Theoretical cognitive differences in expert and novice outdoor leader decision making: Implications for training and development

Outdoor leader decision-making is often cited as one of the most important competencies that professionals in the field possess. However, little discussion regarding the development of decision-making ability appears in the outdoor leadership literature. Psychologists in other fields have investigated the progression from novice to expertise and the following scenario illustrates differences: expert/novice decision-making as indicated with submarine commanders and air traffic controllers as subjects. This paper attempts to make theoretical connections between research in cognitive and social psychology, and outdoor leader development, and in doing so, discusses research in expert/novice differences in decision-making, situation assessment, naturalistic decision-making, and professional development. Implications and suggestions are made for application to current training practices; these include training for ill-structured problems, for a heavy workload, time stress and high stakes, as well as multiple players, and organizational norms. Suggestions for additional research are also included.     

Theoretical cognitive differences in expert and novice outdoor leader decision making: Implications for training and development

Abstract

Outdoor leader decision-making is often cited as one of the most important competencies that professionals in the field possess. However, little discussion regarding the development of decision-making ability appears in the outdoor leadership literature. Psychologists in other fields have investigated the progression from novice to expertise and the following scenario illustrates differences: expert/novice decision-making as indicated with submarine commanders and air traffic controllers as subjects. This paper attempts to make theoretical connections between research in cognitive and social psychology, and outdoor leader development, and in doing so, discusses research in expert/novice differences in decision-making, situation assessment, naturalistic decision-making, and professional development. Implications and suggestions are made for application to current training practices; these include training for ill-structured problems, for a heavy workload, time stress and high stakes, as well as multiple players, and organizational norms. Suggestions for additional research are also included.     

RECONSIDERING EMANCIPATORY EDUCATION: STAGING A CONVERSATION BETWEEN PAULO FREIRE AND JACQUES RANCIÈRE

In this essay Sarah Galloway considers emancipation as a purpose for education through examining the theories of Paulo Freire and Jacques Rancière. Both theorists are concerned with the prospect of distinguishing between education that might socialize people into what is taken to be an inherently oppressive society and education with emancipation as its purpose. Galloway reconstructs the theories in parallel, examining the assumptions made, the processes of oppression described, and the movements to emancipation depicted. In so doing, she argues that that the two theorists hold a common model for theorizing oppression and emancipation as educational processes, distinguished by the differing assumptions they each make about humanity, but that their theories ultimately have opposing implications for educational practices. Galloway further maintains that Freire and Rancière raise similar educational problems and concerns, both theorizing that the character of the relations among teachers, students, and educational materials is crucial to an emancipatory education. Galloway's approach allows discussion of some of the criticisms that have been raised historically about Freire's theory and how these might be addressed to some degree by Rancière's work. Taking the two theories together, she argues that the possibility for an emancipatory education cannot be ignored if education is to be considered as more than merely a process of passing down the skills and knowledge necessary in order to socialize people into current society.     

Mobile phone use in two secondary schools in Tanzania

Mobile phone technology in Tanzania has grown rapidly but there is insufficient data on its application in schools. This paper aims to show how students in the first and third year (F1 and F3) teachers in two rural secondary schools perceived its use. F1 and F3 students completed a questionnaire. Teachers and students in F1 and F3 discussed the uses and misuses of mobile phones in separate focus groups. Although they served similar areas the two schools differed in students’ use – and awareness of misuse – of mobile phones. Most students had access to a mobile phone, but were not permitted to bring them to school. Few teachers could see a positive use for the technology in the curriculum. There is an urgent need for pedagogical resources to support the introduction of mobile technology into classrooms but equally it is crucial that any such introduction is through a process of engagement with the concerns of students, teachers and the wider community with frank discussion about both the dangers and the potential benefits of using mobile phones in learning.     

