Teachers' perspectives on the challenges of teaching physical education in urban schools: the student emotional filter

The purpose of this study was to analyze how the challenges of urban schools influence physical education teachers' emotional understanding and connections with their students and the implications on their teaching. Sixty-one elementary physical educators from an urban school district in the midwestern U.S. were interviewed multiple times (N = 136) over 3 years using interpretive methodology. Teachers reported five unique challenges that significantly shaped their thinking about students and their careers, along with strategies they used to overcome or manage those challenges. The challenges were: (a) insufficient instructional resources, (b) implementing culturally relevant pedagogy, (c) dealing with community violence, (d) integrating more games in curricula, and (e) teaching in a culture of basketball. Implications centered on the guilt-inducing nature of urban teaching, developing an informed and realistic vision of urban physical education, and the role of teacher preparation and professional development.     

Communication aids for the deaf

While the majority of those afflicted with deafness must still seek relief by conventional methods, new technological developments open up the possibility of aids of quite novel kinds. This article reviews the principal lines of research now being pursued.     

The relative efficacy of vestibular-proprioceptive stimulation and the upright position in enhancing visual pursuit in neonates.

48 healthy neonates born to multiparae were randomly assigned to view a moving stimulus either in the horizontal or the upright position, with or without added vestibular stimulation and with or without pacifier sucking. The infant was shown a moving black line inside a strictly controlled visual environment provided by an apparatus which permitted horizontal and upright positioning and displacement of the infant. Visual tracking was recorded by a concealed TV camera positioned at a constant distance and angle from the infants' eyes in both positions. Quality of tracking during each of 4 trials was scored on a 7-point scale. Results indicate that vestibularproprioceptive stimulation provided to the infant either horizontally or semivertically significantly enhanced his visual tracking, whereas the upright position did not. Pacifier sucking also improved his performace.     

Modeling of Star-shaped and Parallel-wire Carrier Distribution Systems

It is often desirable to represent carrier distribution systems by networks so that analysis can be made to predict the behavior of these systems. Modeling of two canonical carrier distribution systems, the star-shaped system and the parallel-wire system by networks was carried out in this paper. The representation is given in terms of lumped parameters when the lengths of the carrier lines are short and it is given in terms of lumped and distributed parameters when the lengths of the carrier lines are long.     

Circular Plate on Multipoint Supports

Formulae are derived for the deflection surface of a symmetrically loaded circular plate having several points supports which are situated at equal distances apart on a single concentric circle. There is no restriction on the diameter of the support circle, which may be as large as the diameter of the plate itself. The results of this paper compare favorably with published experimental results. Numerical deflection coefficients for a uniformly loaded plate are provided, and these could be utilized for optimizing the positions and the number of concentrated supports.     

Book Reviews

Educational Freedom in an Age of Anxiety . Twelfth Yearbook of the John Dewey Society, ed.
Freedom, Power, and democratic Planning . By K. Mannheim, Internat. Lib. of Sociol. & Soc. Reconstr.
Improving Teaching-Learning Processes . By Ray H. Simpson.