Walking backwards into the future: Indigenous wisdom within design education

This research parallels Tongan academic Hūfanga ‘Okusitino Māhina’s assertions in the 1994 Contemporary Pacific article Our Sea of Islands, that ‘People are thought to walk forward into the past and walk backward into the future, both taking place in the present, where the past and the future are constantly mediated in the ever-transforming present’ alongside those of Professor Terry Irwin and fellow Transition Designers in which they discuss the use of Indigenous Wisdom to enable designing for the Long Now as defined by Brand in his 1999 book The Clock for the Long Now: Time and Responsibility. In the 2015 Transition Design Monograph Irwin asserts that, ‘Transition Design draws on knowledge and wisdom from the past to conceive solutions in the present with future generations in mind’. This paper draws on the pre-industrial wisdom of indigenous knowledge, specifically that of the Pacific regions, Moana, who have lived and designed sustainably in-place for generations to illustrate the value it holds for the formulation of sustainable and sustaining futures.     

The Teacher Behavior Inventory: validation of teacher behavior in an interactive lecture environment

Students’ rating of teacher behaviors provides valuable information on teaching improvement and instructional quality. Unfortunately, there is a lack of new validated instruments for measuring teacher behaviors. The Teacher Behaviors Inventory is an old inventory that was initially developed to measure teaching behaviors as regards lecture-based instructions, which is effected through the use of low-inference items. The aim of this study was to assess its continued suitability in the present educational setting by examining its construct validity and internal consistency through the lens of one lecturer’s teaching behaviors, as rated by 527 students after six interactive lectures. The variables evaluated, as mentioned above, were achieved after an items removal process, which resulted in a 32-item version. Apart from being valid and reliable, this condensed version allows for immediate assessment of teaching behaviors after an instruction session as the rating procedure is now more straightforward and less time-consuming, and also enables a reduction in rating errors. Therefore, the 32-item format serves as a practical diagnostic feedback tool in the present educational arena, permitting a longitudinal teaching behavior assessment to enhance teachers’ professional development.     

Development and Implementation of the Inaugural Anatomy Education Research Institute (AERI 2017)

Education research is increasingly being recognized as a legitimate route for faculty development in universities. However, many anatomy faculty lack the appropriate training and access to experienced mentors who can help them develop their own education research projects. Inspired by the American Physiological Society’s Institute for Teaching and Learning, the coauthors proposed and developed the inaugural Anatomy Education Research Institute (AERI 2017). Funded by an American Association of Anatomists Innovations grant, the five-day institute was held in Bloomington, Indiana in July 2017. The coauthors spent two years preparing the conference schedule, inviting speakers who could discuss education research topics and mentor applicants, reviewing applications, developing assessment instruments for the institute, and hosting the institute. A total of 62 registered participants (applicants and invited speakers) attended AERI 2017. Through a series of presentations and workshops, participants were introduced to many aspects of education research and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, including developing rigorous education research questions, determining appropriate methods to assess these questions, and searching the education research literature. Each day also included regular time devoted to work on their own education research project with help from more experienced mentors. Throughout the conference, participants were encouraged to post information on Twitter, using the hashtag #AERI2017. Participants had strong positive impressions of the conference and strongly requested future AERI conferences be held. Follow-up analyses will assess the institute in alignment with Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation Model, though preliminary evaluation indicates AERI 2017 met the original aims of the proposal.     

Supporting the education and well-being of children who are looked-after: what is the role of the virtual school?

The Children and Families Act (2014) placed a statutory responsibility on local authorities in the UK to establish a virtual school headteacher with the role of championing the education of all children looked-after within that authority. The current research was designed to illuminate how virtual schools are currently supporting educational outcomes for children looked-after, not only through educational interventions, but also through supporting broader psychological factors that might impact on attainment such as attachment, relationships and mental health. Virtual school headteachers from 29 local authorities completed an online survey about the services they provided to three target groups—children looked-after, foster carers and schools—with a particular focus on the transition years from primary to secondary school, which have been identified as being a difficult time for children looked-after. Using inductive thematic analysis, four overarching themes to service provision were identified: enhanced learning opportunities, specific transition support, well-being and relationships, and raising awareness. Direct work, interprofessional working and the development of supportive environments, particularly guided by attachment theory, were identified as important areas of practice. Practice is discussed in relation to resilience and ecological systems theory and suggestions for future research are identified.

