Forthcoming events

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation ‐ patterns and techniques D.E. Voss, M.K. Ionta and B.J. Myers. Harper and Row, Philadelphia, 1985 xxvi + 370 pp, £29.95, ISBN 0 06 142595 8

Science of Stretching M.J. Alter, Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 1988 xii + 243 pp, $26.00, ISBN 0 87322 090 0     

Identification of Accelerometer Nonwear Time and Sedentary Behavior

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the swimming endurance trainability of smokers as compared to nonsmokers. Nonsmokers (N = 47) and smokers (N = 34) of college age were selected from intermediate swimming classes and timed while swimming distances of 100 yd. and 200 yd. prior to participation in an 8-week training program. After 4 weeks of training, swimming times were again recorded for these same distances. At the end of eight weeks, swimming times were taken for distances of 100, 200, and 400 yards. The mean changes of both smokers and nonsmokers during the pretraining to 4-week period, the 4-week to 8-week period, and the pretraining to 8-week period were all significant at the .05 level. However, no significant differences were found between the mean swimming times of smokers and nonsmokers for any of the pretraining, 4-week, or 8-week distances.     

How do teachers perceive cheating students? Beliefs about cues to deception and detection accuracy in the educational field

The present study explores how well teacher trainees can detect liars. Moreover, a new method was applied to investigate beliefs that teacher trainees hold about liars. The results indicate that, overall, teacher trainees were not better than chance in detecting true and invented stories. Generally, participants reported to have used only a few cues for their credibility judgment, where most of these self-reported cues are stereotypical and invalid deception cues (e.g., gaze aversion). Further analyses with a Brunswikian lens model showed that the self-reported cues were good predictors of their credibility judgment but only poorly predictive for the objective truth/lie status of the statement. Practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Mocking God and Celebrating Satan: Parodies and Profanities in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials

Given its stance against organised religion, it is perhaps not surprising that Philip Pullman’s award-winning trilogy His Dark Materials has, alongside the plaudits and praise, invited controversy and debate. Jacobs (The Weekly Standard, 2000), for instance, views the “anti-Christian” theme in Pullman’s work as both misleading and dishonest, whilst Hitchens (The Mail on Sunday, 2002) denounces it as atheistic “propaganda.” Of central concern to these critics, and others, is the impact of Pullman’s heretical understandings on impressionable young readers. I would suggest that such concern implies a somewhat questionable homogenisation of young readers, and fails to recognise the empowering potential residing in Pullman’s text. Indeed, by drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of “carnival,” a literary mode which subverts official culture through laughter and role reversals, it can be argued that far from indoctrinating the reader or promoting uncontested atheistic understandings, the heretical disruptions and inversions in Pullman’s religious theme encourage an altogether more positive and plural response.     

Place‐related identity,texts, and transcultural meanings

The spatial turn has been marked by increasing interest in conceptions of space and place in diverse areas of research. However, the important links between place and identity have received less attention, particularly in educational research. This paper reports an 18‐month research project that aimed to develop a theory of place‐related identity through the textual transactions of reading and writing. The research was an in‐depth qualitative study in two phases: the first phase involved the development of an interdisciplinary theory of place‐related identity, which was ‘tested’ in a second empirical phase. Two contrasting primary school classes were the site for the research that included the development of a unit of work, inspired by the book My place, as a vehicle for exploring place‐related identity. The data were interviews, classroom observations and outcomes from pupils’ work. The construct of transcultural meanings, established from the analytic categories of localising identity, othering identity and identity as belonging, was identified as a defining phenomenon of place‐related identity. The conclusions offer reflections on the development of our initial theory as a result of the empirical work, and the implications for practice and future research.     

Enhancing attachment organization among maltreated children: results of a randomized clinical trial

Young children who have experienced early adversity are at risk for developing disorganized attachments. The efficacy of Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), an intervention targeting nurturing care among parents identified as being at risk for neglecting their young children, was evaluated through a randomized clinical trial. Attachment quality was assessed in the Strange Situation for 120 children between 11.7 and 31.9 months of age (M = 19.1, SD = 5.5). Children in the ABC intervention showed significantly lower rates of disorganized attachment (32%) and higher rates of secure attachment (52%) relative to the control intervention (57% and 33%, respectively). These results support the efficacy of the ABC intervention in enhancing attachment quality among parents at high risk for maltreatment.     

Education research and educational practice: The qualities of a close relationship

The relationship between education practice and education research has a long history. In modern times, education practice and its relation to education research has been central to debates about the nature and quality of education as an academic discipline in universities. This article reports an empirical study that investigated a new instantiation of the practice–theory debate: ‘close-to-practice’ research in education. The research sought to (a) define and further articulate the concept of close-to-practice research and (b) provide reflections on the quality of close-to-practice research. The orientation of the work reported in this article is informed by theory on traditions of knowledge in the organisation of education that have contributed to the development of education as an academic discipline. The main section of the article reports the findings of the empirical study. The research design was a rapid evidence assessment (REA), and a series of interviews with education researchers whose experiences were highly relevant to understanding of close-to-practice research issues. The conclusions of the research are reported in relation to how close-to-practice research might be defined, including in relation to quality, but also implications for education as a discipline in universities subject to nationwide assessments of quality.     

Measuring in-service teacher self-efficacy for teaching computational thinking: development and validation of the T-STEM CT

Education and Information Technologies - Despite a growing recognition that K-12 teachers should be prepared to teach students computational thinking (CT) skills across disciplines, there is a lack...     

Reflections on a failed action learning intervention

This paper reflects on the failure of a recent action learning intervention with a UK television company. The aim of the project was to gain insight into the reasons why the viewing figures of their factual programming channels were in decline and to develop a new strategy enabled by the action learning methodology. Unfortunately, this intervention was not successful and resulted in the project being cancelled after only one set meeting. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the reasons for this failure and to share my thoughts with others in the action learning community. The paper concludes that the reasons for this failed intervention were due to: my presence being considered by some set members as a threat to their credibility; a resistance to engage in the process of assumption breaking and reflective practice; and due to the perceived time it takes to apply the action learning methodology.