Launcelot I. Brown

Diversity: the challenge for higher education

This paper emerged as a reaction to the results of the 1998 campus climate for diversity survey of a major research university in the southern U.S. The paper addresses the issue of diversity in higher education, and argues that the diversification of the faculty and student population can no longer be a peripheral activity, but must be reflective of the institutions commitment to diversity. The paper reviews some of the theoretical explanations for the slow progress in achieving diversity, while at the same time gives an example of good practice. In the final argument, the paper contends that with the inevitability of a more diverse population and workforce, the institutions of higher education do not only have a responsibility, but must assume leadership position on this crucial issue of preparing citizens for the world they now face.This paper emerged as a reaction to the results of the 1998 campus climate for diversity survey of a major research university in the southern U.S. The paper addresses the issue of diversity in higher education, and argues that the diversification of the faculty and student population can no longer be a peripheral activity, but must be reflective of the institutions commitment to diversity. The paper reviews some of the theoretical explanations for the slow progress in achieving diversity, while at the same time gives an example of good practice. In the final argument, the paper contends that with the inevitability of a more diverse population and workforce, the institutions of higher education do not only have a responsibility, but must assume leadership position on this crucial issue of preparing citizens for the world they now face.

School Leadership in Trinidad and Tobago: The Challenge of Context

To be successful, leaders must understand the people they lead and the complex nature of the environment within which they function. Such contextual knowledge influences leadership styles and behaviors (Blanchard et al. 1987; Fiedler and Garcia 1987). While research has shown that intrasocietal contextual differences are associated with different styles and different degrees of effectiveness of leaders, it may be that cross-national contextual differences are even more significant. To gain a deeper understanding of such differences, we examine how leadership styles and effectiveness are conceived by principals and other senior educators in Trinidad and Tobago and compare such conceptions with those documented in the literature that is focused on Western, more industrialized societies.

Socialising Principals: Early Career Primary School Principals in Trinidad and Tobago.

This paper utilises an interpretivist framework and recent developments in practice theory to examine the conditions which influence practices of socialising into the role of school principal in Trinidad and Tobago. The results indicate that for the 11 early career primary school principals, role socialisation occurs within complex practice landscapes, where the practices of preparing classroom teachers for the principalship materialise within a context of contest. There is conflict between historical antecedents and the expectations and practices of socialising institutions such as the church, the school, the community and the Ministry of Education. This small-scale study has implications for leadership preparation practices and highlights principal socialisation as a challenge of context and history.

Entry-Level OTR and COTA Intervention Utilization Derived from NBCOT Practice Analysis: Implications for Fieldwork Experiences

Effective fieldwork provides students with learning experiences in preparation for entry-level practice as occupational therapists (OT) or occupational therapy assistants (OTA). In 2003, the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT) conducted a practice analysis of entry-level certified occupational therapy practitioners (OTR & COTA) to validate a test blueprint for the national certification examinations. This study reports a novel, elective survey reflecting the total percentage of entry-level practitioners, who reported use of 88 different interventions. The purpose of this paper is to translate the practice analysis intervention data gathered in the optional survey to plan and implement effective fieldwork that prepares fieldwork students for entry-level practice. The results of this study will provide understanding of intervention use among entry-level practitioners (OTR = 479; COTA = 168) as a function of practice context. An initial correlation of a random sample of 100 OTRs and COTAs found group equivalency, meaning that the OTR information could be used for the major analyses and generalized to include COTA. Fourteen interventions were found commonly across all practice settings for OTR. These fourteen were factored into three areas or themes (preparatory and activities of daily living; motor skills, posture and coordination; and mental functions) with significant frequency of intervention utilization. Further analysis indicated a high variability of the top thirty interventions for each setting with regard to utilization of interventions above and below the 50 percentile. This snapshot of practice regarding entry-level intervention utilization in occupational therapy across seven major practice settings is described and application to fieldwork processes elaborated. The information provides a description of practice in each setting that can be used by academic fieldwork coordinators for student placement decisions. Fieldwork educators can use this information as a guide for planning comprehensive fieldwork-learning activities, as well as supervising students. Fieldwork students can use this intervention utilization information to assess their readiness for entry-level practice in each setting.

In the Shadow/From the Shadow The Principal as a Reflective Practitioner in Trinidad and Tobago

This case highlights a school principal’s leading practice as she worked to transform the social and educational status of students, teachers, and community in a small urban primary school. We employ shadowing, a technique popularized in work-based education and photography, as reflective and research tools. Teaching notes provide insight into the implications of shadowing for leadership development and leading learning particularly in the absence of systematic and strategic professional learning for school leaders in Trinidad and Tobago. The literature used here considers understandings of the relationship between the practice architectures of school leading, the reflective practitioner, and school transformation.

Making so big a dream near and dear to all African American males

The proportional diminution of African American males in higher education is a complex societal issue and, as with most complex issues, defies simple solutions. The complexity of the issue is grounded in a less than humane history and the resulting social, cultural, economic, emotional, mental, and spiritual factors that to varying degrees have been shaped by that history (interview with Wilson, 1997). These factors are intimately and intricately interwoven into one another forming a whole that is not easy to analyze and characterize.