1,405 Matching Annotations
  1. Jul 2020
  2. Jun 2020
    1. . The need to belong shouldtherefore be found to some degree in all humans in all cultures,although naturally one would expect there to be individualdifferences in strength and intensity, as well as cultural and in-dividual variations in how people express and satisfy the need.

      The need to belong should exist in all cultures, though naturally may vary in terms of individuality and culturally.

      • Could this have implications in terms of how youth from different backgrounds experience belongingness; maybe on a more microcultural(?) level?
      • Could this vary even between ages and sexes?
    2. we propose that a need to belong, that is, a needto form and maintain at least a minimum quantity of interper-sonal relationships, is innately prepared (and hence nearlyuniversal) among human beings.

      The need to belong is innately prepared and essentially universal among human beings

    3. In contrast, the belongingness hypothesiswould suggest that human culture is at least partly adapted toenable people to satisfy the psychological need to live together(along with economic needs, to be sure), thereby assigningsome fundamental causal power to psychological forces. Wesuggest that belongingness can be almost as compelling a needas food and that human culture is significantly conditioned bythe pressure to provide belongingness.

      Suggest that human culture is at least partly adapted to enable people to satisfy the psychological need to live together; assert that belongingness can be almost as compelling a need as food and that human culture is significantly conditioned by the pressure to provide belongingness

    4. belongingness needs do not emergeuntil food, hunger, safety, and other basic needs are satisfied, butthey take precedence over esteem and self-actualization.

      Belongingness follows survival necessities, takes precedence over esteem and self-actualization

    5. Interac-tions with a constantly changing sequence of partners will beless satisfactory than repeated interactions with the sameperson (s), and relatedness without frequent contact will also beunsatisfactory.

      Highlights that consistency is required to meet these relationship requirements and satisfaction.

      • May emphasize that things like retention are critical in the development of this sense of belonging.
    6. the belongingness hypothesis is that human be-ings have a pervasive drive to form and maintain at least a min-imum quantity of lasting, positive, and significant interpersonalrelationships. Satisfying this drive involves two criteria: First,there is a need for frequent, affectively pleasant interactionswith a few other people, and, second, these interactions musttake place in the context of a temporally stable and enduringframework of affective concern for each other's welfare.

      Belongingness hypothesis: humans have a pervasive drive to form and maintain at least a minimum quantity of lasting, positive and significant interpersonal relationships

      • doing this involves the need for frequent, affectively pleasant interactions with a few other people
      • doing this requires that these interactions take place in the context of a temporally stable and enduring framework of affective concern for each other's welfare

      Schools seem like the perfect context for these relationships to form and flourish

    1. It is now the job of social workers to promote these sorts of relationships for low-income young people, so we can best support their economic success.

      Calls on social workers (particularly in schools) to promote capital mentorship for low-income youth to support their economic success

    2. This type of mentoring model has shown to provide a wide array of supports to young people who are traditionally harder to support through traditional mentoring programs, including those aging out of the foster care system and those involved in the juvenile justice system

      Youth-initiated mentoring can be an alternative option for those who are traditionally harder to support through traditional mentoring programs

    3. By addressing the issue of low-income youth not having capitalmentors by stocking the pond and teaching young people to "fish", social workerscan greatly contribute to low-income young people's economic successthrough the provision of capitalmentors.

      Culmination of "stocking" and "fishing" will contribute to economic success

    4. not wantingtotake any more of a teacher's time. These types of courses teach young people that they have every right to build a network of support, and should be motivated to do so by their own potential for success

      Low income youth do not feel privileged enough to seek out mentors or take up teachers' time; this course could teach them they deserve to build a network of support

    5. Teach Them to FishFindings from this dissertation highlighted that (1) low-income youth were less likely to be mentored than their middle-income peers and (2) when mentored, low-income youth were not likely to have the kinds of mentors that can promote upward mobility. Because of this, young people may need to be taught how to cultivate the specific type of mentoring relationships, capitalmentors, which can promote mobility. One model of how to do this is an actual course on how to identify and seek out this particular type of mentor

      "Teach them to Fish"

      • low-income youth were less likely to be mentored
      • low-income youth did not have the kinds of mentors that can promote upward mobility
      • solution: create a course on how to identify and seek out this type of capital mentor
    6. Because the majority (57%) of young people met their capitalmentor through school, focused efforts should be made to create "mentor-rich environments" (Freedman, 1993, p. xxiv) in and around school. Social workers are in a prime position to take on this task, as social workers are already working in the school setting and have relationships with key potential mentors, including teachers and other school personnel. To "stock the pond," social workers should consider trainingteachers and school personnel toacknowledge their potential asa capitalmentor. This could include trainingteachers andschool personnelto recognize the power they have to connect young people to resources they do not have access to in their current social circles, and to proactivelyengage with these young people. School social workers should also advocate for institutional support of informal mentorship, including the creation of opportunities for one-on-one connections and rewarding teachers for prioritizing mentorship

      "Stock the Pond" in schools.

      • 57% of young people met their capital mentor through school
      • schools should create "'mentor-rich environments'" in/around school
      • social workers are ideal to take on this position
      • social workers should train teachers and school personnel to acknowledge their potential as a capital mentor through training
      • school social workers should advocate for institutional support of informal mentorship, like creating opportunities for one-on-one connections and rewarding teachers for prioritizing mentorship
    7. The findings of the dissertation suggest that those who are interested in promoting economic mobility for low-income and other vulnerable youth should thus promote capitalmentoring relationships for these young people.

      Promoting economic mobility can be done by promoting capital mentoring relationships

    8. Low-income young people pursuing economic mobility may find themselves in situations that their core mentors and family members cannot help with and do not have experience with. These situations may include applying to college, pursuing financial aid for college, interviewing for a high-wage position and investing.Capitalmentors, who are more likely than other mentors to provide good advice, may help young people navigate these situations and help in to promoting upward mobility for low-income young people.

