Thinking Critically about Difference: Analytical Tools for the 21st Century

This article examines a critical cultural thinking framework advanced to develop an analysis of difference as it pertains to race, gender, and sexuality. We examine student journals to document their use (or lack therein) of these critical cultural thinking concepts and how these concepts influence students' understanding of difference. While there are a number of tools that students can rely on for thinking critically, we advance four concepts that are central for the development of a critical cultural consciousness. ^{1 1} We use the term “critical cultural consciousness” as well as related terms to distinguish critical thinking about difference and diversity from more generic or general forms of critical thinking. The critical cultural thinking skills we identify in this article are (1) organic experience, (2) relational analysis, (3) historical analysis, and (4) conception of power relations. We argue that these tools are central for an intellectual understanding of difference. As the student journals analyzed in this article demonstrate, in the absence of these tools of inquiry, much of the campus discourse reverts to oppressive frameworks, which not only serve to oppress students of color, women, and gay and lesbian students but also erodes the practice of citizenship that is crucial for the development of educational democracy.     

Not Your Child's Playground: Workplace Bullying Among Community College Faculty

Community colleges have provided an entree into higher education for many women. Yet, women faculty perceive the overall climate of community colleges as “chilly.” To deconstruct the interpersonal dynamics that may lead to perceptions of a chilly climate, this study examines the prevalence of workplace bullying among and between community college faulty. The purpose is to understand the nature of harassment, the ways in which women define and respond to it, and the importance of contextual factors in the prevalence. Workplace bullying is a form of interpersonal aggression that has implications for how individuals perceive the organizational climate, job productivity, and job satisfaction. Findings from this study indicate that workplace bullying among faculty includes many subtle practices characterized by informal and formal use of power, faculty workplace bullying is affected by several enabling structures specific to the context, and victims typically respond with avoidance. This study has implications for harassment policies, faculty involvement in institutional governance, and the gendered nature of interpersonal dynamics.     

Humor in High-Stress Relationships: Understanding Communication in Police Officers' Romantic Relationships

A career in law enforcement is highly stressful given the nontraditional shiftwork, uncertain interactions, and risk of harm. These combined stressors likely spillover into one's romantic relationship and, thus, the study reported here explored one potential communicative coping mechanism—humor. Research exploring humor suggests that humorous communicators are better able to respond to stress, and this study explored if humor appears to benefit relational communication in police officer relationships. Findings begin to support this argument, revealing that romantic partners of police officers with a high humor orientation (HO) report using humor more to cope as well as experiencing less stress (both perceived and physical) and conflict (lower frequency of conflict and less intense/hostile conflict). Path analyses revealed that the use of humor to cope mediated the relationships between self-reported HO and stress, as well as conflict. Implications for humor and romantic relational communication are discussed.     

Mass Communications

Ted Perry (ed.) Performing Arts Resources: 1974 (New York: Drama Books Specialists/Theater Library Association, 1974—price not known)

George N. Gordon's Communications and Media: Constructing a Cross-Discipline (New York: Hastings House, 1975—$12.50/6.95)

Francisco J. Lewels Jr.'s The Uses of the Media by the Chicano Movement: A Study in Minority Access (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1974— $15.00)

Lester Asheim and Sara I. Fenwick's Differentiating the Media (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975—$5.95)

C.A. Schicke's Revolution in Sound: A Biography of the Recording Industry (Boston: Little, Brown, 1974—$6.95)

T. Jan Wiseman and Molly J. Wiseman's Creative Communicati Teaching Mass Media (Minneapolis: National Scholastic Press Association at the University of Minnesota, 1974—price not given, paper)     

Field dimension and skill level constrain team tactical behaviours in small-sided and conditioned games in football

Abstract

This study analysed the influence of field dimension and players’ skill level on collective tactical behaviours during small-sided and conditioned games (SSCGs). Positioning and displacement data were collected using global positioning systems (15 Hz) during SSCGs (Gk+4 v. 4+Gk) played by two groups of participants (NLP- national-level and RLP-regional-level players) on different field dimensions (small: 36.8 × 23.8 m; intermediate: 47.3 × 30.6 and large: 57.8 × 37.4 m). Team tactical performance was assessed through established dynamic team variables (effective playing space, playing length per width ratio and team separateness) and nonlinear signal processing techniques (sample entropy of distances to nearest opponents and the teams’ centroids’ mutual information). Results showed that the effective playing space and team separateness increased significantly with pitch size regardless of participant skill level (P < 0.001, η² = 0.78 and P < 0.001, η² = 0.65, respectively). Playing length per width ratio increased with pitch size for the NLP but was maintained at a relatively constant level by RLP across treatments indicating different playing shapes. There was significantly more irregularity in distances to nearest opponents for the NLP in small (P = 0.003) and intermediate fields (P = 0.01). Findings suggest that tactical behaviours in SSCGs are constrained by field size and skill level, which need to be considered by coaches when designing training practices.