The Emergence Model: An Alternative Pedagogy for Facilitating Self‐Reflection and Theoretical Fit in Counseling Students

The author presents a critical review of counselor education literature that has focused on student acquisition of theoretical orientations in order to identify the potential of these practices to facilitate critical self‐reflection and theoretical fit among students. Two reflective, awareness‐based pedagogical models—radical constructivism (E. von Glasersfeld, 1984) and transformative learning (J. Mezirow, 1997)—are also examined. The author concludes by briefly outlining an alternative pedagogical framework called the “Emergence Model,” which may enhance the ability of counselor educators to facilitate self‐reflection and theoretical fit among counseling students.     

School-Church/Synagogue Partnerships: A Comparative Case Study of Religious Capital Enrichment

The context for this study is the increased focus on school-community partnerships in the United States. With limited research having been conducted on high-achieving schools, this is a case study of one of America’s top 100 high schools, a Jewish day school; this article reports on its school-synagogue partnership. Like most research on school-community partnerships, this study is based on the theories of capital reproduction. Yet, it is aligned with those claiming religious institutions as producers of capital, finding that these partnerships are effective at harnessing capital when explicitly designed for school members to experience the partnering institution’s religious life.     

Becoming Fathers: Initial Exploration of a Support Program for New Fathers

Emerging fathers experience a variety of stressors, including identity and role transitions, changes in their relationships, and challenges in developing caregiving skills. Increasing expectations for father involvement in childcare are emphasizing the importance of the father role, but social supports for new fathers remain scarce. Nineteen expectant and new fathers participated in a pilot 5-week group intervention aimed at improving stress coping and involvement attitudes using a combination of mindfulness practices and skill-building for parenting and partner communication. We administered surveys pre- and postintervention to assess efficacy in the areas of stress, depressive symptoms, father involvement attitudes, and mindfulness. Within-participant differences were compared across participants as well as examining individual reliable change. Results indicated initial reductions in stress and depressive symptoms and increases in the mindfulness constructs of nonjudgment and nonreactivity. No significant changes were found in father involvement attitudes. Perinatal intervention specific to fathers holds promise as an underexplored avenue for supporting families across the transition to parenthood.     

Perfectionism in Gifted High-School Students: Responses to Academic Challenge

Through a qualitative interview design, this study investigated how participation in a rigorous academic environment may influence gifted students who demonstrate high levels of perfectionism. The study also examined how their responses to a rigorous academic and residential environment may differ according to the type of perfectionism. Findings indicated that some socially prescribed perfectionists reported an increase in perfectionism, whereas some self-oriented perfectionists reported an increase followed by a decrease in their perfectionism. Overall, the majority of the participants, regardless of their type of perfectionism, indicated a decrease in their perfectionism as a result of their new academic environment. Reactions to experiencing imperfections ranged from calm to guilt or even anger, depending on the type of perfectionism. Implications for working with gifted students who show high levels of perfectionism are discussed.