Narratives of Becoming: Conceptualization of Teacher Identity Through the Experiences of Educators from Racially, Linguistically, and Culturally Minoritized Backgrounds

Teacher education programs are predominantly White spaces with their faculty, teacher candidates, curriculum, and practices. In these spaces, the experiences of teacher candidates from minoritized backgrounds can be alienating and their voices can be overlooked or silenced. In three interrelated but distinct studies, this research aims to highlight the experiences and perspectives of educators from minoritized racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds as they are conceptualizing their professional identities as educators. These three studies are narratives of becoming as they explore conceptualization of teacher identity through three different narrative methods namely autoethnography, counterstories, and narrative inquiry. Although each study has its unique focus and specific research questions, the overarching questions this project answers are (1) How do the social and cultural contexts in which teaching, and learning occur empower/disempower minoritized identities? (2) How can the experiences of teacher candidates and novice teachers from minoritized racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds inform teacher education programs to create spaces that can support them to conceptualize their professional identities as teachers? The first study responds to these questions through an autoethnographic account of my own identity conceptualization as a novice teacher educator, a former language teacher, and an international doctoral student who identifies as a Turkish immigrant, a translingual and a transnational woman. The second study is a critical dialogue that I conducted with a colleague, who is a former student, as we explored how our linguistic identities influenced our pedagogies and approaches to language learning. In this smaller study, my collaborator discussed how she refrained from tapping into her African American Vernacular Dialect while teaching, whereas I talked about my insecurities with being positioned as a “non-native” English speaker. We discussed the ideologies we had internalized and analyzed how this affected the decisions we made when we first started teaching. Finally, the third study is a narrative inquiry following three novice teachers of color as they talk about their early schooling, teacher education programs, and their interactions with their students and colleagues in order to understand how they conceptualize their emergent teacher identities. Theoretical frameworks used throughout the studies are intersectionality, raciolinguistics, and teacher identity. Teacher identity in this work is theorized as multiple, and changes based on social interactions with other teachers, students, teacher educators, administrators, and the broader community (Barkhuizen, 2016) and is conceptualized in conjunction with teachers’ own social and cultural identities. Intersectionality helps analyze the conceptualization of teacher identity across the smaller studies through the complex ways that marginalization and privilege operate and it accounts for complexity and diversity within various identities and communities a person becomes a part of (Tefera et al., 2018). Thus, intersectionality was critical in analyzing how the social, cultural, and political contexts of participants, as well as their multiple identities, influenced their pedagogies and narratives of becoming. Completing my analytical lens was raciolinguistics, which explains how certain bodies are racialized and positioned as inferior and their linguistic practices are perceived as deficient (Rosa & Flores, 2017). As racial and linguistic identities were centers of discussions throughout the smaller studies, raciolinguistics helped frame participants’ experiences within the power dynamics that privilege whiteness and standard American English. Overall, the aim of this overarching project is to highlight the voices and experiences of educators from minoritized racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds in order to inform teacher education programs to better meet the needs of teacher candidates from non-dominant backgrounds. Moreover, this project contributes to the conversation about “who has power and what counts as “expertise” in teacher education (Pham, 2018). Synthesis of all three studies show that the participants, who are educators from minoritized racial, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds, experience in-betweenness in one shape or form such as in-between two races, two cultures, or two communities, feel hesitant to take space in critical conversations around race and identity, and strive to claim agency over one or more aspects of their identities. Furthermore, participants across the three studies were using their own stories and experiences to empower their students. Overall, these narratives of becoming can be used to inform teacher education programs into more inclusive spaces. First of all, autoethnography, which is the methodology for the first study, can be used in teacher education curriculum as a self-reflexivity tool for teacher candidates and teacher educators to examine how their experiences influence their pedagogies and how these experiences are situated and influenced by the larger socio-political contexts. Secondly, exposure was a recurring concept that shaped the participants’ experiences in their programs. This includes exposure to diverse voices in the curriculum and exposure to diverse student populations within student teaching. This was particularly important for educators of Color in these studies because teachers of Color are assumed to inherently know how to work with diverse student populations simply on the basis of their race and ethnicity (Jackson et al., 2015). However, the narratives of participants demonstrate that although they were eager to have critical conversations with their students, they sometimes struggled or felt hesitant to do that. All in all, studies in this dissertation are limited in their scope to the experiences of a few participants but they provide valuable insight into the conceptualization of teacher identity at the intersections of race, ethnicity, language, and culture

Morpho-agronomic characters of oat growing with humic acid and zinc application in different sowing times

