Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Reflections On The 1978 United Nations Semester, Dawn Schock

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Over forty years have passed since I attended the National Collegiate Honors Council’s 1978 United Nations Semester (UNS) in New York. I have since served as a resident director of the 1980 UNS, practiced law, and taught as an adjunct law professor. Since 2008, I have spent half of my professional time consulting on international rule of law development projects. I have worked with teams of legal professionals to support the constitutional transition in Tunisia; trained law students and lawyers in the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East and North Africa region; and evaluated the impact of …

Connecting To Place: A City As Text™ Assignment Sequence, Sara Quay

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Educators need to ‘begin again,’ to put aside old assumptions and look at themselves and their world with new eyes. They need to achieve the freedom to redefine civic opportunities and responsibilities. City as Text provides a preparation, format, and philosophy for accomplishing this exciting and formidable task. —Gladys Palma de Schrynemakers, 2014

If, as Gladys Palma de Schrynemakers asserts, City as Text™ (CAT) has the power to “redefine civic opportunities and responsibilities” (99), then the heart of that work lies in CAT pedagogy’s carefully crafted link between site-specific observations and written reflections. Schrynemakers goes on to claim that civic …

Committee As Text, Mimi Killinger

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

I mistakenly joined the Place as Text (PAT) Committee in 2017. Perusing a list of prospective standing committees to join on the NCHC website, I had clicked on “Semesters Committee” (now “Place as Text”), having seen NCHC flyers advertising their adventurous institutes, which sounded fascinating though I had never attended one myself. Shortly thereafter I received an invitation to the committee’s June working meeting in Brooklyn that likewise sounded promising. Had I been well versed in the City as Text™ (CAT) pedagogy that undergirds PAT, I might have then done some reading, finding out more about the group and perhaps …

The Merits Of Applied Learning, Michael Rossi

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

In the fall semester of my senior year in 1998, twenty-two years before the time of this writing, I participated in the National Collegiate Honors Council’s Honors Semester in Thessaloniki, Greece. I still remember this experience as vividly as if it were yesterday: a four-month long study at Aristotle University in which half our time was spent walking through Thessaloniki’s medieval streets and modern boulevards; interacting with the people on a daily basis in the limited (but workable) Greek we knew; and making a number of weekend excursions—beginning on Wednesday evenings for us—to surrounding areas: Athens, Pelion, the beaches of …

Acts Of Interpretation: Pedagogies Of Inquiry, Bernice Braid

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

[T]he world is not given, it is not simply ‘there.’ We constitute it by acts of interpretation. —Jonathan Z. Smith, 1988

In Nadine Gordimer’s 1970 novel A Guest of Honour, the central white figure, diplomat James Bray, is asked by a newly installed Black president to shift from the diplomatic sphere to organize educational structures for a newly minted Black national constituency. Intelligent, sensitive, and empathetic, Bray considers his own sophisticated background in the context of this semi-literate Southern African country and thinks: “What was needed was perhaps someone with a knowledge of the basic techniques of learning. Someone …

Transforming Community-Based Learning Through City As Text™, Jean-Paul Benowitz

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Honors students at Elizabethtown College have used City as Text™ (CAT) strategies to address the racism they experienced in new student orientation programming, to transform volunteerism opportunities into sustained civic engagement experiences, to prepare for study abroad and study away, and to strengthen their applications for prestigious scholarships and fellowships. Their research projects have enabled them to publish scholarship informing federal, state, and local historic preservation public works projects; to improve town and gown relationships; and to partner with local stakeholders in community economic development initiatives. Drawing on City as Text pedagogy, they have introduced new courses and academic programs …

Doubling Back On The City As Text™ Walkabout, Gabrielle Watling

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

I had been hearing about City as Text™ (CAT) for some time from my honors dean, Sara E. Quay, and from faculty members who had participated in CAT programs around the nation and internationally. So when Sara asked if I would like to participate in the Rotterdam City as Text Faculty Institute, I was prepared—in a broadly conceptual sense. Needless to say, Rotterdam was fabulous, the Institute was eye-opening, and I was converted.

