The isles of wonder—a new Jerusalem? British newspaper narratives about the opening ceremony of the XXXth Olympiad

The Isles of Wonder, the 2012 London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, was viewed by a record global audience either live or through a range of electronic, social, and print media. British newspaper discourses provided reflection of the mega-sporting event as a ‘second-order’ construction, which gave readers an opportunity to reflexively decide what Britishness had come to represent. Theoretical insights about British identity were drawn from Anderson’s (1983 Anderson, B. 1983. Imagined Communities. New York: Verso. [Google Scholar]) concept of the nation as an ‘imagined community’, Tajfel and Turner’s (1986 Tajfel, H., and J. Turner. 1986. “The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior.” In Psychology of Intergroup Relations, edited by S. Worchel and W. G. Austin, 7–24. 2nd ed. Chicago: Nelson Hall Publishers. [Google Scholar]) social identity theory, and Edmunds and Turner’s (2001 Edmunds, J., and B. S. Turner. 2001. “The Re-Invention of a National Identity? Women and Cosmopolitan Englishness.” Ethnicities 1 (1): 83–108.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) juxtaposition of benign and malign nationalism. Our qualitative textual analysis revealed that although at times complex, contested, and contradictory, the narratives generally linked the internationalism of the Olympics with a progressive, benign version of Britishness that was still ‘great’. Underpinned by the aspirational New Jerusalem theme, the narratives generally acclaimed the Isles of Wonder as Britain’s first gold medal of the Games.     

Physical movement demands of elite-level netball match-play as measured by an indoor positioning system

ABSTRACT

Physical movement demands in elite netball match-play have been limited to notational analysis or accelerometer-derived measures, due in part to the indoor environment in which they are played. Commercially available local positioning systems (LPS) using ultra-wideband communication have been designed to bring similar capabilities as global positioning systems (GPS) to indoor environments. This study aims to quantify both spatiotemporal and traditional accelerometer-derived measures, to assess the movement demands of all playing positions, during Australian national netball league matches. Total distance, metreage per minute, acceleration density, acceleration density index, acceleration load, jumps, velocity bands, acceleration bands and PlayerLoad variables have been presented for each position. Mean total distance-covered in match-play differed substantially between positions. Centre position accumulated the highest mean distance (5462.1 ± 169.4 m), whilst the Goal Shooter consistently covered the lowest mean distance (2134 ± 102.6 m). Change of direction relative to movement area was highest for the two most restricted positions based on average acceleration per 10 m covered during match-play (Goal Shooter; 7.21 ± 0.88 m · s ^{? 2} and Goal Keeper; 6.75 ± 0.37 m · s ^{? 2}, remaining positions; 5.71 ± 0.14 m · s ^{? 2}). The positional profiles outlined in this study can assist skill and conditioning coaches to prescribe training sessions that will optimise the athlete’s physical preparation for the demands of competition.     

Rolling out ‘good’, ‘best’ and ‘excellent’ practice. What next? Perfect practice?

The identification and dissemination of ‘good practice’ has for years been a central part of the Government's strategy for radical change of the education system. ‘Good practice’, however, is no longer good enough, nor is ‘best practice’. The requirement now for post‐compulsory education and training (from which all our examples are taken) is nothing less than ‘excellent practice for all’. This article critically examines these highly significant shifts in the rhetoric of policy, finds them wanting and argues that we need to face up to the complexities involved in deciding not only what is ‘excellent practice’ but also in working through all the stages which would be needed to transmit it throughout the sector. In particular, recent documents from the Quality Improvement Agency and the Learning and Skills Council on the pursuit of excellence are critically appraised. The views of those practitioners who are part of the authors' project in the Economic and Social Research Council's Teaching and Learning Research Programme are also explained in relation to ‘good practice’. The authors attempt to explain the frenetic activity of politicians and policy makers in this sector, and end by moving from critique to construction by considering what can be rescued from the inherently contestable notion of ‘good practice’, and, in doing so, draw heavily on the work of Robin Alexander.