Cultural distance,mindfulness and passive xenophobia: Using Integrated Threat Theory to explore home higher education students’ perspectives on ‘internationalisation at home’

This paper addresses the question of interaction between home and international students using qualitative data from 100 home students at two ‘teaching intensive’ universities in the southwest of England. Stephan and Stephan's Integrated Threat Theory is used to analyse the data, finding evidence for all four types of threat that they predict when outgroups interact. It is found that home students perceive threats to their academic success and group identity from the presence of international students on the campus and in the classroom. These are linked to anxieties around ‘mindful’ forms of interaction and a taboo around the discussion of difference, leading to a ‘passive xenophobia’ for the majority. The paper concludes that Integrated Threat Theory is a useful tool in critiquing the ‘internationalisation at home’ agenda, making suggestions for policies and practices that may alleviate perceived threats, thereby improving the quality and outcomes of intercultural interaction.     

Supporting inclusion in early childhood settings: some possibilities and problems for teacher education

Aotearoa New Zealand, like other countries, has legislation and policies that support inclusion and promote the participation of all children and families in early childhood education. We might expect therefore to see a culture of inclusion resonating through policy and practice in early childhood settings. There are early childhood teachers who support such legislative and policy goals, who are committed to inclusion, and who are developing more inclusive early childhood services. Yet, it is also evident that discrimination and exclusion is experienced by many. Teacher education plays an important role in supporting inclusion and assisting teachers’ development of knowledge, skills and attitudes that will support them to teach all children. In this paper, we write as a group of teacher educators and demonstrate the challenges we took up to move beyond traditional approaches to inclusive education and to open up theoretically and practically diverse possibilities for thinking and doing inclusion differently in early childhood teacher education.     

Children's Vulnerability to Interparental Conflict: The Protective Role of Sibling Relationship Quality

This study tested whether the strength of the mediational pathway involving interparental conflict, adolescent emotional insecurity, and their psychological problems depended on the quality of their sibling relationships. Using a multimethod approach, 236 adolescents (M_age = 12.6 years) and their parents participated in three annual measurement occasions. Tests of moderated mediation revealed that indirect paths among interparental conflict, insecurity, and psychological problems were significant for teens with low, but not high, quality bonds with siblings. High-quality (i.e., strong) sibling relationships conferred protection by neutralizing interparental conflict as a precursor of increases in adolescent insecurity. Results did not vary as a function of the valence of sibling relationship properties, adolescent sex, or gender and age compositions of the dyad.     

Effects of strength,explosive and plyometric training on energy cost of running in ultra-endurance athletes

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a 12-week home-based strength, explosive and plyometric (SEP) training on the cost of running (Cr) in well-trained ultra-marathoners and to assess the main mechanical parameters affecting changes in Cr. Twenty-five male runners (38.2?±?7.1 years; body mass index: 23.0?±?1.1?kg·m^?2; V˙O₂max: 55.4?±?4.0 mlO₂·kg^?1·min^?1) were divided into an exercise (EG?=?13) and control group (CG?=?12). Before and after a 12-week SEP training, Cr, spring-mass model parameters at four speeds (8, 10, 12, 14?km·h^?1) were calculated and maximal muscle power (MMP) of the lower limbs was measured. In EG, Cr decreased significantly (p?<?.05) at all tested running speeds (?6.4?±?6.5% at 8?km·h^?1; ?3.5?±?5.3% at 10?km·h^?1; ?4.0?±?5.5% at 12?km·h^?1; ?3.2?±?4.5% at 14?km·h^?1), contact time (t_c) increased at 8, 10 and 12?km·h^?1 by mean +4.4?±?0.1% and t_a decreased by ?25.6?±?0.1% at 8?km·h^?1 (p?<?.05). Further, inverse relationships between changes in Cr and MMP at 10 (p?=?.013; r?=??0.67) and 12?km·h^?1 (p?<?.001; r?=??0.86) were shown. Conversely, no differences were detected in the CG in any of the studied parameters. Thus, 12-week SEP training programme lower the Cr in well-trained ultra-marathoners at submaximal speeds. Increased t_c and an inverse relationship between changes in Cr and changes in MMP could be in part explain the decreased Cr. Thus, adding at least three sessions per week of SEP exercises in the normal endurance-training programme may decrease the Cr.     

Self-reported impacts of volunteering in UK zoos and aquariums

ABSTRACT

Zoos and aquariums are popular visitor destinations, with around 30 million visits made to them annually throughout the UK and Ireland. The role and mission of modern zoos have evolved, with the conservation of world’s remaining biodiversity now being their major purpose. They seek to aid biodiversity through a combination of public education, in situ and ex situ conservation programmes, and applied scientific research. Directly relevant to this paper, they are also institutions that actively recruit, attract and utilise volunteers. However, the impacts of volunteering in zoos and aquariums, on the volunteers themselves, are under-researched. Here we show that, in a survey of more than 500 volunteers at 19 different zoological collections in the UK, zoo volunteers report positive impacts, specifically in relation to increases in their human and social capital. We also found that these benefits were more pronounced in younger volunteers, and with those volunteers who received more initial training. We conclude that while volunteering in UK zoos correlates with significant personal benefits to individuals, zoos could aim higher and should seek to do more to maximise the positive effects of connecting volunteers with the wildlife and nature found in zoo settings, as well as tailoring their volunteer training programmes for different age groups.