Concerns and Expectations of Students Participating in Study Abroad Programs: Blogging to Reveal the Dynamic Student Voice

Study abroad programmes (SAP) have become increasingly popular with university students and within academia. They are often seen as an experiential opportunity to expand student learning and development, including increases in global, international, and intercultural competences. However, despite the increasing popularity of and participation in study abroad programmes, many student concerns and uncertainties remain. This research investigates initial pre-departure concerns and apprehensions of students undertaking a one-semester study abroad programme and uses these as context for an examination of violated expectations of students during their programme. The research uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to interpret data collected from regularly-updated blogs composed by students throughout their SAP experience. The process of using blogs to collect data is less formalised than many other approaches of interpretative phenomenological analysis, enabling ‘in the moment’ feedback during the SAP and lending greater depth to the understanding of student perceptions.

The Voice of History and the Message of the National Curriculum: Recontextualising History to a Pedagogic Discourse for Upper Secondary VET

In the reform by the liberal-conservative government of Swedish upper secondary education in 2011, history was recognized as an important part of citizenship education and was introduced into the curriculum for vocational education and training (VET) tracks. Through the concepts of classification and framing, this article explores the process of constructing the history syllabus for VET. The data consist of archived material from the working group responsible for the history curriculum under the Swedish National Agency for Education. The analysis shows that there are competing discourses concerning the relative emphasis on competencies and skills and concerning the emphasis on contemporary and modern history. Although historians, history teachers and other agents are invited to respond to the content of the curriculum, the respondents have no influence on the knowledge structure of the curriculum, which is controlled by agents of the dominant educational ideology. From a critical perspective, this article suggests that the curriculum reflects the instrumental and neoconservative message of the reform through strong classification and framing and through the emphasis on general abilities and a contemporary history that has a more direct explanatory value to contemporary society.

The VOP Voice, December 2014

Spotlight: Meet Tonya Amos Education opportunities Congratulations on one year anniv. Glad tiding from Staff

The VOP Voice, February 1, 2016, Vol. 2

Spotlight on Lynzey Kenworthy, Volunteer Anniversaries, Continuing Education, Trivia, Possible Tax Deduction for Mileage

The VOP Voice, March 1, 2016., Vol. 3

Spotlight on Kelsey Zantigh, Volunteer Anniversaries, Continuing Education, Trivia, OSLTO Annual Report

The VOP Voice, April 1, Vol. 4

Spotlight on Kelli Todd, Volunteer Anniversaries, Continuing Education, Trivia

The VOP Voice, May 1, 2016, Vol. 5

Spotlight - Volunteer of month - Nancy Hodson, New Volunteers, In the News, Continuing Education, Trivia, Volunteer Anniversaries

The VOP Voice, June 1, 2016, Vol. 6

Volunteer of Month - Kot Flora, new Volunteer, volunteer anniversaries, Continuing education, Spring seminars. Local Recognition for VO

The VOP Voice, Septmeber 1, 2016, Vol. 9

Volunteer of Month - Shelley Turner, New Volunteers, Volunteer Anniversaries, Continuing Education, Residents Rights Mini-Seminars, In Memoriam of Roger Leff

The VOP Voice, October 2015, Vol. 10

Spotlight: Jennifer Golle, New Volunteer Ombudsmen, Trivia, continuing education, anniversaries, a monthly e-newsletter for Iowa's volunteer Ombudsmen.

The VOP Voice, November 2015

Meet Sarah Hinzman, Newest Volunteer Ombudsman, Trivia, Continuing education, Celebrate Residents' Rights, Peer Group meetings

The VOP Voice, December 2015

New VOP, Anniversaries, Trivia, Advocate, Educational opportunities

The VOP Voice, January 2016

Meet Seygbia Kai, Newest Volunteers, continuing education, Anniversaries, trivia

The VOP Voice, July 1, 2015

Meet Pat Wyatt, Trivia, Continuing education, new VOP, anniversaries, Peer group meetings

The VOP Voice, August 2015

Meet Merea Bentrott, newest VOP, continuing education, trivia, anniversaries, Ombudsman Tidbit