Practices of Becoming

Reviewed by: Higher Education and First-Generation Students: Cultivating Community, Voice, and Place for the New Majority by Rashné Rustom Jehangir Rachel Bonaparte, Doctoral Student Rashné Rustom Jehangir. Higher Education and First-Generation Students: Cultivating Community, Voice, and Place for the New Majority. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. 224 pp. Hardcover: $40.14. ISBN-10: 1137293233. Rashné Jehangir courageously embarks on the journey of exploring issues pertaining to first-generation (FG) and low-income (LI) students in higher education. She brings to light various student concerns regarding identity seeking, academic integration, social integration, community building, motivation, and countless other pertinent issues affecting first-generation students who attend predominantly White universities. In collaboration with two other faculty members, Jehangir designed a learning community that became the basis of an eight-year study examining and reflecting on the lived experiences and multiple identities of first-generation students in their first year of college and beyond. The term, “first-generation,” can be somewhat ambiguous within academic discourse. Wei, Ku, and Liao (2011) define first-generation students as minority students “who were born in another country” (p. 197). The National Center for Educational Statistics (2005) defines first-generation status as “students who are the first members of their families to attend college” (p. iii). Conversely, Jehangir defines first-generation students as low-income students whose parents have not received a bachelor’s degree. The addition of low-income as a qualifier is distinctly different from numerous researchers that define first-generation students as individuals whose parents have no college experience (Billson & Terry, 1982, cited in Jehangir, 2010, p. 14) or parents who have not received a four-year college degree (Harackiewicz et al., 2013). The inclusion of low-income in this particular research is because “family income impacts not only graduation from high school, a precondition to college access but also impacts [student] enrollment, persistence, and completion of collegiate degrees” (Jehangir, 2010, p. 15). Higher Education and First-Generation Students is organized in three parts: “Getting There: First-Generation Students and the Road to College,” “Being Here: Surviving the Transition to College,” and “Getting Through: Lessons from First-Generation Students.” Part 1 challenges the often-linear view of the first-generation student experience, taking into account students’ multiple identities/roles (mother, wife, son, part-time employee, etc.), self-perception and efficacy, demographics, cultural affiliations, and family expectations, for instance. With a large demographic shift in higher education, “FG students are more likely than not to be Hispanic or Black” (p. 30), to come from low-income families, and also to be categorized as a “high-risk student” (Ishitani, 2003, p. 446). These students are more than twice as likely to drop out of college as students whose parents have a college degree (Chen & Carrol, 2005, cited in Jehangir, 2010, p. 30). Jehangir explains, “For FG students, their worldviews are markedly different with regard to preparation for college, family roles and obligations, as well as their familiarity with campus rituals, symbols, and implicit modi operandi” (p. 31). As one result of these various worldviews and experiences, first-generation students can enhance the learning environment on campus especially if the institution helps them overcome feelings of exclusion and invisibility (p. 31). (Jehangir, 2008, as cited in Jehangir, 2010), ultimately influencing their persistence and success. [End Page 171] These feelings, Jehangir notes, are increasingly apparent at White four-year institutions where the campus culture is based on “White, male, and middle-class norms” (p. 33). In such circumstances, first-generation students receive the message that “their cultural capital, language, and resilience are not of use” (p. 33) at that particular institution. The hegemonic norms of the university are reflected in the curricula, disregarding experiences of students of color who are also poor. These various aspects necessitate a metamorphosis of self for first-generation students to survive at that particular institution. This forcible change includes the adjustment to learn the “university way” (p. 34)—including verbal and, arguably, nonverbal language, adjusting to academic and social life despite having multiple roles (i.e., various jobs at one time), feelings of inadequacy, and adjusting to the dislocation and relocation from family role assignments. Throughout this journey, first-generation students must...

