Educating the Secular Citizen in English Schools, 1897–1938

This article examines secularists’ efforts over 41 years to shape civic morality and civic culture in their own image. Through pressure groups – the Moral Instruction League (1897–c.1923) and the League of Nations Union (1919–1938) – activists aimed to create secular citizens in English schools. In so doing, they aimed to act as ‘agents of secularisation’. Some (limited) political influence was achieved, and their publications reached many thousands. Yet campaigners were unable to unite a majority of Christians, or even all secularists, behind their proposals. The process of forming the non-Christian citizen proved a complex one, involving shifting alliances, dialogue and compromise.     

Evaluation Research: A Pragmatic,Program-Focused,Research Strategy for Decision-Makers

Human resource development (HRD) practitioners frequently need to gather and organize data to support decisions about programs. Unfortunately, in many work environments there is a short time available to gather data in support of the decision-making process. Yet the ability to develop or use data or to convince others to use data has become the prime concern of decisionmakers. The evaluation research strategy contains four primary features—utility, feasibility, proprietorship, and accuracy. With a philosophical foundation grounded in pragmatism, evaluation research follows a four-level decision-making hierarchy: purpose, techniques, plan, and implementation. In addition, there are nine major purposes. There are two primary participants in evaluation research: the researcher and the stakeholder group. The stakeholder group is included because of the belief that people who have a stake in an evaluation research outcome should be actively and meaningfully involved in shaping that research effort, thus increasing the likelihood of utilization. Evaluation research may be goal-driven; or it may focus on evaluation questions, concerns and issues, program rationales, decisions or problems, or organization (client) needs.     

Mainstreaming the e-excluded in Europe: strategies,good practices and some ethical issues

E-inclusion is getting a lot of attention in Europe these days. The European Commission and EU Member States have initiated e-inclusion strategies aimed at reaching out to the e-excluded and bringing them into the mainstream of society and the economy. The benefits of mainstreaming the excluded are numerous. Good practices play an important role in the strategies, and examples can be found in e-health, e-learning, e-government, e-inclusion and other e-domains. So laudable seems the rationale for e-inclusion, few have questioned the benefits. In fact, e-inclusion does raise ethical issues, and this paper discusses a few of the key ones. The paper draws several conclusions, principally regarding the need for some empirical research on what happens to the e-excluded once they have access to information and communications technologies, notably the Internet.     

Personal variables that facilitate or impede consultation

This article concerns itself with those personal variables of the consultant that are considered to be important to effective consultation. The personal characteristics that enhance a working, collaborative relationship are emphasized. Eleven considerations that are deemed important to the consultation process are described. Some comments on how personal variables of the consultant can be trained or modified to become more effective are then presented.     

Hyperactive children's perceptions of teachers' classroom behavior

The relationship between hyperactive behavior and children's perceptions of teachers' behavior was investigated. Particular attention was paid to two aspects of teacher behavior—acceptance and demand. An extensive literature review supported the position of viewing hyperactive behavior from a situational and an interactional perspective. The literature also indicated that children's behavior is affected by their perceptions of adult behavior. The subjects were 92 boys enrolled in 8 regular elementary school classrooms. Children's perceptions of acceptance and demand in their teacher's behavior were measured by administering a partial form of the Teacher Behavior Questionnaire to classroom groups. Observed levels of hyperactive behavior were measured by having the subjects' teachers complete the Conners Abbreviated Questionnaire for each boy. Using correlational analyses, hyperactive behavior was found to be significantly related to both variables in the directions of less perceived acceptance and greater perceived demand. The combination of these two measures accounted for 16% of the variance between hyperactivity and student perception of teacher behavior. On group comparison measures, hyperactive boys perceived significantly less acceptance and greater demand than did their nonhyperactive peers.     

The weighted walking test as an alternative method of assessing aerobic power

The aim of the present study was to determine maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) directly during uphill walking exercise and to compare these values with those achieved during running and cycling exercise. Forty untrained students (20 males and 20 females) took part in three exercise tests. The running test was performed on a horizontal treadmill and the speed was gradually increased by 0.3 m . s(-1) every 3 min. The walking test was conducted on a treadmill inclined at 12% (speed of 1.8 m . s(-1)). The load was further increased every 3 min by the addition of a mass of one-twentieth of the body mass of the participant (plastic containers filled with water and added to a backpack carried by the participant). During the bicycle ergometry test, the workload was increased by 20 W every 2 min. All tests were performed until volitional exhaustion. During all tests, oxygen uptake, minute ventilation, tidal volume, respiratory frequency, heart rate, hydrogen ion concentration, base excess, and blood lactate concentration were analysed. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the weighted walking test and the commonly applied running and bicycle ergometry tests indicate a strong association with the new test in evaluating maximal oxygen uptake. The negligible differences in VO2max between the three tests for the male participants (running: 61.0 ml . kg(-1) . min(-1); walking: 60.4 ml . kg(-1) . min(-1); cycling: 60.2 ml . kg(-1) . min(-1)), and the fact that the females achieved better results on the walking test than the cycle ergometer test (running: 45.0 ml . kg(-1) . min(-1); walking: 42.6 ml . kg(-1) . min(-1); cycling: 40.1 ml . kg(-1) . min(-1)), confirm the suitability of the new method for evaluating aerobic power. The weighted walking test could be useful in the assessment of aerobic power in individuals for whom running is not advised or is difficult. In addition, the new test allows for determination of VO2max on small treadmills with a limited speed regulator, such as those found in specialist physiotherapy and fitness centres.