bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Indigenous Vegetable Knowledge and Intake among Hypertensive Adults at a Clinic in a Township in Gqeberha, South Africa
Authors:   Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa, Mfono Zitandile Hlombekazi
Published: March 2024

Background: The consumption of indigenous vegetables among adults living in peri-urban South African areas have declined considerably mainly due to nutrition transition and the loss of indigenous knowledge. Elderly African women are the main holders of indigenous vegetable knowledge. African women living in peri-urban areas have been reported as consuming inadequate vegetable intake and are at a high risk for non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as hypertension. African leafy vegetables may significantly contribute to meet the dietary guidelines recommendations for adequate vegetable intake which are targeted to address NCDs. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge and consumption of indigenous vegetables among adults with hypertension at a peri-urban healthcare facility. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study at a healthcare facility in a township (peri-urban area) in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Two hundred and thirty participants were conveniently sampled from May-November 2021. Data was collected using an interviewer administered structured questionnaire. Results: The median age of the participants was 56 years, 74.3 % (n=171) was females and all participants were of African ethnicity. Only 46.1 % of participants knew what type of plants indigenous vegetables were, most participants said that they thought that it was spinach (Swiss chard). Over half of the participants (56.5 %) responded that they had access to indigenous vegetables in their area, while a third (36.5 %) did not have access to them. The majority (53.5 %) of the participants had not consumed indigenous vegetables in the past month. The main reason for not consuming indigenous vegetables reported was lack of availability (33 %) and lack of knowledge about them (18.3 %). Most participants agreed that indigenous vegetables were healthy (94.8 %) and were a source of nutrients (92.2 %). The most identified available indigenous vegetable plant leaves consumed were Dwarf nettle (52.3 %), Tulbaghia (40%), Black night shade (31.5 %), Amaranth (33.8 %), pumpkin leaves (24.6 %) and Black jack (17.7 %). Conclusion: Despite most participants being older African women, many of the participants had not consumed indigenous vegetables in the past month and most had no ready access to them. Keywords: African, indigenous vegetables, hypertension, vegetables, dietary guidelines
Trends In Childhood Stunting in Kenya: Opportunities for the Future
Authors:   Institute of Food Bioresources Technology, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Nyeri, Kenya, Ronoh Amos Kipkemoi , Were Gertrude Mercy ,   Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, School of Agriculture and Biotechnology, University of Eldoret, Kenya, Were Lisa Malesi ,   Department of Foods, Nutrition and Dietetics, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Published: March 2024

Childhood stunting remains a persistent nutritional challenge among young children in developing countries. However, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022, Kenya has achieved a milestone by markedly reducing the stunting levels since 1993, with the greatest decrease in 2008-2009 (35%) and 2022 (18%). The aim of this review paper is to give an insight into the trends, causes and consequences of stunting, interventions strategies and what remains to be done with regards to combating childhood stunting in Kenya. To address this challenge in Kenya, interventions such as integration of agriculture to promote household diet diversification, supplementation, fortification and nutrition education have been proposed as efficacious. However, the effectiveness of nutrition-specific (such as food-to-food fortification, diversification of diets) and nutrition-sensitive (such as water sanitation and hygiene, deworming, malaria control) programs show mixed effects on child growth and reduction in stunting levels, and they appear to be context-specific. Furthermore, improvement in livelihood systems to reduce poverty, improved child feeding practices, gender roles and decision-making dynamics have been suggested to reduce stunting levels significantly in Kenya, however studies exploring such components are limited. There is need to for multiple integrated interventions to achieve benefits in reducing stunting. These include strengthening cross-sectorial coherence such as health, education and agriculture, generating data and evidence that combine health and agricultural factors, strengthening capacities of health and nutrition institutions. These proposals present opportunities for Kenya to further reduce childhood stunting. Keywords: Stunting, nutrition-sensitive programs, health, developing countries, children
Association of Sickle Cell Disease with Nutritional Status Among Under-Five Children and Mediating Role of Hemoglobin Level: Secondary Analysis of Data From 2020-2022 Demographic and Health Survey
Authors:   Department of Health Science, Ol’lessos Technical Training Institutions, Kenya, Awuor Silas Onyango , Too Fidelma C. ,   Department of Health Science, Ol’lessos Technical Training Institutions, Kenya
Published: March 2024

