Ethical Reasoning Used by Teachers of Children with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disabilities: A preliminary investigation

In a study of the ethical reasoning of teachers of children with severe and profound intellectual disabilities, the authors report on their findings from interviews with, and classroom observations of, five teachers of children in segregated classrooms. The teachers' responses to four ethical dilemmas were discussed and analysed for the types of reasoning that they used and for the presence of four principles often cited in normative ethics: justice, respect for autonomy, beneficence, and non-maleficence. Interview data also suggested the presence of some distinctive elements in the ethical discussion of the participants. The authors found that teachers gave almost exclusive consideration to individual student interests in their discussions of the dilemmas. Although justice played a significant role in their validation of their decisions, the governing principle in their argument seemed to be beneficence. Moral impasses have frequently arisen in discussions of the ethics of decisions regarding persons with severe and profound intellectual disabilities. The findings of this study are presented as an empirical contribution to that debate and as a mandate for further discussion.     

Adolescent Alienation: its correlates and consequences

This research is into the experience of alienation amongst British adolescents. The study had three major aims: firstly to investigate potential differences across various dimensions of alienation on the basis of gender, ethnicity and religion. Secondly, to establish a relationship between alienation, self‐esteem and selected undesirable school behaviours. Finally, there is an attempt to evaluate the use of alienation scales as a research tool in education. The study involved 254 participants aged between 13 and 15 years attending large, multi‐ethnic comprehensives. The findings show that reported levels of alienation were influenced by religious orientation but only minimally by gender or ethnicity per se. Reported alienation negatively correlated with self‐esteem but was positively associated with truancy, exclusion and disruptive behaviour. The authors conclude that, whilst alienation remains a useful concept for educational research, it is unhelpful to see it as an inevitable consequence of deprivation or membership of certain social groups.     

Affirming conflict and identity in the Korean Peace Park (DMZ) proposals

Abstract

According to their advocates, Peace Parks represent a real and symbolic hope for peace and reconciliation. Peace Parks both create a buffer and a “bridge” for cooperation to generate peace. The South Korean government and elite-led green NGOs are placing the DMZ military buffer zone as a “soft power” Peace Park instrument for peace between the two Korea's. This paper argues that the conventional approaches to explaining the Korean DMZ Peace Park initiatives/proposals fail to address the underlying national identity questions and narratives. These conventional approaches can potentially reinforce conditions for inter-Korean hostility. This is because inter-Korean hostility is based on ongoing contestations from each Korea over what counts as the historically authentic and unified Korean heritage/identity. Contests are also based upon which of the Korea's has the legitimate right to monopolize these master-narratives of what counts as genuine Korean identity. Further investigations of the practices and processes of (South) Korean identity construction through inter-cultural tensions between the two Korea's need to be addressed before a Peace Park as concept and policy can move away from the initiatives that potentially reinforce these contested identity constructions.     

Focused Multisensory Anatomy Observation and Drawing for Enhancing Social Learning and Three-Dimensional Spatial Understanding

The concept that multisensory observation and drawing can be effective for enhancing anatomy learning is supported by pedagogic research and theory, and theories of drawing. A haptico-visual observation and drawing (HVOD) process has been previously introduced to support understanding of the three-dimensional (3D) spatial form of anatomical structures. The HVOD process involves exploration of 3D anatomy with the combined use of touch and sight, and the simultaneous act of making graphite marks on paper which correspond to the anatomy under observation. Findings from a previous study suggest that HVOD can increase perceptual understanding of anatomy through memorization and recall of the 3D form of observed structures. Here, additional pedagogic and cognitive underpinnings are presented to further demonstrate how and why HVOD can be effective for anatomy learning. Delivery of a HVOD workshop is described as a detailed guide for instructors, and themes arising from a phenomenological study of educator experiences of the HVOD process are presented. Findings indicate that HVOD can provide an engaging approach for the spatial exploration of anatomy within a supportive social learning environment, but also requires modification for effective curricular integration. Consequently, based on the most effective research-informed, theoretical, and logistical elements of art-based approaches in anatomy learning, including the framework provided by the observe–reflect–draw–edit–repeat (ORDER) method, an optimized “ORDER Touch” observation and drawing process has been developed. This is with the aim of providing a widely accessible resource for supporting social learning and 3D spatial understanding of anatomy, in addition to improving specific anatomical knowledge.     

Quasi-static mechanical behaviour of soils used for natural turf sports surfaces and stud force prediction

The quasi-static testing of soils used in natural turf pitches yields key parameters in soil modelling, including elastic moduli, Poisson’s ratio and Mohr–Coulomb parameters for shearing resistance and cohesion in soil. The bulk strength of a Sand soil used in the construction of elite sports surfaces was found to increase initially and then decrease with increasing water content due to apparent cohesion effects. For a Clay Loam soil, more common in recreational facilities, shear strength decreased with water content. Reducing density resulted in a reduction of shear strength and elastic moduli in both soils due to reduced packing of particles reducing particle–particle contact surface area. The effect of roots on the shear strength of a Sand soil was not significant but reduced elastic moduli significantly. Horizontal forces measured during running and turning in a biomechanics laboratory were in good agreement with forces predicted using a simple quasi-static soil model for coarse-grained (Sand) soils although this was not the case with the Clay Loam soil.     

An investigation of the five-factor model of personality and coping behaviour in sport

Coping strategies are important for performance in sport and individual differences may contribute to the coping strategies adopted by athletes. In this study, we explored the main and interactive effects of the big five personality dimensions on sport-related coping and compared personality profiles of discrete groups of athletes. Altogether, 253 athletes (mean age 21.1 years, s=3.7) completed the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and the Coping Function Questionnaire for Sport (Kowalski & Crocker, 2001). Results showed that extraverted athletes, who were also emotionally stable and open to new experiences (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of problem-focused coping strategies. Conscientious athletes (main effect), and athletes displaying high levels of extraversion, openness, and agreeableness (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies, and athletes with low levels of openness, or high levels of neuroticism (main effects), reported a greater use of avoidance coping strategies. Different personality characteristics were observed between higher-level and lower-level athletes, between men and women athletes, and between individual and team sport athletes. These findings suggest that the five-factor model of personality can help distinguish various levels of athletic involvement and can help identify the coping strategies athletes are likely to adopt during participation.     

Gender Gaps in North American Research Productivity: Examining Faculty Publication Rates in Mexico,Canada, and the U.S.

The present study addresses gender gaps in North American research productivity, which may be influenced by personal and family variables, as well as professional and work-related variables. The study was conducted as part of the Changing Academic Profession (CAP) International Survey, conducted in 2007–08. Using articles as indicator of research productivity, we analyzed the gender gap in publication rates among full-time higher education faculty in our combined sample (Canada, Mexico, and the United States). This analysis has implications for higher education policy. In terms of research productivity, the relative productivity rates of male and female academics have been a policy priority for many years to increase the cumulative rates of research activity. We found that the variables related to research intensity varied by country, providing a more nuanced understanding of the gender gap between male and female faculty.