PurposeCollaboration between universities and industry is increasingly perceived as a vehicle to enhance innovation. Educational institutions are encouraged to build partnerships and multidisciplinary projects based around real-world open problems. Projects need to benefit student learning, not only the organisations looking for innovations. The context of this study is a multidisciplinary innovation project, as experienced by the students of an University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The purpose of this paper is to unfold students’ conceptions of the learning experience, to help teachers and curriculum designers to organise optimal conditions and processes, and support competence development. The research question was: How do students in higher professional education experience their learning in a multidisciplinary innovation project?Design/methodology/approachThe study took a phenomenographic approach. The data were collected in the form of weekly diaries, maintained by the cultural management and social services students (n=74) in a mandatory multidisciplinary innovation project in professional higher education in Finland. The diary data were analysed using thematic inductive analysis.FindingsThe results of the study revealed that students’ understood the learning experience in relation to solvable conflicts and unusual situations they experienced during the project, while becoming aware of and claiming their collaborative agency and internalising phases of an innovation process. The competences as learning outcomes that students could name as developed related to content knowledge, different personal characteristics, social skills, emerging leadership skills, creativity, future orientation, social skills, technical, crafting and testing skills and innovation implementation-related skills, such as marketing, sales and entrepreneurship planning skills. However, future orientation and implementation planning skills showed more weakly than other variables in the data.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that curriculum design should enable networked, student-led and teacher supported pedagogical innovation processes that involve a whole path from future thinking and idea development through prototyping to implementation planning of the novel solution. Teachers promote deep comprehension of the innovation process, monitor and ease the pain of conflict if it threatens motivation, offer assessment tools and help in recognising gaps in individual competences and development needs, promote more future-oriented, concrete and implementable outcomes, and facilitate in bridging from innovation towards entrepreneurship planning.Originality/valueThe multidisciplinary innovation project described in this study provides a pedagogical way to connect higher education to the practises of society. These results provide encouraging findings for organising multidisciplinary project activities between education and working life. The paper, therefore, has significant value for teachers and entrepreneurship educators in designing curriculum and facilitating projects. The study promotes the dissemination of innovation development programmes in between education and work organisations also in other than technical and commercial fields.

The study explores the social belonging of first-generation students in a large university in Austria after the pandemic. While social belonging is a complex notion and nebulous to define, this study applies n enhanced concept of student engagement, which views student engagement as active involvement and social belonging on behalf of a student, and as integration and social support measures on behalf of the university. A strong sense of social belonging is on the one hand fundamental to becoming a student and the likelihood to graduate, however, the institution must also provide social support and academic integration on the other hand. This study explores the social belonging of seven first-generation students in Austrian higher education applying a qualitative approach using narrative interviews. The findings illustrate that first-generation students navigate higher education under significant economic constraints and experience intermittent access to social support measures. They hold strong feelings of social belonging with friends outside the university and do not make new friends at university easily. The study shows that first-generation-students depend on financial and social support by their families more than others and that negative sentiments during studying block their active involvement in class, and thus their sense of belonging.

Origins of common fears in South African children

The aim of this study was to gain understanding of how teachers familiarise themselves with a new pedagogy during their everyday practice, in this case the implementation of the coaching role in vocational education. For this purpose, 11 teachers reported their learning experiences in a digital log. An identity perspective was used as a lens to reflect and interpret these learning experiences. More specifically, it was looked at the extent to which teachers expressed ownership in their learning experiences with this new pedagogy, the ways they made sense of their learning experiences, and the extent to which they expressed agency in their learning experiences. On the basis of their initial positioning in terms of their ownership, sense-making and agency, these teachers were divided into an engaged and a reserved group. Differences were found in the learning experiences both between and within these groups. The digital logs of the engaged teachers showed more ownership than those of the reserved group and their sense-making was more active and explicit. Agency was present in the digital logs of both groups. Within the two groups, differences were found, particularly between teachers in the reserved group.

ABSTRACTThis qualitative case study examined two pre-service teachers’ learning experiences in relation to encountering modelling culturally responsive teaching (CRT) in a multicultural education course. Using Constant Comparison Approach, the researchers searched for evidence of observing aspects of modelling in the course, and described the pre-service teachers’ learning experiences that occurred in relation to this observation, as well as the possible transformation they went through. The study revealed that the critical, justice-oriented teacher education course that implemented modelling CRT activities and behavior seemed to help pre-service teachers to transform and extend their conceptual knowledge of CRT, critically reflect and reconstruct prior knowledge, and connect these experiences to future teaching practice. Based on the data, a framework for modelling CRT in teacher education is delineated. Implications for teacher education are addressed.