Background: Malnourishment remains the main issue that affect under-five children in Kenya to an overwhelming proportion. The condition is further compounded by the burden of sickle cell disease (SCD). However, association of SCD with stunting, wasting, and underweight in a nationally representative sample of under-five children remains unknown. The main aim of this study was to describe prevalence of under malnutrition by sickle cell status, to evaluate its association with growth faltering ascertained with anthropometric indices, and to explore mediating role of hemoglobin. Methods: The data were availed from the 2020 to 2022 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of Kisumu County and the sample comprised 11233 children aged 6–59 months who were successfully genotyped for SCD. The DHS employed a two-stage striated sampling strategy. Sickle SCAN rapid diagnostic test was used for SCD genotyping. Z-scores of length/height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ), and weight-for-age (WAZ) were computed against the 2006 World Health Organization Child Growth Standards. Logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate association of SCD with stunting, wasting, and underweight. Results: Prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children with SCD were 55.4% (54.5– 56.4), 9.1% (8.6–9.7), and 38.9% (38.0-39.8), respectively. The odds of stunting were 2.39 times higher (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]) 2.39, 95% CI: 1.26–4.54) among sickle children than those with normal hemoglobin. SCD was also signicantly associated with underweight (aOR 2.64, 95% CI: 1.25–5.98), but not with wasting (aOR 1.60, 95% CI: 0.85–3.02). Hemoglobin level signicantly mediated SCD-HAZ (adjusted indirect effect (aIE) -0.328, 95% CI: -0.387, -0.270), SCD-WHZ (aIE − 0.080, 95% CI: -0.114, -0.050), and WAZ (aIE − 0.245, 95% CI: -0.291, -0.200) associations. The extent of mediation was highest for SCD-HAZ association (adjusted proportion mediated 0.928, 95% CI: 0.535–2.770). Conclusion: We presented convincing evidence of the negative impact of SCD on nutritional status of under-five children. Integration of a nutrition-oriented approach into a definitive SCD care package and its nation-wide implementation could bring promising results by mitigating the nutritional vulnerability of children with SCD Keywords: Sickle cell disease, Nutritional status, Under-five children, Hemoglobin level
Risk Factors Associated with Premature Birth at a District Hospital in Bisho, Eastern Cape
Authors:   Dietetics Department, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, Pullen Stacey Leigh Lillian
Published: March 2024

Introduction and background: At least 23 000 new-born babies in South Africa die annually, 45% due to preterm-related complications or the lack of proper healthcare. Prematurity is the leading cause of death in children under five years old with at least 2.5 million preterm infants dying globally each year. What is more, is that greater disparity in mortality is being seen between rich and poor countries. Knowledge of the contributing and causative factors of prematurity within a community can help address modifiable risk factors and create vigilance and awareness around the non-modifiable risk factors leading to preterm birth. Aims and objectives: The aim of the study was to identify which risk factors are associated with prematurity at Bisho Hospital, a district hospital in central Eastern Cape, South Africa. The objectives of the study were to identify which risk factors between the full-term and preterm group were more prevalent and therefore associated with prematurity. Methodology: A descriptive quantitative correlation study design was used, where premature as well as full-term infants were included in the study. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire. All accessible medical notes of both the mother and infant were used as well. The questionnaire was used to establish which risk factors were most prevalent during the pregnancies of women in each group and whether these risk factors were significant contributors to prematurity. Results: A sample of 130 mothers, 50 from the preterm group and 80 from the full-term group were included in the study. Of the 51 questions and various risk factors investigated, only four risk factors showed to have statistical significance in its association with prematurity. These were: a positive HIV status (p=0.022), a poor maternal nutritional status (p=0.031), mothers living far distances from their local clinic (0.041-0.024) and mothers having previously delivered a pre-term baby (p=0.009). In addition to this, mothers who smoked during pregnancy and who had a previous TB diagnosis, was associated with delivering smaller birth weight babies of 580g and 537g less, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study enlightened the study population on the causes of prematurity, specific to its catchment area. Modifiable risk factors have since been addressed at facility level, with more mothers with a poor nutritional status being referred for nutritional support. Non-modifiable risk factors are in the process of being addressed through the involvement of primary health care facilities to ensure timeous referrals of those at-risk patients as identified within the study. This study has also inspired the continued research on the management of premature infants at District Hospitals, with hopes to improve and optimise management and reduce pre-term related deaths and disability. Key Words: Preterm birth; poor maternal nutritional status; district hospital; Eastern Cape; South Africa
Addressing Malnutrition Sustainably among Under-5 Children in Poor Rural Households through Positive Deviant (PD) Hearth; A case of Kwale County
Authors:   Technical officer community health services USAID Stawisha Pwani Project, Katama Emmanuel , Omondi Elizabeth ,   Technical Officer AYSRH, Mwangi Faith ,   Technical Officer Nutrition,   Nutrition Intern Amref Health Africa,   Program Manager RMNCAH AMREF Health Africa, Oruko Happiness ,   Monitoring and Evaluation specialist AMREF Health Africa
Published: March 2024

