CUTS IN A PRISM: A MULTI-GENRE EXPLORATION OF GROWTH AS WRITER, TEACHER AND HUMAN

ABSTRACT Warren, Wendy Zagray, M.A., Summer 2012 Integrated Arts and Education Cuts in a Prism: A Multi-Genre Exploration of Growth as Writer, Teacher and Human Chairperson: Dr. Jillian Campana A meditation about how writing can be used as markers of personal and professional growth, this project brings together poems, articles, essays and reflections written over the past four years, woven together with threads of commentary. Taken together, they form a narrative of maturation, as the author’s world opens to more consciously include the perspectives of others. Based on a metaphor of a prism, where each cut represents a given perspective based on social position, the author explores the importance of story as means of viewing the world through a different lens. From positions of social advantage, such as the author’s own identity as a white, middle class, heterosexual woman of European heritage, people are sometimes unable to see that other cuts in the glass even exist. Through these pieces of writing, newly combined into story, the author, a teacher of twenty-five years, looks back at the learning trajectory leading to where she now stands. From an entry point spurred by Montana’s educational mandate known as Indian Education for All, through experiences including intense exploration into Holocaust Education, she emerges to find herself in a new position. As a result of this new learning, in the coming years, her work will come to include teaching at a college level, supporting pre-service teachers in thinking deeply about how issues of race and class might impact the lives and learning of their students. She will also join a research group studying resiliency strategies of young people who have come through difficult circumstances. Through living, learning, writing and reflecting, issues of social justice, both cultural and economic, have risen to the forefront of her work, and this work has now embedded itself into the fabric of her life

Justice for All? Costs and Consequences of Standardized Testing Requirements in Teacher Education Reform Policy

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Wendy Zagray Warren on March 5, 2015

Home and away: a case study analysis of a learning and teaching programme supporting the development of a ‘transformative’ partnership with a private HEI in Sri Lanka

Transnational arrangements between different types of higher education institutions provide an interesting example of partnership working, being business arrangements with learning as a core organising principle. Successful partnerships both learn and work together and can become mutually transformative, sources of growth for the individuals and institutions involved. Individual projects early in the lifecycle of a partnership can support this development, enabling both organisations to take responsibility for relationship building and the demonstration of trust. This approach has the advantage that it takes the focus away from the home/away dichotomy often apparent in discussions of transnational partnership working and instead attention turns to the development of a new hybrid organisation, a ‘third space’ characterised by reciprocity, commitment, effective communication, competence and trust. This chapter provides a case study analysis of a learning and teaching programme which provided the opportunity for a partnership between a London-based university and a private provider in Sri Lanka to have transformational potential. It uses multiple sources of data to identify practical characteristics associated with developing a culture of transformative partnership working which includes the experiences of the ‘boundary spanner’ responsible for its development and leadership

The impact of pre-diabetes diagnosis on behaviour change: an integrative literature review

Type 2 diabetes is a growing global problem that not only affects individuals but also has an impact upon the economic health of countries. The number of people developing type 2 diabetes can be reduced by up to by 80%; this can be achieved by targeting those who are ‘at risk’. This reduction can be achieved by appropriate lifestyle changes to diet and physical activity. It is not known what the impact of being informed of a diagnosis of pre-diabetes has on an individual’s motivation to make appropriate lifestyle changes. The aim of this study was to assess whether having the diagnosis of pre-diabetes encourages or empowers people to make appropriate lifestyle changes to prevent progression to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Employing a systematic approach, an integrative literature review was undertaken using a standard retrieval and appraisal method. The studies demonstrated that pre-diabetes was found to be a challenging concept by patients and nurses alike. Lack of knowledge and support, along with patients’ perceived barriers, had an impact upon the various motivation and self-efficacy behaviours towards lifestyle changes. The integrative review found that more education and support are required to motivate lifestyle change in the person with pre-diabetes. This, however, does not need to be medicine led; use of peer and community based programmes could be not only cheaper, but also have the ability to provide potentially long-term support for people, and would provide continued reduced risk. Intervention needs to ensure that it is provided at an appropriate level to account for cultural, social and gender needs. Innovative approaches need to be considered to reduce the number of people who are diagnosed with pre-diabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes and its associated potential complications

Optic Flow Drives Human Visuo-Locomotor Adaptation

SummaryTwo strategies can guide walking to a stationary goal: (1) the optic-flow strategy, in which one aligns the direction of locomotion or “heading” specified by optic flow with the visual goal [1, 2]; and (2) the egocentric-direction strategy, in which one aligns the locomotor axis with the perceived egocentric direction of the goal [3, 4] and in which error results in optical target drift [5]. Optic flow appears to dominate steering control in richly structured visual environments [2, 6–8], whereas the egocentric- direction strategy prevails in visually sparse environments [2, 3, 9]. Here we determine whether optic flow also drives visuo-locomotor adaptation in visually structured environments. Participants adapted to walking with the virtual-heading direction displaced 10° to the right of the actual walking direction and were then tested with a normally aligned heading. Two environments, one visually structured and one visually sparse, were crossed in adaptation and test phases. Adaptation of the walking path was more rapid and complete in the structured environment; the negative aftereffect on path deviation was twice that in the sparse environment, indicating that optic flow contributes over and above target drift alone. Optic flow thus plays a central role in both online control of walking and adaptation of the visuo-locomotor mapping

The Design of Early Childhood Teacher Education Programs: Australian Employer Perspectives with International Program Comparisons

Provision of quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) supports children’s learning with strong agreement that early childhood teachers (ECTs) are central to quality provision. In many countries, it is mandatory that ECEC services employ ECTs. However, Australian ECT employers report that early childhood graduates are not always well-prepared to work in ECEC settings. This may be because what constitutes optimal early childhood initial teacher education programs (EC ITE) is unclear. To investigate the design of EC ITE programs this research reports on (i) design of EC ITE programs across international contexts; and (ii) 19 Australian ECT employers’ perspectives on EC ITE program design. Findings indicate little consensus on the design of EC ITE programs, with inconsistencies across and within countries. Australian employers identified shortcomings in graduates knowledge. This research highlights recommendations to understand how programs prepare ECTs, by conducting research tracking preservice teachers from EC ITE programs into ECEC teaching

Genome sequences of nine gram-negative vaginal bacterial isolates

The vagina is home to a wide variety of bacteria that have great potential to impact human health. Here, we announce reference strains (now available through BEI Resources) and draft genome sequences for 9 Gram-negative vaginal isolates from the taxa Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Fusobacterium, Proteus, and Prevotella