RESILIENCY PROFILES OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY AND THEIR TYPICALLY DEVELOPING PEERS

Intellectual disability (ID) is associated with a range of risk factors that make children more vulnerable to adverse developmental outcomes, including mental health problems. Nevertheless, some children with ID do much better than others, presumably because of the presence of protective factors that increase their resilience. The current study compared resiliency profiles of children with ID (n = 115; mean age, 11.9 years) and their typically developing peers (n = 106; mean age, 11.8 years) using the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents and the Healthy Kids Resilience Assessment. In many respects, children with ID and their typically developing peers reported similar levels of the protective factors that are associated with resilience. However, the children with ID reported higher levels of emotional sensitivity and lower tolerance, as well as fewer future goals. Compared with typically developing children, those with ID reported more support at school and less support within their communities. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to promote positive developmental outcomes and to prevent the adverse sequelae that have been associated with low intelligence.     

The casualisation of teaching and the subject at risk

The casualisation of teaching in Australian higher education has come to be problematised as a risk to the quality of teaching and learning. However, the potential and location of risk, and therefore what constitutes an appropriate institutional intervention, requires interrogation as universities comply with the various regulations that, on the one hand, legitimise further casualisation in the name of flexibility, and on the other, insist on institutional responsibilities in the performance of quality. Taking a critical approach to risk consciousness, this paper examines the way casualisation is produced through workplace reform and problematised as a danger to the student learning experience through the quality agenda in Australian higher education. By examining the tensions between the discourses of flexibility and quality, the authors argue that casualisation should not simply be understood as a problem with individual teaching expertise that can be overcome through formal training of the individual. The neo-liberal political rationality that seeks to individuate responsibility and locate “risk” in this way masks the broader systemic tensions within the culture of the university which the authors argue have increasingly profound consequences for the quality of university education. Arguing that professional learning and quality enhancement are the product of open collaborative and collegial social practice, the authors conclude that addressing casualisation only in terms of systematic teacher training is a politically expedient response to a highly complex political issue facing Australian universities. Drawing on professional learning literature, the authors argue for a shift in policy and practice within the university to recognise, value and integrate the expertise and potential quality contribution of casual teaching staff at a micro-level with a particular focus on the teaching team.     

Making Soweto stories: photovoice meets the New Literacy Studies

Adult literacy is a crucial element of community and economic development in South Africa and many developing countries striving to meet Millennium Development Goals. However, few governments invest the recommended 6% of education budgets on programmes for adults. Without resources, volunteer educators and international supporters rely on their own creativity to generate project-based learning. Freirian pedagogy and the New Literacy Studies, which theorizes literacy practices grounded in the meaning of daily life, inform this study. This article documents a photovoice project for literacy development in Soweto, South Africa. The project was an initiative stemming from international and cross-cultural collaboration between two women, Geraldine Monama, the literacy coordinator at Orlando East library in Soweto, and Strawn, a community development and adult literacy researcher from the United States. We report what we learned from the project and details of the collaborative process to support similar efforts.     

Export restrictions,tax incentives and the national artistic patrimony

This paper analyses the main forms of government intervention used in the UK to protect the national artistic patrimony. It examines the two most common policy measures used in the art market ‐ export regulation and tax incentives ‐ and reports their use over an eight‐year period from 1990 to 1998. It also reviews the UK's collective obligations to patrimony internationally and specifically as a member of the European Union. This is the first time that these related topics have been considered as a whole.     

The hip control test is a valid and reliable measure of hip neuromuscular control

Abstract

Insufficient hip neuromuscular control may contribute to non-contact sport injuries. However, the current evaluative test of hip neuromuscular control, the single-leg squat, requires hip abductor muscle strength to complete. The purpose of this study was to develop the hip control test (HCT) and determine the test’s reliability and construct validity. Nineteen healthy adults visited the laboratory twice. The HCT is a 10-s test of reciprocal toe-tapping accuracy. Both automated and manual HCT ratings were recorded simultaneously during each visit. Additionally, eccentric hip abductor torque was measured. HCT reliability was assessed with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Agreement between automated and manual ratings was determined with Bland–Altman plots. Construct validity was established if HCT performance significantly decreased with a secondary cognitive task (p < 0.05). Bivariate regression determined the relationship between HCT performance and eccentric hip abductor torque. Automated and manual HCT ratings both had moderate reliability (ICC = 0.72) and yielded similar results (limits of agreement = ?1 to 2 taps). The HCT had construct validity (p = 0.001), and no correlation with hip abductor muscle strength (r = 0.213). Thus, the HCT is a reliable and valid test. The HCT is simple to administer and measures hip neuromuscular control separately from strength.     

Mentoring and sponsorship in higher education institutions: men’s invisible advantage in STEM?

ABSTRACT

This article is concerned with the source of men’s invisible advantage in the male-dominated disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It is suggested that this advantage has been obscured by combining sponsorship and mentoring. The research asks: Are men or women most likely to be mentored? Is it possible to distinguish between mentoring and sponsorship? Is there gender variation in either or both of these depending on the source – whether from the academic supervisor, line manager or other senior academics? This qualitative study draws on interview data from 106 respondents (57 men and 48 women) at high, mid and early levels, in four universities: one each in Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, and Turkey. It shows that both men and women received mentoring from their PhD supervisor, albeit with slightly different reported nuances. Men were more likely than women to receive sponsorship in that relationship. Both men and women received sponsorship from the Head of Department, whose wider responsibilities may have reduced homophily. Men were more likely than women to receive sponsorship and mentoring from senior men, with most women indicating a lack of access to such senior academics. By distinguishing between mentoring and sponsorship, this article contributes to our understanding of the way male dominance in STEM is perpetuated and suggests the source of men’s invisible advantage in STEM.     

Economic impact of the arts: Theatre festivals in small Ontario communities

Conclusions This paper has demonstrated that visitors to professional theatre companies located in towns and villages of southern Ontario contribute to the economic well-being of the local economy. Furthermore, it has been documented that while all communities receive some monetary benefits, spatial variations are found to exist. These discrepancies are a function of differences in the average expenditures of non-local residents and the total number of visitors attending the theatre event. As expected, average expenditures appear to be highest in communities supporting a large commercial sector which are capable of sustaining a touris market. Moreover, the number of visitors attending a theatre event appears to be greatest in small communities supporting an established theratre company.     

Performance analysis and prediction in triathlon

Performance in triathlon is dependent upon factors that include somatotype, physiological capacity, technical proficiency and race strategy. Given the multidisciplinary nature of triathlon and the interaction between each of the three race components, the identification of target split times that can be used to inform the design of training plans and race pacing strategies is a complex task. The present study uses machine learning techniques to analyse a large database of performances in Olympic distance triathlons (2008–2012). The analysis reveals patterns of performance in five components of triathlon (three race “legs” and two transitions) and the complex relationships between performance in each component and overall performance in a race. The results provide three perspectives on the relationship between performance in each component of triathlon and the final placing in a race. These perspectives allow the identification of target split times that are required to achieve a certain final place in a race and the opportunity to make evidence-based decisions about race tactics in order to optimise performance.