Seeing the wood for the trees: learning to teach beyond the curriculum. How can student teachers be helped to see beyond the National Literacy Strategy?

‘With the NLS—they can see how everything is important if we want our English to be good and it's helped me to see it that way too. Before, we just used to see it all separately. This way is much better' (Rebecca Graham, Year 4 English specialist after Final Block Placement). This quote was collected in the final stage of a study involving student teachers, four years after the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) was implemented. In this article I argue that this data shows it is possible (but by no means guaranteed) for student teachers to learn to use the NLS framework in a flexible, responsive, child‐centred way that links to a broader and deeper understanding of English. The quote contrasts with data taken in earlier stages of the study (and published in this journal: Twiselton, 2000 Twiselton, S. 2000. Seeing the wood for the trees: the national literacy strategy and initial teacher education; pedagogical content knowledge and the structure of subjects,. Cambridge Journal of Education, 30(3): 391–403. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]), which suggested that the NLS appeared to have led student teachers to a very restricted view of English. I argued earlier that it was possible that this might be a temporary ‘stalling’ to be compensated at a later time. In this article I review and explore the later data and argue for the importance of helping student teachers to develop broad and deep frameworks of understanding to underpin their knowledge of the curriculum.     

Words on the screen: broadening analyses of interactions among fanfiction writers and reviewers

Young fanfiction writers use the Internet to build networks of reading, writing and editing – literacy practices that are highly valued in schools, universities and workplaces. While prior research shows that online spaces frame multiple kinds of participation as legitimate, much of this work focuses on the extensive contributions of exceptional young authors. In this paper, we foreground the contributions of fanfiction reviewers and focus on their interactions with writers, exploring their communicative literacy practices and hypothesising about how we can make their reading and writing more visible and more effectively consider their learning practices. To do so, we conducted a linguistic analysis of fanfiction review comments on two sites, FanFiction.net and Figment.com. While fanfiction readers provide writers with an authentic audience for their creative work, our findings indicate that the review comments that they leave generally do not offer specific feedback regarding the craft of writing. For this reason, we argue that teachers' expertise is still needed in the difficult task of developing young adults' composition, peer review and critique skills.     

Effect of ischemic preconditioning on repeated sprint ability in team sport athletes

This study investigated whether ischemic preconditioning (IPC) in a trained population affected repeated sprint performance. A secondary aim was to assess responses according to gender. Sixteen (nine females and seven males) well trained team sport athletes took part in a randomised crossover study design. Participants underwent an IPC and placebo treatment involving three periods of 5 min occlusion applied unilaterally (3 × 5 min occlusion to each leg) at either 220 mmHg or 50 mmHg. Each period of occlusion was followed by 5 min reperfusion. Following treatment 5 × 6 s maximal effort sprints were undertaken on a cycle ergometer against 7.5% body mass, each interspersed by 24 s recovery. Measured parameters included peak power, total power, percentage decrement, post-exercise blood lactate and ratings of perceived exertion. Nor within subject main effect for IPC was observed, neither was there an interaction effect with gender. Effect sizes were trivial (ES < 0.2) with the exception of a moderate (ES < 1.2) change in post-exercise blood lactate in the female cohort (1.6 ± 0.4 mmol^?1 lower following IPC). Results suggest no benefit to team sport players in utilising IPC as a means of enhancing repeated sprint performance. A lower blood lactate response in female participants following IPC may suggest improved blood flow through vasodilation.     

Pacing during a cross-country mountain bike mass-participation event according to race performance,experience, age and sex

This study describes pacing strategies adopted in an 86-km mass-participation cross-country marathon mountain bike race (the ‘Birkebeinerrittet’). Absolute (km·h^?1) and relative speed (% average race speed) and speed coefficient of variation (%CV) in five race sections (15.1, 31.4, 52.3, 74.4 and 100% of total distance) were calculated for 8182 participants. Data were grouped and analysed according to race performance, age, sex and race experience. The highest average speed was observed in males (21.8?±?3.7?km/h), 16–24?yr olds (23.0?±?4.8?km/h) and those that had previously completed >4 Birkebeinerrittet races (22.5?±?3.4?km/h). Independent of these factors, the fastest performers exhibited faster speeds across all race sections, whilst their relative speed was higher in early and late climbing sections (Cohen's d?=?0.45–1.15) and slower in the final descending race section (d?=?0.64–0.98). Similar trends were observed in the quicker age, sex and race experience groups, who tended to have a higher average speed in earlier race sections and a lower average speed during the final race section compared to slower groups. In all comparisons, faster groups also had a lower %CV for speed than slower groups (fastest %CV?=?24.02%, slowest %CV?=?32.03%), indicating a lower variation in speed across the race. Pacing in a cross-country mountain bike marathon is related to performance, age, sex and race experience. Better performance appears to be associated with higher relative speed during climbing sections, resulting in a more consistent overall race speed.     

Segmented sedentary time and physical activity patterns throughout the week from wrist-worn ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers among children 7-12 years old

Background:This study examined the volume and patterns of physical activity(PA) and sedentary time(ST) across different segments of the week among boys and girls.Methods:A total of 188 children aged 7-12 years wore a wrist-mounted ActiGraph GT3 X+accelerometer for 7 days.Time spent in PA and ST was calculated using ActiLife software.The mean number of minutes of light PA,moderate PA,vigorous PA,moderate-to-vigorous PA(MVPA),and ST were calculated per weekday(before school,during school,and after school) and per weekend day(morning and afternoon-evening).Results:After school represented the greatest accumulation of ST compared with before school and during school segments.Boys engaged in225.4 min/day of ST(95% confidence interval(CI):216-235),and girls engaged in 222.2 min/day of ST(95%CI:213-231).During school,boys engaged in significantly more MVPA than girls(46.1 min/day(95%CI:44-48) vs.40.7 min/day(95%CI:39-43)).Across the whole weekday,boys participated in significantly more MVPA than girls(103.9 min/day(95%CI:99-109) vs.95.7 min/day(95%CI:90-101)).The weekend afternoon—evening segment represented the larger accumulation of ST,where boys were significantly more sedentary than girls(367.5 min/day(95%CI:353-382) vs.339.8 min/day(95%CI:325-355),respectively).Conclusion:Our findings suggest that children are highly sedentary and spend little of their time in school in MVPA,especially girls.Routine breaks in school elicit increases in light PA and MVPA.Future work should consider the use of more active breaks within school time to encourage PA and reduce ST.     

Addressing violence against teachers: A social-ecological analysis of teachers' perspectives

Much research has been dedicated to supporting school communities in combating the problem of school violence. However, violence directed toward teachers is under-investigated, and knowledge of how to support teachers is limited. This qualitative study used conventional content analysis to assess teachers' recommendations for preventing and improving the response to teacher-directed violence. The sample included 245 prekindergarten through 12th grade teachers, all of whom experienced school violence and participated in a larger national survey study on violence against teachers. Using a social-ecological framework and conventional content analysis, teacher recommendations for addressing teacher victimization were identified and organized at the individual, school, community, and society levels. Themes around conflict resolution strategies; improving policies, resources, and relationships with administrators; increasing parental involvement; and changing culture and laws were highlighted. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.