Emancipation,marketisation, and social protection: the female subject within vocational training policy in Canada, 1960–1990

This paper examines Canadian federal and cross-provincial higher education policy from 1960 to 1990, a critical time when provisions for vocational and adult training came under the auspices of governmental concern, justified under both an economic rationale and as a way to address persistent forms of inequality. The problematisation of skill during this period had particular gendered implications, as addressing inequality through education subsidies intersected with the perceived training needs of employers and the market. Employing Nancy Fraser's theory of a ‘triple movement’, the following paper ‘takes stock’ of how the three political forces of social movements, marketisation, and social protection have shaped gendered discourses of education and training, the implications for which are of continued relevance to those trying to understand the education and training within the contemporary neo-liberal state.     

Reliability and validity of a GPS-enabled iPhoneTM “app” to measure physical activity

This study assessed the validity and reliability of an iPhone^TM “app” and two sport-specific global positioning system (GPS) units to monitor distance, intensity and contextual physical activity. Forty (23 female, 17 male) 18–55-year-olds completed two trials of six laps around a 400-m athletics track wearing GPSports Pro^TM and WiSpi^TM units (5 and 1 Hz) and an iPhone^TM with a Motion X GPS^TM “app” that used the inbuilt iPhone^TM location services application programming interface to obtain its sampling rate (which is likely to be ≤1 Hz). Overall, the statistical agreement, assessed using t-tests and Bland–Altman plots, indicated an underestimation of the known track distance (2.400 km) and average speed by the Motion X GPS^TM “app” and GPSports Pro^TM while the GPSports WiSpi^TM device overestimated these outcomes. There was a ≤3% variation between trials for distance and average speed when measured by any of the GPS devices. Thus, the smartphone “app” trialled could be considered as an accessible alternative to provide high-quality contextualised data to enable ubiquitous monitoring and modification of programmes to ensure appropriate intensity and type of physical activity is prescribed and more importantly adhered to.     

Embodied Refusals: Conceptualizing Dissent in Students Labeled with Significant Disabilities

Dissent is conceptualized as a largely able-minded political expression. Ashley Taylor argues in this essay that educational philosophers, therefore, lack an understanding of dissent that can capture the politically relevant expressions of students labeled with significant disabilities. While traditional frameworks of dissent may capture many of the ways disabled activists and their nondisabled allies have challenged oppressive social structures, these models nevertheless rely on a conceptualization of dissent that fails to make sense of the political agency of people understood as having significant intellectual disabilities. Taylor reframes the embodied and localized refusals and transgressions of labeled students as forms of politically relevant dissent, drawing on her own observational data from the classroom as well as the ethnographic work of researchers in the field of disability studies in education. By developing a richer and experientially-based understanding of dissent, Taylor offers an alternative conceptual orientation toward dissent that has normative implications for theorists and practitioners alike.     

Science: An unreliable friend to environmental education?

This article focuses upon the uneasy relationship between science and environmental education. It argues that science probably offers the strongest justification for the adoption of pro-environmental behaviours and policies, but that the relationship between science and environmentalism is strained by conflicts over fundamental values that are apparent in interpretation of the precautionary principle. An understanding of risk and scientific uncertainty is seen as an essential element of citizenship education for a sustainable society. Curriculum design needs to respond to the challenges of living in a risk society. The article argues for changes to the curriculum which lead to a scientific action competence founded in an understanding of the limits of science and an appreciation of the fact that scientists are moral agents who face ethical dilemmas in their work.     

Scholars in an increasingly open and digital world: imagined audiences and their impact on scholars’ online participation

This study investigates the audiences that scholars imagine encountering online and the ways in which these audiences impact scholars’ online participation and presentation of self. Prior research suggests that imagined audiences affect what users share and how they present themselves on social media, but little research has examined this topic in the context of faculty members and doctoral students (i.e., scholars). An analysis of interviews with 16 scholars shows that imagined audiences span the personal–professional continuum. Further, most scholars imagined their online audiences as known and familiar. Though many recognized collapsed contexts as problematic, several others appeared more comfortable with audience collapse than prior literature suggests. Findings also suggest that scholars’ conceptualizations of their audiences differ from those of their universities, principally in that scholars imagine their audiences as communities rather than as venues for attracting professional attention.     

Place-responsive pedagogy: learning from teachers’ experiences of excursions in nature

The nature-based excursion has been a significant teaching strategy in environmental education for decades. This article draws upon empirical data from a collaborative research project where teachers were encouraged to visit natural areas to provide an understanding of their roles and experiences of planning and enacting excursions. The analysis indicates that teachers’ sensitisation towards place was aided by collaboration, advance planning visits and the very practice of making place-responsive excursions with pupils. The authors build on the analysis to propose a theory of place-responsive pedagogy. At its core, place-responsive pedagogy involves the explicit efforts to teach by means of an environment with the aim of understanding and improving human–environment relations. Some implications for teacher professional development are offered.     

Attachment and Temperament in the Early Life Course: A Meta‐Analytic Review

This meta‐analytic review examines the association between early attachment (assessed at 1–5 years) and child temperament (assessed at birth–12 years), and compares the strength of this association with recently documented meta‐analytic associations between early attachment and social competence, externalizing behavior, and internalizing symptoms. Based on 109 independent samples (N = 11,440) of diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, temperament was weakly associated with attachment (in)security (d = .14, CI [0.08, 0.19]) but modestly associated with resistant attachment (d = .30, CI [0.21, 0.40]). Temperament was not significantly associated with avoidant (d = .10, CI [?0.02, 0.19]) or disorganized (d = .11, CI [?0.03, 0.25]) attachment. Across developmental domains, early attachment security was more strongly associated with social competence and externalizing behaviors than internalizing symptoms and temperament.     

Black Women’s Sex Lives Matter: Tips for Talking with Your Healthcare Provider

Abstract

This lesson plan is designed to help participants learn how to partner with their healthcare providers to improve their sexual health. This lesson plan describes how to achieve this goal with cis-gender Black adolescent girls and adult women (ages 16 and older).     

Preadolescent perceptions of challenging and difficult course activities and their motivational distinctions

The present research sought to determine if primary school students differentiate between classes that are challenging and those that are difficult, and how these distinctions relate to their motivation and achievement. Results indicated that there are three types of challenges/difficulties. Challenging classes are those that are demanding of the students but within their ability, are important and are tied to interests; students in these classes are more likely to adopt mastery goal orientations. Purely difficult classes are not valued, require a lot of effort, but are threatening to students’ efficacy. Classes that are difficult compared to others are those that are more demanding for the student than other students or other classes. These classes are not valued and are also seen as a threat to efficacy. Both purely difficult and difficult compared to others classes were negatively related to achievement, and students in these classes are more likely to adopt performance avoidance goal orientations.     

Understanding the use of Educational Technology Among Faculty, Staff, and Students at a Medical University

A college of health professions at a medical university located in the southeastern United States is striving to increase the use of educational technology among faculty, staff, and students. A strategic planning group was formed and charged with enhancing the use of educational technology within the college. In order to understand the current state of technology use, perceptions of technology, and training needs, surveys and focus groups were conducted. Based on the qualitative and quantitative data obtained, a conceptual model illustrating levels of technology use and factors that influence use was developed.