Education Commons^™

Oer In University Language Courses, Jenny Ceciliano

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

Open Educational Resources (OER) offer incredible advantages in language teaching and learning. Implementing an OER curriculum can result in benefits that go far beyond controlling costs for students, which is itself a significant step toward improving equity. Drawing on your own experience and expertise as language educators, as well as the contributions of collaborators around the world, it is possible to build a curriculum customized for your unique student group. With thoughtful design, your program can help students achieve desired learning outcomes not just in language acquisition, but also in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In this talk, I will …

Fulfilling A Wish List: Creating An Oer Beginning Spanish Textbook And Curriculum, Jenny Ceciliano, Lisa Notman

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report discusses the experience of creating and implementing a new open educational resource (OER) first-year Spanish textbook and curriculum at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. The project began with a long wish list of features. We hoped for a program that would be structured enough to support graduate teaching assistants with little teaching experience, but flexible enough for experienced instructors to make adjustments based on their own expertise, current events, or their unique group of students. We wanted the program to be inclusive and centered on diverse, authentic voices. We wanted to focus on topics that would be …

The Collective Contemplation: How A Global Pandemic Offers An Invitation To Dance With The Abundant Divine, Skyler Pestle

Leadership for Sustainability Education Comprehensive Papers

Going into 2020, our world was already facing a multitude of crises to be critically concerned about, such as climate change, growing income inequality, and normalized political exploitation of the vulnerable. All of this is occurring in the age of information which makes for a quick descent into despair, as the scary news fills up our screens. Due to shelter in place orders, many individuals are stuck at home, alone, without a job, and bombarded with news of the carnage and chaos. Collectively, our psyches are experiencing a magnitude of trauma. A sustainable leader who radiates the radical compassion needed …

Middle East, North Africa, South Asia Initiative Report, Portland State University. Cultural Resource Centers, Wafaa Almaktari, Bo Koering, Kevin Thomas, Shanice Clark, Stacie Taniguchi, Cynthia Carmina Gómez

Cultural Resource Centers Reports and Resources

The Middle East, North Africa, South Asia (MENASA) Initiative was created to address a lack of resources and services to support the MENASA student population at Portland State University (PSU). Formed by a group of undergraduate and graduate MENASA students, and supported administratively by the Cultural Resource Centers, the MENASA Initiative is a student-centered effort with the goal of creating a MENASA Student Center to match the other five Cultural Resource Centers (La Casa Latina Student Center, the Multicultural Student Center, the Native American Student and Community Center, the Pacific Islander, Asian, and Asian American Student Center, and the Pan-African …

University Campus Climate Survey: Report On Campus Administrator Responses, Diversity Action Council And Global Diversity & Inclusion, Portland State University

Global Diversity and Inclusion Publications and Presentations

After PSU’s Diversity Action Council identified the need for a campus-wide climate survey in the spring of 2016, PSU’s office of Global Diversity and Inclusion (GDI) convened a meeting with faculty, staff and students to discuss the criteria for the survey and determine a vendor to administer the survey. GDI contracted Campus Climate Survey, LLC, to administer the Viewfinder® online survey. Viewfinder® is a campus climate survey instrument that measures the extent to which diversity and inclusion play an integral role within the infrastructure of our college campus.

After providing a copy of the survey and an administrative plan to …

University Campus Climate Survey: Report On Campus Staff Responses, Diversity Action Council And Global Diversity & Inclusion, Portland State University

Global Diversity and Inclusion Publications and Presentations

After PSU’s Diversity Action Council identified the need for a campus-wide climate survey in the spring of 2016, PSU’s office of Global Diversity and Inclusion (GDI) convened a meeting with faculty, staff, and students to discuss the criteria for the survey and determine a vendor to administer the survey. GDI contracted Campus Climate Survey, LLC to administer the Viewfinder® online survey. Viewfinder® is a campus climate survey instrument that measures the extent to which diversity and inclusion play an integral role within the infrastructure of our college campus.

After providing a copy of the survey and an administrative plan to …

University Campus Climate Survey: Report On Campus Faculty Responses, Diversity Action Council And Global Diversity & Inclusion, Portland State University

Global Diversity and Inclusion Publications and Presentations

After PSU’s Diversity Action Council identified the need for a campus-wide climate survey in the spring of 2016. PSU’s office of Global Diversity and Inclusion (GDI) convened a meeting with faculty, staff, and students to discuss the criteria for the survey and determine a vendor to administer the survey. GDI contracted Campus Climate Survey, LLC, to administer the Viewfinder® online survey. Viewfinder® is a campus climate survey instrument that measures the extent to which diversity and inclusion play an integral role within the infrastructure of our college campus.

