Eliminating Social Homelessness: Providing a Home to Grow

Middle school students who belong to marginalized identity groups often experience alienation and isolation. These feelings are compounded for multi-marginalized students who experience social homelessness–a term Harrison (2015) uses to describe students who appear to be accepted in one or more social categories but, because of his or her competing identities, is unable to fully participate in the life of the social group without hiding a part of his or her identity. In addition to this internalized struggle, emerging research indicates that socially homeless students are at an increased risk for bullying and academic failure. Inspired by the need to build homes for students experiencing social homelessness and our professional experiences with student alienation and underachievement, we created a school-wide house system to promote healthy peer relationships for middle grades students. This essay details the motivation and processes behind creating a school-wide house system that promotes a growth mindset and fosters a positive school culture that is inclusive of all students

Uncovering identity negotiation stories of multi-marginalized students: debunking racist and heterosexist hegemonies and developing socially just schools

Despite federal, state, and local school efforts to quell bullying, anti-bullying efforts fall short and student reports of bullying continue to increase. Students representing marginalized identity groups are subject to multiple forms of discrimination and seek solidarity with similarly marginalized peers in order to counter feelings of alienation and isolation. For multi-marginalized students, the likeliness of alienation and isolation increase, oppression is compounded, and the challenges of identity negotiations increase. At the intersection of multi-marginalized identities, there is an increased prevalence of social homelessness--a term used to describe a student who upon first glance should be wholly accepted in one or more social categories; however, because of his or her competing identities, the individual is unable to fully participate in the life of the social group without hiding a part of his/her identity. Although educational research around this topic recognizes how the stratification that exists in the larger society plays a significant role in how students manage their minority identities in schools, little qualitative research has been undertaken to investigate the complexities of identity gaps when individuals are multi-marginalized. Further, educational leaders tasked with creating bully-free schools that are safe and socially just for multi-marginalized students are without a theoretical lens to facilitate their understanding of their students' lived experience or engage in critical discourse on debunking the racist and heterosexist hegemonies that exist in schools. Consequently, the purpose of this qualitative study was to understand and make sense of how multi-marginalized students negotiate their identities, and to provide educators with a heuristic theory that informs their approach to school leadership. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory as a conceptual framework, I sought to unpack the k-12 stories of multi-marginalized individuals with bifurcated identities, and to generate substantive theory regarding social homelessness. Through semi-structured interviews with 14 African American men who identify as same-gender-loving (SGL), I collected data on (a) how African American SGL males negotiated their multi-marginalized identities in k-12 educational spaces; and (b) what impact--if any--their identity negotiation had on the relationships they built with other students, particularly students who belonged to only one of their marginalized identity groups. The initial data and field notes were analyzed using a grounded theory coding paradigm to explore causal relationships and significant patterns. The substantive theory that emerged from the study is grounded in the participants' experiences and depicts social homelessness as the central phenomenon among participants. This theory cites three causal conditions to social homelessness: alienation, shame, and lack of acceptance from peers. It also highlights four ways students respond to being socially homeless: over-achieving, seeking peer validation, becoming invisible and privileging identities. Because this study was intended to heuristically support the work of principals, the most important aspect of the theory of social homelessness is the notion that adult intervention has the potential to change outcomes for socially homeless students. Although these findings suggest the need for further research on multi-marginalized identity negotiation, the substantive theory of social homelessness that emerged from the study can serve as a heuristic lens useful to educational leaders as they construct socially just climates in their schools

Nature's lessons in design: nanomachines to scaffold, remodel and shape membrane compartments.

Compartmentalisation of cellular processes is fundamental to regulation of metabolism in Eukaryotic organisms and is primarily provided by membrane-bound organelles. These organelles are dynamic structures whose membrane barriers are continually shaped, remodelled and scaffolded by a rich variety of highly sophisticated protein complexes. Towards the goal of bottom-up assembly of compartmentalised protocells in synthetic biology, we believe it will be important to harness and reconstitute the membrane shaping and sculpting characteristics of natural cells. We review different in vitro membrane models and how biophysical investigations of minimal systems combined with appropriate theoretical modelling have been used to gain new insights into the intricate mechanisms of these membrane nanomachines, paying particular attention to proteins involved in membrane fusion, fission and cytoskeletal scaffolding processes. We argue that minimal machineries need to be developed and optimised for employment in artificial protocell systems rather than the complex environs of a living organism. Thus, well-characterised minimal components might be predictably combined into functional, compartmentalised protocellular materials that can be engineered for wide-ranging applications

Individualized Education Programs For Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) present with a broad array of deficits and excesses that require educational intervention. The Individualized Education Program (IEP) serves as the blueprint for educational intervention but it can sometimes be difficult to identify which goals and objectives should be addressed with this population. It is necessary to be familiar with the defining features of ASD and the associated characteristics that youth may demonstrate in order to develop appropriate educational goals and objectives. The purpose of this article is to review the broad range of characteristics often evidenced by youth with ASD and to associate these features with specific skills to consider when developing IEP goals and objectives. This article primarily concentrates on providing an extensive list of skills and subskills that should be considered whenever children have been diagnosed or verified with an ASD. Finally, resources that may aid educators in developing IEPs are provided. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc