School mining clubs in Kono,Sierra Leone: the practices and imaginaries of a pedagogy of protest against social injustice in a conflict-affected context

ABSTRACT

This paper takes as a case study the pedagogical practices emergent from the educational interventions of a civil society organisation in the conflict affected region of Kono, Sierra Leone. Using a cultural political economy approach, it highlights the possibilities of pedagogy being leveraged to protest against perceived and experienced social injustices. In so doing it contributes to understanding of a context-specific model of teacher agency, rooted in the local and global challenges faced by pupils and their communities. It thereby illuminates an alternative to the generic and decontextualized framings of pedagogy frequently offered in human rights and peace education curricula.     

Biological maturity-associated variance in peak power output and momentum in academy rugby union players

The study aimed to evaluate the mediating effect of biological maturation on anthropometrical measurements, performance indicators and subsequent selection in a group of academy rugby union players. Fifty-one male players 14–17 years of age were assessed for height, weight and BMI, and percentage of predicted mature status attained at the time of observation was used as an indicator of maturity status. Following this, initial sprint velocity (ISV), Wattbike peak power output (PPO) and initial sprint momentum (ISM) were assessed. A bias towards on-time (n?=?44) and early (n?=?7) maturers was evident in the total sample and magnified with age cohort. Relative to UK reference values, weight and height were above the 90th and 75th centiles, respectively. Significant (p?≤?.01) correlations were observed between maturity status and BMI (r?=?.48), weight (r?=?.63) and height (r?=?.48). Regression analysis (controlling for age) revealed that maturity status and height explained 68% of ISM variance; however, including BMI in the model attenuated the influence of maturity status below statistical significance (p?=?.72). Height and BMI explained 51% of PPO variance, while no initial significant predictors were identified for ISV. The sample consisted of players who were on-time and early in maturation with no late maturers represented. This was attributable, in part, to the mediating effect of maturation on body size, which, in turn, predicted performance variables.     

Assessment of a Microsoft Kinect-based 3D scanning system for taking body segment girth measurements: a comparison to ISAK and ISO standards

Use of anthropometric data to infer sporting performance is increasing in popularity, particularly within elite sport programmes. Measurement typically follows standards set by the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK). However, such techniques are time consuming, which reduces their practicality. Schranz et al. recently suggested 3D body scanners could replace current measurement techniques; however, current systems are costly. Recent interest in natural user interaction has led to a range of low-cost depth cameras capable of producing 3D body scans, from which anthropometrics can be calculated. A scanning system comprising 4 depth cameras was used to scan 4 cylinders, representative of the body segments. Girth measurements were calculated from the 3D scans and compared to gold standard measurements. Requirements of a Level 1 ISAK practitioner were met in all 4 cylinders, and ISO standards for scan-derived girth measurements were met in the 2 larger cylinders only. A fixed measurement bias was identified that could be corrected with a simple offset factor. Further work is required to determine comparable performance across a wider range of measurements performed upon living participants. Nevertheless, findings of the study suggest such a system offers many advantages over current techniques, having a range of potential applications.     

Growth and maturity status of elite British junior tennis players

Growth and maturation impact the selection, development and progression of youth athletes. Individual differences in the growth and maturity may afford a performance advantage, clouding coaches and practitioners’ perceptions regarding current ability and future potential. This may result in the exclusion of talented, yet less physically gifted athletes. Participants were 91 male (n = 47) and female (n = 44) elite British Junior tennis players, 8–17 years of age (12.5 ± 1.9 years). Height and body mass were measured and compared to growth charts; hand-wrist radiographs were taken. Skeletal age (SA) was estimated with the Fels method and contrasted to chronological age (CA). Mean height and body mass of individual players ranged between the 50th and 90th centiles for age and sex. Females were advanced in SA relative to CA (0.3–0.89 years.) from 8 years. Males were average to delayed in maturation from 8 to 12 years, but advanced in SA from 14 to 16 years (0.75–1.23 years). Individual differences in growth and maturation appear to contribute towards the selection of elite junior tennis players, with a bias towards males and females who are advanced in maturation and comparatively tall and heavy for their age. This has important implications for talent identification and development.     

Reasoning with Data – Time for a Rethink?

Reasoning with data is already pervasive in society, and its importance as a life skill is increasing. We argue that the current statistics curriculum in the United Kingdom at the secondary level does not prepare our young people adequately, and suggest ways in which it could be improved.     

History

Rachel Theilheimer teaches early childhood education at Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York City. Rachel Lebwohl is a fourth-grader at Irvington School in Portland, Oregon. Rebekah Lebwohl is in third grade at the Portland Jewish Academy. Sean Masterson is a third-grader at the Chapel Street School in Stratford, Connecticut.     

Renewal of extinguished responding in a second context

In three experiments with rats, we demonstrated that a conditioned response that is learned and extinguished in one context (Context A) can be renewed when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is tested in a second context (Context B). In Experiments 1 and 3, the effect was observed in conditioned suppression; in Experiment 2, it was produced in appetitive conditioning. The result occurs when Contexts A and B are equally familiar, equally associated with reinforcement, or equally associated with both reinforcement and nonreinforcement. The results extend the range of conditions known to produce the renewal effect, and they are consistent with the view that retrieval of extinction depends more on the context than does retrieval of conditioning.     

Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds

In today’s increasingly “flat” world of globalization (Friedman 2005), the need for a scientifically literate citizenry has grown more urgent. Yet, by some measures, we have done a poor job at fostering scientific habits of mind in schools. Recent research on informal games-based learning indicates that such technologies and the communities they evoke may be one viable alternative—not as a substitute for teachers and classrooms, but as an alternative to textbooks and science labs. This paper presents empirical evidence about the potential of games for fostering scientific habits of mind. In particular, we examine the scientific habits of mind and dispositions that characterize online discussion forums of the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft. Eighty-six percent of the forum discussions were posts engaged in “social knowledge construction” rather than social banter. Over half of the posts evidenced systems based reasoning, one in ten evidenced model-based reasoning, and 65% displayed an evaluative epistemology in which knowledge is treated as an open-ended process of evaluation and argument.     

From the kids to ‘The Kids’ – the development of negative social capital I a Little League Baseball organization

Abstract

Based on extensive fieldwork within a youth baseball league in the American Southwest, this paper has two goals. First, I make a conceptual distinction between the dark side of social capital and what I term “negative social capital.” Second, I detail how negative social capital developed and was deployed within the Valley City Little League, with an emphasis on origins and the consequences for both the individuals involved as well as the league as a whole. I also examine how negative social capital was able to develop in a child-centered voluntary organization, an anomaly within extant research on negative relationships in such organizations.