Despite copious media reports and one nationally representative survey acknowledging Jamaica’s antigay climate and negative attitudes toward members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, there is still a lack of empirical data examining the experiences of these individuals. In this study, we adopt a phenomenological approach to explore how nine Black gay men experienced and navigated homophobia when they pursued undergraduate studies in Jamaican higher education institutions. Through an analysis of data obtained from semistructured interviews and photo-elicitation sessions, we present our findings in four themes as informed by cultural heterosexism: negative stereotypes, invisibility, attack, and homophobia being ignored or encouraged. Implications for higher education practices and policies in Jamaica to improve the experiences of members of the LGBTQ community, especially gay men, are discussed.
The push for inquiry-based learning in science classrooms has been met with anxiety and oftentimes low teaching self-efficacy among science teachers (Martin, et al., 2019). Professional development offers an opportunity for teachers to gain confidence through experiencing a real research lab. The current study investigates the outcomes of an extensive 8-week professional development program (N=8) on teachers’ classroom instruction and explores the influential factors in instructional change. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted to understand teacher’s PD experiences. Three major themes emerged: model the actions of scientists, evidence of inquiry-based instruction, and evidence of self-efficacy. Professional development opportunities including an immersive lab experience, opportunities to build a learning community, and opportunities to feel like a student are influential to changes towards are more inquiry-based learning approach in the classroom and higher self-efficacy. When seeking opportunities for professional development for high school science teachers, school leaders and science teachers should search for key features that promote changes in the classroom leading to more inquiry-based learning.
"The COVID-19 pandemic presented rapid, unpredictable shifts in education, which had rippling effects on school leaders’ responsibilities. In the early stages of the pandemic, school leaders throughout the United States, and the rest of the world made the strategic decision to transition to remote learning in adherence to CDC guidelines. This decision presented critical and immediate challenges for school leaders to manage their institutions. Emotional intelligence (EI) is well documented in the literature as a contributor to leadership effectiveness. We considered the novelty of the pandemic and the myriad of changes that accompanied it. To this end, we conducted a qualitative study to learn how emotionally intelligent school administrators leveraged EI in their daily leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. A sample of eight emotionally intelligent K-12 principals from a larger study on school leadership across North Carolina was selected for analysis. We utilized Goleman’s emotional intelligence model to frame our analysis of principals’ emotionally intelligent leadership. Four coders analyzed semi-structured interviews through a series of open coding followed by axial coding techniques. The findings revealed that emotionally intelligent school principals across North Carolina generally displayed key emotional competencies that supported self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. In their crisis leadership during the pandemic, the principals attended most to relationship management. Given that EI is known to positively impact school leadership, these findings can help us understand how it works in practice to lead schools during difficult times. This work adds a US perspective to current education conversations that aim to unpack the COVID-19 experience, by providing practical knowledge from principals rated high in EI. Our work has implications for professional development and principal preparation programs as they forge forward to prepare principals for these unpredictable experiences."
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