The challenging academic development (CAD) collective

Nurse education is characterised by dissonance, ambiguity and uncertainty. Such a context makes demands on the educator's authenticity or sense of self. This paper reports an attempt to provide a space where dissonance, ambiguity and uncertainty could be held, tolerated and examined and where authenticity could be recovered or developed through the practice of artistry. Three art workshops were offered to eight nurse educators over a period of three months. Each of the participants and the co‐facilitator were subsequently interviewed. All welcomed the opportunity to find meaning in their practice and to be listened to in a climate of empathy, acceptance and congruence. They undertook novel activities that allowed for discovery and surprise. They explored their sense of self and coined fresh metaphors to communicate their experiences. The paper argues that there is room for approaches to academic staff development that go against the mainstream.

La formation des infirmières se caractérise par la dissonance, l'ambiguïté et l'incertitude. Un tel contexte exerce des pressions sur l'authenticité et le sens de soi d'un éducateur. Cet article rend compte d'une tentative de fournir un espace o[ugrave] l'authenticité peut être redécouverte et développée au moyen de la pratique artistique. Trois ateliers artistiques ont été offerts à huit formateurs d'infirmières sur une période de trois mois. Des entretiens ont été effectués auprès de chaque participant et du co‐facilitateur. Les répondants ont tous accueilli l'occasion de trouver un sens à leur pratique et de pouvoir être écouté dans un climat d'empathie, d'acceptation et d'harmonie. Ceux‐ci on entrepris des activités nouvelles faisant place à la découverte et à la surprise. Ils ont exploré leur sens de soi et ont trouvé de nouvelles métaphores pour communiquer leurs expériences. Cet article défend l'idée que des activités de développement pédagogique qui vont à l'encontre de la majorité ont leur place.     

Different for women? The challenges of doctoral studies

This exploratory study investigates gender-specific differences in the challenges of the doctoral experience through the observations of a counsellor working with doctoral students. The article first contextualises the study within the literature investigating doctoral attrition and gender equity, showing that identity transformation over the doctorate is problematic in particular aspects for women. We confirm that cultural expectations regarding women passivity, family nurturance and (at least symbolic) subordination to male authority can cause tensions between women's social relationships and academic performance which values assertiveness, clear communication and confident management of power relationships. We identify various conflicts between the female roles of the social sphere and the academic arena that problematise the identity transition of the doctorate from student to independent researcher.     

Mapping beliefs about teaching to patterns of instruction within science,technology, engineering,and mathematics

In this paper, we identify beliefs about teaching and patterns of instruction valued and emphasized by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty in higher education in the USA. Drawing on the notion that effective teaching is student-centered rather than teacher-centered and must include a balance of knowledge-, learner-, community-, and assessment-centered learning environments; we use qualitative interview data to explore how faculty's reported beliefs about teaching are associated with their consideration of these four types of environments. Findings indicated that although a range of beliefs about teaching emerged, most were firmly located in knowledge-centered learning environments, with little or no focus on the remaining three learning environments. Furthermore, even patterns of instruction that were heavily student-centered were situated within a knowledge-centered learning framework. We argue that for student-centered instruction to be truly successful, faculty must consider all four learning environments in crafting and facilitating the classroom environment.     

The chameleon on a tartan rug: adaptations of three academic developers’ professional identities

This paper builds on discussions of academic developers’ identity experienced as a discomfiting, troubled, and often marginal space. Three experienced academic developers, located in research-intensive institutions in three different countries, using auto-ethnographic writing and a shared narrative inquiry, explore moments of congruence and conflict. While there are elements that sustain them in their job, the categorisation of their role can impact on their ability to do their job, undermining their credibility. This can prevent them from engaging in research that could enrich practice in their institutions and inform institutional strategy or change the culture in teaching and learning. Instead they are forced into discomfit: having to defend their right to be involved in the institutional discussions. The most worrying issue is the pervasive trend in the change of academic developers’ status (from tenure-track academic peers to professionals).     

Inservice Teachers Mentoring Aspiring Teachers

This qualitative study examined the impact of mentoring relationships upon preservice and inservice teachers' literacy instruction. Twenty-two undergraduate students seeking teacher certification were assigned in pairs to tutor primary school students in a university reading clinic. Eleven classroom teachers seeking reading specialist certification conducted ten mentoring sessions with each pair of preservice teachers. Purposeful sampling was used to select three of the mentoring teams for data analysis. In two out of three teams, results indicated that preservice teachers expanded their instructional strategies as a result of three components of the mentoring relationship: selection of strategies, organization, and non-judgmental support. All inservice teachers reported increased reflection on and adaptation to their instructional strategies. Findings support the conclusion that early mentoring experiences foster growth for both preservice and inservice teachers.     

The reliability and validity of the pupil behaviour questionnaire: a child classroom behaviour assessment tool

ABSTRACT

This paper assesses the reliability and validity of the teacher-completed Pupil Behaviour Questionnaire (PBQ), by comparing it to the already extensively validated teacher-completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Participants included 2074 primary school children participating in a universal school-based trial and 41 vulnerable children who were taking part in a study exploring the impact of exclusion from school. Exploratory factor analysis results (first factor accounts for 80.8% of the variation in the items) and the high Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.85 indicate that the PBQ consists of one substantive factor/dimension. Strong correlations between the total PBQ score and the conduct sub-scale (Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r_s) = 0.67) and total difficulties score (r_s = 0.59) of the SDQ indicate convergent validity. This study suggests that the PBQ is a reliable measure, and provides some evidence of validity. Further work is needed to test the PBQ in an older, more diverse populations and to measure sensitivity to change.     

Conceptualising children as sexual beings: pre-colonial sexuality education among the Gĩkũyũ of Kenya

Based on oral history accounts elicited from 25 G?k?y? elders in Kenya, this paper describes a non-penetrative sexual practice, ngweko, permitted for the sake of pleasure and sexual release among circumcised and unmarried young people in the G?k?y? community. Lessons that can be learned from the pre-colonial G?k?y? sexuality culture are identified, and possible implications for contemporary sexuality education explored.     

Predicting College Students’ Intergroup Friendships Across Race/Ethnicity,Religion, Sexual Orientation,and Social Class

This study seeks to expand the literature on predicting friendship diversity beyond race/ethnicity to include religion, social class, and sexual orientation. Survey packets elicited information regarding up to four close friendships developed during college. Additional measures assessed pre-college friendship diversity, participation in college activities and diversity education, intergroup attitudes, and interpersonal communication apprehension. A total of 588 friendships (213 intragroup and 375 intergroup) were reported by 151 college students. Pre-college friendship diversity was the primary predictor of college friendship diversity across each intergroup dimension. Implications for prejudice reduction are discussed.