Posted by Hilary Edwards on Mon, May 13, 2013
This is the twenty-first book written by Four Arrows, and Peter Lang Publishers claims Teaching Truly to be a first of its kind for educational publishing. After reviewing Teaching Truly, Noam Chomsky stated:
This enlightening book reminds us that the grim prognosis for life on this planet is the consequence of a few centuries of forgetting what traditional societies knew, and the surviving ones still recognize. We must nurture and preserve our common possession, the traditional commons, for future generations, and this must be one of our highest values, or we are all doomed. To regain this sensibility from those who have preserved it we must pay careful attention to their understanding and practices, especially their educational practices as brought to us in these thoughtful chapters.
Teaching Truly offers K-16 course-specific guidelines for helping teachers and students counter-balance mainstream education’s hegemonic influences with indigenous learning precepts. Guest authors contribute to six of the book’s thirteen chapters, one of which is doctoral ELC student and mentee of Four Arrows, Kathryn England-Aytes.
This is not the first Fielding student to have co-authored with Four Arrows. A number of students in Fielding’s neuropsychology program contributed to his book, Critical Neurophilosophy and Indigenous Wisdom and students from all three colleges contributed to his acclaimed text on alternative dissertations, The Authentic Dissertation. When asked about why he asked a student to contribute, Four Arrows replied:
I’m fortunate to be able at this stage of my career to get publishers interested in projects. One of my goals, besides getting people to rethink status-quo perspectives, is to give recognition to the one school that stands for challenging the stats-quo where needed, Fielding Graduate University. Since our students are a big reason for Fielding’s reputation, I love to not only use their expertise but also to give them first opportunities to get published whenever possible. Kathryn’s dissertation work offered a perfect opportunity for an introductory chapter for this book and I’m proud she has joined the more seasoned guest authors on the cover of the book.
As an anarchist educator, Four Arrows solicited a large number of noted critical educators to read and comment on his text. Although he admits that offering suggestions for non-Indian teachers to teach non-Indian students is sensitive and complex undertaking, it is full of opportunities to turn the dire situations facing our world around. It seems that many agree with this approach.
The sampling of reviews below reveals that Four Arrows has touched a nerve in both offering frank criticism of policy, standards and outcomes in mainstream education while offering a counter-balancing solution that can be used in complementary ways to existing curriculum for those teachers who dare:
Penetrating, fearless and practical, this book offers educators (and anyone else with an interest in our future) a way to create a better world—before it is too late!—Thom Hartmann
In my own work as an environmental activist, I’ve learned more from the indigenous environmental network than just about anyone else. If the Indigenous perspective can help even an old guy like me, then educators should be paying attention to what Four Arrows offers in this book. God knows we need some new ways of looking at things.—Bill McKibben
Teaching Truly is a singularly provocative book with the unsettling analysis that education is not about learning and economics is not about the well-being of society. As today’s institutions crumble in their dysfunction, Four Arrows draws upon tens of thousands of years of empirical data within Indigenous societies, crucial intelligence on what works and how to unleash the kind of learning that will help us become human beings present and in balance with Mother Earth.—Rebecca Adamson
At a time when mainstream education is viewed as impoverished and lacking in meaning, this engaging book invites educators to start a self-reflective dialogue on educational innovation stimulated and inspired by the indigenous wisdom. With humility, sensitivity and force, Teaching Truly gives rise to the possibility of transforming education from inside out.—Scherto Gill
In this provocative new book, Four Arrows takes a principled stand on behalf of a significant educational perspective that has long been buried by corporate and political interests, that of the continent’s primary people. We would surely live more balanced, respectful and grounded lives if 21st-century educators were to read this book and learn from its lessons. If we hope to pass along to our grandchildren a healthy 22nd century, we need a richer education than the ‘edupreneurs’ have provided us thus far.—Peter Smagorinsky