      Capital mentors can play a role in academics for low-income youth as they may not have anyone to assist them in certain situations

    9. Capitalmentors, however, were more likely to provide bonding capital. Capitalmentors range from close members of the community (neighbors, friends' parents, etc.) to associates far outside the young person's inner-most group (teachers, employers, etc.). Youth described these mentors in ways that indicated they had boosted their relationships with common networks, including neighborhoods, friend groups, school, and work. Paired with the fact that capitalmentors are also more likely to provide bridging capital, this finding highlights the importance of network manipulation in the pursuit of social capital. Although core mentors may be promoting all kindsof psychosocial benefits in young people, they are not adapting, bolstering, and expanding young people's social network, like capitalmentors are. This seems to be a key piece to promoting mobility, as capitalmentors are providing social capital and are associated with upward mobility for low-income youth.

      Capital mentors were more likely to provide bonding capital which boosted youth relationships with common networks, including school. Highlights need to adapt, bolster, and expand youth's social network.

    10. An unexpected finding was that capitalmentors provided both bridging and bonding capital. Previous research suggested that bonding capital would be likelier found in relationships with family,

      Capital mentors provided bridging and bonding capital

    11. The potentially promising finding from this dissertationis that although low-income youth were significantly less likely than their middle-income peers to report a capitalmentoring relationship, they were significantly likely to be upwardly mobile when they did. There is a type of mentor, the capitalmentor, whocan make a difference on economic upward mobility for those who need itmost.

      Low-income youth report capital mentors less often, but were significantly likely to be upwardly mobile when they did

    12. The capitalrelationship is likely with someone from outside the family, and is not marked by feelings of closeness or frequent communication.Young people go to capitalmentors for sound advice. These relationships connected young people to new resources and bolstered young peoples'feelingsof connectedness to a common group.

      Capital relationships "connected young people to new resources and bolstered young peoples' feelings of connectedness to a common group"

    13. in these data informal mentors were no more likely to promote upward mobility among youth living in areas of higher poverty than among those residing in other neighborhoods

      (inconclusive) Informal mentors were no more likely to promote upward mobility in more impoverished neighborhoods than any other neighborhoods

    14. Without this, I am unable to truly understand therelationship between neighborhood context and the informal mentor, and thus cannot truly test the mentor's ability to moderate neighborhood effects

      Cannot make conclusion on the connection between mobility and neighborhood because lack of context

    15. This dissertation found that while both core and capital mentors provide various forms of support that is meaningful to young people, only capital mentors were associated with upward mobility for low-income youth

      Capital mentors were associated with upward mobility for low-income youth

    16. This study found that havingan informal mentor was associated with economic mobility for middle income youth. These mentors are one of many resources these young people have that may contribute tothese youth beingmore likely to be mobile than their low-income peers (Putnam, 2015; Mitnik et al., 2015). This suggests that mentors fit well into the profile of resources middle-income youth have that promote economic mobility in adulthood

      Informal mentoring was more strongly associated with economic mobility for middle income youth as the data suggests that mentors fit well into the profile of resources middle-income youth have over their low-income peers

    17. Overall, this study found that some, but not all, mentors can promote upward mobility for low-income youth. Specifically, capital mentors, those from outside the family who provide social capital and informational support can promote economic mobility for those who are least likely to be mobile. This important finding acknowledges the potential impact of individual relationships in the promotion of individual economic mobility. This potentially promising finding is still, however, on the most-micro level of potential interventions for economic mobility, focusing on building blocks leading to mobility.

      Some mentors can provide upward mobility for low-income youth-- particularly capital mentors who provide social capital and informational support to youth

    18. Figure 1: Potential Ways MentorsCanPromote Mobility

      Figure depicts effects of mentors providing social support and social capital

    19. The third function mentors play in promoting upward mobility for young people is the direct effect the provision of social capital (both bridging and bonding capital) has on building blocks of mobility(Ellwood et al., 2016). Bonding capital from a mentor who is also a teacher could foster feelings of school connectedness, which has been demonstrated to lead to academic engagement and ultimately, educational attainment (Ashtiani & Feliciano, 2018; Li, Lerner, & Lerner, 2010). An employer could have a similar effect by providing bonding capital. If a young person feels connected to the workplace or mission of the work place through their mentoring relationships with their employer, they are likely to have higherjob satisfaction and more opportunities for promotion (Ghosh &Reio 2013). Bridging capital can also have a direct effect on key links in the chain. Studies have shown that bridging mentors (commonly teachers and school personnel) were likely to promote educational attainment and employment

      Social capital (bridging and bonding) can "foster feelings of school connectedness, which has been demonstrated to lead to academic engagement and ultimately, educational attainment"; similar in workplaces, bonding with mentors in settings can create sense of connectedness with setting overall

    20. Those who report feeling emotionally supported have higher rates of academic competence (Sterrett, Jones, Mckee, & Kincaid, 2011) and strong academic outcomes (Wentzel, Russell & Baker, 2016). Additionally, adults who have achieved upward mobility are more likely to report instrumentally supportive relationships than those who were not mobile (Chan, 2017). Clearly, social support has a direct influence on someof thebuilding blocks of mobility

      Social support leads to higher rates of academic competence, strong academic outcomes; has a direct influence on some of the building blocks of mobility

    21. Social capital gives attention to larger social contexts (e.g., churches, schools, neighborhoods) as important aspects of one's social life. Those who study social support thus credit things like civic engagement and school involvement as important actions supporting social capital. Social support, conversely, focuses almost exclusively on relationships between two individuals.

      School plays a role in social capital; social support focuses almost exclusively on relationships between two individuals

    22. They proposed 4 main domains of a socially supportive relationship: directive guidance, non-directive support, tangible assistance and positive social interaction. Over time, these have evolvedinto (1) informational support, or advice giving, as directive guidance, (2) emotional support or companionship as non-directive support, (3) instrumental support as tangible assistance, and (4) positive social interaction (i.e., comradery, friendship) (Gottlieb & Bergen, 2010). These are generally the categories used in studies on both mentoring and mobility

      4 main domains of a socially supportive relationship: directive guidance, non-directive support, tangible assistance, and positive social interaction

    23. social support are part of what a mentor has to offer: "A mentoring relationship is where an adult provides ongoing guidance, instruction, and encouragement aimed at developing the competence and character of a protégé. (Rhodes, 2002)" and"A mentor is someone 1) that you could count on to be there for you, 2) that he or she believes in and care deeply about you, 3) that he or she inspires you to do your best and (4) that knowing him or her has really influenced what you do and the choices you make" (Rhodes, Contreras & Mangelsdorf, 1994 from Barrera & Bonds, 2005)

      Social support offered by mentors: guidance, encouragement, support, care

    24. Putnam (2000) extended the terminology of weak and strong ties to bridging and bonding capital. Bonding capital is typically provided through an emotionally close and long-standing relationship, and strengthens the individual's connection to a common community. For example, if a youth identifies a teacher as their informal mentor, that teacher can build on their common social network (e.g., the school community) and have the youth feel more connected to and a part of the school as a whole.

