Institutional narratives within the performative preschool in Sweden: ‘if we write that we're no good,that's not good publicity!’

An increasingly important part of the work of preschool staff in Sweden today is to present their activities outwardly, including producing and presenting quality accounts of their activities and making them visible to a public audience. To grasp the local narratives, interviews were conducted with a few teachers and their school leader, aiming to describe how they reason about the work of formulating their activities in publicly accessible documents, and the consequences of this work. Theoretical concepts used for analysis and conclusions are performativity, which views performances as a means of control and change, and institutional narratives, as means to understand the effects of the local context on how activities and teaching are performed. Results show that the staff find and discuss detours in the presentation of their activities, where possible failings are made opaque. Paradoxically, such ‘detour actions’ will at the same time be disciplinary as the teachers adjust to the logic of performativity. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Enhanced speed control of a DC servo system using PI + DF controller tuned by stochastic fractal search technique

Since Proportional?+?Integral?+?Derivative (PID) controller is still the workhorse in taking over the workload of process control systems, this article introduces a new design methodology toward improving the performance of such controller. After a PI control law with windup protection is given, it is combined with a derivative path employing a first-order low pass filter in an innovative way to develop a performant controller called PI?+?DF controller. In attempting to attain a high level of control performance, gains of this controller including proportional, integral, derivative and filter gains are tuned choosing the recently introduced Stochastic Fractal Search (SFS) algorithm owing to its superiority to many state-of-the-art algorithms considering convergence, accuracy and robustness. To evaluate the efficacy of SFS, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is also applied to the case study. Furthermore, the presented SFS optimized PI?+?DF controller is compared to a recently reported control scheme through simulation and experimental tests on an identical DC servo system. After providing the stability proof, SFS tuned PI?+?DF controller is found to be the pioneer in exhibiting the most accurate speed response profile under complicated scenarios, which is followed by PSO tuned PI?+?DF controller and the existing control approach, respectively.     

For the oppressed teacher: stay real!

This article addresses teachers’ challenges in relation to other stakeholders, in light of funding policies and evaluation mechanisms. In particular, a condition where pressures toward high pass rates or ‘throughput’ in the degree system provide a good negotiation position for students with little learning orientation as to their aspirations after credit units is considered. This condition is intensi?ed by the fact that the mere completion goals of non-learning-oriented students align with the collective goals of administration (university), given the throughput-based funding policies. A teacher willing to honorably exercise the profession is, then, ‘squeezed in between.’ Daily teaching endures by the incorporation of the wrong kind of ?exibility, which undermines the education system. This problematic pattern is reviewed, and a remedy proposed by drawing on Freire and considering a recent theorization by Sutton on the position of an academic under a neoliberalist condition.     

Varying access to professional,special educational support: a total population comparison of special educators in Swedish independent and municipal schools

Independent schools are securely established in the Swedish education system. Prior research shows they generally have fewer pupils in need of support and lower proportions of special educators. Here, results are presented from a total population study of Swedish special educators (n = 4252) examined after 2001. The aim was to explore and compare the occupational situations of special educators working in Swedish municipal and independent schools. This is done by studying their occupational situations and the values they express regarding identification of – and work with – special support. The results show that while the respondents are demographically similar and express similar values, they have very different occupational situations. Those employed in independent schools have fewer years’ experience as special educators, are more often employed part‐time than full‐time and are more likely to hold other positions in schools (such as head teacher) than those employed in municipal schools. The results further illustrate different organisational approaches towards special educational support. Apparent is that independent schools offer professional special educational resources to a lower degree and utilise them differently. This is likely to influence the situation of pupils in need of support, and has consequences for the image of the Swedish education system.     

It is only an intervention,but it can sow very fertile seeds: graduate physical education teachers’ interpretations of critical pedagogy

The role that school health and physical education (HPE) plays in the making of physically active and healthy citizens continues to be rearticulated within the field of HPE practice. In Australasia, for example, this is evident in HPE curricula changes that now span almost two decades with ongoing advocacy for greater recognition of socially critical perspectives of physical activity and health. This paper reports on one part of a larger collaborative project that focused on how HPE teachers understand and enact socially critical perspectives in their practice. The paper draws on interview data obtained from 20 secondary school HPE teachers, all of whom graduated from the same physical education teacher education (PETE) programme in New Zealand, a programme that espouses a socially critical orientation. The teaching experience of the study participants ranged from 1 to 22 years of service. The preliminary analysis involved deduction of common themes in relation to the research questions and then, drawing on the theoretical framework of Bourdieu [1990. The logic of practice. Cambridge: Polity Press], these themes were analysed in more detail to gain insight into how and why the graduate teachers’ expressed their particular understanding of HPE and critical pedagogy. The findings suggested that this PETE programme did have some impact on the participant teachers’ perceptions of physical activity and health, and the role of socially critical thinking. However, there was also evidence to suggest that many of them did not have a clear understanding of the transformative agenda of critical pedagogy. We conclude by suggesting that although this PETE programme did plant ‘seeds’ that had an impact on the graduate teachers’ awareness and thinking about socially critical issues in relation to physical activity and health, it did not necessarily turn them into critical pedagogues.     

