Broadening The Arena for Participation & Control

[Excerpt] Andy Banks and Jack Metzgar have made a critically important contribution to untangling the concepts of participation and cooperation, in making the case for labor to be aggressive in areas historically reserved for management and to do so in a way that builds the organizing model of unionism. The concepts of participation and cooperation have been brought to the bargaining table in a way similar to ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans). Rather than recoil and withdraw from the discussion, the authors provide us with an approach that can effectively counter frequently narrow and self-serving management objectives with a program that furthers labor\u27s interests

Guest Editors\u27 Introduction: Best of RESPECT, Part 2

The guest editors introduce best papers on broadening participation in computing from the RESPECT\u2715 conference. The five articles presented here are part two of a two-part series representing research on broadening participation in computing. These articles study participation in intersectional ways, through the perceptions and experiences of African-American middle school girls, the sense of belonging in computing for LGBTQ students, the impact of a STEM scholarship and community development program for low-income and first-generation college students, a leadership development program, and how African-American women individually take leadership to enable their success in computing

The Need for Research in Broadening Participation

Underrepresentation in computing is a global problem, marked by a disturbing lack of access to computing resources and education among people underrepresented by race, ethnicity, gender, income, disability, and sexual-orientation status. It is urgent that we address this divide between those with and without the knowledge to create computational artifacts or even basic functional literacy. Important alliances for broadening participation (BP) are catalyzing efforts to engage more people in computing, but they are not enough. We need solid research as well

Activism and Civil Society: Broadening Participation and Deepening Democracy.

In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of political activism through an irruption of citizen movements – 5M or Occupy–, the birth of new political platforms –5 Stelle, Zyrisa, Podemos– and the rise of new direct action groups, such as Anonymous, Stop-Evictions Movements, cooperatives, to name just a few. In some countries this activism has not just placed substantial pressure on traditional actors of representative democracy and governments, but has also opened up opportunities for structural changes in the policymaking context and procedures (García Marzá, 2012).En los últimos años, hemos sido testigos de la aparición de activismo político a través de una irrupción de los movimientos ciudadanos - 15M o Occupy-, el nacimiento de nuevas plataformas políticas -5 Stelle, Syriza, Podemos- y el surgimiento de nuevos grupos de acción directa, como Anonymous , stop-Desahucio, cooperativas, por nombrar sólo unos pocos. En algunos países este activismo no sólo ha ejercido una presión considerable sobre los actores tradicionales de la democracia representativa y los gobiernos, pero también ha abierto nuevas oportunidades para los cambios estructurales en el contexto y los procedimientos de la formulación de políticas. (García Marzá, 2012

Educational Policy and Open Educational Practice in Australian Higher Education

Open Educational Policy has become increasingly the subject of government attention globally, primarily with a focus on reducing educational costs for tax payers. Parallel to, yet rarely convergent with, these initiatives is an espoused sector-wide commitment to broadening participation in higher education, especially for students of low socio-economic backgrounds. Criticism of both open education and social inclusion policy highlights a deficiency in both the metrics used by policy-makers and the maturity of conceptual understanding applied to both notions. This chapter explores the possibilities afforded to social inclusion in universities by open education, and the case for an integrated approach to educational policy that recognizes the impact of a multi-causal foundation on the broader educational ecosystem

Approaches to Broadening Participation with AP Computer Science Principles

The Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course framework was created with the intention of broadening participation in computing. Research has produced mixed results on whether or not the framework succeeds in that goal. Given that teachers have significant freedom in how they choose to teach the AP CSP content, students can have a variety of experiences that may or may not impact their continued participation in CS. In this paper, I compare four different approaches to the AP CSP framework by examining their impact on AP exam scores, self-efficacy and confidence, belongingness and identity, and persistence and interest, to examine how these approaches might impact those traditionally underrepresented in CS. I also discuss how social and curricular interventions may differ in outcomes

Los Angeles County Arts Commission: Public Engagement in the Arts - A Review of Recent Literature

Do all Americans have equal access to the arts? Are the arts accessible and inclusive for all communities? National rates of arts participation as measured by attendance at live benchmark events have been trending down for the past few decades. Consequently, a narrative of arts decline in the US has been largely accepted, even as some accounts show cultural engagement experiencing a renaissance enabled by advanced communication technologies and changing demographics.This report, informed by a review of practitioner and academic literature, charts the concerns of arts stakeholders surrounding public arts engagement since about 2000, beginning with the discovery of a statistically significant decline in benchmark attendance as observed in the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). It also traces the role of the "informal arts" (folk, traditional and avocational arts) in broadening the definition of arts and cultural participation.Authors Henry Jenkins and Vanessa Bertossi (2007) have suggested that we are living in a "new participatory culture" distinguished by four factors:1. Low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement;2. Strong support for creating and sharing what one creates with others;3. Transmission of knowledge and skills through informal mentorship networks; and4. A degree of social currency and sense of connectedness among participantsThis new culture makes measuring arts participation more difficult because traditional distinctions between amateur and professional, hobbyist and artist, and consumer and producer are blurring. Broadening the definition of arts participation to include leisure time investment in creative pursuits and arts-making helps enlarge the definition of art's value to society (Ramirez, 2000). Expanding our sense of "what counts" initiates new conversations by reframing the old question "Why aren't people attending?" as "What are people doing with their creativity-focused leisure time?" New cultural indicators are revealing the value of arts and culture in people's everyday lives, shifting the narrative about arts participation in the early twenty-first century from decline to resurgence.Even as both the concept and measurement of "engagement" in the arts has evolved over time, the understanding of the purpose of that engagement has varied. For some organizations, engagement has meant creating new inroads to existing programming. For others, engagement has meant developing new programs to capture the attention of new audiences. In 2015, this conversation took a new direction as people moved from talking about engagement as a process to focusing instead on a key outcome: cultural equity and inclusion. In Los Angeles County, as well as across the U.S., arts organizations began to focustheir attention on ensuring that everyone has access to the benefits offered by the arts. Viewed through this lens, this literature review should be seen as a companion – a prequel, even – to the literature review on cultural equity and inclusion published by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission in March 2016