This new book by Four Arrows bridges a gap, allowing for a renewed flow of wisdom from American Indian cultures. This perspective has always been crucial to us at AERO and we hope many will be able to use it before our mainstream culture goes over a cliff.”—Jerry Mintz
This book needs to be taken seriously. It offers a perspective that has been missing in cultural storage and thinking promoted in public schools and universities and online learning systems. There are many reasons for learning from indigenous knowledge systems. It would be a mistake to read Teaching Truly as an appeal to going back in time, as the lessons to be learned from indigenous cultures are timeless.—C.A. Bowers
In Teaching Truly, Four Arrows draws a frighteningly accurate map of the known world, and the spiritual and material collapse that’s upon us: death and destruction at the heart of the liberal techno/imperial/capitalist juggernaut. Drawing on ancient and Indigenous ways of being and knowing Four Arrows offers a contemporary guide to what is to be done, and illuminates a path toward a future where schools might play a powerful role in truth-seeking, repair, and renewal for all children, youth, families, and teachers. After an encounter with Four Arrows, I reflected with renewed energy on the urgent questions that drive free people in pursuit of enlightenment and liberation: What are we? Why are we here? Where are we headed? How shall we live? What kind of world can we hope to inhabit? This handbook for teachers is a vibrant and essential text for anyone who wants to understand the broad dimensions of the mess we’re in and pursue a wise and practical pathway forward.—William Ayers
Four Arrows has cut to the core in Teaching Truly. Doing more than overcoming the omissions, misinterpretations, and outright fictionalization of our culture, traditions and spirituality that have been taught in American schools, he has put together generalizable teachings for specific subjects in ways that can point education toward achieving a more balanced world.—Tim Giago, Nanwica Kciji (Stands Up for Them)
To order a copy of Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream Education go to Amazon.com. All profits from this book will go to worthy American Indian educational associations and foundations.
Listen to Four Arrows radio interview on the Kevin Barret show: http://truthjihadradio.blogspot.mx/
Contact: Four Arrows, aka Don Trent Jacobs, PhD, EdD, http://www.teachingvirtues.net
News Archive
Posted by Hilary Edwards on Thu, Nov 29, 2012
Community members and renowned experts gather to shape confident future for aging population.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, baby boomers will turn 65 at a rate of 10,000 per day for the next decade making them the fastest growing segment of the population. Future implications indicate: “tomorrow’s elderly will have quite different social, demographic, health, and economic characteristics than today’s elderly… as average length of life continues to increase, issues regarding the quality of active life expectancy are likely to assume greater importance.” In anticipation of this growing segment of our population, the Sixth Annual International Conference on Positive Aging, hosted by Fielding Graduate University’s Institute for Social Innovation, brings together notable speakers and workshop leaders to explore new and innovative approaches to positive aging. This year’s topic is “Life-Reimagined: New Approaches to Positive Aging” and the conference will take place February 10-12, 2013 at the Center for Healthy Communities at The California Endowment in Los Angeles.
The Sixth Annual International Conference on Positive Aging includes a variety of workshops that explore themes of creative expression, community, wellness, and life transitions. Dr. Katrina Rogers, Provost of Fielding Graduate University and Senior Vice-President states: “Positive aging promotes creativity, wellness, and growth. It means taking personal control of your life instead of being a victim or passive observer. In this model, aging presents a new opportunity for being socially active, for engaging with the community, for being productive, and for seeking a new meaning and purpose in life. This is why the conference is larger each year: people are interested about how to age well.” The conference provides opportunities to engage in physical and creative activities, including yoga, meditation, music, and connecting with others with similar interests. Conference registration is open to the public.