Differences in trunk and thigh muscle strength,endurance and thickness between elite sailors and non-sailors

Dinghy sailors lean their upper body over the windward side of the boat (‘hiking’) to keep the boat’s balance and maximise its speed. Sustaining the hiking position is essential for competitive performance and this study examined sport-specific differences of muscles relevant for hiking in elite sailors. Knee extensor muscle strength as well as trunk muscle strength, muscle endurance and muscle thickness were assessed in elite dinghy sailors (n = 15) and compared to matched, non-sailing controls (n = 15). Isometric extensor strength was significantly higher in sailors at 60° (+14%) but not at 20° knee flexion. Sailors showed significantly higher trunk flexor (but not extensor) strength under isometric (+18%) and eccentric (+11%) conditions, which was associated to greater muscle thickness (rectus abdominis +40%; external oblique +26%) and higher endurance for ventral (+66%) and lateral (+61%) muscle chains compared to non-sailors. Greater muscles thickness and the particular biomechanical requirements to maintain the hiking position may drive the increases in isometric and eccentric muscle strength as well as ventral and lateral trunk endurance. The current findings identified sport-specific muscle function differences and provide performance benchmarks for muscle strength and endurance in elite sailors.     

Kinetic and kinematic patterns during high intensity clean movement: searching for optimal load

The aim of the present study was to investigate loading effects on kinematic and kinetic variables among elite-weightlifters in order to identify an optimal training load to maximize power production for clean-movement. Nine elite-weightlifter (age: 24 ± 4years, body-mass: 77 ± 6.5kg, height: 176 ± 6.1cm and 1RM clean: 170 ± 5kg) performed 2 separate repetitions of the clean using 85, 90, 95% and 100%, in a randomized order, while standing on a force platform and being recorded using 3D-capture-system. Differences in kinematics (barbell displacement, velocity and acceleration) and kinetics (power, vertical ground reaction force (vGRF), rate of force development (RFD), and work) across the loads were statistically assessed. Results revealed significant load effects for the majority of the studied parameters (p < 0.01) and showed that typical bar-displacement, greatest bar-velocity and peak-power were achieved at 85 and 90% 1RM (p < 0.001). Additionally greater average power was shown for 90 and 95% (p < 0.01) and greater work and vGRF were shown for 90, 95 and 100% than 85% 1RM (p < 0.05). Load had no significant effect on peak-vGRF and peak-RFD (p > 0.05). The results of this study, suggest 90% 1RM to be the most advantageous load to train explosive-force and to enhance power-outputs while maintaining technical efficiency in elite-weightlifters.     

Cellular activation of selected signaling proteins through resistance training—a training methodological perspective

The Akt-mTOR-p70^S6k-4E-BP1 signaling pathway is a well-considered regulator of protein synthesis in the context of strength training. This process is essential for exercise-induced skeletal muscle growth. The objective of this review article was to analyze the design of acute resistance training protocols and evaluate the possible impact of different loading conditions on the activation of growth-related signaling cascades in human skeletal muscle. In all, 12 human studies were included in this review. The training intensity in the studies varied between 30% 1RM (one repetition maximum) and maximal load. The signaling proteins were measured in a time range between immediately and 24?h after training.The phosphorylation of all signaling proteins increased to different levels after resistance training, tending to baseline more than 6?h post training. In particular, the hypertrophic associated p70^S6k showed the highest phosphorylation acutely after the load and decreased consistently after 6?h. Training intensity and volume seemed to have an influence on the extent of protein phosphorylation, which, however, was not systematic or consistent. An obvious training methodological consequence (load and volume) for hypertrophic resistance training regime could not be devised. Further research is required to systematically vary training parameters to determine the influence of a certain stress zone on the signaling activation. Future research should aim to identify the ideal level of training intensity necessary to achieve the greatest possible extent of intramuscular anabolic signaling through intense activation of the signaling cascade to induce growth in human skeletal muscle.     

Klassifikation von Leistungsprofilen im Handballsprungwurf

The jump throw is one of the most applied techniques in handball. Therefore, analyzing its underlying performance factors is important since they may provide a basis to adjust training interventions. Currently, the coach decides what needs to be improved in order to enhance the overall performance of an athlete. The aim of this study is to break down the performance factors in jump throws and to assign athletes to subgroups. This classification should allow athletes to benefit from the resulting group-specific training contents and may support a coach in deciding about the next steps in his training program. A total of 113 male handball players (age 15 ± 0.38 years, height 184.07 ± 7.1?cm, weight 74.83 ± 9.31?kg) participated in this study. From each athlete the standing reach height (SRH), the jumping reach height achieved with a countermovement jump (JRH), the maximal ball height achieved with a handball-specific single-legged jump and straight arm (BHJ), and the ball release height achieved in a jump throw (BHT) were measured. Performance factors were derived as differences between these measurements (JRH ? SRH = UJA for unspecific jump ability, BHJ ? JRH = SJT for specific jump technique, BHT ? BHJ = STT for specific throwing technique). A hierarchical cluster analysis was used to find groups of athletes based on the derived and scaled difference measures (UJA, SJT, STT). The dendrogram shows a clear distinction of four groups of athletes. Average values within each cluster reveal (A) one group with high UJA values, (B) one with low UJA values, (C) one with high SJT but low STT, and (D) one with low SJT but high STT. These results may be interpreted with respect to consequences for training because group (B) seems to benefit most from a general strength training while the properties of group (A), (C), and (D) recommend a focus on technical aspects of performance.