‘Necessary Cessation from Toil and Work’: Young Christian Workers and the Question of Sport on Sundays in Post-War Melbourne

Abstract

The Young Christian Workers (YCW) is an international movement for young Catholics, engaged through a method of education called ‘See, Judge, and Act’. From the 1950s to the 1980s, the Australian YCW became known for running campaigns on a range of social issues and the provision of services – including sporting events and competitions. In this paper, the development of the Australian YCW Football Association during the 1950s is explored, and the history of YCW members’ participation in public debates about the morality of Sunday sport, which culminated in a local referendum in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell in 1959, is traced. Drawing on archival materials and interviews conducted with former young workers, the paper explores tensions within Christianity around the meaning of ‘leisure’, ‘idleness’, and Sunday as a day of observance and rest. This examination of the Melbourne debate of 1959 will show how religious tensions around Sunday sport were shaped by class, youth, and masculine identities.     

The Impact of a Therapy Dog Program on Children’s Reading: Follow-up and Extension to ELL Students

An initiative in which therapy dogs were integrated into a school-wide reading curriculum was analyzed to determine the effect on student reading in the program’s second year. Prior research on the first year of this specific program (Kirnan et al. in Early Child Educ J 44(6):637–651) demonstrated improvement in reading scores only for kindergarten students, while interview data revealed increases in positive attitudes and enthusiasm for reading across all grades. In the current study, a series of independent t-tests were conducted for each grade, comparing the second year of the program to a control group. There was a significant difference for kindergarten in the second year, as reading scores were higher for program students compared to those in the control group. Unlike the first year of the program, in the second year there was also a significant mean difference in first grade. For both grades, an analysis of covariance controlling for reading scores prior to program implementation still resulted in a significant main effect for the reading program. Combining the first 2 years of the program yielded a large enough sample for a comparison of ELL students with non-ELL students in kindergarten. These data showed significantly higher reading scores for students enrolled in the dog program relative to the control for both ELL and non-ELL students, again accounting for earlier reading scores. These findings demonstrate the need to analyze at-risk subgroups as well as the need to apply a longitudinal lens in researching both dog-assisted literacy programs and participant progress.     

Spatial abilities in an elective course of applied anatomy after a problem‐based learning curriculum

A concern on the level of anatomy knowledge reached after a problem‐based learning curriculum has been documented in the literature. Spatial anatomy, arguably the highest level in anatomy knowledge, has been related to spatial abilities. Our first objective was to test the hypothesis that residents are interested in a course of applied anatomy after a problem‐based learning curriculum. Our second objective was to test the hypothesis that the interest of residents is driven by innate higher spatial abilities. Fifty‐nine residents were invited to take an elective applied anatomy course in a prospective study. Spatial abilities were measured with a redrawn Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotations Test in two (MRT A) and three (MRT C) dimensions. A need for a greater knowledge in anatomy was expressed by 25 residents after a problem‐based learning curriculum. MRT A and C scores obtained by those choosing (n = 25) and not choosing (n = 34) applied anatomy was not different (P = 0.46 and P = 0.38, respectively). Percentage of residents in each residency program choosing applied anatomy was different [23 vs. 31 vs. 100 vs. 100% in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Anesthesia, respectively; P < 0.0001]. The interest of residents in applied anatomy was not driven by innate higher spatial abilities. Our applied anatomy course was chosen by many residents because of training needs rather than innate spatial abilities. Future research will need to assess the relationship of individual differences in spatial abilities to learning spatial anatomy. Anat Sci Ed 2:107–112, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

法国高等工程师教育解析

法国大学校的工程师教育培养模式在世界上一直享有盛誉.严格的选拔制度、创新的培养体制、与经济领域的密切合作是其长期以来优秀教育质量的重要保证.在教育环境日新月异的今天,法国工程师教育面临一些调整和改革,然而其几大传统特色在世界高等工程师教育中仍突现出不可比拟的优势.     

Obesity: Analysis of Attitudes and Knowledge of Weight Control in Girls

Abstract

A questionnaire involving attitudes toward obesity, food, and physical exercise, and knowledge about weight control, was administered to 225 obese female adolescents and 213 controls. Results indicated an obsession on the part of the obese with their weight, to such an extent that nonrelated areas became involved in the issue. Despite the greater knowledge of the obese concerning weight control, and their more positive attitudes toward exercise, these factors seemed to have little effect in helping them deal with their obesity.     

The puliti affair and the 1924 Paris Olympics: Geo-Political issues,National pride and fencing traditions

During the Paris Olympic Games of July 1924, there were a series of ‘incidents’ in the fencing competition that became known as the Puliti affair. At the centre of the troubles was the Italian Oreste Puliti. The ‘affair’ had to be discussed by the ‘jury d'honneur’ recently set up by the IOC. Both the IOC and the International Federation were concerned with this issue for four more years. This article uses the Puliti affair to discuss several aspects of nationalism in the mid-1920s: the growing tensions between Fascist Italy and democracies such as Hungary and France, the specific Olympic status of fencing challenged in Paris after three centuries of confrontation between the French and Italian schools of fencing, and ongoing tensions between the IOC and the international federations. Finally, the press perceptions of the incident in various countries are briefly discussed.     