Bringing that energy and set of ideas back to my own honors foundations class was a way of preparing the students to look with new eyes, not …

Disability And American Education, Kiel Harell

Education Publications

Disability and American Education is a 2 credit, in-person, undergraduate course offered at a public liberal arts university. It is designed to introduce students to issues related to disability in the context of American schools, both P-12 and post-secondary. In addition to introducing students to classroom practice, the course focuses on important theory in Disability Studies and the social and political history that has led to our systems of special education.

Brain Activity And Experiential Learning, Paul Witkovsky

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

The chapters in this book deal primarily with students’ learning experiences as documented through self-awareness, knowledge acquisition, and behavior. Language makes it possible to communicate these changes to others. This essay, in contrast, will examine learning from the perspective of brain function. The current framework of thinking among neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers is that the brain is fully responsible for our minds, and thus studying how the brain functions in molecular, cellular, and systems terms sheds light on all mental processes, including those that are the substrate of learning. A scientific understanding of brain function thus helps to explain the …

Integrating Dynamic Systems Theory And City As Text™ Framework: In-Depth Reflections On ‘Lens’, Ron Weerheijm, Patricia Vuijk, Bernice Braid

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

City as Text™ provides a semi-structured learning environment in which small groups of people are challenged to examine parts of a city through “mapping, observing, interpreting, analyzing, reflecting.” In 2014, I (Ron Weerheijm) attended a City as Text (CAT) Faculty Institute in Lyon. During an early session on the hills overlooking the eastern part of Lyon, our group observed a Basilique, the Notre Dame de Fourvière (1872–1884; interior finished 1964). Having a degree in architecture, I looked at this church from architectural and historical viewpoints. I was puzzled. In a quick scan, many different styles competed for my attention, hurting …

Higher Education And The Dei Climate: Exploring And Understanding The Role Of Social Media, Self Esteem, And Intercultural Communication In Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Initiatives On The College Campus, Christian T. Cardona

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to understand the effects and levels of impact that a university student’s intercultural communication competence, social media usage, and self-esteem have on the students’ attitudes towards diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts implemented by institutions of higher education. By studying these three independent variables, this research seeks to improve the understanding of the university students’ attitudes on DEI efforts for leaders and change agents in higher education, providing an inspiration for leaders, administrators, and change agents of higher education to continue collaborating to innovate methods and avenues towards creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus climate, as …

After The Protests: A Campus Racial Climate Case Study Of The Perception And Curricular Responses For Institutional Reforms, Following The Black Students’ Demands For Interventions At The University Of Missouri-Columbia, Bruce E. Mitchell Ii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This qualitative method single case study explores the phenomenon of a racially tense campus climate at the University of Missouri Columbia, a Predominantly White Midwestern Institution. At the forefront of the media regarding student and athlete protests, leading to the resignation of senior level administrators, African American students put forth eight demands to their administrators. Included, was the creation and implementation of a required racial awareness and inclusion curriculum. The study explores the perceptions of the institutional response to an exceptional campus racial climate issue and the process of formulating and participating in a diversity training course and a semester …

The Quality Literature Quadrant (Qlq): A Reflective Tool For Examining Stereotypes In Texts, Emily Zuccaro Lang, Sonja Heer Yow, Ricky Mullins

Pedagogicon Conference Proceedings

Because texts often reflect the culture and values of a society and can either disrupt or reinforce stereotypes, it is imperative that faculty and their students alike participate in critical analysis and reflection of the literature and texts used in their classrooms. Critical reflection can reveal whose voices are privileged and whose voices are left out of the literature. In this paper, the authors discuss how faculty and students can use a reflective tool--the Quality Literature Quadrant (QLQ), as a means to examine stereotypes in literature and texts.

