Education Leaders’ Perceptions of Faculty Ethical Decision-Making: Awareness, Learning, and Change

Conversations about ethical decision-making exist in a climate of misinformation within social and political forums. The issue of ethical decision-making in the context of educational leadership within a school environment has not been recently investigated. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to examine the perceptions of education leaders who observed the processes faculty employed when ethical decision-making commenced throughout the school day. Data was collected during interviews with education leaders who answered semi-structured, open-ended questions. The findings led the leaders to self-reflect, redefining their roles as authentic leaders and a gaining a deeper understanding of school culture, thus helping create systemic change

Forced Isolation in an Era of Inclusion Within U.S. K-12 Public School Communities

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to the forefront disparities and inequities in U.S. K–12 public school systems that affected both educators and the students they served—not only during school closures but also after in-person instruction resumed. The purpose of this scholarly essay is to shed light on the levels of isolation that occurred during the pandemic and still affect educators in K–12 public schools as they seek to foster academically rigorous and inclusive school communities. Recognizing, and then quickly responding to, historic events by implementing strategies that take into account the social determinants of learning and health is the starting point to helping the education stakeholders heal, which will then facilitate students to regain their personal and academic confidence and abilities as we move to a post-pandemic world

Education Licensure Candidates During the Time of COVID-19: University Supervisors’ Reflections About the Forgotten Few

Education at K–12 through university levels has faced extraordinary upheaval in the time of COVID-19. As universities and K–12 school systems struggled independently to adapt to rapidly changing demands, teacher and administrator licensure candidates were confronted with unprecedented challenges in both worlds simultaneously. The licensure candidates were the forgotten few, stuck between higher education and K–12 education, while struggling to keep up with the demands of their personal lives and professional futures. With limited guidance from their universities and school systems, licensure candidates turned to their university field placement supervisors for direction. In response, supervisors became adaptive leaders and flexible problem solvers with compassionate hearts focused on supporting candidates’ success against all odds. Through the reflections of university supervisors, this scholarly essay provides a window into the unique experiences of education licensure candidates and their university supervisors as they navigate the worlds of higher education and K–12 education

Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research for Professional Academic Development in Higher Education

Although faculties are more diverse, decentralized, and increasingly isolated in technology-supported modern universities, effective technology use can also foster faculty professional academic development and collegiality. This scoping literature review applied Cooper’s systemic review model and a categorical content analysis technique targeting decentralized collaborative research teams in higher education. Findings indicate technology supports formal and informal university and nonuniversity networks, as well as various collaborative research structures; all contributing to professional academic development. Shared attributes of successful collaborative online teams include a sense of social presence, accountability, institutional and team leadership. Collaborative teams are integral to research and allow more faculty members to contribute and benefit from professional academic development through scholarship. Collaborative team research should be investigated further to understand and promote cross-discipline and cultural collaboration potential for research and professional academic development possibilities with special attention given to opportunities for women, online, and adjunct facult

Online Adjunct Faculty Perceptions of Professional Development to Support Personal and Professional Academic Growth During COVID-19

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand what online adjunct faculty value as support services, specifically professional development opportunities, provided by their respective higher education institutions. Method: This qualitative narrative inquiry study centered on exploring perceptions and experiences of online adjunct faculty members from higher education institutions and their experiences and expectations of professional development (PD), prior to and during COVID-19. Results: The study resulted in the identification of possible improvements and enhancements to existing PD content that would further support faculty personal development, mental health, wellbeing, and academic growth. Conclusions: This study reminds us that there are numerous variables, including unforeseen crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, that need to be considered when developing, implementing, and presenting PD for online adjunct faculty professional and personal growth. Because faculty want to be listened to and heard, the PD development and implementation process needs to be interactive to support online adjunct faculty, regardless of whether the university is for-profit or not-for-profit. Implication for Practice: The results based on online adjunct faculty experiences could lead to updating professional development opportunities employed in different higher education institutions to promote faculty self-actualization and ultimately, student success

