Analyzing La Cuna: New Approaches for Mentoring in Professional Associations

This case study explores the implementation of La Cuna, an online mentoring forum in a small, subjectbased professional association, the Seminar for the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM). Designed using the social network software Ning, the forum functioned as an informal learning community for 38 members and was an innovative response to geographical challenges and changing technological skills. Using participation data and a questionnaire to analyze the implementation and development of the hybrid e-mentoring community, this study reveals challenges and benefits that should be considered when managing similar professional development activities. While the forum failed to maintain sustained participation, findings revealed the need to assess professional association member needs regularly and highlighted the importance of continued exploration of online learning tools. Through the description of this project, professional associations and other learning communities will gain insights into the creation and implementation of an online e-mentoring learning community, which will be useful as librarians and groups attempt to meet member professional development needs.

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Continuing Professional Development

Work-Integrated Learning in Engineering, Built Environment and Technology ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-547-6.ch002 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 25-51

Author(s):

Mr. Gerald A. Murphy ◽

Prof. Bruce A. Calway

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Social Change ◽

Transfer Of Learning ◽

Continuing Professional Development ◽

Professional Associations ◽

Professional Staff ◽

Professional Association ◽

Body Of Knowledge ◽

Vested Interests ◽

Work Integrated Learning

Organisations promote their services by stressing that their professional staff are members of the relevant professional association and by listing the certifications/credentials they hold. Practice alone is generally insufficient to ensure knowledge is effective and up to date. Continuing professional development (CPD) is a requirement for professionals to develop knowledge to enable them to competently and adequately provide services to clients or employers. Professionals work in environments where technical, legal, conceptual and/or social change mandates that processes, practices, knowledge and understanding need to evolve. Individual professionals, professional associations, and the employers of professionals may have differing objectives for CPD and have vested interests to ensure that CPD is designed to, and meets actual objectives. Integrating work with learning is fundamental, i.e. if learning is not seen as having practical application, it is not valued. The knowledge development of professionals can be enhanced through Work-Integrated Learning which takes into account that they: hold a body of knowledge, are adults, and operate in positions in which learning and work can be related. Informal learning, in particular communities of practice, is significant in the transfer of learning to professionals.

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Guitars have disabilities: exploring guitar adaptations for an adolescent with Down syndrome

British Journal of Music Education ◽

10.1017/s026505171400028x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 343-357 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Adam Patrick Bell

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Learning Community ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Social Model ◽

Social Model Of Disability ◽

Instrumental Case Study ◽

Music Making ◽

The Social ◽

Field Notes

The guitar has a high value in cultural capital and we are immersed in a culture in which the guitar is the predominant vehicle of music-making. Given the guitar's mass popularity, it follows that the guitar-learning community is vast and diverse. Subscribing to the social model of disability, I problematise the guitar as being disabled and conducted an instrumental case study using the ethnographic tools of video-based observation, field notes and a semi-structured interview to chronicle the experience of teaching an adolescent with Down syndrome how to play the guitar. Different approaches to enabling the guitar are examined including open-tuning, standard tuning and a modified two-string guitar. Findings discuss the importance of the guitar to the participant as a percussive and rhythmic instrument and additionally as support for singing in the context of jamming.

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Meeting the Social Needs of Students with AD/HD by Addressing the Professional Development Needs of Their Teachers

Teacher Education and Special Education The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children ◽

10.1177/088840649702000203 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 92-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Catherine Marchant ◽

Gary N. Siperstein

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Social Needs ◽

The Social ◽

Professional Development Needs

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Factors Influencing Chiropractors Who Choose not to Join Professional Associations

10.21203/rs.3.rs-27510/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Stanley I Innes ◽

Vicki Cope ◽

Kenneth J Young

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Continuing Professional Development ◽

Professional Associations ◽

Professional Association ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Research Libraries ◽

Qualitative Descriptive ◽

The Media ◽

Insurance Rates

Abstract Background Professional associations are perceived to promote their professions and support their members. They can provide assistance with complaints, negotiate favourable professional indemnity insurance rates, provide access to research libraries and databases, and organise continuing professional development events. Despite these apparent advantages, about 1 in 3 Australian chiropractors choose not to belong to either of the two professional associations. Our study had three objectives: 1) to explore the views of non-member chiropractors about professional associations in general; and 2) seek to understand the motivations of non-member Australian chiropractors about not joining a professional association; and 3) to discover their reasons that might lead them to join a professional association. Methods This was a qualitative descriptive study utilising in-depth semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions for thematic analysis conducted from January to March 2020. It was estimated that between 6 -15 participants in total would be required to achieve saturation of data, that is, the point where no new themes were being articulated. Participants had to be registered chiropractors who had not been members of a professional association (PA) for the last five years. Recruitment was through a Facebook ad and snowball sampling. Interviews were transcribed and imported into NVivo qualitative analysis software, allowing identification of key concepts surrounding non-membership of chiropractic professional associations. Results Five themes were identified from the data. They were: “Not worth the money”, “Tarnished image of the profession”, “Going it alone / what’s in it for me”, “Lack of visibility”, and “Two warring factions”. The most commonly voiced suggestions for improvement included providing continuing professional development/lectures, frequent email updates about events affecting practice/business, improve the image of the profession through the media, and act as a regulator to the profession. Conclusions Non-members are looking for PAs to enhance the respectability of the profession in a manner that ultimately results in increased patient volume and the provision of readily accessible day-to-day resources and information. These results can inform the construction of a survey for the broader chiropractic non-membership community to confirm and expand upon these findings and improve PAs.