Freedom For The (Distance Education) People! Ten Practical Ways To Bring Liberatory Pedagogy To Your Online Class, Jason Johnston

Pedagogicon Conference Proceedings

With the rapid growth and adoption of online programs in higher education comes a concern that education is becoming even more industrialized, reducing student liberty. This paper first critiques online learning with the concept of industrialized education. Then, it outlines and applies the revolutionary approaches of liberatory pedagogy. Finally, this paper explores and describes ten practical ways for teachers and instructional designers to apply liberatory pedagogy in online courses to empower students as partners in their own learning.

Educating For Global Competence: Co-Constructing Outcomes In The Field: An Action Research Project, Kristina A. Van Winkle

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Capacity building for globally competent educators is a 21st Century imperative to address contemporary complex and constantly changing challenges. This action research project is grounded in positive psychology, positive organizational scholarship, relational cultural theory, and relational leadership practices. It sought to identify adaptive challenges educators face as they try to integrate globally competent teaching practices into their curricula, demonstrate learning and growth experienced by the educators in this project, and provide guidance and solutions to the challenges globally competent educators face. Six educators participated in this three-phase project, which included focus groups, reflective journal entries, and an exit interview. Data …

Mission-Centered Collaborative Bridges To Increase Stem Motivations, Colleen Duffy

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Many school administrators are enthusiastic about implementing new educational initiatives but have their plans thwarted because they are faced with the reality of insufficient resources. This can greatly limit the expansion of K-12 educational programs and deprive students of valuable learning opportunities. Additionally, teacher preparation programs are required to meet state mandates such as providing field experiences for preservice teachers that promote the authentic application of knowledge in PK-12 classrooms, but regional competition for placement opportunities create tremendous obstacles for higher education faculty. This essay describes the creation and implementation of a mission-centered mutually beneficial K-12 and intercollegiate partnership that …

Building Teacher Empathy And Culturally Responsive Practice Through Professional Development And Self-Reflection, Barbara S. Rieckhoff, Melissa Ockerman, Amira Proweller, James Wolfinger

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Today’s teachers face growing demands and mandates to support every aspect of a student’s academic success, with additional expectations to support students’ social and emotional needs both inside and outside of the classroom. In the face of increasing student cultural, racial and linguistic diversity, the teaching pool remains relatively homogeneous, consisting largely of white, European-American educators. This disconnect between the lived experiences of teachers and their students makes it difficult for teachers to value and connect to a diverse student body. This qualitative study explores how a collaborative multi-tiered critical professional development model between a non-for-profit organization and a University, …

Symbolic Boundaries And The Clinical Preparation Of Teacher Candidates, Bilge Cerezci, Donald Mcclure

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

The purpose of this essay is to make sense of the two divides in the clinical preparation of teacher candidates: (1) between professional knowledge and skilled practice, and (2) between university-based courses and school-based field experiences. This essay extends the work of Lamont and Molnár (2002) to conceptualize symbolic boundaries related to these two divides. Within this framework, a review of the research highlights three main implications. First, teacher education programs need to design teaching and learning experiences that allow teacher candidates to use the professional knowledge they have gained through their university courses across multiple educational settings. Second, such …

Improving Co-Teachers Relationships, Asher Samuel

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Co-teaching is an instructional strategy wherein two teachers, a general education teacher and a special education teacher, share instructional responsibilities in a general education class that includes students with disabilities (SWDs) (Friend, 2010). An important component of co-teaching is the relationship between the teachers (Kohler-Evans, 2006), which has been described as a professional marriage (Friend, 2010). However, there is limited information on factors influencing the relationship. This study investigated if teaching experience affects co-teachers’ perception of teamwork. Participants included special and general education co-teachers from eight public school districts in New York City. Co-teachers from grades K-12 completed the Tuckman …

The Impact Of Universally Accelerating Eighth Grade Mathematics Students On Participation And Achievement, Patrick Walsh

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

In New York State students are traditionally scheduled to take Algebra I in their first year of high school mathematics. However, in many schools, the “top” students in a cohort have access to this course in eighth grade, tracking these high-achieving students ahead of their lower-achieving peers. In response, some schools have adopted the policy of “Algebra for all” in eighth grade – called universal acceleration. While this policy ensures equal access to a challenging curriculum for all students, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, and prior achievement, there is a concern that not all students are developmentally ready to take …

