Explaining international sporting success: An international comparison of elite sport systems and policies in six countries

The aim of this article is to explore the relationship between elite sport policy systems (inputs and throughputs) and success in international competitions (outputs). A conceptual model of the sports policy factors, which lead to international sporting success, was implemented in an empirical environment in a pilot study with six nations. The study has sought to operationalise nine pillars, or key drivers in elite sport systems, into measurable concepts, which can be aggregated into an overall score for each pillar. In addition to a national sport policy questionnaire, athletes, coaches and performance directors were also involved in the collection of qualitative and quantitative data. Although the results are inconclusive, the findings suggest that some pillars could be regarded as possible drivers of an effective system because they were prioritised in the most successful sample nations: financial resources (pillar 1), athletic and post-career support (pillar 5), training facilities (pillar 6) and coach development (partly pillar 7).     

Teacher training effects: Real or illusory?

Thirteen teachers from an elementary school in a rural community participated in a 16-week university extension course on behavioral approaches in the classroom. Training was conducted in five successive phases: (a) Information, (b) Instructions to Practice, (c) Guided Practice, (d) Coding Practice, (e) Performance Feedback. Reading assignments, activity assignments, and discussion took place throughout most of the course. Teacher behaviors were coded in the classroom during the course, and 5 months and 12 months after the course. Performance Feedback was reinstated after the 12-month follow-up observations. Significant increases in positive teacher behaviors and decreases in negative teacher behaviors were observed by the end of the course; however, these changes were not maintained during the follow-up observations or reinstatement of Performance Feedback. The implications of the findings for training are discussed.     

美国体操运动员的培养现状及其启示

为促进我国体操事业的可持续发展,同时也为能够吸取发达国家体操管理机制的成功经验,运用文献资料法和调查访问法介绍了美国体操运动员培养的现状和管理机制,并对其进行适当的分析和研究,以期为解决我国体操运动员培养过程中所出现的问题提供参考和借鉴.     

A Liberal Arts Education: Global Trends and Challenges

The debate about the effectiveness of the liberal arts curriculum is centuries old, but recent financial and social pressures have placed the survival of the liberal arts in the United States at even greater risk. Using Kimball's (1995) notion of the oratorical and philosophical traditions of liberal education, this article first identifies the critical importance of balancing breadth and depth in the curriculum before honing in on breadth as being in particular danger in the current climate. After analyzing the major threats to breadth in American higher education, the article looks overseas to find a new case for the value of breadth in the curriculum. It focuses on Hong Kong's university system, where a large-scale, multiyear project is underway to graft a fourth year of general education onto a three-year model of discipline- or profession-specific training. The resulting contrast between American institutions discarding curricular breadth while foreign universities rediscover it is telling. This topic has particular relevance for Christian colleges and universities as they seek the holistic development of their students.     

A New Forum for Business/Higher Education Interaction: The Australian Business/Higher Education Round Table

This paper outlines some of the early work of the Australian Business/Higher Education Round Table modelled partly on the British Council for Industry and Higher Education and the Business-Higher Education Forum in the United States. The main results of two surveys of employer and university opinions are summarized and they show considerable consensus about the objectives of secondary and higher education, desirable characteristics of university graduates and their current standards.