Pressures and influences on school leaders navigating policy development during the COVID-19 pandemic

The pressures and influences experienced by school leaders as school policymakers, during the first responses to COVID-19 pandemic, made their task of interpreting, translating and implementing school guidance both difficult and stressful. During COVID-19 pandemic, school leaders faced challenges to prioritise and balance ever-changing government policy advice with the limitations of school buildings, the welfare of students and staff, and the needs of communities, a task made complicated by the methods of communication used by government. By surveying and interviewing headteachers, senior leaders and governors, this article identifies the reactions and responses of school leaders who construct and enact policy in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. The article addresses the nature of, and factors affecting, pressures school leaders feel in authoring and implementing policy. These pressures are non-trivial and increase tension in already highly stressful work. The report draws on data collected from a randomised, stratified sample of primary and secondary school leaders from across England in early June 2020, during the time of national lockdown and remote learning. Findings suggest quality, quantity and frequency of top-down communication contributed to school leader stress, while horizontal communication and collaboration between school leaders and across school communities supported leaders during rapid change. We recommend that government and the Department of Education strengthen and streamline stressful communication systems while building cooperative communities, mitigating against the challenges identified by school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Top contributors to the school psychology literature: 1996–2005

An erratum has been published for this article in Psychology in the Schools 43(7) 2006, iii‐vi. [ ]. S.G. Little (1997) reported the top contributors to the school psychology literature from 1987 to 1995. The present study represents a follow‐up by examining the top contributors from 1996 to 2005. Similar to Little, a list of the top 50 contributors was developed using a point system that assigned more credit based on fewer coauthors and higher authorship placement. Expanding upon the Little study, we also computed a list of the top 50 contributors in terms of number of articles authored, thus facilitating a comparison of the two methods. Melissa Bray ranked first on both lists. The top 10 authors in terms of articles also were ranked in the top 13 in terms of points. Thus, for the most productive authors, choice of criteria for ranking does not appear important; however, in terms of encouraging versus discouraging collaboration among researchers, criteria choice may be important. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 737–743, 2006.     

Conformity to masculinity ideology,a predictor of academic‐related attitudes and behaviors

Masculinity ideology is argued to be associated with academic outcomes. However, relatively few studies have examined these associations. This study examines the associations between masculinity ideology and academic skepticism, self‐presentation of low achievement, academic engagement, academic initiative, and self‐regulation, above and beyond academic self‐efficacy, among a diverse sample of urban youth. With a sample of 135 eighth‐grade students from a Northeastern middle school, 5 separate multiple hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine whether students’ endorsement of masculinity ideology predicted the criterion variables above and beyond academic self‐efficacy. The sample was comprised of 54 girls and 74 boys ages 12–14 years (M = 13.14; SD = .37). Results showed academic self‐efficacy significantly predicted academic engagement (B = 1.26; β = .53, p < .001; f² = .39), academic initiative (B = .98; β = .37; p < .001, f² = .16), and behavioral regulation (B = .61; β = .24; p < .05; f² = .09) and explained an additional 8 and 10% of the variance in self‐presentation of low achievement (B = .54; β = .33; p = .001; f² = .14) and academic skepticism (B = .56; β = .35; p < .001; f² = .15), respectively, over and above academic self‐efficacy. Gender, which was dummy coded and entered as a covariate, only predicted self‐presentation of low achievement. Findings from this study point to the need to foster positive academic outcomes through bolstering academic self‐efficacy and, perhaps more important, addressing masculinity ideology.     

Providing Access to Engagement in Learning: The Potential of Universal Design for Learning in Museum Design

Following passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), many museums improved the accessibility of their facilities. Even so, individuals with disabilities still lag behind in participation and engagement in museum experiences. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides an alternate model for the design of museum programs and exhibit spaces, one that is more aligned to progressive concepts of disability, providing not only physical access but also access to engagement in learning. In this article we argue that UDL has the potential to substantially improve the design of informal learning environments. Through two illustrative examples, we describe how the UDL design guidelines can be used to improve the probability that engagement will occur as individuals interact with exhibits, programs, and people in museums.     

