Sport education-based irregular teaching unit and students’ physical activity during school recess

Abstract

The aim of the study was to compare the effect of a Sport Education-based irregular teaching unit on the high-school students’ physical activity (PA) during school recess. A sample of 91 adolescents (45 girls) aged 13–16?years old met the exclusion criteria. The six classes were cluster-randomly assigned to the Irregular Sport Education group (Sport Education methodology with competitions in recess), Traditional Sport Education group (Sport Education methodology with competitions in Physical Education lessons), or to the control group (non-intervention). The students’ PA during school recess periods were objectively assessed by GT3X accelerometers. The results of the repeated-measures nested analysis of variance showed that the Sport Education-based irregular teaching unit significantly improved the students’ PA during recesses (p?<?0.001). The competitions phase of the Sport Education model performed at school recesses seems to be a valuable strategy for increasing students’ PA contributing to the achievement of the daily recommendations.     

“The approaching storm.” Ideology power and control: The national science teachers association curriculum development in the USA

This paper examines the ideology of one the best known figures in science education in the USA, and draws attention to the relationship between the political climate and curriculum in national curriculum developments. We are mindful of the forces shaping the schooling of science in Australia, and we present this analysis as an example of the social forces that dominate education both here and overseas. Paramount is our desire to open the door for a socially responsible Australian school science experience. Social Responsibility of Science in Science Education Group.Specializations: sociology of science education, the nature of science and the production of scientific knowledge, comparative science education and environmental education. Social Responsibility of Science in Science Education Group.Specializations: comparative education with particular reference to China, the nature of science and the production of scientific knowledge.     

Effects of three instructional approaches in adolescents' physical self-concept

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of three instructional approaches in secondary education students' physical self-concept after the implementation of an ultimate learning unit. A total of 274 (males: 151, females: 133) students (12 to 17 years of age) from an urban, coeducational high school (grades 8th to 12th) agreed to participate. They were distributed into three study groups in each grade: one group was taught using a Traditional approach (TRAD), another group was taught using the Sport Education model (SEM), and a third group was also taught using the Sport Education model and self-made materials (SEM-SM). The AF5-Self-Concept Questionnaire was administered to assess physical self-concept. The results showed that only the students in the SEM-SM group significantly increased their physical self-concept from initial to final tests. Self-made materials seem to have a significant positive effect, possibly due to their constructivist basis.     

Applying the ECTS System to the Childhood Education Teaching Degree in Andalusia

This article presents the research conducted as part of a Pilot Experiment regarding the application of the ECTS to the Childhood Education Teaching Degree taught at the University of Cordoba (Spain). It analyses the Experiment, which was carried out in the Education Faculty over the course of three academic years (2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07). The research questions were: (1) How much do the students taking part in the Pilot Experiment know about the different competences? (2) How much time do the students need to prepare each subject? and (3) What are the methodological skills used by lecturers as a means of improving autonomous learning? Several tools were used: Initial Student Assessment for the ECTS Pilot Experiment in Childhood Education, and three Likert Scales: a) Competence Assessment Scale for UCO's Childhood Education Teaching Degree, b) Competence Achievement Assessment Scale for UCO's Childhood Education Teaching Degree, c) Assessment Scale for Subject Methodology in relation to the Application of ECTS and the organisation of Focus Groups. The most important conclusions were: (1) The specific professional competences established in the educational profile of this degree course are very highly rated by the students; (2) According to the students, the workload for certain subjects, in terms of the number of hours devoted to them, is excessively high and not proportional to the number of credits they account for, and (3) There has been an acceptable level of exchange among teaching staff regarding the instruments and methodological strategies used to promote students' autonomous work.     

Development of the Physical Educators’ Judgments about Inclusion Instrument for Japanese Physical Education Majors and an Analysis of their Judgments

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Physical Educators’ Judgments about Inclusion (PEJI) survey for analysing the judgments of Japanese (361 male, 170 female) physical education teacher education majors. A secondary purpose was to examine group differences in judgments as a function of gender and past experiences. Data were collected and psychometrical properties of the PEJI were assessed using a maximum-likelihood extraction method. Confirmatory factor analysis resulted in salient loadings for all items on three hypothesised dimensions, resulting in 47% explained variance for measuring judgments about: Inclusion versus Exclusion, Acceptance of Students with Disabilities, and Perceived Training Needs. Supported by the three interpretable factors that emerged, construct validity evidence is presented. Although most of the physical education teacher education majors sampled had yet to teach students with disabilities, they had formed preliminary judgments about doing so.     

