A methodological approach to short-term tracking of youth physical fitness: the Oporto Growth,Health and Performance Study

In this paper, three different statistical approaches were used to investigate short-term tracking of cardiorespiratory and performance-related physical fitness among adolescents. Data were obtained from the Oporto Growth, Health and Performance Study and comprised 1203 adolescents (549 girls) divided into two age cohorts (10–12 and 12–14 years) followed for three consecutive years, with annual assessment. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed with 1-mile run/walk test; 50-yard dash, standing long jump, handgrip, and shuttle run test were used to rate performance-related physical fitness. Tracking was expressed in three different ways: auto-correlations, multilevel modelling with crude and adjusted model (for biological maturation, body mass index, and physical activity), and Cohen’s Kappa (κ) computed in IBM SPSS 20.0, HLM 7.01 and Longitudinal Data Analysis software, respectively. Tracking of physical fitness components was (1) moderate-to-high when described by auto-correlations; (2) low-to-moderate when crude and adjusted models were used; and (3) low according to Cohen’s Kappa (κ). These results demonstrate that when describing tracking, different methods should be considered since they provide distinct and more comprehensive views about physical fitness stability patterns.     

Intellectuals and Warriors: The Ideological and Political Basis of Francoist University Sport, 1933–1946

Abstract

Examining the use of sport by totalitarian regimes during the interbellum period reveals that politicians saw the potential of sport not only for patriotic expression and international exhibition but also as a means to exert control over youth. Francoism participated in such uses of sport, imitating German and Italian organizations’ development of a youth sport structure. The Franco regime emphasized sport in universities to the extent that it made physical education a required subject to obtain a degree. This study’s primary objective is to reconstruct the doctrinal genesis of Francoist university sport, tracing it to the years before the Spanish Civil War, specifically noting the international influences that sustained it and the draft regulations that gave it legal standing despite resistance from both university youth and from sport. To this end, documentary sources are analyzed, including archival material, printed sources (legal decrees written during the period examined in this study and historical accounts of the subject), publications of Falange and related organizations, and speeches and proclamations from Falange and the Sindicato Español Universitario (SEU).     

Promoting Gypsy children's behavioural engagement and school success: Evidence from a four‐wave longitudinal study

Low schooling, high non‐attendance and school dropout rates are critical phenomena within disadvantaged groups, especially among the Gypsy community. For example, in the UK, 10%–25% of Gypsy children do not attend school regularly and have significantly higher levels of overall absence from school (percentage of half‐day sessions missed) than pupils from other ethnic groups. In Portugal, available data on Gypsy children is sparse, yet data from one geographic region of the country reports high school failure (45%) and dropout rates (15%) among this population. The present study assessed the efficacy of a four‐year intervention to promote Gypsy children's behavioural engagement and school success. Gypsy communities were contacted and 30 children participating in the four waves were randomly distributed into control and experimental groups. Every school day throughout four years, 16 children in the experimental group were called at home and invited to go to school. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated in four waves (at the end of each of the four school years), assessing behavioural engagement (i.e. school non‐attendance, classroom behaviour) and school achievement (i.e. mathematics achievement, student progression). Findings show the efficacy of the intervention on promoting behaviour engagement and academic success without devaluing Gypsy people's culture.     

Segmentación del habla y adquisición de la lectura

Tomar conciencia de la correspondencia entre la ortografía alfabética y la estructura fonológica de las palabras es una actividad necesaria tanto en educación infantil y prelectura como en los casos de lectores retrasados. Se revisan aquí los principios teóricos y se proponen diseños para su didáctica y de evaluación en el marco del D.C.B.     

Skills for Life: insights from the new ‘professionals’

This article originates in a networking project that facilitated the coming together of a group of Skills for Life (SfL) teachers from different Further Education (FE) contexts across the West Midlands region of England. The original impetus was to explore and develop a model of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) that was shaped by the needs of SfL teachers. The project created a forum in which the participants were empowered to share their experiences outside their college settings. Through this discursive process a textured picture emerged of similar experiences and common concerns. The congruence of these experiences suggested that, in certain respects, there was a degree of commonality across the various FE institutions the participants were working in, at least in the way that SfL provision was taking place. Furthermore, the data yielded specific insights into the meaning of professionalism for SfL practitioners. Foremost amongst these findings was the sense that the participants felt marginalised and perceived their professional identity as situated on the bottom rung in a hierarchy of subject specialisms. Another important outcome that related to CPD was that through participation in the network project, these teachers reported feeling that despite the managerialised nature of their workplaces, their agency was re‐energised and their sense of themselves as teachers affirmed.