Science books for professional pleasure reading: round out your content knowledge and foster interest in science with this list

The article lists several science books, including The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin, The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universes Report, by Timothy Ferris and Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson

HE 190: Health Education Course Redesign

Poster summarizing course redesign activities for HE 190: Health Education.https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/davinci_itcr2014/1012/thumbnail.jp

“Get the Mexican”: Attending to the Moral Work of Teaching in Fraught Times

This article details a four-faceted approach we developed to help structure discourse about topics in partisan arenas, many of which intersect with issues of equity and social justice. The article’s narrative centers on challenging and emotionally charged discussions that unfolded in a classroom management class in our teacher preparation program on November 9, 2016, the day following the election of Donald Trump. We offer the approach, which centers on addressing cognitive biases common in partisan discourse, as a robust, straightforward, and nontechnocratic way to help teachers (both teacher preparation instructors and teachers of children) mediate partisan discussions among their students and to help them situate their personal beliefs within a professional context. When practiced well, the approach invites discussants to engage fully and authentically with ideas even when discourse threatens to become fractious and can help students who may disagree actually hear one another, consider one another’s ideas, and make decisions not as bitterly divided partisans but as members of complex, multifaceted, multicultural communities

When legitimate claims collide: communities, media and dialogue

This paper discusses the exhibition Jerusalem at the Museum of World Culture (MoWC) in Gothenburg, Sweden. The exhibition mixes photographs of LGBTQ (LesbianGayBiTransQueer) persons in Jerusalem, with quotes from the three Abrahamitic Holy Scriptures condemning homosexual activities and behaviours. MoWC held dialogues with religious persons. Although no-one wanted to stop the exhibition, many were critical of the artist’s mixing of Holiness and Nudity/Sexuality. The Museum was criticized for bending to fundamentalist pressure, assuming that it had plans to stop the exhibition, and a media debate on censorship and freedom of speech followed. This paper analyzes the situatedness of MoWC, and its discursive belonging. How can a state governed institution deal with legitimate and opposing claims, and counter both heteronormativity and islamophobia? What discourses is the Museum institution inscribed in? What power relations follow from that? Is it, due to historic, bureaucratic, and cultural legacies, tied to certain positions and affiliations in the public space

Developing a sustainability plan at a large U.S. college of education

Despite growing awareness of its importance, most sustainability education efforts in tertiary institutions do not significantly impact curricula. This paper details some of the activities and processes used to draft a sustainability strategic plan designed to address sustainability at the curricular level rather than merely the operational level within a large college of education at a large U.S. public university. The plan is also presented. Our goal was not to articulate a fixed policy but rather to produce a coherent plan that (1) fosters awareness and encourage people to join the effort and (2) readily accommodates input as more people become involved. The plan consists of three position statements, five broad recommendations and 20 specific actions aligned with the five recommendations. The hope is that our development processes, analyses and plan will be useful to other teacher education colleges and other groups with similar organisational structures interested in developing sustainability plans

Introducing STEM majors to the teaching profession through authentic experiences as tutors

Recruiting people with rich backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) into the teaching profession has historically been difficult and remains so today. In this bounded instrumental case study, undergraduate STEM majors were trained and placed as science and math tutors in grades 9-12, with an overarching goal of encouraging them to consider teaching as a possible career path. Several themes emerged from the tutors’ experiences as significant in their willingness to consider a career in teaching, including altruism from helping others, satisfaction from tutees’ improved academic performance, and a more nuanced understanding of the complex nature of teaching

Countering Deficit Thinking About Neurodiversity Among General Education Teacher Candidates: A Case Discussion Approach

We have observed that many of the multiple-subjects teacher credential candidates in our program often reveal deficit views of autistic children. This report provides an example of how we help credential candidates learn to reframe deficit thinking about neurodiversity via the examination, discussion, and dramatization of a collection of dilemma-based case stories designed to help our students unearth preconceptions and engage in shared inquiry. One strength of this approach is that it asks candidates to develop specific and realistic plans of action, to adopt a care ethic requiring them to think and act from the perspective of the child, to think about the limits of their ability to differentiate, and to recognize that even with mainstreamed autistic children, as non-specialists our candidates may frequently find themselves out of their depth and in need of the expertise of more knowledgeable colleagues