Carolyn Ledford

Building a support system toward tenure: challenges and needs of tenure‐track faculty in colleges of education

This article describes the experiences, perceptions, and available support systems of untenured faculty from a south eastern United States public university system in their progress toward tenure. Survey results were used to develop a model support system for new faculty. Data were collected from an online survey sent to 191 tenure‐track faculty in colleges of education, yielding a 50% (n = 96) response rate. The following research questions guided this research: (a) What are the expectations for teaching, research and service in the colleges of education surveyed? (b) In what ways are untenured faculty supported and/or mentored? (c) What kind of support system(s) need(s) to be in place to assist new faculty in balancing teaching, research, and service expectations? In this mixed‐methods study, respondents were asked about their workload, expectations for tenure, and formal and informal support they received on the tenure track. Untenured faculty reported stressful and unbalanced lifestyles, and work expectations exceeded assigned workloads for several institutions. A new faculty comprehensive support system model is suggested.

Empty Tissue Boxes considering Poverty in Diversity Discourse

A preservice teacher doing her internship overhears some of her students asking a classmate why he regularly takes home empty tissue boxes. The boy replies that he builds cities and bridges with his empty boxes. His classmates then ask why he does not just build a city with Legos or building blocks. The preservice teacher listens intently as the little boy explains, matteroffactly, that he does not have any Legos or building blocks; what he does have are the empty tissue boxes his teacher saves for him. The preservice teacher begins saving empty tissue boxes to give to the child. When she gives him the tissue boxes, the child reacts as if it were the best gift in the world. A few weeks later, the clinical teacher learns that the child will be moving. The child solemnly asks his teacher to please write a letter to his new teacher, asking his new teacher to save empty tissue boxes for him. This child is not going to accept any deficit as a limitation. He is willing and able to create his own resources. For the preservice teacher, this was a lesson in the resiliency of children and the importance of knowing and understanding her students‘ diverse needs.