Moving towards Inclusion: An Analysis of Photographs from the 1926 Women's Games in Gothenburg

The 1920s was characterised by a struggle over the social acceptance and inclusion of women's track and field disciplines into international organisations. The debate was particularly heated between Alice Milliat, the then president of the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale, and the members of the International Athletic Federation and International Olympic Committee. Underlying the debate were differing assumptions about gender ideals and the role of women in society. While Milliat's efforts have been crucial and recognised in developing women's track and field, little research has examined how visual representations of track and field athletes related to gender norms. In this paper, we examine a corpus of professional sports photographs taken during the 1926 Women's Games in Gothenburg to gain understanding of how female athletes' media representations were part of negotiations over gender ideals. Placing the material within the notion of ‘gender dispositive’, our analyses reveal a process of negotiation between the ‘new’ woman ideal that included characteristics such as autonomy and self-control, as well as the mechanisation of women's bodies and traditional notions of femininity.     

Promoting girls' participation in sports: discursive constructions of girls in a sports initiative

What does it mean to promote girls' participation in sports and which girls are seen as needing support? In this article we focus a government-financed sports venture and scrutinize the frames governing what is possible to say about girls and their participation in sports. By analyzing project applications from local sport clubs we investigate how the category of girls is discursively constructed in projects designed to promote girls' sports participation. The study employs the Foucauldian concepts of governmentality, power, biopower and normalization. The analyses show that teenage girls in particular are in focus and a number of ideas are presented about what becoming a teenage girl means. We consider the projects as part of governmentality. Framing girls as both ‘capable’ and ‘at risk’ is reasonable in liberal governing, where they become subjects of scrutiny, regulation and productivity.     

A Field-Based Testing Protocol for Assessing Gross Motor Skills in Preschool Children: The Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable tool for use in assessing motor skills in preschool children in field-based settings. The development of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol included evidence of its reliability and validity for use in field-based environments as part of large epidemiological studies. Following pilot work, 297 children (3–5 years old) from 22 preschools were tested using the final version of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol and the Test of Gross Motor Development (2nd Edition). Reliability of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol and interobserver reliability were determined using intraclass correlation procedures (intraclass correlation coefficients; ANOVA). Concurrent validity was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients to compare the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol to the original Test of Gross Motor Development (2nd Edition). Results indicated that test reliability, interobserver reliability, and validity coefficients were all high, generally above R/r = .90. Significant age differences were found. Outcomes indicate that the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol is an appropriate tool for assessing motor development of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children in field-based settings that are consistent with large-scale trials.     

OPINION RESEARCH IN EAST GERMANY A Challenge to Professional Standards

The paper discusses some of the issues complicating opinionresearch in the GDR and considers the effectiveness of a numberof techniques as well as the degree to which they can yieldreliable results. One of the main problem areas is the previouslyinstitutionalized character of public attitude studies duringSED–rule and their role in the sociopolitical advancementof socialist society. Given the enormous shift in voting intentionbefore the first gerneral election in 58 years on 18 March 1990,a comparison of trend data taken from a number of polls conductedbetween the end of November 1989 to 17 March 1990 clearly indicatesthe unstable situation at the outset and subsequent shift inattitudes toward political alternatives. It is argued that overall,poll results were successful in presenting a snapshot of viewsas they were at the time of the interview, and that as the electiondrew nearer, the trend gave a clear indication of the likelyoutcome.     

Municipal Intentions to Promote Preschool Children’s Capabilities and Health: A Descriptive Study of 25 Swedish Municipalities

Preschools are environments where children are given opportunities to develop emotional, social and intellectual capabilities, characteristics that by recent research have been revealed as health protecting. The objectives of this study were to examine the intentions of 25 Swedish municipalities to develop such capabilities through activities in preschool and to relate these intentions to municipal socio-economic conditions. Indicators on municipal intentions to promote preschool children’s emotional, social and intellectual capabilities were rather frequently utilised by the 25 municipalities in this study. However, promotion of physical activity, parent support, and children’s influence in preschool were not prioritised. The extent of intended preschool activities was not determined by municipal wealth, which might be due to a national system for equalizing municipal resources.     