The keynote speaker for this year’s conference is Wendy Lustbader, MSW, who currently serves as Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work. Ms. Lustbader has considerable experience working with older people, their families and caregivers, and lectures nationally on subjects related to aging. As a medical social worker, she specialized for almost twenty years in out-patient mental health at the Pike Market Medical Clinic in Seattle, and has also practiced in a home health care agency, hospital geriatric unit, and nursing home. Ms. Lustbader’s first book was co-authored with Nancy Hooyman, Taking Care of Aging Family Members. This is a practical guide to caregiving which is still considered the best book of its kind by experts in the field of aging. At the opening reception on Sunday, February 10th, Ms. Lustbader will speak about her latest book, Life Gets Better: The Unexpected Pleasures of Growing Older.
The conference will also host a webinar with world-renowned American contemporary spiritual teacher and author Ram Dass. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960's, for his travels to India and his relationship with the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba, and for founding the charitable organizations Seva Foundation and Hanuman Foundation. His practice of karma yoga or spiritual service has opened up millions to their deep, yet individuated spiritual practice and path. Dass continues to uphold the boddhisatva ideal for others through his compassionate sharing of true knowledge and vision. His unique skill in getting people to cut through and feel divine love without dogma is still a positive influence on people all over the world.
Dr. James E. Birren is one of the "reigning pioneers" in the organized field of gerontology since the 1940s. He is a past president of The Gerontological Society of America, and author of over 250 publications. Dr. Birren will receive Fielding's Creative Longevity and Wisdom Award in recognition of his six decades of seminal contributions including the influential work on guided autobiography.
Featured speaker Dr. Brian de Vries, Professor of Gerontology at San Francisco State University, and will share his extensive work on aging experiences, including bereavement among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender adults. He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of American, a member of the Leadership Council for the American Society on Aging, and co-chair of the Lesbian and Gay Aging Issues Network constituency group. Most recently, Dr. de Vries has become a policy advisor for AARP, California.
Attendees include professionals in the fields of health care, insurance, life planning, care giving and lifelong learning, as well as those interested in ageism, gaining, spirituality, creativity, wellness, entrepreneurship and more.
Early registration for the three day conference is $275 until January 14th, 2013, and $300 after. Single day tickets are $125. Registration includes meals and opening reception Sunday evening. To attend only the Sunday dinner reception featuring keynote speaker Wendy Lustbader is $80.
For more information and updates about the conference, please visit the website: http://www.positiveaging.fielding.edu/
News Archive
Posted by Hilary Edwards on Wed, Nov 07, 2012
Fielding alumnus Warren Lambert (PSY '11) was recently named president of the KALGBTIC (Kentucky Association for Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender Issues In Counseling) Division of the Kentucky Counseling Association.
KALGBTIC is a division of the Kentucky Counseling Association and works in partnership with the national division of the Association of Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Issue in Counseling (ALGBTIC). The mission of ALGBTIC includes the recognition of both individual and social contexts representing the confluence of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, age, spiritual or religious belief system, indigenous heritage in order: to promote greater awareness and understanding of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) issues among members of the counseling profession and related helping occupations, to improve standards and delivery of counseling services provided to GLBT clients and communities, to identify conditions which create barriers to the human growth and development of GLBT clients and communities and use counseling skills, programs, and efforts to preserve, protect, and promote such development, to develop, implement, and foster interest in counseling-related charitable, scientific, and educational programs designed to further the human growth and development of GLBT clients and communities, to secure equality of treatment, advancement, qualifications, and status of GLBT members of the counseling profession and related helping occupations, and to publish a journal and other scientific, educational, and professional materials with the purpose of raising the standards of practice for all who work with GLBT clients and communities in the counseling profession and related helping occupations.
News Archive
Posted by Hilary Edwards on Wed, Oct 17, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012 in Riverside, California
Dr. Laurie Olsen will address the topic of equal education in our schools. Immigration reform expert Sofia Campos will discuss the implications of deferred action for California students and educators.