Fear of failure, 2 × 2 achievement goal and self-handicapping: An examination of the hierarchical model of achievement motivation in physical education

In this study, the hierarchical model of achievement motivation [Elliot, A. J. (1997). Integrating the “classic” and “contemporary” approaches to achievement motivation: A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. In P. Pintrich & M. Maehr (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10, pp. 143–179). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press] is used to investigate the motivational mechanism behind the relationship between fear of failure and self-handicapping adoption. A cross-sectional design was employed. The participants were 691 college students enrolled in physical education in Taiwan. Students completed the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PEAI-S; Conroy, D. E., Willow, J. P., & Metzler, J. N. (2002). Multidimensional measurement of fear of failure: The performance failure appraisal inventory. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 76–90), the Chinese 2 × 2 Achievement Goal Questionnaire for Physical Education (CAGQ-PE; Chen, L. H. (2007). Construct validity of Chinese 2 × 2 achievement goal questionnaire in physical education: Evidence from collectivistic culture. Paper presented at the 5th conference of the Asian South Pacific Association of Sport Psychology. Bangkok, Thailand) and the Self-Handicapping Scale (SHS; Wu, C. H., Wang, C. H., & Lin, Y. C. (2004). The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of self-handicap scale for sport. Journal of Higher Education in Physical Education, 6(1), 139–148). Structural equation modeling was conducted. Generally, the results showed that mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance goals partially mediated the relationship between fear of failure and self-handicapping. The results are discussed in terms of the hierarchical model of achievement motivation, and its implications for physical education are also highlighted.     

Higher education students registered with disability services and practice educators: issues and concerns for professional placements

Introduction: The number of students with disabilities accessing Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), including professional courses, has increased substantially within the Republic of Ireland over the past 10 years [AHEAD (Association of Higher Education, Access, and Disability) 2012. “Survey on the Participation Rates of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education for the Academic Year 2011/2012.” http://www.ahead.ie/userfiles/file/PR_2012.pdf]. In one HEI in the Republic of Ireland, it was noticed that there was a large increase in students with disabilities, from 67 in 2006 to 259 in 2013 on professional courses. The aim of this study was to identify the issues and concerns of practice educators (PEs) in both supporting students with disabilities and exploring the concerns for students with disabilities on professional courses. Methods: A survey design was employed to meet the aims of this study and ethical permission was granted from the Faculty of Health Science Ethics Committee. Results: Respondents included 68 PEs and 63 students with disabilities. PEs were found to be concerned with students reaching the required standard of proficiency on placement, and how to support students in this. Students on the other hand identified stigma and disclosure of a disability as a concern. Conclusion: This study highlighted a difference in perceptive between PEs and students with disabilities in relation to disclosure and support needs for their disabilities.     

Reviews

Reviews in this articles: How should we control ourselves? Self-regulation in higher education: a multi-national perspective on collaborative systems of quality assurance and control, HR Kells Law for Dons The Law of Higher Education, Farrington, D J The Burgeoning of Graduate Education Graduate Education in Britain, Tony Becher, Mary Henkel and Maurice Kogan Postgraduate Education and Training in the Social Sciences: processes and products, Robert Burgess (ed.)     

A critical consideration of the changing conditions of schooling for students with disabilities in Greece and the fragility of international in local contexts

ABSTRACT

The Salamanca Statement is held as a high-water mark in the history of the global development of inclusive education. It represented agreements bringing together representatives from 92 governments and 25 international organisations to advocate for a more inclusive education for students with disabilities. Since 1994 the Salamanca Statement has been referred to by international education organisations, national education jurisdictions, and disability advocacy organisations as a foundation for progressing inclusive education. In this respect the Salamanca Statement has been important for the inclusive education and Education for All [UNESCO 1998. From Special Needs Education to Education for All: Discussion Paper for the International Consultative Forum on Education for All. Paris: UNESCO] movements. However, international agreements and conventions are fragile in the face of local contingencies and become difficult to apply. We examine the case of inclusive education in Greece to reflect on this complex relationship between international aspirations and the real politic of individual nation states. Greece, like other nations, has embraced the discourse of inclusive education and its successive governments can demonstrate policy activity and public expenditure on the education of disabled students. This is remarkable in a climate of ‘crisis’ and ‘austerity’ where the only investment in the teaching workforce is in the area of inclusive education. However, is Greek education more inclusive in practice as well as rhetoric?     

