During Spring semester 2005, budgetary constraints, personnel reductions, and questions of efficacy challenged librarians at the University of Arizona to develop more integrated…
Abstract
Purpose
During Spring semester 2005, budgetary constraints, personnel reductions, and questions of efficacy challenged librarians at the University of Arizona to develop more integrated methods for assisting faculty, instructors, and students in teaching and learning information literacy skills. In order to meet this challenge, University of Arizona librarians collaborated with the University's English Composition Program to develop an instructor‐led, librarian facilitated approach to integrating information literacy instruction into the English Composition curriculum. This was a natural fit because there are fundamental similarities between the educational goals of the English Composition Program and the outcomes espoused by the Association of College and Research Libraries Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. The approach that the University of Arizona Library has developed is described in the following pages in the hopes that it can serve to assist librarians elsewhere in developing their own responses to similar challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
A discussion of the development process as well as information gleaned from interviewing and surveying English composition instructors is presented.
Findings
The development process of the approach is described in detail, and the overall efficacy of the approach is addressed.
Practical implications
The approach to integrating information literacy skills into the University of Arizona English Composition Curriculum is presented in order to provide guidelines and practical assistance to librarians facing similar challenges.
Originality/value
This paper describes and addresses the benefits and challenges of moving towards more blended forms of instruction and library information literacy skills integration.
Details
Keywords
Paul J. Bracke and Ruth Dickstein
In an effort to meet the challenge of providing students in a large general education course with effective library instruction, a pilot project of using a Web tutorial was…
Abstract
In an effort to meet the challenge of providing students in a large general education course with effective library instruction, a pilot project of using a Web tutorial was tested. This article describes librarian collaboration with faculty in the development of a Web tutorial and supplementary course materials over the course of three semesters. The success of the original experiment convinced the teaching assistants and faculty member to incorporate the tutorial into the class syllabus. Unique to this Web tutorial is the continued involvement of the librarian in responding to each student. This successful instructional tool has been adapted for other courses, and can be a model for reaching large numbers of students.
Details
Keywords
Daniela Pirani, Benedetta Cappellini and Vicki Harman
This paper aims to examine how Mulino Bianco, an iconic Italian bakery brand, has reshaped the symbolic and material aspects of breakfast in Italy, transforming a declining…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how Mulino Bianco, an iconic Italian bakery brand, has reshaped the symbolic and material aspects of breakfast in Italy, transforming a declining practice into a common family occasion.
Design/methodology/approach
A socio-historical analysis of the iconisation process has been undertaken with a framework for investigating the symbolic, material and practice-based aspects of the brand and their changes over time. Archival marketing material, advertising campaigns and interviews with brand managers constitute the main data for analysis.
Findings
Three crucial moments have been identified in which the brand articulates its relationship with the practice of breakfast. During the launch of the brand, the articulation was mainly instigated via the myths of tamed nature and rural past and the material aspect of the products reinforced such an articulation. In the second moment, the articulation was established with the brand’s materiality, emphasised through the use of promotional items targeting mothers and children. In the last phase, a cementification of the articulation was achieved mainly via the symbolic aspect of the brand – communicating Mulino Bianco as emblematic of a new family life in which the “Italian breakfast” was central.
Originality/value
Theoretically, this paper advances the understanding of the pervasive influence of brands in family life, showing how they do not simply reshape existing family food practices, rather they can re-create new ones, investing them with symbolic meanings, anchoring them with novel materiality and equipping consumers with new understandings and competences.
Details
Keywords
Albert J. Mills and Jean C. Helms Mills
This chapter presents a feminist poststructuralist account of the role of men and masculinity in the development of Air Canada, specifically in its early years and the development…
Abstract
This chapter presents a feminist poststructuralist account of the role of men and masculinity in the development of Air Canada, specifically in its early years and the development of the organization’s culture. It is argued that an understanding of the development of gendered practices (i.e., the development of male associated or dominated work) over time can help us to understand and identify how such practices develop, are maintained, and also change.
Details
Keywords
Existing research on businesses that are both owned and managed by their workers suggests that these firms have one of two kinds of effects for their participants. They either…
Abstract
Existing research on businesses that are both owned and managed by their workers suggests that these firms have one of two kinds of effects for their participants. They either learn to be better citizens of democratic society through daily democratic practice, or they become better capitalists through the daily practice of business ownership. Drawing on data collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation, I argue that cooperative participants learn both things. Furthermore, participants in cooperatives develop a spirit of Cooperative Entrepreneurialism that allows them to engage in free enterprise, while also adhering to the cooperative values of equality and democracy.
Vicky Duckworth and Bronwen Maxwell
The purpose of this paper is to explore how mentors can act as change agents for social justice. It examines mentors’ roles in initial teacher education in the lifelong learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how mentors can act as change agents for social justice. It examines mentors’ roles in initial teacher education in the lifelong learning sector (LLS) and how critical spaces can be opened up to promote a flow of mentor, trainee teacher, learner and community empowerment.
Design/methodology/approach
Two thematic literature reviews were undertaken: one of UK LLS ITE mentoring and the other an international review of social justice in relation to mentoring in ITE and the first year of teaching. Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, field and habitus (Bourdieu, 1986) are used as sensitising tools to explore LLS mentors’ practices and the possibilities for increasing the flow of “pedagogical capital” between mentors, trainee teachers, learners and communities, in such a way that would enable mentors to become agents for social justice.
Findings
LLS mentors and trainee teachers are uncertain about their roles. In the UK and several countries, mentoring is dominated by an instrumental assessment-focused approach, whereby social justice is marginalised. In contrast, what we call social justice mentors establish collaborative democratic mentoring relationships, create spaces for critical reflection, support trainees to experience different cultures, develop inclusive critical pedagogies, and generally act as advocates and foster passion for social justice.
Research limitations/implications
While the literature reviews provide timely and important insights into UK and international approaches, the existing literature bases are limited in scale and scope.
Practical implications
A model for mentoring that promotes social justice and recommendations for mentor training are proposed.
Originality/value
The paper addresses the omission in policy, research and practice of the potential for mentors to promote social justice. The proposed model and training approach can be adopted across all education phases.
Details
Keywords
Vicki Stewart Collet and Jennifer Peñaflorida
This study aims to consider how lesson study (LS) supports international graduate assistants (IGAs) teaching in settings that are culturally different from their own prior…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to consider how lesson study (LS) supports international graduate assistants (IGAs) teaching in settings that are culturally different from their own prior experiences as learners.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a single-case design to understand LS, including two IGAs and a domestic GA teaching at a US university. Data sources include audio recordings and field notes from LS sessions and lesson observations, data collected from online interactions, and individual interviews.
Findings
Qualitative analysis indicates IGAs felt their instruction improved as a result of participation, and they incorporated instructional practices aligned with norms in their new context. Through practical work with a narrow focus, IGAs collaborated with one another and with a more-experienced other. This created a context that reduced IGAs' cognitive dissonance, resulting in transformative teacher learning.
Practical implications
The findings suggest LS might provide supports for transformative learning for IGAs and other teachers, especially when they experience cognitive dissonance, such as that caused by culturally different classroom expectations.
Originality/value
This paper speaks to the identified need for supporting IGAs' understanding of values and norms undergirding pedagogy in their new contexts.