Developing teaching assistants’ skills in positive behaviour management: an application of Video Interaction Guidance in a secondary school

This paper reports an action research project in a school in the UK designed to investigate the impact of a brief Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) intervention in promoting skills of non-teaching staff in positive behaviour management. A summary of the literature in relation to VIG is provided before describing the project and data collected. Ten teaching assistants (TAs) from a secondary school took part in an intervention using VIG. The impact on TA skills and confidence was assessed using participant ratings of the specific target outcomes of the intervention using the Target Monitoring and Evaluation (TME) system. Participants’ experiences of the intervention were explored during a focus group discussion after the intervention had taken place. TME data suggested a positive impact on TA skills and confidence to support individual pupils, while thematic analysis of focus group data showed a number of themes relevant to the application of VIG in this context, including promotion of effective staff development.     

Predictors of school readiness in five‐ to six‐year‐old children from an Australian longitudinal community sample

This paper reports on school readiness (SR) and its predictors in five‐ to six‐year‐old children from a prospective, longitudinal study of children from eight months to seven years (the Early Language in Victoria Study – ELVS). The ELVS children came from a representative sample of children recruited though the State Government Infant and Child Health Centres at the age of eight months who were studied at yearly intervals with a combination of parent surveys and face‐to‐face assessments. The study had a focus on language, pre‐literacy and behavioural development. In pre‐school and preparatory grade, teachers of the children completed a brief questionnaire rating SR characteristics, including cognitive, language and personal/social competencies. The data bank on these children provided a set of hypothesised child and family predictors of the SR score which were tested via factor analysis and regression analyses. Significant predictors of SR in the equation were evident from two years of age, and were all related to language and pre‐literacy factors from two to six years. Twelve per cent of the children showed language impairment (LI) at five years according to their scores on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, 4th edition (CELF‐4). In an additional analysis we found that these children were significantly lower on SR; they were also of lower social class compared with the remainder of the sample. The most influential factors in readiness for school were child language competencies and pre‐literacy capacities, including phonemic awareness and letter knowledge. Preparation for school involving systematic emphasis on language and pre‐literacy enrichment is recommended for all children before school entry and particularly for children at risk, including those coming from socio‐economic disadvantage and those with delayed and impaired early language development. This addition to pre‐school programmes can have lasting positive effects into pre‐school and beyond, and prevent early school failure.     

A phenomenographic investigation on the use of iPads among undergraduate art and design students

The increasingly widespread use of iPads in higher education (HE) brings to the forefront questions about the contribution of these computer tablets towards teaching and learning. However, there is a noticeable gap of research on the instructional potential of iPads in HE. This paper describes the first stage of a research project on the use of iPads in undergraduate art and design disciplines, and is a collaboration between the research lab “Networked Learning Technologies in Art and Design” at Cyprus University of Technology, and the “Centre for Pedagogic Research” at Falmouth University in England. The participants from both institutions provided a student‐centred perspective, and the qualitative analysis (phenomenography) revealed varied perceptions. Based on the findings of this project, the implication is that there are a number of challenges and obstacles in embedding the use of iPads in art and design education. Further research in the second stage of this collaborative research will investigate the views and motivations of art and design faculty. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBXnuVJ8eBY     

Effect of ischemic preconditioning on repeated sprint ability in team sport athletes

This study investigated whether ischemic preconditioning (IPC) in a trained population affected repeated sprint performance. A secondary aim was to assess responses according to gender. Sixteen (nine females and seven males) well trained team sport athletes took part in a randomised crossover study design. Participants underwent an IPC and placebo treatment involving three periods of 5 min occlusion applied unilaterally (3 × 5 min occlusion to each leg) at either 220 mmHg or 50 mmHg. Each period of occlusion was followed by 5 min reperfusion. Following treatment 5 × 6 s maximal effort sprints were undertaken on a cycle ergometer against 7.5% body mass, each interspersed by 24 s recovery. Measured parameters included peak power, total power, percentage decrement, post-exercise blood lactate and ratings of perceived exertion. Nor within subject main effect for IPC was observed, neither was there an interaction effect with gender. Effect sizes were trivial (ES < 0.2) with the exception of a moderate (ES < 1.2) change in post-exercise blood lactate in the female cohort (1.6 ± 0.4 mmol^?1 lower following IPC). Results suggest no benefit to team sport players in utilising IPC as a means of enhancing repeated sprint performance. A lower blood lactate response in female participants following IPC may suggest improved blood flow through vasodilation.     

Responsibility and School Choice in Education

Consider the following argument for school choice, based on an appeal to the virtues of the market: allowing parents some measure of choice over their particular children's education ultimately serves the interests of all children, because creating a market mechanism in state education will produce improvements through the same pressures that lead to greater efficiency and quality when markets are deployed in more familiar contexts. The argument fails, because it is committed to a principle of equal concern, which (after analysis) implies that a market in education is acceptable only if it is right to hold children disadvantaged by their parents' poor market choices substantively responsible for the fact. Since that claim is untenable, the market‐based argument for school choice not only fails, but also turns out to rely on principles which in fact condemn the very policy it was supposed to support.     

EDUCATIONAL BROKERAGE: A MECHANISM FOR ESTABLISHING ELDERS AS EDUCATORS

Although frequently underutilized as educators, older adults can be valuable resources to universities, colleges, and communities. This paper examines some reasons for underutilization of elders and suggests an educational brokerage system as a means of maximizing their educational contributions and rewards. A case study of an emerging brokerage system is presented.     

General Mass Communications

Ben H. Bagdikian's The Information Machines: Their Impact on Men and the Media.

R. Buckminster Fuller, I Seem To Be A Verb (Bantam D5235, $1.65).