About the Author
Laurie Olsen, PhD, has worked with hundreds of teams of district and school leadership and county offices of education across California to design and implement powerful English Learner programs and services and to support effective school change strategies. Her career spans four decades as a researcher, writer, and provider of leadership development and technical assistance on educational equity for immigrant students, language minority students, and English Learners. She currently directs the SEAL Initiative, a preschool-third grade demonstration project for Spanish- speaking English Learners in Silicon Valley. She served as chief consultant to The PROMISE Initiative (a six-county, six-district collaborative focused on transformative education for English Learners in southern California), and was for many years the Executive Director of California Tomorrow. Dr. Olsen has published dozens of books, videos, and articles on English Learner education, including the award winning Made in America: Immigrants in U.S. Schools. She holds a Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Studies in Education from U.C. Berkeley and serves on the Executive Board of Californians Together.
Dr. Teresa Marquez-Lopez, associate dean and program director for master’s and continuing education in the School of Educational Leadership & Change, will recognize Fielding alumni for their work in San Bernardino schools.
Fielding alumni, students, faculty, and staff will be available to share information about the university’s program offerings.
DATE: Saturday, October 20, 2012
TIME: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
LOCATION: Mission Inn Hotel and Spa, 3649 Mission Avenue, Riverside, California 92501
REGISTER: http://fguolsen.eventbrite.com
You are invited to join us! Space is limited. Please register today.
SPONSORS:
California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE)
Inland Empire Scholarship Fund
Norton Space and Aeronautics Academy
Riverside Chapter of CABE
Schools First Federal Credit Union
Southern California Edison
News Archive
Posted by Hilary Edwards on Tue, Oct 09, 2012
Fielding Graduate University faculty Placida Gallegos, PhD, in the Human & Organizational Development (HOD) program, was an integal part of the core-planning team and a coach in the latino/latina student success project for the state of New Mexico, which was among similar projects across the country for which the Lumina Foundation provided significant funding.
The Lumina Foundation required all participating sites to undergo a rigorous reflection and planning period during the first year. The process was designed to ensuring the strategy generated by each city was sustainable and would result in the collective impact of closing the achievement gap for latino/latina students in higher education.
The Lumnia Foundation announced the following in a press release October 3rd, 2012:
Lumina is pleased to acknowledge the great work and leadership of local champions all across the country. Over the past six months, Lumina has provided technical assistance and support to these 13 communities as they have refined and developed Latino student success projects. The cohort is now ready for implementation, and the projects proposed seek to increase the educational attainment for more than 200,000 students touched by this effort over the next four years. This investment in Latino student success is designed to strengthen local collaborative ventures that promise to improve the postsecondary attainment of Latino students.
Through this grant investment, Lumina is providing a total of $11.5 million over a four year period to 13 different partnerships. The partnerships will leverage community leaders across key policy, education, business and nonprofit sectors to build, implement and sustain college preparation, access and success strategies for Latino students.
“Lumina’s Latino Student Success effort is grounded in two concepts: a commitment to Latino student success for reasons of equity, economic stability and national competitiveness, and the power of local partnerships as framed by the Collective Impact Model,” said Lumina Foundation President and CEO Jamie Merisotis. “This effort is an integral part of our commitment to Goal 2025.”
At more than 50 million, by 2025, half of the nation’s workers will be of Latino descent. At that time, 63 percent of all jobs in the United States will require some form of postsecondary education or training, according to labor economist Anthony Carnevale of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
“Lumina’s Latino Student Success effort enables us to focus on a task that is at once a serious challenge and a priceless opportunity: increasing college attainment for more Latino students,” said Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education. “This effort will not only enhance the lives of Latino students but will help to ensure a bright future for all Americans.”
The success of this effort is a key driver on the road to reach all national college attainment goals. (http://www.luminafoundation.org/newsroom/news_releases/2012-10-03.html)
News Archive
Posted by Hilary Edwards on Fri, Sep 14, 2012
Karen recently completed an interview with Time magazine covering her research on race in video games. The article reviews the research for the game Assassin’s Creed III based on the concept for a half-Mohawk, half-British assassin.
