Educational theory and practice in post-revolutionary times: the European academic debate on the experimental schools in Hamburg (1919–1933) in the 1930s and 1970s

After the revolution in 1918, many reformist teachers were convinced that they could put into practice their dreams of a free and independent school in a democratic republic. Four state schools in Hamburg became anti-authoritarian school communities, in which teachers, parents and students experimented with revolutionary concepts of education. For two schools, the experiment lasted until 1930, when they voluntarily gave up their status as experimental schools. The remaining two schools lost this status in 1933 after the National Socialist seizure of power. The experimental schools in Hamburg attracted the attention of educationalists worldwide, welcoming a large number of visitors during their existence and inspiring academic studies. The German–Swiss educationalist Robert Jakob Schmid presented a critical study on the Hamburg school communities in his doctoral thesis, published in French during his stay in Geneva in 1936. His work fell into oblivion for more than three decades, until it was reprinted in French and later translated into Spanish, German, Portuguese and Italian in the 1970s. The publishers of these editions were not interested in spreading Schmid’s critiques regarding the school communities and distorted his argumentation by different means, such as partial translations, shortening the most critical aspects or adding long introductions. In this way, they tried to use Schmid’s study as a tool to support their own argumentative interests in the educational discourse of the 1970s.     

Reading comprehension of informative texts in secondary school: A focus on direct and indirect effects of reader's prior knowledge

Text comprehension plays a fundamental role in the processes of acquisition, sharing, and construction of knowledge. Most definitions share the focus on the interaction between text and reader's prior knowledge. In this paper both direct and indirect effects of prior knowledge on reading comprehension have been analyzed, along with other components. Participants were 149 7-graders. Data showed that comprehension of different texts is predicted by different sets of components. Prior knowledge plays a central role, influencing comprehension both, directly and indirectly through the mediation of inferences.     

Global socio-technical regimes

This paper addresses the question why socio-technical transitions follow similar trajectories in various parts of the world, even though the relevant material preconditions and institutional contexts vary greatly between different regions and countries. It takes a critical stance on the implicit methodological nationalism in transition studies’ socio-technical regime concept and proposes an alternative ‘global’ regime perspective that embraces the increasingly multi-scalar actor networks and institutional rationalities, which influence transition dynamics beyond national or regional borders. By drawing on globalization theories from sociology and human geography, we show that socio-technical systems often develop institutional rationalities that are diffused via international networks and thus become influential in various places around the world. In so doing, we shed light on the multi-scalar interrelatedness of institutional structures and actors in socio-technical systems and elaborate on the implications for the conceptualization of transition dynamics. The paper illustrates this with the case study of an unsuccessful transition in the Chinese wastewater sector. Recent studies indicate that key decisions on wastewater infrastructure expansion were not only influenced by path-dependencies stemming from China’s national context, but equally (or even more critically) by the dominant rationality of the water sector’s global socio-technical regime. We conclude by discussing the contours of a new research agenda around the notion of global socio-technical regimes.     

Concentration on the few: mechanisms behind a falling share of innovative firms in Germany

Innovation activities in the German business sector showed two opposing trends over the past two decades: While total innovation expenditures grew substantially, the number of firms conducting innovation activities fell sharply. In this paper, we explore the mechanisms behind the declining trend in the share of innovation active firms. Considering both input (R&D activities) and output (introduction of innovations), we model innovation decisions as a multi-stage process using continuous-time Markov chain analysis. We base our analyses on a 14-year panel from the German part of the Community Innovation Survey. Our results show that smaller firms and firms in sectors with less innovation competition are more likely to stop innovating. We also show that better financial situation and public funding can mitigate the trend towards a falling share of innovating and R&D-performing firms.     

I agree to sit next to you. Does that mean I like you? Measuring using the wrong tapeline – the lack of ‘Social Distance’ measures for inclusive school development and research – a review of the literature

This review provides an overview of definitions and measurements of ‘Social Distance’ and attitudes children without disabilities carry towards children with disabilities. Measures include explicit and implicit approaches but clearly, the ‘Bogardus Social Distance Scale’ (A Social Distance Scale, 1933, 14 May 2014) is the most used scale in research, yet it is outdated. For a deeper look into what impacts children's ‘Social Distance’ in inclusive school settings and in order to find measurable constructs, relevant attitude questionnaires are discussed. To bring long‐used measures and attitudes together, a comprehensive model of ‘Social distance’ is introduced. This model integrates the classical view on ‘Social Distance’ as interaction willingness with feelings associated with this interaction and includes attitudes children carry towards individuals and towards the group the interaction partner is believed to belong to. In summary, this paper shows the need for a more comprehensive and precise measure on how school children really engage with one another.     

