Miscalculations: Decolonizing and Anti-Oppressive Discourses in Indigenous Mathematics Education

In North American mathematics education, many practitioners highlight a disparity in achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, and claim that incorporating Indigenous perspectives in mathematics provides a more inclusive teaching approach. However, our analysis shows that there is a stream of North American practitioners who do not use anti-oppressive or decolonizing discourses, including those who claim to be motivated by social justice education. By avoiding or not emphasizing colonization, ongoing racism, and oppression in Indigenous mathematics education, these practitioners are perpetuating a false sense of the origins of inequality. Furthermore, the quest for Indigenous cultural connections in mathematics sometimes has consequences such as placing blame on Indigenous peoples for not being authorities on their cultures, perpetuating stereotypes, homogenizing Indigenous cultures while reducing their history and knowledge to superficial artifacts, and preserving a sense of the inferiority of Indigenous peoples when it comes to understanding and learning mathematics.

Like Day and NIght: On Becoming a Teacher in Two Distinct Professional Cultures in Rural Saskatchewan

Framed within ecological and institutional ethnography perspectives, and situated within a larger study of beginning teachers in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, this paper focuses on the dramatically different experiences of one beginning teacher who happened to secure half-time contracts in two rural schools within commuting distance of one another. His account of these experiences and how he makes sense of them orient researchers to the broad social, economic, and material conditions that organize the mutually dependent work of parents and teachers. This analysis contributes to beginning teacher research by affirming the value of personal stories of learning to teach, moving beyond studies of individual adaptation to fixed notions of professional success, and opening to scrutiny the shared conditions of early and later career teachers as they are institutionally and discursively organized, thus promoting appreciation of the complexities of learning to teach attuned to variation in local rural circumstances

Chasms in Care: Implications of a disparate system on childhood obesity

There are disparities that exist between public health and personal health care in addressing childhood obesity. Public health efforts to reduce the prevalence of this epidemic have focused on preventive strategies because a coordinated system of health care to address the treatment of obesity in children does not exist. For children who are already overweight, these strategies are not enough. What programs do exist are typically fee-for-service. This study examines the ethics and implications of the disparities that exists in our nation, as well as the role socioeconomic status plays in adolescent overweight and obesity and its primary behavior risk factors. Students from low-socioeconomic status were more likely to lack health insurance and access to care. They also had increased risks of being overweight or obese partly due to their living environment. This demonstrates the need for more joint health efforts, such as community based programs and affordable access to multi-disciplinary partnerships

Nursing transfer of accountability at the bedside: partnering with patients to pilot a new initiative in Ontario community hospitals

The transfer of accountability (TOA) for a patient from one nurse to another at change of shift is an important opportunity to exchange essential patient care information, as well as to enhance the safety and quality of patient care. This study was undertaken to explore nurses’, patients’ and family members’ perceptions associated with the implementation of bedside nurse to nurse TOA. Focus groups were conducted pre-implementation (two with nurses and two with patients and family members) and post-implementation (six with nurses and two with patients and family members). The focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using directed content analysis. Findings were divided into positive outcomes and challenges to bedside nurse to nurse TOA. Positive outcomes included increased patient safety, more informed patients more consistent use of whiteboards in the patient rooms, better engagement with family via the whiteboard and increased family involvement, confirmation of information between nurses, increased accountability between nurses, and personal introduction/icebreaker of the new nurse. The inclusion of the Patient Partners on the project team was a key success factor for the project. Challenges included a perception of lengthened time required for TOA and increased workload, lack of privacy and potential breaches of confidentiality, patient fear and lack of comprehension, lack of clarity in TOA processes, and inconsistent application of the procedures. Hospital administrators and nurse leaders can use these findings to anticipate and understand change associated with bedside TOA as seen by both nurses and patients/families

Phylogeography of the Endangered Otago Skink, Oligosoma otagense: Population Structure, Hybridisation and Genetic Diversity in Captive Populations

Climatic cooling and substantial tectonic activity since the late Miocene have had a pronounced influence on the evolutionary history of the fauna of New Zealand's South Island. However, many species have recently experienced dramatic range reductions due to habitat fragmentation and the introduction of mammalian predators and competitors. These anthropogenic impacts have been particularly severe in the tussock grasslands of the Otago region. The Otago skink (Oligosoma otagense), endemic to the region, is one of the most critically endangered vertebrates in New Zealand. We use mitochondrial DNA sequence data to investigate the evolutionary history of the Otago skink, examine its population genetic structure, and assess the level of genetic diversity in the individuals in the captive breeding program. Our data indicate that the Otago skink diverged from its closest relatives in the Miocene, consistent with the commencement of tectonic uplift of the Southern Alps. However, there is evidence for past introgression with the scree skink (O. waimatense) in the northern Otago-southern Canterbury region. The remnant populations in eastern Otago and western Otago are estimated to have diverged in the mid-Pliocene, with no haplotypes shared between these two regions. This divergence accounts for 95% of the genetic diversity in the species. Within both regions there is strong genetic structure among populations, although shared haplotypes are generally evident between adjacent localities. Although substantial genetic diversity is present in the captive population, all individuals originate from the eastern region and the majority had haplotypes that were not evident in the intensively managed populations at Macraes Flat. Our data indicate that eastern and western populations should continue to be regarded as separate management units. Knowledge of the genetic diversity of the breeding stock will act to inform the captive management of the Otago skink and contribute to a key recovery action for the species

A measure of college-going self-efficacy for middle school students.

Many career and educational plans are made well before high school graduation. School counselors' efforts to support these plans are limited by the lack of assessments of middle school students' college-going beliefs. Development of the College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale for middle school students is described in this article. Initial evidence of validity and reliability from three separate studies is reported, and suggestions for using this scale with students are provided