Kinematic analyses of seated throwing activities with and without an assistive pole

In Paralympic seated throwing events, the athlete can throw with and without an assistive pole. This study aimed to identify and compare performance-related kinematic variables associated with both seated throwing techniques. Twenty-nine non-disabled males (21.9 ± 2.6 years) performed 12 maximal throws using a 1-kg ball in two conditions (no-pole and pole). Automatic 3D-kinematic tracking (150 Hz) and temporal data were acquired. There was no significant difference between ball speeds at the point of release between conditions (no-pole = 12.8 ± 1.6 m/s vs. pole = 12.9 ± 1.5 m/s). There were four kinematic variables that were strongly correlated with ball speed when throwing with or without an assistive pole. These variables were elbow flexion at the start phase (pole r = .39 and no-pole r = .41), maximum shoulder external rotation angular velocity during the arm cocking phase (pole r = .42), maximum shoulder internal rotation angular velocity during the arm acceleration phase (pole r = .47), and should internal rotation angular velocity at the instant of ball release (pole r = .40). The pole clearly influenced the throwing technique with all four strongly correlated variables identified in this condition, compared to only one during the no-pole condition. When using the pole, participants produced significantly higher shoulder internal rotation angular velocities during the arm acceleration phase (pole = 367 ± 183°/s vs. no-pole = 275 ± 178°/s, p < .05) and at the instant of ball release (pole = 355 ± 115°/s vs. no-pole = 264 ± 120°/s, p < .05), compared to throwing without the pole. These findings have implications for the development of evidence-based classification systems in Paralympic seated throwing, and facilitate research that investigates the impact of impairment on seated throwing performance.     

Who teaches primary physical education? Change and transformation through the eyes of subject leaders

Primary physical education (PE) lessons tend to be taught by one, or a combination of, three different groups: generalist classroom teachers, specialist primary PE teachers and so-called adults other than teachers, who are almost exclusively sports coaches. Drawing upon data gathered from one-to-one interviews with 36 subject leaders (SLs), this study sought answers to two main questions: ‘Who delivers primary PE nowadays?’ and ‘What are the consequences?’ The findings revealed that the most common model for the delivery of PE involved responsibility being shared between the generalist class teacher and either a sports coach or specialist PE teacher. The SLs recognised strengths and weaknesses in all of the three main approaches used. However, while they favoured the use of specialist teachers because of their subject knowledge and expertise, the more prosaic constraints of cost and flexibility meant that the use of coaches had become increasingly popular. Whether or not, the growth of coaches is de-professionalising the delivery of PE, it certainly appears to be exacerbating any existing tendency to turn primary PE into a pale imitation of the sport-biased curricular of secondary schools. Ironically, the apparent ‘threat’ to the status of PE in the primary curriculum (as well as the status of PE specialists) posed by the growth of coaches in curricular PE in primary schools may well be exaggerated by the Primary PE and Sport Premium which appears to have added momentum to a change of direction regarding staffing the subject—towards sports coaches and away from generalist classroom teachers and PE specialists. As the shift towards outsourcing PE to commercial sports coaches becomes increasingly commonplace, it seems appropriate to talk of transformation, rather than mere change, in the delivery of primary PE.     

Walking football as sustainable exercise for older adults – A pilot investigation

The health benefits of playing football and the importance of exercise and social contact for healthy ageing are well established, but few older adults in the UK take enough exercise. Football is popular, flexible in format and draws players into engrossing, effortful and social exercise, but the physical demands of play at full speed may make it unsustainable for some older adults. Restricted to walking pace, will play still be engaging? Will health benefits be retained? Will physical demands remain manageable? This pilot study aims to investigate: (1) the experience of older adults playing walking football every week, is it sustainable and rewarding, (2) the intensity and locomotor pattern of walking football, (3) the scale and nature of walking football health benefits and (4) possible cognitive benefits of playing walking football through measures of processing speed, selective and divided attention and updating and inhibition components of executive function. ‘Walking football’ and ‘waiting list’ groups were compared before and after 12 weeks of one-hour per week football. Walking football was found to be engaging, sustainable for older adults and moderately intensive; however, selective health and cognitive benefits were not found from this brief intervention.