The influence of gate start position on physical performance and anxiety perception in expert BMX athletes

The critical importance of the start phase in bicycle motocross (BMX) racing is increasingly acknowledged. Past experiments underlined that the internal lane of the starting gate provides a strong positional advantage. However, how lane position affects start performance and cognitive and somatic state anxiety remains unexplored. We examined the start performance and anxiety responses of youth national-level BMX riders in both experimental and ecological contexts. We used contextualization motor imagery routines to evaluate start performance and state anxiety from the internal and external lanes. Cycle ergometer measures revealed a better start performance from the external lane, but we did not record any lane effect on actual gate start times. Both somatic and cognitive anxiety scores were higher before racing from the internal compared to the external lane. Finally, state anxiety (i.e., somatic anxiety, worry and concentration disruptions) negatively predicted the start performance. Present findings provide original insights on psychological factors involved in BMX start performance, and might contribute to fruitful coping interventions and training programmes in sports overlapping the framework of “handicap races” taking the specific form of positional advantages/disadvantages at the start (e.g., ski/snowboard cross, athletics, swimming, motorsports, etc.).     

A biomechanical comparison of countermovement performance after short-term traditional and daily-undulated loaded vertical jump training

In order to assess lower extremity muscle mechanical properties in athletes, power-load characteristics during multi-joint tasks are frequently examined. This work compared 6 weeks of traditional (TP) and daily-undulated (DUP) periodized loaded countermovement jumping (CMJ). 20 amateur athletes (age: 24.2 ± 2.6 years, height: 175.6 ± 7.1 cm, body mass: 71.5 ± 7.7 kg, 10 males/10 females) exercised three times weekly using maximal CMJs with loads corresponding to 0%, 15% and 30% of body mass. Prior to the training period, subjects were once-only assigned by random to either the TP or DUP training scheme. Pre-to-post training, maximal center of mass (COM) -height, -take-off velocity, -power output and -impulse were compared during CMJ with additional loads corresponding to 0–30% of body mass. ANOVA (time * group) with repeated measures revealed significant (P < 0.05) temporal gains of maximal COM-height (2–11%), -take-off velocity (1–7%), -power (2–8%) and -impulse (3–9%) over most loading conditions for TP and DUP. However, ANOVA indicated no group effects for any outcome. Independent from the periodization model, maximal power output remained statistically unchanged with increased testing loads. For short-term conditioning periods, TP and DUP were equally effective in enhancing biomechanical jumping variables under varying loading conditions.     

The Swedish riding school: a social arena for young riders

The aim was to explore how young riders experience the riding school. By analysing focus groups interviews, a picture emerged showing that young riders’ main motive for participating at riding schools was the social aspects. Riding schools could be characterized through an institutional perspective in which the young riders became internalized and socialized into a stable culture. The young riders identified with the norms and values of the riding instructors through master–apprentice learning. In addition, the results revealed a change in the stable culture since the instructors encouraged social interactions and participation in the community that became central to learning and development. Opportunities to influence and interact were important for the individuals and from a child’s rights perspective. Through participation in the community of practice at riding schools, young riders not only learn about riding and horse management but also develop important personal social skills.     

Implementation Factors and Their Influence on Student Mathematics Outcomes

Assessing implementation allows for a better understanding of an intervention's effects and the mechanisms that influence its impact. Two main areas of implementation are (a) the quality with which an intervention is delivered and (b) instructors’ adherence to the programmed intervention. The current study used data from a kindergarten mathematics intervention program to (a) examine if and how treatment adherence was associated with implementation quality and (b) explore implementation measures’ relation to student mathematics outcomes. Results indicated high implementation scores across time for both adherence and quality. Neither treatment adherence nor implementation quality was found to relate to a general outcome measure of student mathematics achievement; however, both were similarly related to the curricular-aligned measure.     

Does having vulnerable friends help vulnerable youth? The co-evolution of friendships,victimization, and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents' social networks

This study examined whether having vulnerable friends helps or hurts victimized and depressed (i.e., vulnerable) adolescents and whether this depends on classroom supportive norms. Students (n = 1461, 46.7% girls, 93.4% Han nationality) were surveyed four times from seventh and eighth grade (M_age = 13 years) in 2015 and 2016 in Central China. Longitudinal social network analyses indicated that having vulnerable friends can both hurt and help vulnerable adolescents. Depressed adolescents with depressed friends increased in victimization over time. Victimized adolescents with victimized friends increased in victimization but decreased in depressive symptoms. These processes were most likely in classrooms with high supportive norms. Having friends and a supportive classroom may hurt vulnerable adolescents' social position but help victims' emotional development.