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“This Brings you to Life” The Impact of Friendship on Health and Well-being in Old Age: the Case of La Verneda Learning Community

Research on Ageing and Social Policy ◽

10.17583/rasp.2020.5538 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 192

Author(s):

Susana León-Jiménez

Keyword(s):

Learning Community ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Life Quality ◽

Well Being ◽

The Social ◽

Ancient Times ◽

The Impact ◽

Health And Well Being

Friendship has been studied along centuries, since ancient times to present-day, as the basis of the social cornerstone, present at all stages of the lifespan and belonging to the world of truthful sentiments. Benefits of friendship on health have been demonstrated. Less is known about the role of friendship on seniors. The aim of this case study has been to show how the end friendship developed in an adults’ school operating for more than 40 years in Barcelona is having a positive impact on the well-being and health of their participants. Through the communicative discussion group, we have deepened in the trajectories of some of the school participants. The results show how participation in the school and the dialogic gatherings have contributed to the emergence of a non-instrumental friendship feeling and to consider an impact on the perceived general wellness and health and an improvement of their life quality. It is discussed how this research provides more elements to the existing literature. More research on how other communitarian environments have similar effects on this population, or on the impact of these dialogical spaces in the development of end friendships in other stages of the life cycle would be of interest.

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A Case Study on the University Freshman Adaptation Program Using an Online Mentoring Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Korean Association of General Education ◽

10.46392/kjge.2021.15.4.217 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 217-231

Author(s):

Yeonjoo Lee ◽

Kyoungsoo Lim

Keyword(s):

Real Life ◽

Mentoring Programs ◽

Mentoring Program ◽

Online Mentoring ◽

College Life ◽

Social Growth ◽

The Social ◽

The University ◽

And Training

This study is a case study that presents the results of developing and operating online mentoring programs to more effectively help freshmen adapt to college life amid the spread of COVID-19. Mentoring has traditionally been recognized as a program that contributes to individual academic ability and psycho-social growth. Against this background, the results of developing and operating online mentoring programs for 1,654 freshmen were presented as examples. As a result of the operation of this mentoring program, the latter helped freshmen solve some of the challenges they faced, not only from having to change their academic environment, but from having to form new relationships as well. Senior mentoring also confirmed that such a program is able to reduce the social gap felt by freshmen regarding their campus life during the COVID-19 situation by motivating them to study more, and by encouraging them to form senior-junior IRL (in real life) relationships. This study is significant in that it presents specific examples and techniques to improve the performance of online mentoring programs. Also, in order to effectively operate online mentoring programs, we proposed to systematically implement the selection and training of mentors, to structure mentoring activities, to monitor the program through a communication system, and to engage in performance sharing.

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Professional Development and Teaching Practices of EFL Palestinian Teachers during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Three Female Teachers

Arab World English Journal ◽

10.24093/awej/call7.6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 78-93

Author(s):

Khaled Dweikat ◽

Munther Zyoud

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Online Technologies ◽

Female Teachers ◽

The Social ◽

Efl Teachers ◽

Focus Group Meeting ◽

Teacher Training Programs ◽

Teachers Professional Development ◽

New Situation

The current study investigated the activities and practices used by three female EFL teachers during the coronavirus pandemic between March 2020 till February 2021. The study also explored the difficulties and obstacles faced by the three teachers during that period. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative approach utilizing a case study design was employed using three tools: teachers’ written reflections, content analysis of teachers’ posts on the social media, and a focus group meeting via Zoom. The significance of the study emerges from its objectives to contribute to EFL teachers’ professional development during the emergency cases. Results revealed that the three teachers were able to cope with the new situation by adopting new methods of content delivery and new forms of communication as well. These teachers used online technologies such as Facebook, YouTube, and Microsoft Teams to communicate with their students and the parents as well. However, some challenges emerged, including the financial situation of the families and its impact on students’ access to internet connection and family affordability. Under these conditions, teacher training programs are in demand for using appropriate technologies that engage the students and attract their attention.

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The Shluvim Social-Professional Network

Advances in Media, Entertainment, and the Arts - Promoting Global Competencies Through Media Literacy ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3082-4.ch009 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 138-159

Author(s):

Smadar Bar-Tal ◽

Tami Seifert

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Social Networking ◽

Virtual Space ◽

Communication Process ◽

Quantitative Methodology ◽

Professional Network ◽

The Social ◽

Usage Patterns ◽

Israeli Education

Establishment of the Shluvim network in 2010 responded to the Israeli education profession's need to introduce innovative pedagogical challenges. This social-professional network provides a virtual space for its members, empowering them through discussion on different aspects of education. The article describes a case study, employing both qualitative and quantitative methodology (questionnaires and interviews), to identify the dynamics of quantitative components involved in the evolvement of the network and to elicit members' experiences in the communication process. Findings reveal challenges involved in informed use of social networking in education and show how participation in the professional network can assist members' professional development, although it is necessary to adapt to changes in usage patterns and competition with alternative social networks. The research enhances understanding of the social-professional network's role as an empowering environment for the Israeli education system in general and for teachers' education and professional development in particular.

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