Parameterising expertise in coaching: past, present and future

Research into expertise is increasing across a number of domains pertinent to sport. Whilst this increase is particularly apparent in coaching, a key question is how to identify an expert coach? Accordingly, this paper draws upon existing studies into expert coaches to address this issue; in particular, the criteria used to select expert coaches for research purposes and the methods used in expert coach research. Based on these data, we contend that the elements of expertise are not fully reflected within currently accepted criteria which, in turn, results in expert coaching research not necessarily identifying the appropriate individuals to study. The paper concludes with recommendations for more rigorous criteria for selecting expert coaches and highlights the associated implications for the future training and development of expert coaches.     

New regimes of truth: The impact of performative school self evaluation systems on teachers' professional identities

The revised inspection system in England requires schools to maintain a web-based self-evaluation, which is then used as the basis for high-stakes external inspection. This paper develops a Foucauldian analysis of interview data from a single case study site to illustrate the ways that new regimes of truth are created within schools and to consider the impact of disciplinary systems on teachers' professional identities.     

Lexical processing skill in college-age resilient readers

Despite an extensive literature linking individual differences in phonological processing to reading ability, some adults show normal text comprehension abilities despite poor pseudoword reading (Jackson & Doellinger (2002). Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 64–78). This study was undertaken to investigate differences between these individuals, termed resilient readers, and proficient readers in performance and degree of lateralization on a variety of single word processing tasks. Participants completed seven divided visual field tasks investigating various aspects of reading. Resilient readers performed less accurately on basic word recognition tasks, but not on the tasks involving semantic access. Resilient readers did not differ from proficient readers on reaction time or lateralization on any of the experimental tasks. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that skilled phonological decoding is not necessary for reading for meaning in a college population. It is proposed that higher-level semantic information and general world knowledge may allow some readers to compensate for deficiencies in lower-level word recognition processes.

ENTRE REPRODUCTION ET MOBILISATION: LES RAPPORTS DE GENRE EN FORMATION CONTINUE EN FRANCE ET AU CANADA

La situation des femmes en éducation initiale a beaucoup évolué depuis 40 ans. Mais qu’en est-il de leur situation en éducation et formation des adultes? Cet article, comparant le Canada et la France, montre que si les femmes ont un taux de participation plus élevé que les hommes, ce qui est un fait connu, leur présence plus forte en formation à vocation professionnelle constitue, toutefois, un phénomène nouveau. L’analyse met en relief certaines particularités, telles qu’un recours plus important à la formation continue au Canada, ou encore une probabilité plus élevée, en France, de la participation des employés à temps complet. Dans les deux pays, la participation des femmes demeure modulée par divers facteurs sociaux.     

Sources of satisfaction and stress among Indigenous academic teachers: findings from a national Australian study

Academics of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent are few in number but play a vital role in Australian university teaching. In addition to teaching both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, they interact with academic colleagues in a context where pressures to “Indigenize” Australian curricula and increase Indigenous enrolments are growing. In this article, we will draw on our nation-wide research with Indigenous academics to further explore this under-researched area of Australian university teaching, and the highs and lows of how Indigenous teachers experience their roles. Our findings reveal that for our Indigenous colleagues, sources of personal and professional satisfaction – as well as stress – appear qualitatively different from those commonly associated with academic work. Of particular concern are the findings in relation to issues of cultural difference on our campuses, played out in the ways Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff and students interact daily. Counterbalancing this potential negativity is the strong, indeed inspiring, commitment on the part of our Indigenous academic participants to the educational futures of their students, and thus, to the futures of Indigenous communities across Australia. The findings raise some thought-provoking questions for individuals and institutions in the higher education systems of our region, and perhaps beyond.     

Diet sampling by wild Norway rats offered several unfamiliar foods

The present experiment was undertaken to examine directly the diet sampling behavior of wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) faced with a choice among familiar and unfamiliar foods. First-generation, laboratory-reared wild Norway rats ate from four food cups. Three of the food cups were in unfamiliar locations and contained unfamiliar foods. The remaining food cup was in a familiar location and contained a familiar food. Subjects in a control group were offered the familiar food in all four locations. We found (1) that subjects in experimental and control conditions took equal amounts of time to first visit food cups in unfamiliar locations, (2) that subjects in the experimental condition (those with access to unfamiliar foods) ate at unfamiliar locations at a slower rate than did subjects in the control condition (those with access only to familiar food), (3) that subjects in the experimental condition were no more likely than subjects in the control condition to eat at one unfamiliar location at a time, and (4) that following a bout of eating at an unfamiliar food cup, subjects in the experimental condition waited no longer than subjects in the control condition before eating from a different unfamiliar food cup. We interpreted these data as indicating that although wild Norway rats are hesitant to eat unfamiliar foods, once they begin to eat such foods, they do not sample among them so as to facilitate identification of any toxin present.