Rethinking the ‘Western Tradition’

Abstract

In recent years, the ‘Western tradition’ has increasingly come under attack in anti-colonialist and postmodernist discourses. It is not difficult to sympathise with the concerns that underlie advocacy of historically marginalised traditions, and the West undoubtedly has a lot to answer for. Nonetheless, while arguing a qualified yes to the central question posed for this special issue, we question the assumption that the West can be neatly distinguished from alternative traditions of thought. We argue that there is fundamental implicit and explicit agreement across traditions about the most difficult of issues and on standards about how to reason about them and that the ‘West’ has demonstrably learned from within and without itself. But, we question the very viability under conditions of heightened globalisation and neo-colonialism of distinguishing between thought of the ‘West’ and thought outside the West. It is time to move beyond the reified assumptions that underlie the idea of ‘Western thought’, cast as an agent with a collective purpose.     

Competition,gender and the sport experience: an exploration among college athletes

Worldwide, sport and physical activity rates of women generally lag behind those of men. One reason for this could be the way that sport cultures typically frame and value competition. This study provides an examination of the meaning and impact of ‘competition’ on the sport participation experiences of men and women. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, individual and group interviews were conducted with 76 current and former male and female collegiate athletes from both varsity and club sports regarding the impact of competition on their sport experiences. Results revealed that women and men tended to view and interpret competition differently, which strongly impacted their sport experiences. Sport programming that embraces a balance of cooperation and competition may be valuable for attracting and retaining both male and female participants.     

How Birth Doulas Help Clients Adapt to Changes in Circumstances,Clinical Care,and Client Preferences During Labor

This study examined how doulas adapt to challenges in client’s labors. There were 104 Canadian and 92 American doulas who responded to a survey distributed at a doula conference. We report results from open-ended questions in which doulas describe how they manage changes deviating from the mother’s birth plan and how they navigate differences of opinion between themselves and providers. Four themes emerged: giving nonjudgmental support, assisting informed decision making, acting as a facilitator, and issues with advocacy. Although 30% of doulas said that advocacy and information giving could result in conflict with providers, doulas reported working within their scope of practice and striving to be part of the team. Issues in doula responsibility and patient advocacy remain, and ongoing role clarification is needed.     

Test order effects in simultaneous protocols

Simultaneous protocols typically yield poorer stimulus equivalence outcomes than do other protocols commonly used in equivalence research. Two independent groups of three 3-member equivalence sets of stimuli were used in conditional discrimination procedures in two conditions, one using the standard simultaneous protocol and the other using a hybrid simultaneous training and simple-to-complex testing. Participants completed the two conditions in one long session in Experiment 1, but in separate sessions in Experiment 2. The same stimulus sets used in Experiment 1 were randomized for the two conditions in Experiment 2. Overall, accuracy was better with the hybrid than with the standard protocol in both experiments. The equivalence yield was also better under the hybrid than under the standard protocol in each experiment. The results suggest that the order of testing for emergent relations may account for the difficulty often encountered with the standard simultaneous protocol.     

Continuing Education and the Redrawing of Boundaries

Continuing education, broadly defined to include both vocational and non-vocational kinds of provision, is having an increasing impact within higher education. Its further expansion is now part of government strategy. This expansion will not be achieved without difficulties, and it poses considerable and varied challenges to those who work in higher education. In this paper, we focus on the effects that continuing education is having on established boundaries within higher education — boundaries between different sectors and types of provision, between different subjects and ways of teaching, and between higher education staff and their different skills. As the provision of continuing education increases, existing boundaries will change, become more permeable or be broken down altogether while new divisions and distinctions are created and built up.     

What is literacy for students with severe learning difficulties? Exploring conventional and inclusive literacy

This paper arises from research into inclusive literacy for pupils with severe learning difficulties who do not learn to read and write conventionally. The ultimate aim of the study was to seek out examples of good practice in teaching and learning literacy that includes students with severe learning difficulties and disseminate them as widely as possible. Thirty-five schools were visited and observations made in 122 lessons. Sixty-one teachers were interviewed and their paperwork examined. Ten focus groups and five 'expert witnesses' were consulted, alongside desk-based research designed to locate 'good practice'. Teachers used a mixture of conventional (e.g., texts) and non-conventional (e.g., pictures, film and oral) media, although more observations were made of conventional literacy teaching (e.g., phonic work) than of non-conventional (e.g., filmmaking). Results from the research suggest that few students with severe learning difficulties are likely to learn to read and write conventionally (i.e., read for pleasure, work and study) and teachers may be relying too much on teaching traditional literacy to them. It may be useful to explore teaching and learning around alternative media such as still and moving images, live theatre and storytelling, digital technology and the arts. Although some teachers are making good use of these media, the potential of these media for providing inclusive literacy experiences could be further developed.     

Studying construction work: Connecting classroom centers

Johnny has one hammer, one hammer, one hammer; Johnny has one hammer, Johnny has two, sings a small group of children in the woodworking center as they pound small cuts of wood with hammer and nails. Hey, Ronnie, put that block here. We're making a chimney for our house, directs one youngster in the block center. We can move in when we're finished, he tells his two companions.Laverne Warner is Professor of Early Childhood Education within the Division of Teacher Education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Melissa Sepulveda is a kindergarten teacher at Lowery Elementary School in the Cy-Fair Independent School District in Houston, Texas.     

Interactive dimensions for leadership: an integrative literature review and model to promote ethical leadership praxis in a global society

The purpose of this integrative literature review was to draw together recognised streams of knowledge to inform contemporary leadership of school systems in democratic societies. The article integrates scholarship in ethical leadership (EL) and social justice leadership (SJL). The resultant conceptualised model is an expanded version of a preliminary model included in a research brief of an empirical study. The Ethical Leadership Praxis in a Global Society model includes four interactive dimensions: (1) understanding social justice theory and leadership theory, (2) applying state, national and professional ethical/legal standards, (3) engaging in ethical leadership practice and role modelling for culturally responsive leadership (CRL), and (4) employing personal leadership ethics and core values as a cyclical process of self-reflection and decision-making. This article makes an original contribution for building leadership praxis centred on ethical leadership. The model applies ethical and social justice leadership theory and encourages leaders to self-reflect on their own values, practices of leadership and how their actions can create inclusivity. Empirical studies testing the model is recommended in a variety of international educational settings.     

Increasing physical literacy in youth: A two-week Sport for Development program for children aged 6-10

PROSPECTS - Regular physical activity significantly improves health outcomes, yet rates of childhood physical activity remain alarmingly low. Physical literacy has been identified as the...     

Men accessing education: masculinities,identifications and widening participation

Drawing on ESRC‐funded research (RES‐000–22–0832), this article examines the accounts of men participating in London access and foundation programmes in relation to their shifting masculine identifications. I consider how the men’s early memories of schooling shape their student masculinities. Their accounts are contextualised in relation to hegemonic discourses of widening participation and neo‐liberalism. Drawing on feminist critique, I pay attention to the men’s self‐regulating practices in their struggle to be recognised as deserving of higher education access and participation. The interconnections and contradictions within men’s identifications across a range of differences are considered in relation to their experiences and imaginaries of accessing higher education.