Embracing mathematics identity in an African-centered school: Construction and interaction of racial and mathematical student identities

ABSTRACT Title of Document: EMBRACING MATHEMATICS IDENTITY IN AN AFRICAN-CENTERED SCHOOL: CONSTRUCTION AND INTERACTION OF RACIAL AND MATHEMATICAL STUDENT IDENTITIES Farhaana Nyamekye, Ph.D, 2010 Directed By: Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, Daniel Chazan, Curriculum and Instruction This dissertation is a report of a multiple case study of eight seventh grade African American students attending an African-centered school. This African-centered school is attended solely by children of African descent and adheres to a system of African cultural values, focusing on culture, relationships, and academic excellence. The report provides in depth case analyses of two of these students as they navigate their multiple identities. The foci of the analyses are on the students' construction of their math learner identities and racial identities and on their construction of both of these identities taken together. Phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory illuminates the challenges and supports that these students encounter in constructing their identities. The mathematics and racial socialization practices within the school and within the students' home environments are documented within this report as support mechanisms that provide opportunities for the students to construct identities as African American mathematics learners. The findings suggest that academic spaces that reduce the stress of racism and help students to value their racial identity may be particularly important spaces for other African American mathematics learners. The findings also have positive implications for the implementation of African and African American cultural practices and programs that can help other African American learners to positively construct identities as both African Americans and math learners. The documented findings raise critical questions about whether other African American learners that share the historical legacy of enslavement with the students in this study would benefit from African-centered schooling, despite the heterogeneity within this population

‘I Should Have Married One Woman’: Bargaining Dynamics in Polygamous and Monogamous Households in Tamale, Northern Ghana

Sen (1990) indicates that when a person is perceived by household members to be making significant contributions to the overall wealth of the household, agreed solutions are more likely to favour that person. However, perceived contributions have to be distinguished from actual contributions. He notes that the perceived contributions of a person can be important in predisposing cooperative outcomes to favour the perceived contributor. In fact, the ‘winner’ in one round would not only gain greater immediate benefit but also be better placed and have greater bargaining power in the future (Sen, 1990). Sen’s ideas about perceived and actual contribution response are used as an analytical tool to investigate the gender implications of women’s and men’s contributions to family welfare in both polygamous and monogamous households in Tamale, in the northern region of Ghana. Sen (1990), it should be noted, places emphasis on monetary earnings in his cooperative conflict model. However, perception biases against non-monetary earnings, which shall be referred to here as ‘reproductive roles’ will be explored in this study. Keywords: actual, households, informal, monogamous, perceived, polygamous

For the people, by the people: Rethinking the community participatory design process and if it can effectively lead to better Public spaces

Cities and their public spaces are key places that encourage human interactions, they are catalysts for human experiences and connections. Unfortunately, in the present day, cities are rapidly growing at an unprecedented rate and the strive for innovation is causing a decrease in human interaction due to the priority placed on cars and the control of its traffic, high rise buildings and dense city living. This research explores the public participatory design process in architectural development and if it can effectively lead to better public spaces for people. Applying the human centric approach to examine the built environment industry, will shift the focus to citizens of cities, and further show how they could contribute to design development. This research uses this approach to explore the spatial arrangements and urban layer of two developed capitals, the city of London and the city of Copenhagen. Critically qualitative analysis was conducted on both areas: Peckham square in London was analysed showing contrary views of its development and the complex participatory design process. The Superkilen project in Copenhagen as the latter known for its intense and successful public participation process. The research outcome accepts the claimed hypothesis in the existing literature that public participation can lead to better public spaces for people. Both case studies however, have shown that the public consists of many communities and the challenges to represent and please all. The real issue of cities today concludes down to power and control and how citizens do not have the final say. This research should interest urban planners, policy makers and designers

