Religious discrimination discourse in the mono-cultural school: the case of Poland

The article forms an analysis of the religious discrimination discourse in Polish public schools, with special attention paid to the culturally specific, Polish understanding of the notion of religious discrimination. The introductory part presents the concept of religious discrimination as present in anti-discriminatory policies. The following part outlines the Polish system of religious education and its relation to the religious discrimination. Studies on religious discrimination in Poland are presented and discussed. Important context is supplied by a presentation of two recent cases of religious discrimination in Polish public schools, and the actions undertaken by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Authors of the article point out the important influence of cultural context on the perception of religious discrimination. The attention is drawn to the seemingly homogenous environment of the Polish school and of the discriminative discourse used in political and social debates. The analysis shows that the presence of religion as a subject in Polish schools remains a cause of conflict between the religious and atheist citizens, a conflict in which concepts of religious discrimination and religious freedom are used as arguments by both sides.     

Beyond chip monks and paper tigers: towards a new culture of archival format specialists

The emergence of the new format of electronic/digital records provides the opportunity for archivists to reconsider the presumed format-neutrality of professional practice. As research in electronic records has served to re-emphasise, without an understanding of the needs and forms of material, then the work of archivists can have a profound impact on the evidential value and long-term research potential of the material. This paper attempts to broaden the debate about the requirements of all archival formats, and to build a new regime of 21st-century format specialists.

Examining the impact of four teaching development programmes for engineering teaching assistants*

As current graduate instructors of labs and class discussions, teaching assistants (TAs) play a critical role in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) undergraduate education, especially as some graduate students may choose a faculty career in the future. Because of the importance of TAs and their development as scholars and instructors, we sought to determine the most effective methods of preparing engineering TAs at two research universities. We compare the impact of a teaching orientation with one of four teaching development programmes (Pedagogy Course, Advanced Practice Teaching, Workshop Attendance with Written Reflection, or Mid-Semester Student Feedback with Written Reflection) on engineering TAs’ teaching efficacy and definitions of active learning. Results indicated that the Pedagogy Course consistently increased TAs’ teaching efficacy and attitudes toward teaching compared with the other programmes. We also found that stand-alone Mid-Semester Student Feedback with Written Reflection enhanced TAs’ efficacy for reflection and beliefs about teaching. We discuss implications for providing teaching development for graduate students and directions for future research.     

Planned Hindsight

By the early 1980s, many life scientists had begun to maintain small collections of cryopreserved tissues for their own specific research purposes. It became apparent that these materials could be successfully reused as new techniques and research questions emerged. This realization led several American leaders in the field of systematic taxonomy (the science of biological classification) and conservation genetics to argue for the need to take stock of and coordinate these heterogeneous collections. Their strategy, which they called ‘planned hindsight,’ was meant to organize the present in a way that appeared to anticipate the needs of future scientists. In this paper I examine how the seemingly paradoxical strategy of ‘planned hindsight’ has functioned as a strategy for choreographing life, time, and value at two centralized biospecimen collections: The Frozen Zoo in Escondido, CA, USA, and the Ambrose Monell Cryo Collection at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I conclude that, in practice, ‘planned hindsight’ not only contributes to the endurance of frozen tissues but also preserves widely divergent speculative visions of the many different individuals involved with their creation, maintenance, and re-use.     

The evidence for the impact of policy on physical activity outcomes within the school setting: A systematic review

