Child abuse,child protection,and defensive ‘touch’ in PE teaching and sports coaching

This text introduces recently completed research on ‘no touch’ sports coaching, by placing it in a broader social context which problematises the way child abuse and child protection (or safeguarding) are conceived and discussed in terms of policy and practice. It also provides a brief indicative summary of the research findings and offers a discussion of moral panic, risk society and worst case thinking, before drawing on Foucault's work on governmentality to offer an explanation of how the current situation arose. The authors suggest that the approach to discussing child abuse, and the guidelines and training stemming from the dominant discourse, for the most part initiated by the NSPCC's Child Protection in Sport Unit, together create an environment in which many coaches and PE teachers are confused and fearful, and consequently unsure of how to be around the children and young people they teach and coach.     

Application of the LaGrange polynomial in skeletal muscle fatigue analysis

The percentage of decrement in torque and the number of serial contractions are mutually exclusive methodological controls in the study of muscular fatigue. This paper examines the feasibility of using the LaGrange polynomial in the analysis of voluntary muscular fatigue patterns. Twenty-one men (ages 20-60 years) reported to the orthopedic biomechanics laboratory on 2 days separated by 4 months. During both sessions, participants completed three maximal isokinetic (180 deg x s(-1)) contractions of the knee extensors to serve as baseline, before starting the fatigue protocol. The fatigue protocol consisted of serial contractions until a 50% strength decrement was reached. The LaGrange polynomial was first used to interpolate the individual fatigue pattern for each participant into 15 data points (trials). Data analysis was then conducted on these 15 data points. Intraclass correlation analysis of variance showed that the reliability of baseline torque was very good (.93). Baseline torque, the average of three trials, exhibited a 5.4 Nm (6%) increase from the first to second test session (p < .05). The mean level of torque, average of the 15-point fatigue pattern, also increased 7.5 Nm (15%) on the second test session (p < .05). The classic torque deficit for the first trial of a fatigue series was preserved by the interpolation method. Serial contractions resulted in an average decrease in torque of 29.5 Nm (50%) from the first to last trial (p <.05). The interpolation method also retained the linear and quadratic trend components commonly observed for isometric and isokinetic fatigue patterns. The two trend components accounted for 94.7% of the total trial variance. It was concluded that the LaGrange polynomial used to interpolate fatigue patterns to fewer data points was successful.     

An Inquiry into the Spontaneous Transfer of Problem-Solving Skill

Problem solving, by definition, involves achieving new understanding in unfamiliar contexts, and is critical to all aspects of life, especially in the educational and scientific arenas. Students learn from many experiences to develop a repertoire of abilities, including the use of logic, which enable them to spontaneously transfer their problem-solving skill to unfamiliar situations. The purpose of this study is to explore the minimum conditions necessary to facilitate the spontaneous transfer of problem solving skill in an unfamiliar context. One hundred and seventy-five subjects were presented with logically identical problems based on the Wason selection task, which differed only in the degree to which a familiar schema could be invoked to help solve the problem. In the pretest stage, only 10.5% of subjects could solve the selection problem in an unfamiliar context, whereas 57.3% could solve it in one that was familiar. The effect of three interventions, prior exposure to a familiar scenario, repeat opportunities on like problems, and process-oriented feedback, on selection task performance in an unfamiliar context was assessed in a posttest stage. Overall, none of the interventions were effective, indicating that the minimum threshold for spontaneous transfer may be above the level of intervention included in this study. Schema theory, implications for instruction, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Reflections on Anti-Bullying Peer Counselling in a Comprehensive School

This report reflects on the first year of a peer support scheme, implemented as a means to reduce the psychological effects of bullying in one secondary school. Practical problems identified by teachers and pupils regarding recruitment, training, and running the scheme are discussed.