Teachers as policy actors: co-creating and enacting critical inquiry in secondary health and physical education

Background: Critical inquiry approaches have been presented as one way of enhancing relevance in school-based education, and there have been calls from academia for its systematic use within health and physical education (HPE).

Purpose: This research explored how three Secondary HPE teachers co-constructed and enacted a unit of work (Take Action) that was underpinned by critical inquiry approaches. Drawing on the work of Stephen Ball we focus here on the different ways in which the three teachers interpreted, translated and enacted ‘Take Action’, and negotiated a shift away from the performative pedagogies of traditional HPE. Take Action is a co-constructed, inquiry-based unit of work that sought to provide an alternative to traditional and often exclusive HPE.

Data collection and analysis: A participatory action research approach was undertaken. Data were uncovered from qualitative interviews, classroom observations and field notes before, during and after the enactment of Take Action. Data were analysed using the qualitative data analysis software ‘Dedoose’ which facilitated coding. Data were analysed inductively across all sources utilising a constant comparative method. Analyses consisted of three phases of coding: open, axial and selective. Open coding involved the categorisation of data into themes and axial coding considered connections across the themes. Selective coding involved a refining and development of the previously identified themes, and then bringing the themes/codes together to tell a story about the teachers and their perspectives on the enactment of Take Action.

Findings: Three teachers co-constructed, translated and enacted Take Action, and whilst some challenges were universal, the process and outcomes unfolded quite differently for each. The two contextual factors that emerged as most influential were: (i) the structural support available for teachers and learners and (ii) the time available for the unit to be enacted, and for the teachers’ philosophies to be challenged and transformed. Take Action was one way of supporting teachers in responding to calls from policy-makers for more critical inquiry in HPE. Interpreting, translating and enacting Take Action challenged how teachers viewed their role in the learning process, the nature of HPE, and the breadth of their pedagogical repertoire.

Conclusions: The findings confirm that curriculum and policy are volatile and rarely mobilised as the creator/s intended. They highlight that the ‘fluidity’ of curriculum mobilisation persists, irrespective of whether the teachers have mental ownership over the process and/or are involved in its co-creation. The complexity that accompanies a shift towards ‘alternative’ ways of understanding and teaching HPE, however, means that calls from academia and policy-makers are unlikely to be fruitful unless: (i) there is an appreciation for each teacher's philosophies; (ii) each school culture is fully understood; (iii) the inevitable challenges are viewed as spaces to learn, reflect and move forward; and (iv) support comes in many forms depending on the teacher and the school. The findings confirm that whilst policy creates a particular context, it is the ideologies and histories that permeate teachers’ philosophies and school context that will ultimately dictate the policy process. This is not a problem to be solved but a process which we can learn in, through and about.     

Heart rate and blood lactate concentration of male road-race motorcyclists

Although motorcycling performance strongly depends on the characteristics of the motorcycles and capabilities of the riders, little information is available on the physiological profiles of riders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical load of official international men's road-race motorcycling competitions. Data were obtained from 34 male riders during the 2005 European Road-Race Motorcycling Championship (categories classified by size of engine: 125 GP, 250 GP, and 600 cc) during free practices, qualifying sessions, and official races. Participants' heart rates were recorded and blood lactate concentrations determined. During races, heart rates were most often above 90% of maximum heart rate (frequency of occurrence: 125 GP = 92.9%, s = 5.3; 250 GP = 93.6%, s = 7.3; 600 cc = 93.2%, s = 10.2). The heart rate distribution during riding showed main effects between phases of competition, engine sizes, and different portions of the race (P < 0.001). No difference was observed between riders on and not on the podium at the end of the race. Peak blood lactate concentrations after the qualifying sessions (5.2 mmol . l(-1), s = 1.2) and official races (6.0 mmol . l(-1), s = 2.1) were higher (P < 0.001) than at baseline. The present results show that road-race motorcycling imposes a high load on the riders, who should possess adequate fitness to maintain high-speed rides and minimize the effects of fatigue during competition.     

Spatial localization of a goal: Beacon homing and landmark piloting by rats on a radial maze

We performed six experiments in order to examine the ability of rats to use moving beacons and landmarks as cues to the location of reward on an eight-arm radial maze. In Experiments 1–4, the cues and goals were moved before each trial, and groups in which a single beacon was placed on the rewarded arm, a single landmark indicated that reward was on the arm immediately to the left of a landmark, or two landmarks were placed on each side of the reward arm were compared. The rats rapidly learned to track the reward in the beacon condition, failed to find the reward sooner than chance expectation with a single landmark, and did only slightly better than chance with two landmarks. In Experiments 5 and 6, the rats were trained in five trials per day, with the landmark and goal locations constant over daily rewarded trials, and in two extinction trials that were inserted among the rewarded trials. The rats found the goal arm at substantially better than chance expectancy with both one and two landmarks. Our results, in agreement with data from recent swimming pool experiments (A. D. L. Roberts & Pearce, 1998), show that rats will use the relationship between moving landmarks and a goal in order to find reward.     

