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Unit 3 Project Draft – Dominique Van Gilst

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XWyQvhRiTjKvf0hQSCBa19RW5-tdwSbqIcrVuBnlxQg/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00

The audience of my project are parents/guardians who have children going into inclusive classrooms. In this scenario, I am the teacher of an elementary school classroom, and the parents/guardians have come to the school for a back to school night type thing where instead of it being back to school night, it is something that would happen before school starts. The purpose of this project is to help the audience understand the power of inclusion, and why it will be beneficial to their child. I have added voice overs to make this presentation as realistic as possible.

 

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Dan Expanding canon draft

“Bridging the generational gap in the workplace: How I learned to stop worrying and love working with the millennial generation” is an article written by Dr. Thanakorn Jiresevijinda at Cornell university. It was written for the Journal of communication in healthcare and published by Taylor & Francis group.

In Dr. Thanakorn’s 20 years of supervising medical students, he has received an unsettling and growing amount of complaints about the millennial generation. One could easily draw a conclusion that there exists a disconnect between Gen X and Gen Y.  This problem encouraged him to explore new ways to create a more integrated work force that understands and accepts each other regardless of age difference. The purpose of his article is to offer the methods that he found to be helpful through his exploration.

He admits in the article that he too has experienced frustration while educating the students from the younger generation. By stating this he levels the playing field as he explains that he understands the discontent that his colleagues have with Gen Y. He then continues his article by citing a sentence in a piece written by the prominent figure Chelsea Clinton. Her statement suggested that millennials are often portrayed as disinterested and selfish individuals, though the millennials that she has worked with do not fit that stereotype. He included this quote as it attests to the fact that the Millennial generation tends to have a bad reputation. This also helps persuade the audience to be more accepting of his suggestions as he shares a similar perspective with an influential figure. The author also builds up his argument by sharing his own personal experiences. Dr. Thanakorn speaks from both his experiences at work and the conversations he has had with his coworkers. Some of their frustration with the millennial group stemmed from increased technology use; different communication preferences; the students craving for feedback; and their preferred work like balance, which can be misconstrued as students being disinterested in learning. He was then able to identify positive traits from Gen Y and craft methods to remedy these problems.

One of the suggestions was to focus on inclusiveness. He understands that in a social media driven world, millennials need to feel that their voice is heard. This has led him to listen more closely to his students without judgement and help them by asking pointed questions. He also allows them to work in groups as they often thrive better through student collaboration. Pre-class quizzes are given to ensure that everyone is engaged and keeping up with the pace of the class as a whole. His second suggestion is that we must leverage social consciousness. The millennial generation is one that truly values having a positive impact on the world. They tend to be more accepting of diversity and progressive change. This observation led him to see the importance of framing the knowledge he gives his students in such a way that they can see the importance it has on improving society. He keeps this importance in the minds of the students by having them sign up for community service. The students worked alongside the professors and another medical organization to offer a free clinic for refugees seeking asylum in the United States. His last suggestion is to include more technology in the curriculum. One way he suggested doing this is by incorporating fun and engaging games such as jeopardy to keep his students involved. He also finds it useful to use a smartphone app that is an audience-response system. I found this interesting as the students must stay engaged in the class because the context of the class is literally on their phones on which they must participate.

I find this text to be an important contribution to expanding our canon as every single sustainable organization will always be multigenerational. Though this is not often the first thing that comes to mind when we hear the term diversity, people in different generations have vastly different life experiences and are indeed quite diverse. Rapidly accelerating technological advances; Unforeseen world events; and new global challenges are among the most impactful factors that affect the overall behavior of a generation. It is paramount that we learn to come together to create a synergistic environment at work. This can only be done by valuing each other’s differences. I found Dr. Thanakorns work to contain the wisdom that is crucial to solving our intergenerational struggles.

