Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Explore the use and effectiveness of online therapy. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of this type of therapy? Are there any special concerns that clients and therapists must observe?

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Do some online research to find organizations or programs that support African Americans families.  Tell the class about up to two programs (you may address only one program if you can gather enough information and go into detail about the program or organization).  Who do they target (parents, grandparents, children, the whole family, etc.) and how do they support African American families?  Then give your impression of the program and describe some of what they do.  Does it appear to be a program that would be beneficial to African American families?  Why or Why not?  Feel free to discuss particular strengths or weaknesses of the programs.  Include the web addresses in your reference section.  Remember to consider strengths and needs of African American families as addressed in chapter 4 of your text.

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Paper Instructions:

How has the complex interplay of student differences, institutional racism and discrimination, teacher and societal biases led to low expectations, and unfair school policies and practices that affect our nation’s students and schools?
What are the short and long term effects of racism, prejudice, and discrimination for the field of education?
What structures do you see in your daily professional and personal life that limit the human education potential?
As an educational leader considering the interplay, effects, and structures addressed above, What implications do you see for school reform?
Length: 5 pages not including title and reference pages.
Referenced: Minimum of 3 scholarly resources.
Nieto and Bode (2012) suggest education must take on the challenge of no longer replicating societal inequities. Instead it is meant to reflect the ideals of democracy. However, they also write that our schools have consistently failed to provide an equitable education for students of all backgrounds and situations. Racism, prejudice and discrimination are defined and practiced in schools through education, school policies and institutional power. Nieto and Bode (2012) provide several studies that address issues of racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of discrimination in U.S. schools. They argue that overt acts of discrimination are only one way that racism manifests itself in the classroom. Racism can be as subtle as low expectations from teachers or turning a blind eye to discrimination in the school system. Nieto and Bode (2012) suggest that while teachers have little control over the environment outside the classroom, we do have a responsibility to advocate for our students. By addressing our own biases, challenging unfair school policies, resisting institutionally oppressive structures, breaking down barriers to equitable access to learning, and working to change policies and practices outside the classroom we can work toward a more equitable education system.

Nieto and Bode (2012) consider democracy, as theorized by Dewey and others, a liberatory practice. This conception of democratic teaching practices offers equitable opportunities for all students. Unfortunately, many students in U.S. schools are not given the opportunity to see themselves as equal citizens due to educational structures that limit their potential. These structural and organizational issues include tracking, retention, standardized testing, traditional curriculums and pedagogy, climate and physical structures, disciplinary policies, teachers and family and community have limited involvement. In this chapter, the reader is encouraged to examine each structure, using the most current research, in order to conceptualized multicultural school reform. As you read through your assigned reading for this activity, reflect on the following definitions from the text:

Prejudice
The attitudes and beliefs of individuals about entire groups of people. These attitudes and beliefs are generally, but not always, negative. Attitudes alone, however, are not as harmful as the behaviors, policies (65).

Discrimination
Discrimination (whether based on race, gender, social class, or other differences) denotes negative or destructive behaviors that can result in denying some groups their life’s necessities as well as privileges, rights and opportunities enjoyed by other groups. Discrimination is usually based on prejudice… (65).

Institutional discrimination
Institutional discrimination generally refers to how people are excluded or deprived of rights or opportunities as a result of the normal operations of the institution …The systematic use of economic and political power in institutions (such as schools) that leads to detrimental policies and practices—does far greater damage. These policies and practices have a destructive effect on groups that share a particular identity, be it racial, ethnic, gender, or other. The major difference between individual and institutional discrimination is the wielding of power (67).

Systemic
Discrimination is not simply an individual dislike of a particular group of people. The systemic nature of discrimination has long-range and life-limiting effects of institutional racism and other kinds of institutional discrimination. Discrimination is systemic because it is manifested in economic, political and social power (67).

Racism
Discrimination based on race (68).

Institutional Racism
Racism as an institutional system implies that some people and groups benefit and others lose. Whites, whether they intend to or not, benefit in a racist society. According to the late Meyer Weinberg, a well-known historian whose research focused on school desegregation, racism is a system of privilege and penalty. That is, one is rewarded or punished in housing, education, employment, health, and in other institutions by the simple fact of belonging to a particular group, regardless of one’s individual merits or faults (67).

Reference:
Nieto, S. & Bode, P. (2012). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.


BOOKS and RESURCES:

1.  Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education
External Learning Tool

2.  Class Action: Building Bridges Across the Divide. Classcism

3.  Class Matters.
Link

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Why does sexual assault and sexual harassment continue to happen in the army when we consistently have training on the issue?

