Inclusion and the Ethic of Care: Our Responsibility as Christian Special Educators

This essay explores one teacher\u27s motivation to advocate for more inclusive practices for students with IEPs as a Christian response to applying the ethic of care in public school settings. Additionally, it charges teacher education programs at Christian universities to prepare teacher candidates to apply the ethic of care to their work with students with special needs in response to their faith. Special educators, who listen, show up, and advocate can make a profound difference for their students

Initial teacher education in the university ‘My little ship, how ill-laden you are’

Initial teacher education programmes in universities must meet the needs of varying constituencies. Politicians, school leaders and academics, for example, understandably seek to influence how these programmes should look. Given the importance of well-qualified teachers for the building of effective schools, it is right that a range of stakeholders should have their say. The Donaldson Report on teacher education in Scotland (2011) has much to say regarding the academic content of teacher education programmes. It offers food for thought for those wedded to the ‘craft’ model of teacher education. Academic rigour and breadth of experience cannot be seen as inimical to the need to ensure that newly qualified teachers are, indeed, ready to teach. The rediscovery of liberal approaches to education studies and the value of the liberal arts can be key components of a reimagined teacher education process

Training Faculty to Adopt the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, IPP and its Influence on Teaching and Learning: Process and Outcomes

This is the second of two articles describing the action research undertaken by the three trainees and their trainer (author of this article). After formal training, the training team integrated the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) into their undergraduate courses from fall of 2010 through May 2013 in the College of Professional Studies (CPS) at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first article was published in this journal in fall 2012 and provided a narrative describing the faculty development process, predicated on the five constructs of the IPP: Context, Experience, Reflection, Action and Evaluation. This article includes a full description of the training protocol, data collection process, and the qualitative data analysis methods. This training team used an Action Research model put forth by Reil over two years and nine months to determine the influence of the IPP on their teaching. This study seeks to provide others who teach at Jesuit Colleges and Universities a rationale for using the IPP both as pedagogy, a curriculum guide along with specific instructional practices, and learning activities. In addition, a replicable IPP training protocol is provided that is based on best practices derived from analogous research in the fields of contemporary learning, cognitive, and educational research. The study also provides the outcomes related to the impact the infusion of the IPP had on the instructors’ curricula, pedagogies, instructional strategies, learning activities, and assessment practices, as well as the student-teacher learning relationship

Trust-based quality culture conceptual model for higher education institutions

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a crucial role in societies as they enhance the sustainable development of nations. In a context of increasing competition and financial difficulties in higher education institutions, the loyalty of students, faculty and administration staff as well as institutional reputation are key factors for survival and success. They are built upon trust and high quality of services rendered by HEIs. The intentional development of trust serves the purpose of enhancing the quality culture in higher education. The concept of quality culture has become a natural successor of quality management and quality assurance in universities presenting a new perspective for viewing quality at HEIs - as a combination of structural and managerial with cultural and psychological components. This paper provides an elaboration of a novel Trust-Based Quality Culture Conceptual Model for Higher Education Institutions which presents the perceived interconnections between trust and quality culture at HEIs. It can form a source for an inquiry process at HEIs, thus contributing to better contextual diagnosis of the stage where HEI is in the process of building the quality culture based on trust. The findings of this study are important in better understanding the quality culture development in HEIs that is based on trust, loyalty and reputation. It may have an impact on the decision-making processes concerning HEIs’ management. The proposed model contributes to the need for greater clarity, ordering and systematization of the role of trust in the processes of quality culture development

Servant Leadership: Making a Difference in University TESL Programs

Teaching English as a Second Language is a broad field with programs designed to teach students from all languages and cultures around the world. Currently, the field is facing an urgent need for qualified teachers and leaders due to increasingly high numbers of immigrants and refugees. To meet this challenge, universities must have a plan for adequately preparing teachers to work with the growing population of non-native English learners. Creating these programs require an understanding of ways to support English learners academically, linguistically, and culturally as they transition into English speaking schools. Based on the need for support, this article provides a model for university program leaders in meeting the need for future teachers by applying the principles, values, and practices of servant leadership