      Bonding capital: typically provided through an emotionally close and long-standing relationship; strengthens connection to a common community Can lead to youth feeling "more connected to and a part of the school as a whole" when a youth identifies a teacher as their informal mentor, for example

    25. Bridging capital, akin to weak ties, comes from relationships with acquaintances, and connects the individual to new resources, connections, and information they did not have access to befor

      Bridging capital: akin to weak ties, stems from relationships with acquaintances, connects youth to new resources/connections/information they did not previously have; can network for youth to assist in educational and economic opportunities

    26. Strong ties, typically found in relationships with family and friends, are marked by frequent interactions and strong emotional bonds (Rademacher & Wang, 2014; Gaddis, 2012). Weak ties are more typical of relationships with acquaintances and tend to be less strong and based on less frequentinteractions. Although weak ties do not provide deep emotional bonds, they foster connections across groups and build large,sparsely connected networks

      Strong ties: typically found in family and friends Weak ties: typical of relationship with acquaintances, less-frequent interactions, do foster connections across groups and build large, sparsely connected networks

    27. Because of persistent economic segregation in this country, low-income young people may only have access to those who are in similar economic circumstances as themselves (Albright & Hurd, 2017). Additionally, adolescents tend to only have access to social capital garnered through their relationships with their parents, parents' network, neighbors, and teachers (White & Glick, 2000). Low-income adolescents' access to social capital is thus restricted by their economic segregation, the homogeneity of their parents' network, and their limited access to other relationships(Putnam, 2015). Low-income youth have a clear disadvantage concerning the growth of social capital. An informal mentor, specifically one from outside the young person's community, thus, may play an important and unique role in expanding an adolescent's social capital by compensating for these limitations.

      Challenges economically challenged youth face

    28. An individual's access to social capital, the total number of resources garnered through social relationships, is determined largely by their socioeconomic status and racial ethnic makeup

      Social capital influenced by socioeconomic status

    29. Social support is a category of resources provided through social relationshipsand is considered by many to be one important form of social capita

      Social support definition

    30. Social capital is defined as the total number of resources (e.g., connections, support) that people haveaccess to through their social relationships.

      Social capital definition

    31. umulatively, the literature shows that informal mentors may be an important but scarce resource in promoting economic mobility for low-income youth, may differentially support economic mobility for middle-income youth, and that there may be important differences among mentoring relationships, some of which may better promote mobility than others.

      Literature shows that informal mentors may be important but scarce resource for low-income youth

    32. compensate for the lack of other resources their peers have, such as expansive connected social networks.

      Youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods make greater strides than more-resourced peers when mentored by someone outside the family; can potentially compensate for lack of other resources in youth's life

    33. A young person's neighborhood context is associated with their chance of being mentored and their chance of being economically mobile. Young people living in under-resourced neighborhoods are also unlikely to be upwardly mobile (Chetty & Hendren, 2016a; Chetty, & Hendren, 2016b; Chetty, Hendren, Kline & Saez, 2014b; Goldsmith, Britton, Reese, & Velez, 2017). Low-income children are more likely to live in neighborhoods with higher crime and drug use (Abelev, 2009). Young people from these neighborhoods are more likelytohave lower tests scores (McCullock & Joshi, 2001), drop out of high school, and be unemployed (Ainsworth, 2002). This neighborhood effect is cumulative: the more time spent in under
      • Neighborhood is associated with chance of being mentored
      • youth in under-resourced neighborhoods are more unlikely to be upwardly mobile
      • in these neighborhoods, likely to have higher crime and drug rates, lower test scores, drop out of high school, and be unemployed
    34. Mentoring relationships differ on how the mentor and mentee met, how often they see each other, how long they have known each other, how close the youth feels to the mentor, and what kinds of support the mentor offers the youth

      Variables that factor into mentorship

    35. Cumulatively, these studies suggest that the potential influence of informal mentors on mobility may be most pronounced for those youth who are facing a disadvantage of some kind (family structure, income, etc.) and/or are a racial ethnic minority. Concerning the focus of the present study, this literature would suggest that informal mentoring may be more strongly associated with upward mobility for low-income youth than for middle-or higher-income youth for whom informal mentoring is

      Suggests a stronger influence on disadvantaged or racial ethnic minority youth

    36. In one study, a low-income child was twice as likely to graduate college when mentored. This is in contrast to previous literature that demonstrates consistent but small associations between informal mentoring and college completion for middle-income children (Reynolds & Parrish, 2018). This suggests that youth from low-income families benefit more from mentorship than those who may have a plethora of positiveresources in their life

      Low-income families benefit more from mentorship; one study suggests that mentored low-income children are 2x as likely to graduate college

    37. For instance, much attention has been paid to informal mentoring and educational outcomes: mentored youth are more likely to feel connected to their school (Black, Grenard, Sussman, & Rohrbach, 2010), have better grades (Chang et al., 2010), attend college (DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005a; Reynolds & Parrish, 2017) and receive a bachelor’s degree (Miranda-Chan, Fruiht, Dubon, & Wray-Lake, 2016; Erickson, McDonald, Elder, 2009). Cumulatively, these studies, along with a 2018 meta-analysis (Van Dam et al.) suggest a strong and consistent relationship between having an informal mentor and positive educational outcomes.