Background: Kwale County continues to be significantly affected by malnutrition with 30.2% of children under-5 being stunted and 15.0% being underweight (KDHS, 2022). The Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART)Survey of 2022 also established disparities between sub counties with Kinango/Samburu having 39.2% and 19.9% stunting and underweight prevalence respectively. This is attributed to poverty, food insecurity and lack of information on consumption of locally available nutrient dense foods as well as poor hygiene practices. Objectives This abstract highlight how under-5 children with malnutrition can be rehabilitated sustainably using peer-learned practices within the same setting. Methodology: In April 2022, USAID Stawisha Pwani trained 12 health workers and 30 CHVs on PD Hearth in Samburu, mapped six hotspot villages, conducted a rapid nutrition assessment which established 84% of children were at risk of or already underweight. The project prioritized two villages with 23 children who were severely malnourished for the intervention, conducted Positive Deviance/Hearth enquiry in households with well-malnourished children, supported 14-days hearth sessions and monthly follow-up of the children Results: After 14 days, 19 children (83%) had gained between 100-1000g, at three months follow-up, average weight gain was 783g, with 15 having attained normal weight. Caregivers also set up 12 kitchen gardens, home-made handwashing stations, ensured their children were up-to-date on immunization, initiated family planning, and formed and registered a Chama group with Department of Social Services. Conclusion: This model is a sustainable way to reduce malnutrition in poor households using community own initiatives to solve existing challenges using available resources Keywords: Positive Deviant, well-malnourished, peer-learned practices, Sustainable
Association of Nutritional Status, Feeding Patterns, and their Covariates among Lactating Adolescents 15-19 Years Attending Kilifi County Hospital, Kenya
Authors:   School Of Health And Human Sciences, Pwani University, Kilifi Keya, Madeda Hilda Mziri , Mbogoh Patricia ,   School Of Health And Human Sciences, Pwani University, Kilifi Keya, Ngirigacha Evalyne ,   School Of Health And Human Sciences, Pwani University, Kilifi Keya,   School Of Health And Human Sciences, Pwani University, Kilifi Keya
Published: March 2024

Adolescent birth rate per 1000 adolescents aged 15-19 is a global phenomenon that translates to greater proportion in early pregnancy and lactation in this group. The prevalence of pre-mature pregnancy in Kenya is at 31.1%. This cohort is at a high risk of nutritional status when they become pregnant due to competition of nutrients. 69.2% of households in Kilifi County consume food at a borderline putting them at risk of malnutrition. The objective of this study was to investigate association of nutritional status, feeding patterns, and their covariates among lactating adolescents aged 15-19. The research approach was both qualitative and quantitative. Respondents attending kilifi hospital, able to provide consent and residing in kilifi were selected for inclusion. Interviews were used to collect data on lactating adolescents’, breast feeding practices and anthropometry to determine their nutritional status. The 24-hour recall and food frequency questionnaires aided in obtaining data on nutrients and energy requirements. Data Analysis was done using Nutri-servey and Excel to analyzed all food items consumed, SPSS determined feeding patterns, lactation practices while Logistic Regression explained association between independent and dependent variables. The study findings indicate most adolescent lactating mothers have normal body eight. They may have had stunted growth because height had a Mean of 160 cm below global expected height of 163cm for women aged 18. Insufficient dietary intake and feeding patterns greatly influenced growth. Dietary intake was not uniform due to no monitoring or enough education on nutritional requirements. Essential nutrients missed out in the dietary management of adolescent lactating mothers that impacted on low exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months. Majority of the respondents did not carry out exclusively breastfeeding. Dietary patterns like snacking, low consumption of fruits and faulty dieting, were most likely the cause for low EB patterns. Key words: Lactating adolescent mothers, nutritional status, feeding patterns, lactating practices, Covariat
Digitalization as a key driver for sustainable food system transformation: The case of Soluta-ag in Busia and Bungoma, Kenya
Authors:   Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya, Imbo Elizabeth , Speich Cornelia ,   Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland,   Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Basel, Switzerland,   Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland
Published: March 2024

Background: Suboptimal diet is responsible that one-third of the world’s population suffers from malnutrition. However, in cities, current food systems cannot guarantee sustainable availability, accessibility and affordability of nutritious foods for the entire population. Digitalization can be a key driver for sustainable food system transformation for better outcomes in food and nutrition. Objective: In the frame of the Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) project connecting the demand and supply of urban food systems, 16’000 Kenyan farmers should be connected to specific marketplaces in Busia and Bungoma, Western Kenya, using the Soluta-ag digital tool in order to improve availability, accessibility and affordability of nutritious foods for urban consumers. Results: In NICE, the Farmers’ Hub social business model is applied to increase the production of nutritious and agroecologically produced foods. Farmers’ Hubs are ‘one-stop-shops’ offering a range of services to farmers, e.g., access to quality inputs, mechanization, advisory services and a market place for sale for produce contributing to better dietary quality. The Soluta-ag application supports buying and selling activities of the Farmers’ Hubs, provides data-driven insights on market trends, and monitors Farmers’ Hubs performance for more informed decisions. Since the initiation of the NICE project in 2021, 92 NICE Farmers’ Hubs owners serving 10,528 farmers have been trained on the utilization of Soluta-ag in Busia and Bungoma and transacting an average of KES 100,000 per month via Soluta-ag between January to April 2023. Conclusion: Close connection between all food systems stakeholders and evidence-based data for decision-making are key for sustainable food system transformation. A sustainable and equitable food system is a priority to tackle nutrition challenges in city ecosystems. Digitalization can play a key role in these processes. Soluta-ag, applied and introduced to foster production of nutritious and agroecologically produced food in secondary cities and to better link producers and consumers clearly contributes to an increased availability, accessibility, and affordability of nutritious foods for city populations through improved connection of farmers’ produce to markets ensuring fair prices for all involved. Key words Nutritious and agroecologically produced foods, digitalization, city ecosystems, social business model, Soluta-ag
Symposium on Harold Netland’s Religious Experience and the Knowledge of God
Authors: Seeman Bradley N. ,   Evangelical Philosophical Society
Published: March 2024

