Public education and student movements: the Chilean rebellion under a neoliberal experiment

Abstract

Chile is recognized in the educational policy field as one of the first laboratories of neoliberal initiatives. These policies, initiated under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, did not change with the new democratic governments after 1990. This characteristic led international organizations to promote the Chilean policies in different contexts in Latin America and beyond. In 2006, a high school student movement occupied public and private schools, demystifying the outcomes of these policies. A new wave of demonstrations took place in 2011, with a college student leadership that paralyzed a significant amount of universities and schools throughout the country. After both waves of mobilizations, the political system opened the process of policy-making that considered the demands of social movements. In this article, we explore the dynamics between educational policies and social student movements in Chile, and the possibilities of change in favor of public education.     

Financing innovation: A bibliometric analysis of the field

This article presents a bibliometric analysis of the financing of innovation during the period 2001–2016. Among the most prominent journals in the field are Research Policy, Technovation and Small Business Economics; among the most influential authors are Petersen, Hall, Himmelberg, Lerner and Brown; and the most connected documents are those by Hall (2002) and Brown, Fazzari, and Petersen (2009). The field is fragmented and uses a variety of financial theoretical models. Salient topics in the field are financial constraints, funding sources (internal and external), capital structure, venture capital and financing of technology companies.     

Adolescent's Physical Activity: Association with Socio‐Economic Status and Parental Participation Among a Portuguese Sample

ABSTRACT

Although the health effects of physical activity during adolescence have been studied less frequently, physical activity seems to have a positive influence on some health concerns in adolescence. Moreover, few studies have reported consistently the relationship between parents’ socio‐economic status (SES) and physical activity habits and adolescents’ activities. Significant physical activity gender differences were reported (p ≤ 0.001). No evidence was found regarding the influence of socio‐economic status on adolescents’ self‐reported physical activity. Mothers (r= 0.23; p ≤ 0.0001) and fathers (r= 0.16; p ≤ 0.05) seem to have a significant influence on adolescents’ physical activity.     

Instructions to Adopt an External Focus Enhance Muscular Endurance

Abstract

The influence of internal (movement focus) and external (outcome focus) attentional-focusing instructions on muscular endurance were investigated using three exercise protocols with experienced exercisers. Twenty-three participants completed a maximal repetition, assisted bench-press test on a Smith's machine. An external focus of attention resulted in significant (p < .05) improvements in performance compared to the internal focus of attention, but not the control condition. Seventeen participants completed repetitions to failure at 75% 1-RM on free bench-press and squat exercises. In both tasks, externally focused instructions resulted in significantly greater repetitions to failure than control and internal focus conditions (p < .05). These results support previous research showing beneficial effects of externally focused instructions on movement efficiency.     

On-Field Foes and Racial Misconceptions: The 1961 Donna Redskins and Their Drive to the Texas State Football Championship

The history of team sports in the United States is still framed, almost exclusively, in terms of black/white interactions. In the case of states such as Texas, this omission leaves a gap in our historical understanding. This lacuna calls for the examination of how Mexican-Americans, like minorities elsewhere, have used sport to break down barriers and stereotypes. This article chronicles the story of the 1961 Donna Redskins and examines how success on the football field helped reshape the perception of this ethnic group. Additionally, this article also discusses the limitations of sport as a vehicle to break stereotypical constructions of minorities.     

Aboriginal Football in Australia: Race Relations and the Socio-Historical Meanings of the 2014 Borroloola Tour to the Brazil World Cup

Abstract

This paper tells the history of the Borroloola Tour to the 2014 Brazil World Cup, when eight Aboriginal adolescent footballers from the remote town of Borroloola in Australia’s Northern Territory were selected to be part of a tour to Brazil. In Brazil they followed the Australian team from the stands, socialized with football idols such as Tim Cahill, and visited a Brazilian Indigenous tribe. John Moriarty, the first Aboriginal Australian to be selected to Australia’s national football team executed this excursion. Considering that race relations within the Australian sporting arena have historically, been tense and contested, this paper brings to light an under-explored aspect of football in Australia. It is timely too, given the insertion of Australian football within the Asian Football Confederation. The paper examines the historical meanings of the Borroloola Tour through the lens of its key participants; as well as by unveiling John Moriarty’s history as the first Aboriginal person to be selected to play for the Socceroos. In conclusion, it reveals that both the past and contemporary history of Aboriginal people’s involvement in Australian football has an emerging face that will shape football in Australia and in Asia in the coming years.     

The Efficiency of Film in Education

Film has now been with us as a visual aid in education for almost fifty years, although one can only really say that it has been widely used during the last twenty-five years. ‘Widely’, of course, should be defined, for unfortunately many teachers show educational films as a treat, a change, or as a means of having a break from a hard day or a week of teaching. I am sure we all know how often one member of staff in a school or college will ask his colleague if he may bring his students in to watch a film. I think one must really admit that sometimes the motives for showing a film have been to have a break oneself, or to gain time for marking, or to deal with one of those numerous tasks of administration which trouble every teacher at some stage. Nevertheless, there are numerous times, of course, when teachers seriously expose their students to carefully chosen films at a carefully selected time in the syllabus.     

Personal Digital Assistants as Point-of-Care Tools in Long-Term Care Facilities: A Pilot Study

This study used both survey and interview questionnaires. It was designed to assess the feasibility, usability, and utility of two point-of-care tools especially prepared with information relevant for dementia care by staff nurses in a small, a medium-sized, and a large nursing home in Florida. Twenty-five LPN or RN nurses were recruited for the study of their use of one of the tools—either a set of pocket cards (used by the control group) or a pocket PC (used by the experimental group). The findings of our study indicate that personal digital assistants (PDAs) can potentially improve long-term care clinicians' effectiveness and efficiency at work, resulting in better patient care for nursing home residents.     

Computer Innovation in Schools: a review of selected research literature

Abstract

The development of information and communication technologies has made it possible for schools to establish inter-institutional electronic networks to enhance the quality of education in small schools in sparsely populated countries like Finland. Along with this development, new kinds of virtual classrooms have emerged in symbiosis with conventional schools. A virtual classroom in a school context is a new, mostly uninvestigated, phenomenon. This article reports on the results of a Finnish project that linked two lower secondary classrooms to make one virtual classroom. The article reports on an exploratory case study of the virtual classroom and discusses justification of its establishment and practice, within the social contexts embedded in the project.     

Thinking more deeply about networks in education

In education, initiatives to restructure and reculture schools through their involvement in intra- and inter-institutional networks have grown in number in recent years. Networks of teachers and schools (often linked to institutions outside education) are becoming a key focus of change efforts promoted by professionals and policymakers. However, in current research, writing and policymaking, the use of the network concept has been generally vague, normative and mostly instrumental. This paper develops a discussion of network concepts and proposes more systematic, less normative ways of addressing and researching network issues in education. It outlines a set of key dimensions of intra- and inter-organizational networks and makes a case for more a comprehensive research approach to these phenomena.