Letter from Taylor Jennie to Pauline Smith, December 15, 1942

From the Ellard-Murphree-Pilgreen-Smith Family Papers Collection. Taylor writes a letter to Pauline wishing her a Merry Christmas along with sharing how much fun she is having in California.https://athenacommons.muw.edu/smithpapers/1209/thumbnail.jp

Alien Registration- Taylor, Jennie (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/31971/thumbnail.jp

Letter from Jennie Burns Taylor to Pauline Smith; September 21, 1942

From the Ellard-Murphree-Pilgreen-Smith Family Papers Collection. Letter from Jennie Burns Taylor to Pauline Smith; September 21, 1942. Jennie thanks Pauline for her letter and gives an update about her time in Lake Pleasant. Jennie also outlines upcoming travel plans.https://athenacommons.muw.edu/smithpapers/1200/thumbnail.jp

Letter from Jennie Burns Taylor to Pauline Smith; July 1, 1942

From the Ellard-Murphree-Pilgreen-Smith Family Papers Collection. Letter from Jennie Burns Taylor to Pauline Smith; July 1, 1942. Jennie tells Pauline how good it was to see her after visiting her in Mississippi. She sends a brochure for the resort where she lives in New York so Pauline can picture her there.https://athenacommons.muw.edu/smithpapers/1189/thumbnail.jp

The critical role of refugee teachers in the COVID-19 education response: Supporting their continued professional contributions and leadership in displacement and durable solutions

This paper considers the essential role refugee teachers played in the COVID-19 education response by providing education continuity and support for children during extended school closures. It focuses specifically on the situation in the Kakuma refugee camp in Northern Kenya. Despite facing severe constraints such as limited resources and connectivity, in addition to their own limited professional qualifications and a lack of recognition, the refugee teachers in Kakuma have shown remarkable commitment and creativity in responding to the crisis. The paper offers relevant policy and practice recommendations to strengthen support for refugee teachers and to meet their professional needs in the post-COVID context, including their professional qualifications and recognition

Our Students’ Minds Matter: Integrating Mindfulness Practices into Special Education Classrooms

This article explores the usefulness of mindfulness practices in special education classrooms. Mindfulness is defined as the ability to regulate and control one’s attention with an orientation toward the present moment. Mindfulness practices of breathing, imagery, movement, reflection, and acceptance exercises are described along with research on the social, behavioral, and attentional effects following mindfulness interventions. The article concludes with practical considerations for special educators considering implementing mindfulness practices into curriculum, along with future directions for mindfulness in the field of special education

The Hall of Mirrors Perceptions and Misperceptions in the Congressional Foreign Policy Process

Explores several factors related to an inconsistency in the voting record by the U.S. Congress on foreign policy issues, compared with the position taken by the public, administration officials, and leaders in business, labor, media, and education

Reifying discrimination on the path to school leadership: Black female principals’ experiences of district hiring/promotion practices

Using intersectionality as a guiding framework, this qualitative study focuses on the hiring/promotion experiences of 20 Black female principals and explores how their hiring/promotion practices reified and/or interrupted traditional discriminatory pathways to school leadership. We find that gendered racism operated across all facets of the principal recruitment and hiring processes in which these women participated. First, relationships and political connections with those already in power (e.g., predominately White men) seemed to be a key mechanism for entering the applicant pool and, later, accessing leadership opportunities. Opportunities were often explicitly racialized such that considerations for leadership positions were stated as being based on the participants being Black. Second, interview processes were frequently described as more performative than substantive with many of the women highlighting questions and comments that reinforced problematic tropes about Black women. Questions also abounded about whether interview panels were reflective of the community and/or if the questions were standardized to ensure fairness and transparency. Finally, district level hiring decisions were frequently disconnected from the interview process and lacked transparency with superintendents, in particular, who overrode or ignored prior steps in, or recommendation from, the school-based part of the process. In this way, findings suggest a hiring/promotion system desperately in need of revision starting with the most basic design features (e.g., standardized interview questions, transparent performance indicators, process accountability via decision-making) and including disrupting discrimination across all facets of the system