Differences in trunk and upper extremity kinematics and segmental velocities during the offside forehand polo swing between male and female athletes

ABSTRACT

Although polo is a well-known equestrian sport, it is fundamentally misunderstood. The purpose of this study was to examine trunk and upper extremity kinematics and segmental velocities during the offside forehand polo swing between male and female athletes. Ten female and 17 male professional polo athletes volunteered. An electromagnetic tracking system collected kinematic data at 100 Hz while participants performed three offside forehand polo swings from a stationary wooden horse. One-way ANOVAs revealed statistically significant differences (p<0.05) in all kinematic variables and segmental velocities. Specifically, males exhibited a greater mean difference (MD=23°) of trunk flexion at take away (TA) and top of backswing (TOB)(MD=29°) trunk lateral flexion at ball contact (BC)(MD=23°), trunk rotation at TA(MD=97°) and TOB(MD=118°), shoulder abduction at TOB(MD=64°), and shoulder elevation at TOB(MD=13°) and BC(MD=40°). Females displayed greater trunk rotation at BC(MD=91°), shoulder elevation at TA(MD=19°), and elbow flexion at TA(MD=90°). Additionally, females generated greater segmental velocities early in the swing, while the males generated velocity later. The movement patterns observed amongst the males suggest energy is being transferred more efficiently along the kinetic chain, thus more efficient swing mechanics, but further investigation into the role of the trunk and lumbopelvic-hip complex in reference to the polo swing is warranted.     

The body and pedagogy: beyond absent,moving bodies in pedagogic practice

Following the corporeal turn in social theory, this paper explores how the body is implicated in pedagogic practice and leaning. Focusing on the body has usually been recognised as part of the regulative rather than instructional discourse in schools. Work has begun to redress the mind–body imbalance through the ‘corporeal device’ developed from Bernstein’s ‘pedagogic device’, the fundamental relay through which social inequalities are reproduced in schools. To properly recognise the way bodies act as pedagogic relays requires a robust understanding of persons as multi-sensorial acting beings. Examples for choreographic pedagogy are used to illuminate the complex and multimodal features of instructional discourse and to suggest how the moving body could be enlisted to enhance students’ access to formal academic discourses and better understand why some young people fail to achieve in schools.     

Enrolment trends in school science education in Australia

Investigations were carried out to find the amount of science portrayed by terrestrial television in the UK and the public comprehension of that science as shown on television. UK terrestrial programming was derived from the Radio Times . Advertisement information was derived from UK terrestrial commercial television commercials. Public opinions were solicited by a survey of 200 members of the public ( n = 196). Science-based programming formed 5.36% of all terrestrial broadcasting time, with people watching an average of 1.75 science programmes per week (approx. 0.2% of programmes possible). 65% of all television advertisements were found to be science-based, although only 26% of advertisement categories were recognized as being science-based by the public. If interest in science is reflected in the amount of science programmes watched then the public are not interested in science. The lack of comprehension of the scientific basis of many advertisements is indicative of the lack of relevance of science education to people in modern society.     

Children as readers: what we learn from their conversations about reading

This article analyses a conversation about reading with three Year 8 students. Drawing on sociocultural theories of learning and elements of discourse analysis, it explores not only details of what the students read, but also how the process of the conversation itself shapes their perception of themselves as readers. Analysis of the data suggests that close attention to conversations such as these can affect our understanding of young readers and the reading practices in which they engage, in ways which may be valuable for classroom teachers of English.     

Poverty, Relationship Conflict, and the Regulation of Cortisol in Small and Large Group Contexts at Child Care

The purpose of this research is to explore the dynamics of cortisol regulation in the context of center-based child care by examining the impact of social context (large classroom vs. small group) and relationship quality with caregivers (conflict with mothers and teachers). We extend the research on children's physiologic stress system functioning in center-based child care by focusing on morning cortisol levels among young children living in poverty. While in high-quality center-based child care, children's cortisol levels decreased over the course of the morning—a result that contrasts with findings in previous research with middle-class children, for whom cortisol typically increased over the course of the day while attending center-based child care. Cortisol levels were further reduced when children were moved from a large classroom environment to a small group context. Relationship conflict with mothers and teachers moderated these effects. Children who had high conflict with their mother exhibited cortisol levels that remained higher (decreased less) over the course of the morning, and children who had high conflict with their teacher exhibited cortisol levels that remained higher (decreased less) in response to the small group context. These results indicate that high-quality child care has the potential to support reduced stress among children living in poverty, at least as indicated by adrenocortical activity.     

Learning through collaborative writing

This article looks again at the dynamics of reading, writing and telling stories. It argues that working collaboratively can motivate writers in ways which encourage them to redraft their work purposefully and explicitly in pursuit of particular creative effects. It exemplifies ways in which knowledge about language at word, sentence and whole text level can effectively be brought to bear as part of a holistic approach to writing.