Unseen roots and unfolding flowers? Prison learning,equality and the education of socially excluded groups

The objective of this theoretical article is to critique the notion that adult education, in its current marketised formations, might serve the purpose of rehabilitating learners. To date there has been no detailed interrogation by educationalists of the desirability of rehabilitation as an overarching aim for prison education, or to consider the existing educational philosophies that notions of rehabilitation might cohere with. This article begins to address this gap by engaging with the idea of rehabilitation from a critical adult education perspective. The conceptual framework informing the analysis is critical adult education theory, drawing tangentially on the work of Raymond Williams. The overarching assumption is that education might be understood as the practice of equality, which I employ alongside conceptualisations of empowering adult literacies learning as drawn from writings in the field of New Literacies Studies (NLS). These approaches enable the critique of criminological theory associated with prison learning, alongside the critique of assumptions traceable to NLS. The analysis focuses more specifically on Scotland’s prison system, where the criminological theory of ‘desistance’ currently holds some sway. I observe that whilst perspectives of criminologists and educationists draw upon similar sociological assumptions and underpinnings, different conclusions are inferred about the purpose and practice of adult learning. Here criminologists' conceptualisations tend to neglect power contexts, instead inferring educational practices associated typically with early years education. I also demonstrate the importance of equality in the context of adult education, if educators are to take responsibility for the judgements they make in relation to the education of socially excluded groups.     

The Assessment of Special Educational Needs and the Proletarianisation of Professionals

This article reports our recent ESRC funded research on the identification of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties under the procedures of the 1981 Education Act. It is argued that the concepts of ‘deskilling’ and ‘proletarianisation’ provide a useful framework of analysis when examining the role of teachers and other professionals involved in the assessment process. However, we discuss evidence suggesting that negotiations between these professionals may focus upon teachers’ attempts to define the nature of their professional activity as ‘skilful’. One consequence of this may be the deskilling of outside professional ‘experts’.     

Sources of Stress for Primary School Head Teachers in New Zealand

A stratified sample of 40 primary school head teachers in the North Island of New Zealand completed a 63 item check-list on sources of stress. The most highly rated items referred to stress arising from management of time, administrative tasks and interpersonal relationships. A principal components analysis identified four factors, labelled: staff, work-load/administration, role conflict, and meetings. Comparison between groups suggested that experiences of stress were related to the school's catchment area, to the adequacy of its buildings and to the head's teacher's responsibilities.     

A 6-month analysis of training-intensity distribution and physiological adaptation in Ironman triathletes

In the present study, we analysed the training-intensity distribution and physiological adaptations over a 6-month period preceding an Ironman triathlon race. Ten athletes (mean ± s: age 43 ± 3 years, mass 78.3 ± 10.3 kg, stature 1.79 ± 0.05 m) participated in the study. The study consisted of three training periods (A, B, C), each of approximately 2 months' duration, and four testing weeks. Testing consisted of incremental tests to exhaustion for swimming, cycling and running, and assessments for anthropometry plus cardiovascular and pulmonary measures. The lactate threshold and the lactate turnpoint were used to demarcate three discipline-specific, exercise-intensity zones. The mean percentage of time spent in zones 1, 2, and 3 was 69 ± 9%, 25 ± 8%, and 6 ± 2% for periods A-C combined. Only modest physiological adaptation occurred throughout the 6-month period, with small to moderate effect sizes at best. Relationships between the training volume/training load and the training-intensity distribution with the changes in key measures of adaptation were weak and probably reflect differences in initial training status. Our results suggest that the effects of intensity distribution are small over short-term training periods and future experimental research is needed to clarify the potential impact of intensity distribution on physiological adaptation.     

Flowers of argument and engagement? Reconsidering critical perspectives on adult education and literate practices

This paper takes up an existing discussion around critical perspectives on adult education, in particular how empowerment and emancipation have been understood. Previously in this journal, concern has been raised with traditional understandings of critical adult education. The problem is that these tend to assume that learners require assistance from experts, be they teachers or researchers, in order to gain understanding of how they are oppressed. The purpose of this paper is to present a deeper engagement with this concern through an examination of how both empowering and emancipatory adult education have been understood and practised. The demarcation is examined in the context of the historical development of critical understandings and practices associated with adult literacies learning, as a significant field of adult education where the idea of empowerment and emancipation has been theorised. The ideas and practices associated with empowering literacies are defended as ways for learners to gain positions from which to speak and be heard, as well as support participation in work, community and family life. Informed by the ideas of Jacques Rancière, there is also acknowledgement that societal inequalities are increasing, necessitating a need to consider how adult education might encourage political transformation and emancipation.