The Pedagogy of the Body: Affect and collective individuation in the classroom and on the dancefloor

Abstract

Much recent work in the study of popular culture has emphasized the extent to which it is not only a site of signifying practices, myths, meanings and identifications, but also an arena of intensities, of affective flows and corporeal state-changes. From this perspective, many areas of popular culture (from calisthenics to social dance to video gaming) can be seen as sites at which rich and complex—if sometimes dangerous—processes of embodied learning/teaching take place. By comparison, the world of formal education can seem hopelessly clumsy in its inattention to such issues. From a personal perspective, I can attest that nothing surprises my students more than when I try to get them to think about the ergonomics of studying, or advise them that getting some exercise and cutting down on sugar will probably improve their work as much as further studying will, or when I advise graduate students that their mood and physical state will make as much difference to the quality of their lectures as will their level of formal preparation; and yet experience has convinced me of the accuracy of these assertions. I would aver that I have learned more about successful lecturing—in particular about the improvisational skill of ‘reading’ a room, and adjusting an affective–informational flow accordingly—from DJing in dance clubs than from any formal training in pedagogy that I have received. What conclusions could be drawn from these observations, and how do they relate to existing strands of pedagogic theory? These are the questions which this article will ultimately seek to address.     

The Music Industry

After finding that factor analysis is used extensively in the journal of Broadcasting &; Electronic Media, and further finding that there is little consistency to how the analysis is used, this article proposes some standards which authors ought to consider when using factor analysis, especially releasing the limits on the number of factors in exploratory analysis, and using structural models for confirmatory analysis.     

Interleukin-6 and delayed onset muscle soreness do not vary during the menstrual cycle

The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference in interleukin-6 (IL-6) and delayed onset muscles soreness (DOMS) exists in two different phases of the menstrual cycle. Nine runners performed one 75-min high-intensity interval running session during the early follicular (EF) phase and once during the midluteal (ML) phase of the menstrual cycle. Estrogen and progesterone levels were significantly reduced in the EF phase when compared to the ML phase. IL-6 levels increased from pre- to postexercise in the EF and ML phases (p < .001). There was no relationship between the IL-6 level and DOMS. The results suggest that menstruating female runners need not vary training throughout the month to reduce DOMS.     

Why We Are Not Google: Lessons from a Library Web site Usability Study

In the Fall of 2009, the Moraine Valley Community College Library, using guidelines developed by Jakob Nielsen, conducted a usability study to determine how students were using the library Web site and to inform the redesign of the Web site. The authors found that Moraine Valley's current gateway design was a more effective access point to library resources than a mock-up site which incorporated a central-search box on the site homepage. This finding stands in contrast to the observed trends of library Web site design that emphasizes a “Googlized” search.     

Passing Between the Clashing Rocks: The Heroic Quest for a Common and Inclusive Identity

It is Jeremy Henzell-Thomas's conviction that the contemporary preoccupation with the so-called 'clash of civilizations' is as ill-founded as it is unhelpful. The assumption of an adversarial stance to which it leads is fuelled by, and affirms, a polarized thinking which does disservice to fundamental truths about unity and diversity. Drawing on theology and philosophy, he examines the etymology of key words –'identity', 'authenticity', 'originality', ' fitra ' (nature) – to argue for the need to transcend difference in order to achieve (universal) identity. 'We share a common identity as human beings, and, beyond that, a common origin within the source of Creation.' If we are to honour the spiritual needs of young people and provide an education which is genuinely holistic, we need teachers who are prepared to listen to what young people are saying and to enter into a relationship with them that goes beyond the personal, the social and the moral.     

Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion,perceived adequacy of support and classroom learning environment

Inclusive education has become a cornerstone of many government policies in an increasing number of countries, yet teachers have been found to hold mixed attitudes towards its implementation and usefulness. This article, using English terminology and thinking, aims to extend previous research on the effect of teacher attitudes towards inclusion in classroom learning environments, and to explore perceived adequacy of support, levels of stress, and willingness to include pupils with certain difficulties. Teachers (N = 95) completed questionnaires on attitudes to inclusion, classroom learning environment, support and stress. Pupils (N = 2,514) completed a questionnaire on classroom learning environment only. Teacher attitudes towards including special educational needs pupils in mainstream settings were found to have a significant impact on how they managed their classroom learning environments and how adequately they perceived available support. Teachers with more positive attitudes towards inclusion were reported by their pupils to have classroom environments with greater levels of satisfaction and cohesiveness and lower levels of friction, competitiveness and difficulty than for those with teachers who held less positive attitudes. Teacher attitudes towards inclusion increased with greater perceived adequacy of both internal and external support. Teachers were less willing to include pupils with behavioural difficulties than pupils who were able/gifted or had physical difficulties, irrespective of attitude to inclusion.     

Bullying in schools: why it happens,how it makes young people feel and what we can do about it

In spite of decades of research and more recent guidance by Government, bullying in schools remains a serious concern to young people and to educational practitioners. This two year qualitative study explored the meanings eight teenagers gave to bullying they had experienced, and related this to an analysis of previous research and school policies about bullying. The findings from the study revealed that bullying affected the subjectivity of young people, including how they positioned themselves and believed themselves to be positioned by others. It also found previous research and school policies focused on the behavioural aspects of bullying, neglecting the subjective meanings that it had for those who experienced it. The research findings suggested that a more open approach by adults to what bullying means to individuals, and clearer guidance to teachers on how to work with them about subjective meanings, may provide a new direction in supporting young people who have been bullied.     

Mobile Communications and Governing the Mobile: CBs and Truckers

Struggles over CB radio use in the 1970s provide a unique historical precedent for conceptualizing current mobile communication technologies. Battles between truckers and the police were popularized in several movies, television shows, and the most memorably hit songs of the period. This essay approaches these texts as a popular how-to manual for the use of CB and compares them with the more utopian visions of CB use being spread by CB guidebooks and government officials from local police forces to the FCC. These two types of DB use came into direct conflict during the Wildcat Truckers Blockades of 1973 and 1974 that was organized via CB which spawned the popular culture representations of the truckers as American hero. This political protest made unique use of the mobile quality of CB and allowed for the unification of otherwise disparate loners which could provide a model for quick acting group resistance