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.     

The validity and reliability of the Basketball Jump Shooting Accuracy Test

The aim of this study was to examine the content validity, construct validity and reliability of the newly developed Basketball Jump Shooting Accuracy Test (BJSAT). Basketball athletes from different playing levels (State Basketball League [SBL], n = 30, age: 22.7 ± 6.1 yr; SBL Division I, n = 11, age: 20.6 ± 2.1 yr) completed four separate trials of the BJSAT with each trial consisting of shot attempts from two- and three-point distances at pre-determined court locations. Each shot attempt was scored utilising a criteria where higher scores were given when greater accuracy was exhibited. The BJSAT detected a significant, large difference in accuracy between two- and three-point shots (d = 0.99, p < 0.01). Relative reliability across the repeated trials was rated as moderate for all athletes (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.71, p < 0.01) and good for the SBL athletes (ICC = 0.78, p < 0.01). Absolute reliability for all athletes was above the acceptable benchmark (coefficient of variation = 16.2%); however superior to skill tests available in the literature. In conclusion, the BJSAT is sensitive to two- and three-point shooting accuracy and can reliably assess jump shooting accuracy in basketball athletes.     

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.     

Kinematic sequence patterns in the overhead baseball pitch

ABSTRACT

Conceptually, an efficient baseball pitch demonstrates a proximal-to-distal transfer of segmental angular velocity. Such a timing pattern (or kinematic sequence) reduces stress on musculoskeletal structures of the throwing arm and maximises ball velocity. We evaluated the variability of kinematic sequences in 208 baseball pitches. 3D biomechanical pitch analyses were performed on 8–10 fastball pitches from 22 baseball pitchers (5 high school, 11 collegiate and 6 professional). The kinematic sequence patterns – time of peak angular velocity of five body segments: pelvis, trunk, arm, forearm and hand – were measured. None of the pitches analysed demonstrated an entirely proximal-to-distal kinematic sequence. Fourteen different kinematic sequence patterns were demonstrated, with the most prevalent sequence being pelvis → trunk → arm → hand → forearm. Fewer than 10% of the pitchers performed only one kinematic sequence pattern across the sampled pitches. The variability of the kinematic sequence was similar in high-school pitchers and professionals. Previous studies report that deviation from the proximal-to-distal kinematic sequence is associated with increased injury risk. As a method of evaluating the efficient transfer of energy to the hand, the kinematic sequence may provide insight to injury risk in the future. The ideal kinematic sequence and ideal variability of the sequence when throwing have yet to be determined.     

Implementing MTSS in Beginning Reading: Tools and Systems to Support Schools and Teachers

Multi‐tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) frameworks are designed to directly support students with, and at risk for, disabilities by providing timely, aligned, and coordinated supports, with the goal of preventing or ameliorating the effects of early risk. Yet developing and implementing MTSS in beginning reading is a complex process. Many schools encounter common barriers to achieving full and sustained implementation of MTSS systems and practices. The purpose of this article is to describe a state K‐3 reading initiative that resulted in improved reading outcomes for K‐3 students, including students at risk for reading disabilities. Specifically, this article describes a series of tools (i.e., activity timeline, whole group and small group templates, data grouping workbook) that helped teachers in the initiative to overcome barriers in order to ensure that tiered instruction met the needs of all students, including students with, and at risk for, reading disabilities.     

Supporting Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in Prekindergarten: The Role of Educative Curriculum Materials

The purpose of this study was to support teachers' child-directed language and student outcomes by enhancing the educative features of an intervention targeted to vocabulary, conceptual development and comprehension. Using a set of design heuristics (Davis &; Krajcik, 2005 Davis, E. A., &; Krajcik, J. S. (2005). Designing educative curriculum materials to promote teacher learning. Educational Researcher, 34, 3–14.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), our goal was to support teachers’ professional development within the curriculum materials. Ten pre-K classrooms with a total of 143 children were randomly selected into treatment and control groups. Observations of teacher talk, including characteristics of lexically-rich and cognitively demanding language were conducted before and during the intervention. Measures of child outcomes, pre- and post-intervention included both standardized and curriculum-based assessments. Results indicated significant improvements in the quality of teachers’ talk in the treatment compared to the control group, and significant gains for child outcomes. These results suggest that educative curriculum may be a promising approach to facilitate both teacher and student learning.     

Making visible teacher reports of their teaching experiences: The Early Childhood Teacher Experiences Scale

The study developed multiple independent scales of early childhood teacher experiences (ECTES). ECTES was co‐constructed with preschool, kindergarten, and first grade teachers in a large urban school district. Demographic, ECTES, and teaching practices data were collected from 584 teachers. Factor analyses documented three teacher experience constructs: Teacher Efficacy, Job Stress, and School Support. Findings showed differences in teaching practices based on ECTES dimensions in hypothesized directions. Teachers experiencing higher levels of stress spent less time teaching literacy and numeracy and interacting with parents, whereas teachers experiencing higher levels of efficacy spent increased time teaching both cognitive skills and social‐emotional skills and communicating with parents. Analyses of program differences in these measures showed that first grade teachers reported the highest level of stress and that kindergarten and Head Start teachers were more likely to feel efficacious than were first grade teachers or other preschool teachers in child care settings. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Reexamining LGBT Resources on College Counseling Center Websites: An Over-time and Cross-country Analysis

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students continue to perceive a hostile climate on college campuses. For students facing these challenges, the university college counseling center website (CCW) may serve as a critical resource. This study provides an updated content analysis of the prevalence of LGBT communication on CCWs. Results showed that there remains a lack of LGBT-specific information about services provided on US CCWs. Furthermore, over-time analyses of 2008 and 2013 data showed that there have been no significant increases in any LGBT communication, and CCWs from religious schools continue to provide significantly less LGBT-related communication than nonreligious institutions. Separate analyses of UK CCWs showed that these websites were more likely than US CCWs to make any mention of LGBT issues but less likely to note group counseling services, links to LGBT-specific pamphlets, and educational outreach services offered. Overall, given attractive features of online health information, as well as the extent that students value CCWs, institutions must pursue stronger efforts to promote LGBT-related web counseling information.     

“It’s Groundhog Day”: Foucault’s Governmentality and Crisis Discourses in Physical Education

ABSTRACT

Dominant discourses in physical education research center on subject-wide crisis. This is despite repeated calls to address enduring concerns about how physical education is taught. In short, the subject seems caught in Groundhog Day (defined by Oxford Dictionaries (n.d.) as “a situation in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events appear to be recurring in exactly the same way”). This article scrutinizes this position through Foucault’s lens of governmentality, which focuses particularly on power/knowledge relations and their relationship to subjectivity. Through this lens, research functions as a shaper of contemporary understanding and becomes a means for intervention by “experts.” The article is structured as a conversation between authors about dominant discourses in physical education research and issues of governmentality. It argues that research approaches such as action research are framed within other power/knowledge relations and may provide a way to wake up on a new day.     

Our Stories about Teaching and Learning: A Pedagogy of Consequence for Yukon First Nation Settings

In this study, First Nation community members in Canada’s Yukon Territory share their stories about teaching and learning, both in informal and formal settings, in an effort to identify practices that might serve teachers to be more responsive to their First Nation students. In all, 52 community members between the ages of 15 and 82 shared their stories and assisted in identifying eight categories of practice and thought associated with effective teaching practices for this First Nation. Based upon these categories of thought and practice, we present a pedagogical framework for teachers and, finally, illustrate how this profile and the stories about teaching and learning are being used for adjusting and improving teaching practice in this First Nation.