At the 2022 national meeting of the American Academy of Religion, the Evangelical Philosophical Society sponsored an exchange between Harold Netland, Jim Beilby, Doug Geivett, and Dolores Morris around Netland’s 2022 book, Religious Experience and the Knowledge of God. I briefly orient readers to the resulting Philosophia Christi symposium by saying a few words introducing Harold Netland and some key themes in his argument that a “critical trust” approach to religious experience offers modest—but significant—epistemic support for Christian belief and practice.
Experiencing the World as Godless
Authors: Morris Dolores G. ,   Evangelical Philosophical Society
Published: March 2024

In Religious Experience and the Knowledge of God, Harold Netland advances a critical-trust approach to religious experience. This approach raises important questions about what Michael Martin has called “negative religious experiences.” Netland responds by attacking Martin’s “negative principle of credulity,” but I argue that Netland’s response can be undermined if we take negative religious experiences not as experiences of God as absent, but as experiences of the world as godless. On this understanding, there is no need for a negative principle of credulity; the ordinary principle still applies and puts pressure on Netland’s response. I then raise concerns with Netland’s “argument from fulfilled expectations,” even as part of a cumulative case argument. Ultimately, I propose that careful attention to the impact of Christ on our Western moral framework might help to resolve both concerns.
Experiencing God and Religious Disagreement
Authors: Netland Harold A. ,   Evangelical Philosophical Society
Published: March 2024

There is much in the responses by Dolores Morris, Doug Geivett, and Jim Beilby with which I fully agree. But here I try to clarify a few issues and to identify points where we might simply disagree. I focus on the issue of those who experience the world as godless (Dolores); broadening the definition of religious experience (Dolores and Doug); suggested revisions of the argument from fulfilled expectations (Dolores); and especially the vexing questions associated with epistemic peer disagreement (Jim and Doug).
Miracles, Causation, and Critical Biblical Scholarship
Authors: Archer Joel ,   Evangelical Philosophical Society
Published: March 2024

Most historical Jesus scholars agree that Jesus was regarded by his contemporaries as a great miracle worker. However, many of these same scholars deny that they can pronounce on the truth of the miracle stories as historians. There are at least two arguments for this position. One is based on an alleged empirical constraint on historical practice, which excludes divine causation. The other argument is rooted in the presumption that it is anachronistic to impose modern understandings of miracles on ancient authors. I argue that both objections are unsuccessful.
We Have the Mind of Christ
Authors: Moser Paul K. ,   Evangelical Philosophical Society
Published: March 2024

Religious epistemology can benefit from the widely neglected perspective of the apostle Paul that humans can “have the mind of Christ.” This article considers whether humans can apprehend divine reality, if only partly, from a divine vantage point. Perhaps humans then can apprehend the reality and goodness of God in a salient manner, thereby gaining a vital perspective on ultimate reality. The article aims to identify the viability of a “God’s-eye standpoint” for humans in “the mind of Christ.” It contends that this standpoint draws from influential volitional and affective traits of God’s personality, including “the fruit of the Spirit.”
Seemings, Virtue, and Acquired Contemplation
Authors: Duttweiler Thomas ,   Evangelical Philosophical Society
Published: March 2024

Sarah Coakley, drawing on the insights of John of the Cross, has recently argued that God may have redemptive moral and epistemic purposes in remaining hidden from people during a “dark night of the soul,” and that experiences of spiritual darkness can be taken as a mode of religious experience. In this paper, I explore what sort of epistemic model of religious experience is needed to underwrite Coakley’s argument. I argue that one influential externalist model—that of William Alston—is unsatisfactory, and advance in its place an internalist, phenomenal conservative approach bolstered by considerations from responsibilist virtue epistemology. I argue that such an approach can much more satisfactorily accommodate contemplative experiences than can that of Alston and thus can buttress Coakley’s response to the problem of divine hiddenness.
Successfully treated osteomyelitis with 20 years of evolution, covering the whole humerus (case report)
Authors: Grigorov Yavor , Vasilev Viktor
Published: March 2024

Infections affecting the humerus are a serious therapeutic challenge, especially when they are spread along the entire length of the humerus and have a long evolution. Their origin can be both hematogenous and exogenous. Unsuccessfully treated osteomyelitis of the humerus can be the cause of severe disability, intoxication and even lead to amputation.

The aim: To pay attention to the difficulties associated with the treatment of a rare localization of osteomyelitis affecting the entire humerus.

