The 'Futures' of Queer Children and the Common School Ideal

This paper focuses on an especially urgent challenge to the legitimacy of the common school ideal—a challenge that has hardly been addressed within contemporary debates within liberal philosophy of education. The challenge arises from claims to accommodation by queer people and queer communities—claims that are based on notions of queerness and queer identity that are seriously underrepresented within contemporary liberal political and educational theory. The paper articulates a liberal view of personal autonomy that is constituted by a conception of practical reasoning rooted in thick communal experiences. It is argued that common schools concerned with equal concern for the autonomy of all children must attend to the specific communal requirements needed to developing the autonomous practical reasoning of queer children—requirements for what is termed a sense of 'futurity'. Five practical recommendations for common schools are briefly outlined. The paper concludes with some reflections on the divergent and convergent interests of queer theory and liberalism, and considers some possibilities for a partial reconciliation of the two theoretical perspectives.     

Body sway,aim point fluctuation and performance in rifle shooters: inter- and intra-individual analysis

In this study, we examined the relationships between body sway, aim point fluctuation and performance in rifle shooting on an inter- and intra-individual basis. Six elite shooters performed 20 shots under competition conditions. For each shot, body sway parameters and four aim point fluctuation parameters were quantified for the time periods 5 s to shot, 3 s to shot and 1 s to shot. Three parameters were used to indicate performance. An AMTI LG6-4 force plate was used to measure body sway parameters, while a SCATT shooting analysis system was used to measure aim point fluctuation and shooting performance. Multiple regression analysis indicated that body sway was related to performance for four shooters. Also, body sway was related to aim point fluctuation for all shooters. These relationships were specific to the individual, with the strength of association, parameters of importance and time period of importance different for different shooters. Correlation analysis of significant regressions indicated that, as body sway increased, performance decreased and aim point fluctuation increased for most relationships. We conclude that body sway and aim point fluctuation are important in elite rifle shooting and performance errors are highly individual-specific at this standard. Individual analysis should be a priority when examining elite sports performance.     

An Evaluation Model for Accreditation

The traditional evaluation model used in accrediting professional-education programs is discussed and the field of psychology is used as an example. The evaluation model followed in the recently implemented accreditation mechanism for rehabilitation-counselor education (RCE) programs is also discussed. The evaluation model makes some significant departures from the traditional model. A survey-research approach is used to substitute in part for the traditional site visit, and more comprehensive program-evaluation data, going beyond the traditional reliance on faculty and students, are collected. Further, data on the competence of graduates are employed in the evaluation process. Possible implications of the RCE model are discussed as they relate to the currently evolving accreditation procedure for counselor-education programs, as well as the accreditation procedures in other professions.     

The Effects of Leaderless Encounter Group Experiences on Helping Skills Training

The effects of an audiotaped leaderless encounter group on training in basic helping skills were examined. Trainees undergoing the Danish and Hauer (1973) training program were assigned to a weekly encounter group or to a didactic lecture-discussion group. No changes in trainees' self-actualization, trait or state anxiety, or rated verbal helping behavior were found due to participation in the encounter group. Significant positive changes in verbal helping behavior were found for all trainees. The importance of evaluating training experiences for helpers-in-training is noted.     

The Construction of Complementarity in Physical Education

This paper discusses the ways in which feminine and masculine subjectivities are constructed as complementary-that is, defined in opposition to one another. This concept will be explored in the context of secondary physical education through an analysis of open-ended interviews with students and teachers as they talk about themselves and each other in relation to physical activity and their expectations of masculine and feminine bodies. It will be argued that physical education is an important location in and through which bodies are inscribed with gender differences which contribute to the marginalisation of girls in relation to physical activity and help to inscribe the female body as lacking those qualities associated with the active male body.