Stress and coping in primary caregivers of children with a disability: a qualitative study using the Lazarus and Folkman Process Model of Coping

Twenty-six primary caregivers of children with a disability took part in focus groups or interviews to discuss their perceptions of stress and the coping process. Research was framed within the Process Model of Stress and Coping ( Lazarus & Folkman, 1984 ). Findings provided a snapshot of the common stresses encountered by caregivers and indicate the need to consider individual experiences when determining the impact of stressful events. Eight common stressors were identified, as well as novel constructions of stressful experiences. Results suggested that a range of coping resources and strategies were employed. The study also indicated that the majority of participants adapted well to the requirements of raising a child with a disability. The current study indicates the value of using qualitative methods, particularly with unique populations, to inform policy and service provision.     

Comparison of athletic movement between elite junior and senior Australian football players

This study compared the athletic movement skill between elite Under-18 (U18) Australian football (AF) and senior Australian Football League (AFL) players. The U18 sample (n = 13; 17.7 ± 0.6 years) were representatives of an elite talent development programme. The AFL players were classified accordingly; Group 1 (1–4 AFL seasons; n = 20; 21.2 ± 1.9 years) and Group 2 (>5 AFL seasons; n = 14; 26.3 ± 2.6 years). Participants performed an athletic movement skill assessment, inclusive of five foundational movements. Each movement was scored across three assessment points using a three-point scale. Total score for each movement (maximum of nine) and overall score (maximum of 63) were used as criteria. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the effect of developmental group (three levels) on the criteria. Receiver operating curves were built to examine the discriminant capability of the overall score. A significant effect of developmental group was noted, with the U18 sample having a lower mean total score for four of the five movements. Overall scores of 49/63 and 50/63 discriminated the elite U18 sample from Group 1 and Group 2, respectively. U18 players may have less developed athletic movement skills when compared to their senior AFL counterparts.     

Sociology,ethnography and teacher practice

It is argued that the increasing use of qualitative techniques, especially ethnography, in the study of education offers strong possibilities for bridging the traditional gaps between theory and research, on the one hand, and teacher practice on the other. Its potential lies in its ability to produce information that teachers value, its role as an aid to the appreciation of theory through its inductive processes, its practical importance, and its emphasis on the self, which helps give teachers a sense of control over their lives. In preservice teacher education, ethnography might be used chiefly to induce reflectiveness and to encourage observational skills. But it is in inservice education that it is likely to have most impact, for teachers are themselves, by this stage, ‘participant observers’. There are even greater opportunities in the rapid growth of joint enterprises between academics and teachers, such as the use of life histories, action research, and role sharing.     

Theorising the value of collage in exploring educational leadership

This article contributes to theorising the value of collage as a methodological approach. It begins with a discussion of the methodological difficulties of exploring hidden meanings and individual experience through the research process. The illuminative potential of arts‐based methodologies in qualitative research is then investigated. The article makes the case for the specific advantages of using collage to explore the experience of leadership, through a discussion of two collage‐based studies. It proposes a variant of the ‘think aloud’ process, used in conjunction with collage, as a route to producing deep understandings of the multiple ways in which leadership is experienced and understood as a social process. The argument is made that collage enables the accessing and sharing of profound levels of experience not accessible through words alone, and considers the impact of the physicality of collage on its potential to release these profound insights. A five‐stage process for the analysis of collage is then set out. The article concludes by offering a theory of the value of collage as a methodological approach to exploring experiences of leadership, through use of the concepts of physicality, wholeness and participant agency.     

Policy on School Diversity: Taking an Existential Turn in the Pursuit of Valued Learning?

This paper develops a 'conceptual map' by which to chart contemporary developments in policy on school diversity. In part this has been prompted by the prospect in England of (private) Steiner schools becoming more closely involved in mainstream state-funded education. Whilst generated principally by policy developments within the UK, the conceptual thinking may also have wider applicability. We conceptualise diversity in the context of a differentiating public domain and a concern with existential questions which, arguably, persists in educational policy even where narrow 'performative' criteria are dominant. Four diversity models are outlined and a policy path over time suggested in relation to these. We suggest that this may be leading towards diversity policy which affords greater recognition to different conceptions of valued learning and encourages co-operative exploration of thesse, though it is acknowledged that there remain strong contrary pressures.     