Age and Sex Differences in Motor Performance of 3 through 6 Year Old Children

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of age and sex to the performance of 3, 4, 5, and 6 year olds on seven motor performance test items. Although significant age and sex differences were found on most of the motor tests, it appears that age generally was related more to performance than was gender. Overall, change with age was fairly linear except perhaps for balancing and a general tapering in improvement in the 5 to 6 year old category. On the tests of throwing and balancing, gender was as important as age, or more so, in its relationship to performance. Boys were superior to girls at all ages on the throwing tests; girls were superior to boys at age 6 on the Balance test. Gender differences of a lesser magnitude were found on the Speed Run and Standing Long Jump tests with the performance of boys generally being superior to the performance of girls. Thus, it appears that gender differences in motor performance occur as early as the preschool years. Interestingly, except for the Balance test, on all the tests the 3 and 4 year old boys performed similarly and the 5 and 6 year old boys performed similarly. For the girls there were more significant differences from year to year in performance, with the data generally indicating at least three distinct skill groups for girls from age 3 to 6.     

Reviews

Jeffree, Dorothy M. and Skeffington, Margaret (1980) Let Me Read. MacFarlane, Tom, with Moyle, Donald (adviser), (1980) Comprehension Through the Newspaper. Pugh, A.K., Lee, V.J. and Swann, J. (Ed.) (1980) Language and Language Use. Veatch, Jeannette (1978) Reading in the Elementary School.     

L'ecole francaise et sa difficile insertion communautaire

Résumé Après avoir distingué différentes conceptions possibles de la liaison entre école et communauté locale (banalisation des équipements scolaires, intégration des équipements éducatifs, culturels et sociaux, ouverture de la pédagogie sur la vie réelle, contrôle et participation des parents et des usagers), l'auteur attribue les difficultés d'insertion et d'adaptation communautaires du système scolaire français à une tradition de centralisation administrative et bureaucratique (qui se manifeste dans la conception des programmes et méthodes d'enseignement aussi bien que dans le recrutement et la gestion des personnels). Parmi les innovations pédagogiques récentes susceptibles d'aller dans le sens d'une meilleure liaison entre école et communauté, on peut retenir surtout certaines expériences d'intégration architecturale et fonctionnelle d'équipements à vocation éducative, culturelle ou sociale conçues dans une perspective de participation et de déségrégation communautaire (cf. par exemple les réalisations d'Yerres, d'Istres et surtout de la Villeneuve de Grenoble). De telles expériences s'avèrent cependant difficilement généralisables dans le contexte français, de même que s'avèrent difficiles à mettre en oeuvre le contrôle des parents d'élèves sur le fonctionnement des établissements ou l'ouverture des contenus de l'enseignement sur les réalités du milieu local.

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The author distinguishes between the different ways in which it is possible for the school to relate with the local community — by making school equipment generally available, by integrating the educational, social and cultural resources, by opening up education to real life, and by participation and control by parents and users. The difficulty for the French school system to penetrate and adapt itself to the communities in which it functions, is attributed to the tradition of administrative and bureaucratic centralisation manifested in the conception of teaching programmes and methods, as well as in the recruitment and management of personnel. Among recent educational innovations that could lead to a better association of the school with the community, one might mention first and foremost certain experiments concerned with the architectural and functional integration of educational, cultural and social facilities, conceived in a perspective of participation and desegregation of the community (e.g., in Yerres, Istres, and specially in Villeneuve, Grenoble). However, in the French context, such experiments are difficult to generalise from. It is equally difficult to effect any kind of control by parents over the functioning of educational institutions, or to open the curriculum to the realities of the local environment.

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Zusammenfassung Zunächst unterscheidet der Verfasser zwischen verschiedenen möglichen Konzeptionen von der Verbindung der Schule mit der örtlichen Gemeinschaft (Zugänglichkeit der Schulausstattung, Integration der pädagogischen, kulturellen und sozialen Einrichtungen, Öffnung der Pädagogik auf die Wirklichkeit, Kontrolle und Teilnahme von Eltern und Benutzern). Die Schwierigkeiten des französischen Schulsystems, sich in die Gemeinde einzufügen und ihr anzupassen, schreibt er dem traditionellen administrativen und bürokratischen Zentralismus zu, der sich sowohl in der Konzeption der Lehrprogramme und -methoden als auch in der Einstellung und Führung der Lehrkräfte kundtut. Zu neueren pädagogischen Innovationen, die zu besserer Verbindung der Schule mit der Gemeinschaft führen könnten, gehören vor allem gewisse Beispiele architektonischer und funktioneller Integration von pädagogischen, kulturellen und socialen Einrichtungen im Hinblick auf Teilnahme und Einschluß der Gemeinschaft (wie z.B. realisiert in Yerres, Istres, und vor allem Villeneuve bei Grenoble). Derartige Neuerungen sind allerdings in Frankreich schwer generalisierbar, und auch Kontrolle der Institutionen durch die Eltern sowie Öffnung der Lehrinhalte auf die Wirklichkeit der örtlichen Gegebenheiten sind nicht leicht in die Tat umzusetzen.