Bureaucratic constructions of sexual diversity: ‘sensitive’, ‘controversial’ and silencing

National research illustrates the high degree of discrimination that prevails against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students resulting in diminished educational outcomes, both academic and social. This phenomenon is influenced by the prevalence of whole-school silences around LGBTQ topics in many Australian schools. This paper presents an analysis of the New South Wales (NSW) homophobia in schools policy, as well as both NSW state and Australian federal curriculum and syllabus documents in the health and physical education key learning area. This analysis illustrates how contradictory framing and messages; silences and omission; and various discursive constructions of the LGBTQ subject together produce silencing technologies that have critical implications for the implementation of education, both in this key learning area and across the schooling sector.     

Solution-focused assessment: rethinking labels to support inclusive education

In the Netherlands and the USA, the assessment process is changing for children who present learning and behavioural challenges in school. Evaluations for eligibility determinations and support planning are shifting along with disability models and tensions over the provision of inclusive schooling. Legislative edicts influence the assessment process differently in these two countries while both nations seem to be headed in a similar direction. This paper relates evolving disability models to the changing assessment process in each country and proposes that a solution-focused perspective offers an assessment concept which supports the goal of inclusive education. Specifically discussed are the implications of a solution-focused approach on the identification of disability, the assessment of special educational needs, individualised support planning and the essential cooperation within evolving schools as well as the environment beyond.     

Research Resources

Carolyn J. Mullins' A Guide to Writing and Publishing in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (New York: Wiley- Interscience, 1977—$18.95)

Kirk Polking and Leonard S. Meranus, eds. Law and the Writer (Cincinnatti, Ohio: Writer's Books, 1978—$9.95)

Mary-Claire van Leunen's A Handbook for Scholars (New York: Knopf, 1978—$12.95)

Paul Wasserman and Jacqueline Bernero, eds. Statistics Sources: A Subject Guide to Data on Industrial, Business, Social, Educational, Financial, and other Topics for the United States and Internationally (Detroit: Gale Research Cbmpany, 1977 [5th ed.]—$58.00)

Bibliocom 1976: Biblioqraphie Internationale de la Documentation en Lanque Francaise sur la Communication (Institut International de is Communication, Yniversite de Montreal, C.P. 6128 Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada—$18.95, paper)

June D. Buteau's Nonprint Materials on Communication: An Annotated Directory of Select Films, Videotapes, Videocassettes, Simulations and Games (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976—$16.00)

Sarojini Balachandran's Technical Writing: A Bibliography (Urbana, Ill.: American Business Communication Association, l977—price not given, paper)     

The Slavic Cataloging Manual

The article discusses the Slavic Cataloging Manual (SCM), available on the World Wide Web since 1994. The SCM contains a great deal of valuable information for all aspects of cataloging materials in Slavic and East European languages and in the non‐Slavic languages of the former Soviet Union, as well as equally valuable information for cataloging materials about the area. The manual offers especially detailed guidance on heading construction and subject analysis for the dissolved unions of the former USSR, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. This is a valuable resource for anyone involved in Slavic cataloging, both the experienced cataloger and the novice.     

Complexity of reasoning about children's development: Links with teacher‐preparation content courses and supervised laboratory experience

Abstract

In a sample of 74 university students studying early childhood and pre‐kindergarten education, researchers assessed the relationships between child development knowledge, complexity of reasoning about development, prior work experience with children, and teacher‐preparation content courses and laboratory courses. There was no statistically significant association between knowledge of child development and complexity of reasoning. The former primarily involves the acquisition of facts about patterns of general change, whereas complexity of reasoning permits caregivers to apply those facts to real‐life care‐giving dilemmas. Child development knowledge was predicted by the number of completed pre‐kindergarten content courses, but not by experience with children. Complexity of reasoning was predicted by both content and laboratory courses, the effects of which were assessed separately. Findings suggest that teacher‐preparation content courses, supplemented by guided experience with children, provide a basic framework for integrating important concepts about children's growth and behavior.     

Preservice teachers’ perceived control over negative caregiving outcomes: Implications for early‐childhood teacher preparation

Abstract

This study is focused on preservice early‐childhood teachers’ attributions about control and responsibility for negative caregiving outcomes. Prior research has linked low perceived control over failed outcomes with harsh care‐giving behavior. In this sample of 81 preservice teachers in a pre‐kindergarten, Associate‐degree program, bivariate correlations revealed associations between preservice teachers’ perceived control over caregiving outcomes, the parenting styles they experienced during childhood, and the complexity of their reasoning about children's development. When entered into regression analyses, low perceived control over negative caregiving outcomes was predicted by ratings of high parental permissiveness experienced as a child, as well as by categorical, rather than complex, conceptions of development. Implications of findings for university preparation of preservice teachers are discussed. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.     

The Disappearance of the Perfect 10: Evaluating Rule Changes in Women's Artistic Gymnastics

The 2004 Olympic Games saw a range of judging scandals in the sport of artistic gymnastics that prompted the International Gymnastics Federation to make changes to the sport's judging system. Therefore, following these games, the International Gymnastics Federation reworked the gymnastics scoring system, where the most prominent change was the removal of the ‘perfect 10’ as the highest score possible, to be replaced by an open-ended scoring system. The goal of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of the open-ended system that was introduced in 2006 through examining some of the sport's key values – an approach loosely aligned with broad internalism. It is suggested that the dual purposes of analysing what is achieved and the manner of achieving it are key values of the sport and are differentiated through the way judging utilises two categories known, in gymnastics, as ‘difficulty’ and ‘artistry’. This paper argues that the method of judging ‘difficulty’ is an improvement on previous judging methods. Our analysis of the definition and judging of ‘artistry’ in artistic gymnastics, however, reveals a less certain result.     

Comparison of physiological responses to graded exercise test performance in outrigger canoeing

Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish a graded exercise test protocol for determining the peak physiological responses of female outrigger canoeists. Seventeen trained female outrigger canoeists completed two outrigger ergometer graded exercise test protocols in random order: (1) 25 W power output for 2 min increasing by 7.5 W every minute until exhaustion; and (2) 25 W power output for 2 min increasing by 15 W every 2 min to exhaustion. Heart rate and power output were recorded every 15 s. Expired air was collected continuously and sampled for analysis at 15-s intervals, while blood lactate concentration was measured immediately after and 3, 5, and 7 min after exercise. The peak physiological and performance variables examined included peak oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O_2peak), minute ventilation, tidal volume, ventilatory thresholds 1 and 2, respiratory rate, respiratory exchange ratio, heart rate, blood lactate concentration, power output, performance time, and time to [Vdot]O_2peak. There were no significant differences in peak physiological responses, ventilatory thresholds or performance variables between the two graded exercise test protocols. Despite no significant differences between protocols, due to the large limits of agreement evident between protocols for the peak physiological responses, it is recommended that the same protocol be used for all comparison testing to minimize intra-individual variability of results.