Highlights

• Walking football is a lower impact but authentic form of football that enables older players to extend their active participation.

• Walking football is enjoyable and moderately demanding and may be a sustainable form of exercise for older adults.

• Health and cognitive benefits to playing walking football were not found.

     

Historical perspective—weaving the lives of Florence Nightingale and Florence Nightingale David into the statistics classroom

This paper describes an activity to celebrate the lives of Florence Nightingale and Florence Nightingale David in statistics classrooms.     

Taking an active role in our pre-service teachers’ overseas teaching experiences: a report on an experiential learning project in China

This report introduces an experiential learning project in a pre-service undergraduate teacher education programme at a major Hong Kong university in which 10 pre-service English language teachers and myself, their teacher educator, participated in a two-week overseas teaching experience in a primary school in Ningbo, China. I report on my experience as a novice teacher educator and the benefit I found in taking an active role in this project.     

People use math as a weapon: critical mathematics consciousness in the time of COVID-19

Educational Studies in Mathematics - The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased attention to the critical mathematical literacy of citizens in the United States and around the...     

Navigating the complexities at an LGBTQQI-identified charter school: An ethnography of c/overt narratives

The authors describe ethnographic research exploring the experiences of school stakeholders at a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex (LGBTQQI)–identified charter school. Participants evidenced use of an overt and covert narrative that appeared to reflect how they navigated the complexities at the LGBTQQI-identified charter school. Participants’ narrative included 5 broad themes of complexity: (a) a negotiation of autonomy with support and belonging, (b) ambiguities in professional roles and boundaries, (c) inconsistency across educational standards and assessment, (d) interaction between individual and collective identity, and (e) the gap between needs and resources. Implications for future practice and research are explored.     

Quality assurance and women in higher education

This paper examines a range of positive and negative consequences for women of Quality Assurance (QA) initiatives in one Australian university. Drawing on Foucaults concepts of governmentality and power/knowledge, it is argued that the popular repressive hypothesis of power via governmentality hides a positive and potentially productive dimension of power. Following recent work by feminist political theorists, my claim here is that a corporatist managerial discourse such as QA can be used strategically for a politics of transformation in the interests of women. The paper begins with an outline of the parameters of debate about and critiques of the QA agenda in the Australian higher education sector, and highlights some potentially negative consequences for women in terms of their structural location in the university. An overview of QA audit processes then leads into a closer examination of one universitys response to QA initiatives. The culture and management style of this regional university was significantly transformed from an informal and pastoral model to one with open systems of accountability and performance targets built around equity issues. In that regard, it is argued, equity target groups including women, became the visible focus of the development and implementation of new systems designed to bring equity into the mainstream. In closing, I argue that in this particular university, the new managerialism of QA was indeed a panoptic mechanism of making visible: productivity, equity groups, procedures and outcomes. But in an institutional context where open systems were lacking and womens contributions invisible and undervalued, the QA agenda brought new opportunities not only for women but for other groups previously marginalised and silenced.     

Exertional Heat Stroke of Max Gilpin; A Preventable Death

ABSTRACT

Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a medical emergency whose likelihood in sport settings is often contingent on environmental factors, team policies, coaching strategies, and broader cultural expectations. Moreover, when it occurs, it requires immediate recognition, proper management, and care to optimize chances of survival or recovery without long-term sequelae. Max Gilpin, a secondary school American football player from Louisville, Kentucky, suffered an EHS during a football practice in August 2008, an event that resulted in his death. The purpose of this article is to use interdisciplinary methods to identify key factors that contributed to this tragedy so that similar situations do not happen again. It concludes that within a culture of inclusive gender norms and care, efforts should be made to have appropriate onsite medical expertise available to develop and implement best practices for the prevention, management, and treatment of EHS, along with coaching education specific to medical emergencies in sport and physical activity (such as EHS). This will create an environment that promotes health and safety for all student athletes participating in sport at the secondary school level.