Inclusive education at the centre of human development issues in Togo

In the concept of inclusive education, the adjective inclusive stands for a universal vision for education for all students. It stands for the mobilisation of various resources in the field of education, for achieving UNESCO's Education For All agenda. Inclusive education aims to combat discrimination and give meaning to difference; that is to say, to the education of students with disabilities and students with special needs. It must be understood and oriented within the framework of the national education strategy. This article presents an analytical study on the system of itinerant teachers initiated in North Togo by the non-governmental organisation Humanity & Inclusion. A practical and inclusive pedagogy project is described as an example of the implementation of inclusive education practices in Togo. Inclusive education is not an immutable concept and does not have a single method of implementation applicable to all countries and to all situations of need. This article reflects on the impact of inclusive education as a pedagogy, to contribute to a continued development of practices for the academic and social inclusion of children with disabilities. Specifically, different actors and interventions in the establishment of inclusive education practices in Togo are identified. Necessary and adequate means for the continued development of national inclusive education policies in Togo are proposed.     

Making the grade: teacher training for inclusive education: A systematic review

The role of teacher training, as it pertains to the adoption of inclusive education (IE) (European Journal of Special, 22, 2007, 367), is critical in realizing and achieving truly IE environments. Literature often reports poor or inadequate training with regard to IE practices (Preparing Teachers of the Deaf for a Complex, Jacksonville, FL). The purpose of this review was to examine North American and Australian research regarding teacher training for students with disabilities (SWD) with the goal of informing best practice. Of the 27 reviewed studies, teacher training interventions reported positive outcomes and showed improvements in the areas of teachers’ attitudes/perceptions, knowledge, and strategies/skill development (Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 32, 2009, 166) regarding IE SWD. The researchers cautiously recommend the employment of workshop style approaches as they appear to have the capacity to tackle all three outcome variables concurrently and within the shortest timeframe. Our restrained recommendations for best practice are born out of the quality of evidence presented within the reviewed studies.     

Information and advocacy: Forgotten components in the strategies for achieving inclusive education in South Africa?

Abstract

Commitment to a single, inclusive education system has been the aspiration of reform in education in a democratic South Africa as articulated in White Paper 6: Special needs education: Building an inclusive education and training system (Department of Education 2001). This article reports findings from a qualitative study which took place in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), which ascertained participants’ evaluation of the extent to which the policy ideals of inclusive education, as articulated in White Paper 6 were being achieved. Findings revealed that there was evidence of inclusive education beginning to be implemented in KZN in that barriers to learning for many students were being addressed and removed. The specific provision in policy documents directed towards children with disabilities was behind schedule, however, and there was little evidence of full inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education. One component that was furthest behind in the milestones was the implementation of the information and advocacy programme. Implications and further consequences of this are discussed.     

Improving pre‐service teacher learning through peer teaching: process,people and product1

This research investigates the perceptions of first‐year Bachelor of Teaching students (primary and secondary) and Diploma of Education students (secondary) about their peer teaching experience in a postgraduate subject called Curriculum and Assessment. Peer teaching is a learner‐centred approach to teaching and learning that is intended to provide significant benefits for learners' knowledge, skills and metacognition. However, concerns have been raised over the quality of the learning and teaching and the risks associated with such a pedagogy. In the present study, student responses to questionnaires and semi‐structured interviews were analysed, using a mixed methods approach, with respect to three broad and somewhat interconnected categories: process, people and product. These responses suggested a wide range of reactions to peer teaching, but overall students feel they benefited from the experience. The findings of this study should be of interest to lecturers and students in pre‐service teacher education courses, especially. Knowledge about peer teaching, learning and assessment would be especially valuable for both education lecturers and beginning teachers seeking to design and manage learner‐centred pedagogy in their own primary, secondary and tertiary classrooms. However, the results of this research would have far‐reaching appeal for all teaching and learning contexts.     

Emplotment,Embodiment, Engagement: Narrative Technology in Support of Physical Education,Sport and Physical Activity

This paper is based on a keynote lecture delivered at the International Association of Physical Education in Higher Education 2011 Conference, University of Limerick, on the sub theme: Technologies in Support of Physical Education, Sport, and Physical Activity. The paper outlines and illustrates a framework: narrative technology, which can be used for designing computing to support and enhance physical education, sport and physical activity. The framework is based on a ternary of foundational concepts: (1) physical engagement, (2) narrative, and (3) interactive technology. The paper outlines the theoretical basis of the approach, which is informed by contemporary debates and themes in education and educational technology, including: narratology, embodied design (or design for embodiment), and interactivity. Furthermore, from an empirical and practical perspective, two examples of the use of different types of computing are presented and discussed. The first intervention that is outlined focuses on the use of novel ubiquitous computing to enhance physical engagement, interpretation and interactivity. The second instantiation of computing illustrates how more widely available, “everyday'' technologies can be used to support and enhance large-scale creative and collaborative physical education. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate current and future potential of technology, and support creative and novel perspectives on how information and communications technologies can be used to enhance physical education, sport and physical activity.     

