Segment coupling and coordination variability analyses of the roundhouse kick in taekwondo relative to the initial stance position

The initial stance position (ISP) has been observed as a factor affecting the execution technique during taekwondo kicks. In the present study, authors aimed to analyse a roundhouse kick to the chest by measuring movement coordination and the variability of coordination and comparing this across the different ISP (0°, 45° and 90°). Eight experienced taekwondo athletes performed consecutive kicking trials in random order from every of the three relative positions. The execution was divided into three phases (stance, first swing and second swing phase). A motion capture system was used to measure athletes’ angular displacement of pelvis and thigh. A modified vector coding technique was used to quantify the coordination of the segments which contributed to the overall movement. The variability of this coordination (CV) for each ISP was also calculated. Comparative analysis showed that during the stance phase in the transverse plane, athletes coordinated movement of the trunk and thigh with a higher frequency of in-phase and lower frequency of exclusive thigh rotation in the 0° stance than the 90° stance position (P < 0.05). CV was also influenced by the different ISP. During the first swing and the majority of the second swing phase, predominant in-phase coordination of the pelvis and thigh was observed. Including exercises that require in-phase movement could not only help athletes to acquire coordination stability but also efficiency. The existence of a constraint such as ISP implies an increase of the variability when the athletes have to kick from ISP they are not used to adopt (i.e., 0° and 90° ISP) as an evidence of adaptability in the athletes’ execution technique.     

Learning by Discovery

This paper illustrates how expected mean squares needed in the analysis of variance can be arrived at via the use of only one rule: the E(MS) for any source of variation for any ANOVA model is the specified effect (main effect or interaction) plus the specified effect in combination with any random effect (including combinations of random effects). Once the procedure has been mastered, it can be quickly applied to ANOVA designs of any complexity.     

Poor relations in the preschool family: the funding of playgroups 1

Playgroups provide for more children under five than any other preschool service, and now regard themselves as an alternative to, rather than a substitute for, nursery education. There are, however, a number of major issues concerning their funding: income depends largely on parental fees and fund‐raising; playgroups are less well resourced than nursery education; and current resourcing may be too low to ensure quality. Based on research in 45 playgroups in three areas (rural, inner city, and suburban), the paper looks in more detail at the consequences for playgroups of their current funding position and, more specifically, at the impact on various aspects of playgroups ‐ including premises and equipment; opening hours and usage; the position of playgroup workers; the satisfaction of mothers and playgroup leaders; and the playgroup environment ‐ of different funding policies pursued by local authorities in the three study areas. One local authority provided substantial support to individual playgroups, while the other two gave minimal support. The paper concludes by considering three options for the future funding of playgroups.

     

The Rub Between Fact and Fiction: Ideology in Lois Lenski’s Regional Maps

From the early 1940s until the late 1960s, Lois Lenski embarked on an exploration of American regions through children’s books. This body of work, which has become known as Lenski’s Regional Series, began by exploring the regions Lenski herself experienced each year as she traveled from Connecticut to Florida for her health. As Lenski realized the importance and success of these books, demonstrated by a Newberry Medal award for Strawberry Girl in 1946, she broadened her reach to include more geographical areas of the United States including such states as California and South Dakota. Through her books, Lenski emphasizes the importance of community and shared nationhood even across regional lines. This paper examines Lenski’s regional series first from her own purpose in aiming for objectivity and fact that she could communicate to children of other regions, instructing and exposing them to new ways of life. Second, this paper considers the paratextual elements of the Regional series, the forewords and the maps that accompany each book, to reveal the ideology that Lenski unconsciously incorporates into her stories. A product of her time, Lenski may have been influenced by the government’s American Guide Series, created by the Federal Writers’ Project, which demonstrates the same successes and flaws. Lenski’s maps in particular demonstrate the influence of a particular time, the layering of fact and fiction, and the reflection of Lenski’s personal values of certain regional characteristics. Recognition of the ideology incorporated into Lenski’s series remains important as child readers receive not objective fact, but one perspective of their nation.     

The language of friendship and identity: children’s communication choices in an interfaith exchange

The development of partnerships between schools and school children of different religious and cultural backgrounds is currently being promoted at national level in an attempt to encourage social cohesion in ethnically and religiously diverse societies. This article reports on one such partnership, a programme of email communication between children from primary schools in Leicester and East Sussex. It uses concepts of presence and space to analyse the different linguistic and paralinguistic devices children employ to construct their identities as friends and as representatives of their communities, and to project these identities across a cultural divide. Evaluation of the children’s language choices identifies tensions and limitations as well as possibilities. The article makes use of Derrida’s deconstruction of hospitality as it questions a too ready adoption of the discourse of friendship for children’s intercultural encounter, and suggests that the development of a more sophisticated language of interest, politeness and respect provides them with a firmer foundation for positive and productive dialogue with religious difference.     

It Takes Two to Tango: Multi-Directional,Dynamic Influences on Parenting Behavior

SYNOPSIS

It is natural to feel upset when two sets of responsibilities clash, and it is important to identify characteristics that predict parenting behaviors in the context of work-family conflict. Here, I examine the other side of the coin, reviewing inborn features of infants that likely impact parents’ feelings and behaviors. Some infants are less socially responsive, more reactive, and harder to soothe than others, contributing to increased parental stress that might be exacerbated by work-family conflict. I further argue that shared genetics and socio-cultural context account for additional variance in the dynamic interplay between parents and infants.     

Families into Higher Education Project: An Awareness Raising Action Research Project with Schools and Parents

Participation in higher education amongst minority ethnic groups is unevenly spread across higher education institutions and disproportionately low amongst certain ethnic groups. This article presents some preliminary findings from a small scale research project which is investigating higher education participation issues for Muslim families in the north of England. The paper argues for a widening participation discourse which speaks on the same wavelength as minority groups if strategies are to be effective. It also argues that those same discourses need to be heard within higher education if the student experience is to be positive beyond the recruitment stage.