In teacher education, critical scholars have lamented how "niceness" hinders progress toward social and racial justice. A place characteristic of this "niceness" is the Midwestern region of the United States, which the dominant narrative paints as overly agreeable and free of racial inequities. This image overlooks the rampant…

Studies have consistently shown that character strengths predict well-being and positive psychological outcomes. However, there is sparse research on how these strengths relate to stigma towards individuals with special educational needs (SEN). This study addresses this gap through exploring the link of using humanity-oriented strengths (i.e.,…

Extracurricular activities such as sports and music offer a means to glimpse the complexity of students' experiences in federally-run boarding schools for Native children in the United States. Studies of music in residential schools typically include a mix of quantitative and qualitative sources, including "unexpected archives" such as…

How can educators help privileged children develop understanding of and compassion for immigrants in schools where there is very little diversity in their classrooms? The author used picture books to help children feel closer to those who came from challenging environments to find a better life in the United States. She discovered that asking…

As the nation's personal, social, and political divides deepen and become more contentious, administrators, faculty, staff, and students face the challenge of navigating this division. Issues of human rights, free speech, and college and university policy converge with remarkable contention, leaving many higher education professionals believing…

In this study, a mixed method was used. The sample consisted of 175 female and 155 male fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade students studying in a public secondary school in the Central Anatolia Region in Turkey. The sample was used in accordance with a cluster sampling method, a type of probability sampling. In the quantitative dimension of the…

Student attitudes toward having a relationship with a wheelchair user were explored. Participants initially selected one of six opposite gender head shots and subsequently viewed their selection's whole body photograph in a wheelchair along with reading a short biography. Primarily undergraduate Hispanic and Caucasian students (N = 810) were…

Fostering young people's commitment to protect biodiversity is an important goal of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in both, industrial countries and designated biodiversity hotspots. However, little empirical evidence exists to describe factors that influence such commitments. Based on the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory, 15 to…

Using data collected from undergraduates at two large, public universities (N = 183), we examined features of student drawings (e.g., facial expressions) as reflections of dominant views of the elderly. Sketches depicted both negative (e.g., frailty) and positive stereotypes (e.g., kindness). They also illustrate gender inequality; for example,…

In 2006 the author and her colleagues carried out the sociological survey "Tolerance in Volunteer Social Work." They sought to determine the attitudes that young Russian and German volunteers of social work have when it comes to tolerance as a concept, a trait of personality, a principle of life and activity. They studied the various…

Students from seven institutions of higher education reported their preferences for different paradigms of service at the beginning of their service-learning courses. At the end of the courses, they described the associated service activities in terms of the same paradigms and also completed scales describing their learning outcomes and attitudes…

Wishes of students participating in a residential program for the gifted were collected and categorized. Males wished for material things more often than did females. With the exception of fourth graders, subjects made altruistic wishes more frequently than any other wish. (Author)

Reports results of a 1984-85 study involving 261 Canadian undergraduates and their degree of sympathy for victims in each of 20 world disasters. Finds culpability singularly influential in determining degree of sympathy. Determines females showed greater empathy and recommended more financial aid than did men. (DB)