 

Link to the article

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538068.2018.1485830

Ted Talk to further explore intergenerational diversity in the workplace

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unit 1 blog DRAFT

The author of my article is named Aaron Hicks, and he, with the help of four individuals who he acknowledged from the University of Richmond, published “Religion and the Workplace : Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership.” Aaron is a professor with an undergraduate degree and graduate coursework in economics, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Ph.D. in religious studies. The author’s religious tradition is Presbyterian (Protestant, Christian). Before he began writing Chapter 1 of this book, Aaron clarified his opinion to the reader by stating how faithful Christians should have no interest in imposing their beliefs or practices upon others and they should want to receive no advantage in public life or the workplace because of their religion. “Religion and the Workplace: Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership” is structured into 3 parts, where I will be writing about Part 2 (Chapters 5-7). The author’s objective in this section of the text is to offer distinctions, concepts, and comparative examples that demonstrate how religion is present in contemporary workplaces. The audience of this text includes scholars in favor of secular workplaces and supporters of spiritual leadership and Christian preferences because they will be actively challenged in their beliefs, but the audience also includes individual employees of any religion, or those who do not identify as religious or spiritual. 

Aaron’s purpose is to analyze current realities in the workplace in relation to religion and spirituality, and he does so by first pointing out how individual and institutional expressions of religion differ. That is, most approaches to religion and spirituality in the workplace often underemphasize religious diversity. Religion in the workplace is often seen as religion of the workplace, and the author makes an important point that the corporate leader cannot play the role of a spiritual guide or guru to his or her workforce. If a single company sponsors or promotes one specific kind of religion, this is questionable. One quote by the author which supports his reasoning and argument on why companies can’t openly express one religion over any other is “It may be easy for Christians to downplay the significance, for example, of subtle messages in the workplace that convey the privileged status enjoyed by Christian symbols, ideas, or holidays, but for Jewish, Muslim, and atheistic co-workers these messages are overtly present and reinforce their experience of marginalization.” (Hicks, 2003, p. 133) Additionally, public life impacts the workplace as the article explains. Religion plays many roles in American society, and many employees who are Christians have admitted that they receive or have received preferential treatment at work and in society. These current discussions of spirituality tend to marginalize those who are atheists or adherents of many religious backgrounds, causing those who feel pressured by society to divorce their religious / spiritual commitments from all aspects of their public lives.

I decided to include this photo for statistical reference. It is from library.cqpress.com from an article titled “Should employers allow more religious expression?”

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.libezproxy2.syr.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/ZTAwMHhuYV9fMTIwNTM2X19BTg2?sid=69c92641-5cec-4578-a000-a5aa855c2117@sessionmgr4008&vid=3&format=EB&rid=2

 

 

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Exploring The Impact of Diversity in Professional Soccer- DRAFT

Written by Keith Ingersoll, Edmund Malesky and Sebastian M. Saiegh, and published in the Journal of Sports Analytics, “Heterogeneity and team performance: Evaluating the effect of cultural diversity in the world’s top soccer league” is an academic study focused specifically on determining the impact cultural diversity has on the success of European soccer (football) clubs. Using data science, the authors determine that those clubs which are more culturally diverse have a greater rate of success on the pitch.

I had heard it said by a commentator during a FIFA World Cup broadcast in 2014 that the national teams whose squads were comprised of players who played their “club football” in Europe had an advantage. It wasn’t only because the European leagues are considered the most competitive in the world. The announcer believed it was also because of the exposure those players had to the different styles of play utilized by clubs across the continent.

This seemed plausible to me, but was there any actual evidence to back up such claim? Could exposure to such diversity translate to better performances? It was with these questions in mind that I sought out such a study. “Heterogeneity and team performance” goes a long way towards answering them both.

The UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League is an annual competition comprised of the top clubs from around the continent. It is by far the most popular club competition in the world, with viewership numbers in the millions. In order to qualify for the Champions League, a club must have finished in the top four or five positions of their domestic league the previous season. In “Heterogeneity and team performance”, Ingersoll, Malesky and Saiegh focus on the English, French, German, Italian and Spanish clubs who competed in the Champions League during a ten year stretch from 2003-2012.

Ingersoll, Malesky and Saiegh collected data on 168 players across 41 clubs. Each of the clubs were given a cultural diversity rating based on a calculation referred to by the authors as “linguistic distance”. This, they explain, is to account for clubs comprised of players who may be from different countries, but where the same language is spoken. (For example, South American players who play for Spanish clubs.)

