E‐coaching systems: Convenient,anytime, anywhere,and nonhuman

Technologies continue to evolve to provide more compelling and interactive learning opportunities. Coaching has traditionally been face‐to‐face or by email. By combining the new technologies with coaching, learning developers now have the opportunity to develop an asynchronous, online, nonhuman coaching system, or e‐coaching system. An e‐coaching system can alleviate much of the coaching labor while making it more conducive to the coachee.     

New Resources for Childbirth Educators and Parents

In this column, reviewers offer perspectives and comments on a variety of new media resources for childbirth educators and for expectant and new parents. The books and DVDs reviewed in this issue''s column address the following topics: new directions for childbirth education classes; pregnancy tips for expectant mothers; empowering women to give birth naturally; midwifery care; breastfeeding; labyrinths and “laborinths” (an alternative approach to preparing for birth); preterm labor; understanding newborns'' language cues; and exercise programs during pregnancy and the postnatal period, as well as exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor and help new mothers deal with incontinence.     

Social Space,Gender Inequalities and Educational Differentiation

The spatial dimensions of social interaction and reproduction have received increasing attention from sociologists in recent years. However, these issues remain largely implicit in most studies of classrooms, schools and the education system. In this paper, I argue that the study of social space should be integral to analyses of the relationship between educational differentiation and social reproduction. After examining the position of space in Giddens's theory of structuration, I focus on how space is used in schools as a resource in the production of unequal gender relations. Space is viewed not simply as a context in which interaction occurs, but as a phenomenon which both produces, and is produced by, gendered power relations.     

Reconceptualising Structure and Agency in the Sociology of Education: structuration theory and schooling

Since the 1970s there has been considerable debate among sociologists of education about the macro‐micro gap in educational analyses. However, educational research remains divided largely into the study of large‐scale phenomena such as social systems and national policies on the one hand, and case‐studies of individual schools and social interaction on the other. This split has had a number of unfortunate consequences for the development of the field. Most importantly, the dominant conceptions of structure and agency employed in the sociology of education are characterised by a dualism which makes it difficult to conceptualise adequately the processes involved in social change. In this paper, I briefly describe this structure‐agency dualism before critically examining three attempts which have been made to address this problem. The ability of structuration theory to overcome this dualism is then examined, and I conclude by arguing that this approach offers an important new direction for the sociology of education.     

#2: Freedom of Movement throughout Labor

In this position paper-one of six care practice papers published by Lamaze International and reprinted here with permission-the benefit of allowing freedom of movement throughout labor is discussed and presented as an evidence-based practice that helps promote, protect, and support normal birth. The paper is written for childbearing women and their families. The accompanying commentary-written by a well-known author of numerous articles and books on childbirth-compares the activities of women in two birthing environments: the conventional medicalized setting and the unconventional naturalistic setting. Reasons why women may not move in labor are presented. Lamaze International encourages women to use movement in labor in order to make labor more comfortable and more efficient.     

Carrying out research across the arts and humanities and social sciences: developing the methodology for Dementia and Imagination

This paper analyses how the methodological approach for a major Arts and Humanities Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council-funded project entitled Dementia and Imagination ¹1. http://dementiaandimagination.org.uk/View all notes was formulated. This multidisciplinary project brings together the arts and humanities with the social sciences with their different epistemological philosophies and subsequent understandings of research methods. The main objective was to determine how visual arts activities may change, sustain and catalyse community cultures, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours to create dementia-friendly communities. This project involves 6 different UK universities, 14 researchers, 10 formal partners, 7 project artists, 3 research artists and a large number of civil society organisations. The analysis presents a series of themes that have been identified as influencing the approach taken to develop methods which aimed to speak to different audiences in the social sciences, arts and humanities, policy/practice and public domains. It is concluded that a research project of this type needs to embrace a wide variety of epistemological positions if it is to successfully achieve its objectives. This paper contributes to knowledge about how the methodology of large-scale multidisciplinary projects may be constructed which will be of value to those building research consortia across different universities and between universities and community partners.