Material and methods: One patient is presented, a 63-year-old man who underwent multiple operations for osteomyelitis of the humerus about 20 years ago.

Results: The early postoperative period went smoothly. The surgical wound healed primarily, the bone infection was completely repaired, and the right upper extremity is in good functional condition, with no evidence of circulatory or neurological problems.

Conclusion: The presented patient is a clear example that the key to the successful treatment of osteomyelitis is the correct choice of the main method, namely the method providing full revascularization of the bone or the replacement of the affected bone segment with autoosteoplastic material.
جهود سعيد بن مسروق (ت126هـ) في سور المفصل / جمعاً ودراسة
Authors: ا.م.د. إسماعيل مخلف خضير  , الباحث. صدام حسين عفتان
Published: March 2024

وعلم التفسير من أشرف العلوم المتعلقة بكتاب الله، حيث اعتنى العلماءُ هذه الامةـ قديماً وحديثاً ـ بهذا الكتاب العظيم عنايةً لا مثيل لها، حيث امتلأت به المكتبة الإسلامية ـ القديمة والحديثة ـ والتي تشرح كلام الله تعالى، وتبين معانيه، وما تضمنه من الأحكام،، وبعد اسْتخارته تبارك وتعالى وطلب العون منه واسْتشارة أهل العلم والفضل من داخل هذا القسم المبارك، دفعني أن أكتب إطروحتي لِأحد تلاميذ المدرسة التفسيرية في الكوفة التي أسسها الصحابي الجليل عبد الله بن مسعود t الذي ربى جيلاً مداده الى الآن فكون مدرسةً تفسيرية شهدها أهل الخير والصلاح وأناطت لها سحب السماء، وقد أورد لسعيد بن مسروق (رحمه الله) كثير من المفسرين لِأقواله في تفاسيرهم أولهم محمد بْن جرير الطبري بسنده اليه وابْن أبي حاتم كذلك بسنده، وسعيد بن منصور في تفسيره وسننه والإمام الثعلبي والبغوي وابن الجوزي وابن كثير والسيوطي في الدر المنثور، وقد أورد له كذلك أهل اللغة وأهل المعاجم وغريب القرآن
Enacting Faith: Evangelical Discourse and the Discipline of Composition Studies
Authors: Rand Lizabeth A.
Published: March 2024

This essay contends that religious belief often matters to our students and that spiritual identity may be the primary kind of selfhood that more than a few of them draw upon in making meaning of their lives and the world around them. Particular attention is given to evangelical expression in the classroom and the complex ways that faith is enacted in discourse.
Ethos and Error: How Business People React to Errors
Authors: Beason Larry
Published: March 2024

Errors seem to bother nonacademic readers as well as teachers. But what does it mean to be “bothered” by errors? Questions such as this help transform the study of error from mere textual issues to larger rhetorical matters of constructing meaning. Although this study of fourteen business people indicates a range of reactions to errors, the findings also reveal patterns of qualitative agreement—certain ways in which these readers constructed a negative ethos of the writer.
Postmodernism, Palimpsest, and Portfolios: Theoretical Issues in the Representation of Student Work
Authors: Yancey Kathleen Blake
Published: March 2024

What we ask students to do is who we ask them to be. With this as a defining proposition, I make three claims: (1) print portfolios offer fundamentally different intellectual and affective opportunities than electronic portfolios do; (2) looking at some student portfolios in both media begins to tell us something about what intellectual work is possible within a portfolio; and (3) assuming that each portfolio is itself a composition, we need to consider which kind of portfolio-as-composition we want to invite from students, and why.
Rhetorical Borderlands: Chinese American Rhetoric in the Making
Authors: Mao LuMing
Published: March 2024

In this article I argue that the making of Chinese American rhetoric takes place in border zones and that it encodes both Chinese and European American rhetorical traditions. By focusing on the discursive category of “face” and “indirection”/ “directness,” I demonstrate that Chinese American rhetoric becomes viable and transformative not by securing a logical, unified, or unique order, but by participating in a process of becoming where meanings are in flux and where significations are contingent upon each and every particular experience.
Constructing Firebreaks Against High-Stakes Testing
Authors: Zigo Diane
Published: March 2024

Notes impact of high-stakes language arts assessments on teachers in Georgia rural districts. Provides additional support for what many English teachers already believe—that rich classroom discussion, reading from a variety of texts, student-centered writing assignments, and metacognitive awareness of one’s reading and writing strategies contribute to successful student performances on even the most narrowly conceived high-stakes tests.
Embodied Learning
Authors: Emig Janet
Published: March 2024

What does learning mean in the technological age? While today’s student has easily adapted to technological advancement and while these advancements offer great potential for students and teachers, Emig argues that embodied learning, interactions that take place within authentic communities of inquiry with physical others, is still at the heart of true learning. The embodied classroom, says Emig, is the last site for socialization in this society. She charges the reader to consider the complex and reciprocal relationships between teacher and students in the classroom.
Teaching Social Justice through Young Adult Literature
Authors: Glasgow Jacqueline N.
Published: March 2024