Keeping in mind to address potential impacts to the results of the study, such as the financial resources of each club, player movement, etc., Ingersoll, Malesky and Saiegh used the linguistic distance measurement, and per-goal difference as variables. They then used total and average roster value as a control variable. To measure overall club quality, they cited such resources as player rankings published by ESPN and The Guardian as a means to establish player quality and averaged that across each club. It seems that the numbers do in fact back up the assertion made by that commentator back in 2014. More diverse teams do have a greater rate of success.

Put simply, goal differential is the number of goals a club scores minus the number of goals allowed. It’s an especially effective measurement for success, because the higher the goal differential, the more likely a club is winning or drawing matches, as opposed to losing them. As you can see in the above chart taken directly from the study, clubs with a greater rate of linguistic diversity also had higher average goal differential per season.

If cultural diversity translates to success in soccer, does it not also stand to reason that the same would be true across a myriad of endeavors? The cultural influence of soccer, the UEFA Champions League, and of clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris San Germain, Manchester United and Arsenal cannot be overstated. Soccer is a game played and watched by billions around the planet. The most successful clubs in the most successful competition are comprised of the most talented players from around the world. To see a collection of players from diverse backgrounds work together towards a common goal and be rewarded for it, should serve as an inspiration for soccer fans around the world. Maybe, just maybe, soccer fans will see that success, and attempt to emulate that in their own lives.

Heterogeneity and team performance

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Unit 1 Summary, Aaron

In the book “What Universities Can be”, Robert Sternberg (a psychologist and psychometrician at Cornell University)  devotes a chapter to diversity in higher education. He begins this chapter by saying rather frankly that people learn better and learn more if they are mixed in with people who don’t look and think like them. He says “You cannot be an active concerned citizen if your only concerns are for people you view as like yourself” (Sternberg, 73).

This is an anecdotal claim at this point, and he uses it to identify with the readers because it is sort of a no brainer concept if you think about it. Our social and educational experience can only benefit if we have variety in our peers. Sternberg than uses a few study examples, one being done in rural Kenya. This study pooled Kenyans and asked them to identify herbs that would help heal with different ailments. They all did a great job with this, but when the objective changed and they tested these same people in more academic tests, the results weren’t as good. This study is used to illustrate his point that there are different types of knowledge and intelligence. One group of people (mostly western, white people in this case) can be better at testing and doing well in standardized settings, while the other group of people might not do so well in that area but excels in the area of experiential knowledge, of being able to identify and do things in the real world outside of the classroom.  Another example is using Alaskan Yup’ik peoples, who are able to do things like ride a dog sled over vast areas and hunt animals and identify that storms may be on the way by examining their kill. These sorts of things are unimaginable for most students or people who aren’t part of that culture.

This goes further into what Sternberg calls implicit theories of intelligence- folks ideas of what they consider to be smart. The same idea is very prevalent in high school and college testing, where white people who tend to be more affluent do better on these exams and end up in a better situation for college and life afterwards, and minorities who may not do as well on these exams are slighted, yet they excel in other areas of intelligence such as in the social realm.

This chapter from the book has an academic style to it, yet the messaging to the audience could be more broad than someone who is in one of his psychology courses. He uses studies to back up his arguments about diversity and also brings personal experience to identify with the readers easier. What we can take from this chapter is that diversity and inclusion are important to the whole picture of academic life, and we benefit as a whole from participating in it. There is more than one cog in the wheel when it comes to intelligence so it serves us better to include as many of them as we can.