     

Nutrition for the young athlete

Athletics is a popular sport among young people. To maintain health and optimize growth and athletic performance, young athletes need to consume an appropriate diet. Unfortunately, the dietary intake of many young athletes follows population trends rather than public health or sports nutrition recommendations. To optimize performance in some disciplines, young athletes may strive to achieve a lower body weight or body fat content and this may increase their risk for delayed growth and maturation, amenorrhoea, reduced bone density, and eating disorders. Although many of the sports nutrition principles identified for adults are similar to those for young athletes, there are some important differences. These include a higher metabolic cost of locomotion and preferential fat oxidation in young athletes during exercise. Young athletes, particularity children, are at a thermoregulatory disadvantage due to a higher surface area to weight ratio, a slower acclimatization, and lower sweating rate. An appropriate dietary intake rather than use of supplements (except when clinically indicated) is recommended to ensure young athletes participate fully and safely in athletics.     

Physique and performance for track and field events

Evidence of the importance of physique in the athletics disciplines is supported by the persistence of certain characteristics over long periods, despite marked secular changes in the source population. These characteristics may also result in physiological benefits such as effective thermoregulation or a greater power-to-weight ratio. Coaches and athletes are often convinced of weight or fat loss benefits based on personal or anecdotal experience, intuition, and "trained eye" observation of successful competitors. This may entice athletes into adopting unbalanced, erratic or highly restrictive eating patterns that increase the risk for nutrient deficiencies, and disordered eating. Despite heavy training loads and often extreme diets, some athletes fall short of their physique goals as ultimately phenotype is under genetic control. Professionals assisting athletes with physique management need to be highly skilled in anthropometry and require a thorough understanding of sports-specific nutrition requirements. Careful assessment of the risks and benefits of various approaches to weight and fat loss is required before they are recommended to athletes.     

Geographic clustering of economic activity: The case of prominent western visual artists

This article compiles original data relating to artists’ place of birth and work migration patterns using various art history dictionaries. The broad historic pattern, from the 13th to the 20th century, of the birth locations of prominent artists is examined, followed by a detailed study of the work migration patterns of prominent artists in two important situations, namely Renaissance Italy and France in part of the 19th century. The evidence indicates a marked clustering of activity of prominent artists, both arising from birth location and migration patterns. Some possible explanations for the observed patterns are briefly outlined.

Experiences of Danish Business Expatriates in Russia: Power Distance in Organizational Communication

Rapid globalization of business processes stimulates many companies to dispatch their employees – business expatriates – on overseas assignments. Russia differs markedly from many other cultures in terms of specific communication norms and rules. Understanding such differences in organizational life is crucial for the success of business expatriates working there. This study employs in-depth interviews with eight Danish business expatriates who worked in Russia and examines the differences between the Danes and the Russians in terms of communication characteristics related to Hofstede’s cultural dimension power distance. This work enhances scholars’ empirical knowledge of power distance, which has rarely been investigated qualitatively.     

Job burnout and the school psychologist

School psychologists participating in a workshop on burnout completed Freudenberger's Burnout Questionnaire (1980), identified major job-related stressors, and responded to a list of suggested supervisory, individual, and organizational strategies for prevention. Slightly less than half of the participants appeared on the questionnaire to have burnout problems. Age, years of experience, and sex were not significantly related to the burnout score. Major identified stressors included excessive caseloads, lack of time, and lack of support or appreciation. Reactions to the strategies were positive and hopeful. Implications for training were drawn.     

How can experts help governments think?: inaugural lecture

Britain’s exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992 and the Second Iraq War in 2003 are two infamous examples of disastrous policy, but governments blunder all the time – whatever party is in power. Infrastructure projects overrun. The aims and techniques of different departments clash. Scandals erupt among officials and politicians. Controversies stymie attempts at agreement and consensus. But why exactly do these failures happen? Are they more or less widespread than in the private sector? And can studying British governments’ decision-making across the twentieth century improve it in the future? In his May 2018 inaugural lecture, Professor O'Hara recommended a slow, deliberative, transparent, democratic and above all humble and sensitive approach in order to avoid another Black Wednesday or ruinous war – an approach in contrast to the populist tone of much recent debate.