Gender and age inequalities in regular sports participation: A cross-national study of 25 European countries

Abstract

This article provides a unique opportunity to compare gender inequalities in sports participation across Europe, and the extent to which this varies by age using large, cross-sections of the population. The Eurobarometer Survey 62.0 (carried out in 2004 at the request of the European Commission and covering the adult population of 25 European member states, N = 23,909) was used to analyse differences in regular sports participation by gender and by age in the different countries. For the majority of countries, the occurrence of regular sporting activity was less than 40%. Additionally, binary logistic regression analyses identified significant gender differences in sports participation in 12 countries. In Belgium, France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Spain, and the UK, men were more likely to report being regularly active in sports than women, whereas in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands the opposite was true. Moreover, the extent to which these gender inequalities differ by age varies considerably across countries. The results imply that: (i) in some European countries more efforts must be undertaken to promote the original goals of the Sport for All Charter, and (ii) to achieve more female participation in sports will require different policy responses in the diverse European member states.     

Children's Academic and Behavioral Adjustment as a Function of the Chronicity and Proximity of Peer Rejection

The experience of peer rejection is associated with a number of concurrent and later problems for children. However, we know very little about differences in risk relative to different experiences of rejection over time. This study examined later academic and behavioral problems as a function of two dimensions by which rejection may vary over time: chronicity and temporal proximity. 622 second- through fourth-grade children (ages 7–12) were tested in the spring of 4 consecutive years. The results indicated that both chronicity and proximity directly influenced later adjustment. Taken together, the findings suggest that all levels of rejection were associated with greater absenteeism from school, and more chronic and proximal experiences of rejection were associated with elevated externalizing behavior problems and teacher-rated internalizing behavior problems. There was evidence that initial level of adjustment, gender, and development moderated the relation among these dimensions of rejection and later adjustment.     

Teacher attributions for children's attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder behaviors predict experiences with children and with classroom behavioral management in a summer program practicum

Elementary school teachers often implement classroom behavioral management systems to address student misbehavior. Common problems targeted by these systems are the inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive behaviors characteristic of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study examined teachers' attributions for why children display ADHD behaviors, and how such attributions affect their experiences with children in the context of interventions to manage these behaviors. Participants were 32 preservice teachers undertaking a practicum in a summer program for 137 children (Grades 1–3), some of whom had ADHD. Teachers were trained to implement classroom‐wide behavioral management. Teachers' attributions for children's ADHD behaviors were assessed using a vignette measure, before teachers had met their students or begun training on intervention techniques. When controlling for attributions regarding oppositional behavior, teachers' initial attributions for ADHD behaviors as less internal/controllable predicted children reporting more positive relationships with that teacher during the summer program. Teachers' initial attributions for ADHD behaviors as less stable predicted teachers' greater satisfaction with the intervention techniques during the summer program and their greater attunement to children's social networks. Cognitions about the causes of children's ADHD behaviors held by preservice teachers may relate to their subsequent experiences with children in the context of implementing classroom behavioral management.     

Investigating Critical Friendship: Peeling Back the Layers

ABSTRACT

This self-study documents two teacher educators’ professional inquiry into the notions of critical friendship. Specifically, we asked: How does our interactive inquiry on the topic of critical friendship lead us to new understandings of critical friends? Three theoretical perspectives framed this study – More Knowledgeable Others, Thought Collective, and reflection. Data sources included (a) artifacts from the self-study scholarship/literature, (b) written and real-time (audio recorded) dialogue, and (c) critical friend response memos. We systematically analyzed our data, linking the initial themes to our theoretical frame. These themes led to three findings about critical friendship: flexible definitions, complex characteristics, and multiple learning phases. Based on these findings, we created two research tools useful for researchers enacting critical friendship – the Critical Friend Definition Continuum and the Critical Friend Guide for Quality Assurance. Ultimately, we assert that we, along with our colleagues, must be responsible brokers of critical friendship by explicitly explaining our purposes, definitions and uses of critical friendship within our work as self-study researchers.     

Girls and physics: teaching and learning strategies tested by classroom interventions in grade 11

In this quasi-experimental study various strategies are developed and empirically tested for an approach to physics instruction that should improve girls' and boys' attitudes toward and achievements in physics. Strategies include opportunities to integrate different pre-existing knowledge and the variation of teaching methods to enhance co-operation and communication in the classroom. The core of this study is an intervention in 31 classes of public schools in Switzerland. The intervention, one unit in optics and one in motion (velocity/acceleration), includes the first 40 lessons of the first physics course that all students have to attend at the upper secondary level. Data sources are various student and teacher questionnaires, tests and semi-structured interviews with teachers. Results of the entrance and final survey are presented. The focus will be on some of the applied strategies. Implications for the teaching and learning of physics and for teacher education are discussed.     

Internet in the Classroom: Effects on Reading Comprehension,Motivation and Metacognitive Awareness

This study examined the potential of entertainment-education (E-E) for promoting engagement with a science issue. It was assumed that certain entertaining features of a media experience increase viewers’ perceived knowledge about an issue. Drawing on different theoretical models of E-E and on persuasive effects of narrative media messages, three hypotheses and one research question were assessed in a survey among 103 participants, who were shown a movie about genetic engineering beforehand. Results suggested that the higher viewers’ transportation, identification, and enjoyment were, the more they actually felt informed. Viewers’ degree of transportation, though, revealed to be sufficient to explain their perceived knowledge.