Politics of social partnerships: a framework for theorizing

This paper considers the politics of neo‐liberal reform of education and training in the specific context of social partnerships. Social partnerships are hybrid social spaces formed when a range of interests/partners work together for mutual benefit. Partnerships are one of a series of hybridized social spaces which have been formed as a consequence of the trend to neo‐liberal governance. The paper begins by situating the study of social partnerships in wider concerns about neo‐liberal reform and politics. It reviews literature on social partnerships as a way of identifying the different approaches to the conceptualization of conflict or practical politics. These are role conflict, interest conflict, and regime conflict. It also draws on a series of empirical research projects on social partnerships in Australia which have identified persistent points of tension within partnership formation and maintenance. Drawing these conceptualizations and persistent points of tension together provides a framework which can guide systematic inquiry of social partnerships. The paper suggests that this framework facilitates research by naming different types of political action. It encourages a multi‐dimensional analysis of partnership politics rather than presenting partnerships as either a celebratory or categorical expression of neo‐liberal political rationality.     

Role of Significant Life Experiences in Building Environmental Knowledge and Behavior Among Middle School Students

Significant life experience research suggests that the presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time outdoors with behavior and a negative association between watching nature television and environmental knowledge. The strongest predictors of environmental knowledge and behavior were student/teacher ratio and county income levels, respectively. We also found that Native Americans engaged in environmental behaviors more than Caucasians, and that African American and Hispanic students had lower levels of environmental knowledge. Accordingly, life experiences appear less important than promoting small class sizes and addressing challenges associated with lower incomes in schools.     

Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose:We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of training to muscle failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy.Methods:Meta-analyses of effect sizes(ESs)explored the effects of training to failure vs.non-failure on strength and hypertrophy.Subgroup meta-analyses explored potential moderating effects of variables such as training status(trained vs.untrained),training volume(volume equated vs.volume non-equated),body region(upper vs.lower),exercise selection(multi-vs.single-joint exercises(only for strength)),and study design(independent vs.dependent groups).Results:Fifteen studies were included in the review.All studies included young adults as participants.Meta-analysis indicated no significant difference between the training conditions for muscular strength(ES=-0.09,95%confidence interval(95%CI):-0.22 to 0.05)and for hypertrophy(ES=0.22,95%CI:-0.11 to 0.55).Subgroup analyses that stratified the studies according to body region,exercise selection,or study design showed no significant differences between training conditions.In studies that did not equate training volume between the groups,the analysis showed significant favoring of non-failure training on strength gains(ES=-0.32,95%CI:-0.57 to-0.07).In the subgroup analysis for resistance-trained individuals,the analysis showed a significant effect of training to failure for muscle hypertrophy(ES=0.15,95%CI:0.03-0.26).Conclusion:Training to muscle failure does not seem to be required for gains in strength and muscle size.However,training in this manner does not seem to have detrimental effects on these adaptations,either.More studies should be conducted among older adults and highly trained individuals to improve the generalizability of these findings.     

What is Plan B? Using Foucault's archaeology to enhance policy analysis

Many governments in Western democracies conduct the work of leading their societies forward through policy generation and implementation. Despite government attempts at extensive negotiation, collaboration and debate, the general populace in these same countries frequently express feelings of disempowerment and undue pressure to be compliant, often leading to disengagement. Here we outline Plan B: a process for examining how policies that emerge from good intentions are frequently interpreted as burdensome or irrelevant by those on whom they have an impact. Using a case study of professional standards for teachers in Australia, we describe how we distilled Foucault's notions of archaeology into a research approach centring on the creation of ‘polyhedrons of intelligibility’ as an alternative approach by which both policy-makers and those affected by their policies may understand how their respective causes are supported and adversely affected.     

Uncovering students’ thinking about thinking using concept maps

A method for uncovering students’ thinking about thinking, specifically their meta-strategic knowledge, is explored within the context of an ongoing, multi-year intervention designed to promote the development of students’ thinking dispositions. The development of a concept-map instrument that classroom teachers can use and an analytic framework for interpreting students’ responses is presented. In a preliminary study, the concept map instrument is piloted to evaluate changes in students’ conceptions of thinking after a year’s participation in classrooms where their teachers actively sought to make thinking more visible by noticing and naming the thinking observed as well as introducing and using thinking routines (Ritchhart and Perkins. Educational Leadership, 65(5), 57–61 2008). Concept maps from 239 students from grades 3 through 11 were analyzed. Results suggest that students’ conceptions of thinking do improve with age but also can be substantially developed through a classroom culture where thinking is modeled and rich opportunities for thinking are present. The concept map instrument itself proved to be a robust instrument for uncovering students’ thinking about thinking.     

CIVIC FRAGMENTATION OR VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION? HABERMAS,FRASER, AND CHARTER SCHOOL SEGREGATION

In this essay, Terri Wilson puts the argument developed by Kathleen Knight Abowitz that charter schools could be considered as counterpublic spaces into interaction with empirical research that explores patterns of voluntary self‐segregation in charter schools. Wilson returns to the theoretical tension between Jürgen Habermas and Nancy Fraser over the inclusivity of the public sphere. Wilson argues that Fraser's concept of counterpublic space rests on an oversimplification of Habermas's concept of the public sphere and, further, that justifying school choice through Fraser's “multiplicity of publics” offers few resources for questioning the increasing segregation of schools. According to Wilson, Habermas's normative project—and his concept of “idealization,” in particular—offers both an answer to Fraser's critique and a better application of “the public sphere” to the issue of school choice. Wilson concludes by considering how Habermas's understanding of the public sphere as a normative ideal might serve as a useful resource for evaluating the public‐ness of charter school reform.     

Multicultural Inclusion of Lesbian and Gay Literature Themes in Elementary Classrooms

This article provides a rationale for and methods to assist elementary educators in creating spaces where the enhancement of awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ)-themed literature could be explored in elementary schools and classrooms. The authors assert that an approach to providing gender and sexuality diversity in the elementary grades is part of multicultural practice in elementary classrooms. Through document analysis, the authors discovered the existing theories, practices, and evidence available in the literature that would provide elementary educators support to use LGBTQ-themed children's literature in academic spaces. The authors then provide a set of guidelines for educators to modify their existing instructional practices in order to empower young learners with the critical literacy attributes necessary in order to gain access to knowledge, power, and opportunities.