MUSCLES, MORALS AND MIND: CRAFT APPRENTICESHIP AND THE FORMATION OF PERSON

ABSTRACT:  The paper considers apprenticeship as a model of education that both teaches technical skills and provides the grounding for personal formation. The research presented is based on long-term anthropological fieldwork with minaret builders in Yemen, mud masons in Mali and fine-woodwork trainees in London. These case studies of on-site learning and practice support an expanded notion of knowledge that exceeds propositional thinking and language and centrally includes the body and skilled performance. Crafts – like sport, dance and other skilled physical activities – are largely communicated, understood and negotiated between practitioners without words, and learning is achieved through observation, mimesis and repeated exercise. The need for an interdisciplinary study of communication and understanding from the body is therefore underlined, and the paper suggests a way forward drawing on linguistic theory and recent neurological findings. It is argued that the validation and promotion of skilled practice as 'intelligent' is necessary for raising the status and credibility of apprentice-style learning within our Western systems of education.     

Injury rates and characteristics in recreational,elite student and professional dancers: A systematic review

The purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature and synthesise the evidence on injury rates and characteristics in recreational, elite student, and professional dancers. Five online databases were searched from inception to January 2018 and screened by two independent reviewers. Primary research studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported injury rates in recreational, elite student, and/or professional dancers of any genre and measured individual dance exposure at the hour, event, or day level. Sixteen studies were included, with only three studies incorporating recreational dancers. Reported injury incidence rates were less than 5 injuries per 1,000 dance hours, however substantially different definitions and methods for measuring injury and dance exposure were used. Based on the current evidence there is not an identifiable difference in injury rate or characteristics between recreational, elite student, and professional dancers. However, there remains a lack of high quality comprehensive data available across levels and genres of dance participation, and greater focus on consistency and completeness of reporting in dance injury research is still required.     

The effects of fast bowling fatigue and adhesive taping on shoulder joint position sense in amateur cricket players in Victoria,Australia

The impact that muscle fatigue and taping have on proprioception in an applied sporting context remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate disturbances in position sense at the shoulder joint, and asses the effectiveness of adhesive tape in preventing injury and improving performance, after a bout of cricket fast bowling. Among amateur cricket players (N = 14), shoulder position sense, maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) force and bowling accuracy was assessed before and immediately after a fatiguing exercise bout of fast bowling. Participants were tested with the shoulder taped and untapped. Shoulder extension MVC force dropped immediately and 30 min after the exercise (P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively). Position sense errors increased immediately after exercise (P < 0.05), shifting in the direction of shoulder extension for all measurements. Taping had no effect on position errors before exercise, but did significantly reduce position errors after exercise at mid-range shoulder flexion angles (45° and 60°; P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively). Taping had no significant effect on bowling accuracy. These findings may be explained by a body map shift towards a gravity neutral position. Added cutaneous input from the tape is proposed to contribute more to shoulder position sense when muscles are fatigued.     

Optimization of oar blade design for improved performance in rowing

The aim of the present study was to find a more optimal blade design for rowing performance than the Big Blade, which has been shown to be less than optimal for propulsion. As well as the Big Blade, a flat Big Blade, a flat rectangular blade, and a rectangular blade with the same curvature and projected area as the Big Blade were tested in a water flume to determine their fluid dynamic characteristics at the full range of angles at which the oar blade might present itself to the water. Similarities were observed between the flat Big Blade and rectangular blades. However, the curved rectangular blade generated significantly more lift in the angle range 0-90 degrees than the curved Big Blade, although it was similar between 90 and 180 degrees. This difference was attributed to the shape of the upper and lower edges of the blade and their influence on the fluid flow around the blade. Although the influence of oar blade design on boat speed was not investigated here, the significant increases in fluid force coefficients for the curved rectangular blade suggest that this new oar blade design could elicit a practically significant improvement in rowing performance.     

A comparison of the WPPSI and Stanford-Binet intelligence scale (1972) among lower SES black children

The study compared the performance of 35 lower SES black kindergarten children on the WPPSI and the 1972 Norm Edition of the Stanford-Binet, Contrary to the findings of previous investigations before the restandardization of the Binet, the WPPSI was found to yield a significantly higer mean IQ than the Binet. While there were no sex differences. significant age-related differences were found. Results were interpreted as suggesting that the WPPSI might be a more appropriate measure of cognitive ability for black children of lower socioeconomic status.     

Racial differences in patterns of occupational choice in adolescents

Patterns of occupational choice and correlates of these patterns were investigated for black male inner-city high school juniors and seniors. The pattern of occupational choice of the sample was distinctly different from the middle class, white normative sample of the occupational scale and other select samples in that the present subjects demonstrated more interest in artistic, health and welfare fields. Locus of control correlated significantly with one occupational category but generally was not a reliable correlate of occupational choice. Grade level was strongly related to positive choices. Implications for vocational counseling are discussed.     

Investigating young children’s human figure drawings using Rasch analysis

The Goodenough–Harris Drawing Test (GHDT) is a non-verbal assessment designed to infer young children’s levels of intellectual development and understanding via the collection of three human figure drawings (HFDs) – one each of a man, a woman and a self-portrait. This paper presents findings from a research project that applied the Rasch model for measurement to HFDs collected from 246 children aged between 4 and 10 years to assess the psychometric properties of the GHDT assessment, and young children’s HFDs in general, as the GHDT had not yet been examined from a modern test theory perspective in full. Results indicated that: (1) the GHDT and children’s HFDs were apt for Rasch analysis and deemed to be generally psychometrically sound; and (2) that children performed almost identically (within error) on all three HFDs collected for the assessment, suggesting that the collection of three HFDs – as well as many of the 217 items which comprise the GHDT – was potentially redundant. Consequently, a prototype human figure drawing continuum (HFDC) was constructed from those data and examined. Rasch analysis revealed that the researcher-constructed 45-item HFDC scale – requiring just one self-selected HFD of a man, woman or child – was just as effective as the 217-item GHDT. The HFDC, when normed, should be seen as a parsimonious and child-friendly HDF assessment.