When a practitioner becomes a university faculty member: a review of literature on the challenges faced by novice ex-practitioner teacher educators

It is challenging for ex-practitioners beginning to teach in higher education settings due to their long experience in other fields. In this paper, as an example of a nexus of practitioners and academics, the focus is the issues of novice teacher educators at the beginning of their careers and support programmes for them. Three factors were identified as causing the most distress: difficulty in changing their identities, adjusting to the new work environment and fear of research. These problems align with the cognitive, social and ethical aspects of learning. To overcome these problems, various potential platforms exist, such as traditional mentoring, peer mentoring, joint reflection or self-study. With support programmes, regardless of platform, novice teacher educators’ struggles can be opportunities to learn more about the three aspects of their new jobs.     

CROSSING BORDERS WITHIN: STANLEY CAVELL AND THE POLITICS OF INTERPRETATION

The matter of crossing borders in the creation of democratic communities arises in ways that are pressing, both within the nation‐state and on a global scale. Tensions between tendencies toward nationalism and the cosmopolitan call for global understanding touch the heart of ideas of democracy as beginning at home—at political, psychological, and existential levels. Yet in both orientations there is a certain consolidation of what John Dewey called the “we.” In this essay Naoko Saito and Paul Standish address questions concerning the “I's” relation to the “we.” It is through an exploration of the apparently apolitical approach of Stanley Cavell, through what he calls the “politics of interpretation,” that Saito and Standish try to give substance to the critical destabilization of these terms and tensions that they believe to be necessary. Cavell's Wittgensteinian approach to skepticism and his account of the Emersonian sense of the tragic help to demonstrate the need to meet the political crisis of democracy with language of a more subtly critical kind. The antifoundationalism Cavell derives from these sources, with its concomitant notion of philosophy as translation, provides us with a language that answers to the problems of the “we.” This is, the authors conclude, a better formulation of, and a more hopeful response to, the challenge of crossing borders within. It touches despair but realizes within it the prophetic power of language. And it shows the political crisis in which democracy finds itself to be something that is not peculiar to our times but internal to the very nature of our (political) lives.     

The Effect of Training on the Relationships Among Velocity,Stroke Rate and Distance per Stroke in Untrained Subjects Swimming the Breaststroke

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to reveal the relationships among velocity (V), stroke rate (S), and distance per stroke (d/s) in the breaststroke, and to determine whether the swim velocity of the breaststroke is increased by an increased stroke rate induced by breaststroke training. A total of 168 ordinary high school students were engaged for the present study. In order to measure the swimming time and strokes during breaststroke at maximum effort for the 50m distance, a videotape recorder (VTR) with video timer system was employed, and the recordings were used in analyses. The S and d/s were calculated for each subject. It was found in this study that V is significantly related to d/s before and after training, but has no relation to S. From these results, it is suggested that improvement of velocity during breaststroke depends upon an increase of d/s, rather than S. This is considered to be an index of efficiency or technique in the breaststroke.     

International trends in health science librarianship part 11: Japan and Korea

This is the 11th in a series of articles exploring international trends in health science librarianship. The previous article in this series looked at the Far East (Greater China, Hong Kong and Taiwan). The current issue surveys developments in Japan and Korea. The next issue will explore trends in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka). Next year all four issues will be devoted to trends in four regions in Africa (Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa and North Africa. JM     

School reform for positive behaviour support through collaborative learning: utilising lesson study for a learning community

Recent research has emphasised educating children about positive behaviours to overcome delinquency issues, but there is little clarification of what factors lead to positive behaviours. This study analyses factors that led to children’s positive behaviours at a junior high school in Japan, which experienced a dramatic turnaround after implementing school reform using Lesson Study for Learning Community (LSLC). In this study, the results of a mixed-methods analysis show that if children receive psychological support they are likely to psychologically support others and, similarly, those who receive concrete help tend to offer concrete help to others. To foster learning cultures in which this happens, it is critical to engage the entire school in appropriate changes: for example, teachers’ positive attitudes towards children and learning are important factors encouraging children to support others.     

Media Exposure and Thin-Ideal Internalization in the Drive for Thinness in Japanese Women

Focusing mainly on the roles of media exposure and thin-ideal internalization, this study attempts to extend the findings of previous studies conducted in other countries. A structural equation model with maximum likelihood estimation was performed to test the hypothesized path model. The fit indices indicated that the path model provided an acceptable fit. The results revealed that the influence of fashion magazine reading on the drive for thinness is mediated via thin-ideal internalization. Thus, heavier readers of fashion magazines were more likely to exhibit a greater drive for thinness via internalization of the thin ideal. The results were generally consistent with findings from previous studies conducted in other countries, confirming the cross-cultural importance of the process of thin-ideal internalization in the study of the drive for thinness among young women.     

Demonstration of pelvic anatomy by modified midline transection that maintains intact internal pelvic organs

Gross dissection for demonstrating anatomy of the human pelvis has traditionally involved one of two approaches, each with advantages and disadvantages. Classic hemisection in the median plane through the pelvic ring transects the visceral organs but maintains two symmetric pelvic halves. An alternative paramedial transection compromises one side of the bony pelvis but leaves the internal organs intact. The authors propose a modified technique that combines advantages of both classical dissections. This novel approach involves dividing the pubic symphysis and sacrum in the median plane after shifting all internal organs to one side. The hemipelvis without internal organs is immediately available for further dissection of the lower limb. The hemipelvis with intact internal organs is ideal for showing the complex spatial relationships of the pelvic organs and vessels relative to the intact pelvic floor. Anat Sci Educ 3:254–260, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Development of an automatic and mobile X-ray robot: An innovative approach to medical imaging through mechatronics

The objective of this work is the development of an automatic and mobile X-ray robot that is becoming necessary in a changing environment (aging society, growth of the developing countries, etc.). Specifically, there are three sides to such a project. First, there is the mechanical side, i.e. the design and implementation of motors on every mobile part of an X-ray unit allowing it to move around a standing patient. Then, comes the electronic side, i.e. the use of potentiometers and limit switches as feedback combined with microcontrollers. And last, the algorithm that computes three-dimensional models from two-dimensional X-rays.     

Why is school reform sustained even after a project? A case study of Bac Giang Province, Vietnam

This paper reports on a case study of schools in Vietnam wherein teachers are engaged in school reform activities known as professional teacher meetings (PTMs), which is based on an approach called lesson study for learning community (LSLC). The PTMs under LSLC were introduced in 2006, but the teachers involved are still conducting the activities despite scarcity of resources, particularly technical ones. This study addresses the following research question: Why have teachers continued to organize PTMs after the project ended? Three aspects will help address the research question. First, teachers had faith in the effectiveness of the PTMs. Second, enthusiasm and support of seniors and authorities such as school principals could have also helped sustain the PTMs. Third, the need to maintain a respectable reputation before external parties could also be an important factor.