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Read the book Development Across the Life Span by Robert S. Feldman to understand the social development in preschoolers, focus on the ways in which individuals' interactions with others and their social relationships grow, change, and remain stable over the course of life

use two journal articles in your report that deal with preschoolers and their peers

added example of different observation of a preschooler

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Read the book Development Across the Life Span by Robert S. Feldman to understand the social development in preschoolers, focus on the ways in which individuals' interactions with others and their social relationships grow, change, and remain stable over the course of life

use two journal articles in your report that deal with preschoolers and their peers

added example of different observation of a preschooler

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Paper Instructions:

Investigative Assignment #2 – Learn about the concept of identity 
Part A. Talk with three people (friends, peers, co-workers, family or strangers) about their background. The goal is to learn about the many ways people define themselves, beyond just using race/ethnicity, gender, or language, for example, and to learn how social context influences identity. Identity can be personal. Your interviews might be more detailed and interesting if you talk to people who you already know and who would be comfortable talking with you. Ask them the following questions. Feel free to ask others. 
1)  Ask them to describe their background, where they grew up, including ethnic, racial, and/or linguistic background and culture. 

2)  If you could only use three words to describe your identity, what would those three words be and why? Be sure to ask what or who has influenced their identity, for example, family, particular life experiences, friends or peers, media, educational experiences, work experiences, etc. 

3)  Think about how you’ve changed from childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood. Has your identity changed over time? Why or why not? If yes, what or who has influenced those changes to your identity? 

4)  Do you think, in general, that people in your life – from school, work, family, friends – see you in the same way as you see yourself? Why or why not? 


Part B. In approximately 5 double-spaced pages with 1-inch margins, answer the following. You must use the following format and be sure to label each section as #1, #2, and #3 in your paper: 
Section #1 – In approximately 2 pages, describe who you talked to (no names, use friend, mother, cousin, husband, partner, etc.) and then summarize your conversation with each person. 
Section #2 – In approximately 1 1⁄2 -2 pages, thinking about your own identity, answer the interview questions above from your perspective and experiences. For some of you, reflecting on your identity might be a new experience. There is no right or wrong answer. Just be honest and real. 
Section #3 - In 1 -1 1⁄2 pages, use lecture material and at least one reading from week 5 to discuss what you learned about the concepts of culture, social context, and identity. You must refer to specific points in the reading and lecture. Only use readings and lecture material that relate to your interviews and to yourself. You must refer to specific points in your interviews or about yourself as you discuss connections to week 5 material. Think about any connections between the readings and the interviews. Think about whether or not your interviews (including your interview with yourself) seem similar to the points in the readings or lecture, or if they contradict any of the points we discussed in week 5.

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Paper Instructions:

Create an introductory and give background information about the issues surrounding a client admitting to a therapist that he/she abuses their partner.  The different views surrounding it , identifying race, culture, socioeconomic status, gender, sex, family structure, religious beliefs, etc. Relate to work in human service field with at least 3 scholarly references and in text citations.

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Paper Instructions:

In your professional experience, discuss examples where trust has eroded in organizations where it has been.  What were some of the ramifications of this? Why is trust so vital?  What can a leader do to rebuild trust if it is lost?

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

After you have thoughtfully considered the learning theories, the next step is to develop your pedagogy, or effective teaching methods, through instructional strategies.

Instructional strategies encompass all the techniques teachers use to make learning engaging, relevant, and attainable to students. It is important to understand the various strategies you can use to instruct students and to meet the various needs of all students through these strategies.

Part 1: Template

Use the “Instructional Strategies Template” to complete this assignment.

Part 2: Summary

Write a 500-750 word summary addressing the following:


Description of the strategy identified, its benefits, and any potential challenges.
Explanation of how the strategy applies to one of the learning theories from the Topic 1 assignment.
Description of a specific learning experience or activity that supports the chosen instructional strategy and learning theory.
Summary of accommodations, resources, and materials to differentiate instruction according to the needs, strengths, and learning goals of individual students.
Support your summary with a minimum of three scholarly resources.

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Paper Instructions:

Depression in later life is usually diagnosed on the basis of two clusters of symptoms: feelings and physical changes. In a 3-page paper, written in APA format using proper spelling/grammar, research the topic of depression in the elderly and address the following:
How would one know if an elderly relative had clinical depression or was sad because of specific life changes and losses?

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Consider a question about a child or adolescent development that you find interesting. Then, identify three empirical articles that have attempted to answer the question.  For example, perhaps you would like to understand whether playing Pokemon GO influences a teen’s academic achievement. You might find articles that attempted to answer that question by 1) interviewing teens who play Pokemon GO and ask them about their experiences, and their academics; 2) gathering academic achievement data on teens who play Pokemon GO and teens who do not play Pokemon GO and compare two; and 3) conducting brain scans on teens as they play Pokemon GO to determine if the results reveal brain activity that would promote academics.
Assignment Instructions:
This week you will examine how we can answer the same research question in many different ways. Once you find three research articles that pertain to your interest, write a brief reflection including the following:
·        Present your question.
·        Explain how each study tried to answer the question/topic, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each study
·        Offer another suggestion or explain which approach you found the most useful and why.
Length: 10-13 slides

Your presentation should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. And on graduate level writing.