Sports History: Reflections on My Journey So Far

Abstract

In this article, I reflect on my journey into sports history and my career path so far. I also discuss my experiences as part of the British Society of Sports History.     

Evaluation of compatibility effects in the precuing of arm and direction parameters

The present study evaluated the role of compatibility effects in the precuing of arm and direction parameters. In the first two experiments different stimulus and response arrangements were examined. For all three experiments the spatial precue and imperative stimuli were compatibly assigned to responses (i.e., a direct correspondence existed between the stimulus and response locations). Experiments 1 and 2 indirectly tested the effect of decision processes required by the stimulus-response set. Experiment 1 replicated previous research that has found longer reaction times for the direction uncertain parameter as compared to arm uncertain. Experiment 2 examined the precuing of arm and direction parameters with stimuli that maintained right-left arrangements for both parameters. Unlike Experiment 1, reaction times did not differ for precuing the two movement parameters. Experiment 3 directly examined the effect of differential decision requirements from up-down spatial stimuli and right-left spatial stimuli for a single parameter. In support of results from the first two experiments, results indicated longer reaction times for decisions from up-down stimuli as compared to right-left stimuli. Because reaction times for precued movement parameters are a function of the stimulus and response arrangements used, differences in reaction times are most likely due to compatibility effects arising from differences in the spatial arrangements of the precued stimulus and response set.     

Developing a comprehensive model of risk and protective factors that can predict spelling at age seven: findings from a community sample of Victorian children

The paper reports on a study designed to develop a risk model that can best predict single-word spelling in seven-year-old children when they were aged 4 and 5. Test measures, personal characteristics and environmental influences were all considered as variables from a community sample of 971 children. Strong concurrent correlations were found between single-word spelling and single-word reading while expressive language and, to a lesser extent, receptive language were less strongly correlated. Predictors of single-word spelling at ages 4 and 5 were dominated by child-related factors such as letter knowledge, a history of speech impairment and expressive language along with maternal word reading ability. Based on the strength of the predictive factors identified at both age 4 and 5, our results provide initial support for using a targeted model for screening pre-schoolers at risk of not mastering spelling in a timely manner.     

Getting in,getting on,going further: Exploring the role of employers in the degree apprentice to graduate transition

Transitions from education into work, or as part of career change and development, are increasingly central to policy debate and academic inquiry. However, the role that employers play in shaping transition is often overlooked. In this paper, we examine this issue through the experiences of a graduating cohort of ‘degree apprentices’. We present original analysis of new empirical data from what we believe to be the first substantive qualitative longitudinal research conducted with those experiencing this new vocational pathway in the English Apprenticeships system. Through analysis of repeat semi-structured interviews with 22 degree apprenticeship graduates (44 interviews in total), we provide early empirical insights into experiences of this new pathway and add to existing theoretical conceptualisations of transition within the educational literature and the employer's role within it. We show that the degree apprentice to graduate transition can be broken down into three key stages: ‘getting in’, ‘getting on’ and ‘going further’, and that employers—at both strategic and relational levels—shape experiences at each stage.     

‘Personal’and‘critical’? Exam criteria,engagement with texts,and real readers’ responses

This article explores how exam criteria require pupils to engage with texts at once 'personally' and 'critically'. It theorises this dichotomy, suggesting problems it presents in a classroom. Observing that dwindling opportunities for creative writing impede personal engagement, it considers the possibilities suggested by the imaginative writings of two pupils for resolving the dichotomy.     

Poverty,family resources and children's early educational attainment: The mediating role of parenting

This study uses longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study to show the extent to which episodic and more persistent poverty in early childhood and the lack of other family resources disadvantage children at the start of their school careers in terms of whether they have achieved the target indicator of ‘good level of achievement’ on the Foundation Stage Profile. Positive parenting is shown to be an important contributor to school achievement that matters for children, regardless of poverty experience or family disadvantage. It is also shown to be an important mediator in redressing the effects of poverty and disadvantage.