      Informal mentors can result in and influence positive educational outcomes, help promote ability to "feel connected to their school"

    38. Literature has established that informal mentoring is most commonly associated with psychosocial outcomes such as lower stress levels, higher life satisfaction, and lower rates of depression (DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005a; Chang et al., 2010; Munson & McMillen, 2009) and socioemotional outcomes, including improved social skills, perceived social support, and higher self-esteem (Van Dam et al., 2018; Miranda-Chan et al., 2016).These associations are strong and consistent across studies, suggesting that informal mentoring is positively correlated with positive psychosocial and socioemotional outcomes.

      Informal mentoring is positively correlated with positive psychosocial and socioemotional outcomes

    39. Informal mentors can provide support and role-modeling to these youth without serving as an unwelcomed authority figure, and ultimately influence the fundamental building blocks of mobility (Meltzer, Muir, & Craig, 2016). Previous research has linked informal mentorship toeducational attainment and employment (Erickson, McDonald, Elder, 2009; DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005a), and thusitmay act as a potential catalyst for mobility when used in this key stage of adolescence.

      Informal mentors can serve as role-models during critical times in youth lives; influence building blocks of mobility; may act as a catalyst for mobility when used in key stage/timing

    40. Informal mentoring relationships are also more prevalent than formal ones. One study found that 62% of youth had an informal mentoring relationship, compared to just 15% who reportedhaving a formal mentoring relationship(Bruce & Bridgeland, 2014). There are similar differences in prevalence when asking adults if they have mentored young people: 67% of those who reported mentoring someone in the past year did so informally, while only 31% did so through a formal program, (Oosthuizen, 2017). While coming from a low-income family is one of several risk factors associated withlower exposure toinformal mentors, it is clear that many of these youth are still able to identify caring adults in their lives
      • 62% of youth had an informal mentoring relationship
      • 15% reported formal mentoring relationship
      • 67% of adults claimed to have informally mentored someone in last year
      • 31% did so in a formal program
      • even low-income family youth can identify caring adults in their lives
    41. 10the formal mentoring model, including the mismatching of adult-youth pairs (Spencer et al., 2017), trouble forming a meaningful connection (Freedman, 1993) and relationships ending early and unexpectedly

      Downfalls of formal mentoring

    42. Formal mentoring involves a program or agency matching a young person to a mentor they usually do not know,based on like qualities

      Formal mentoring definition

    43. The root of this wide-ranging interest lies in part inWerner and Smith'sinfluentiallongitudinal study (2001), whichfolloweda cohort of high-risk children through adulthood. One of their many findings on what builds resilience in youth was the presence of a caring adult who serves as a mentor. From this initial finding, scholars interested in resilience, positive youth development, and health have all studied the potential power of informal mentoring (Hurd, Varner, & Rowley, 2013; Bowers et al, 2012, DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005a). It is important to note, however, that nostudy to date has directly examined informal mentoring and economic upward mobility as a desired outcome.

      Resilience stems from presence of a caring adult who serves as a mentor

    44. The role of informal mentors may be fulfilled by a variety of adults, including teachers, extended family members, coaches, neighbors, or other community members. Connections between youth and mentors may be of shorter or longer duration and may offer a range of supports, such as companionship, instrumental support, or deep emotional bonds

      Who can be an informal mentor, types of supports from these mentors

    45. Informal mentoring relationships are naturally-occurring relationships between youth and non-parental adults (Sterrett, Jones, Mckee, & Kincaid, 2011) who care about the young person and to whom the young person can turn to for support

      Informal mentor definition

    46. The final type of mobility program, as defined by Ellwood et al.(2016), is an effort that targets "one or several interrelated elements in the long chain of events, institutions, and outcomes that lead to mobility" (Ellwood et al., 2016, p. 5). Such programs focus on one or a few of the key building blocks typically neededfor an individual to be upwardly mobile. Examples of building blocks to mobilityare college enrollment, educational attainment, early employment, and asset accrual in adulthood. Informal mentoring has beendemonstrated to influence some of these building blocksfor mobility(Erickson, McDonald, Elder, 2009; DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005a) and thus fits in to Ellwood et al.'s conceptualization of the many ways we can work to promote economic mobility.

      Final type of mobility program: focuses on "one or several interrelated elements"; informal mentoring has been shown to influence some of these building blocks

    47. More micro-level programs engage individuals and families over time, with the aim of providing a comprehensive pathway to mobility. These tend to involve an assignedcase manager who works to find the right combination of resources that could help a particular individual or family, ranging from housing vouchers and educational loan programs to engaging with non-profits that provide interview training

      6-level scale: micro-level programs engage individuals and families over time to promote mobility

    48. On a regional level, partnerships among key stakeholders, such as community leaders, businesses, and local government, can develop to promotemobility in a particular area. Other types of programs focus on alleviating the effect of neighborhood poverty, by either addressing issues in the neighborhood itself, or providing opportunities for residents to access essentials (e.g., education, medical care, housing)outside the neighborhood.

      Regional level: partnerships among key stakeholders can promote mobility in certain areas

    49. Moving from the most macro-level downwards, the first level at which mobility interventions work is the recent call to combine big data sources, such as income, housing, and healthcare data, in hopesofprovidingtimely information on mobility and sparkingnew innovation. Another macro-level effort is that of economic or political changes, such as policies that promote individual asset accrual or federal grants to pursue higher education.

      6-level scale: macro-level efforts

    50. Informal mentoring fits on the mostmicro-level of a six-level scale of interventions that promote upward mobility, defined by Ellwood and his colleagues (2016). These levels are not always mutually-exclusive, as an interventionmay fit intomore than one of the levelspresented here.A figure representing the six levels of efforts to promote mobility can be found in Appendix Figure 1.

      6-level scale of interventions that promote upward mobility: informal mentoring fits on most micro-level

    51. Informal mentoring is one small person-level intervention that can influence economic mobility by potentially increasing young people’s attainment of assets that serve as building blocks for economic mobility, including college enrollment,

      Informal mentoring = potentially increasing youth attainment of assets that serve as building blocks for economic mobility

    52. Bridging capital, which connectsa young personto new resources they did not have access to before, is linked to educational attainment and employment

      Impact on bridging capital

    53. 3person's feelings of connectedness to an institution of group, in the workplace specifically,leads to more opportunities for promotion

      Impact on bonding capital

    54. Additionally, the social capital literature suggests that mentors may promote upward mobility in young people by providing bonding and bridging support.