Educationally Queer: Teaching lesbian and gay studies in higher education

Empirical evidence shows widespread homophobia among university and college students, but also that this can be undermined by the presence of openly gay teachers and courses on gay topics. Such courses recruit well, especially among heterosexual women. Personal experience as a student in school and university, then as an English lecturer and the UK's first professor of gay and lesbian studies, suggests that change, although slow, is evident. However, it is best achieved by holistic approaches to education which take into account the personal identity of the tutor as well as those of students. In particular, the relationship between personal growth and the reading of gay literature needs to be explicitly acknowledged     

Students’ ‘uses and gratification expectancy’ conceptual framework in relation to E-learning resources

This paper presents the systematic development of a ‘Uses and Gratification Expectancy’ (UGE) conceptual framework which is able to predict students’ ‘Perceived e-Learning Experience. ’ It is argued that students’ UGE as regards e-learning resources cannot be implicitly or explicitly explored without first examining underlying communication theories and learning perspectives. As such, the theoretical framework is grounded in the confluence of theories from communication theories and learning perspectives. The integration of Expectancy-value Theory, and the Uses and Gratification Theory serves to accommodate the suggestion that elearning resources offer gratifications that are expected and valued by students. The key theoretical and practical assumptions of the UGE approach are highlighted and consistently implemented in the conceptual edifice.     

A National Profile of Teacher Education Faculty: The Construction of an Online Survey

The purposes of this study were to examine the test-retest reliability of the PACER 20-m, multistage shuttle run and to examine the equivalence reliability of the mile run/walk and PACER from both a criterion-referenced and norm-referenced framework. All fourth- and fifth-grade children (N = 266) from one public school were administered two trials of the PACER and one trial of the mile run/walk (mean age = 10.5 ± 0.5 years). The percent of boys that passed the PACER (68%) was similar to the percent of boys that passed the mile run/walk (66%); however, the percent of girls that passed the PACER (96%) far exceeded the percent of girls that passed the mile run/walk (65%). Criterion-referenced reliability was estimated with proportion of agreement (Pa) and modified kappa (Kq) using FITNESSGRAM® (Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research, 1992) standards. Pa = .97 (Kq = .94) for girls and Pa = .82 (Kq = .65) for boys. The high level of agreement for girls was found because of the low criterion-referenced standards, which allowed 99 of 104 girls to pass both trials of the PACER. Criterion-referenced equivalence reliability of the mile run/walk and PACER was moderate for boys (Pa = .83, Kq = .65) and low for girls (Pa = .66, Kq = .33). The low level of classification agreement for girls was also explained by the low standards for the PACER for this age group. Thirty-four percent of the girls that passed the PACER failed the mile run/walk. Norm-referenced test-retest reliability of the PACER was estimated with an intraclass correlation (R_xx) from a one-way analysis of variance model. Reliability estimates were high for two trials (R_xx = .89 for boys and R_xx = .89 for girls) and acceptable for one trial (R_xx = .80 for boys and R_xx = .79 for girls). Pearson correlations between the mile run/walk and PACER were moderate (-.59≤r≤-.67). The moderate correlations between the mile run/walk and PACER and the low criterion-referenced...     

The Effects of Achieved National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification on the Marginality of Physical Education Teachers

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between achieving The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification and feelings of marginality of physical education teachers. Data sources included a focus group interview with 6 National Board Certified Physical Education Teachers (NBCPETs) and individual phone interviews with 20 NBCPETs using an interview guide (Patton, 2007 Patton, M. Q. 2007. Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishers..  [Google Scholar]). Data were analyzed inductively using the Miles and Huberman (1984) Miles, M. B. and Huberman, A. M. 1984. Qualitative data analysis: A source book of new methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishers..  [Google Scholar] four-stage process. Findings indicated that teachers and administrators considered National Board Certification a symbol of highly skilled teaching. Possessing this symbol changed the way the NBCPETs approached their work and how others acted toward them. NBCPETs felt more confident, more vocal, and more active in leadership positions.