Rejoinder

In the hope of developing social workers who can work effectively with persons and communities other than their own, social work educators have utilized the traditional information-transmission approach as the preferred model of education. In 1968 this same model was rejected for cross-cultural training in the Peace Corps. This paper examines the applicability of the experiential learning model that was developed by the Peace Corps after 1968. The paper suggests that the experiential learning model has a much greater potential to achieve the desired objectives in the minority area and is worthy of consideration for all of social work education     

Reading,Writing, and Revolution: Facilitating Social Activism in First Grade

This article examines how teachers can develop a sense of social activism in students through critical multiculturalism. Drawing upon data from a nine-month participant observation study of a first-grade public charter school classroom in central California, this article highlights how teachers can integrate critical multiculturalism within an elementary classroom by connecting artists' lives to social issues to raise awareness of social injustices, promote critical reflection and consciousness, and develop a sense of social activism. Particular attention is paid to how teachers can incorporate this curriculum into their own classrooms.     

Effectively preparing students for international field placements through a pre-departure class

Goals of international social work internships include greater cross-cultural sensitivity, professional growth, increased awareness of the impact of culture on the helping process, and a greater degree of intercultural adaptability, however, purposeful preparation is required to these desired goals. Therefore, a US BSW program developed a semester-long pre-departure class for students preparing to complete international internships. Theories of intercultural development and cross-cultural competence shaped the curriculum to help students increase self-awareness and critical reflection on their home culture; develop an understanding of cultural values about helping and social work as a profession in the destination country; and learn practical aspects of international travel and living abroad. Utilizing a non-randomized comparison group, significant differences were found on the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory.     

Reflection at the Crossroads of Cultures

This article explores how technologies can transform the obstacles of geographical and cultural dis-tance into new opportunities for learning and personal growth. In particular, it focuses on the potential benefits of reflection in the context of cross-cultural exchange and how technology can bring those benefits to the classroom. Several instances of research explore the uses of technology for promoting cross-cultural contact as a way to expose students and teachers to fresh educational values and prac-tices. A consistent result is that when people experience a new culture or community or even a new classroom, they report an increase in reflection about their identities, attributions, and responsibilities. Reflection appears as a deeply social act. Several examples highlight two social functions of reflection in the context of cross-cultural interaction. One function is to help people decide which aspects of cul-ture to appropriate and how to adapt those aspects to their own interests. Another function is to help people become more receptive to the presence of different values and practices. The article conclude with a set of provisional design principles for encouraging learning through cross-cultural reflection.     

Cross-Cultural Competency Through Service-Learning

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the development of cross-cultural competency within the context of service-learning. The need to integrate cross-cultural competency into the academic curriculum has risen dramatically with the sharp increase in resident Hispanics and their families. Service-learning addresses the demand for culturally competent graduates who can address the paradigms of inequality and invisibility as well as the language barrier. Service-learning develops cultural competency through weekly direct contact and journal writing exercises. By venturing into the community, students see beyond the cultural walls that often divide neighborhoods, and they also make connections between economics, anthropology, history, political science, and other disciplines. Through service-learning, many university students develop maturity and ingenuity that they would not acquire in the classroom. Community partners—the families, students, and teachers—discover how to complement and advocate for each other to help ensure well-being and academic success. This article analyzes and evaluates the service-learning experience through a community practicum course in which students spend 40 hours working with Hispanic migrant families. It includes the evolution in service-learning in a university program and the value in the shift from a focus on language acquisition to the development of cultural competency as an integral part of the program. Working with a population that is culturally different from themselves and the textbook knowledge they have received has become a cornerstone of university language and teacher-training programs.     

Volunteer Work in the Introductory Course: A Special Curriculum Component

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of a school of social work in requiring volunteer work of students enrolled in the introductory undergraduate course. Consideration is given to the history of students' agency participation, program structure, and variety of placements. Observations by students, faculty and agency workers are included. Case examples of volunteer placements are described. Advantages and drawbacks of the program are assessed.     

Technologies for Learning from Intercultural Reflections

This paper explores how technologies can transform the obstacles of geographical and cultural distance into new opportunities for learning and personal growth. In particular, it focuses on the potential benefits of reflection in the context of cross-cultural exchange and how technology can bring those benefits to the classroom. Several instances of research explore the uses of technology for promoting cross-cultural contact as a way to expose students and teachers to fresh models of educational values and practices. A consistent result is that, when people experience a new culture or community or even a new classroom, they report an increase in reflection, both about their identities as new members of the community and about their personal goals and responsibility in relation to the values of the new community. Reflection appears as a deeply social act. Several examples highlight two social functions of reflection in the context of cross-cultural interaction. One important function is to help people decide which aspects of culture to appropriate and how to adapt those aspects to their own interests. Another important function of reflection is to help people become more receptive to the presence of different values and practices. The paper concludes with a set of provisional design principles for encouraging learning through cross-cultural reflection.     