 

I have included a link for further reading from Forbes that addresses the new changes in college admission testing since the pandemic, and how the lack of using these exams may be helping expand diversity in colleges:http:// https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2020/04/27/sat-act-policies-may-improve-diversity-at-colleges-and-universities/#4eb2b3f83bd5

j.ctt20d890h.8       This is the link to the pdf file of my article I summarized

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Unit 1 Assignment Draft – Dominique

Although we have read about diversity in abilities, we have not read an article specifically targeted at schools. This topic is important to me because my major is inclusive elementary and special education teaching, so it is important for me to understand diversity in the classroom. I believe that this topic is essential for everyone to understand because differences should be accepted and valued in society. In order to expand the canon, I decided to include an article about neurodiversity in the classroom called “Valuing Differences: Neurodiversity in the Classroom” which was published by Phi Delta Kappa International, an organization for educators. This article was written by Barb Rentenbach, Lois Prislovsky and Rachael Gabriel who wrote about their experiences as students and educators. This article is different from the others that we have read because the authors have disabilities, so they are writing using their experiences as people in the neurodiverse community. In this article, the authors list different ways that teachers can help students who have disabilities to succeed. The purpose of this article is to inform educators, and other people who work with those who have disabilities, and also to show them that there are things you can do to help your student or coworker succeed. Some people may believe that the best way to help people who have disabilities is to “fix” or “cure” them. However, people who are neurodiverse need to know that they are valued, accepted. They also may need accommodations that will allow them to succeed. All students should feel welcome and respected in the classroom, and this article explains exactly how to do that. In order to support what I have said, and learn more about neurodiversity, I have decided to include a YouTube video in my post. This video is by a woman named Amythest Schaber who has autism, and her thoughts on neurodiversity. Schaber says, “To put it simply, neurodiversity states that everybody on the planet has a different brain and that’s ok”. I like this video because Schaber has autism, so she has experienced some of the hardships that people with disabilities go through when others do not accept them. This video relates to the article that I chose because it gives a little background by explaining neurodiversity, and the movement that goes along with it.

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Draft of Expanding the Canon blog post-Michaela

To expand the canon and add to the discussion of organizational culture and diversity, I choose the article “Disability and employment – overview and highlights” from the “European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology”. This article includes a wealth of knowledge from the authors Katharina Vornholt, Patrizia Villotti, Beate Muschalla, Jana Bauer, Adrienne Colella, Fred Zijlstra, Gemma Van Ruitenbeek, Sjir Uitdewilligen, and Marc Corbière. These authors each add value in their own way, specializing in Social Psychology, neuroscience, psychosomatic rehabilitation, and more. This article, coming from a journal, is intended for a small audience of fellow scholars and people who focus specifically on the topics discussed. The purpose of this article is to outline how things stand in the existing research on disability and employment. It discusses one section of disabled people, those who have mental disabilities. Exploring topics such as the definition of disability, the legality of legislation regarding disability at work that is already in place in Europe and North America, things that enable employees and act as a barrier to employ the disabled. When discussing each topic they use existing facts from other resources and expand on where the research needs to go in the future. In conclusion, they present a solid plan for how research should continue in the field of disability and employment and the authors give suggestions on how things should be put into action. This article adds to the existing knowledge of the class because of its relation to diversity and inclusion. People with disabilities are a group of diversity that we have not discussed yet so this would open people’s eyes to another group that needs to be included. Similar to many of the readings we looked at in the past this text speaks about the inclusion of disabled people in the workplace, how there are low percentages of disabled people that are employed and extremely high levels of unemployment. Bringing awareness to how programs and legislations can be put in place to help incorporate these people, and keep them working mirrors what we have looked at with the inclusion of neurodiverse people and adds other strategies and data regarding organizational culture. It also opens the question of how we can bring the different sections of diversity into the conversation and not forget about certain groups. Another thought is how can each organization cater differently to each diverse group, because as you can see from the article I have chosen, and the past readings that each diverse group has specific accommodations. The existing legislation in “Disability and employment – overview and highlights” can lead as an example of how to implement systematic changes so that all companies must adhere to a set of rules that promote diversity and inclusion. To support my claim and enhance knowledge about disabled people I am using media. The media I have chosen is a ted talk from Elise Roy “When we design for disability, we all benefit”. Elise Roy is deaf and since she is disabled herself she adds a unique perspective. It is connected to the article I choose because as the article outlines research on disability and employment it leaves the question of how do we progress. Elise Roy gives insight on how design thinking and more specifically designed with disability in mind creates inclusion and a better culture for not only those that are disabled but everyone.