<p>Early childhood teachers pursuing associate degrees often repeated the college algebra course, demanding, “Why do we have to take this? We don’t teach algebra!” Expectations for their training were not well-aligned with their mathematics preparation or teaching work. I have taught the mathematics courses and young children and have worked for an early childhood practice, policy, and research agency. I wanted to learn about these teachers’ experiences as mathematics learners and teachers, with a goal to share the complex nature of their work with teacher educators and other stakeholders to identify better avenues for their mathematics training. I explored the questions: (1) What role, if any, do mathematical learning experiences play in early childhood teachers’ mathematics teaching practice? (2) In what ways do their voices contribute to the professional dialogue regarding teaching mathematics with young children? </p> <p>Dewey’s (1938/1998) <i>experience</i> construct provided lenses to examine early childhood teachers’ experiences learning and teaching mathematics. <i>Continuity</i>, <i>interaction</i>, <i>social control</i>, <i>freedom</i>, <i>purpose</i>, and <i>subject matter</i> provided insights and situated teachers’ experiences within a disparate patchwork of settings and policies. Two family childcare providers participated in this narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly) through an interview on their experiences learning and teaching mathematics and three classroom observations. After analyzing data for Dewey’s (1938/1998) <i>experience</i> constructs, I used narrative analysis (Polkinghorne, 1995) and teaching images (Clandinin, 1985) to write an emplotted narrative for each teacher, Josie and Patsy.</p> Josie told a turning point story (Drake, 2006) of making mathematics “real,” influencing her mathematics teaching practice as she integrated “real” mathematics into everyday activities. Patsy’s appreciation for mathematics and building was seen in her story of a child explaining he used the wide blocks for his base, elaborating, “He's telling me HOW he's building.” While Josie and Patsy had few opportunities to learn about teaching mathematics with young children, they were eager to learn. I propose a training for early childhood teachers, iteratively working as a group to investigate a personal mathematics teaching puzzle or celebration, building on their mathematical personal practical knowledge. Adding my own story to those of the teachers, like Josie’s and Patsy’s, of our work together, will add to my understanding and development of my practice as a curriculum maker (Clandinin & Connelly, 1992), as early childhood teachers’ voices contribute to the professional dialogue about teaching mathematics with young children.

Homosexuality and Teaching of the Catholic Church is a critical analysis of homosexuality as an anthropological phenomenon examined from dogmatic and theological as well as ethical perspective laid down in the Catholic teaching and reviewed in the context of the Apostolic Exhortation on Love in the Family, Amoris laetitia. It confronts particular anthropological approaches towards theoretical and practical problems concerning homosexual orientation with the emphasis put on their compatibility with the Catholic moral doctrine. Searching for a conform personally accepted and positive integration of homosexuality perceived as irregular and difficult situation according to the Christian understanding of integral personal and spiritual growth in relation to a man practicing his Catholic faith is the main task of this diploma thesis.