'A Fraught Path'-education as a basis for developing improved community relations in Northern Ireland

The outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s led to critical examination of the possible role of the denominationally divided education system in creating and sustaining community division. Since the early 1970s there have been a number of attempts to bring children from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds together. These have followed two major tracks, either the establishment of programmes which can operate within the denominationally segregated system (Education for Mutual Understanding) or the setting up of new integrated schools. Both approaches have moved though a number of phases but by the late 1980s both had become linked to official government policy. During the last 5 years the interaction of educational initiatives and political developments has led to considerable controversy and the resulting problems have created an uncertain future for both Education for Mutual Understanding and the planned integrated schools movement.     

Reconceptualizing Motivational Climate in Physical Education and Sport Coaching: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

The purpose of this article is to re-conceptualize the phenomenon of motivational climate in Physical Education and sport coaching as a concept that is not purely psychological in nature, but also highly dependent upon pedagogical and sociological theories. In doing so, an interdisciplinary perspective is promoted where the three aforementioned disciplines combine and intersect in order to enrich teachers’ and coaches’ understanding of motivational climate. The ultimate aim is to assist practitioners in fostering an effective and stimulating learning environment. The pre-existing TARGET acronym (task, authority, recognition, grouping, evaluation and time) is used to structure the paper. These TARGET structures are further developed with links to relevant pedagogical and sociological theory to enrich them. Further, a strong emphasis is placed on ‘relationships,’ which have not previously been featured in the TARGET literature. It is anticipated that inter-disciplinary research on motivational climate will emerge from the ideas presented.     

‘If you were the researcher what would you research?’: understanding children's perspectives on educational research in Mongolia and Zambia

This paper draws on data from a project undertaken with children (N?=?72) in Mongolia and Zambia. The research is distinctive in bringing together diverse children, ranging from those living on the street to those in mainstream education and involving them in discussions about educational research. Being conscious of critiques of adult-initiated research as well as being influenced by work on participatory action research and research on understanding children's perspectives, we were keen to hear the views of children about research and how research should be carried out. This included enabling children's participation in discussions about potential research areas that could be focused upon as well as discussions about ethical issues and methodology. In this paper we report on our experiences of involving children in discussions about research and explore the numerous insights that the children provided. We conclude that while understanding children's perspectives on research and including children in the research process is important there are many issues which arise from doing so and which need to be reflected upon. These include issues around power and identity, the importance of the context, including local expectations of children as well as children's prior experiences, including how ‘vulnerable’ children are represented.     

Meeting the challenge of limited literacy resources for adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities

For adolescents and adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities (or, in the UK, learning disabilities or learning difficulties), the achievement of successful engagement with, and construction of meaning from, texts necessitates the implementation and use of specifically designed and adapted teaching strategies and resources. The careful selection and application of appropriate resources is vital to allow learners with intellectual disabilities to engage and participate with texts in positive, enjoyable and meaningful ways. The challenge for teachers of adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities is to overcome the limited availability of suitable literacy resources for these learners. In this article, Michelle Morgan, who teaches literacy at the University of Queensland, and Karen Moni, director of the secondary programmes in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, identify the literacy needs and reading practices of adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities based upon findings from an action research investigation. They go on to explore ways in which teachers can meet the challenge of limited resources for these learners through the specific and deliberate adaptation and creation of suitable texts.     

Information skills for distance learning

In spring 1997, the Education Services department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) Health Sciences Library (HSL) developed six Web-based tutorials designed to teach information skills. This paper describes how the modules were created.     

Categorising and defining popular psychological terms used within the youth athlete talent development literature: a systematic review

Inconsistencies in the use and definition of psychological terms within the talent development literature have been identified. To advance the scientific field, the creation of a shared language is recommended. This review aimed to systematically (1) identify terms used in empirical studies to describe psychological components purported to facilitate athletes’ development; (2) analyse the definition and meanings of these terms; and (3) group, label, and define terms into meaning clusters. A systematic review using a narrative approach to synthesise information was conducted. A comprehensive literature search of SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and ERIC was completed in May 2015. In total, 21 empirical studies, published between 2002 and 2015, met the inclusion criteria and were included in the narrative synthesis. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the findings. Identified psychological terms were categorised as psychological skills or psychological characteristics. Psychological skills were defined as athletes’ ability to use learned psychological strategies (e.g., self-talk) to regulate and facilitate the enhancement of psychological characteristics. Psychological characteristics were defined as predispositions that impact upon athlete development (e.g., self-confidence). Despite being relatively enduring and consistent across a range of situations, psychological characteristics can be regulated and enhanced through the use of psychological skills.     

Facilitating the Learning of Transitional Students: strategies for success for all students

This paper outlines successful strategies facilitating the learning of international students making the transition to an Australian university campus from colleges elsewhere. Starting university as “second‐year” students they were without the institutional infrastructure and support normally provided for “first‐year” students. Although the strategies adopted were motivated by a desire to develop the communication skills, critical thinking and independence of transitional students, they were of potential benefit to all students. This paper documents a programme of extra learning support that has evolved through the collaboration of the authors. The results include reduced failure rates and improved student participation and performance through the development of a progressively more interactive approach, although gender differences have become apparent. The findings support the notion that curriculum redesign promoting interaction, autonomy and reflection combined with a collaborative programme integrating appropriate language and learning skills development with course content, can potentially benefit all students, and especially transitional students.