Culture and Community
Supporting Ethnic Cultures and Languages: A Role for Public Schools in Multicultural Societies
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kas Mazurek
Fostering a shared social identity is a primary objective of publicly-funded schools. As western democratic nations become increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse, the possibility of societal fragmentation is a worry expressed in the media, by dominant groups, in populist political discourse, and among policy makers. At one end of the spectrum of opinions on the appropriate role of public schools in the new reality of pluralism is a call for public schools to focus on assimilation. At the other end, proponents embracing the rise of multiculturalism call on public schools to become microcosms of their societal environment. The debates between these poles can be bitter. For forty six years now Canada, demographically a "new immigrant" country marked by tremendous social diversity, has explicitly and proactively embraced multiculturalism as a foundational core of its national identity. This orientation permeates all public and institutional structures, including public schools.
US Middle and High Schools Face Opioid Crisis: Addressing Challenges of Teachers, Administration and Community from the School Nurse Teacher's Perspective
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rita A. Kenahan
The essential role of the School Nurse Teacher (SNT) in the U.S. is to manage the acute and chronic health conditions of the students they serve to allow faculty and school leaders to teach and lead. The recent drug addiction crisis presents new and complex challenges to the SNT. Demographics on drug addition and overdose indicates an increase in ages 12-17 and 18-26. SNTs must learn methods to detect drug use and addiction, clinical management of drug overdose, as well as methods to manage students, families and teachers beyond crisis toward healthier lifestyles. Education, training, counseling and administrative support are required to help SNTs and the populations they serve to ameliorate the epidemic. One SNT's experience with this crisis in a K-12 school system in the Northeastern U.S. will be presented.
The Role of Community Education in Achieving the Goals of Education for Sustainable Development in Japan
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hao THI PHUONG Nguyen
Education for sustainable development (ESD) was approved by UNESCO since 2002 and was implemented worldwide since 2004. As one of the leading countries that endorsed and deployed ESD nationwide, Japan took much of effort to enhance the awareness of ESD among the population. However, there is still existed a big gap between advantaged and disadvantaged regions, between formal education and informal education (or social education) in acknowledging of ESD and ESD implementation. This research was conducted with the inclined focus on ESD’s implementation in the rural areas of Japan (the case study of Kodani village, Higashi Hiroshima town, Hiroshima prefecture). The preliminary result revealed that Community education, as a grassroots level of social education in Japan, recently has been emerging as a substantial factor in enhancing the ESD’s comprehension of the people in the disadvantaged areas. Moreover, the ESD’s practice has been carrying on by the Bottom-up process, and it seems that it works effectively in the small-scaled communities areas. This research is expected to contribute an empirical experience of ESD’s implementation in the other disadvantaged areas in Japan.