Young adult literature provides a context for students to become conscious of their operating world view and to critically examine alternative ways of understanding the world and social relations. Glasgow structures her college-level young adult literature course to foreground social justice. In this article she describes a project in which her class collaborated with a high school class, which relied on technology and email correspondence to make social difference.
Weaving Workplace Writing into the English Classroom
Authors: Robbins Bruce
Published: March 2024

In many school districts and states, there is a trend towards addressing workplace literacy within the English class, but how can that be done in an already overcrowded curriculum? Rather than reducing traditional curriculum to make room for workplace training, Robbins suggests ways to use the functions of workplace documents--such as memos, status reports, and newsletters--to support work routinely done in the classroom.
The Power of Place
Authors: Bishop Sharon
Published: March 2024

The concept of place-based education shapes Sharon Bishop’s English language arts curriculum. High school students read literature of the region, inquire about the area they live in, and write the stories of their community. In the process, they come to recognize the value of community and acquire the skills to “live well anywhere.”
Conversation as Curriculum: Learning to Teach English in Rural America
Authors: Young Carl A.
Published: March 2024

Carl A. Young highlights dispositions that promote learning. Focusing on students in rural Appalachia, he describes successful approaches and strategies for working with students living in poverty.
Reading and Writing “Hypertextually”: Children’s Literature, Technology, and Early Writing Instruction
Authors: Hammerberg Dawnene D.
Published: March 2024

Dawnene Hammerberg juxtaposes contemporary children’s literature with contemporary writing instruction for the purpose of finding places where early elementary writing experiences can be updated to include hypertextual elements, multiple perspectives, and meaning beyond words.
The Locus of Language in Digital Space
Authors: LaSpina James Andrew
Published: March 2024

LaSpina considers how textual and digital visual worlds come together to create new ways of thinking about text and the nature of representation.
The Quandaries of Teachers and Teacher Educators in Integrating Literacy and Mathematics
Authors: Matthews Mona W. , Rainer Julie D.
Published: March 2024

Matthews and Rainer discuss the complexities of their work with elementary teachers who attempted to integrate literacy and mathematics instruction in their classrooms.
No Blood, Guns, or Gays Allowed!: The Silencing of the Elementary Writer
Authors: Schneider Jenifer Jasinski
Published: March 2024

In this article, Schneider shares interviews with teachers that offer insight into how teachers respond to potentially controversial writing topics.
Serving English Language Learners: Placing Learners Learning on Center Stage
Authors: Brock Cynthia
Published: March 2024

In this article, Brock uses two vignettes to illustrate issues important for teachers working with English language learners in their classrooms.
Talking About Books: Supporting and Questioning Representation
Authors: Pataray-Ching Jann , Ching Stuart
Published: March 2024

In this issue’s Talking about Books, Pataray-Ching and Ching take up issues of representation, identity, and authenticity as they share a list of Asian, Asian American, and Polynesian children’s books.
Critical Reflection in the Elementary Grades: A New Dimension in Literature Discussions
Authors: Silvers Penny
Published: March 2024

In this action research project, Silvers and a teacher researcher use literature discussion as a vehicle for encouraging fourth-grade students to reflect critically on injustice in their own lives.
Build Energy with Colleagues
Authors: Graves Donald H.
Published: March 2024

Donald H. Graves, in “Building Energy with Colleagues,” tells us that teachers are running out of energy because of the many demands put upon them in addition to their teaching. There are ways, though, to keep our energy and this article, based on an 18-month study, provides quite a few.
Critical Literacy in Everyday Life
Authors: Shannon Patrick
Published: March 2024

Critical literacy? What exactly is it? Let Patrick Shannon take you on a narrative ride of his own family’s lives and literacies: a 12-year old daughter, a 15 year-old son, and parents using literacies to engage personal, community and civic dreams.
Engaging Student Researchers and Teacher Researchers in the Process of Data Analysis: The ability to engage in data analysis equips students and teachers with the tools and frame of mind to understand complexity
Authors: Merritt Sherri Phillips
Published: March 2024

The author weaves together her experiences as a teacher of both student researchers and teacher researchers in order to reflect on how she initiates novice researchers into the process of data analysis.
Figuring Out Mystery: Young Children’s Constructions of Genre Knowledge: An exploration of mystery reveals the processes young children use to construct their understandings of genre
Authors: Evertson Jenesse Wells
Published: March 2024

During a genre study in one urban classroom, kindergarteners construct knowledge of mystery using their personal experiences, various texts, and talk. Through these processes, which are highlighted in their oral and written responses to read-alouds, the children make specific their notions of ambiguity in mystery.
From Answers to Questions: A Beginning Teacher Learns to Teach for Social Justice: A teacher’s commitment to social justice challenges her to move from literature response as answers to literature response as inquiry
Authors: Damico James , Riddle Ruthie L.
Published: March 2024