Read the Time article here:
http://techland.time.com/2012/09/05/assassins-creed-iiis-connor-kenway-how-ubisoft-avoided-stereotypes-and-made-a-real-character/
Regarding the her research and analysis of the Mohawk culture, Karen writes about what the game developers did right:
“This game might teach some realistic aspects of Mohawk culture, and the game developers
strove to be realistic and accurate about Mohawk culture. What would be positive is if the game caused players to learn more about the Mohawk culture, specifically aspects that do not involve aggression. For example, game players might find out that Mohawks were key ironworkers that helped build the city of New York.
What makes a character a stereotype or not, for me, depends on several things, all of which have to do with good narrative and character development in general. Of course, game developers should stay away from stereotypes, negative or positive. Characters should be complicated and nuanced. The fact of their race should inform who they are and yet they should still be allowed to be a unique individual."
Along with this article, Karen also recently published an article in Sage titled: Simulation & Gaming: An International Journal demonstrating how minorities are presented in the media makes a difference in how others feel about and react to other members of that minority. For more than four decades, Simulation & Gaming: An International Journal of Theory, Practice and Research has served as a leading international forum for the exploration and development of simulation/gaming methodologies used in education, training, consultation, and research. It appraises academic and applied issues in the expanding fields of simulation, computer- and internet-mediated simulation, virtual reality, educational games, video games, industrial simulators, active and experiential learning, case studies, and related methodologies.
Not slowing down, Karen recently worked with the International Society for Research on Aggression to complete a statement regarding media violence intended for general audiences to summarize what experts believe about media violence effects. The International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA) is a society of scholars and scientists interested in the scientific study of aggression and violence. The Society is both international and interdisciplinary and meets every other year on alternating continents. There are over 250 members from several dozen countries with specialties in psychology, psychiatry, physiology, sociology, anthropology, animal behavior, criminology, political science, pharmacology, and education. For more information on the ISRA media violence statement, click here: http://www.israsociety.com/
Based on her expertise, Karen was also recently invited by the chair of the division on information systems of the ICA (International Communication Association), to be part of a panel promoting promote the upcoming Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology, of which she is the editor, next summer at their London conference.
Last but not least, Fielding Graduate University is pleased to announce the Media & Social Psychology course that Karen teaches draws praise in this article posted recently for being on the forefront of thought in its field, and is among other courses offered by top Universities including Harvard.
Click here for the article 10 College Courses That Didn’t Exist 20 Years Ago: http://mashable.com/2012/09/10/innovative-college-courses/
To keep up with Karen and her work:
Psychology Today Blog: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/how-fantasy-becomes-reality
News Archive
Posted by Hilary Edwards on Thu, Sep 06, 2012
The Open Society Foundations announced award of $1.5 million to a cohort of emerging and established leaders working to advance fairness and transparency in the U.S. criminal justice system, of which Fielding Graduate University doctoral student Monique Morris, is a recipient.
The 2012 Soros Justice Fellows include investigative journalists, lawyers, academics, grassroots organizers, policy advocates, and filmmakers working on a range of justice reform issues at the local, state, and national levels.
The 2012 Soros Justice Fellows will tackle issues at the core of the Open Society Foundations’ work, such as addressing barriers that people face upon leaving prison, the harsh treatment of youth in the criminal justice system, and the impact of incarceration on communities of color. They will also be working on cutting edge reform efforts around the country, like projects to trim criminal justice costs in local jurisdictions and the role of architecture in social justice issues. They join more than 275 other individuals who, since 1997, have received support through the Soros Justice Fellowships; and who are part of a broader Open Society Foundations effort to curb mass incarceration, eliminate harsh punishment, and ensure a fair and equitable system of justice in the United States.
Monique Morris will be researching how education related policies and practices lead to the overrepresentation of black girls in the juvenile justice system.
