Dragon wings and butterfly wings: implicit gender binarism in early childhood

Despite explicit focus on addressing gender inequality in educational settings in Australia, without challenging gender binarism, inequality will persist. This article demonstrates the everyday and implicit means through which hierarchical gender binaries continue to be perpetuated. Observational fieldwork undertaken in three Australian early childhood settings with 13 members of staff and 53 children (ages 2–6) demonstrates how bi-gendered language, as well as wider discourses and practices, are being engaged in these settings. The data indicate that gender binarism continues to be (re)constructed and reinforced through subtle, but omnirelevant, invocations of gender. This happens in the constant categorisation and addressing of children by attributed gender alongside the hierarchisation of gendered attributes, and the sanctioned performativity of bi-gendered heteronormativity in play situations. This demonstrates how children continue to be encouraged into binary gendered practices in their most formative years and that this will, in turn, perpetuate gender inequalities.     

Parenting and Cortisol in Infancy Interactively Predict Conduct Problems and Callous–Unemotional Behaviors in Childhood

This study examines observed maternal sensitivity, harsh-intrusion, and mental-state talk in infancy as predictors of conduct problems (CP) and callous–unemotional (CU) behaviors in middle childhood, as well as the extent to which infants’ resting cortisol and cortisol reactivity moderate these associations. Using data from the Family Life Project (n = 1,292), results indicate that maternal sensitivity at 6 months predicts fewer CP at first grade, but only for infants who demonstrate high levels of cortisol reactivity. Maternal harsh intrusion predicts fewer empathic–prosocial behaviors, a component of CU behaviors, but only for infants who demonstrate high resting cortisol. Findings are discussed in the context of diathesis–stress and differential susceptibility models.     

Probiotics supplementation for athletes – Clinical and physiological effects

Abstract

Probiotic supplementation has traditionally focused on gut health. However, in recent years, the clinical applications of probiotics have broadened to allergic, metabolic, inflammatory, gastrointestinal and respiratory conditions. Gastrointestinal health is important for regulating adaptation to exercise and physical activity. Symptoms such as nausea, bloating, cramping, pain, diarrhoea and bleeding occur in some athletes, particularly during prolonged exhaustive events. Several studies conducted since 2006 examining probiotic supplementation in athletes or highly active individuals indicate modest clinical benefits in terms of reduced frequency, severity and/or duration of respiratory and gastrointestinal illness. The likely mechanisms of action for probiotics include direct interaction with the gut microbiota, interaction with the mucosal immune system and immune signalling to a variety of organs and systems. Practical issues to consider include medical and dietary screening of athletes, sourcing of recommended probiotics and formulations, dose–response requirements for different probiotic strains, storage, handling and transport of supplements and timing of supplementation in relation to travel and competition.     

Explaining Australia’s increased share of ISI publications—the effects of a funding formula based on publication counts

Australia’s share of publications in the Science Citation Index (SCI) has increased by 25% in the last decade. The worrying aspect associated with this trend is the significant decline in citation impact Australia is achieving relative to other countries. It has dropped from sixth position in a ranking of 11 OECD countries in 1988, to 10th position by 1993, and the distance from ninth place continues to widen.The increased publication activity came at a time when publication output was expected to decline due to pressures facing the higher education sector, which accounts for over two-thirds of Australian publications. This paper examines possible methodological and contextual explanations of the trends in Australia’s presence in the SCI, and undertakes a detailed comparison of two universities that introduced diverse research management strategies in the late 1980s. The conclusion reached is that the driving force behind the Australian trends appears to lie with the increased culture of evaluation faced by the sector. Significant funds are distributed to universities, and within universities, on the basis of aggregate publication counts, with little attention paid to the impact or quality of that output. In consequence, journal publication productivity has increased significantly in the last decade, but its impact has declined.     

The changing functions of citation: from knowledge networking to academic cash-value

This essay reviews the changing functions, and effects, of citation systems in scholarly research as they move from a range of uses primarily oriented around knowledge networking and epistemic validation, to their use as a set of metrics oriented around evaluating and rewarding certain kinds of academic performance (e.g. “impact factors”). It is argued that this shift of emphasis has a distorting effect on the uses of citations, and that the more important these metrics become, the more distorting it is. Specifically, it is argued that rewarding certain kinds of citational practices leads to “gaming” the system: this makes the use of these metrics actually less reliable – and in some cases counterproductive – and leads to what in the author’s view are self-serving and sometimes unethical behaviours.     

Flipping the Script: When Service-Learning Recipients Become Service-Learning Givers

Urban education is a complex system that is often shrouded in stereotypes, labels, and barriers. Service-learning is well-entrenched in suburban institutions, but is a fledgling or grassroots organization in the urban education community. Often, suburban service-learning initiatives have taken the tone of community service in that it is often directed (albeit often inadvertently) at lower socio-economic families (e.g., to help the homeless, fill the food banks for the hungry, participate in clothing drives). Such initiatives leave some urban students feeling disenfranchised, powerless, and dependent. However, critical service-learning in urban schools can provide a connection to the community, as well as a sense of empowerment, confidence, and intrinsic motivation (Mitchell, 2007 Mitchell, T. (2007). Critical service-learning as social justice education: A case study of the citizen scholars program. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40, 101–112.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). When urban students see themselves as vital, powerful participants in giving back instead of being given to, they become critical partners, young leaders, and civically engaged citizens. Therefore, in this article, Pam, a middle school educator, and Tamara, a service-learning partner, examine how a teacher can institute critical service-learning programs in an urban classroom. By highlighting a teacher's intrinsic and extrinsic shifts, practical applications, and students' collaborations and reflections, this article illustrates how to move to critical service-learning in urban contexts. This examination has implications for how specific critical service-learning components can help teachers work with students to move toward socio-emotional growth.     

Middle managers’ experience of policy implementation and mediation in the context of the Scottish quality enhancement framework

This paper analyses how middle managers perform and experience their role in enacting policy in Scottish higher education institutions. The policy focus is the quality enhancement framework (QEF) for learning and teaching in higher education, which was launched in 2003. The data-set was collected between 2008 and 2010, during the evaluation of the QEF by means of focus groups with middle managers at nine Scottish institutions. The metaphor of a policy implementation staircase helps to situate middle managers’ position in enactment, and analyse their experience of the role. Despite the values of collegiality and ownership upheld by the QEF, middle managers’ accounts of their practices reveal that their position at the interface between university management and core academic activities continues to be a delicate one, marked by contradictory allegiances to institutional strategies and the concerns of academic colleagues. While emphasising middle managers’ pivotal role in the implementation of the QEF policy, the data paradoxically suggest that the systemic positioning of middle managers is more influential in shaping their role of mediation than the values of collegiality and ownership promoted by this enhancement approach to quality specific to Scotland.