ANALYSING INTEGRATED PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT REFORMS: A CASE STUDY OF GHANA

Public sector accounting reforms have a vast potential to impact on the developing world (Hopper et al., 2016) but the explication of reform performance is only partial in the neo-classical economics framework. Accounting scholars have called for a deeper understanding of the context and conditions of accounting reforms in the less developing countries and emerging economies (LDCs/EEs) (van Helden and Uddin, 2016; Nyamori et al.,2017; Hopper et al., 2016; Goddard and Mkasiwa, 2016; Manning and McCourt, 2013; Abdul-Rahaman et al., 1997). This research sets out to understand the context of the public financial management (PFM)reforms using Ghana as an example of LDCs/EEs. The tools embedded in the institutional logics approach (ILA) are mobilised, as a meta-theoretical framework encompassing symbolic interactionism and grounded theory, to offer a constructivist-interpretivist account of the reforms. This research found that accounting changes through the PFM reforms in Ghana have been challenging to implement, and reforms outcomes have been poor to mediocre. Empirically, this study identified budget credibility as the core category in public sector accounting reforms in Ghana. The reform outcomes are reflected and constituted in the budget logics, such as over-centralization of controls, gaming, and unpredictability of flow of funds to the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), that have constrained the reforms. This study relates the core category to the other five main empirical categories, namely: accountability, professionalism, and financial re-engineering, automation, and policy credibility) which emerged from the study. Longitudinally, the research found that, dating back to the pre-independence era, only limited improvements have been made in the transformation of the public financial management practices to support economic development in Ghana. Opportunities to decentralize financial controls were not taken the 1980s, and the successive recent reforms have only centralized both the reforms and financial management controls. This research explains why sub-optimal accounting practices endure, the paradox of embeddedness, and constraints and possibilities of collective action to effect accounting change through reforms. The study examines the dynamics and the interplay of budget credibility and the other categorical elements within the “vampire state”, and the impact of hegemonic influences of the international community on local actors institutionalised in the polities through objectification and exteriorisation of culture. The implications of the budget credibility are explored further through the development of a substantive theory on the reforms, a processual analysis, and interinstitutional orders comprising national community logics, state logics, and international community logics that shape public sector accounting change in Ghana. This research opens up the possibility of further theoretical and empirical studies in other resource dependent countries where reforms are influenced by external donor development partners

Managing the environmental crisis in Ghana: The role of African traditional religion and culture—A case study of Berekum traditional area

This thesis examines the connection between traditional religio-cultural beliefs and practices and environmental problems in Ghana using Berekum Traditional Society as a case study. Its primary aim is to assess the nature and the level of the environmental crisis in Ghana, and to explore the possibility of combing indigenous and modern methods to address the current environmental problems in Ghana. The methodology of this thesis is located within the framework for conducting empirical studies in Religious Studies. The qualitative methods of collecting and analysing data are utilised, and since the scope of the study falls within the field of religion and environment, a brief history of global environmentalism and religion‘s entrance into attempts to address mounting global environmental problems will be provided. It will be argued that the worldview of the Berekum people, which is underpinned by their religious mentality, has played and continues to play a key role in their local ecological practices. The traditional ways through which ecological knowledge have been and are currently imparted to the youth will be examined, together with the effectiveness of these methods within a climate of modernity and the influence of Western education and culture in the area. It will be argued that Berekum people strongly believe that indigenous ways for addressing ecological problems are still relevant, and that their methods for doing so have not been completely lost in its rural communities, or in Ghana as a whole. Although it appears that indigenous religious beliefs and practices seem to be waning, with a greater percentage of the indigenous population in the study area having either converted to Christianity or Islam, I argue that indigenous religious beliefs and practices remain covertly active in the life and thought of the people. Finally, I argue that neither modern (scientific) nor traditional modes of addressing current ecological problems are individually adequate, and therefore that a synergy of the two modes is necessary in order for such problems to be tackled fully. However, I will also argue that certain challenges need to be addressed before this integration can be made possibl

Investigating and Manipulating Immune Responses to Hepatotropic Pathogens Using Synthetic DNA

Hepatotropic pathogens, such as Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and malaria Plasmodium often escape cellular immune clearance, resulting in chronic infections. With billions at the risk of infection, the need for an immune therapy that will incite protective immune responses against these pathogens is more important now than ever. To develop effective therapies against these pathogens, it is important to understand the mechanisms by which liver-primed CD8 T cells become defective. In this report, I directly compared liver-primed CD8 T cells to secondary lymphoid tissue-primed CD8 T cells for differentiation, function, and memory programming in a highly controlled fashion. We used hydrodynamic tail vain injection of synthetic plasmids to establish liver-specific antigen expression in the P14 transgenic mouse model, and studied the priming of CD8 T cells. Intrahepatically activated CD8 T cells exhibited unique expansion, memory differentiation, polyfunctionality and cytotoxicity compared to T cells primed in the periphery. The difference in their expansion resulted in lower memory CTL frequency, which led to reduced protection against lethal viral challenge. These results demonstrated that defective liver priming of naïve CD8 T cells contributes to the lower frequency of antigen-specific CTLs observed during liver infection in HBV and HCV patients, which helps these pathogens to escape immune clearance. The results from the study provide evidence that, the eradication of HBV and HCV infected hepatocytes will require both the induction of a strong antigen-specific immune response and the subsequent deployment of that response towards the liver. We therefore assessed the ability of a synthetic DNA vaccine encoding a recombinant plasmid of the HBcAg and HBsAg to drive immunity in the liver. Intramuscular vaccination accompanied by electroporation induced both strong antigen-specific T cell and high titer antibody responses systematically and in the liver. Furthermore, immunized mice showed strong cytotoxic responses that eliminate adoptively transferred HBV-coated target cells in the spleen and liver. These data provide important insight into the generation of peripheral immune responses that are recruited to the liver; an approach that could be beneficial in the search for vaccines or immune-therapies for liver disease

The impact of information, education and communication (IEC) strategies in malaria prevention and control during pregnancy in Africa.