The objectives of the study were to determine the effects of humic acid (HA) and zinc (Zn) applications on winter tolerance and yield performance of oat (cv. Albatros) planted in winter and spring sowing times (ST). We conducted the study in the 2017/2018 growing season. The experimental layout was split-split plots with three replications. Sowing times (winter and spring) comprised of the main plots. Humic acid application (with HA and without HA) was in the sub-plots, and Zn application rates (0, 23 and 46 kg ha-1) were in the sub-sub-plots. Chlorophyll content of plants was measured at the heading stage, while plant height, panicle height, panicle weight, number of grain per panicle, weight of grains per panicle, harvest index and grain yield were determined at the harvest. The effects of HA and Zn applications in both ST increased the chlorophyll content, yield and yield components. The results showed that cold tolerance of oat plants can be increased by the application of HA and 46 kg ZnSO4.7H2O ha -1. Overall performance of winter season was better than spring; thus, oat can be cultivated in winter under warm winter climate conditions. In addition, the HA and Zn applications can be used for other cold sensitive plant species to increase the cold tolerance which is a prevalent environmental stress affecting productivity of crops

Provision and uptake of routine antenatal services: a qualitative evidence synthesis

Background Antenatal care (ANC) is a core component of maternity care. However, both quality of care provision and rates of attendance vary widely between and within countries. Qualitative research can assess factors underlying variation, including acceptability, feasibility, and the values and beliefs that frame provision and uptake of ANC programmes. This synthesis links to the Cochrane Reviews of the effectiveness of different antenatal models of care. It was designed to inform the World Health Organization guidelines for a positive pregnancy experience and to provide insights for the design and implementation of improved antenatal care in the future. Objectives To identify, appraise, and synthesise qualitative studies exploring: · Women’s views and experiences of attending ANC; and factors influencing the uptake of ANC arising from women’s accounts; · Healthcare providers’ views and experiences of providing ANC; and factors influencing the provision of ANC arising from the accounts of healthcare providers. Search methods To find primary studies we searched MEDLINE, Ovid; Embase, Ovid; CINAHL, EbscoHost; PsycINFO, EbscoHost; AMED, EbscoHost; LILACS, VHL; and African Journals Online (AJOL) from January 2000 to February 2019. We handsearched reference lists of included papers and checked the contents pages of 50 relevant journals through Zetoc alerts received during the searching phase. Selection criteria We included studies that used qualitative methodology and that met our quality threshold; that explored the views and experiences of routine ANC among healthy, pregnant and postnatal women or among healthcare providers offering this care, including doctors, midwives, nurses, lay health workers and traditional birth attendants; and that took place in any setting where ANC was provided.We excluded studies of ANC programmes designed for women with specific complications. We also excluded studies of programmes that focused solely on antenatal education. Data collection and analysis Two authors undertook data extraction, logged study characteristics, and assessed study quality. We used meta- ethnographic and Framework techniques to code and categorise study data. We developed findings from the data and presented these in a 'Summary of Qualitative Findings' (SoQF) table. We assessed confidence in each finding using GRADE-CERQual. We used these findings to generate higher-level explanatory thematic domains. We then developed two lines of argument syntheses, one from service user data, and one from healthcare provider data. In addition, we mapped the findings to relevant Cochrane effectiveness reviews to assess how far review authors had taken account of behavioural and organisational factors in the design and implementation of the interventions they tested. We also translated the findings into logic models to explain full, partial and no uptake of ANC, using the theory of planned behaviour. Main results We include 85 studies in our synthesis. Forty-six studies explored the views and experiences of healthy pregnant or postnatal women, 17 studies explored the views and experiences of healthcare providers and 22 studies incorporated the views of both women and healthcare providers. The studies took place in 41 countries, including eight high-income countries, 18 middle-income countries and 15 low-income countries, in rural, urban and semi-urban locations. We developed 52 findings in total and organised these into three thematic domains: socio-cultural context (11 findings, five moderate- or high- confidence); service design and provision (24 findings, 15 moderate- or high-confidence); and what matters to women and staff (17 findings, 11 moderate- or high-confidence) The third domain was sub-divided into two conceptual areas; personalised supportive care, and information and safety. We also developed two lines of argument, using high- or moderate-confidence findings: For women, initial or continued use of ANC depends on a perception that doing so will be a positive experience. This is a result of the provision of good-quality local services that are not dependent on the payment of informal fees and that include continuity of care that is authentically personalised, kind, caring, supportive, culturally sensitive, flexible, and respectful of women’s need for privacy, and that allow staff to take the time needed to provide relevant support, information and clinical safety for the woman and the baby, as and when they need it. Women’s perceptions of the value of ANC depend on their general beliefs about pregnancy as a healthy or a risky state, and on their reaction to being pregnant, as well as on local socio-cultural norms relating to the advantages or otherwise of antenatal care for healthy pregnancies, and for those with complications. Whether they continue to use ANC or not depends on their experience of ANC design and provision when they access it for the first time. The capacity of healthcare providers to deliver the kind of high-quality, relationship-based, locally accessible ANC that is likely to facilitate access by women depends on the provision of sufficient resources and staffing as well as the time to provide flexible personalised, private appointments that are not overloaded with organisational tasks. Such provision also depends on organisational norms and values that overtly value kind, caring staff who make effective, culturally-appropriate links with local communities, who respect women’s belief that pregnancy is usually a normal life event, but who can recognise and respond to complications when they arise. Healthcare providers also require sufficient training and education to do their job well, as well as an adequate salary, so that they do not need to demand extra informal funds from women and families, to supplement their income, or to fund essential supplies. Authors' conclusions This review has identified key barriers and facilitators to the uptake (or not) of ANC services by pregnant women, and in the provision (or not) of good-quality ANC by healthcare providers. It complements existing effectiveness reviews of models of ANC provision and adds essential insights into why a particular type of ANC provided in specific local contexts may or may not be acceptable, accessible, or valued by some pregnant women and their families/communities. Those providing and funding services should consider the three thematic domains identified by the review as a basis for service development and improvement. Such developments should include pregnant and postnatal women, community members and other relevant stakeholders

Do high fetal catecholamine levels affect heart rate variability and tneconiutn passage during labour?

