Primary teachers as readers

In the context of the continued pressure and politicisation of the teaching of reading in England, the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) sought to ascertain patterns in primary teachers' reading, both personally and professionally. The project, undertaken in 11 Local Authorities in England, explored 1200 primary teachers' personal reading habits and preferences, investigated their knowledge of children's literature, and documented their reported use of texts in the classroom through a questionnaire. In addition, it sought to establish the extent of the teachers' involvement with and use of local area/school library services. This paper reports on the findings with reference to the teachers' personal reading, the frequency of this reading and the sources they use to select their reading material. It also considers the teachers' favourite childhood texts and the books they identified as highly significant to them, as well as their perceptions of the importance of literature. Connections are made to the data gathered about their knowledge of children's literature, and how primary teachers decide which literature to work with in the classroom.     

Associations Between Reading Skills,Interest in Reading,and Teaching Practices in First Grade

This study examined associations between classroom-level reading fluency, comprehension, interest in reading, and teaching practices. Participants were 466 children from 21 classrooms. Reading fluency and interest were assessed at the beginning and end of Grade 1, reading comprehension at the end of Grade 1. Teaching practices were observed with the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM). Teachers were more likely to use teacher-directed methods in classrooms where children had poorer initial reading fluency. In classrooms with mostly child-centered methods, children showed better reading fluency, comprehension, and higher interest, whereas in classrooms with predominately teacher-directed practices, children had lower reading comprehension at the end of Grade 1. Findings highlight the need for teacher education programs to incorporate discussions about the benefits and disadvantages of different teaching methods.     

The role of teacher-related factors in mathematics skills between children attending Estonian-speaking and Russian-speaking schools

This study examined the extent to which teaching practices and teaching experience predict mathematics skills of children’s in the third through fifth grade by focusing on three cognitive components: (1) knowing facts and procedures, (2) applying this knowledge and (3) using reasoning. This study was longitudinal. The data was collected from 1810 students and 90 teachers attending Estonian- and Russian-speaking schools. The students’ were tested twice, at the beginning of the third and at the beginning of the fifth grade. The teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their teaching practices. The results revealed that teachers from Estonian-speaking and Russian-speaking schools’ classrooms differed in their use of teaching practices and teaching experience. Teachers in Russian-speaking schools were slightly more experienced, and they reported using more teacher-centred practices compared to teachers in Estonian-speaking schools. The study showed different effects on the outcomes of the children attending classrooms where the study language was Estonian and Russian in solving arithmetic word problems when accounting for the teachers’ use of different learner-centred teaching practices in the classroom.     

Running for your life: A review of physical activity and cardiovascular disease risk reduction in individuals with schizophrenia

Individuals with schizophrenia have a greater risk for cardiometabolic risk factors (e.g. central obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidaemia), cardiovascular diseases and mortality. This risky profile may be explained by the adverse effects of antipsychotic medications and an unhealthy lifestyle (e.g. smoking, poor nutrition and low physical activity). In the general population, physical activity has been shown to be the optimal strategy to improve both cardiometabolic parameters and cardiorespiratory fitness levels. Accordingly, an emerging literature of non-pharmacological interventions (e.g. cognitive behavioural therapy, diet and physical activity) has been studied in individuals with schizophrenia. Therefore, the purpose of this review was 1) to conduct a critical literature review of non-pharmacological interventions that included some kind of physical activity (including supervised and unsupervised exercise training) and target cardiometabolic risk factors in individuals with schizophrenia. 2) To describe the contribution of physical activity alone by reviewing trials of supervised exercise training programmes only. A literature review via systematic keyword search for publications in Medline, PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO was performed. Many non-pharmacological interventions are efficient in reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors when combined with physical activity. Supervised physical activity has been successful in decreasing cardiovascular disease risk, and aerobic interval training appears to provide more benefits by specifically targeting cardiorespiratory fitness levels. In conclusion, physical activity is an effective strategy for addressing cardiovascular disease risk in individuals with schizophrenia. Long-term studies are needed to evaluate the feasibility and impact of exercise training programmes in individuals with schizophrenia.     

Three-dimensional kinematics of competitive and recreational cyclists across different workloads during cycling

Although the link between sagittal plane motion and exercise intensity has been highlighted, no study assessed if different workloads lead to changes in three-dimensional cycling kinematics. This study compared three-dimensional joint and segment kinematics between competitive and recreational road cyclists across different workloads. Twenty-four road male cyclists (12 competitive and 12 recreational) underwent an incremental workload test to determine aerobic peak power output. In a following session, cyclists performed four trials at sub-maximal workloads (65, 75, 85 and 95% of their aerobic peak power output) at 90?rpm of pedalling cadence. Mean hip adduction, thigh rotation, shank rotation, pelvis inclination (latero-lateral and anterior–posterior), spine inclination and rotation were computed at the power section of the crank cycle (12 o'clock to 6 o'clock crank positions) using three-dimensional kinematics. Greater lateral spine inclination (p?p?p?相似文献   

Rethinking inequalities between deindustrialisation,schools and educational research in Geelong

Inequalities have historically been conceptualised and empirically explored with primary reference to the human. Both measurements of educational inequalities through the production of data about students, teachers and schools, and ethnographic explorations of inequalities in the spoken accounts of human actors in schools can elide affective histories and material geologies of the earth that entwine with societal inequalities, and political questions of the relation between particular human bodies and the earth. In this article, we question: What might it do to rethink the concept of educational inequalities beyond human relations, from within a specific geographical territory? We seek to rethink inequalities including but exceeding these human relations; we argue that inequalities between humans, and between humans and the more-than-human, are materially generated and perpetuated. We offer three theoretical trajectories that consider the affective, spatial and material dimensions of inequality to rethink the relations between inequality, deindustrialisation and schooling. Educational research is implicated in the (re)production of inequalities, as well as having the potential to be part of the production of more equitable relations.     

Collaborative Amateur Production of Educational Videos,which are Viewed on Mobiles: Addressing Poor Technical Resources for Nigerian Creative Arts Academics

This research was a co‐creation and co‐assessment exercise between the researchers, participating printmaking and weaving academics and their students in a Nigerian university. The poor technical resources and increasingly large student groups in the design department, which severely hampers the delivery of an effective education, were addressed. The academics were supported to learn how to create their own instructional videos for their students, demonstrating identified designer‐maker skills and how to use required equipment. These academics are now empowered and have the knowledge to produce their own instructional videos without professional assistance. This is also irrespective of their previous experiences of using video equipment and developing video content.     

Rethinking literacy: communication,representation and text

In this article I want to consider shifts in the use of the word ‘literacy’ and the implications for classroom work with texts, particularly the implications of the rapid and radical emergence of new relationships between different modes of representation and communication ( Kress, 2003; Raney, 1996; Unsworth, 2001 ). My concern is to argue that any approach to classroom literacy needs not only to recognise the new forms of text which children meet every day but to give multimodal texts a firm place in the curriculum. Further, if the text experience of young learners about these new combinations of modes of representation are to be realised in the classroom, then we need a framework for describing those texts. An approach which takes account of the rhetoric of design may be a way forward.