BackgroundDespite the well-established health benefits of physical activity (PA) for young people (aged 4–19 years), most do not meet PA guidelines. Policies that support PA in schools may be promising, but their impact on PA behavior is poorly understood. The aim of this systematic review was to ascertain the level and type of evidence reported in the international scientific literature for policies within the school setting that contribute directly or indirectly to increasing PA.MethodsThis systematic review is compliant with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Six databases were searched using key concepts of policy, school, evaluation, and PA. Following title and abstract screening of 2323 studies, 25 progressed to data synthesis. Methodological quality was assessed using standardized tools, and the strength of the evidence of policy impact was described based on pre-determined codes: positive, negative, inconclusive, or untested statistically.ResultsEvidence emerged for 9 policy areas that had a direct or indirect effect on PA within the school setting. These were whole school PA policy, physical education, sport/extracurricular PA, classroom-based PA, active breaks/recess, physical environment, shared use agreements, active school transport, and surveillance. The bulk of the evidence was significantly positive (54%), 27% was inconclusive, 9% was significantly negative, and 11% was untested (due to rounding, some numbers add to 99% or 101%). Frequency of evidence was highest in the primary setting (41%), 34% in the secondary setting, and 24% in primary/secondary combined school settings. By policy area, frequency of evidence was highest for sport/extracurricular PA (35%), 17% for physical education, and 12% for whole school PA policy, with evidence for shared use agreements between schools and local communities rarely reported (2%). Comparing relative strength of evidence, the evidence for shared use agreements, though sparse, was 100% positive, while 60% of the evidence for whole school PA policy, 59% of the evidence for sport/extracurricular PA, 57% of the evidence for physical education, 50% of the evidence for PA in classroom, and 50% of the evidence for active breaks/recess were positive.ConclusionThe current evidence base supports the effectiveness of PA policy actions within the school setting but cautions against a “one-size-fits-all” approach and emphasizes the need to examine policy implementation to maximize translation into practice. Greater clarity regarding terminology, measurement, and methods for evaluation of policy interventions is needed.     

Surviving Layoffs: A Qualitative Study of Factors Affecting Retained Employees After Downsizing

Workforce downsizing is becoming an increasingly common outcome of organizational restructuring. Recent studies have focused on the victims of downsizing, the employees laid off. Unfortunately, little has been said about what happens to the “survivors” of downsizing. This qualitative report documents the perspectives of a small company's layoff survivors. It examines factors that affect retained employees' performance. A conceptual framework for evaluating how downsizing impacts job performance is presented. Three main factors–need for security, desire for justice, and level of job enrichment–found to have an impact on employees' ability to actively support the company in its quest for competitive edge, are discussed.     

Evening electronic device use and sleep patterns in athletes

The present study aimed to investigate pre-sleep behaviours (including evening electronic device use) and sleep quantity in well-trained athletes. Seventy well-trained athletes (44 females, 26 males) aged 21 ± 4 y from a range of team and individual sports were asked to complete an online sleep diary for 7 days. The sleep diary included questions about pre-sleep behaviours (e.g. napping, caffeine intake), electronic device use in the 2 h prior to bedtime (e.g. type of device and duration of use) and sleep (e.g. time in bed, sleep onset latency). On average, athletes spent 8:20 ± 1:21 h in bed each night. Associations between age, time in bed and sleepiness suggested that younger athletes spent more time in bed (B = -0.05, p = 0.001) but felt sleepier (r = -0.32, p < 0.01) than older athletes. On average, athletes mostly used electronic devices for 0–30 min prior to sleep. The use of multiple devices in the evening was associated with more perceived difficulty in falling asleep (B = 0.22, p = 0.03), but no associations existed with other sleep variables. In summary, younger athletes may require later start times or improved sleep quality to resolve excessive sleepiness.     

The effect of breast support and breast pain on upper-extremity kinematics during running: implications for females with large breasts

The relationship between inappropriate breast support and upper-extremity kinematics for female runners is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of breast support and breast pain on upper-extremity kinematics during running. Eleven female recreational runners with larger breasts (UK D and E cup) completed a 7 min 20 s treadmill run (2.58 m · s^?1) in a high and low breast support condition. Multi-planar breast and upper-extremity kinematic data were captured in each breast support condition by eight infrared cameras for 30 s towards the end of the run. Breast pain was rated at the end of each treadmill run using a numeric analogue scale. The high support bra reduced breast kinematics and decreased breast pain (P < 0.05). Upper-extremity kinematics did not differ between breast support conditions (P > 0.05), although some moderate positive correlations were found between thorax range of motion and breast kinematics (r = 0.54 to 0.73). Thorax and arm kinematics do not appear to be influenced by breast support level in female runners with large breasts. A high support bra that offers good multi-planar breast support is recommended for female runners with larger breasts to reduce breast pain.