Condoning aggressive behaviour in sport: A cross-sectional research in a few consecutive age categories

The aim of this study was to compare the way in which 216 young handball players (Mage = 12.79, SD = 2.20) of different ages (nine- to 10-years-old, 11- to 12-years-old, 13- to 14-years-old, and 15- to 16-years-old) combined and integrated five different information cues (the consequences of the aggression, the current score, the time left to play, the context of the aggression, the relative importance of the game) for judging the extent to which an aggressive act performed by a player during a match of handball could be condoned. The participants indicated their judgement in 48 scenarios constructed from the combination of these information cues. A cluster analysis has been done. Two different positions on moral judgement were observed. The information cues were combined differently and moral judgement increased according the young players’ age. The approach of information integration completes the previous studies on developmental moral judgement in sport.     

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Belgian and Vietnamese Children’s Social Competence and Behavior

Children’s social competence and behavioral adjustment are key issues for child development, education, and clinical research. Cross-cultural analyses are necessary to provide relevant methods of assessing them for cross-cultural research. The aim of the current study was to contribute to this important line of research by validating the 3-factor structure of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE-30; LaFrenière & Dumas, 1996) among Belgian and Vietnamese children and by comparing Belgian and Vietnamese children’s social competence and behavioral adjustment. Parent reports were collected relating to 607 children ages 5 to 7: 243 from Belgium and 364 from Vietnam. The results support the universality of the 3-factor structure of the SCBE-30 encompassing social competence, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavior. They give strong support to the relevance of this theoretically and empirically based instrument for conducting cross-cultural studies. However, they also reveal significant cultural variations with regard to individualist and collectivist values in the 2 countries under consideration.     

Plato, Pascal, and the dynamics of personal knowledge

Abstract educational practices are to be based on proven scientific knowledge, not least because the function science has to perform in human culture consists of unifying practical skills and general beliefs, the episteme and the techne (Amsterdamski, 1975, pp. 43–44). Now, modern societies first of all presuppose regular and standardized ways of organizing both our concepts and our institutions. The explanatory schemata resulting from this standardization tend to destroy individualism and enchantment. But mathematics education is in fact the only place in which to treat the human subject’s relationship with mathematics. And that is what mathematics education is all about: make the human subject grow intellectually and as a person by means of mathematics. At first sight, mathematics, in its formal guise, seems the opposite of philosophy, because philosophy constructs concepts (meanings), whereas mathematics deals with extensions of concepts (sets). We shall, however, turn this problem into an instrument, using the complementarity of intensions and extensions of theoretical terms as our main device for discussing the relationship between philosophy and mathematics education. The complementarity of the “how” and the “what” of our representations outlines, in fact, the terrain on which epistemology and education are to meet.     

Aerobic plus resistance training was more effective in improving the visceral adiposity,metabolic profile and inflammatory markers than aerobic training in obese adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether aerobic plus resistance training (AT + RT) is more effective than aerobic training (AT) at reducing inflammatory markers and cardiovascular risk in obese adolescents. A total of 139 obese adolescents were enrolled, aged 15–19 years, body mass index (BMI) ≥ 95th percentile and participated in 1 year of interdisciplinary intervention. They were randomised into two groups: AT (n = 55), AT + RT (n = 61). Blood samples were collected to analyse glycaemia, insulin, the lipid profile, leptin and adiponectin concentrations. Insulin resistance was measured by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). The AT + RT group showed better results with regard to decreased body fat mass, low-density lipoprotein concentration (LDL-c) levels, subcutaneous and visceral fat and increased body lean mass. Indeed, a reduction of hyperleptinaemia and an increase in adiponectin concentrations, promoting an improvement in the leptin/adiponectin ratio, was observed. Important clinical parameters were improved in both types of exercise; however, AT + RT was more effective in improving the visceral adiposity, metabolic profile and inflammatory markers than AT alone, suggesting clinical applications for the control of intra-abdominal obesity and cardiovascular risk in the paediatric population.     

The value and impact of information provided through library services for patient care: developing guidance for best practice

Introduction: Previous impact tool‐kits for UK health libraries required updating to reflect recent evidence and changes in library services. The National Knowledge Service funded development of updated guidance. Methods: Survey tools were developed based on previous impact studies and a systematic review. The resulting draft questionnaire survey was tested at four sites, and the interview schedule was investigated in a fifth area. A literature search in assia , Google Scholar, intute , lisa , lista , scirus , Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Knowledge), and the major UK University and National Libraries Catalogue (copac ), identified ways to improve response rates. Other expert advice contributed to the guidance. Results: The resulting guidance contains evidence‐based advice and a planning pathway for conducting an impact survey as a service audit. The survey tools (critical incident questionnaire and interview schedule) are available online. The evidence‐based advice recommends personalizing the request, assuring confidentiality, and using follow‐up reminders. Questionnaires should be brief, and small incentives, such as a lottery draw should be considered. Bias is minimized if the survey is conducted and analysed by independent researchers. Conclusion: The guidance is a starting point for a pragmatic survey to assess the impact of health library services.     

Education,art, and exile: cultural activists and exhibitions of refugee children’s art in the UK during the Second World War

Abstract

During the 1930s and 1940s art increasingly came to be used as a therapeutic tool with children who were perceived as damaged by their experiences of war or displacement. This article explores two related exhibitions – Children’s Art from All Countries (1941) and The War as Seen by Children (1943) – which provided a platform for children’s impressions and experiences of war as seen through their drawings, whilst also raising money and awareness for refugee children’s causes. Although supported by an influential network of British educators and cultural figures, the exhibitions were conceived and organised by displaced German, Austrian, and Czech artists and cultural educators who were members of the Free German League of Culture in London during the Second World War. The exhibitions are considered as sites of educational and political interventions by adult refugees in the context of therapeutic interventions with refugee children in British educational settings. In so doing, this article argues that the exhibition organisers conceived of cultural and creative learning as a transformative vehicle for supporting and re-forming personal identities, and for the re-imagining of collective democratic futures.