A novice teacher educator and a novice teacher describe their evolving understandings of teaching children’s literature with a social justice perspective. These understandings are based on an analysis of their curriculum planning and whole class literature discussions across two school years with third graders and fifth graders. The authors chart this evolution as moving from “answers to questions.” They describe a shift from thinking about children’s response to literature as seeking solutions to thinking about response as cultivating questions and inquiry topics.
Positioning in a Primary Writing Workshop: Joint Action in the Discursive Production of Writing Subjects
Authors: Bomer Randy , Laman Tasha
Published: March 2024

Drawn from a year-long study in a combined first- and second-grade classroom, this article presents an interpretive portrait of two young students engaged in spontaneous talk while writing. We analyze their conversations to explore the subject positions these student writers assumed, those they assigned each other, and the related functions they assigned the texts they composed. Through our close reading of their conversations, we develop an analytic protocol for positional microanalysis of everyday conversations that honors the intertwined social and emotional dimensions of peer interactions. Countering those who would cast literacy development as the sequential attainment of discrete cognitive skills, we consider the ways that these social and emotional dimensions may interlace with intellectual growth as young children struggle to become students, writers, and people.
At Last: Researching Teaching Practi c e s : “Talking the Talk” versus “Walking the Walk”
Authors: Mahiri Jabari
Published: March 2024

Researchers of literacies in out-of-school settings often argue that their studies hold significant implications for teaching practices. This argument seems to be partially supported by studies that have won the Alan C. Purves Award between 1998 and 2001, acknowledging RTE articles most likely to impact educational practice. Yet this line of inquiry obviously does not lessen the continuing need for rigorous classroom-based research. As I contemplate future directions for such work, a set of interrelated questions come to mind: To what extent should researchers be better prepared to engage in aspects of the specific teaching practices they are researching or designing? In what ways would engagements of this nature influence or potentially improve research findings and pedagogical designs? To what extent should researchers be prepared to “walk the walk” of implementing teaching practices in conjunction with “talking the talk” of researching and reporting on them?
Bridging Methodological Gaps: Instructional and Institutional Effects of Tracking in Two English Classes
Authors: Caughlan Samantha , Kelly Sean
Published: March 2024

Quantitative analyses using CLASS 3.0 software and qualitative discourse analyses were conducted of the instructional and institutional effects of tracking in high- and low-track American literature classes taught by the same teacher, a participant in a national study of the effects of dialogic classroom discourse patterns on student achievement. The quantitative analyses of class activities and discourse patterns revealed somewhat different amounts and kinds of dialogic discourse in the two classes, but could not account for much of the difference in achievement between the two groups. A more detailed qualitative analysis of teacher interviews and classroom discourse, using discourse analysis to look at both how the classroom discourse positioned students vis-à-vis course content, and how students in the two tracks were characterized by the teacher, showed how instruction was influenced by the teacher’s cultural models of students’ institutional identities. The teacher’s identification with the high-track students aided her in enacting a curriculum that was more academically challenging and more coherent, both intertextually and culturally. These analyses suggest that institutional and instructional effects of tracking are inextricably interwoven where the teacher’s conceptions of students’ needs and abilities constrain the level of instruction and the coherence of the curriculum.
Back to Oz? Rethinking the Literary in a Critical Study of Reading1
Authors: Hicks Deborah
Published: March 2024

Drawing on data gathered during a fourteen-month study of reading practices among poor and working-class girls, this essay explores the challenges of creating a responsive and critical reading pedagogy across boundaries of class. Set largely in a summer and after-school reading program for pre-teen girls, the study addressed the question of how a pedagogy centered around literature might accord the possibility for girls to read, speak, and value in more than one class-specific voice. The complexities of creating such a critical reading project are explored through narratives that chronicle the interplay of the material, the psychological, and the discursive in girls’ textual preferences and literary responses. Assuming the dual voice of teacher and ethnographer, the author argues for a new poetics of inquiry that can convey the nuanced complexities of reading, voice, and psychological experience among girls growing up in working-poor America.
Unspoken Content: Silent Film in the ESL Classroom
Authors: Kasper Loretta F. , Singer Robert
Published: March 2024

Research has shown that contemporary popular films are a valuable resource in the ESL classroom. However, the short, silent film has been overlooked. Using D.W. Griffith’s The Painted Lady, Kaspar and Singer demonstrate how to use silent films to facilitate the development of ESL students’ critical thinking and writing skills.
Class Workshops: An Alternative to Peer-Group Review
Authors: Ransdell D.R.
Published: March 2024

Peer review requires training and reinforcement to be successful, yet, even then, students often lack the experience and perception to offer good advice to one another. Ransdell, advocates instead for more focused guidance through use of whole-class workshops. Here, she explains the logistics of running a class workshop and addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of the technique, noting that the negatives are far outweighed by the positives.
Teaching Critical Thinking in First-Year Composition: Sometimes More is More
Authors: Stewart Ruth
Published: March 2024

