title: Stitching hope through loss in celebration

authors: Brink, Ashlie

abstract: This chapter focuses on the revisiting and re-storying of hopeful actions and practices in the face of emotional hurt, physical pain, sorrow, loss and shattered dreams. Painstakingly slow recovery from major surgery coincided with the shocking and immeasurable loss of a beloved mother. This chapter grew out of conversations reminiscing about a graduation ceremony in the year following the loss. Memories, of a gold dress, carefully stitched together the concern, love, attention, compassion, and admiration of a mother and her support for her daughter’s hope of an academic future. These memories later became the focus of an outsider witnessing practice and re-membering conversations as a means by which to re-visit, re-story and re-member the celebration of the graduation ceremony. Eleven years after the loss and as an aspiring academic, the small, but significant steps of speaking through the hurt of injustice, the immense loss of not only a mother, but central person in the life of a young woman living with disability, opened up the space to discuss the discursive and material practices of Ashlie’s lived experiences.

text: Stitching hope through loss in celebration This chapter focuses on the revisiting and re-storying of hopeful actions and practices in the face of emotional hurt, physical pain, sorrow, loss and shattered dreams. Painstakingly slow recovery from major surgery coincided with the shocking and immeasurable loss of a beloved mother. This chapter grew out of conversations reminiscing about a graduation ceremony in the year following the loss. Memories, of a gold dress, carefully stitched together the concern, love, attention, compassion, and admiration of a mother and her support for her daughter’s hope of an academic future. These memories later became the focus of an outsider witnessing practice and re-membering conversations as a means by which to re-visit, re-story and re-member the celebration of the graduation ceremony. Eleven years after the loss and as an aspiring academic, the small, but significant steps of speaking through the hurt of injustice, the immense loss of not only a mother, but central person in the life of a young woman living with disability, opened up the space to discuss the discursive and material practices of Ashlie’s lived experiences.

year: 2017

title: Sports-related brain injury in the general population: An epidemiological study

authors: Theadom, Alice

subjects: Brain injury

abstract: Objectives
To determine the incidence, nature and severity of all sports-related brain injuries in the general population.

Design
Population-based epidemiological incidence study.

Methods
Data on all traumatic brain injury events sustained during a sports-related activity were extracted from a dataset of all new traumatic brain injury cases (both fatal and non-fatal), identified over a one-year period in the Hamilton and Waikato districts of New Zealand. Prospective and retrospective case ascertainment methods from multiple sources were used. All age groups and levels of traumatic brain injury severity were included. Details of the registering injuries and recurrent injuries sustained over the subsequent year were obtained through medical/accident records and assessment interviews with participants.

Results
Of 1369 incident traumatic brain injury cases, 291 were identified as being sustained during a sports-related activity (21% of all traumatic brain injuries) equating to an incidence rate of 170 per 100,000 of the general population. Recurrent injuries occurred more frequently in adults (11%) than children (5%). Of the sports-related injuries 46% were classified as mild with a high risk of complications. Injuries were most frequently sustained during rugby, cycling and equestrian activities. It was revealed that up to 19% of traumatic brain injuries were not recorded in medical notes.

Conclusions
Given the high incidence of new and recurrent traumatic brain injury and the high risk of complications following injury, further sport specific injury prevention strategies are urgently needed to reduce the impact of traumatic brain injury and facilitate safer engagement in sports activities. The high levels of ‘missed’ traumatic brain injuries, highlights the importance in raising awareness of traumatic brain injury during sports-related activity in the general population.

text: Sports-related brain injury in the general population: An epidemiological study Objectives
To determine the incidence, nature and severity of all sports-related brain injuries in the general population.

Design
Population-based epidemiological incidence study.

Methods
Data on all traumatic brain injury events sustained during a sports-related activity were extracted from a dataset of all new traumatic brain injury cases (both fatal and non-fatal), identified over a one-year period in the Hamilton and Waikato districts of New Zealand. Prospective and retrospective case ascertainment methods from multiple sources were used. All age groups and levels of traumatic brain injury severity were included. Details of the registering injuries and recurrent injuries sustained over the subsequent year were obtained through medical/accident records and assessment interviews with participants.

Results
Of 1369 incident traumatic brain injury cases, 291 were identified as being sustained during a sports-related activity (21% of all traumatic brain injuries) equating to an incidence rate of 170 per 100,000 of the general population. Recurrent injuries occurred more frequently in adults (11%) than children (5%). Of the sports-related injuries 46% were classified as mild with a high risk of complications. Injuries were most frequently sustained during rugby, cycling and equestrian activities. It was revealed that up to 19% of traumatic brain injuries were not recorded in medical notes.

Conclusions
Given the high incidence of new and recurrent traumatic brain injury and the high risk of complications following injury, further sport specific injury prevention strategies are urgently needed to reduce the impact of traumatic brain injury and facilitate safer engagement in sports activities. The high levels of ‘missed’ traumatic brain injuries, highlights the importance in raising awareness of traumatic brain injury during sports-related activity in the general population.

year: 2014

title: The Mātauranga Māori in Mathematics Directive: Exploring the place of mātauranga Māori in Mathematics teaching and learning

authors: Williams, Jessica Elizabeth

subjects: mathematics education

abstract: This thesis explores issues concerning mātauranga Māori in mathematics teaching and learning here in Aotearoa. The Ministry of Education has directed that mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori be embedded in teaching, learning, and assessment. Thus, this research primarily aims to understand the development leading to the directive of including mātauranga Māori in education policies. For the English-medium secondary education settings, the second and third aims of this research are to explore what mātauranga Māori means to teachers of mathematics and to consider the connections between mātauranga Māori and mathematics teaching and learning. To investigate these aims, a semi-structured group discussion with four secondary mathematics teachers from an English-medium setting was conducted. The results of this thesis highlight the confusion and challenges secondary mathematics educators have toward defining, and subsequently, implementing mātauranga Māori in their classrooms. This thesis also found that there is enthusiasm and interest around learning how to ensure indigenous and marginalised learners reach their mathematics potential. Believing that indigenous worldviews have the potential to shift education outcomes for minority learners, this thesis adds to literature related to indigenous education, secondary mathematics education, and English-medium education of Māori learners.

text: The Mātauranga Māori in Mathematics Directive: Exploring the place of mātauranga Māori in Mathematics teaching and learning This thesis explores issues concerning mātauranga Māori in mathematics teaching and learning here in Aotearoa. The Ministry of Education has directed that mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori be embedded in teaching, learning, and assessment. Thus, this research primarily aims to understand the development leading to the directive of including mātauranga Māori in education policies. For the English-medium secondary education settings, the second and third aims of this research are to explore what mātauranga Māori means to teachers of mathematics and to consider the connections between mātauranga Māori and mathematics teaching and learning. To investigate these aims, a semi-structured group discussion with four secondary mathematics teachers from an English-medium setting was conducted. The results of this thesis highlight the confusion and challenges secondary mathematics educators have toward defining, and subsequently, implementing mātauranga Māori in their classrooms. This thesis also found that there is enthusiasm and interest around learning how to ensure indigenous and marginalised learners reach their mathematics potential. Believing that indigenous worldviews have the potential to shift education outcomes for minority learners, this thesis adds to literature related to indigenous education, secondary mathematics education, and English-medium education of Māori learners.

year: 2023