      Impact on social capital

    55. Additionally, there may be important variations in the support mentors provide. The social support literature suggests that relationships providing instrumental, informational, and emotional support may promote economic mobility through a direct association between these types of social support and essential building blocks of mobility (e.g., educational attainment and employment opportunity)
    56. Previousresearch has demonstrated that mentors fromoutside the family, who the young person feels close to, whom they haveknown the young person for a long time, and who sees them often are in the best position to promote positive change
    57. One source of positive relationships are informal mentors, who are caring, non-parental adults whom the youth identify as providingsupport (Sykes, Gioviano, & Piquero, 2014). These mentors have already been associated with key building blocks to mobility, namely increased educational attainment (Miranda-Chan, Fruiht, Dubon, & Wray-Lake, 2016), workforce participation (DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005a), and asset accrual in young adulthood (Greeson, Usher, & Grinstein-Weiss, 2010)

      Informal mentor: someone who is a caring, non-parental adult whom youth identify as supportive

    58. Positive relationships with those in the community may lead to educational attainment and employment, essential building blocks economically mobile people typically have.

      Economically mobile people have educational attainment and employment

    59. Among a number of promising new directions, recent evidence points to positive relationships with caring adultsduring adolescence as potentially promoting upwardmobility

      Research suggests that positive relationships with caring adults can promote mobility

    1. tension

      I really like this graphic showing the "skin pressure" and other forces at play when considering the pressure of a bubbl

    1. Smith had been pondering assimilationist climate theory for s ome time. He may have learned it first f rom Buffon, or from James Bow-doin’s opening oration of t he newly established American Academy of Arts and Sciences i n Boston on May 4, 1780.
  3. May 2020
    1. In evolutionary terms, certainly, because the individuals that show these traits have a higher chance of survival in the long term.

      Not surprisingly, nature is a great teacher. Not until the 1950s and Johnny von Neumann did game theory get developed, but it was found that tit for tat with forgiveness is the optimal model. In other words, altruism or as Henry Ford called it, enlightened self-interest (https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Game_theory)

    1. Insight through making suggests that you’ll need to make simultaneous progress in theory-space and system-space to spot the new implications in their conjoined space. Effective system design requires insights drawn from serious contexts of use: you must constantly instantiate new theoretical ideas in new systems, then observe their impact in some serious context of use.

      Very powerful way of wording the implications of Insights through making and the need for serious contexts of use.

      You need to advance in theory-space as well as in system-space to spot the implications for their conjoined space.

      Pragmatically, you must constantly instantiate new theoretical ideas in the system, then observe the effects in some serious context of use.

  4. Apr 2020
    1. Over the coming years, we will work with local and national governments in these processes seeking to radically alter their dominant way of thinking and working and to experimentally develop new distributed models of non-linear systemic governance

      👍on the practical engagement with policy.

      Still not really sure what some of the terms mean e.g. what would "distributed models of non-linear systemic governance" look like

      More generally, i need a clearer sense of what linear vs non-linear (systems) approaches involve. (e.g. don't command and control systems still involve feedback loops etc?)

      I also think i'd like his definition of systems (vs non-system) thinking. I see the term used a lot and i have a sense of this from e.g. Senge or (more precisely) in Commons' MHC "systematic" level.

    1. This graph view is the easiest possible mental model for RDF and is often used in easy-to-understand visual explanations
  5. Mar 2020
    1. Emerging Theories of Learning and the Role of Technology

      This article discusses the social changes introduced by new technologies and how educational environments are trying to prepare students to enter a technologically advanced workforce through integration of technology with curriculum. The author challenges traditional theories of learning by discussing how cognition is situated in the digital, 21st-century learner, and that technology integration should focus on the importance of community within learning environments. Although the article challenges the traditional ideas of technology integration, it fails to provide actionable ways in which educators could infuse technology into their own curriculum. Rating: 6/10

    1. Theories and Frameworks for Online Education: Seeking an Integrated Model

      This article, written by Anthony G. Picciano of City University of New York Graduate Center and Hunter College, seeks to create a theoretical framework by which to posit online education according to learning theories and their specific application. Beginning with a brief outline of the primary learning theories, the author then tries to position each theory within the online learning environment and the practical implications that follow before suggesting an integrated model that combines features of each theory. One of the primary benefits of this article is the way in which the authors show how the theories of learning might be mutated for individual, educational environmental needs. Rating: 7/10

    1. Research in Educational Technology

      This textbook, published by the Oklahoma State University Library ePress, contains a chapter which summarizes the main views of knowledge in educational technology research, including postpositivism, constructivism, advocacy, and pragmatism, as well as each view's research traditions. The chapter suggests an approach to evaluating research articles through the lenses of a consistent learning theory coupled, methodologies that support that learning theory, and the conclusions that are drawn by the researchers supported through their methodologies. This chapter would help educators evaluate how and why they might include technology into their course curriculum. Rating: 7/10

    1. The equality of all sorts of human labour is expressed objectively by their products all being equally values; the measure of the expenditure of labour power by the duration of that expenditure, takes the form of the quantity of value of the products of labour; and finally the mutual relations of the producers, within which the social character of their labour affirms itself, take the form of a social relation between the products.

      Every form of particular, useful labor, that which directs physiological energy towards specific outcomes, is grouped under the category of "abstract labor" under capitalism. The magnitude and duration of "abstract labor" is expressed as exchange value in commodities, which brings products into reducible, quantifiable relation to each other. It is because commodities are all equal to each other insofar as they are bearers of quantifiable exchange value that so many forms of human labor are equated as different magnitudes and durations of "abstract labor" (many value-form theorists and value critics have argued that "labor" as such is not a transhistorical category, but only a category under capitalism by virtue of its being the source of exchange value). The distribution of value amongst commodities indexes and organizes the division and distribution of labor, and this is what Marx means when he writes that "the mutual relations of the producers, [...] take the form of a social relation between the products." That "social relation" is the relation between producers, which is determined by the relations of value between commodities produced for the market.

