Gaze pursuit and arm control of adolescent males diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and normal controls: evidence of a dissociation in processing visual information of short and long duration

Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of line of gaze, arm and ball was used to describe the visual and motor behaviour of male adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The ADHD participants were tested when both on (ADHD-On) and off (ADHD-Off) their medication and compared to age-matched normal controls in a modified table tennis task that required tracking the ball and hitting to cued right and left targets. Long-duration information was provided by a pre-cue, in which the target was illuminated approximately 2 s before the serve, and short-duration information by an early-cue illuminated about 350 ms after the serve, leaving approximately 500 ms to select the target and perform the action. The ADHD groups differed significantly from the control group in both the pre-cue and early-cue conditions in being less accurate, in having a later onset and duration of pursuit tracking, and a higher frequency of gaze on and off the ball. The use of medication significantly reduced the gaze frequency of the ADHD participants, but surprisingly this did not lead to an increase in pursuit tracking, suggesting a barrier was reached beyond which ball flight information could not be processed. The control and ADHD groups did not differ in arm movement onset, duration and velocity in the short-duration early-cue condition; in the long-duration pre-cue condition, however, the ADHD group's movement time onset and arm velocity differed significantly from controls. The results show that the ADHD groups were able to process short-duration information without experiencing adverse effects on their motor behaviour; however, long-duration information contributed to irregular movement control.     

The Role of Subject Matter in the Preparation of Teachers in Physical Education

Teacher education programs in physical education have deemphasized the subject matter of physical education and instead have defined the profession in terms of the processes and procedures of pedagogy. Evidence in support of this claim is presented in a review of literature in teacher education and curriculum models in physical education. Among the many reasons for this emphasis is the belief that generic information-processing skills can be acquired without concern for content or subject matter. In particular, the early literature in cognition sought to identify problem solving, thinking, and reasoning skills that could be learned and then applied to any domain of knowledge no matter how different or complex. The more recent literature from cognition, artificial intelligence, and education shows that we cannot assume the existence of powerful generic information-processing skills that exist independent of content. Instead, it is increasingly evident that we must find ways to integrate content and process throughout the educational process. This is especially important in planning teacher education programs.     

Selling ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’ ‘Thought and Politics’ and the legitimisation of China's developmental strategy

This article examines China's senior high ‘Thought and Politics’ (sixiang zhengzhi) texts, analyzing how these seek to legitimize the regime's developmental strategy. It is argued that their overriding emphasis on the strengthening of the state is premised upon the imperative of securing China's position within global order conceived in Darwinian terms. While the school curriculum cannot be seen simply as an instrument with which the party-state shapes and moulds popular consciousness at will, it is assumed here that it does play a significant role in the political socialisation of young people. ‘Thought and Politics’ serves as a benchmark of ideological correctness within what remains a highly centralised system of curriculum development. The article begins by briefly analyzing the shifts and continuities in China's developmental strategy, and of the roles assigned to education within that strategy. The importance traditionally attached to schooling's moralizing function is noted, as is the relatively elitist character of the audience for the ‘Thought and Politics’ course – senior high school students. After considering how and why a discourse of state-centred patriotism has become central to the Communist Party's efforts to legitimise its authority, the implications of the ‘Patriotic Education Campaign’ for the broader school curriculum are reviewed. The main discussion then focuses on the way in which the current texts for ‘Thought and Politics’ justify the national developmental strategy in terms derived from this patriotic discourse. Some potential implications of this combination of patriotic political socialisation with a highly labour-repressive developmental model, setting the case of China in comparative and historical context.     

Secondary school management in Ontario,Canada: educational change in response to reality

The paper describes a one‐year job‐sharing teaching experience which took place in a third‐year classroom of an inner‐city middle school. Both teachers worked for half of a job on a one‐week‐on, one‐week‐off basis, sharing the teaching of the children completely. The experience involved a great deal of negotiation since the teachers favoured very different teaching strategies ‐‐ one being competitively oriented towards goal and reward structures, the other favouring a more co‐operative, humanistic approach. The process of negotiation and the responses of both teachers and children, including the problems and benefits of the experience, are comprehensively described. Some suggestions to aid the implementation of a job‐sharing programme are made.