Access to Gender‐Sensitive Higher Education in Eastern and Central Europe: Reflections from the CEPES Project on “Good Practice in Promoting Gender Equality in Higher Education”;

Summarizing the incomplete results of the UNESCO Programme on “Good Practice in Promoting Gender Equality in Higher Education”;, the author asks that any assessment of the progress made in the area of gender‐sensitive education take regional specificities into account. The regional environment is at best neutral and usually hostile to feminism in subtle ways. In spite of the lack of tradition and experience in gender‐sensitive social institutions, valuable things have been happening in the region. Placed within their socio‐economic and political contexts (and not necessarily judged according to western standards) individuals, programmes, and institutions are pioneering in the field. Access to the benefits of an education incorporating a coherent gender dimension is, for the time being, limited. Some reasons for this situation are outlined in this article.     

Identity Management and Relational Culture in Interfaith Marital Communication in a United States Context: A Qualitative Study

This study explored the identity management processes in interfaith marital communication in a United States setting. Sixteen marital partners participated in this interview study. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, interpreted, and analyzed. Guided by identity management theory, the interview data analysis revealed three general themes: development of the interfaith relational identity via the co-creation of a superordinate spiritual and value system; implementation of relational boundaries to prioritize the relational identity; and identification of key milestone decisions (i.e. wedding plans and children socialization coordination) interfaith partners face in their intimate relationships. Contributions, limitations, and directions for future studies on interfaith marital communication are addressed.     

Inside the ‘blackboard jungle’

Abstract

The 1950s saw a wave of depictions of threatening male working-class adolescents in English novels, films and cartoons. However, these texts must be contextualised not only as part of the well-documented 1950s moral panic about youth but in relation to the popularized psychological concepts of the ‘normal’ and ‘deviant’ child and the increasing implementation of progressive educational ideas that artificially limited working-class pupils’ horizons. This makes this period not only another reiteration of the perennial moral panics about the rising generation that Geoffrey Pearson has documented, but an emergence of a new way of conceptualizing youth.     

Physical activity and depressive symptoms in American adolescents

This study employed ordinal logistic regression analyses to investigate the relationship between American adolescents' participation in physical activity and depressive symptomatology. Data were drawn from the second Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (CDS II), which was conducted over 2002-2003. Fewer than 60% of adolescents were found to accumulate 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) outside of school hours on week or weekend days. Accumulated duration of MVPA was not, however, significantly associated with severity of depressive symptoms for either gender. Males who were not involved in sporting clubs or lessons were more likely than males who were highly involved to experience greater severity of depressive symptoms (OR = 3.24, CI = 1.33, 7.87). Results highlight gender variability in the psychosocial correlates of sporting participation and prompt further investigation of the relevance of current physical activity guidelines for mental health in adolescence.     

Playing on the periphery: troubling sport policy,systemic exclusion and the role of sport in rural Canada

Abstract

In policy contexts, social exclusion can be experienced through the systematic marginalization of groups by inhibiting their ability to access resources and support. In this article, we consider the context of community sport development in rural Canada to discuss the implications of rationalized policy systems for rural citizens. We discuss instances where engagement with the sport system was constrained as well as the way that rural people responded in order to continue engagement in sport both within and outside of policy frameworks. A more inclusive sport policy system requires the acknowledgement of diverse social outcomes which may be realized through sport. But, in order for this to take place, policy makers and practitioners must acknowledge that these outcomes can exist outside of athlete development and must re-consider the ways that resources and support can be allocated.     

Time-course of running treadmill adaptation in novice treadmill runners

ABSTRACT

Studies on running biomechanics and energetics are usually conducted on a treadmill. To ensure that locomotion on a treadmill is comparable to locomotion overground, participants need to be expert in the use of the device. This study aimed to identify the number and duration of sessions needed to obtain stable measurements for spatiotemporal and metabolic parameters in unexperienced treadmill runners. Fourteen male recreational runners performed three 15-min treadmill running trials in different days at a submaximal speed. Spatiotemporal and metabolic parameters were registered at minutes: 5, 10, 15 and their within-trial and between-trial changes were analysed using a two-way repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test. Within-trial differences were found in step frequency (decreased over time), Step Length and Contact Time (increased), reaching stability at different time points. Ventilator parameters increased, reaching stability after 5–10 min, while heart rate increased progressively over time. The only between-trial differences were an increase in step length and a decrease in step frequency at min 1, between trials 1 and 3. In conclusion, at least three running trials of 15 min are required to familiarize with the device. The last 5 min of the third trial can be regarded as stable measurements.