Western Oregon University (WOU) is a public university in Monmouth, Oregon. It was originally established in 1856 by Oregon pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names included Oregon State Normal School, Oregon College of Education, and Western Oregon State College. Western Oregon University incorporates both the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Enrollment is approximately 6,000 students..
This conceptually driven paper describes a recontextualization of the construct, "Backlash Pedagogy," informed by prior and ongoing research. Using narrative inquiry and data from a mixed-methods case study of how a diverse school district took up statewide equity initiatives including anti-racist teaching and a LGBTQ+ student success act, we describe the backlash teachers face even in the context of a state with a pro-equality majority in local government and progressive state education policies. Implications include identifying the material, relational, ideational and advocacy resources teachers need as they navigate teaching against populist ideologies and negotiate the intersection of policy, research, practice, and public discourse.
Contemporary educator preparation programs face sociopolitical constraints that limit critical discussions surrounding how systemic, structural, and institutional inequities influence teaching and learning, leaving future educators underprepared to meaningfully nurture diverse ways of knowing in K-12 schools. To address this challenge, in this study we explored how video-mediated transcultural dialogues between 60 pre-service educators from Taiwan and the U.S. influenced the development of essential critical cultural competencies. Using a nested theoretical perspective, we analyzed participants’ discussions related to internalized notions of teaching and learning across diverse ecologies. Analysis revealed that through these conversations, incremental development of interconnected global awareness, self-determination, reflexive relationality, and social justice orientations occurred. Modest individual perspective shifts transpired as participants cultivated emerging critical cultural competencies. Despite limitations including a small sample size and a term duration, this pedagogical innovation demonstrated a possible pathway for further exploration to develop future educators’ critical cultural competencies while bridging global relations even within restrictive sociopolitical contexts.
This study examines the role of the Arabic agglutinated article (al-) in the Arabic loanwords incorporated into the twelfth edition of the Diccionario de la Real Academia Espanola (DRAE) in 1884. Through the analysis of lexical doublets such as azalk/zalk and alnabi/nabi, the study highlights how the Academy oscillated between preserving and omitting the prefix, revealing ideological and methodological tensions in 19th-century lexicography. For centuries, the al-prefix was gradually removed from the learned register due to its association with Arabic linguistic and cultural identity. However, in the 19th century, under the influence of Orientalism and Romanticism, its restoration took on a new symbolic value. This study argues that the reintroduction of al-was not solely a philological decision but also a means of reinforcing linguistic identity, positioning Spanish against the growing influence of French in academic lexicography.
Aggregation is a common strategy among waterfowl that can enhance foraging efficiency and reduce predation risk for individuals within the group. When foraging in flocks, individual behavior may vary depending on position within the group, with outer-edge individuals often exhibiting more vigilance and reduced foraging compared to those in the interior. While these patterns are known for some waterfowl species, it remains unknown whether flock position impacts foraging behavior in American Coots (Fulica americana). We investigated this question by observing multiple, different sized, flocks of American Coots across numerous sites in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We hypothesized that coots on the edge of a flock would dive less frequently and spend less time underwater per dive than those in the center, regardless of flock identity. We also predicted that individual dive frequency would increase with flock size, independent of flock position. Our results showed that outer-edge coots dove significantly less frequently than inner coots, but that this pattern was dependent on flock size. Overall dive frequency and dive time decreased with increasing flock size, but the difference in diving frequency between inner and outer flock coots was more pronounced in larger flocks. We discuss potential explanations for these findings, suggesting that these patterns may reflect context-dependent anti-predator or predator-avoidance strategies.
