Pathways to understanding mind: construct validity and predictive validity of maternal mind-mindedness

The construct validity of maternal mind-mindedness (MM) was investigated in the context of its relations with children's later understanding of mind. MM measures were obtained from infant-mother (N = 52) interactions at 6 months, and from maternal interviews at 48 months. Children's understanding of mind was assessed using theory of mind (ToM) tasks at 45 and 48 months, and a stream of consciousness (SoC) task at 55 months. One of the early MM measures--mothers' appropriate mind-related comments--was a positive independent predictor of: (a) MM at 48 months, and (b) ToM and SoC performance at 45 to 55 months. Path analyses suggested direct links between mothers' use of appropriate mind-related comments and children's later understanding of mind.     

Consistency of performances in the Tkatchev release and re-grasp on high bar

The Tkatchev on the high bar is a release and re-grasp skill in which the gymnast rotates in a direction during flight opposite to that of the preceding swing. Since the release window is defined as the time during which the gymnast has appropriate linear and angular momentum to ensure the bar can be re-grasped, it was speculated that the release windows for this skill would be smaller than for dismounts that are less constrained. One senior male gymnast competing at national standard performed 60 Tkatchev trials. A four-segment planar simulation model of the gymnast and high bar was used to determine the release windows in 10 successful and 10 unsuccessful performances of the Tkatchev recorded using a Vicon motion analysis system. Model parameters were optimized to obtain a close match between simulations and recorded performances in terms of rotation angle (1°), bar displacements (0.01 m), and release velocities (1%). Each matched simulation was used to determine the time window around the actual point of release for which the model had appropriate release parameters to complete the Tkatchev successfully. The release windows for the successful trials were small compared with those of dismounts. The unsuccessful trials were associated with later release and later timing of the actions at the shoulders and hips.     

We/you can tell talk from matter: a conversation with Håkan Larsson and Mikael Quennerstedt

How we go about conceptualising and articulating relationships between the body as ‘matter’ and its ‘mattering’ in and by culture, is a critical issue for educational researchers, perhaps especially so for those in Physical Education, Health and sport (PEHS). This paper engages such issue via conversation with ideas presented in the recent work of Håkan Larsson and Mikael Quennerstedt, published in this and another journal (Quest). While we share much the same interests as Håkan and Mikael in researching educational processes, including how policy and pedagogical transactions evident in formal and informal education, PEHS impact subjectivity to either prohibit or progress the well-being of children and young people and, even more broadly, greater equity and equality in society and schools, we highlight some clear points of divergence especially with their views as to how future research might advance understanding of relationships between education, embodiment and specific movement forms. The paper advocates attention to both matter and mattering and their relationality, via border crossings of an ideational, intellectual and disciplinary kind.     

The discourse of public education: an urban campaign for a local public high school in Melbourne,Victoria

This paper explores the metonymic slippage surrounding the discourse of public education, through observations and interviews with Lawson High School active campaigners in the state of Victoria, Australia. The notion of campaigning for public education has become an ever-present issue on an international scale, and this article aims to contribute qualitative knowledge regarding the key concepts that lobbyists produce and articulate within their meetings concerning public education. Data have been obtained through direct participatory observation within a contextually specific campaigning site, lobbyists' publications and one-on-one interviews with active campaigners. Findings indicate that campaigners present distinct conceptualisations of public education as a discourse and a well-defined model of their school-of-choice.     

Research Active Programme: A pilot inclusive research curriculum in higher education

Participation of people with disabilities in producing and using research is critical for monitoring the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Research Active Programme (RAP) is a module designed to build research capacity of students with intellectual disabilities. RAP was implemented over 11 weeks in 2 Irish universities. The mixed methods programme evaluation was completed from the students' perspectives, attending to curriculum content, pedagogical approach, the research knowledge and skills acquired by students. Twenty-five students completed interviews before and after engaging in RAP. Focus groups and quizzes were held after sessions to assess learning outcomes. Content analysis was used to interpret student perspectives. RAP was an effective approach for supporting students with intellectual disabilities to develop introductory research knowledge and skills; however, across the cohort, there were differences in demonstrated learning. Student expectations with respect to overall curriculum design, learning outcomes and delivery were reviewed. Specifically, learning outcomes, module delivery and assessment strategies were critiqued. Overall, the RAP curriculum supported research skill development in students. This module prepared people with intellectual disabilities to engage more fully as research partners in monitoring the implementation of the CRPD.     

