Ecological dynamics of continuous and categorical decision-making: The regatta start in sailing

Abstract

Ecological dynamics of decision-making in the sport of sailing exemplifies emergent, conditionally coupled, co-adaptive behaviours. In this study, observation of the coupling dynamics of paired boats during competitive sailing showed that decision-making can be modelled as a self-sustained, co-adapting system of informationally coupled oscillators (boats). Bytracing the spatial–temporal displacements of the boats, time series analyses (autocorrelations, periodograms and running correlations) revealed that trajectories of match racing boats are coupled more than 88% of the time during a pre-start race, via continuous, competing co-adaptions between boats. Results showed that both the continuously selected trajectories of the sailors (12 years of age) and their categorical starting point locations were examples of emergent decisions. In this dynamical conception of decision-making behaviours, strategic positioning (categorical) and continuous displacement of a boat over the course in match-race sailing emerged as a function of interacting task, personal and environmental constraints. Results suggest how key interacting constraints could be manipulated in practice to enhance sailors' perceptual attunement to them in competition.     

Identity capital: an application from a longitudinal ethnographic study of self-construction during the years of school

This article contributes to ongoing discussion of the Bourdieusian concept of cultural capital and current attempts to elaborate this concept and its derivatives. The paper identifies ‘identity capital’, the capacity to create a narrative of social and self-awareness by constructing a flexible sense of self. This concept explains findings from a longitudinal ethnography with nine children and young people over a 13-year period from pre-school to the age of 17. Analysis of the data shows that this particular capacity is developed through certain kinds of privileged discourses and the opportunities provided within socially advantaged schools and families. Two case studies are selected to reveal how identity capital interacts with other identifiable forms of capital that compound and entrench each other. The paper concludes by arguing that deficiencies in identity capital could be addressed within schooling in order to support the creation of this important resource.     

Examination of Critical Features and Lessons Learned for Implementation of a Tier 2 Intervention System for Social Behavior

This article reviews Check-In, Check-Out (CICO; Hawken & Horner, 2003 Hawken, L., & Horner, R. (2003). Evaluation of targeted intervention within a schoolwide system of behavior support. Journal of Behavioral Education, 12, 225–240.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) as an intervention within a multitiered system of support. Although literature has emerged demonstrating successful intervention outcomes for a wide range of students (e.g., Campbell & Anderson, 2011 Campbell, A., & Anderson, C. M. (2011). Check-In/Check-Out: A systematic evaluation and component analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 4, 315–326.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Hawken & Horner, 2003 Hawken, L., & Horner, R. (2003). Evaluation of targeted intervention within a schoolwide system of behavior support. Journal of Behavioral Education, 12, 225–240.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), insufficient attention has focused on the administrative and organizational systems needed for high-fidelity, sustained adoption of these practices to maximize student outcomes. We address this need by demonstrating how to explicitly and systematically embed CICO into the multitiered system of supports by reviewing data, systems, and practices needed to sustain high-quality Tier 2 interventions such as CICO. One school district's systems implementation data and student outcome data are shared highlighting lessons learned during training, initial implementation, and follow-up related to CICO systems in schools. The article emphasizes the roles of school psychologists as well as the importance of collaboration with other educators in CICO implementation.     

Taking an evaluative stance to decision-making about professional development options in early childhood education and care

This article builds on our ongoing work in conceptualising an ‘evaluative stance’ framework to assist in understanding how leaders in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) make decisions about the selection of professional development options for themselves and their staff. It introduces the notion that evaluative mindsets can be considered in terms of attitudes towards decision-making that are based on personal epistemologies. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews, it explores the mindsets of six experienced leaders in two long-established ECEC organisations in Australia with respect to their decision-making about professional development. The article concludes with a consideration of the potential utility of the framework and the coding template used in this exploratory study.     

Maintaining the status quo: symbolic violence in higher education

Government policies and financial imperatives have fostered growing heterogeneity in student bodies in UK and Australian higher education (HE), but the underpinning logic of practice in these long-established social fields is far slower to change. Drawing on empirical evidence from case studies in each nation, this paper examines the tensions between the espoused and enacted values of the academy in relation to the widening participation and internationalisation agendas. We describe the research sites, their relationships with their respective fields of power and the experiences of participants as inhabitants of these HE fields. We highlight the struggles to secure relevant capital, acts of symbolic violence occurring at both institutional and programme levels and the resultant impact on individual positions and trajectories within the fields. Finally, we consider the extent to which the established practices in HE, which naturally preserve the dominance of the dominating factions, are likely to shift to enable it to genuinely enact the social conscience it espouses.     

Testing,training and tensions: the expression of health within physical education curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales

This paper utilises critical discourse analysis to explore and discuss the expression of health within physical education (PE) curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales. The study adopted a case study approach, involving three state secondary schools in England and two in Wales. Data were drawn from interviews with PE teachers and health-related school documentation in the five schools plus observation of a health-related unit of work in one of the schools. The expression of health in PE broadly reflected ideologies associated with promoting ‘fitness for life’ and ‘fitness for performance’. The extent to which teachers could express their favoured discourses in policy and practice was partly determined by their position of power, relative to others within the department, although they could find ways of privileging their favoured discourse in their own lessons. Curiously, rhetorical ‘fitness for life’ discourses were commonly expressed through ‘fitness for performance’ practices in the form of testing and training activities. These were found to be the most common contexts for the delivery of health-related learning. In terms of Bernstein's location of discourses within contexts of educational systems, the findings suggest that recontextualisation of statutory PE curricula occurred at the site of the relocation of discourse (in this case, within PE departments in secondary state schools), resulting in the privileging of discourses heavily influenced by sport- and fitness-related ideologies. Improved awareness of the expression of health in secondary school PE curricula should help to better understand and address the complex tensions between health-related policies and practices in schools.     

Elisabeth Bing Is a Treasure: Personal Reflections on a Life in Birth

Celebrating Elisabeth Bing’s 100th birthday is an honor and a joy. Elisabeth’s life is an inspiration to all who continue her mission of birth and women’s advocacy. Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski strives to capture the indomitable spirit of the founder of American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics (ASPO)/Lamaze (now Lamaze International) through a personal reflection. Elisabeth Bing lived with valor. She is a role model to women everywhere, the mother of childbirth education, and a woman of great courage and wisdom. Thank you, Elisabeth, for the huge gift of your life.     

Portfolios in Large-scale Assessment: Difficult But Not Impossible

Can districtwide portfolio assessment yield reliable scores? How can content and scoring be standardized? How can such assessment be integrated with instruction? What are the costs?