  6. Feb 2020
    1. A Theory of Justice

      A Theory of Justice is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls, in which the author addresses the problem of distributive justice (the socially just distribution of goods in a society). The theory uses an updated form of Kantian philosophy and a variant form of conventional social contract theory. Rawls's theory of justice is fully a political theory of justice as opposed to other forms of justice discussed in other disciplines and contexts.

      The resultant theory was challenged and refined several times in the decades following its original publication in 1971. A significant reappraisal was published in the 1985 essay "Justice as Fairness", and a subsequent book under the same title, within which Rawls further developed his two central principles for his discussion of justice. Together, they dictate that society should be structured so that the greatest possible amount of liberty is given to its members, limited only by the notion that the liberty of any one member shall not infringe upon that of any other member. Secondly, inequalities – either social or economic – are only to be allowed if the worst off will be better off than they might be under an equal distribution. Finally, if there is such a beneficial inequality, this inequality should not make it harder for those without resources to occupy positions of power – for instance, public office.[1]

      First published in 1971, A Theory of Justice was revised in 1975, while translated editions were being released in the 1990s it was further revised in 1999. In 2001, Rawls published a follow-up study titled Justice as Fairness: A Restatement.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Theory_of_Justice

    1. There are at least six elements in Marx’s works that are of key relevance for understanding communications today (Fuchs, 2016b; Fuchs and Mosco, 2016a, 2016b):(1) Praxis communication: Marx was not just a critical political economist but also a critical journalist and polemicist, whose writing style can inspire critical thought today.(2) Global communication: Marx stressed the connection of communication technol-ogy and globalization. In an age, where there are lots of talk about both the Internet and globalization, we should remind ourselves that technology-mediated globalization has had a longer history.(3) Dialectical philosophy: Marx elaborated a critical theory of technology that is based on dialectical logic. Dialectical philosophy can help us to avoid one-sided analyses of the media (Fuchs, 2014c).(4) Class analysis: Marx stressed the relevance of the connection of labour, value, commodities and capital. He analysed modern society as a class society. Focusing on class today can counter the positivism of analyses of society as information society, net-work society, knowledge-based society, post-industrial society and so on.(5) Crisis and social struggles: Marx described class struggle and crisis as factors in the historical dynamics of class societies. Class structures and struggles are in complex ways reflected on and entangled into mediated communication.(6) Alternatives: Marx envisioned alternatives to capitalism and domination. Given capitalist crisis and monopoly control of social media today, it is important to envision alternatives to capitalism and capitalist social media.
    1. TABLE 1. Practices to maximize student learning from educational videos

      Table 1. resource for planning/making effective videos

    2. Finally, the utility of video lessons can be maximized by matching modality to content. By using both the audio/verbal channel and the visual/pictorial channel to convey new infor-mation, and by fitting the particular type of information to the most appropriate channel, instructors can enhance the germane cognitive load of a learning experience.

      matching modality to content. So if you want to talk about history, or a book, or just some reflection, it makes less sense to do it over video, but if you want to talk about art history maybe you want to have a video component or be primarily video

    3. Weeding, or the elimination of interesting but extraneous information that does not contribute to the learning goal, can provide further benefits. For example, music, complex back-grounds, or extra features within an animation require the learner to judge whether he or she should be paying attention to them, which increases extraneous load and can reduce learn-ing.

      Weeding + definition, removing flash and bells and whistles that might cause the student to be distracted

    4. The benefits of signaling are complemented by segmenting, or the chunking of information in a video lesson. Segmenting allows learners to engage with small pieces of new information and gives them control over the flow of new information.

      Segmenting or chunking

    5. Signaling, which is also known as cueing (deKoning et al., 2009), is the use of on-screen text or symbols to highlight important information. For example, signaling may be provided by the appearance of two or three key words (Mayer and John-son, 2008; Ibrahim et al., 2012), a change in color or contrast (deKoning et al., 2009), or a symbol that draws attention to a region of a screen (e.g., an arrow; deKoning et al., 2009).

      Signaling definition + examples

    6. The third component of a learning experience is extraneous load, which is cognitive effort that does not help the learner toward the desired learning outcome.

      extraneous load, the fiddling with technology, the finding new content to read, the poorly connected information, etc.

    7. The first of these is intrinsic load, which is inherent to the subject under study and is determined in part by the degrees of connec-tivity within the subject

      how difficult is a concept to understand, word pairing is less difficult than grammar rules.

    8. he second component of any learning experience is germane load, which is the level of cognitive activity necessary to reach the desired learning outcome—for example, to make the comparisons, do the analysis, and elucidate the steps necessary to master the lesson.

      the level of cognitive activity needed to learn the learning outcome (memorize a few words), define terms, recall a history event, draw something.

    9. This processing is a prerequisite for encoding into long-term memory, which has virtually unlimited capacity. Because working memory is very limited, the learner must be selective about what information from sensory mem-ory to pay attention to during the learning process, an observa-tion that has important implications for creating educational materials
    10. Cognitive load theory, initially articulated by Sweller (1988, 1989, 1994), suggests that memory has several components. Sensory memory is tran-sient, collecting information from the environment. Information from sensory memory may be selected for temporary storage and processing in working memory,

      Cognitive load theory

    1. Exchange value

      Exchange value appears as the property of a commodity that is exchangeable for other commodities. It also presupposes societies who produce commodities and exchange them. While all societies have things with use values, exchange value is relative to a specific time and place.

      Additionally, exchanging commodities must also presupposes a way to determine proportionality between different commodities, so that they can be exchanged in the first place.

      Exchange therefore requires some other measure that stands above the two commodities meant to be exchanged. If there were no ways in which iron and corn were found similar to a society, for example, then we would not exchange them and they would have no exchange value.

      Marx will contend that what each commodity must contain crystalized within it is value (formally) and that the substance of value is labor (viz. the common factor of both iron and corn is labor). Marx will call this kind of labor abstract labor.