Education and poverty in Western Europe

Conclusions Educationists in Europe have an established tradition of exploring educational disadvantage from a socio-cultural perspective, as indicated by the focus on social justice in education. Their concerns have been with relatively small-scale phenomena: the context in which particular disadvantaged groups are educated, leading to specific recommendations for local areas. Policy-makers, in contrast, are concerned with combating social exclusion at the national or Europe-wide level, primarily as a means of reducing unemployment and social unrest. The initiatives they set in motion necessarily take a wider perspective and pay little heed to diverse needs, aspirations and goals among the socially excluded. There is a need for European educationalists to increase their own awareness of the European context—not simply the national context—in which they work. They need also to develop perspectives on major European initiatives to combat social exclusion, the effects of which will remain otherwise unexplored by a community of educationalists with a history of interest in and commitment to challenging educational disadvantage. Original language: English Joanna McPake (United Kingdom) At present, Deputy Director of the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, University of Stirling. Formerly, Senior Researcher and Programme Manager, Scottish Council for Research in Education. Her principal research focus is on aspects of teaching and learning in school. Since 1996 she has been (with Ghazala Bhatti) co-ordinator of the Social Justice and Intercultural Education Network of the European Educational Research Association. Recent publications include: ‘A mirror to ourselves? The educational experiences of Japanese children at school in the UK’ (with J. Powney, 1998); andEducation of minority ethnic groups in Scotland (with J. Powney, S. Hall and L. Lyall, 1998). Ghazala Bhatti (United Kingdom) Ph.D. Director, Modular Master's Degree on ‘Equity and change in the public services’, University of Reading. Formerly, a primary and secondary school teacher. Her current professional interests in the field of education concern ethnicity, gender and social justice. She is the joint convenor (with Joanna McPake) of the Social Justice and Intercultural Education Network of EERA. Recent publications include:Asian children at home and at school: an ethnographic study (1999) andA journey into the unknown: an ethnographic study of Asian children (1995). This article consists of reflections on recent research presented at the European Conference on Educational Research by the joint co-ordinators of the Social Justice and Intercultural Education network of the European Educational Research Association.     

Book Reviews

Carol Summers. Colonial Lessons: Africans’Education in Southern Rhodesia, 1918–1940. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002. 212pp. Cloth $64.95. paper $24.95. Ienaga Saburo. Japan's Past, Japan's Future: One Historian's Odyssey. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. 198pp. Ting‐Hong Wong. Hegemonies Compared: State Formation and Chinese School Politics in Postwar Singapore and Hong Kong. New York: Routledge‐Falmer, 2002. 290pp. Sherri Broder. Tramps, Unfit Mothers, and Neglected Children: Negotiating the Family in Nineteenth‐Century Philadelphia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002. 259pp. Joan Marie Johnson, ed. Southern Women at Vassar: The Poppenheim Family Letters, 1882–1916. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2002.258pp. Vincent Fitzpatrick. Gerald W. Johnson: From Southern Liberal to National Conscience. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2002. 352pp. Leonard Ray Teel. Ralph Emerson McGill: Voice of the Southern Conscience. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2001. 576pp. Wendy Kline. Building a Better Race: Gender, Sexuality, and Eugenics from the Turn of the Century to the Baby Boom. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. 254pp. Patricia A. Carter. “Everybody's Paid But the Teacher”: The Teaching Profession and the Women's Movement. New York: Teachers College Press, 2002. 179pp. Aileen Kilgore Henderson. Tenderfoot Teacher: Letters from the Big Bend, 1952–1954. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 2002. 158pp. Wayne J. Urban. Gender, Race, and the National Education Association: Professionalism and Its Limitations. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2000. 304pp. Hans Vermeulen and Joel Perlmann (eds.). Immigrants, Schooling and Social Mobility: Does Culture Make a Difference? New York: Palgrave MacMillian, 2000. 288pp. Michael A. Oliker and Walter P. Krolikowski, S.J. (eds.). Images of Youth: Popular Culture as Educational Ideology. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2001. 227pp. Frances Gateward and Murray Pomerance (eds.). Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice: Cinemas of Girlhood. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2002. 344pp. Joan W. Scott and Debra Keates (eds.). Schools of Thought: Twenty‐Five Years of Interpretive Social Science. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. 432pp. John P. Jackson, Jr. Social Scientists for Social Justice: Making the Case Against Segregation. New York: New York University Press, 2001. 288pp. Mary Ann Stankiewicz. Roots of Art Education Practice. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications, 2001. 146pp. Linda Symcox. Whose History? The Struggle for National Standards in American Classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press, 2002. 228pp. Thomas Ehrlich, ed. Civic Responsibility and Higher Education. American Council on Education, Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 2000.448pp.     

