Finding Our Voices: The Bittersweet Journey of a Dream for First-Generation Female Doctoral Graduates

While much research exists on the topic of first-generation college students; there is limited research concerning the persistence of first-generation female doctoral graduates. This personal narrative builds on the frameworks of feminism and constructivism and implements qualitative inductive thematic analysis. The study’s methodology included personal interviews, a focus group and document review. The document review included: 1) subjectivity journal notes, 2) interview transcripts and 3) focus group transcripts. The research questions were: 1) What was the importance given to life events and/or individuals in the participant’s decision to pursue doctoral studies? 2) How did the participant negotiate entry and persistence as a first-generation undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, and more specifically, as a doctoral studies graduate? 3) What have these women learned as a result of their experiences as first-generation women in higher education? Data from the individual interviews, focus group interview and document review were analyzed using the principles of qualitative inductive thematic analysis. Four significant themes emerged: 1) finances, 2) relationships, 3) autonomous motivation, and 4) disconnects between the culture of their upbringing and the culture of the university. The four themes were used as the framework for analysis. Implications of the study and suggestions for further research are presented

Metalogue: trying to talk about (un)sustainability - a reflection on experience

This paper considers dilemmas for organization and management scholars studying and writing about environmental sustainability. It suggests that sustainability requires new ways of thinking which in turn require new forms of representation to help foster their emergence. Consequently, the paper partly takes the experimental form of a ‘metalogue’ (Bateson, 1972), in which the structure of the conversation between the authors is intended to be reflective of the content of the problematic subject discussed, in this case their experiences of trying to raise critical questions about scholarship for sustainability. This experimental form, which invites the reader to eschew expectations of typical points of orientation, enables an appreciation of how forms of argument seem to replicate epistemological challenges in the sustainability field. The paper shows how metaloguing becomes not only an alternative form but also an inquiry process for considering sustainability that can support embodied reflexivity, critical questioning and appreciation of entanglements of people-scholars

We Lead from the Inside Out

Business leaders we must clarify and effectively communicate their values before expecting others to follow. To identify values requires thorough and often intense self-examination

Gender violence in schools: taking the ‘girls-as-victims’ discourse forward

This paper draws attention to the gendered nature of violence in schools. Recent recognition that schools can be violent places has tended to ignore the fact that many such acts originate in unequal and antagonistic gender relations, which are tolerated and ‘normalised’ by everyday school structures and processes. After examining some key concepts and definitions, we provide a brief overview of the scope and various manifestations of gender violence in schools, noting that most research to date has focused on girls as victims of gender violence within a heterosexual context and ignores other forms such as homophobic and girl violence. We then move on to look at a few interventions designed to address gender violence in schools in the developing world and end by highlighting the need for more research and improved understanding of the problem and how it can be addressed

Critical Coaching: Approaching Literacy Coaching through a Critical Lens

Based in critical theory, this qualitative case study explored how a new genre of literacy coaching, called critical coaching, developed and what outcomes it produced. The researcher (a literacy coach) built a critical coaching partnership with an early childhood teacher, and two findings emerged: (1) self-reflection occurred through defining educators’ identities as cultural beings, as well as by naming and challenging assumptions; and (2) taking action occurred through critical networks, advocacy in public spaces, and planning culturally relevant pedagogy. Implications include seven essential conditions for building critical coaching partnerships

Imaging, Keyboarding, and Posting Identities: Young People and New Media Technologies

Part of the Volume on Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Clicking, posting, and text messaging their way through a shifting digital landscape, young people are bending and blending genres, incorporating old ideas, activities, and images into new bricolages, changing the face, if not the substance, of social interaction and altering how they see themselves and each other. From data collected in Britain, Canada, and South Africa, we have selected cases that involve a range of technologies and contexts, from adult-mediated activities in schools and community centers to spontaneous media production done in private at home. Whether it be postings on websites, improvisations in video production, or the incorporation of objects in a multi-media presentation, these cases illustrate that, like digital cultural production, identity processes are multifaceted and in flux, constructed and deconstructed through a process of bricolage that we label as "identities-in-action." Analysis of the cases reveals certain shared features of digital production that contribute to identities-in-action: the "constructedness" of production, the collective and social aspects of individual productions, the neglected but crucial element of embodiment, the reflexivity and negotiation involved in producing and consuming one's own images, the creativity in media convergence, and the value of constructivist models of learning

CODOFIL\u27S Ally: Local French Teachers in Louisiana

In 1968, in the midst of the Civil Rights Era, the Louisiana government created the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL). During this period of heightened ethnic awareness, CODOFIL aimed to rectify the damage done by prior Louisiana legislation, which prohibited French language on public school grounds. In an effort to revitalize the French language in Louisiana, the organization hired teachers from foreign francophone countries and advocated for a curriculum rooted in Standard French. According to historians, many locals felt Louisiana-specific French dialects were once again rejected. Alongside these foreign teachers were teachers local to Louisiana. Utilizing interviews with Louisiana natives who became French teachers in the state, this paper aims to add to the narrative by presenting their discussion of the topic. The interviews consistently refute claims that local educators were opposed to CODOFIL’s hiring of foreign teachers. In addition, the interviews explore the strides these teachers made in revitalizing Louisiana French in spite of CODOFIL’s complicated founder, James Domengeaux