A Pseudofolliculitis Barbae Clinic for the Black Male who Has to Shave

Abstract

We conducted focus group interviews with students who were current peer health educators at a mid-sized university to determine what factors motivate individuals to volunteer for a peer health education program. Specifically, we asked the participants questions designed to explore their life experiences, their expectations of the peer education program, and their motivations. Constructs from social learning theory were used to categorize and contribute to our understanding of the responses. Many participants specified experiences with family members or friends, such as alcoholism or other illnesses, that had influenced their decisions. Participants' expectation of the program varied greatly and did not indicate a strong link to the decision to volunteer. The peer health educators' motivations for volunteering were altruistic, such as wanting to help others; egoistic, such as wanting job training; or related to self-efficacy beliefs, such as satisfying a personal need for health education. This study indicated that life experiences, a belief in the effectiveness of peer health education programs, and positive reinforcement to join influence the decision to volunteer. Implications for coordinating peer education programs are discussed.     

Enhancing Student Awareness of the Importance of Full and Accurate Documentation in Social Work Practice

The paper describes a classroom assignment that was used to raise social work students' awareness of the importance of timely, clear, and thorough documentation. The assignment was devised in view of the great importance of quality documentation in social work, coupled with the reluctance of social workers to invest the necessary time and effort to produce it. The core of the assignment was for the students to examine and report on the documentation in two client files at their fieldwork agency. The findings obtained from the students' reports show that about a fifth of the 190 files that were examined did not contain various pieces of basic information about the clients and intervention outcomes, and that much of the information that was provided was unclear and unorganized. The students' written reflections following the completion of the assignment indicate that the assignment achieved its aim of elevating their awareness of the importance of quality documentation. The paper ends with a discussion of issues to consider in repeating the assignment in the future, based on the reflections of the students and their classroom instructors.     

With a little help from my trainers

We report on the training of graduate students as job application trainers within a train-the-trainer program. This program consists of two phases: in the first phase of the program, graduate students are trained to become job application trainers and in the second phase, the students give trainings to refugees whom they recruit themselves. Given the multiplier effect of this didactic approach, many refugees may be reached.To evaluate the effectiveness of the first phase of the program for the students, we conducted a questionnaire and interview study. Results of the evaluation show the following: based on their past experience, the participants of the program were more likely to be encouraged by their families to help others than the participants in a control group. In addition, they were more motivated to volunteer deliberately and actively. Furthermore, all necessary core competencies for training performance improved over time. We were also able to predict participants’ intentions to volunteer and their attitude towards labor market integration of refugees. We discuss challenges of the program’s implementation.     

The “male” privilege of White women,the “White” privilege of Black women,and vulnerability to violence: an intersectional analysis of Peace Corps workers in host countries

This article is an intersectional analysis of race, gender, and nationality in development work. Using interview, document, and observational data, I situate this inquiry in the context of US women’s work in the Peace Corps, an organization within a field marked by colonialism. I find that White women and women of color have similar and yet instructively different experiences of their gendered identities in field sites, because race and gender differently affect their identities and relative privilege abroad. Specifically, White women volunteers are often afforded some degree of “male” privilege because of their race (though their race may render them vulnerable to sexual violence), while some volunteers of color are afforded a degree of “White” privilege because of their nationality (although their race may also render them vulnerable to violence). However, because the Peace Corps does not challenge conventional race and gender privileges, it lacks the organizational orientation and capacity to effectively address safety and assault among its women volunteers.     

Tobacco prevention education in schools for the deaf: the faculty perspective

We report results of a survey of tobacco education practices and perspectives among faculty at four Schools for the Deaf participating in the trial of a tailored tobacco prevention curriculum. Few faculty (20.4%) included tobacco use among the three most important health problems facing their students, although 88.8% considered tobacco education to be worthwhile. Despite perceived unmet needs among their students, classroom or school-wide attention to tobacco prevention was limited. Only 13.9% reported delivering tobacco programming in the prior year, most often reporting lack of deaf-friendly curriculum and materials (60.9%), time (47.8%), and training (43.5%) as barriers to program delivery. Perceptions, attitudes, and institutional issues, including lack of tailored curriculum, were seen as contributing to the limited focus on this important health problem.     

Effectiveness of a multi-faceted,school-based health intervention program with 4th graders in Alabama

Childhood obesity is considered one of the most prevalent, chronic disorders in the U.S. with Alabama among the states with the highest incidence. Schools have the opportunity to play a vital role in educating children about healthy nutritional, physical, and psychological choices. The purpose of this multi-faceted, school-based health intervention was to educate children about healthy nutrition, promote physical activity, and use avatars as an educational and motivational tool for understanding and developing healthy bodies. Six fourth-grade classrooms in rural Alabama participated. The intervention group consisted of 25 males and 26 females (43% African-American, 57% European-American; 26% obese, 14% overweight) who received a 10-week nutrition education program that incorporated classroom physical activity and exposure to avatars. The control group consisted of 30 males and 24 females (41% African-American, 59% European-American; 28% obese, 15% overweight) who received no intervention or initial avatar exposure. Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance determined that only intervention children significantly improved their healthy food choice intentions, ability to identify fatty foods, and general nutrition knowledge at posttest. Additionally, most intervention students reported that manipulating their avatar's body size helped them think about healthy weight (86%-helpful, 12%-somewhat helpful) and their own best, healthy body size (76%-yes, 22%-maybe). Intervention children picked healthier avatars as their ideal/desired body size at posttest. This intervention improved nutrition knowledge and attitudes and provided preliminary evidence that avatars can be a useful tool in childhood health interventions to help elementary school students think about healthy weight and body size.     

