Pedagogical possibilities for unruly bodies

Project Re?Vision uses disability arts to disrupt stereotypical understandings of disability and difference that create barriers to healthcare. In this paper, we examine how digital stories produced through Re?Vision disrupt biopedagogies by working as body-becoming pedagogies to create non-didactic possibilities for living in/with difference. We engage in meaning making about eight stories made by women and trans people living with disabilities and differences, with our interpretations guided by the following considerations: what these stories ‘teach’ about new ways of living with disability; how these stories resist neoliberalism through their production of new possibilities for living; how digital stories wrestle with representing disability in a culture in which disabled bodies are on display or hidden away; how vulnerability and receptivity become ‘conditions of possibility’ for the embodiments represented in digital stories; and how curatorial practice allows disability-identified artists to explore possibilities of ‘looking back’ at ableist gazes.     

Back to the Future – in support of a renewed emphasis on generic agility training within sports-specific developmental pathways

Perhaps as a consequence of increased specialism in training and support, the focus on engendering and maintaining agility as a generic quality has diminished within many contemporary sports performance programmes. Reflecting this, we outline a rationale suggesting that such a decreased focus represents an oversight which may be detrimental to maximising the potential of performers. We present an evidence-based argument that both generic and specific elements of agility performance should be consistently emphasised within long-term performance-training programmes. We contend that prematurely early specialisation in athlete development models can diminish focus on generic movement skill development with a subsequent detriment in adult performance. Especially when this is coupled with poor primary physical education and limited movement experiences. More speculatively, we propose that generic agility can play a role in operationalising movement development through facilitating skill transfer: thereby enabling the learning of new skills, reduce incidence of injury and facilitating re-learning of old skills during rehabilitation and Return-to-Play processes.     

Language-learning disabilities: Paradigms for the nineties

We are beginning a decade, during which many traditional paradigms in education, special education, and speech-language pathology will undergo change. Among paradigms considered promising for speech-language pathology in the schools are collaborative language intervention and strategy training for language and communication. This presentation introduces management models for developing a collaborative language intervention process, among them the Deming Management Method for Total Quality (TQ) (Deming 1986). Implementation models for language assessment and IEP planning and multicultural issues are also introduced (Damico and Nye 1990; Secord and Wiig in press). While attention to processes involved in developing and implementing collaborative language intervention is paramount, content should not be neglected. To this end, strategy training for language and communication is introduced as a viable paradigm. Macro- and micro-level process models for strategy training are featured and general issues are discussed (Ellis, Deshler, and Schumaker 1989; Swanson 1989; Wiig 1989). The Samuel Torrey and June Lyday Orton Memorial Lecture, delivered at the 41st Annual Conference of The Orton Dyslexia Society, Washington, DC., November 1, 1990.     

Embedding Education for Sustainable Development in higher education: A case study examining common challenges and opportunities for undergraduate programmes

This paper explores the perceptions of academics and students towards embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into undergraduate degree programmes in the School for Earth, Ocean and Environmental Science (SEOES) at the University of Plymouth. The main purpose of the research was to identify current ESD related teaching and learning in a science-based undergraduate programme and the opportunities for, and barriers to, further extensions of ESD. The results indicate that there is general support for the embedding of ESD in the curriculum, but there is considerable uncertainty expressed by lecturers concerning how this can best be done. There is a general concern that additional embedding into the degree programme might lead to reductions in the amount of core subject matter being taught. The programme and ESD agendas are to an extent seen by lecturers as conflicting. ESD is viewed mainly in terms of curriculum content as opposed to the pedagogy employed.     

愚蠢的罪犯,可悲的结局!

这六个故事中的笨蛋终于明白了犯罪是没有好结果的被紧紧卡住德克萨斯州,登顿市通道的另一头没有亮光。当警察赶到一处     

Collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights organisations in Senegal: lessons learned

This study identifies lessons learned from a collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) organisations in Senegal established in the context of an SRHR programme for young people. We assessed how helpline operators are equipped to address sexual health and rights issues with young people, what the relevant skills of operators are, and to what extent referral to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) service providers took place. A documentary review, a vignette study and interviews with six key informants and all seven operators took place. The collaboration led to promising initiatives, such as the provision of SRH training, the exchange of staff, referral to SRH service providers. However, the counselling advice provided by operators was not always in line with the rights-based approach and responses were influenced by underlying norms concerning young people’s sexuality. Additionally, concerns about confidentiality were noted. The collaboration was an innovative attempt to respond to young people’s limited access to SRHR information and services but there is a need for more in-depth training of helpline operator’s skills and the development of a standardised rights-based counselling manual.     

