Promoting active lifestyles in schools

ABSTRACT

Effective and sustainable strategies for physical activity promotion during childhood are of considerable importance to physical education, sport, and health organisations. Multi-component physical activity intervention approaches for children and young people are firmly rooted within the literature; however, there is a dearth of research evidence pertaining to healthy lifestyle promotion within and beyond the school environment. ‘Promoting active lifestyles in schools’ represents a valuable resource for teachers seeking to integrate health-related learning and encourage physically active students. The essential ingredients within this book are the active pedagogies and the health-related learning strategies for children from the ages of 5 to 16 years. Through a consistent formula, this book positions the longitudinal process of health-related learning at the centre of its practice, by providing age-appropriate learning outcomes, activities and assessment strategies within and beyond the school environment. This review seeks to examine the focus of the book and consider its contribution to the existing empirical evidence base within the fields of physical education, health education and physical activity promotion.     

Unpredictable shoe midsole perturbations provide an instability stimulus to train ankle posture and motion during forward and lateral gym lunges

ABSTRACT

Unstable footwear may enhance training effects to the lower-limb musculature and sensorimotor system during dynamic gym movements. This study compared the instability of an unstable shoe with irregular midsole deformations (IM) and a control shoe (CS) during forward and lateral lunges. Seventeen female gym class participants completed two sets of ten forward and lateral lunges in CS and IM. Ground reaction forces, lower-limb kinematics and ankle muscle activations were recorded. Variables around initial ground contact, toe-off, descending and ascending lunge phases were compared statistically (p < .05). Responses to IM compared to CS were similar across lunge directions. The IM induced instability by increasing the vertical loading rate (p < .001, p = .009) and variability of frontal ankle motion during descending (p = .001, p < .001) and ascending phases (p = .150, p = .003), in forward and lateral lunges, respectively. At initial ground contact, ankle adjustments enhanced postural stability in IM. Across muscles, there were no activation increases, although results indicate peroneus longus activations increased in IM during the ascending phase. As expected, IM provided a more demanding training stimulus during lunge exercises and has potential to reduce ankle injuries by training ankle positioning for unpredictable instability.     

Why do children not play in nearby nature? Results from a Norwegian survey

Based on a nationwide Norwegian survey among 3160 parents of children aged 6–12 years, this article identifies and discusses barriers for children’s engagement with nearby nature. A set of social factors related to time pressure are evaluated as more significant barriers than environmental factors such as accessibility, safety and landscape quality. Children’s free play in nearby nature does not seem to be an alternative to a target-orientated and time-scheduled everyday life. Instead, parents give themselves, other adults and public institutions more responsibility to stimulate increased nature contact. Despite strong traditions in outdoor life and good accessibility to nearby nature, social and cultural trends seem to influence children’s engagement with nature in the same way in ‘Green Norway’ as it does in many other European countries. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of policy and promotion according to nature management and adults’ roles.     

Gendered capital: emotional capital and mothers’ care work in education

This paper is concerned with the inequalities experienced by mothers in the performance of educational care work for their children. It is argued that the caring work carried out by mothers at transfer to second‐level schooling is shaped by their ability to activate the significant resource of emotional capital; a gendered resource involving emotional skills, knowledge and experiences. Drawing on an in‐depth study of mothers’ routines of care, it is suggested that the possession of emotional capital subjects mothers to a normative order of care. Moreover, in exploring the idiosyncratic differences between mothers’ capacities to activate emotional capital it is argued that the activation of this care resource is facilitated in the context of solidary relationships but also by mothers’ access to other capitals. It is concluded that in order to tackle care inequalities those working in education need to recognise the significance of emotional resources, and need to challenge traditional codes of practice and policies around ‘parental’ involvement.     

How are the Perceptions of Learning Networks Shaped Among School Professionals and Headteachers at an Early Stage in their Introduction?

This paper draws on the findings of a research project funded by the Liverpool City of Learning consortium in the UK. The aim is to explore the process of introduction of ten authority wide learning networks, the impact these have on school professionals practice, the opportunities they offer for CPD and the extent to which they may impact on pupil learning. The research presented here draws on findings from a questionnaire distributed to school professionals and key issues emerging from their analysis point to the influence of national government agendas on school professionals’ interpretation of the purpose of the networks. They also point to the views of staff regarding the impact of the attainment agenda as well as the extent to which an increased emphasis on social inclusion and wider understandings of learning and achievement (which are less well represented by results-based performance monitoring) are having on their hopes for what Learning Networks might deliver. The expectations of staff of the opportunities offered by learning networks for long term professional development provide some interesting insights, and perhaps, some useful pointers as to how networks of this kind might develop in the future.     

The Irish ‘Working Group on Information Literacy’ – Edging towards a national policy

The authors of this paper provide an overview of the activities of the Irish Working Group on Information Literacy (WGIL) and its role in advancing a national policy for information literacy in the Republic of Ireland.The study focuses on the work of the group during its lifetime including the various activities, marketing and advocacy initiatives and some of the challenges and issues the group faced, in particular, the diversity of the Irish library and information sector and the lack of an integrated approach for information literacy development.The study presents the findings of the report produced by WGIL entitled Library Association of Ireland: Working Group on Information Literacy: Review of Cross-Sector Activity 2006–2008 and Initial Recommendations for Further Action which reviewed best practices and information literacy activities in the various LIS sectors in the Republic of Ireland during a two-year period. The key recommendation of this report is for the leadership of the Library Association of Ireland to develop a national information literacy strategy that advocates for the importance of information literacy as a lifelong and transferable skill.     

Reading fluency: The whole is more than the parts

This study examined the relative contributions of phonological awareness, orthographic pattern recognition, and rapid letter naming to fluent word and connected-text reading within a dyslexic sample of 123 children in second and third grades. Participants were assessed on a variety of fluency measures and reading subskills. Correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were carried out to explore these relationships. The results demonstrate that phonological awareness, rapid letter naming, and orthographic pattern recognition contribute to word-reading skills. Furthermore, rapid naming, orthographic pattern recognition, and word reading fluency moderately predict different dimensions of connected-text reading (i.e., rate, accuracy, and comprehension) whereas phonological awareness contributes only to the comprehension dimension of connected-text reading. The findings support the multidimensional nature of fluency in which the whole is more than its parts.