Confronting horror, embracing fantasy: A conversation about Lovecraft Country and radical imagination in higher education

Higher education is at a pivotal point of reflection due to the forces of neoliberalism, anti-Blackness, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, higher education has overlooked the university’s far future, opting to focus on readily conspicuous change. Along with this disregarded conversation, these crises present higher education faculty, administrators, and staff an opportunity to critically re-think the future of higher education given what we know now and what we do not. In this dialogic essay between a higher education policy doctoral student and a tenured media and communications professor, the authors peer into the hit HBO series Lovecraft Country and its underlying themes of horror, fantasy, and historical reality to extract vital lessons for higher education. The authors further participate in conversations about utilizing world and storymaking tactics to help higher education envision the university of the future—a future that is radical and boundless.

Growing Forward

This chapter describes the efforts of an elementary education faculty to revamp the undergraduate elementary education program at their university to better align with state requirements for certification. The purpose of the chapter is to provide insight to other teacher educators who may feel a need to revise their programs. The authors begin by sharing the background of their institution and its role in preparing teachers for the region of the state in which it is located. They then identify the rationale for making the changes, describe the old program, and explain the procedures followed in planning and implementing the changes. They next share expected and unexpected problems they encountered in the implementation of the program and discuss some solutions found and some still being considered. They close with a discussion of actions to take to maintain the relevance of the program.

DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES FOR MICRO TEACHING IN EARLY CHILDREN EDUCATION FACULTY OF UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH SURAKARTA

The purpose of this study was to determine the need for Micro Teaching Guidelines for PG PAUD UMS (Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta) and produce Micro Teaching Guidelines for PG PAUD UMS according to the student needs. This research is a type of research and development or R D with ADDIE design. The subjects of this study were 6th semester students who were taking Micro Teaching courses. Data collection techniques were carried out using a google form questionnaire, and Forum Group Discussion. The data analysis technique uses percentage analysis and content analysis. Percentage analysis was carried out on data from google form, content analysis was carried out on data from discussion results. The results of this study indicate that: (1) 100% of respondents need a Micro Teaching Guidebook specifically for PG PAUD; (2) 100% of students and lecturers of PG PAUD UMS understand the contents of the Micro Teaching Guideline for PG PAUD UMS and stated that the Guidelines are effective for guide learning of Micro Teaching at PG PAUD UMS which seen from the criteria percentage of effectiveness.