Contributions of the non-kicking-side arm to rugby place-kicking technique

To investigate non-kicking-side arm motion during rugby place kicking, five experienced male kickers performed trials under two conditions, both with an accuracy requirement but one with an additional maximal distance demand. Joint centre coordinates were obtained at 120 Hz during kicking trials and a three-dimensional model was created to enable the determination of segmental contributions to whole-body angular momentum. All kickers possessed minimal non-kicking-side arm angular momentum about the global medio-lateral axis. The more accurate kickers exhibited greater non-kicking-side arm angular momentum about the global antero-posterior axis. This augmented the whole-body antero-posterior angular momentum, and altered the whole-body lateral lean at ball contact. The accurate kickers also exhibited greater non-kicking-side arm angular momentum about the global longitudinal axis, which opposed the kicking leg longitudinal angular momentum and attenuated the whole-body longitudinal angular momentum. All participants increased the longitudinal angular momentum of the non-kicking-side arm in the additional distance demand condition, except for one participant whose accuracy decreased, suggesting that the longitudinal angular momentum of the non-kicking-side arm assists maintenance of accuracy in maximum distance kicking. Goal kickers should be encouraged to produce non-kicking-side arm rotations about both the antero-posterior and longitudinal axes, as these appear important for both the initial achievement of accuracy, and for maintaining accuracy during distance kicking.     

Can primary teachers still be subject generalists?

Within the teaching profession a crisis of competence is developing, one that affects both primary and secondary schools but is especially acute at the primary level. This paper seeks to (a) identify and characterize this crisis, (b) explain why the crisis has arisen at this time, and (c) suggest how we might alleviate it. It is argued that we can no longer reasonably expect primary teachers to be subject-matter generalists; they must specialize.     

Interfaculty differences in classroom teaching behaviors and their relationship to student instructional ratings

This study tested for differences between instructors in three college faculties in the frequency with which they exhibited various classroom teaching behaviors, and in the correlation of these behaviors with perceived teaching effectiveness. Trained observers assessed the frequency of 95 classroom teaching behaviors shown by 124 teachers in the arts and humanities, the social science, and the natural science faculties. Teaching effectiveness was measured by formal end-of-term student ratings averaged over a three-year period. Behaviors reflecting interpersonal orientation occurred more frequently in arts and social science teachers than in natural science teachers, whereas behaviors reflecting task orientation occurred more frequently in natural and social science teachers than in arts teachers. However, the pattern of correlations between teaching behaviors and overall effectiveness ratings was quite similar in all three faculties. Results are discussed in terms of understanding, evaluating, and improving college teaching.     

Once Upon Today: Teaching for Social Justice with Postmodern Picturebooks

Children’s literature has long been used by parents and teachers to impart social values and expectations as well as to entertain children. Postmodern picturebooks jar this tradition by stimulating readers to question and rethink societal norms. However, these books also feature many cultural attributes that hold fast: loving families are still a safe harbor after adventures, while hard work and perseverance remain keys to success. Thus postmodern picturebooks provide a safe realm for exploration of values and traditional mores. This article examines the use of postmodern picturebooks in classroom settings to spark discussions that can lead to greater awareness of the world and the possibilities of students’ roles in it. The article also suggests activities to encourage children to reflect on new ways of being and thinking on a level appropriate to their sensibilities.     

We blame the parents! A response to ‘Cultural capital as an explanation of variation in participation in higher education’ by John Noble and Peter Davies (British Journal of Sociology of Education 30, no. 5)

This paper offers a response to a recent article where the authors argue cultural capital is the only determinant of the propensity of young people to seek to enter higher education, dismissing other indicators such as social class. This response questions the support the original authors draw from other literature and offers criticism of the sample used in their study, the survey tool employed, the analysis undertaken and their conclusions relating to the agenda of ‘widening participation’. In reality, the wider literature suggests that social class, as represented by parental occupation, continues to have a role in explaining educational trajectories, even once other factors are controlled for.     