大学生版权意识现状研究

版权意识是落实版权制度、促进版权保护的基础。当代大学生作为社会年轻的知识群体,其版权意识具有重要的示范意义。当代大学生版权意识现状如何,具有什么特点?值得分析。以广州大学城的大学生作为样本对象,围绕当代大学生对于版权意识的诸多认知进行问卷调查分析,总结出其版权意识的有关特点,提出了提高大学生版权意识的有关建议:政府部门和司法机关发挥职能,为提高大学生版权意识营造良好的社会环境;开展有针对性的版权专题宣传活动,扩大受众范围;高校应加强课堂内外版权法律知识教育,拓宽交流平台;提高大学生的版权的主体意识,维护自身权利并积极履行义务。     

Evaluation in the Social Studies

Online role-playing games such as World Of Warcraft represent new participatory cultures in which today's students engage every day. They are appealing to players largely because of the social aspects of game play. Some features of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) can be incorporated into classroom culture to create more dynamic interactions between students and improve both content instruction and civic competence.     

Instructional Materials

Discussion has long been identified by many in the field of social studies education as one of the most important elements of social studies instruction. However, many classroom teachers face several challenges in implementing the strategy. As a way to combat these challenges and encourage the use of discussion in American's classrooms, the Coalition of Essential Schools (2007) developed a strategy called the “Chalk Talk,” or silent discussion. Nonetheless, the Chalk Talk strategy has unique limitations as well. This article offers social studies teachers an alternative approach to incorporating silent discussion in the classroom by using the Google Docs program. Although the program remedied some of the limitations of the Chalk Talk strategy, new ones developed with its use.     

Picking Up the Mantle of “Expert”: Assigned Roles,Assertion of Identity,and Peer Recognition Within a Programming Class

Changing an established role in a classroom is difficult. It involves constructing a new set of relations within a community. In this article we investigate how students with newly developed interest and experience in programming developed outside the classroom pick up and establish their roles as experts in programming within the classroom community. More specifically, we focus on how two 11-year-old software designers shifted their established roles in their classroom to gain status as expert programmers. We use an identity lens to understand how peer expertise was established in the context of a classroom community, adopting a multifaceted perspective of identity by focusing on an individual's narrativization of self, full, or peripheral participation among a group of people, and individuals' social recognition by others. Our findings point to the importance of both positive positioning by authority figures in the classroom and activities and roles that provide opportunities to establish intersubjectivity among peers in facilitating students' identities as experts in the classroom. Students' willingness to take up a new position in the established activity system also played a role. We consider implications of how making roles flexible within classroom stratification may provide opportunities for more students see themselves as experts.     

An Overview and Critique of the Experience Corps for Independent Living Initiative

Abstract

This article presents findings of the evaluation of the Experience Corps for Independent Living (ECIL) initiative. The ECIL initiative was a two-year demonstration program designed to test innovative ways to use the experience, time, and resources of volunteers over 55 to expand significantly the size and scope of volunteer efforts on behalf of independent living services for frail older people and their caregivers in specific communities. Six demonstration projects were selected to participate in this initiative. The intensive volunteers, the critical component of the program, were more highly skilled than typical volunteers from existing senior volunteer programs. ECIL volunteers collaborated with agency partners to develop new programs, supervise direct service activities, and enhance the performance of the agencies being served. Although the projects addressed many of the goals of the initiative, they did not fully accomplish all of their objectives. The ECIL initiative was particularly successful in providing independent living services to frail elders and their families in the communities served. It was less successful in developing and maintaining the team and corps concept, in attracting and retaining the anticipated numbers of volunteers during the study period, and in becoming self-sufficient by the end of Year Three.     

Examining Ecuadorian teachers’ perspectives on their students’ multiculturalism

ABSTRACT

This study investigated Ecuadorian teachers’ attitudes towards multilingual students. This work was informed by findings from two previous studies consisting of observations and interviews with secondary school teachers. In this mixed methods study, 26 teachers completed a 22-question Likert Scale questionnaire that explored their awareness of the influences of students’ cultural norms on classroom instruction. In small focus groups, participants responded to three open-ended questions documenting their definition of multiculturalism and philosophies of how to create a culturally responsive classroom. Findings suggest that Ecuador’s teachers are aware of the diversity within their country but report their training did not stress the pedagogical need to consider cultural influences on teaching and learning.