COVID-19: Teacher Interns’ Perspectives of an Unprecedented Year

During COVID-19, digital learning took on an unprecedented central focus in K-12 education. This study applied photovoice qualitative methodology to record and understand the lives and reality for teacher interns as they adapted to abrupt changes in the way they designed and delivered instruction while living homebound during a pandemic. Teacher interns shared their stories of transitioning to virtual or distance learning. Participants (n = 97) were a demographically and culturally diverse group of K-12 public school teacher interns from California. The findings from this study illuminate the need for U.S. public K-12 schools to develop specific professional development training to support teachers when unforeseen events may cause the physical closure of their schools. The implications of this study highlight a shift in the mindset of how to develop practices and policies to support teacher licensure candidates during times of crisis, which may affect their ability to teach and engage students in a distance learning environment. Their experiences showed that out of chaos came the development of critical thinking and unexpected skills that moved education forward for everyone involved

Considering Educators’ Perceptions of Ethics and Safety in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)

With the proliferation of students’ abilities to use technology, in particular virtual reality (VR) applications, teachers are experimenting with VR in virtual learning environments (VLE) to engage students; but clear ethics and safety guidelines are not available. Within the field of education additional research is needed to determine how VR is employed in VLEs. Additionally, what are the decision-making processes of educators for the VR programs chosen for classroom use based on ethics and student safety? Through qualitative inquiry, educators from K–12 and higher education shared their perceptions of ethics and safety concerns in VR applications for use in the classroom. We collected data from a sample of K–12 and higher education professionals from the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) membership, an educational organization emphasizing technology integration and learning. Data analysis from the individual interviews with open-ended questions revealed five primary themes and twelve sub-themes. Participants agreed that they need ethical and safety guidelines as they embark on new horizons that influence student well-being. The findings from this study may provide an in-depth understanding of the importance of developing ethics and safety guidelines for educational VR programs when used by students

Multimedia Open Educational Resource Materials for Teaching-Online Diversity and Leadership: Aligning Bloom’s Taxonomy and Studio Habits of Mind

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore, develop, test, and refine processes to incorporate meaningful and equitable use of open educational resources (OER) in online classrooms. Method: The intent of this qualitative study was to use an action research process of interactive discussions between higher education practitioners to shape collective understanding of how to teach in an online learning environment using OER. Results: The study resulted in the identification six exemplar learning opportunities which could be incorporated into the blended pedagogical model. Each exemplar OER included all four types of knowledge as defined by Bloom\u27s taxonomy and required skills of observe and envision as defined in the Studio Habits of Mind (SHoM). A second criteria for our purposive selection was that each exemplar could be used to teach in multiple contexts for multiple purposes across a spectrum of higher education online courses. Conclusion: This study reminds us that educators need a new mindset to work with multimedia and visual resources. The blended pedagogical model provides scaffold teaching and learning opportunities that were not visible in either Bloom\u27s taxonomy or SHoM alone. This blended pedagogical model scaffolds the “how” when using a visual approach to curriculum development that may enrich the learning experiences of students when presented in online higher education classrooms. Implication for Practice: Educators might replicate this study or transfer findings for purposes of comparing and testing further the use of OER in their online higher education classes to further engage student learning. Applying new understanding in a project that is shared with the larger learning group is essential as students understand and begin to own new skills and insights. The blended pedagogical model presented in this paper could be helpful to educators to maximize the benefits from the integration of technology and OERs to support online higher education

‘A victim, and that’s all’: the construction of Meredith Kercher in the British national newspapers

What journalistic techniques are employed to construct a newsworthy female murder victim in the age of social media? Focusing on Meredith Kercher’s murder, this article examines how Kercher’s victim persona was fashioned by the British national press before the arrests of Amanda Knox and two others. Contrary to prevailing perspectives, we argue that the newsworthy murder victim is not necessarily an ideal victim. Murder victim status in a news story is a multi-facetted construction, contingent on whatever will magnify newsworthiness. The Kercher case is the first example of British journalists using the murder victim’s Facebook content as the primary news resource, adding “authenticity” to the text and images used, since it originated from the victim herself. The research findings illustrate how Kercher was sexualized through the application of misogynist victim-blaming templates used in the reporting of sex crimes. It was the degradation of her ideal victim status that drove the initial newsworthiness of the murder story

Can the DREAM Still Exist?

Poem by Cheryl Burleigh as part of Call for Conversations: Education in the Era of Trump