Infusing an inter‐professional and inter‐university perspective into healthcare education

A national (USA) student‐led, case‐based CLinician/Administrator Relationship Improvement OrganizatioN (CLARION) competition focuses students in medical and related healthcare programs on the provision of healthcare that is safe, timely, equitable, patient‐centred, effective and efficient. Students work in four‐person, inter‐professional teams to research and analyse a designated case. They then present their findings and recommendations to a panel of independent judges. Students, with support from their faculty advisors, approach the case as they see fit. Following initial participation in this CLARION competition, an inter‐professional team of students from two universities and their advisory faculty developed a two‐semester, pre‐competition course as a model to facilitate transformation in healthcare education. The course is theoretical, empirical and practical. It has multiple levels of learning and is designed to mentor students, develop faculty, measure learning outcomes and stimulate administrators in higher education to think creatively about curriculum development across disciplines. This integrated and inter‐professional approach is pivotal in healthcare education to ensure students learn safe and evidence‐based clinical practice that meets the highest standards for quality care.     

The effect of an official match on repeated sprint ability in junior basketball players

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an official basketball match on repeated sprint ability indices in male junior players. Ten (16 ± 1 years old; 183.6 ± 7.0 cm; 76.6 ± 8.0 kg) starting players for their teams performed three repeated sprint ability tests, before, at half-time and immediately after an official match. Each repeated sprint ability test consisted of 10 shuttle-run sprints of 30 m (15 + 15 m) separated by 30 seconds of passive recovery. The matches were video-taped to determine the frequency of eight types of movement patterns, and blood lactate concentration was measured before and immediately after each repeated sprint ability test. Differences in total time, ideal time and percentage decrement between tests was assessed by a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures, while a two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to identify differences in blood lactate concentration. The main results indicated a significant decrease in total movement frequency (-9.9%), high-intensity activity frequency (-13.3%), run frequency (-13.0%) and sprint frequency (-23.3%) in the second compared to the first half, and significantly worse total time and ideal time at the end of the match, compared to the start and half-time (differences ranging from -2.1% to -2.9%, P < 0.05). The practical implications of these findings suggest that regional basketball players should participate in conditioning sessions that focus on the improvement of repeated sprint ability.     

Administrating transnational education: a cross‐cultural application of Hodgkinson’s values paradigm

This article reports on an exploratory study which employed Hodgkinson’s values paradigm as an analytical tool for explaining how administrators of transnational education programmes understand national cultural values to affect their work and working environment. In particular, interviews with managers responsible for Australia’s provision of transnational higher education in Thailand were examined against Hodgkinson’s values paradigm in an attempt to identify whether any of his particular value types might appear more prominently in decision‐making undertaken in either the Australian or the Thai educational administrative setting. The findings suggest that rational consequential decision‐making might be more significant in Australia, while decision‐making using rational consensual, transrational and subrational values might be more prominent in Thailand.     

Parental perceptions of neighborhood processes,stress, personal control,and risk for physical child abuse and neglect

ObjectiveThis study set out to examine whether mothers’ individual perceptions of their neighborhood social processes predict their risk for physical child abuse and neglect directly and/or indirectly via pathways involving parents’ reported stress and sense of personal control in the parenting role.MethodsIn-home and phone interview data were examined cross-sectionally from a national birth cohort sample of 3,356 mothers across 20 US cities when the index child was 3 years of age. Mothers’ perceptions of neighborhood social processes, parenting stress, and personal control were examined as predictors, and three subscales of the Parent-To-Child Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-PC) were employed as proxies of physical child abuse and neglect risk. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test direct and indirect pathways (via parenting stress and control) from perceived neighborhood processes to proxy measures of physical child abuse and neglect. Multiple group SEM was conducted to test for differences across major ethnic groups: African American, Hispanic, and White.ResultsAlthough perceived negative neighborhood processes had only a mild direct role in predicting risk for physical child abuse, and no direct role on child neglect, these perceptions had a discernable indirect role in predicting risk via parenting stress and personal control pathways. Parenting stress exerted the clearest direct role on both physical abuse and neglect risk. This predictor model did not significantly differ across ethnic groups.ConclusionsAlthough neighborhood conditions may not play a clear directly observable role on physical child abuse and neglect risk, the indirect role they play underscores the importance of parents’ perceptions of their neighborhoods, and especially the role they play via parents’ reported stress and personal control.Practice implicationsSuch findings suggest that targeting parents’ sense of control and stress in relation to their immediate social environment holds particular potential to reduce physical child abuse and neglect risk. Addressing parents’ perceptions of their neighborhood challenges may serve to reduce parenting risk via improving parents’ felt control and stress.