Argues that students are more motivated and develop more effective skills if challenged with assignments that ask for the depth of thinking required of academic disciplines and careers. Encourages composition teachers to experiment with assignments that challenge assumptions about first-year students’ capabilities.
Using Multiple Intelligences to Create Better (Teachers of) Writers: A Guide to MI Theory for the Composition Teacher
Authors: Reichert Amy
Published: March 2024

This essay demonstrates how the concept of multiple intelligences can be applied to college composition.
What’s So Funny about Stephen Toulmin? Using Cartoons to Teach the Toulmin Analysis
Authors: Brunk-Chavez Beth L.
Published: March 2024

With the Toulmin analysis, determining an argument’s warrants can be especially tricky and frustrating for students. Using cartoons is an effective strategy for teaching the importance of warrants in a way that students can easily understand and enjoy.
Editor’s Message: When Readers Struggle
Authors: Beers Kylene
Published: March 2024

The search for answers about how to teach struggling readers led Beers to five conclusions about working with students who are not yet independent readers.
An Overview from The Alan Review
Authors: Carroll Pamela Sissi , Hipple Ted
Published: March 2024

Presents brief annotations of 11 articles that consider the place of young adult literature in the classroom. Notes that these 11 are judged the best of Hipple’s compilation (published in “The ALAN Review”) of 99 fine articles about young adult literature, articles that were written across several decades and published in a variety of journals.
Supporting Challenged Spellers
Authors: Sipe Rebecca , Walsh Jennifer , Reed-Nordwall Karen , Put Dawn
Published: March 2024

Read about this group of teacher-researchers inquiry-based study to understand the spelling dilemmas of their young students.
Candy
Authors: Brooks Kevin
Published: March 2024

The author of Candy talks about the reality that a book is only paper until someone has read it and responded to it emotionally. “When I write a book it’s alive in my head, but it only really comes alive when it finds a life in someone else’s head.” His essay is followed by a chapter from Candy.
From Literature as Exploration and The Reader, the Text, the Poem
Authors: Rosenblatt Louise M.
Published: March 2024

The March 2005 issue of Voices from the Middle is a tribute to the life and work of Louise M. Rosenblatt, a pioneer in reading theory and the teaching of literature, who died on February 8, 2005, at age 100. Through her groundbreaking books, Literature as Exploration (1938) and The Reader, the Text, the Poem (1978/1994), and her years as a teacher, researcher, and speaker, Dr. Rosenblatt affected the thinking and teaching of generations of teachers. These pages are filled with stories and perspectives from those who knew her and learned from her, articles from those whose work has been indelibly imprinted with the principles of her theories, and excerpts from Rosenblatt’s own writing over 70 years of publishing. There is even a poignant piece from her son, Jonathan Ratner. A selected bibliography is included to encourage deeper reading.
Nature, Causes, and Consequences of Ragging at the Universities in Bangladesh: An Empirical Study
Authors:   Department of Criminology and Police Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Santosh, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh., Rahman Mushfiqur , Sadik Nasif ,   Department of Criminology and Police Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Santosh, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh.
Published: March 2024

Ragging is a menace, a source of dread and shock for the students and their parents who send their descendants to universities. In several public and private universities in Bangladesh, ragging is prevalent. The purpose of this study was to determine the nature, causes, and effects of ragging in Universities in Bangladesh. This study also incorporated students’ viewpoints who have not participated in ragging. This was an institution-based study. The study was conducted using a quantitative research approach. The survey method is used to acquire data. The study uses both qualitative and quantitative data. Respondents to the survey were 75 students from 15 departments at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University. IBM SPSS 25 was used to perform statistical analysis. 48% of students have participated in ragging, while 52% have not. 57% of respondents were subjected to only verbal teasing, 37% were subjected to both physical and verbal teasing, and 6% were subjected to only physical teasing. Approximately 55% of students stated that raising awareness can eliminate ragging from universities.
RIGHT OF MOTHERHOOD AND ITS DIVISION BASED ON A SURROGACY CONTRACT
Authors:   Caucasus International University, Kharitonashvili Nino
Published: March 2024

This paper examines the right of motherhood and the problematics of its division in the case of surrogacy, as well as the rights of a child born through surrogacy. The rights of a mother and a child are protected by the Constitution of Georgia1 . International acts provide for the special protection of maternal rights2 . However, in the Georgian legal system, there is no separate legal act on the right of motherhood and its protection mechanisms. Therefore, according to the UN data, Georgia is included in the list of dying nations3 , which is caused by the demographic crisis, and no matter how paradoxical it may sound, at the same time ‘children are flowing out’ from Georgia through surrogacy all over the world. The improvement of the demographic situation is directly related to the legal enhancement of the right of motherhood. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to review the right of motherhood, and the existing and future protection guarantees of the right, which will help the country to overcome the demographic crisis, as well as to discuss the existing legal framework of surrogacy in relation to the right of motherhood, and to determine a middle way that is necessary for creating a new life through surrogacy without violating the rights of a mother and a child.