After providing a copy of the survey and an administrative plan to …

University Campus Climate Survey: Report On Student Responses, Diversity Action Council And Global Diversity & Inclusion, Portland State University

Global Diversity and Inclusion Publications and Presentations

After PSU’s Diversity Action Council identified the need for a campus-wide climate survey in the spring of 2016, PSU’s office of Global Diversity and Inclusion (GDI) convened a meeting with faculty, staff and students to discuss the criteria for the survey and determine a vendor to administer the survey. GDI contracted Campus Climate Survey, LLC, to administer the Viewfinder® online survey. Viewfinder® is a campus climate survey instrument that measures the extent to which diversity and inclusion play an integral role within the infrastructure of our college campus.

After providing a copy of the survey and an administrative plan to …

Bilingual Teachers' Experiences: Being English Learners, Becoming Teachers, And Bilingual Education, Carrie Susan Larson

Dissertations and Theses

Bilingual students are the fastest growing demographic group in U.S. P-12 public schools and offer promise and hope to our increasingly global workforce. However, many bilingual students are lagging behind in school, too many do not complete high school, and their schooling experiences are overshadowed by racial and linguistic segregation, low-academic tracking, and subtractive educational experiences. There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of bilingual and bicultural teachers and leaders who can include students' linguistic, cultural, and community assets in school. This qualitative research study explores the experiences of a specialized group of elementary bilingual and …

Opening Up The Echo Chamber: Teaching Cultural Competence In Contentious Times, Charles H. Klein

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, political discussion and social life are increasingly concentrating in face-to-face and online echo chambers composed of individuals with similar world views. This segmentation of civil society has stymied in-depth and respectful communication across ideological difference and in the process contributed to the divisiveness that characterizes political discourse across the globe. In this article, I examine how anthropological learning and teaching can help open up these echo chambers and promote cultural empathy and cross-ideological communication. My discussion focuses on three methodologies I use in my undergraduate-level Culture, Health and Healing course – weekly critical analyses on contemporary health …

Pan-African Commons 1-Year Comprehensive Assessment Report, Shanice Clarke, Cynthia Carmina Gómez, Cece Ridder

Cultural Resource Centers Reports and Resources

The Cultural Resource Centers (CRCs) at Portland State University (PSU) create a student-centered inclusive environment that enriches the university experience. The CRCs value diversity, social justice, cultural traditions, student identities, success and leadership. On November 2, 2016, PSU held a grand opening celebrating the expansion of the CRCs with the addition of two new centers, including the Pan-African Commons (PAC). The growth of the CRCs marks a milestone in PSU’s commitment to social justice and equity.

The purpose of the Pan-African Commons 1-Year Assessment was to measure how student experiences and needs within institutional memory related to the experiences of …

Perceptions Of Hmong Parents In A Hmong American Charter School: A Qualitative Descriptive Case Study On Hmong Parent Involvement, Kirk T. Lee

Dissertations and Theses

Parental involvement plays an essential role in the United States (U.S.) educational system. However, parental involvement poses many challenges for Hmong parents in American schools. Many assumptions are made on the parts of teachers, staff, and Hmong parents about parents' roles pertaining to their involvement in their children's education. Hmong parents struggle to reconcile beliefs, attitudes, and values that they bring with them from Laos with the expectations found in the U.S. due to their unfamiliarity with the U.S. educational system.

This study employed the used a qualitative, descriptive case study approach to examine the perceptions of Hmong parents involvement …

Intercultural Interactions Among Burmese Refugees In Multicultural Middle School Classrooms, Matthew Carl Mcparker

Dissertations and Theses

The largest refugee group entering the United States in recent years is from Burma. Refugee students face a daunting set of challenges, from language and cultural differences to living in poverty, in becoming successful in their new homes. To be successful in schools and gain cultural and social capital, refugee students must learn and internalize the specific norms of their classrooms. In middle school, students are particularly reliant upon their peers for support, making peer interactions especially important. In multicultural settings, students have ample opportunities for intercultural interactions, which can help refugee students navigate their new settings and become more …

Culturally Specific Bilingual Arts Integration, Danielle L. Malan

Student Research Symposium

Today's young people are a source of growing social and academic concern. Combined with economic, cultural and linguistic barriers, Latino students are an even greater concern. Studies have demonstrated qualitative improved learning with either arts integration or with bilingual education. After a literature review, there was no conclusive quantitative evidence done prior to this study in 2015, for the benefits of combining the two to use bilingual arts integration as a method for improved learning. Could bilingual arts education improve learning? The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of bilingual arts integration on learning, and the positive …

A Critical Race Analysis Of Travel For Transformation: Pedagogy For The Privileged Or Vehicle For Socio-Cultural Transformation?, James Arthur Gambrell

Dissertations and Theses

Transformative learning theory (TLT) describes the process of reframing discriminative, untenable worldviews with a more inclusive, permeable, and reflective epistemology. Although TLT has been around for more than 50 years, few studies empirically engage critical theoretical frameworks to move beyond personal learning to identify the impacts of transformation on society. Through a critical race theory (CRT) framework, this study analyzed how the participants' socio-cultural identities (race, class, gender, sexuality, and heritage language) impacted the transformative learning of eight study-abroad students from a medium-sized, rural Midwestern university. Focusing on the extent to which the participants experienced the elements of transformative …

Being An "Other": The Significance Of Teachers' Lived Experiences In Working With Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students, Yumiko Otsuki

Dissertations and Theses

The study's goal was to understand what contributes to the formation of teachers' perspectives regarding the education of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Its focus was to portray through teachers' stories the experiences in their lives that may have contributed to constructing who they are as people and as educators.

