Faculty publish research in counselor education, library science, literacy studies
Faculty in library science, counselor education and literacy studies published research on topics ranging from librarian professional development and sista circles to literacy coaches and public archaeology veterans programs.
Dr. Vanessa Irvin, associate professor in library science, was recently published for grant-funded research she began while in Hawaii. Her article, “Collective Praxis: Leveraging Local and Heritage-Based Values for Public Librarian Professional Development,” was published in “How Public Libraries Build Sustainable Communities in the 21st Century.”
The abstract reads:
In Hawaiʻi, two public library systems exist – a traditional municipal branch system and a Native Hawaiian rural community-based library network. The Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) is the traditional municipal library system that services the state’s diverse communities with 51 branch locations, plus its federal repository, the Hawaii State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. The HSPLS primarily serves the local urban communities of Hawaiʻi, diverse in its citizenry. The Native Hawaiian Library, a unit of ALU LIKE, Inc. (a Hawaiian non-profit social services organization), boasts multiple locations across six inhabited Hawaiian Islands, primarily serving rural Hawaiian communities. The HSPLS focuses on traditional public library services offered by MLS-degreed librarians. In contrast, the Native Hawaiian Library (ALU LIKE) focuses on culturally oriented literacy services offered by Hawaiian cultural practitioners. As the state’s only library and information sciences (LISs) educational venue, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s LIS program (UHM LIS) is a nexus point between these two library systems where LIS students learn the value of community-based library services while gaining the traditional technical skills of librarianship concerning Hawaiʻi as a place of learning and praxis.
This book chapter focuses on outcomes from the IMLS-funded research project called “Hui ʻEkolu,” which means “three groups” in the Hawaiian language. From 2018 to 2021, the HSPLS, the Native Hawaiian Library (ALU LIKE), and the UHM LIS Program gathered as “Hui ʻEkolu” to create a community of praxis to share and exchange knowledge to learn from one another to improve professional practice and heighten cultural competency within a Hawaiian context. Native Hawaiian values were leveraged as a nexus point for the three groups to connect and build relationships for sustainable mentorship and culturally competent connections as a model for librarian professional development. The result is a model for collective praxis that leverages local and endemic cultural values for sustainable collaborative professional development for public librarianship.
Irvin also published “Reading Well: Book clubs as an origin story for librarian professional development” in “North Carolina Libraries.”
The abstract reads:
This paper is a conceptual overview of the twentieth-century American book club movement and its influence on twenty-first-century reading practices for librarians. The article makes the case that librarians embracing book clubs as a means of professional development is reaching back to those original literary societies that gathered for intellectual and civic empowerment and emancipation. Professional development outcomes from librarian book clubs are a response to how librarians read what the patrons read and how librarians read and interpret the work they do in the world.
Dr. Shanita Brown, teaching assistant professor in counselor education, published an article in “Counseling Today” titled “The Role of Sista Circles in Healing Black Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.”
The abstract reads:
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pattern of abusive behavior in which a current or former partner uses tactics such as manipulation, coercion, humiliation or force to maintain power and control over another partner. Examples include physical violence, sexual violence, psychological abuse, economic/financial abuse, spiritual abuse and stalking.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2016/2017 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 1 in 4 women report experiencing one or more instances of physical abuse (e.g., punching, choking, slapping), sexual abuse (e.g., forced partner rape), verbal abuse (e.g., insults, minimization, blame) or emotional/psychological abuse (e.g., coercion, gaslighting), and stalking across their life span.
IPV is a global social health problem. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that every nine seconds, a woman is beaten or assaulted. Although IPV can be a type of domestic violence, the two are not synonymous. To be inclusive of LGBTQ+ relationships, male victims of abuse and relationships without domicile-sharing, the CDC recognizes IPV as the definition for violence against partners and former partners.
In this article, we discuss Black women’s IPV experiences and the role of sista circles as an effective strategy for healing and empowerment. IPV intersects racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, socioeconomic and religious lines, but Black women experience IPV at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1 in 3 Black women reported experiencing some form of IPV throughout their lifetime. Society often leaves Black women underserved, erased and harshly judged. If a Black woman fears being judged by others, they may stay in an abusive relationship longer.
Dr. Darian Thrailkill, assistant professor in literacy studies, co-authored “Reconsidering Resistance and Challenges: Teacher Agency During Joint Instructional Inquiry with Literacy Coaches” in “Literacy Research and Instruction.”
The abstract reads:
This qualitative study examined coach-teacher interactions among eight teachers, one administrator, and three university-based coaches in one rural elementary school. Framed within a theory of agency, we examined videos of coaching interactions as coaches and teachers debriefed and co-planned vocabulary instructional ideas stemming from a yearlong, schoolwide professional learning opportunity. We found that teachers’ agentive actions (i.e. intentionality, autonomy, reflectivity, efficacy doubt, principled resistance) were in response coaches’ talk that elicited reflection, sought clarification, expanded on instructional suggestions, and affirmed teachers’ contributions to coaching conversations. We also found that teachers’ challenges or resistance to presented vocabulary principles and literacy practices were not always acknowledged or taken up by the coaches. We conclude that reconsidering how and why teachers resist coaching suggestions might inform how we support and prepare coaches to work with teachers in ways that value and trust their individual contributions and prompt them to act agentively toward continuous improvement.
Dr. Anne Ticknor, professor in literacy studies, co-authored “Force Multiplier: A Critical Reflection on Developing a Public Archaeology Veterans Program in Underwater Archaeology” in the “Journal of Veterans Studies.”
The abstract reads:
In 2018, East Carolina University’s (ECU) Program in Maritime Studies, in partnership with the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) and veterans’ nonprofit Task Force Dagger Special Forces Foundation (TFDF), developed and undertook an underwater archaeology veterans program on WWII-related submerged sites in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). This program was called the Joint Recovery Team (JRT) and consisted of retired and medically retired Special Operations Forces (SOF) veterans from across the United States armed forces (i.e., Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force). The project included training 14 veterans in archaeological techniques and an intensive 2-week investigative field project, during which veterans assisted with archaeological target testing, site identification, and recording. A National Park Service (NPS) Maritime Heritage Program grant supported the training and the Department of Defense, Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA) financially supported the field project. Project leadership undertook training assessments including a program survey, field observations, unstructured interviews, and reflection journals. This article outlines the development of the public archaeology program, training, fieldwork, and assessments and provides a critical reflection of successes and areas for improvement.
Allison Fears, assistant professor of counselor education, published “A Rural Ecological School Counseling Framework” in “Professional School Counseling.”
The abstract reads:
With significant challenges in rural schools such as limited mental health resources, poverty, high visibility, and physical isolation, rural school counselors face a set of unique experiences and challenges. We present an ecological framework to conceptualize the roles, responsibilities, and challenges of rural school counselors and provide intervention strategies to address these challenges that are contextually aware and could be tailored to the communities they serve.