The quest for an inclusive curriculum and assessment culture: The national council for vocational awards 1991–2001

This paper draws on psychoanalytic and socio-political perspectives of trauma and emotion to examine how critical emotional praxis may serve as a pedagogical tool for reconciliation education. A major challenge for teachers in traumatized societies struggling to enact reconciliation education is that emotions of trauma are often appropriated by social and political institutions, including schools, to justify particular collective narratives and ideologies. The prospects of critical emotional praxis are explored through two vignettes from an on-going ethnographic research in Cyprus, a country of protracted ethnic conflict. The first vignette focuses on how emotions of trauma are politically appropriated in a classroom while the second shows how one teacher manages to enact critical emotional praxis with her students to undermine the political appropriation of emotions of trauma. The paper concludes with a discussion of the pedagogical implications and recommendations for future research.     

Identifying motivators and barriers to older community-dwelling people participating in resistance training: A cross-sectional study

Participation rates of older people in resistance training (RT) are low despite increasing research showing many health benefits. To increase the number of older people participating in RT it is important to know what would motivate people to become involved, what motivates those who participate to continue, and the factors preventing many older people from commencing participation. To investigate these issues, a questionnaire was mailed to three groups of older people: (1) those receiving home care services, (2) members of a peak non-government seniors’ organisation and (3) those participating in a specific gym-based RT programme. In total, 1327 questionnaires were returned (response rate = 42.5%). To feel good physically and mentally were the main reasons motivating participation among all three groups, and falls prevention was identified as an important motivator for the home care respondents. Pain, injury and illness were the main barriers to participating, or continuing to participate. However, medical advice was a factor influencing participation commencement. The results suggest organisations providing RT programmes for older people should tailor the promotion and delivery of programmes to address key motivators and barriers specific to each group to increase the proportion of older people initiating and continuing to engage in RT.     

A comparison of traditional and modified Summated-Heart-Rate-Zones models to measure internal training load in basketball players

The Summated-Heart-Rate-Zones training load (SHRZ TL) model is used to measure internal loading; however, a major limitation of this approach is the use of broad heart rate (HR) zones to quantify exercise intensity. Therefore, this study aimed to compare SHRZ TL outcomes derived using the traditional model and modified approaches using smaller HR zones. HR responses were monitored in 15 semi-professional basketball players during preparatory training to calculate SHRZ TL using the traditional approach with 10%HR_max zones (SHRZ₁₀) and modified approaches with 5%HR_max zones (SHRZ₅) and 2.5%HR_max zones (SHRZ_2.5). Significant (P < 0.001) differences were evident in SHRZ TL between SHRZ₁₀ (254.2 ± 41.7 AU) and SHRZ₅ (275.9 ± 43.3 AU, unclear, small) as well as SHRZ_2.5 (286.7 ± 44.3 AU, very likely, moderate). Use of SHRZ_2.5 provides novel insight regarding internal loading in basketball players and may carry greater sensitivity for detection of maladaptive and adaptive responses to training.     

Evaluating engineering thinking in undergraduate engineering and liberal arts students

ABSTRACT

This study explored if it is possible for liberal arts students to develop engineering professional competencies without detailed engagement with the engineering sciences. Students on a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences programme were compared with their undergraduate peers in Civil Engineering. A new method for evaluating such competencies was developed. Two one-hour individual problem-solving exercises were devised to assess capabilities against 14 criteria, based on the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Competency framework for professional development (2011 The BASc cohort’s scores for each criterion improved notably from the start of term to the end. This cohort rated their capabilities more highly at the end of term and was more satisfied with the answers they gave. Engineering students showed a slight decline in performance against the criteria. Self-evaluation in this group revealed a smaller increase in perceived capability but increased dissatisfaction. Both cohorts felt more anxious about the assignment at the end of the term. PBL environments can improve student competence in attributes associated with professional engineering. The scope of the study is constrained by the small cohort but the findings and evaluation method provide the basis for further development, including detailed statistical evaluation and validation of the evaluation instrument.     

A funds of knowledge approach to examining play interests: listening to children’s and parents’ perspectives

Children’s interests are widely recognised as pivotal to meaningful learning and play in the early years. However, less is known about how children’s diverse interests may contribute to relationships and interactions within peer cultures. This article builds upon previous studies to argue that participation in sociocultural activity generates interests informed by funds of knowledge that children reconstruct in their play. It reports findings from an interpretive study that used filmed footage of children’s play as a provocation to explore the perspectives of children, parents and teachers. The article presents original insights regarding some ways in which mutually constituted funds of knowledge afford opportunities for children to co-construct meaning. The findings also indicate that interests arising from diverse funds of knowledge may contribute to the interplay of power, agency and status within peer cultures. This raises some issues regarding how matters of inclusion and exclusion are understood and responded to within early years settings. The article recommends that teachers and researchers engage critically with children’s individual and collective funds of knowledge in order to better understand the complexities of play cultures.     

An appropriate curriculum for 4–5‐year‐old children in Northern Ireland: comparing play‐based and formal approaches

This paper reports on an investigation into the quality of the learning experiences for 4–5‐year‐old children in Northern Ireland schools in the context of the debate about play‐based and formal approaches to learning and teaching. Detailed observations were carried out in 70 Year 1 classes: 38 in traditional Year 1 classes where the Northern Ireland National Curriculum is being delivered, and 32 in Enriched Curriculum classes, where a more developmentally appropriate, play‐based and child‐centred curriculum is being piloted. The quality of the learning experience in each class was assessed using a structured observation schedule, i.e. Walsh and Gardner's Quality learning instrument. Overall the Enriched Curriculum appears to be providing 4–5‐year‐old children in Northern Ireland with a higher‐quality learning experience. The children are given more opportunities to act independently, are engaged in more challenging activities and are more learning disposed, and they show higher levels of emotional, social and physical well‐being. The findings are discussed in terms of what constitutes an appropriate curriculum for this age group.     

School choice and the social market in New Zealand: Education reform in an era of increasing inequality

This article argues that the growing social and economic inequalities of New Zealand society have their echoes in growing educational gaps. This does not mean that one directly determines the other, but that social and economic changes impinge both directly, through such things as housing patterns and community resources, and indirectly, through perceptions of aspiration and opportunity, on schooling systems and on students. For the period under review here, income inequalities have continued to rise in New Zealand, and for most of that time real incomes for the majority have fallen. Wealth and poverty, at least within the larger cities, have become more concentrated. Patterns of wealth and deprivation have reinforced processes of school segregation that have occurred under policies of school choice. Over the last few years, a range of social and educational policies have been developed to mitigate the worst effects of market policies. However, it is argued that until the earnings gap is closed, and in particular until child poverty is addressed through increases in social security, there is little chance that educational outcomes for deprived young people will improve significantly.