Do the physical and environment PETTLEP elements predict sport imagery ability?

The present study aimed to examine whether physical and environment elements of PETTLEP imagery relate to the ability to image five types of sport imagery (i.e. skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery). Two hundred and ninety participants (152 males, 148 females; M_age?=?20.24 years, SD?=?4.36) from various sports completed the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire (SIAQ), and a set of items designed specifically for the study to assess how frequently participants incorporate physical (e.g. ‘I make small movements or gestures during the imagery’) and environment (e.g. ‘I image in the real training/competition environment’) elements of PETTLEP imagery. Structural equation modelling tested a hypothesised model in which imagery priming (i.e. the best fitting physical and environment elements) significantly and positively predicted imagery ability of the different imagery types (skill, β?=?0.38; strategy, β?=?0.23; goal, β?=?0.21; affect, β?=?0.25; mastery, β?=?0.22). The model was a good fit to the data: χ² (174)?=?263.87, p?<?.001, CFI?=?.96, TLI?=?.95, SRMR?=?.09, RMSEA?=?0.05 (90% CI?=?0.03–0.05). Findings displayed that priming imagery with physical and environment elements is associated with better skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery imagery ability. The findings extend models of imagery use by indicating that how athletes images may influence their imagery ability.     

Prolonged static stretching does not influence running economy despite changes in neuromuscular function

The aim of this study was to examine the acute effects of prolonged static stretching (SS) on running economy. Ten male runners (VO2(peak) 60.1 +/- 7.3 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1)) performed 10 min of treadmill running at 70% VO2(peak) before and after SS and no stretching interventions. For the stretching intervention, each leg was stretched unilaterally for 40 s with each of eight different exercises and this was repeated three times. Respiratory gas exchange was measured throughout the running exercise with an automated gas analysis system. On a separate day, participants were tested for sit and reach range of motion, isometric strength and countermovement jump height before and after SS. The oxygen uptake, minute ventilation, energy expenditure, respiratory exchange ratio and heart rate responses to running were unaffected by the stretching intervention. This was despite a significant effect of SS on neuromuscular function (sit and reach range of motion, +2.7 +/- 0.6 cm; isometric strength, -5.6% +/- 3.4%; countermovement jump height -5.5% +/- 3.4%; all P < 0.05). The results suggest that prolonged SS does not influence running economy despite changes in neuromuscular function.     

Elite athletes as mothers: Managing multiple identities

Mothers’ voices are often silent in the sports literature, especially as elite athletes. This research used a symbolic interactionist approach and semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of nine elite female athletes in New Zealand who were also mothers at the time of competing. The specific objectives were to explore how motherhood impacted on the identity of elite athletes, how they negotiated their multiple identities and roles, and how support systems were utilized to encourage and retain elite athletes as mothers. The women managed their multiple identities and negotiated constraints such as guilt, lack of time and limited organizational support by emphasizing how integral sport was to their sense of self. They highlighted the mutual benefits of motherhood to their sport aspirations and vice versa, by utilizing time/space management strategies, and by creating and accessing strong support networks which sometimes included organizational support. There was a move towards the integration of multiple identities and a focus on how women's choices in leisure and sport were realized for future research and theory development. Sport management practices and policies that create opportunities for mothers to achieve and maintain elite athlete status are also mentioned.     

Use of the meeting street school screening test and the myklebust pupil rating scale with first-grade black urban children

This study hypothesized that: (a) the MSSST would identify the same proportion (15%) of high-risk children in a group (N = 580) of first-grade urban black children as estimated for the general population; (b) the Myklebust would discriminate between high-risk (N = 22) and low-risk (N = 21) children within the minority group using the MSSST as the criterion variable; and (c) Myklebust ratings for the high-risk and low-risk young minority children would approximate ratings reported elsewhere for older white suburban samples of high-risk and low-risk children. All three hypotheses were confirmed. The MSSST may be appropriate for minority group children. The small number of teachers (N = 6) participating in the Myklebust ratings makes generalization about it hazardous without further replication.     

Effecting School Change: The Halton Approach

ABSTRACT

Two related but distinct questions are often asked by educators as they try to make their schools more effective. These are: “Which of the many activities that we do have greater benefits for students?” and, “How can we make our schools better than they are now?” The first question focuses specifically on the impact of schools on student outcomes and the characteristics of effective schools, whereas the second addresses the implementation of change and school improvement. This article addresses the research related to these two questions and describes the application of this research in a large school district in Ontario, Canada.     

Reviews

Vivienne Gross, Hackney Child and Family Consultation Service, Child Abuse and the School's Response: A Workshop for Professionals Involved with Ghildren/Young People from Nursery to Further Education by Eve Brock. Harlow, Essex: Longman, 1992. 22pp. ISBN 0 58210060 7, £25.00

Louise O'Connor, Roehampton Institute, Social Education and Personal Development Studies in Primary Education by Delwyn and Eva Tattum. London: David Fulton, 1992. 194pp. pb ISBN 185346 110 5, £12.99

Sue Smedley, Froebel Institute College, Stress in Teaching by Jack Dunham. London and New York: Routledge, 1992. 200pp. hb ISBN 0 415 06634 4, £35, pb ISBN 0 415 06635 2, £12.99

David Thomas, Department of Education University of Liverpool, Learning Support for Young People in Transition: Leaving School for Further Education and Work by Jean McGinfy and John Fish. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. 116pp. pb ISBN 0 335 09765 0, n.p.     

A Comprehensive Approach to Handling Sensitive Issues in Schools,with Special Reference to Loss and Grief

The School Watch initiative is centred in South Wales and involves police liaison officers, primary schools and their pupils. In each interested school, the scheme is explained and the pupils then decide if they want to take part. A pupils' committee is elected which is given support and guidance by the liaison officer. A key element of the scheme is the involvement of the pupils themselves and the way the pupils' committee plays a major part in the choice and running of activities. The scheme benefits pupils both in terms of their personal and social development and in their attitudes to the police. The paper ends with a number of examples of the type of work that schools have undertaken within this scheme.     

Subjected to review: engendering quality and power in higher education

Both feminism and quality assurance movements have attempted to deconstruct and reconstruct the academy. Both have called for more transparency in procedures, accountability from elite professional groups and the privileging of the student experience. Both are globalized systems calling for transformation. However, it is questionable as to whether these two forces for change can form strategic alliances, or whether indeed they are in oppositional relationship. As a dominant regime of power in the UK academy today, quality assurance both exposes the micropolitics of gendered power in organizations and creates its own structures and systems of power. Quality assurance is part of the modernization process of the public services. However, gender equity is not a performance indicator in UK quality audits. In this paper, I interrogate the gendered implications of quality assurance, with particular reference to the assessment of teaching and learning in the UK (the Quality Assurance Agency's Subject Review). Drawing on empirical data and conceptual critiques, I will argue that quality assurance, as a regime of power, is gendered in its conception and practice.