Working while studying: the impact of term-time employment on dropout rates

There are many possible reasons why students leave university prior to degree completion, and one of the more commonly cited is being employed while studying. This paper analyses the impact of employment status on dropout rates using survival analysis. It finds that employment status does have an impact on dropout rates; students who work full time alongside studying full time are less likely to complete their programme than students working short part-time or not working at all. However, it seems as if there is a threshold to how much students can work, as working more than 20?h a week (long part-time work) increase the risk of dropout as much as full-time work. Integrating employment status into the analysis does not change the effect of variables known to have an influence on dropout, such as grades, gender and social background, but it contributes to further explain who are at risk of dropout. This implies that models for dropout and retention must also take such external factors into account, not just consider what happens at university, as in model of student departure.     

Learning by restorying

In this paper, we introduce restorying, a pedagogical approach based on social constructivism that employs successive iterations of rewriting and discussing personal, student-generated, domain-relevant stories to promote conceptual application, critical thinking, and ill-structured problem solving skills. Using a naturalistic, qualitative case study design, this study describes and analyzes how restorying promoted learning and transfer for master’s level students in two sections of a conflict management class. Data sources included course documents, course assignments, class observations, interviews, focus groups, and surveys. An inductive analytic approach using constant comparative methods was employed for analyzing qualitative data, and course section assignment performance averages were calculated for analyzing quantitative data. The restorying approach emphasizes learning new content through personal story application and story sharing among course participants. The restorying approach offers a potentially viable alternative for those not satisfied with conventional case studies. Conventional case studies may fall short in providing the desired range or complexity of problem space elements or may embed problems in contexts that are not learner relevant. Moreover, the sustained analysis of a past personal experience may result in deeper internalization of domain content and transfer of learning. While restorying may not be appropriate for some learning contexts, it holds promise for settings that can incorporate the key elements and address the adoption considerations described in this paper. The restorying approach invites one to consider how personal, student-generated, domain-relevant stories may be employed, shared, reflected upon, revised, expanded upon, and redeployed to promote achievement of desired learning outcomes.     

Student use of out-of-class study groups in an introductory undergraduate biology course

Self-formed out-of-class study groups may benefit student learning; however, few researchers have quantified the relationship between study group use and achievement or described changes in study group usage patterns over a semester. We related study group use to performance on content exams, explored patterns of study group use, and qualitatively described student perceptions of study groups. A pre- and posttest were used to measure student content knowledge. Internet-based surveys were used to collect quantitative data on exam performance and qualitative data on study group usage trends and student perceptions of study groups. No relationship was found between gains in content knowledge and study group use. Students who participated in study groups did, however, believe they were beneficial. Four patterns of study group use were identified: students either always (14%) or never (55%) used study groups, tried but quit using them (22%), or utilized study groups only late in the semester (9%). Thematic analysis revealed preconceptions and in-class experiences influence student decisions to utilize study groups. We conclude that students require guidance in the successful use of study groups. Instructors can help students maximize study group success by making students aware of potential group composition problems, helping students choose group members who are compatible, and providing students materials on which to focus their study efforts.     

Aspiring girls: great expectations or impossible dreams?

This study explores girls’ aspirations for their future. The context was an ex-coalmining area where concerns had been raised by the local authority about the levels of girls’ achievement. The focus of the research was the views of Year 6 girls as they prepared for their transition to secondary school and Year 11 girls as they prepared for their transition to post-compulsory school life. Perspectives of their staff were also sought, focusing on the impact of school and its community on girls’ aspirations. Findings indicated that while the aspirations of the primary school girls were similar, those of the secondary girls differed significantly. Staff viewed this as reflective of the local context and school ethos. These responses offer a basis on which schools could build strategies to increase aspirations and provide support towards their achievement.