Dana Fusco

Representing Student Achievements in Science.

In what follows, we develop a conceptual argument for expanding current visions of performance assessment to include the following three ideals: that performance/assessment addresses the value-laden decisions about what and whose science is learned and assessed and include multiple worldviews, that performance/assessment in science simultaneously emerges in response to local needs, and that the performance/assessment is a method as well as an ongoing search for method. To make this argument, we draw together ideas raised by critical, feminist and multicultural science educators to describe an inclusive science education, one we refer to as critical science education, to raise questions about the nature and purpose of performance assessment in science education. We are particularly interested in how the science of assessment is challenged and transformed within a critical science education perspective and the conditions needed to create an equitable and inclusive practice of science and science assessment across diversity. We present a case study from a youth-led community science project in the inner city to help contextualize our argument. fl 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 337 - 354, 2001 Different things you can do in the garden

School vs. Afterschool: A Study of Equity in Supporting Children's Development.

Abstract Childrens perceptions of the developmental opportunities afforded by school and afterschool were studied. The data support prior research showing that inequitable patterns exist, across gender, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status, in childrens perceptions of the opportunities provided by school. Afterschool programs, conversely, are faring better in providing equitable opportunities to develop. Children reported greater opportunities to develop in afterschool than in school, and these patterns were consistent across gender, ethnicity, and age. The study has implications for creating learning environments where development is not only possible but likely for all children. Features of positive developmental settings are discussed.

Use of Self in the Context of Youth Work

Used in the education of counselors, nurses, occupational therapists and social workers, “use of self” is a way of understanding how practitioners bring about human change. In this article, the author discusses how use of self can be applied to youth work and is related to “developmentally responsive practice” thereby providing a deep theoretical construct for understanding youth work as relational. The author concludes by presenting the barriers to the use of self paradigm in the current climate of assessment and accountability, designed to measure static inputs and outputs rather than dynamic systems or ecologies and presents a challenge to the field for designing methodologies that are equally dynamic, responsive and relational.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration through Designing 3D Simulation Case Studies

Interdisciplinary collaboration is essential for the advance of research. As domain subjects become more and more specialized, researchers need to cross disciplines for insights from peers in other areas to have a broader and deeper understand of a topic at micro- and macro-levels. We developed a 3D virtual learning environment that served as a platform for faculty to plan curriculum, share educational beliefs, and conduct cross-discipline research for effective learning. Based upon the scripts designed by faculty from five disciplines, virtual doctors, nurses, or patients interact in a 3D virtual hospital. The teaching vignettes were then converted to video clips, allowing users to view, pause, replay, or comment on the videos individually or in groups. Unlike many existing platforms, we anticipated a value-added by adding a social networking capacity to this virtual environment. The focus of this paper is on the cost-efficiency and system design of the virtual learning environment.

Is Youth Work Being Courted by the Appropriate Suitor

It is fair to say that youth work is being courted. The question is by whom and is it an appropriate suitor? Here I begin with a brief sociological analysis of profession in order to more closely examine the narratives upon which professional identities rest. These understandings of “professional” are examined alongside accompanying assumptions and implications for professional education. Specifically, the privileging of science and epistemic culture as the foundation for profession is questioned as the best suitor for a practice of working with young people that values meaning over truth, dialogue over evidence, and reflexivity over certainty.

Professionalization in Youth Work? Opening and Deepening Circles of Inquiry.

In this article, the authors examine the claims of professionalization in youth work as both a process and outcome that aims to ultimately improve the lives of young people. The topic of professionalization is then approached through three circles of inquiry that reframe the issue(s) through the historical and sociocultural situatedness of professional movements; the contemporary sociopolitical and sociolegal context; and those self-referential questions that deal with the practice of youth work itself.

Youth and inequality in education : global actions in youth work

Foreword by Howard Willamson Section I: Understanding Young People, Inequality and Youth Work 1. Youth and inequality: Weaving complexities, commonalities, and courage Michael Heathfield 2. Youth in a global/historical context: and what it means for youth work Howard Sercombe 3. History of youth work: transitions, illuminations and refractions Dana Fusco Section II: Social Progress through Youth Work: Welfare and Wellbeing 4. Intergenerational partnership and youth social justice in a Malaysian fishing village Steven Eric Krauss, Dzhuhailmi Dahalan and Shepherd Zeldin 5. Success stories from youth suicide prevention in Australia: the youth work contribution Trudi Cooper, Catherine Ferguson, Brooke Chapman, and Shane Cucow 6. The Istambays and transition crises: Locating spaces of social sufferings and hope in the Philippines Clarence Batan 7. Youth work in England: An uncertain future? Helen Jones 8. The scouting experience and youth development Olga Oliveira Cunha and Pedro Duarte Silva 9. Aotearoas Indigenous youth development concepts explored in practice today Rod Baxter, Manu Caddie and Graham Bidois Cameron Section III. Social Progress through Youth Work: Radical and Democratic Possibilities 10. Democratizing urban spaces: A social justice approach to youth work Susan Matloff-Nieves, Dana Fusco, Joy Connolly, Monami Maulik 11. Between radical possibilities and modest reforms: The precarious position of adult allies in youth movements for racial justice Hava Rachel Gordon 12. Co-creating a culture of participation through a youth council Brian Hubbard 13. Indigenous youth and higher education: The role of Shipibo youth organizations in the Peruvian Amazon Region Oscar Espinoza 14. Working for justice in Chicago public schools Judith Gall and Michael Heathfield 15. A decade of youth civic engagement in Morocco and Jordan Loubna H. Skalli 16. Paternalism in educating and developing our youth: The perpetuation of inequality Marcus Pope Section IV: Themes and Conclusions 17. From hope to action: the future of youth work and other global actions in education Michael Heathfield and Dana Fusco

Professionalization Deconstructed: Implications for the Field of Youth Work—Guest Editors' Comments

In the recent book, Advancing Youth Work: Current Trends, Critical Questions, several trends in the field of youth work were presented that were at times consistent, at times complementary, and at other times, diametrically opposed. That book aimed to bring into one fold an inclusive set of voices and opinions across varied domains of youth work, including child and youth care, afterschool programs, recreation, civic engagement, and youth development. It is in the same spirit that we offer this special issue: ‘‘Professionalization Deconstructed: Implications for the Field Of YouthWork.’’ Here, we hope to deconstruct the underlying beliefs and narratives on professionalization in youth work and in related human service fields by examining the arguments for and against professionalization, by looking at the historically situated evidence within and outside of the field of youth work, and by exploring alternate conceptions of professionalization. It is always our goal to have young people and youth workers in the forefront of our mind; thus, our framing of the issues always rests on the questions: Is this good for young people and youth workers? Who decides and why? In the opening article, ‘‘Professionalization in Youth Work? Opening and Deepening Circles of Inquiry,’’ Fusco and Baizerman come to the topic of professionalization as if it were a classic Russian folk doll. After reviewing

The Social Architecture of Youth Work Practice

There was a time when physical spaces were designed for the explicit purpose of assembly. Spaces such as the Greek Agora or Roman Forum were the heart of public life. Here, meaning outside of self could be located; cultural, social and political forms of life could be created and expressed. Today, our physical structures are more likely to support assembly for capitalistic ventures than broader social good.