A first-generation college student is typically defined as a student whose biological parent(s) or guardian(s) never attended college or who started but did not finish college. However, "first-generation" can represent diverse family education situations. The first-generation student community is a multifaceted, and intersectional group of individuals who frequently lack educational/financial resources to succeed and, consequently, require supportive environments with rigorous mentorship. However, first-generation students often do not make their identity as first-generation students known to others due to several psychosocial and academic factors. Therefore, they are often "invisible minorities" in higher education. In this paper, we describe the diverse family situations of first-generation students, further define "first-generation," and suggest five actions that first-generation trainees at the undergraduate/graduate stages can engage in to succeed in an academic climate. We also provide suggestions for mentors to accommodate first-generation students' unique experiences and equip them with tools to deliver intentional mentoring practices. We hope that this paper will help promote first-generation student success throughout the academic pipeline.

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) model has been used for exploring various aspects of blended learning courses using technology such as Course Management Systems (CMSs). However, there is a lack of research literature evaluating CoI in environments where students use an educational social network in addition to a CMS and face to face teaching and learning. This study investigates a learning experience in blended learning that combines the usage of a CMS, Edmodo, which is an educational Social Network Site (SNS) and face to face teaching and learning. The results have shown a significant relationship and prediction of overall learning experience in relation to teaching, cognitive and social presence in blended learning. Moreover, social presence is the most significant factor to predict the overall learning experience of students.

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) model has been used for exploring various aspects of blended learning courses using technology such as Course Management Systems (CMSs). However, there is a lack of research literature evaluating CoI in environments where students use an educational social network in addition to a CMS and face to face teaching and learning. This study investigates a learning experience in blended learning that combines the usage of a CMS, Edmodo, which is an educational Social Network Site (SNS) and face to face teaching and learning. The results have shown a significant relationship and prediction of overall learning experience in relation to teaching, cognitive and social presence in blended learning. Moreover, social presence is the most significant factor to predict the overall learning experience of students.

The study sought to explore pre-service teachers’ perceptions of tutors’ use of student-centred approach of teaching and learning Mathematics in Akatsi College of Education. The study also evaluated pre-service teachers’ learning experiences in relation to their active and passive learning.The study used descriptive survey design. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from one hundred and ninety-seven pre-service teachers who were purposively sampled for the study. The data collected was analysed using means and standard deviations. The results of the study revealed that College tutors used both student-centred and teacher-centred approaches of teaching Mathematics. In addition, students’ learning experiences could be described as a mixed bag, incorporating both active and passive learning experiences, with most of the pre-services involved in active learning. Consequently, it was recommended that during the development and implementation of the subject course manuals, tutors should be encouraged to use student-centred approach of teaching and learning Mathematics in the Colleges of Education. Also, since stakeholders of Initial Teacher Education programme, made provision for 60% of continuous assessment marks in the implementation National Teacher Education Assessment Policy, tutors no matter the circumstances, should engage pre-service teachers in student-centred Mathematics lessons.

The study sought to explore pre-service teachers’ perceptions of tutors’ use of student-centred approach of teaching and learning Mathematics in Akatsi College of Education. The study also evaluated pre-service teachers’ learning experiences in relation to their active and passive learning. The study used descriptive survey design. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from one hundred and ninety-seven pre-service teachers who were purposively sampled for the study. The data collected was analysed using means and standard deviations. The results of the study revealed that College tutors used both student-centred and teacher-centred approaches of teaching Mathematics. In addition, students’ learning experiences could be described as a mixed bag, incorporating both active and passive learning experiences, with most of the pre-services involved in active learning. Consequently, it was recommended that during the development and implementation of the subject course manuals, tutors should be encouraged to use student-centred approach of teaching and learning Mathematics in the Colleges of Education. Also, since stakeholders of Initial Teacher Education programme, made provision for 60% of continuous assessment marks in the implementation National Teacher Education Assessment Policy, tutors no matter the circumstances, should engage pre-service teachers in student-centred Mathematics lessons.

