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Browsing by Author "Kerch, Cailin J."

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    Ease of restroom access influences fluid consumption habits and health in classroom teachers
    (Taylor & Francis, 2022) Winchester, Lee J.; Hooper, Alison L.; Kerch, Cailin J.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Objectives. There are rising concerns about the health of classroom teachers in the USA, including stress, hypertension and frequent urinary tract infections. Teacher working conditions are likely a contributor to their health concerns. Many teachers report that they cannot easily take a restroom break at work, and therefore they consume minimal water or other fluids. This study investigated the relationship between restroom access and fluid consumption and the prevalence of renal and cardiovascular health complications in classroom teachers. Methods. The responses of 844 teachers (92% women, 8% men; 65.1% between age 26 and 45 years) to an online survey about restroom accessibility, fluid consumption and health were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi(2) analyses and logistic regression. Results. Fifty-nine percent of teachers could not easily take a restroom break, and 54.7% consumed fewer than 2 cups of water per workday. Furthermore, 44.8% reported being pre-hypertensive and 4.9% reported being hypertensive. Teachers with insufficient restroom access were significantly more likely to report frequent urinary tract infections. Conclusions. This study demonstrates a relationship between restroom access, fluid consumption and renal/cardiovascular health in classroom teachers. Future research should directly investigate how teacher work environment impacts renal and cardiovascular health.
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    The Narratives of Eighth Grade Mathematics Teachers Engaging in Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to Mathematically Support Black Boys
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2024) Mudd, Allison L.; Zelkowski, Jeremy; Johnson, Latrise P.
    Within mathematics education, current deficit narratives contextualize the academic ability of Black boys as inferior or lagging compared to their peers. This gap gazing often fails to critically examine the political, historical, and sociocultural barriers that significantly influence mathematical success. One pedagogical approach to humanize mathematics education for Black boys is culturally relevant pedagogy. Currently, there exists limited research addressing how teachers implement culturally relevant pedagogy with increasing state educational curriculum bans and/or restrictions related to cultural identities. Regarding the state this study took place, the Alabama State Board of Education passed a resolution on the 12th of August 2021 that banned critical race and critical gender studies in educational curriculum. Therefore, this research study investigated how five Alabama eighth grade mathematics teachers described critical moments implementing culturally relevant pedagogy to support Black boys and the ways in which these teachers redefined/redesigned culturally relevant pedagogy with the recent Alabama State Board of Education's resolution. The goal was to develop understanding of states attempts to erase specific cultural identities through the experiential knowledge of the teacher participants. Their rich narratives demonstrated that each teacher continued to attend to the five main principles of culturally relevant pedagogy regardless of the resolution. Each teacher recognized and attended to nurturing the entirety of each student's cultural identity. These findings allowed for potential ways to develop and support teachers' culturally relevant pedagogical practices and methods moving forward. Implication for practitioners and researchers were considered and discussed.