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Spiritus Est qui Vivificat: Mass Incarceration, Social Justice and the Spiritan Mission
Get PDFThis article explores the connection between the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) and the Elsinore Bennu Think Tank for Restorative Justice (EBTT). The Spiritan’s historic involvement in the liberation, healing and restoration of enslaved men, women, and children in French colonies, as well as the establishment of local churches in Africa, inspires the human spirit to equitable relationships between peoples. Shifting from that global perspective, we consider their local efforts in founding Duquesne University as an institution of higher education for the children of immigrant steelworkers. Moving to the present, we note the genesis of The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program at Duquesne, the formation of the EBTT at the State Correctional Institution in Pittsburgh. EBTT members are committed to collaborative community efforts as a way for people damaged by circumstance and systems of oppression to remake themselves, recognizing that remade people are needed to restore a broken society
Measuring Height and Weight in Head Start Preschoolers: Suggestions for Best Practices
Get PDFMeasuring height and weight in preschool children is an important way to track their growth patterns and identify potential nutrition and health risks. Converting these measurements to a BMI-for-age percentile and tracking this over time, allows Head Start (HS) programs to help with preventing obesity in the early childhood years. These measurements also allow HS to evaluate obesity prevention programs implemented in HS programs. However, looking at height and weight measurements and the process used to measure children is important to assure accurate measurements. The purpose of this study was to examine the height and weight data at two time points in one program and explore the perceptions of health staff around the data collection process. Best practices for measuring height and weight of HS preschoolers are discussed
Evaluation of Obesity Prevention Strategies in a Head Start Program
No full textAbstract
An evaluation of the I am Moving, I am Learning strategies was conducted in one Head Start program. A mixed methods design was used, including caregiver and teacher surveys, and nutrition specialist classroom observations. 249 caregivers and 46 teachers participated. Teachers identified their influence on preschoolers through role modeling of healthy eating and physical activity and were observed using the program mascot and music. However, they did not model physical activities and engaged in limited nutrition discussions during meal/snack times. Teachers identified the need for more time to incorporate IMIL activities, additional resources for implementation, more caregiver engagement with IMIL, and take-home activities/music. Most caregivers were not familiar with IMIL/5210 messages and did not incorporate health behaviors at home. Future research could explore the impact of caregiver engagement in IMIL on child/family behavior change and strategies for enhancing teacher modeling of movement in the classroom
Historic and Contemporary Influences on Reading the Bible with the Poor: Liberation Theology and Poor People\u27s Movements
Get PDFReading the Bible with the Poor is a methodology of biblical study rooted in liberation theology and hermeneutics. Leaders within the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival are utilizing this methodology as a tool for organizing the movement to end poverty. This paper will explore the literature of the Reading the Bible with the Poor methodology with emphasis on the influences from contextual biblical study and liberation theology, especially in South Africa and Latin America, as well as social movements of the poor and dispossessed in the United States. Additionally, the paper will include reflections from one author, who is a practitioner of this methodology of biblical reading, on its use as an emancipatory adult education program within the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. The analysis and reflections can inform other adult education movements rooted in struggles for liberation and revolutionary critical pedagogy
Challenges of Co-Teaching: Reflections on Social Justice Pedagogy in Prison
Get PDFCo-teaching and critical pedagogy appear to be complementary approaches because of their emphases on collaboration and addressing issues of power inequality. However, my experience co-teaching a 10-week public speaking and creative writing workshop for prisoners while trying to advance social justice was fraught with challenges that were exacerbated by the carceral context in which co-teaching and critical pedagogy were incorporated. This essay provides an autoethnographic account of several tensions related to the promotion of transparency about teaching practices, student agency to shape the learning experience, and critiques of power. The paper concludes by offering practical recommendations that other prison pedagogues working in prisons can consider before incorporating co-teaching into their praxis
The Criminal Cannibal: Examining the Similarities of Cannibalistic Offenders
Get PDFCannibalism is sometimes practiced by particularly violent offenders. This article discusses this behavior as it presents across 26 individual offenders convicted of murder. The similarities examined among these offenders present uniting features within the sample. These features include similar murder methods utilized, parts of the body consumed, and presence of sexual assault and/or necrophilia. Discussion of these similarities concludes that, while there are a variety of uniting characteristics across these offenders, it is necessary to utilize empirical phenomenological interview techniques in order to understand the significance of these behaviors to the individuals practicing them.