Objectives. To deternrine the relationship between Umbilical arterial catecholamine levels and fetal heart rate variability and meconium passage.Study design. A prospective descriptive study was perfonned. Umbilical artery catecholamine levels were measured in 55 newborns and correlated with fetal heart rate before delivery, Umbilical arterial pH, base excess and the presence of meconum-stained liquor.Results and conclusion. The range of catecholanrine levels was enonnous, with very high epinephrine or norepinephrine levels in several fetuses. We were unable to demonstrate an association between high catecholamine levels and the presence of nonnal fetal heart rate variability despite acidaemia. We postulate that high catecholamine levels may inhibit fetal meconiUITl passage

Cache-Base Application Detection in the Cloud Using Machine Learning

Cross-VM attacks have emerged as a major threat on commercial clouds. These attacks commonly exploit hardware level leakages on shared physical servers. A co-located machine can readily feel the presence of a co-located instance with a heavy computational load through performance degradation due to contention on shared resources. Shared cache architectures such as the last level cache (LLC) have become a popular leakage source to mount cross-VM attack. By exploiting LLC leakages, researchers have already shown that it is possible to recover fine grain information such as cryptographic keys from popular software libraries. This makes it essential to verify implementations that handle sensitive data across the many versions and numerous target platforms, a task too complicated, error prone and costly to be handled by human beings. Here we propose a machine learning based technique to classify applications according to their cache access profiles. We show that with minimal and simple manual processing steps feature vectors can be used to train models using support vector machines to classify the applications with a high degree of success. The profiling and training steps are completely automated and do not require any inspection or study of the code to be classified. In native execution, we achieve a successful classification rate as high as 98\% (L1 cache) and 78\% (LLC) over 40 benchmark applications in the Phoronix suite with mild training. In the cross-VM setting on the noisy Amazon EC2 the success rate drops to 60\% for a suite of 25 applications. With this initial study we demonstrate that it is possible to train meaningful models to successfully predict applications running in co-located instances

Two-dimensional Mellin and mel-cepstrum for image feature extraction

An image feature extraction method based on two-dimensional (2D)Mellin cepstrum is introduced. The concept of one-dimensional (1D) melcepstrum which is widely used in speech recognition is extended to two-dimensions both using the ordinary 2D Fourier Transform and the Mellin transform in this article. The resultant feature matrices are applied to two different classifiers (Common Matrix Approach and Support Vector Machine) to test the performance of the melcepstrum and Mellincepstrum based features. Experimental studies indicate that recognition rates obtained by the 2D melcepstrum based method are superior to the recognition rates obtained using 2D PCA and ordinary image matrix based face recognition in both classifiers. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Classifying Wheat Genotypes using Machine Learning Models for Single Kernel Characterization System Measurements

985-991The properties related to market value, milling, classification, storage, and transportation of bread wheat are determined by using some important physical quality characteristics such as weight, shape, dimensions, and hardness of wheat kernels. It is possible to measure all these features using single kernel characterization system (SKCS). Classification of wheat genotypes using computer-based algorithms is crucial to determine the most accurate physical quality classification for breeding studies. In this paper, four commercial wheat cultivars (Altay-2000, Bezostaja-1, Harmankaya-99, and Kate A-1) and six doubled haploid (DH) wheat genotypes are studied to classify wheat cultivars and DH wheat genotypes separately. In the classification stage, feature vectors constructed from measured characters namely, kernel weight, diameter, hardness, and moisture are applied to well-known classifiers such as Common Vector Approach (CVA), Support Vector Machines (SVM) and K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN). Satisfactory results especially for the training set are obtained from the experimental studies. Classification results are compared with single linkage hierarchical cluster (SLHC) analysis, which is the most widely used in breeding studies. Recognition of clustered genotypes in all three classification methods and dendrograms present similar results. The SVM model is found to be outperformed over other methods for studied characters and could therefore effectively be utilized for characterizing, classifying and/or identifying the wheat genotypes

Multiperson tracking with a network of ultrawideband radar sensors based on gaussian mixture PHD filters

In this paper, we investigate the use of Gaussian mixture probability hypothesis density filters for multiple person tracking using ultrawideband (UWB) radar sensors in an indoor environment. An experimental setup consisting of a network of UWB radar sensors and a computer is designed, and a new detection algorithm is proposed. The results of this experimental proof-of-concept study show that it is possible to accurately track multiple targets using a UWB radar sensor network in indoor environments based on the proposed approach. © 2014 IEEE