Capacity for Research Mentor Training: An Evidence-Based Approach to Training the Trainers

Research mentor training (RMT), based on the published Entering Mentoring curricula series, has been shown to improve the knowledge and skills of research mentors across career stages, as self-reported by both the mentors engaged in training and their mentees. To promote widespread dissemination and empower others to implement this evidence-based training at their home institutions, we developed an extensive, interactive, multifaceted train-the-trainer workshop. The specific goals of these workshops are to 1) increase facilitator knowledge of an RMT curriculum, 2) increase facilitator confidence in implementing the curriculum, 3) provide a safe environment to practice facilitation of curricular activities, and 4) review implementation strategies and evaluation tools. Data indicate that our approach results in high satisfaction and significant confidence gains among attendees. Of the 195 diverse attendees trained in our workshops since Fall 2010, 44% report implementation at 39 different institutions, collectively training more than 500 mentors. Further, mentors who participated in the RMT sessions led by our trained facilitators report high facilitator effectiveness in guiding discussion. Implications and challenges to building the national capacity needed for improved research mentoring relationships are discussed.     

"The policy exists but you can't really use it": communication and the structuration of work-family policies

Although work-family benefits are increasingly important organizational policies, limited research addresses the impact of communication on benefit utilization. However, communication is significant because the perceived appropriateness of work-family benefits emerges through interaction. For example, when coworkers complain about "picking up the slack" for those using family leave, their discourse may impact future decisions of other workers regarding whether they utilize the work-family benefits available to them. We apply Giddens' (1984) Structuration Theory to examine organizational members' discursive responses to conditions (and contradictions) present in utilizing work-family benefits in a governmental organization. We argue the daily discursive practices of individuals can either reinforce or undermine formally stated work-family initiatives, and in turn discuss the implications of this "structuration" of policy.     

Enriching preservice teachers’ critical reflection through an international videoconference discussion

The concepts of reflection and reflective practice have become the core of many teacher education programmes, with critical reflection as the goal for many teacher educators. This study examined the use of a videoconference discussion in an instructional methodology course as a means to enrich the process of reflection and encourage critical reflection. Critical action research methodology was used by the researchers to evaluate the addition of videoconferencing to a model of scaffolded reflection which was already part of the course. The findings suggest that the introduction of a videoconference discussion to the scaffolded reflection model enriched critical reflection on four topics: technology use, multicultural curriculum and instruction, censorship of web-based resources, and accountability and assessment. The discussion of these topics allowed the preservice teachers to think about their own agency, and the affordances and constraints of their school context. Implications for using videoconferencing for critical reflection are provided for teacher educators.     

Body Politics: Coverage of Health Topics and Policy in U.S. Feminist Magazines

This study considered health coverage in 3 highly circulated U.S. feminist magazines: Ms., Bitch, and Bust. The authors used critical discourse analysis to examine 80 print and online articles for representations of liberal, social, radical, and postfeminist feminist ideologies in health coverage; the rhetorical strategies publications used for health content and how they compare with mainstream women’s magazines; and their emphasis on health policy and public health initiatives. The findings suggested that the magazines relied on discursive approaches resembling those of mainstream magazines when covering health, such as prioritizing personal health issues and individualized responses. However, through distinctive feminist lenses, they also performed better than mainstream women’s magazines in presenting health issues, representing a broader range of concerns affecting women, addressing people from diverse communities, and suggesting opportunities for collective response.     

Organizing for Urban Education in the New Public Square: Using Social Media to Advance Critical Literacy and Activism

The Urban Review - In this paper, we draw upon data from a multi-year, ethnographic case study of a community-based organization in Detroit, Michigan to consider how the organization has used...