Background: Malaria continues to pose a complex public health problem amongst pregnant women in Africa (Schantz-Dunn & Nour 2009; Antwi 2010), accounting for over 90% of the global malaria burden (WHO 2002; Morel et al. 2005; Schantz-Dunn & Nour 2009). However, little is known about the impact of information, education and communication (IEC) strategies in malaria prevention and control among pregnant women in Africa. Aims and Objectives: The study sought to identify: evidence of impact of IEC strategies; feasibility, appropriateness, meaningfulness and effectiveness of the IEC strategies; challenges; best practices and key lessons to inform governments, policymakers, health partners, the academic community, directors, managers of health, frontline health professionals and health educators at institutional and community levels. Moreover, the study aimed to develop a theoretical framework to enhance the understanding of issues related to implementation of IEC strategies. Methods: A mixed method approach was adopted. This consisted of a systematic review of evidence within the African context and an evaluation methodology involving a contextually based survey of Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania. The systematic review involved a structured search of relevant databases and websites, and hand search strategies. Three sets of evidence were identified and aggregated using a narrative synthesis approach. A survey questionnaire reflecting the outcomes of the review was sent to health professionals and lay persons in the countries under study. Primary data were analysed using SPSS Version 15.0. Non-parametric tests and sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the nature of opinions among respondents within and across countries. Findings: 3,440 studies were identified during the systematic review. Out of this number, 57 met the inclusion criteria. Following critical appraisal, 50 studies met the criteria for methodological quality. Ten IEC strategies were identified. These were: Staff training and orientation Advocacy Community mass education campaigns House-to-house sensitisation Health education in health units Visiting places of worship Womens group meetings Integrated health education campaigns Symbolism versus message delivery Audience segmentation versus information delivery. The survey reveals a high level of awareness of IEC strategies among respondents in the African countries studied. The evidence of impact reported by respondents supported the findings of the systematic review. However, there were some differences, and some concerns still remain regarding the extent of impact. The study suggests that using an IEC strategy implementation equation could enhance the understanding of issues related to implementation of IEC strategies. Implications of the findings are outlined, including implications for professional practice in relation to IEC programme implementation, most especially among nurses and midwives. IEC roles and responsibilities of key actors are also proposed. Conclusions: Despite the challenges of adopting a mixed method approach, the study highlights an important relationship between evidence and practice. This approach also helped to ensure that a comprehensive multiperspective view of IEC strategies was achieved. In designing and implementing IEC programmes, clients must be involved in order to encourage community ownership and programme sustainability. Attitudinal change and commitment is required by all stakeholders in order to achieve and maintain impact on malaria in pregnancy. Finally, while recognising the essence of feasibility, appropriateness and meaningfulness of a given strategy, it is worth noting that the key message from this study is that no one single strategy on its own appears ideal. Therefore, there is the need to pay equal attention to both institutional and community-based strategies. Doing one thing alone will not work; more evidence of impact is required to know what works and in what context

Direct and residual effects of phosphate fertilizer on maize (Zea mays L.) grown on an Ultisol in Kumasi, Ghana

Long-term field experiments were conducted for 13 cropping seasons on a Typic Paleustult in Ghana to study response of maize (Zea mays L.) to P fertilization, evaluate the relative efficiency of broadcast versus band applications, estimate residual effects of applied P and determine the critical P level for maize. The results showed no significant direct effect of P fertilization on maize yield for the first four crops. Thereafter, grain yields consistently and significantly increased due to the residual effects of applied P and the effects increased as the broadcast rates increased but decreased when banded P rates increased. The overall residual effect of the banded P was significantly superior to the broadcast application. The critical P level for maize on this soil was estimated to be 12-16 ppm Bray 1 P. There was a significant direct effect of applied P on grain yield for the tenth through the thirteenth crops when the available P level in the soil was below the critical level

Are Traditional Health Care Practices for Children with Mental Health Problems in the Tamale Metropolis in Ghana as Effective as Psychological Interventions?

This study investigates the extent to which traditional Health Care practices for children with mental health problems in the Tamale Metropolis in Ghana are as effective as psychological interventions. The study reviews existing work on traditional health care practices, psychological interventions for mental health patients and coping strategies for parents and/or family members of children with mental health problems to build a conceptual framework that is appropriate for examining health care practices for children with mental health problems in Tamale, in northern Ghana. The study details the traditional health care practices that children with mental health problems receive from especially traditional healers who believe that issues of mental health are caused by the activities of witches and wizards. The findings of this study suggest that the burden of care for children with mental health problems solely rests on parents, family members, and traditional healers and to a lesser extent the psychiatric hospital. Some coping strategies, however, have been adopted by parents of children with mental health problems, the major strategy being the ‘God motif’ by which parents are able to ‘survive’ stigmatization and stress. Keywords: care, children, health, mental, psychological, traditiona