The study sought to explore pre-service teachers’ perceptions of tutors’ use of student-centred approach of teaching and learning Mathematics in Akatsi College of Education. The study also evaluated pre-service teachers’ learning experiences in relation to their active and passive learning. The study used descriptive survey design. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from one hundred and ninety-seven pre-service teachers who were purposively sampled for the study. The data collected was analysed using means and standard deviations. The results of the study revealed that College tutors used both student-centred and teacher-centred approaches of teaching Mathematics. In addition, students’ learning experiences could be described as a mixed bag, incorporating both active and passive learning experiences, with most of the pre-services involved in active learning. Consequently, it was recommended that during the development and implementation of the subject course manuals, tutors should be encouraged to use student-centred approach of teaching and learning Mathematics in the Colleges of Education. Also, since stakeholders of Initial Teacher Education programme, made provision for 60% of continuous assessment marks in the implementation National Teacher Education Assessment Policy, tutors no matter the circumstances, should engage pre-service teachers in student-centred Mathematics lessons.

First generation (FG) students constitute a large and growing population in higher education. This chapter explores FG students' communicative practices as it relates to their college experiences. It examines the ways that FG students communicate with their parents about their college experiences. The chapter utilizes Communication Privacy Management (CPM) to explore the ways FG students manage their private information with their parents. It highlights the reasons why FG students conceal/reveal information from their parents and provides instructors insights into how to best support FG students who may need to reveal sensitive information. Another component of participants' rules/criteria for concealing/revealing information with their parents concerned gender scripts. As a result, FG students may desire outlets beyond their parents for divulging private information. The chapter concludes by drawing upon Critical Communication Pedagogy (CCP) to propose a relational ethic of listening as a way for instructors to interact with FG students in socially just ways.

The study pursued the following objectives: 1) to determine the different teaching strategies utilized by the clinical instructors in the College of Nursing; 2) to identify problems and difficulties related to teaching strategies; and 3) to describe solutions or suggestions for the improvement of the clinical teaching strategies. This particular study used the descriptive research design using the qualitative research technique. According to Adanza (2002), the descriptive research design is a technique in analyzing the data, which explains the status of events, phenomenon, and situation, which is existing and observable in the present condition. Hence, this group of researchers deems descriptive design is apt for the study since this describes the way students assess their teachers’ strategies. The respondents comprised 50 nursing students who were selected through the purposive sampling technique. The following criteria were used: a) they are NCM501205 students at the time of the study; and b) they had passed the RLE for the past semester. The interview schedule was focused on the teaching strategies of the RLE instructors, namely: traditional, critical thinking, activity based, and clinical teaching strategies. The data were organized, presented, and analyzed through the weighted mean and ranked frequencies. The most dominant teaching strategies utilized by the RLE instructors are the clinical and activity-based teaching strategies. These are very good situations as related learning experiences are enhanced if the clinical teaching strategies are utilized dominantly. Activity based teaching strategies are appropriate as a strategy used in RLE because the students’ participation is fully maximized. Meanwhile, the strategies that enhance critical thinking and traditional teaching strategies are only done sometimes. The implications of these are that there is a need for further enhancement of the strategies that enhance critical thinking. On the other hand, the lowest extent on the use of traditional teaching strategies implies that the RLE instructors prefer the innovative teaching strategies. Keywords : Teaching Strategies, Related Learning Experience (RLE), Clinical Instructors

This paper summarises the results of an investigation into the social and learning experiences of students with disabilities in a UK University. The students' experiences were evaluated in three broad areas: with respect to the categories used by the Higher Education Council to examine the quality of the learning experience for all students in higher education; against the issues conventionally included in studies and policy developments for independent living for people with disabilities; and in relation to the impact coming to university has on the lives of students with disabilities. The paper highlights the issues of central concern to students with disabilities in the University and draws some conclusions with policy implications from a discussion of student perception of services, the practical constraints facing the institution, and the social values which underpin the framework of support for students with disabilities in Higher Education in England and Wales.