The Efficacy of Written Teacher Advice (Tip Sheets) for Managing Classroom Behaviour Problems

This study evaluated the efficacy of a set of tip sheets developed to provide written advice to teachers about the management of common classroom behaviour problems. Twenty teachers were involved in the trial of the tip sheets. Teachers selected a child in their grade who demonstrated one of the behaviour problems, and after a baseline period, implemented the written advice for a period of 4 weeks. Outcome measures included teacher collected data, Goal Achievement Scale scores, Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory, Teacher Report Form and consumer satisfaction. Measures of treatment integrity were also collected. Results indicated that 13 of the children showed substantial or moderate improvement. Of the seven who did not improve, four had high levels of general behaviour problems prior to intervention, and three had teachers who were not following the written advice completely. However, high levels of general behaviour problems did not prevent some other children still demonstrating improvements in behaviour (n = 5). The written advice in the tip sheets was found to be highly acceptable to the teachers.     

Adult attachment, parent emotion, and observed parenting behavior: mediator and moderator models

In a middle-class sample of mothers of 2-year-olds, adult attachment classifications measured in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) were related to maternal self-reported emotional well-being and observed parenting behavior, and the potential mediating and moderating roles of maternal emotion were tested. Mothers classified as dismissing on the AAI reported significantly lower levels of positive affectivity. Mothers classified as preoccupied reported significantly higher levels of negative affectivity and anxiety. Preoccupied mothers were observed to be significantly higher on angry/intrusive parenting, but this association was not mediated by attachment-related differences in maternal emotion. Maternal emotional well-being did, however, moderate the associations between adult attachment and parenting behavior: Dismissing attachment was significantly associated with lower warmth/responsiveness only among mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms.     

Crush: mapping historical,material and affective force relations in young children's hetero-sexual playground play

ABSTRACT

Drawing on ethnographic multi-modal data of the gendered and sexual dynamics of pre-school play (age 6) in a rapidly declining fishing and farming community in North Finland, this paper offers a glimpse into our sense-making of a short video-recorded episode in which three boys repeatedly pile up on and demand a kiss from one of their girl classmates. Our analyses resonate with a wider community of feminist and queer scholars who are bringing affective methodologies and posthuman approaches to re-invigorate how we might understand the complexities of gender and sexual power relations in the early years. Inspired by the writings of Guattari and his concept of ‘existential refrains’, we create three ‘crush’ assemblages to map the more-than-human territorialising and de-territorialising force relations at play. Each assemblage offers a thinking Otherwise about gender, sexuality, violence and consent in which place, space, objects, affect and history entangle in predictable and unpredictable ways.     

Violence and Vigilance: The Acute Effects of Community Violent Crime on Sleep and Cortisol

The data combine objectively measured sleep and thrice‐daily salivary cortisol collected from a 4‐day diary study in a large Midwestern city with location data on all violent crimes recorded during the same time period for N = 82 children (M_age = 14.90, range = 11.27–18.11). The primary empirical strategy uses a within‐person design to measure the change in sleep and cortisol from the person's typical pattern on the night/day immediately following a local violent crime. On the night following a violent crime, children have later bedtimes. Children also have disrupted cortisol patterns the following morning. Supplementary analyses using varying distances of the crime to the child's home address confirm more proximate crimes correspond to later bedtimes.     

Sacrificial girls: a case study of the impact of streaming and setting on gender reform

This article reports on research funded by the Australian Research Council to investigate school responses to gender equity. It addresses the efforts of a disadvantaged school to tackle what they perceived to be gender inequalities, but in the process of constructing a top‐set and bottom‐set/stream class they are developing new forms of old inequalities and new forms of inequalities. This research indicates that despite popular assertions that girls' education has become the priority of schools and education systems, girls are being further disadvantaged through attempts to implement market strategies coupled with gender reform agendas grounded in liberal notions of equity and relying on unsophisticated notions of affirmative action. In addition, this study highlights the extent to which a media‐driven debate about boys' education has influenced the constitution of boys as the ‘new disadvantaged’ with the capacity to determine the nature of gender reform agendas and programmes in schools.