An analysis of the different patterns of 1:1 interactions between educational professionals and their students with varying abilities in inclusive classrooms

The purpose of this study was to examine the different types and patterns of 1:1 interactions provided by general educators, special educators and paraprofessionals to children with mild disabilities (n?=?13), severe disabilities (n?=?13), and children without disabilities (n?=?13) in inclusive classrooms. General educators, special educators, and paraprofessionals' 1:1 interactions with students in three comparison groups were recorded in 17 elementary and middle school classrooms using a partial interval observation system. We found significant differences with respect to interaction frequency and content. Teachers and paraprofessionals had consistently more 1:1 interactions with students with severe disabilities, followed by children with mild disabilities, and then students without disabilities. In comparison to special education teachers and paraprofessionals, general educators interacted significantly more frequently with children without disabilities and children with mild disabilities. In contrast, paraprofessionals interacted significantly more often with students with severe disabilities and less frequently with children with mild disabilities and students without disabilities. Instructional interactions in social, behavioural, and functional domains were infrequent in these classrooms. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of these findings for future research and practice.     

‘If they can say it they can write it’: Inclusive pedagogies for senior secondary physical education

Pedagogical practices are fundamental to teachers' work, and in the spaces of schooling impact significantly on students' success and achievement (Evans, J. 1986. Physical Education, Sport and Schooling: Studies in the Sociology of Physical Education. London: Falmer Press.). This is especially the case for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are deeply reliant on schooling for their educational resources. This article explores the interrelationships between pedagogical practices, the physical education curriculum at the senior secondary level and learning by both students and a teacher in a school located in an area of socio-economic disadvantage. Action research investigating a pedagogical redesign of a unit of ‘Skill Acquisition’ is the specific focus. Of key interest are pedagogical practices that incorporated opportunities to learn ‘about’ Skill Acquisition ‘through’ and ‘in’ movement. These practices attempted to develop and apply scientific literacies specific to the human movement sciences, which are important for academic success in senior secondary physical education. Findings reveal high student engagement, increasing utilisation of scientific literacies and application of new learning to life-world situations. We argue that pedagogical practices that integrate learning ‘about’ ‘through’ and ‘in’ movement disrupt default modes of teaching theoretical concepts in physical education, which diminish opportunities for academic success amongst students from low-socio-economic backgrounds.     

Isaac Ironside 1808–1870: The motivation of a radical educationist

Structuralism and Education. By Rex Gibson. Pp. viii, 166. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1984. £3.95.

Dimensions of Moral Education. By Robert E. Carter. University of Toronto Press. £23 cloth, £8.50 paper. 242 pp.

The Development of Social Knowledge. Morality and Convention. By Elliot Turiel. Pp. viii, 240. Cambridge University Press, 1984. £20.00 (Hardback), £7.95 (Paperback).

Personal and Social Education in the Curriculum. By Richard Pring. Pp. 184. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1984. £4.25

Development, Experience and Curriculum in Primary Education. By W.A.L. Blyth. Croom Helm Teaching 5–13 Series. 1984. Pp. 172. £6.95

Education and the City: Theory, History and Contemporary Practice. Edited by Gerald Grace. Pp. xiii, 302. London: Routledge &; Kegan Paul, 1984. £8.95.

Education As Social Policy. By Janet Finch. Pp. viii, 284. Harlow: Longman Group Ltd., 1984.

Navajo Infancy: An Ethological Study of Child Development. By James S, Chisholm. Pp. XII, 267. New York: Aldine Publishing Co. 1983. $29.95.

Soviet Education in the 1980s, Edited by J.J. Tomiak, Pp.x, 326. London, Croom Helm, 1983. £17.95.

The Crisis of the University. By Peter Scott. Pp. viii, 277. Beckenham: Croom Helm, 1984. £16.95 hardback, £8.95 paperback.

The Mathematicians’ Apprenticeship: Science, Universities and Society in England 1560–1640. By Mordechai Feingold. Pp. viii, 248. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. £22.50.

A Guide to English Educational Terms. By Peter Gordon and Denis Lawton. Pp. xvii, 220. London: Batsford, 1984. £7.50.