Four teachers from one rural district participated. Using qualitative methods, the study explores and describes incidents in teachers' lives, looking at the way their life experiences are reflected in their relationships with students. In considering ways in which those experiences may have helped shape teaching philosophies and practices, the study …

Exploring Interethnic Dialogue Design, Stephen Hiroshi Gilchrist

Dissertations and Theses

Dialogue is a process that can help change the culture of our organizations and communities to better respond to interpersonal and intergroup conflict. Dialogue brings people together, in a safe environment, to reflect on and transform their assumptions that are often the root cause of conflict. Deepening the understanding of interethnic dialogue and conflict resolution can have a significant effect, not only in our organizations and local communities, but in helping create a strong and vibrant democracy.

Many organizations across the United States are currently involved in organizing interethnic dialogues. Each organization has developed a unique approach to the design …

Pedagogy For The Economically Privileged: “Tuning In” To The Privileged Learner, Ann Curry-Stevens

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Today’s activists are challenged by the sheer scope of losses by social movements. We have lost most significant battles and have moved into a defensive position struggling to retain earlier gains in social policy. The gap between rich and poor continues to widen, and it is clear that we need new allies in the struggles for justice. The middle class has been eyed as potential allies, with the hope that in bringing their resources, information, and power to bear, progressive social change will result. This paper draws from dissertation research on a pedagogy for the privileged: research that involves transformative …

Class, Cultism, And Multiculturalism, Ramin Farahmandpur, Peter Mclaren

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Globalization has hurt both developed and developing countries. Capitalism's relations of exploitation can hurt people of color in disabling ways. Discusses the relationships among race, gender, ethnic, and class identities in order to articulate a political framework that moves toward transnational ethnic alliances, abolishing the role of capital and the forms of exploitation and violence that flourish under capitalism.

Critical Multiculturalism And The Globalization Of Capital: Some Implications For A Politics Of Resistance, Ramin Farahmandpur, Peter Mclaren

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the historic defeat of Marxism and constant attempts by so-called progressive educators to exorcize any residual Marxist discourse from the literature on multiculturalism, the contradictions of capital playing themselves out in the theater of contemporary social relations are beckoning Marx's spectre to return and further trouble those theories proclaiming that the "end of ideology" is upon us and that all we need to do in order to rescue humanity is to heed the clarion call of diversity. Too often overlooked in the debates over multiculturalism at present engulfing the academy are the myriad ways in which globalization is shaping …

The Use Of Global Issues In A University Esl Classroom: The Students' Perspective, Kelley Denise Fitzpatrick

Dissertations and Theses

There is increasing interest on the part of ESL educators in the inclusion of contemporary, global issues in their classrooms. Theory about content-based ESL, as well as trends in education, generally, lend support to such enthusiasm. However, ESL educators may be erroneously assuming that their interest in this material is shared by their students. Global issues can also be controversial. Their inclusion in the classroom has the potential to create an uncomfortable, and therefore ineffective, learning atmosphere in a multicultural ESL setting. This qualitative case study examined the use of global issues as the content material in a university-based ESL …

Designing An Instructor's Manual For Introducing Cultural Concepts In The Medical School Curriculum, Barbara C. Nicodemus

Dissertations and Theses

Medical educators recognize the need for including cultural insights into the training of future physicians. This instructor's manual suggests selected journal articles and guidelines for their use in each of the clinical courses to illustrate the relevance of culture, inter- and intraethnic differences, an attitude of cultural relativity, and the importance of language use and communications skills for medical practice. The articles are found in journals typically available to medical students. This manual provides a baseline integrative approach applicable to other specialized training programs. A recommendation is made for evaluation and revision of history-taking interview forms to elicit additional culture-specific …

Intercultural Training And International Exchange : An Exploratory Study Of The Association Of Intercultural Training With Hosting Goals Of American Families, Jan Marie Oehlschlaeger

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the host family experience, specifically examining the goals of host families and intercultural training of host families. It compares the the importance and accomplishment of goals between interculturally trained host families and untrained host families.The focus of the research addressed the following research questions:

1) Do host families who receive intercultural training rate their goals differently than families who do not receive intercultural training?

1a) Do host families who receive intercultural training rate differently the goals in which the student meets intra-family needs than families who do not receive intercultural training?

2) Do host families who receive …