Abstract: This study aimed to change the behaviour of adult international students in a business studies class through the use of dialogic teaching to reduce the level of reticence and improve their engagement. Dialogic teaching is the ability to harness the power of talk. Based on qualitative traditions the case study method with a constructionist epistemology was used to examine the roles of identity and culture. Among others, the empirical study noted that some students were not very comfortable with some aspects of dialogic teaching, for example its free-flowing nature. Analysis showed that there was good evidence of certain elements of dialogic teaching, such as extended contribution, encouragement of free expression of views, cued elicitation, and provision of authoritative explanation in the lesson sessions. Being a case study, this report offers a basis for future studies only.
Abstract: Drawing on identity work theory and social capital theory, this qualitative study explores how Canadian university faculty on fixed-term contracts construct their professional identities in response to the opportunities and limitations associated with their employment. Study participants generally appreciate their remuneration, relative professional autonomy, the control they have over the products of their labour, and the opportunity to teach at the postsecondary level. Positive aspects of their employment, however, were undercut by various professional limitations. These limitations include job precarity, little acknowledgment of their contributions to their fields or to their universities, limited access to research funding, and the challenge of building bonding (i.e., intra-institutional) social capital. The perceived disconnect between participants’ professional qualifications and the precarity of their employment situation further undermines their ability to cultivate positive professional identities. Participants negotiate the contradictory tensions of their employment via one or more of the following adaptive strategies: 1) pursuing research as best they can given prevailing obstacles; 2) making teaching the focal point of their professional identities; and 3) utilizing bridging social capital to create opportunities and forge connections beyond the university. Future research directions are discussed.
Abstract: This paper proposes an interdisciplinary use of literary texts in informing contemporary pedagogical thought. Though “soft skills” have always been a part of teachers’ expected repertoire, only fairly recently have these skills, now almost exclusively referred to as “dispositions,” become a major focus in university teacher preparation programs. As teacher preparation programs wrestle with the complexities of defining and assessing teacher dispositions, we propose that it is helpful to look to the humanities to assist with this navigation, in particular, literary texts. As an example of this process, we analyze Homer’s Iliad for dispositional insights. In the epic, Homer depicts various teacher dispositions, commenting upon both their effectiveness and their limitations in ways that can further elucidate contemporary discussions and concerns regarding their utility.
Abstract: Focusing on census data of U.S. doctoral recipients during the last 10 years, we examined PhD production and undergraduate origins with a particular emphasis on institutional selectivity. Specifically, this study had three overarching goals: (1) examining STEM PhD production with an emphasis on the selectivity of doctoral programs; (2) examining the selectivity of undergraduate origins among STEM PhDs from highly selective doctoral programs; and (3) examining whether the patterns of STEM PhD production and undergraduate origins differ by race/ethnicity. This study found significantly different patterns in PhD production overall versus PhDs from top 10 doctoral programs and in the selectivity of undergraduate institutions that produce the number of PhDs overall versus PhDs from the top 10 doctoral programs. We further found that PhD production across varied selectivity of doctoral program and its association with the undergraduate origins differ significantly across different racial/ethnic groups. Implications for policy, programs, and future research are discussed.
