Briefing Illustrators: Revisiting the Value of Sketch Images

In 1990 Steve Garner produced a school text book titled Design Topics: The Human Factors of Design. He briefed the various graphic artists engaged by the publishers, Oxford University Press, via nearly 140 thumbnail sketches. A comparison of these sketches with the final illustrations reveals important values of drawing. Not only do the comparisons enable the viewer to see something of the intent of the sender, they reveal processes of interpretation, selection, rejection and development, which are normally not available to examination. The paper seeks to contribute to substantiating the value of sketches to these processes of design team working. Since the author is also the originator of the sketches an additional level of insight and commentary is made available to the reader via a process of reflection.     

BOOK REVIEW

Contemporary Education: A Comparative Study of National Systems . John F. Cramer and George S. Browne.     

Heraclitean Thinking: Implications for Philosophy of Education

Heraclitus was the first presocratic Ionian thinker to describe the underlying nature of reality as a set of processes in flux and to affirm the constantly changing nature of the cosmos. In this essay, I discuss four major doctrines of his thought which constitute the crux of the Heraclitean worldview. I then expound some thoughts on the relevance and implications of Heraclitean thinking for philosophy of education.     

Longitudinal study of preadolescent sport self-concept and performance: reciprocal effects and causal ordering

Do preadolescent sport self-concepts influence subsequent sport performance? Longitudinal data (Grades 3, 4, and 6) for young boys and girls (N= 1,135; mean age = 9.67) were used to test reciprocal effects model (REM) predictions that sport self-concept is both a cause and a consequence of sport accomplishments. Controlling prior sport performance (performance-based measures and teacher assessments), prior sport self-concept had positive effects on subsequent sport performance in both Grade 4 and Grade 6 and for both boys and girls. Coupled with previous REM studies of adolescents in the academic domain, this first test for preadolescents in the sport domain supports the generalizability of REM predictions over gender, self-concept domain, preadolescent ages, and the transition from primary to secondary school.     

On-the-Job Training: Prescriptions and Practice

This article discusses the status of workplace training in the United States, describes a model of how to conduct effective on-the-job training, and presents the results of a questionnaire based on a model designed to assess on-the-job training practices aboard Navy ships. The model views the on-the-job trainer as a coach who guides the trainee through a task using three steps: 1) assessment, 2) training, and 3) evaluation. The questionnaire was sent to over 5,000 shipboard supervisors; 2,321 responded. Results indicate that nearly 50% of the Navy supervisors who responded are not as effective as they could be. The implications of these findings for the civilian workplace are discussed.     

成功教练员应具备的10项素质

成功教练员都具备同样的素质。在20多年来的教练生涯中,笔者认为一个成功的教练员应当具备以下10项素质:一、耐心队员越年轻,教练员就越要有耐心。不要期待所有队员都能在第一时间里领会教练员所传授的技术。让队员们注意教练员传授的内容并听从指导,才是最大的挑战。对于那些不听指导的队员,必须不断提醒他们。     

‘The life of crime does not pay; stop and think!’: the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model of sport for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds

Purpose: This study discusses the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds.

Participants and settings: This six-month activist research project was conducted in a soccer program in a socially vulnerable area of Brazil in 2013. The study included 17 youths, 4 coaches, a pedagogic coordinator and a social worker. An expert in student-centered pedagogy and inquiry-based activism assisted as a debriefer helping in the progressive data analysis and the planning of the work sessions.

Data collection/analysis: Multiple sources of data were collected, including 38 field journal/observation and audio records of: 18 youth work sessions, 16 coaches’ work sessions, 3 combined coaches and youth work sessions, and 37 meetings between the researcher and the expert.

Findings: The process of co-construction of this prototype pedagogical model was divided into three phases. The first phase involved the youth and coaches identifying barriers to sport opportunities in their community. In the second phase, the youth, coaches and researchers imagined alternative possibilities to the barriers identified. In the final phase, we worked collaboratively to create realistic opportunities for the youth to begin to negotiate some of the barriers they identified. In this phase, the coaches and youth designed an action plan to implement (involving a Leadership Program) aimed at addressing the youths’ needs in the sport program. Five critical elements of a prototype pedagogical model were co-created through the first two processes and four learning aspirations emerged in the last phase of the project.

Implications: We suggest an activist approach of co-creating a pedagogical model of sport for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds is beneficial. That is, creating opportunities for youth to learn to name, critique and negotiate barriers to their engagement in sport in order to create empowering possibilities.