Personal Development Planning and the Economics Tribe

The experience of outsourcing personal development planning (PDP) for first-year economics students to a central team is examined in the context of a research-led university. A pilot programme running PDP as a conference for 120 students was evaluated. The process suggests that there are differences between tutor and student perceptions which can be usefully addressed, especially the issue of developing conceptual understanding. The prevailing pedagogy of economics is reviewed to try to illuminate some of the barriers towards introducing PDP.

Faith and Learning in the Reference Interview

The reference interview provides a number of opportunities for Christian librarians to model the integration of faith and learning. When conducting reference interviews, librarians may have the chance to: 1) show a willingness to go the extra mile, 2) provide users with tools for seeking information successfully, 3) discuss information ethics, 4) exhibit openness to different points of view, and 5) demonstrate commitment to seeing individuals as God does. Ultimately, the reference interview can be a means to demonstrate that the life of the mind and the life of the spirit can (and should) be inextricably intertwined for a Christian scholar

Teaching Indigenous children : listening to and learning from indigenous teachers

This article is based on the findings of a qualitative case study that examined the professional experiences and career pathways of fifty current and former Australian Indigenous teachers. Here, we draw on data obtained from semi-structured interviews with the teachers to highlight their knowledge in three key areas: ‘Indigenous ways of knowing’, ‘Indigenous learners’ lives beyond the classroom’ and ‘Building relationships with Indigenous students and communities’. We suggest that Indigenous teachers can potentially play important roles as teacher educators and as mentors to non-Indigenous teachers and preservice teachers. We argue that it is important for schooling systems and teacher education to create and formalise opportunities for non-Indigenous teachers and preservice teachers to listen to, and learn from their Indigenous colleagues

The Experience of the Mentor in a Formal Workplace Mentoring Program

This qualitative case study was designed to explore how mentors in a formal mentoring program perceive their experience. The study is based upon the following assumptions: (1) mentors have experienced challenges; (2) mentors have had positive experiences in a mentoring dyad; (3) mentors will share their experiences; (4) the organization evaluates mentoring efforts by analyzing the mentees’ outcomes only; and (5) the organization offers support to the mentor. The site for the study was a global retailer located in New York, New York that had a formal mentoring program. The primary sources of data were: in-depth interviews with 19 former mentors, a focus group, and a document review. Mezirow (1990) proposed a process that one undergoes in a transformative learning event. In his model, individuals must have a dialogue with trusted others for support as they examine their prior roles. Therefore, it can be assumed that having a mentor could be instrumental in one’s transformative learning experience (Brookfield, 1987). Daloz (2000) proposed that for a transformative learning event to occur, there must be “the presence of the other, reflective discourse, a mentoring community, and opportunities for committed action” (p. 112). These concepts provided a construct for analysis and synthesis of the research findings. Although this study sought to examine how mentors perceived their role, a key finding revealed that participants were motivated by the desire to gain visibility. This impetus shaped their experience greatly. Further, the findings identified three categories of mentors: (1) those who accepted the role to appease management and possessed no desire to be a mentor, hence termed the Disgruntled: (2) those who were invested to the organization and had a desire to help others, and thus are Believers; and (3) those that were invested in the relationship, but had personal agendas for being in the role, called the Politicos. The primary recommendation from this study is that human resources need to be thoughtful in how they structure and monitor the mentoring dyad. This includes allowing participation in the program to be voluntary, providing training, and checking in with each member throughout the duration of the engagement

Scaling Property with Professor Ellickson

Presented at the 2008 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference

Non-white Settler and Indigenous Relations : Decolonizing Possibilities for Social Justice

This article appeals for the creation of more spaces for politically informed dialogues among indigenous and non-white, elder-leader-activists. Such spaces may offer possibilities for dislodging white-settler-centered social movement logics and practices by articulating a dialogue across diverse marginalized communities that may reveal alternative language and strategies that social justice organizations desperately need to further decolonization as praxis. Skeptical of contemporary allyship and solidarity discourses that are imbricated in hegemonic European whiteness, this article offers an alternative narrative of indigenous and non-white relations drawn from Asian Canadian literature.Este artículo aboga por la creación de más espacios donde se generen diálogos de carácter político entre activistas-líderes-ancianos indígenas y no-blancos. Tales espacios pueden ofrecer la posibilidad de desbancar las prácticas y la lógica colonizadora blanca que impera en los movimientos sociales por medio de la articulación de un diálogo transversal ente distintas comunidades marginadas, lo cual puede poner de manifiesto estrategias y lenguajes alternativos que las organizaciones de justicia social necesitan desesperadamente con el fin de promover la decolonización como práctica. Desde una posición escéptica de los discursos contemporáneos de alianza y solidaridad que están imbricados en la sociedad blanca europea hegemónica, este artículo ofrece una narrativa alternativa de las relaciones entre indígenas y no-blancos a partir de la literatura asiático-canadiense

Ongoing program evaluation : a new approach /

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