  7. Jan 2020
    1. M2 Theory & Scholarship

      theory

      • records in the literature of a field
      • summaries that become authoritative
      • a map to show what is known and can be further explored
      • where new research is needed
      • shared perspective and common vocabulary
      • theory is one of the keys to good practice.
    1. no difference

      The nature of the wants that commodities satisfy makes no difference. This is perhaps somewhat surprising to readers, given the extent to which everyday critiques of capitalist society often center around the role that consumerism plays and the subjective effects that this produces, namely, the way that consumer society creates all sorts of desires (as well as the obverse--many will defend capitalism on the grounds that it is able to satisfy our inordinate appetite for novelty by producing an enormous proliferation of desirable commodities). Yet, for Marx, the nature of these desires "makes no difference."

      It is worth pointing out that the critique of the appetites that consumer society spawns is by no means new (a rather early moment in the history of consumer society). We find it already on display in Book II of Plato's Republic. In looking to shift the terrain of the analysis of justice from the individualistic, social contractualist theory of justice elaborated by Glaucon, Socrates founds a 'city' based on the idea that no one is self-sufficient, that human beings have much need of one another, and that the various crafts--farming, weaving cloth, etc.--fare best when each person specializes in that craft to which they are most suited by nature. After sketching out a kind of idyllic, pastoral community based on the principle of working together to satisfy our natural appetites, Socrates aristocratic companion Glaucon objects, describing this city as a 'city fit for pigs'. At this point, Socrates conjures what he calls the 'luxurious city', at which point a whole host of social ills are unleashed in order to satisfy Glaucon's desire for the luxuries to which he is accustomed. Currency and trade are introduced, along with a more complex division of labor (and wage labor!), and quite quickly, war. On the basis of the principle of 'one person, one craft', Socrates argues that making war is itself a craft that requires specialization (and thus a professional army).

      For Plato, this represents the beginning of class society, as the profession military becomes a class distinct from the class of producers and merchants.

      Plato thus anticipates a version of a view that becomes one of the key theses of the Marxist theory of the state, namely, the idea that the state exists only in societies that have become "entangled in an insoluble contradiction within itself" and which are "cleft into irreconcilable antagonisms which it is powerless to dispel," (Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State). The state emerges as "a power apparently standing above society...whose purpose is to moderate the conflict and keep it within the bounds of 'order'" Engels writes, "this power arising out of society, but placing itself above it, and increasingly separating itself from it, is the state." Lenin cites this passage in the first pages of State and Revolution in order to critique the 'bourgeois' view that the state exists in order to reconcile class interests. In Lenin's reading of Marx, the state exists as "an organ of classs domination, an organ of oppression of one class by another," a view articulated in The Communist Manifesto, (cf. V.I. Lenin, State and Revolution in V.I.Lenin: Collected Works, Vol. 25, pp. 385-497).

      Marx cites this same passage from Republic in a long footnote to his discussion of the Division of Labor and Manufacture on pp. 487-488, which also happens to be the sole place in Capital where Marx cites Plato.

      The fact that Marx here expresses indifference to the particular appetites that commodities satisfy is thus intriguing and ambiguous. Given that this question both clearly animates Plato's discussion of the origin of class society in Republic and, additionally serves as an alternative to the social contractarian view of justice that descends from Glaucon through Hobbes and the 18th century 'Robinsonades', this seemingly technical point also touches upon questions concerning Marx's engagement with both classical and modern political theory.

      If for Plato, the unruly appetites represent the seed of which class-divided society is the fruit, Marx's dismissal of the question of the nature of the appetites that are satisfied by commodities points to exchange-value and the social forms that it unleashes as being key dimensions of the particular form that class-antagonism takes in capitalist society.

    2. prevails

      In the original German, 'prevails' is rendered "herrscht." Herrscht shares a common root with the ordinary German word Herr (Mister, or, more evocatively, Master). 'Lordship' (as, in the chapter of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, on 'Lordship and Bondage' is rendered Herrschaft.)

      My own reading of Capital tends to center upon the question of domination in capitalist societies, and throughout chapter 1 (in particular, in The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof) Marx is especially attuned to the distinguishing how the forms of domination that are prevalent in capitalist societies are distinct from the relations of "personal dependence" that characterize pre-capitalist modes of production.

      It seems prudent, therefore, to take note of the way that the seemingly innocuous notion of 'prevalence' is, for Marx, in his original formulation, already evocative of the language of mastery, domination, perhaps even something like 'hegemony'.

      Furthermore, the capitalist mode of production prevails--it predominates. Yet, as Louis Althusser observes in his discussion of the concept of the 'mode of production' in On the Reproduction of Capitalism, every concrete social formation can be classified according to the mode of production that is dominant (that prevails--herrscht). In order to dominate, something must implicitly be dominated, or subordinate. "In every social formation," Althusser writes, "there exists more than one mode of production: at least two and often many more." Althusser cites Lenin, who in his analysis of the late 19th c. Russian social formation, observes that four modes of production can be distinguished (Louis Althusser, On the Reproduction of Capitalism, Verso 2014, p. 19.)

      In our analysis of social formations, the concrete specificity of each can be articulated by carefully examining the multiplicity of modes of production that coincide within it, and examine the way in which capitalism tends to dominate a multiplicity of subordinate modes of production that, on the one hand, survive from past modes of production but which may also, on the other, be emerging in the present (i.e. communism). Thus even if capitalism tends towards the formation of a contiguous world-system dominated by its particular imperatives, this does not mean that this process is homogenous or unfolds in the same way in each instance.

      For some commentators, capitalism is defined by the prevalence of wage labor and the specific dynamics that obtain therefrom. Yet this has often led to confusion over, whether, in analyzing the North American social formation prior to 1865, in which slavery coexists with wage-labor, the mode of production based on slave-labor is pre-capitalist. Yet as we find here in ch. 1, what determines the commodity as a commodity is not that it is the product of wage labor, rather that it is produced for exchange. As Marx writes on p. 131, "He who satisfies his own need with the product of his own labor admittedly creates use-values, but not commodities. Insofar as the slave-system in North America produced commodities (cotton, tobacco, etc.) for exchange on the world market, the fact that these commodities were produced under direct conditions of domination does not have any bearing on whether or not we identify this system of production as 'capitalist'. Wage-labor is therefore not likely the determinative factor; the determinative factor is the production of commodities for exchange. It is only insofar as commodities confront one another as exchange-values that the various modes of useful labor appear as expressions of a homogenous common substance, labor in the abstract

      It is in this sense that we can observe one of the ways that the capitalist mode of production prevails over other modes of production, as it subordinates these modes of production to production for exchange, and thus the law of value, regardless of whether wage-labor represents the dominant form of this relation. Moreover, it provides a clue to how we can examine, for example, the persistence of unwaged work within the family, which has important consequences for Social Reproduction Theory.

