Age and Sex Differences in Motor Performance of 3 through 6 Year Old Children

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of age and sex to the performance of 3, 4, 5, and 6 year olds on seven motor performance test items. Although significant age and sex differences were found on most of the motor tests, it appears that age generally was related more to performance than was gender. Overall, change with age was fairly linear except perhaps for balancing and a general tapering in improvement in the 5 to 6 year old category. On the tests of throwing and balancing, gender was as important as age, or more so, in its relationship to performance. Boys were superior to girls at all ages on the throwing tests; girls were superior to boys at age 6 on the Balance test. Gender differences of a lesser magnitude were found on the Speed Run and Standing Long Jump tests with the performance of boys generally being superior to the performance of girls. Thus, it appears that gender differences in motor performance occur as early as the preschool years. Interestingly, except for the Balance test, on all the tests the 3 and 4 year old boys performed similarly and the 5 and 6 year old boys performed similarly. For the girls there were more significant differences from year to year in performance, with the data generally indicating at least three distinct skill groups for girls from age 3 to 6.     

Bureaucracy,professionalization and school centred innovation strategies

This paper examines an attempt to promote a school centred innovation strategy within a highly centralized educational system.The School Based Curriculum Project Scheme, which was introduced into Hong Kong in 1988, is analysed in terms of a professional-bureaucratic dichotomy. It is argued that the operational details of the scheme are designed to satisfy a range of bureaucratic concerns and these are not conducive to promoting the professional work ethic which is required for school centred innovation. Finally the paper identifies the implications which arise for policies designed to promote curriculum innovation.

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Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel wird ein Versuch geprüft, der eine schulzentrierte Innovationsstrategie innerhalb eines hochzentralisierten Erziehungssystems fördern soll.Das School Based Curriculum Project Scheme, das 1988 in Hong Kong eingeführt wurde, wird in Form einer professionellen-bürokratischen Dichotomie analysiert. Es wird dargelegt, daß Arbeitsdetails der Konzeption dazu dienen, Bereiche bürokratischer Belange zufrieden zu stellen; diese sind einer professionellen Arbeitsethik, die für eine schulzentierte Innovation nötig sind, nicht förderlich. Schließlich werden in diesem Artikel Folgerungen gezogen, die sich aus der Förderung der Curriculumsinnovation ergeben.

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Résumé Cet article examine une tentative faite pour promouvoir une stratégie d'innovation de centres scolaires au sein d'un système éducatif hautement centralisé.Le Projet de curriculum fondé sur l'école, qui a été introduit à Hong Kong en 1988, est analysé sur la base d'une dichotomie professionnelle-bureaucratique. On affirme que les détails opérationnels de ce projet sont conçus pour satisfaire certains intérêts bureaucratiques et que ces derniers ne mènent pas à la promotion d'une éthique de travail professionel qui est indispensable pour l'innovation d'un centre scolaire. Enfin, cet article définit les conséquences qui s'ensuivent pour les politiques conçues pour promouvoir une innovation du curriculum.

     

Stakeholders’ perceptions and recommendations of a high school leadership development programme for athletes in Singapore

ABSTRACT

This study examined the perceptions of key stakeholders of a high school athlete leadership development training programme. Participants included 36 athletes (males = 23, females = 13) from two team sports (rugby n = 11 and volleyball n = 6) and two individual sports (bowling n = 8 and table tennis n = 11), as well as four coaches representing each of these sports and four teachers. Individual interviews were conducted for coaches, teachers, and athlete leaders, while athletes took part in focus group interviews. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse all data sets. Results showed that the athlete leadership programme developed qualities such as responsibility, role modelling, motivation, communication, perseverance, and team unity that would help athlete leaders perform their roles and responsibilities. The results also highlighted some limitations including earlier involvement from key stakeholders, tailored training for athlete leaders, and a more effective transfer of learning.     

Reconceptualizing the Sources of Teaching Self-Efficacy: a Critical Review of Emerging Literature

Teachers’ efficacy beliefs are thought to influence not only their motivation and performance but also the achievement of their students. Scholars have therefore turned their attention toward the sources underlying these important teacher beliefs. This review seeks to evaluate the ways in which researchers have measured and conceptualized the sources of teaching self-efficacy across 82 empirical studies. Specifically, it aims to identify what can be inferred from these studies and what important questions still remain about the origins of teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Results indicate that a number of methodological shortcomings in the literature have prevented a clear understanding of how teachers develop a sense of efficacy. Nonetheless, insights gleaned from existing research help to refine, and to expand, theoretical understandings of the sources of self-efficacy and their influence in the unique context of teaching. Implications for future research and practice are addressed.     

Shakespeare in the Curriculum: direction by content

The results of a survey of secondary English Shakespeare teaching in one local education authority are reported. Centralised control of curriculum content in English is discussed in relation to findings about how much Shakespeare teaching is done and which plays teachers selected. The suggestion is made that recent controversy about content direction has deflected attention from the more important issues of methods of teaching and in‐service education.     

The Concept of the ‘Small Secondary School’

School size is becoming an increasingly important factor in discussions concerning school effectiveness, particularly those concerning cost‐effectiveness. Unfortunately, the term ‘small‐school’ is used in several different ways and lacks clarity. This paper examines the present usage of this term in order to construct a definition that could be incorporated into effectiveness research design.     

Toy safety and selection

Toys can be used to promote children's cognitive, physical, motor, language, social, and emotional development. Safety and developmental appropriateness are of the utmost importance when selecting children's toys. Parents and teachers and other helping professionals need to teach children the safe use of toys to prevent toy-related accidents. Obtain additional information regarding toy safety by calling the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at 1(800)638-CPSC.     

PISA for Development: how the OECD and World Bank shaped education governance post-2015

ABSTRACT

The year 2015 was significant for the arena of international development, as UNESCO’s Education for All agenda was replaced by Education 2030, which would identify minimum standards of education quality. The OECD had been working on extending its existing PISA assessment into low- and middle-income countries through PISA for Development (PISA-D) and positioned the new assessment as a means of tracking progress on the post-2015 goals. The organisation maintains that PISA-D was introduced primarily in response to the demands of the international community, especially low- and middle-income countries, and that the assessment was developed in partnership with them. This paper investigates those claims through an analysis of the arrival of PISA-D in Cambodia, situating the analysis within UNESCO’s shifting agenda and the strategic visions of the OECD and World Bank that first emerged in the 1990s. The result is a very different picture to the portrayals of local agency, demand, consensus and partnership that adorn the official websites and pamphlets of global agencies and much academic research, raising serious doubts about education governance post-2015.