Materiality and sustainability transitions: integrating climate change in transport infrastructure in Ontario,Canada

Infrastructure threatens to lock-in societies to fossil fuels unless something is done now. This is because infrastructure lasts for such a long time, meaning that any infrastructure built or rebuilt now will last well into the twenty-first century – until the end of the century, in some cases. Consequently, there is a need to integrate climate change into infrastructure now or societies will be left with infrastructure designed around unsustainable socio-technical systems (such as combustion engines, roads, and suburbanization). Such change is conceptualized in the literature as a sustainability transition. However, any attempts at such transitions have to address the ‘materialities’ of infrastructure systems (physical form, environmental context, and so on). In this paper, I develop the concept of ‘socio-material systems’ and apply it to transport infrastructure in Ontario, Canada.     

Toward better research on child abuse and neglect: Making definitional issues an explicit methodological concern

In the United States, research on child abuse and neglect is frequently criticized for being poorly performed and largely irrelevant to the important policy questions facing the field. Many of the problems plaguing research on child abuse and neglect are endemic to social science research generally, and this paper does not trod over such issues, which are well known and well described elsewhere. Instead, this paper describes how the inadequacy of definitions of “child abuse” and “child neglect” used by research studies places an additional—and largely unnoticed—burden on research, which aggravates the impact of these more general problems. Existing definitions of “child abuse” and “child neglect” fail to meet research needs because they lack: (1) comparability, (2) reliability, and (3) taxonomic delineation. As a result, they compromise the findings of incidence studies, sequelae studies, etiological studies, and program effectiveness studies. Therefore, if real progress is to be made in understanding child abuse and neglect, definitional issues must become an explicit methodological concern. Specifically, future research should include: (I) a careful determination of definitional needs, (2) the development of operational definitions to meet those needs, and (3) the circumspect statement of findings based on the limitations imposed by such definitions.     

The Many Turnings of Agricultural Extension in Australia

Abstract

Purpose: This article outlines the development of extension as a discipline in Australia, its organization, and the ideological changes that have occurred from the second half of the nineteenth century through to the present.

Design/Methodology/Approach: It considers the evolution of extension across the different states of Australia from a national perspective and describes how the research development and extension (RD&E) complex has rotated through cycles of crises, highs, awakenings in thought and practice, and periods where achievements and institutions unravel.

Findings: Discussed is the tension between public and private sector extension, as well as the successes and failures of various paradigms. It considers the impacts of different agricultural policy on Australian agricultural RD&E across the decades. In particular it deals with the current ‘unravelling’ of the agricultural RD&E system in Australia, and tries to anticipate future demands on agricultural extension and how these services might be delivered into the future.

Practical Implications: The article challenges the reader to consider the discipline of extension as a subset of the greater society in which it exists. It provides an insight into how the agricultural research, development and extension capacity of a nation can be observed to ebb and flow over generations in accord with the rhythm of society.

Originality/Value: The article presents a perspective that has not been fully captured or understood until now.     

Prediction of habitual physical activity level and weight status from fundamental movement skill level

Abstract

Fundamental movement skills (FMS) have been assessed in children in order to investigate the issues of the low proportion of children who meet physical activity (PA) guidelines and rising levels of obesity. The aim of this research was to identify whether previous or current FMS level is a better predictor of PA levels and weight status in children. In January 2012 (year 1), 281 children were recruited from one primary school in the West Midlands, UK. Children performed eight FMS three times, which were videoed and assessed using a subjective checklist. Sprint speed and jump height were measured objectively. Height and mass were measured to calculate the body mass index to determine the weight status. Skinfold calliper readings were used to calculate body fat percentage. One year later, in January 2013, all these tests were repeated on the same children, with the additional collection of PA data via the use of pedometers. Following multiple linear regression, it was identified that prior mastery in FMS was a better predictor of current PA, whereas current FMS was a better predictor of current weight status. Overall, FMS mastery is needed in childhood to be able to participate in PA and maintain a healthy weight status.     

CHANGING IDEALS IN EDUCATION SOCIAL CHANGES IN THE COLLEGES SINCE THE CIVIL WAR

In the last issue of RELIGIOUS EDUCATION considerable space was devoted to the subject of student values. In connection with this study, religious leaders on a number of selected campuses were asked to comment on the situation with respect to values among the students with whom they are working. Comments from Harvard University, Hunter College and Ohio State University were published in that issue. The following two additional articles represent the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina and Marquette University.     

THE SOCIALIZING VALUE OF FRATERNITY LIFE

There are new ways to deal with the Bible in order that children and adolescents may find its compelling meaning in today's world. Professor Neidhart's approach is an important one     

A Forward Look in Religious Education

This article describes six constitutive “senses” of the “Christian educator's imagination.” These dispositions toward knowing, being, and doing characterize competent leadership in educational ministry. They include a sense for vocational empowerment, a sense for teaching and learning, a sense for seeking God's presence; a sense for the contours of one's own soul, a sense for “what makes persons’ tick, and a sense for institutional leadership. The author contends that scholars of Christian religious education should seek to cultivate these senses in their students.     

THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION FROM THE SUNDAY‐SCHOOL VIEWPOINT

Dorothy Day's love of the poor originated from reading novels that portrayed the poor as persons worthy of respect. This article explores how Day's reading novels opened her mind and heart to the realities of poverty. The methodology is literature-based. Dorothy Day's autobiography reveals the novelists who captivated her mind and cultivated a religious heart: Charles Dickens, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and the Russian authors Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. As a journalist and writer, Day described how the poor struggled to survive and how love is needed to counter the challenges that poverty presents. Finally, two novels by authors favored by Day will serve as examples for educating young adults religiously and encouraging love for the poor.