Monique is the CEO of the MWM Consulting Group, LLC, which advances concepts of fairness, diversity, and inclusion. She is a former Vice President for the NAACP, Director of Research and Senior Research Fellow at UC Berkeley Law School’s Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, and Senior Research Associate at the National Center on Crime and Delinquency. She is the author of Too Beautiful for Words and co‐writer of Poster Child: The Kemba Smith Story. She is also a frequent commentator and lecturer on issues pertaining to race, gender, rights, and social justice. Morris has a BA from Columbia University and an MA from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; and is a Doctoral student at Fielding Graduate University’s School of Educational Leadership and Change
For more information about Monique Morris, please visit her blog by clicking here.
News Archive
Posted by Hilary Edwards on Fri, Aug 31, 2012
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Fielding Graduate University faculty in the School of Human & Organizational Development (HOD), has authored a new book When Half is Whole published by Stanford University Press.
Publishers Weekly says "When Half is Whole succeeds both as a comprehensive ethnic studies volume and an enlightening memoir of pushing back against categorizing humans with singular, rather than multiple identities.” Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, acclaims it as “a moving and thought-provoking book! Brilliantly nuanced, searingly honest, and beautifully written, When Half is Whole raises profound, often uncomfortable questions about race, identity, and the search for human connection.”
Stephan explains:"I listen and gather people's stories. Then I write them d
own in a way that I hope will communicate something to others, so that seeing these stories will give readers something of value. I tell myself that this isn't going to be done unless I do it, just because of who I am. It's a way of making my mark, leaving something behind . . . not that I'm planning on going anywhere right now."
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu is a Japanese/American multicultural psychologist and author specializing in understanding and illuminating issues of diversity and identity in nations, organizations, families, and individuals. He is on the faculties of the Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University Center for Comparative Studies of Race and Ethnicity, University of Tokyo, and Fielding Graduate University.
For more information about Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu and his work, click here.
When Half is Whole is available on Amazon.
News Archive
Posted by Carla Billings on Tue, Jun 19, 2012
Fielding doctoral faculty member, Dr. Christine G.T. Ho in collaboration with James Loucky, co-authored the recently published book, Humane Migration: Establishing Legitimacy and Rights for Displaced People.
Humane Migration provides a fresh look at the debate on international migration in general and immigration to the United States, Europe and Canada in particular. Arguing that migration is a human right, the authors call for better policies that recognize these rights and the many benefits that migrants provide to their new communities. This book is an essential text for policy makers, students and activists who seek justice for the world's vulnerable populations and is available for purchase from various sellers.
Abstract:
The popular discourse on immigration in North America and Western Europe is usually framed in terms of violations of national law, fueled by fear and propped up by the myths of nationhood. The rhetoric maintains that immigrants threaten jobs, the local economy, and the cultural identity of a country. However, these views fail to consider the ironic reality: that the developed world, which tries so hard to keep poor people out, itself produces the systemic economic conditions that foster migration.
Dr. Ho is a doctoral faculty member in the School of Human & Organizational Development at Fielding Graduate University. Trained in social anthropology, Dr. Ho has been a professor for more than 20 years. As an anthropologist, she brings to Fielding a worldview that centers on multiculturalism and cultural diversity as well as equality and social justice.
Learn more about Dr. Ho by reading her faculty biography and Fielding story.
News Archive
Posted by Carla Billings on Wed, Jun 06, 2012
Please join us in congratulating Fielding faculty member, Dr. Kitty Epstein, PhD for being honored as 1 of this year’s Powerful Women of the Bay award recipients. This award celebrates women that are passionate about educating, empowering, and connecting with women in business and the community.
The purpose of “Powerful Women of the Bay Awards” is to recognize the outstanding achievements of women in their chosen career field. Dr. Epstein is a published doctoral faculty member in Fielding’s School of Educational Leadership & Change, with areas of instruction in action research, leadership & change, and structural inequality and diversity. Her work at Fielding exemplifies why she was chosen as a “Powerful Women of the Bay” from a select group of women representing diversity for contributions made in their community to enrich the lives of others.
Congratulations Dr. Epstein!
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