Theories of Value and Demonstrating their Practical Implementation in Academic Library Services

Academic libraries are increasingly required to provide tangible evidence of their value to the scholarly community. Library responses have developed from early process-focused investigations to develop input and output measures, or user satisfaction studies, that do not provide much evidence of value, to attempting to demonstrate value from different perspectives, depending on the philosophical point of view with which the concept is regarded, for example in economic or social terms. This article attempts to explore a number of theoretical approaches that have been used to inform assessments of value in academic libraries, as well as some practical approaches to consider when undertaking studies of the value of academic library services.¹     

Teacher Leadership in Practice: Mapping the Negotiation of the Position of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator in Schools

Special needs care has taken on a substantial evolution within education. Special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) are no longer considered to provide individual guidance to students but to support and professionalize regular teachers in fulfilling special needs care in their classroom. In doing so, they act as teacher leaders. Many concerns are raised about how teacher leadership may interfere with the existing working relationships in schools. In this study, we use Positioning Theory as a theoretical approach to obtain an in-depth understanding of how the position of the SENCO and the responsibilities attached to this position are negotiated within the school. The findings illustrate that SENCOs received the legitimacy to act as teacher leaders when their expertise was recognized, when teachers perceived their task as first-line helpers, and when school principals were willing to release power.     

The meta-aggregative approach to qualitative evidence synthesis: a worked example on experiences of pupils with special educational needs in inclusive education

The present article focuses on the meta-aggregative approach to qualitative evidence synthesis. Originally developed in Australia by the Joanna Briggs Institute, it mirrors the review process for reviews of effectiveness outlined by the international Cochrane and Campbell Collaboration, while remaining sensitive to the specific characteristics of qualitative research. Meta-aggregation is largely inspired by American pragmatism, hence its most distinct feature is that it produces synthesized statements in the form of ‘lines of action’ to be undertaken by practitioners and policy-makers. After a decade of implementing the meta-aggregative approach, we consider its challenges and outline how these can be dealt with in practice. We illustrate this by means of a worked example on experiences of pupils with special educational needs in inclusive education.     

Bringing the Science of Team Training to School-Based Teams

Teams are ubiquitous in schools in the 21st Century; yet training for effective teaming within these settings has lagged behind. The authors of this article developed 5 modules, grounded in the science of team training and adapted from an evidence-based curriculum used in medical settings called TeamSTEPPS®, to prepare instructional and administrative personnel for teamwork and to enhance their teamwork skills. The resulting 5 modules, available for download on the American Psychological Association website, are collectively called Teach Teamwork and include: Introduction to Teams and Teamwork, Communication, Mutual Support, Situation Monitoring, and Leadership. In this article, the modules and supplemental materials are described, along with recommendations for implementation.     

Formatives Assessment im Leseunterricht der Grundschule – Implementation und Wirksamkeit eines modularen,materialgestützten Konzepts

Definitions of formative assessment include assessment, feedback and differentiated instruction as key components. We investigated the effects of prepared teaching materials designed to support teachers using learning progress assessment (LPA) to give feedback and adapt differentiated instruction. We also examined to what extend this modular approach can be implemented in regular reading lessons in third grade. In a three-group design all teachers (N?=?44, N?=?945 students) employed a computer-based LPA tool, while teachers in two conditions additionally received prepared feedback material (FB) or feedback and reading instruction material (FB+FM), to support the implementation of the different components of formative assessment. Over the course of one schoolyear, we assessed the implementation outcomes using questionnaires as well as students’ reading achievement and further student outcomes. While acceptability is high, teacher ratings of feasibility are low. In comparison to the LPA group, the additional support in form of prepared materials had no effects on student outcomes. Results are discussed regarding the question of how teachers can optimally be supported in using formative assessment.