Jovsa Education Special Issue: Introduction, Erin Fahle

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

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Editors

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

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Cover

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

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Teaching Non-Cognitive Skills For College: A Qualitative Case Study Of A Low-Income, High-Minority, Urban School District In Southeastern United States, Elizabeth Byron

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This instrumental, multisite case study examines the role of secondary teachers in preparing high school students for the non-cognitive skills needed to persist in and graduate from college, using Bourdieu’s (1984) and Lin’s (1999) social capital theory as a guiding framework. Non-cognitive skills are defined as the “behaviors, thoughts, and feelings” of students (Borghans, 2008). Data collection for this study is based on semi-structured interviews via telecommunications with secondary educators and postsecondary student success practitioners and electronic archived documentation of non-cognitive skills found to be important for college success by the interviewees. In this study, college success is defined as …

Using Monuments To Teach About Racism, Colonialism, And Sexism, Susan Phillip

Publications and Research

This chapter examines how an interdisciplinary high-impact practice approach to teaching and learning using selected contested monuments can reveal intersections of racism, colonialism, and sexism, and lay the foundation for students’ civic engagement. In place-based and virtual experiences, students observe and investigate local and national monuments, integrating knowledge from multiple disciplines, including history, psychology, art, culture, and tourism. Students make critical analyses about how monuments reveal power relationships in our society. Students from various disciplines explore the origin of contested monuments, the evolving national and local debates around them, and their effect on students’ learning to evaluate historical, contemporary, and …

Teacher Education In A Dangerous Time: (Re)Imagining Education For Diversity, Democracy And Sustainability, John J. Lupinacci

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This article amplifies the importance of social movements like Black Lives Matter and diverse critical educator responses to social suffering, COVID-19, and related critiques of current dominant assumptions of teacher education and Western schooling. The author offers an ecocritical conceptual framework to support education to recognize the importance of how teachers, and teacher educators, can take action as leaders (re)imagining education in support of valuing diversity, democracy, and sustainability. This article calls for an ecocritical pedagogical (re)imagining of how teacher education might be (re)constituted through local activist teaching in collaboration with social movements and in support of social justice and …

Creating A Foundation Of Well-Being For Teachers And Students Starts With Sel Curriculum In Teacher Education Programs, Deirdre Katz, Julia Mahfouz, Sue Romas

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

During the COVID-19 crisis, it has become clear how unprepared our educational systems are to provide social and emotional support through distance learning. Despite the demands for teachers to support the social and emotional development of their students, our universities are behind the curve in providing coursework to develop their knowledge and skills in these areas. This paper calls us to imagine teacher education with Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) as a cornerstone in teacher preparation programs. We outline the importance of SEL curriculum in preservice education and suggest a multifaceted approach to teacher preparation.

Teaching Remotely In The Time Of Covid-19: Answering Frequently Asked Questions: A Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Coordinator Perspective, Óscar Fernández

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

FAQ about teaching online in the time of COVID-19. My FAQ is based on three experiences:

1. my role as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator (2017-2020) in University Studies;
2. I teach a fully online SINQ course, Healthy People/Healthy Places; and
3. for the past year (AY 2019-2020), I have been interviewing University Studies faculty about online teaching and learning. Why? I am hoping to propose an online Immigration, Migration, and Belonging FRINQ in the near future.

Research-Based Course Re-Design For Human Relations In A Multicultural Society, Academic Years 2010-2012, Elizabeth J. Sandell

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

Intercultural competence is one way to describe how individuals and groups understand and adapt their behavior to cultural differences. University students can increase their intercultural competence by understanding behaviors and by experiencing cultural differences. One way to do this is by participating in a course, such as Human Relations in a Multicultural Society. The course's objective was to help students in understanding their own cultural roots, as well as those of other culture groups. This study responded to questions about the impact of multicultural education on intercultural competence among undergraduates. The data set included more than 130 students who took …