Preparing Students to Counsel Clients With Potentially Spiritually Transformative Experiences

After defining potentially spiritually transformative experiences (pSTEs) and reviewing empirical research on the contents and aftereffects of 2 well‐researched pSTEs commonly disclosed by clients, the authors summarize research on client harm due to counselors’ lack of knowledge, attitudes, and skills to address these experiences appropriately. The authors contend that clients with pSTEs meet criteria for multicultural difference and advocate for including the topic of clients with pSTEs in counselor education diversity course curricula so that counselors are empowered to provide ethical, culturally sensitive, and clinically appropriate services. The authors conclude with suggested content for this curriculum.     

Recurrence of phonetic responding

This study determined if previously reinforced academic responding recurred when alternative responses were differentially reinforced and subsequently placed on extinction, and whether the magnitude of resurgence was related to the rate of differential reinforcement for the alternative behavior. Three kindergarten students read Greek letters aloud as arbitrary consonant–vowel blends. Resurgence was reliably demonstrated within and across participants, and the magnitude of resurgence was related to the prior rate of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior.     

An empirical investigation of a theoretical model for mathematical creativity

In this exploratory study, a theoretical model proposed by Sriraman (2005) consisting of five theoretical principles for optimizing creativity in a K–12 setting was investigated empirically. This was accomplished in two steps. In the first study, the five principles were operationalized by generating a questionnaire consisting of 45 items intended to capture the dimension of each principle. An exploratory maximum‐likelihood factor analysis indicated a relatively robust five factor structure that corresponded with the theoretical model. In the second study, the five factor model was validated using a confirmatory factor analysis. The model was then investigated using a two‐level linear mixed model with a random intercept. The results revealed that motivation and mathematical achievement were significant predictors of mathematical creativity.     

Classroom Climate and Political Learning: Findings from a Swedish Panel Study and Comparative Data

Numerous studies have shown that an open classroom climate for discussion increases students' civic knowledge. However, most previous studies draw on cross‐sectional data and have not been able to show that the effect is causal. This article presents results from a Swedish panel survey following students during the first year in the gymnasium (upper secondary level). Using this study, we are better equipped to evaluate the link between an open classroom climate and political knowledge. Results suggest that the effect is causal. A 10% increase in open classroom climate is associated with about 5 percentage points higher knowledge. The beneficial effect of an open classroom climate is an important insight that should be seriously considered not only by researchers but also by educational policy makers, school managements, and teachers.     

Student-produced representations as a means for interrupting the flow of an interview / Representaciones producidas por una alumna para interrumpir el flujo de una entrevista

Abstract

This work provides evidence that children as young as six years old successfully leverage written representations to their own purposes. During a modified clinical interview, Maggie created an idiosyncratic written representation to negotiate understanding of the interview task. In this move, Maggie shifted her role in the interview from sharing her own thinking to understanding the interviewer’s thinking. Her representations were not strictly for communication but also for control. This fleeting but illuminating episode points to young children’s intuitive perspective on written representations as a cultural tool.     

WHY RELIGION MATTERS AND THE PURPOSES OF HIGHER EDUCATION: A DIALOGUE WITH HUSTON SMITH

This article examines Huston Smith's critique of and remedy for modernity from the perspective of a college professor who adopted “Why Religion Matters” (2001) as required reading for undergraduates. Smith's heartfelt plea to consider, if not embrace, the common wisdom of traditional religious worldviews deserves a hearing. But Smith's approach is also in need of qualification, supplementation, and critique. This article, ironically, finds the needed qualification, supplementation, and critique in Huston Smith's much earlier publication, The Purposes of Higher Education (1955). This article provides the dialogue.     

School Counselors and Gifted Kids: Respecting Both Cognitive and Affective

Giftedness can be both an asset and a burden when gifted students respond to developmental challenges. Characteristics associated with high intellectual ability likely affect how gifted students experience social, emotional, and career development, regardless of level of academic achievement. Counselors' lack of awareness of such qualitative differences, as well as positive and negative biases, may interfere with the therapeutic relationship. Characteristics related to giftedness, vulnerabilities, concerns, and counseling strategies are the focus of this article.     

International Doctoral Students in Counselor Education: Coping Strategies in Supervision Training

This study explores 8 international doctoral students' perceptions of coping strategies used in supervision training in counselor education programs. Using human agency as a conceptual framework, the authors found 3 categories: (a) personal and professional self‐directed strategies as personal agency, (b) support and care from mentors as proxy agency, and (c) networking among international doctoral students and/or graduates as collective agency. Implications for counselor educators are discussed. Este estudio explora las percepciones de 8 estudiantes internacionales de doctorado sobre las estrategias de afrontamiento usadas en la capacitación de supervisión en programas de educación para consejeros. Usando la agencia humana como marco conceptual, se hallaron 3 categorías: (a) estrategias autodirigidas personales y profesionales como agencia personal, (b) apoyo y cuidados recibidos de mentores como agencia delegada y (c) creación de redes de contactos entre estudiantes internacionales de doctorado y/o doctores como agencia colectiva. Se discuten las implicaciones para educadores de consejeros.     

Student Voice for School‐Climate Improvement: A Case Study of an Urban Middle School

This case study used a student voice program in an urban middle school in the southeastern United States to examine the validity of three theoretically derived pathways through which student voice may affect positive school climate. First, using a youth participatory action research process to identify barriers to learning, analyse their root causes, and advocate for solutions to school administration allowed students to influence minor school policies and implement anti‐bullying, classroom‐behaviour‐monitoring, and experiential‐learning initiatives. However, there were challenges to making these policy and practice changes systemic. Second, relationships were formed and strengthened as a byproduct of student participant and staff collaboration in program activities. However, the program may have contributed to an ingroup–outgroup dynamic between participants and other peers. Third, students who participated in the program developed citizenship competencies, and their development may have promoted broader prosocial norms among the student body, though evidence was inconsistent. Study findings suggest that future research examine how variations in the implementation of student voice initiatives can maximize the contribution to a positive school climate in urban schools. Findings also suggest that practitioners should ensure that student teams be representative of a multitude of student identities. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equipping the Equippers: The Pedagogical and Programmatic Implications of The Christians' Callings in the World Project

When five theological schools realized (a) their graduates affirmed vocation as central to their theology and practice, yet (b) the parishioners of their graduates nevertheless did not feel called, they knew they had to do something. For six years, faculty teams from these schools conducted a variety of experiments in pedagogy, curriculum reform, and program development in order to train their graduates to equip all of God's people to claim and live their vocational identity in the world. This article introduces the identified challenge and necessary theological and pedagogical shift and then describes five of those experiments in greater detail.