Keywords: cannibalism, violent crime, paraphilia, homicide, serial murde
Community and the Built Environment: The Physical and Social Consequences of Gentrification in Charlotte’s Lockwood
Get PDFThis project examined the interactions between community relationships and physical space in Charlotte’s Lockwood neighborhood. Property values in Lockwood are growing at one of the fastest rates in the country and show no signs of stopping. This growth made Lockwood a fitting place to investigate gentrification, an increasingly important issue in Charlotte and beyond. Previous researchers recorded oral histories from Lockwood’s residents during this period of property value increase. Qualitatively coding these oral histories revealed a significant theme: residents consistently mentioned a decline in the neighborhood’s sense of community. Additional interviews and archival research indicated dramatic changes to Lockwood’s built environment. Many of Lockwood’s historic homes have been replaced by new, larger houses with far less emphasis on community building spaces like front porches and backyards. In response, local non-profit Community Dream Builders creatively used Lockwood’s physical space to bring residents together and encourage sustainable growth. The residents’ comments about community interactions were examined through the context of these documented physical changes. Research showed that Lockwood residents rely on informal community building spaces like front porches and backyards to form connections with one another. The loss or obstruction of these crucial spaces was at least an indicator and perhaps an accelerator of social change in the neighborhood. As property values continue to rise, the remaining community spaces in Lockwood should be preserved and expanded.
Keywords: Lockwood, gentrification, community, built environment, oral histor
Acting Out The Shared Heritage: Towards A Pedagogical Model for Liberatory Education
Get PDFThere are many connections between Liberation Theology, critical pedagogy, and the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP). Each of these liberatory traditions can be applied to teaching practices in postsecondary education. Utilizing Thomas Oldenski\u27s Integrative Model of Liberation Theology and Critical Pedagogy, I propose The Model of Spiritual Strategies for Postsecondary Teaching (SSM) as a practical teaching framework for postsecondary instructors. The purpose of the SSM is to provide an actionable tool for instructors to infuse their pedagogy and curricula with the values of liberatory education, derived from the disciplines of Liberation Theology, critical pedagogy, and the IPP. I begin by retracing the spiritual heritage and transformative values shared between these disciplines, and conclude with examples of teaching techniques through the SSM to facilitate liberatory education for spiritual transformation
Challenging Socio-Economic Marginalization: Freire’s Influence in Rural Uganda
No full textThe study explores the work of Atanansi Community Based Organization, grassroots organization focused on the empowerment of marginalized poor, subsistence farming communities in rural Uganda. Through the application of Freirean conscientization and application of ideas from Catholic social teaching and liberation theology, the communities have been able to question their socio-economic realities, questioned the marginalization, and took action to start a community grade school, women income generating activities, and youth skilling programs. Through the process of conscientization, the community has learnt to rely on itself without waiting for the central government or politicians.
Key Words: Conscientization, Marginalization, Paulo Freire, Rural Uganda, Theology
Beyond the Knowledge Economy: Social Circus as an Intersectional Avenue to Global Aesthetics and Universal Ethics
Get PDFWhile the Western world is a post-colonial society that attempts to guarantee an equal opportunity for success to all, objectives to uphold inclusion efforts in the primary education system often undermine the complexities of cultural histories and oppressions among individuals. The linear narrative of success and spiritual fulfillment, or the value we assign to our lives, in this society is one that often places economic surplus over the holistic development of the individual and of humanity. In disregarding cultural histories and the value of individual fulfillment, the Western world discredits the creative and communal potential of holistic art education in favor of capital capable subjects and class objectives. In this work, I advocate for a reevaluation of success and spiritual fulfillment in the Western world as well as the public education system. To move away from our knowledge economy I propose one solution that includes social circus education as an artistic avenue for developing spiritual fulfillment on the local, person level, as well as compassion on the global, humanity level. I utilize the work of dance scholar, Sherry Shapiro, who also calls for a reevaluation of the human value based on a global aesthetic that grounds humanity in the common desire for prosperity. I also expand on research theorist, Anna Carastathis, and her situational approach to oppression, provisional intersectionality, to foster meaningful art education.
Keywords: social circus, art education, intersectionality, neoliberalism, and ethic