Craig A. Talmage

A story about storytelling: enhancement of community participation through catalytic storytelling

This article presents a new approach to stimulate conversations among community members to mobilize resources and improve community well-being. The approach emerged during an asset mapping study in a school district in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona when the researchers realized that they could not on their own capture the broad range of diversity within a community. The approach, which the authors later came to call catalytic storytelling, is interpreted in light of asset-based community development, appreciative inquiry, and community storytelling traditions. It requires the researcher to adopt an ambiguous position as insider–outsider, which was described by Dwyer and Buckle in 2009. Furthermore, catalytic storytelling purports that reports written by community development researchers and community organizers should pose key questions to community members in addition to summarizing main stories derived from community conversations.

Captivating Lifelong Learners in the Third Age Lessons Learned From a University-Based Institute

The prevalence of learning providers for third agers continues to expand alongside the growth of the older adult population, yet there remains little empirical evidence on what types of learning experiences are most desired by lifelong learners. This article examines the effects that different learning topics have on attendance at classes hosted by a university-based lifelong learning institute, asking, Which learning topics draw enrollment in a lifelong learning program? Registration data were collected from 7,332 attendees of 290 learning experiences held over four semesters; class topics were coded and analyzed using a multivariate regression procedure. Results indicate that lifelong learners are more interested in classes concerning global issues, religion/philosophy, and social issues focusing on particular groups and individuals. The results remain significant after accounting for structural arrangements such as class time, day of the week, number of sessions, and location. Implications for enhancing lifelong learning experiences and programs are discussed.

Punk Rock Wisdom: An Emancipative Psychological Social Capital Approach to Community Well-Being

This chapter steers readers through multiple trajectories of social capital research. It leverages and honors past research on traditional, alternative, sociological, and psychological forms of social capital. Punk rock music is used as a guide to better understand each trajectory and to construct a new framework of emancipative psychological social capital. The new framework of emancipative psychological social capital is crafted by drawing upon three strands of knowledge: (1) philosophy and theory; (2) empirical findings; and (3) punk rock lyrics and narratives. This framework can serve as a tool for assessors, evaluators, policy-makers, practitioners, and researchers when investigating new avenues and better psychological understandings of social capital in their pursuit of conceptualizing community well-being. Particular attention is paid to the importance of context throughout this chapter in understanding social capital’s role in community well-being. Finally, future directions regarding social capital as a concept in community well-being work are presented and discussed.

Rethinking Diversity, Inclusion, and Inclusiveness: The Quest to Better Understand Indicators of Community Enrichment and Well-Being

Communities thrive on diversity in the long-run. Our communities are filled with diverse individuals and diverse groups of residents who, though they share a common place, may not experience their communities exactly the same as their fellow residents. Broad strokes are needed in our quests to better understand diversity, inclusion, and inclusiveness indicators in our communities. These three concepts are the building-blocks to high levels of community well-being. This chapter synthesizes recent conceptualizations and research on these three concepts. Diversity is described as a community resource. Inclusion is highlighted as a community process, and inclusiveness is described as a community outcome. Three tools are proposed to leverage these building-blocks to increase community well-being. The three tools are policy, development, and enrichment in communities. This chapter proposes that community policy is best suited to address changes regarding indicators of diversity. Community development is best suited for inclusion, and community enrichment is best concentrated on inclusiveness.

Age Friendly Universities and engagement with older adults: moving from principles to practice

Abstract The global society is facing a new burgeoning element: an ageing population. Response to the educational needs and interests of older adults requires innovative pedagogies and practices of teaching, research, and community engagement. While traditionally geared towards provision for younger adults, the case is presented that universities have the potential to play a major role in innovation for later life learning for older adults. This article outlines one approach, the Age Friendly University (AFU) and highlights 10 principles that offer a possible guide for innovation and institutional change. The integration of AFU’s mission and principles into three universities is reflected in stories from three university cases in Ireland, the UK (Scotland) and the USA exploring potential merits and also major challenges. It is argued the AFU has the potential to bring social, personal and economic benefits to older adults and universities alike.

Applicant Quality: Exploring the Differences Between Organizational and Third-Party Websites

Few studies have assessed the differences between organizational and third-party websites, especially with regards to applicant quality. Organizational websites are hypothesized to bring in higher quality applicants than third-party websites because of the amount of organization-specific information they contain. This study assesses perceived differences between web recruitment sources in applicant quality using a convenience sample of resumes from job applicants from a midsize company. Resumes were rated by human resource personnel in terms of applicant quality. The organizational website contained higher quality applicants on average compared to four third-party website sources.

Conclusion from the Editors

The final chapter brings together the global perspectives on quality of life and community well being to inspire and prompt future research and applied work in these fields.

Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: A Fresh Look at Satisfaction in Communities

This paper presents a new conceptual model for enriching our communities through events and associations. Heavy emphasis is placed on the role of individual satisfaction in enriching community development. Herzberg’s (Work and nature of man, Mentor Books, New York, 1966) Two-Factor Theory is revisited in order to explore this new model. Justifications for the resurrection of Herzberg’s theory in a new context are discussed.