      Nonetheless, we can say that insofar as commodities confront each other on the market in a scene of exchange that they implicitly contain some 'third thing' which enables us to compare them as bearers of a magnitude of value. This 'third thing', as Marx's demonstration shows, is 'socially necessary labour time', which anticipates the way that wage-labor will become a dominant feature of capitalist society.

  8. www.c3l.uni-oldenburg.de www.c3l.uni-oldenburg.de
    1. Selection and integration of communications media

      Selection and integration of communication media

    2. Thus, the greater the transactional distance, the more such -autonomy the learner willexercise

      Greater transactional distance more autonomy; little transactional distance is more guidance and dialogue.

    3. When a programme is highly structured and teacher-learner dialogue is non-existent the transaction between learners and teachers is high.

      wouldn't the transaction between learners and teachers be low?

    4. PROGRAMME STRUCTUREThe second set of variables that determine transactional distance are the elements in the course design, or the ways inwhich the teaching programme is structured so that it can be delivered through the various communications media.Programmes are structured in different ways to take into account the need to produce, copy, deliver, and controlthese mediated messages. Structure expresses the rigidity or flexibility of the programme's educational objectives,teaching strategies, and evaluation methods.
    5. continuous rather than a discrete variable, a relative rather thanan absolute term

      try and understand this better. Ask about it in the synchronous meeting?

      ???

    6. It is obvious that the nature of each communications medium has a direct impact on the extent and quality ofdialogue between instructors and learners.

      Is this directly contradicting Clarke in that the medium does not matter?

    7. INSTRUCTIONAL DIALOGUEDialogue is developed by teachers and learners in the course of the interactions that occur when one gives instructionand the others respond. The concepts of dialogue and interaction are very similar, and indeed are sometimes usedsynonymously. However, an important distinction can be made. The term 'dialogue' is used to describe aninteraction or series of interactions having positive qualities that other interactions might not have.

      Instructional dialogue

    8. These clusters of variables are named Dialogue, Structure, andLearner Autonomy.

      Cluster of variable

      Dialogue, Structure, Learner Autonomy

    9. The transaction that we call distance education occurs between teachers and learners inan environmenthaving the special characteristic of separation of teachers from learners. This separation leads to special patterns oflearner and teacher behaviours. It is the separation of learners and teachers that profoundly affects both teachingand learning.

      each transaction will create a type of pattern that's observable and measureable? Is that where this is going?

    10. This universe of relationships can be ordered into a typology that is shaped around themost elementary constructs of the field - namely, the structure of instructional programmes, the interaction betweenlearners and teachers, and the nature and degree of self-directedness of the learner

      organization:

    11. What was stated in that first theory is that 'distance education is notsimply a geographic separation of learners and teachers, but, more importantly, is a pedagogical concept.

      definition

    1. Perraton's (1988) theory of distance education is composed of ele-ments from existing theories of communication and diffusion as well asphilosophies of education.

      Perraton's theory 1988

    2. Holmberg, distance education ischaracterized by the following statements:

      Holmberg distance education is characterized by the following:

    3. Holmberg's (1989) theory of distance education, what he calls "guid-ed didactic conversation," falls into the general category ofcommunication theory. Holmberg noted that his theory had explanatoryvalue in relating teaching effectiveness to the impact of feelings ofbelonging and cooperation as well as to the actual exchange of ques-tions, answers, and arguments in mediated communication

      Holmberg proposed theory

    4. Theory of Interaction and Communication

      tag

    5. Based on economic and industrial theory,Peters proposed the following new categories (terminology) for the anal-ysis of distance education:

      Peter's theory/terminology/analysis

    6. Theory of Industrialization of Teaching

      another tag.

    7. He notes that in traditional school settings learners are very dependenton teachers for guidance and that in most programs, conventional anddistance, the teacher is active while the student is passive.

      traditional vs distance

    8. Moore classifies distance education programs as "autonomous"(learner-determined) or "non-autonomous" (teacher-determined)
    9. three questions

      moore questions can help define or plan out how the program functions

    10. 1. The student and teacher are separated.2. The normal processes of teaching and learning are carried out inwriting or through some other medium.3. Teaching is individualized.4. Learning takes place through the student's activity.5. Learning is made convenient for the student in the student's ownenvironment.6. The learner takes responsibility for the pace of learning, withfreedom to start and stop at any time.

      Wedemeyer space-time barriers

    11. 1. Be capable of operating any place where there are students—evenonly one student—whether or not there are teachers at the sameplace, at the same time;2. Place greater responsibility for learning on the student;3. Free faculty members from custodial-type duties so that moretime can be given to truly educational tasks;4. Offer students and adults wider choices (more opportunities) incourses, formats, and methodologies;5. Use, as appropriate, all the teaching media and methods proveneffective;6. Mix and combine media and methods so that each subject or unitwithin a subject is taught in the best way known;7. Cause the redesign and development of courses to fit into anarticulated media program;8. Preserve and enhance opportunities for adaptation to individualdifferences;9. Evaluate student achievement simply, not by raising barriersregarding the place, rate, method, or sequence of student study;and10. Permit students to start, stop, and learn at their own pace.

      10 components

    12. American Theory of Independent Study.

      1st theory

    1. My friend Marc again to the rescue. He suggested that since there was 10,000+ people RT'ing and following, I could just pick a random follower from my current total follower list (78,000 at this point), then go to their profile to check if they RT'd it and see. If they didn't, get another random follower and repeat, until you find someone. With 78,000 followers this should take about ~8 tries.

      Technically he said it would be random among those who retweeted, but he's chose a much smaller subset of people who are BOTH following him and who retweeted it. Oops!