Visual body pedagogies: how anti-oppressive education informs the teaching and learning of sporting bodies

In this article, the authors borrow from anti-oppressive education theory for its potential to disrupt how students visually conceive sporting bodies and to problematize the teaching and learning of these bodies within undergraduate physical education (PE) programs. Fourteen photo stories produced by students enrolled in PE programs at two universities were analysed using a semiotic approach to excavate the emergent themes of sporting bodies from the narratives. Relying on Kumashiro's anti-oppressive educational theoretical framework, the authors found that most of stories reified discursive practices that (re)produce gender oppression in sport. Despite these findings, the authors also discovered anti-oppressive pedagogies are useful for teaching against the body oppressions conveyed in the photo stories. How anti-oppressive education informs other areas of PE should be examined in the future.     

Elite wheelchair rugby: a quantitative analysis of chair configuration in Australia

Limited recommendations of wheelchair configurations for court sports have been identified in the published literature. To accommodate the wide range of impairments in wheelchair rugby, players are given a point score that reflects their impairment. Players have regularly been grouped as high-, mid-, or low-point players in research, with high-point players having greater levels of muscle function compared with other classifications. This research documented the wheelchair configurations of elite Australian wheelchair rugby players across classification groups. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found for increased seat height and decreased seat depth for high-point players compared with low- and mid-point groups, respectively. Low-point players displayed reduced wheelchair mass compared with high- and mid-point players, as well as increased frame length. Camber angles showed no significant differences across the classification groups. The incorporation of anthropometric measures, such as the elbow angle at the top dead center, was also investigated. While elbow angle showed no significant differences, seat height-to-total arm length ratio was higher for high-point players. Participants also completed surveys detailing their perception of the effect of altering wheelchair configurations. It is suggested that wheelchair configurations should consider an individual’s anthropometrics, impairment, training history, and court role to promote optimal performance, with predictive modeling having the potential to reduce the associated time and cost.     

Determining optimal cadence for an individual road cyclist from field data

The cadence that maximises power output developed at the crank by an individual cyclist is conventionally determined using a laboratory test. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (i) to show that such a cadence, which we call the optimal cadence, can be determined using power output, heart-rate, and cadence measured in the field and (ii) to describe methodology to do so. For an individual cyclist's sessions, power output is related to cadence and the elicited heart-rate using a non-linear regression model. Optimal cadences are found for two riders (83 and 70 revolutions per minute, respectively); these cadences are similar to the riders’ preferred cadences (82–92?rpm and 65–75?rpm). Power output reduces by approximately 6% for cadences 20?rpm above or below optimum. Our methodology can be used by a rider to determine an optimal cadence without laboratory testing intervention: the rider will need to collect power output, heart-rate, and cadence measurements from training and racing sessions over an extended period (>6 months); ride at a range of cadences within those sessions; and calculate his/her optimal cadence using the methodology described or a software tool that implements it.     

Silent Majority: Childhood Vaccinations and Antecedents to Communicative Action

The topic of childhood vaccinations has received much news media attention recently, prompting scholars to examine how the public has responded. In light of this news, and the deep divide that seems to exist between parents who support childhood vaccinations and those who do not, this study examines how and why individuals may involve themselves in communication about vaccinations, particularly on social media or in other online environments. Focusing on the concept of communicative action and drawing from spiral of silence and other research, a survey of mothers (N = 455) found that those who do not support childhood vaccinations are more likely to engage in communication about the issue, including information seeking, attending, forefending, permitting, forwarding, and sharing. In addition, issue importance and affective and cognitive involvement help drive communicative action regarding childhood vaccinations, which could affect public opinion or public perceptions of the issue. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Curricular Differences and Unidimensionality of Achievement Test Data: An Exploratory Analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a linear factor analytic method commonly used to investigate violation of the item response theory (IRT) unidimensionality assumption is sensitive to measurable curricular differences within a school district and to examine the possibility of differential item performance for groups of students receiving different instruction. For grades 3 and 6 in reading and mathematics, personnel from two midwestern school systems that regularly administer standardized achievement tests identified the formal textbook series used and provided ratings of test-instructional match for each school building (classroom). For both districts, the factor analysis results suggested no differences in percentages of variance for large first factors and relatively small second factors across ratings or series groups. The IRT analyses indicated little, if any, differential item performance for curricular subgroups. Thus, the impact of factors that might be related to curricular differences was judged to be minor.     

Special education and general education preservice teachers’ co-teaching experiences: a comparative synthesis of qualitative research

Co-teaching is commonly used to support students with disabilities in inclusive educational settings. However, there is often a gap between the potential effectiveness of co-teaching and actual classroom practice. This study examined preservice teachers’ co-teaching experiences to better understand this gap to identify potential practices for improving teacher training and service delivery. A review of 11 studies revealed that both special education and general education preservice teachers believed that co-teaching practices provided them opportunities to communicate and work collaboratively. Both groups agreed on the significant impact of personality in co-teaching as well as challenges in implementing co-teaching. Furthermore, special education preservice teachers noted that they lacked content knowledge, whereas general education preservice teachers thought they needed more training in the provision of accommodations and modifications. Study limitations, areas for future research, and implications for preservice teacher preparation are discussed.     

How can only 18 black teachers working in Liverpool represent a diverse teaching workforce? A critical narrative

This paper follows on from the authors’ previous research into minimal Black teacher representation in Liverpool schools [Boyle, B., and M. Charles. 2010. “Tightening the Shackles: The Continued Invisibility of Liverpool's British African Caribbean Teachers.” Journal of Black Studies 42 (3): 427–435]. It is based on a re-examination of their findings of Liverpool's Black teachers’ historic institutionalised invisibility [Swann Report. 1985. Education for All. Report of the Committee of the Enquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.] and an interrogation of the situation as revealed by the 2015 data. The article uses as its evidence base, questionnaire responses and data from a sample of interviews with the current 18 Black teachers. Despite the voices of Black teachers being marginalised and even less likely to be heard, it is vital that the pedagogies of Black teachers contribute to a ‘dismantling of binaries and hierarchies that privilege Eurocentric paradigms of teaching’ [Escayg, K. 2010. “Diverse Classrooms, Diverse Teachers: Representing Cultural Diversity in the Teaching Profession and Implications for Pre-Service Admissions.” Canadian Journal for new Scholars in Education 3 (2): 1–8, 4].     

The Inclusion of Informal Environments in Science Teacher Preparation

Journal of Science Teacher Education -