Implementing Citizenship in the English Secondary School Curriculum: A Follow-Up Study

This article represents a follow-up snapshot of a group of state secondary schools in the North of England. It examines the progress of the schools in the second year of the statutory inclusion of citizenship in the revised National Curriculum. The writers use the same modus operandi as in the previous article (Calvert and Clemitshaw, 2003) to present a picture of both the management and curriculum aspects of the changes. The article draws on data from interviews with the citizenship co-ordinators (CCs) of each school, and there is an overview in the form of a grid. Readers are encouraged to look back at the previous article to track the changes that have taken place since September 2002.
The study reveals that there are some common patterns and difficulties emerging, particularly with regard to assessment and reporting and some of the problems that have always beset PSHE and pastoral care. These same issues are predictably affecting the progress of the initiative. Principally, the status of the subject, resourcing and levels of understanding, training and commitment of staff are ongoing problems. A leitmotiv running through the interviews is the constant pressure of other initiatives and their effects on change at a time of internal turbulence for a number of the schools. Some progress is being made and it would have been unrealistic to expect all schools to adopt the subject without difficulty but, in spite of the CCs' best efforts, there are still issues that might give cause for concern and that are graphically highlighted by individual cases.     

Educating the Emotions: Interior and Exterior Realities

In this paper Mike Radford questions a view of emotions which sees them as essentially an inner and subjective phenomenon discovered through processes of introspection and developing self awareness. This process of self-exploration is conducted through a combination of dialogue, encouraging pupils to talk about their feelings and explain them, and something akin to therapy. Such a perspective tends to be closely associated with the increasingly popular notion of emotional intelligence/literacy. In his view it is more productive to try to understand emotions in the context of objective understanding, in terms of the language and behaviours, and see them as public events open to common experience.     

Implementing Citizenship into the English Secondary School Curriculum

This article represents a snapshot of ten state secondary schools in the north of England immediately prior to the implementation of the statutory inclusion of citizenship in the revised National Curriculum. It includes data from interviews with the citizenship coordinator of each school and offers a range of responses by schools to the change. The two authors respectively, bring to the study their experience of Educational Management and Humanities and offer two different perspectives on the management of change, curriculum planning and implementation. Practical issues of status of the subject, resources, structures and staff development sit alongside contested issues of philosophy, content, pedagogy and outcomes.
Whilst recognizing the qualities and the commitment of the citizenship coordinators, a number of issues are raised that might give cause for concern at the medium to long-term future of this curriculum development.     

Prevalence and determinants of symptoms of common mental disorders in retired professional Rugby Union players

The primary aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of symptoms of common mental disorders (CMD) (distress, anxiety/depression, sleeping disturbance, adverse nutrition behaviour, adverse alcohol behaviour and smoking) among retired professional Rugby Union players. The secondary aim was to explore the associations between stressors (life events, Rugby Union career dissatisfaction) and the health conditions under study. Therefore, cross-sectional analyses were conducted on baseline questionnaires from an ongoing prospective cohort study of retired professional Rugby Union players. An electronic questionnaire was established using validated questionnaires to assess symptoms of CMD and stressors. The electronic questionnaire was subsequently distributed to retired players by the national Rugby Union players’ associations in France, Ireland and South Africa. Among 295 retired professional Rugby Union players (mean age of 38 years), prevalence rates were 25% for distress, 28% for anxiety/depression, 29% for sleeping disturbance, 62% for adverse nutrition behaviour, 15% for smoking and 24% for adverse alcohol behaviour. A higher number of life events were associated with distress (OR?=?1.2; 95% CI 1.1–1.4), anxiety/depression (OR?=?1.6; 95% CI 1.2–2.1), sleeping disturbance (OR?=?1.6; 95% CI 1.2–2.1) and adverse nutrition behaviour (OR?=?1.8; 95% CI 1.3–2.5). A higher level of dissatisfaction of the player's Rugby Union career was associated with distress (OR?=?0.9; 95% CI 0.8–1.0), sleeping disturbance (OR?=?0.9; 95% CI 0.9–1.0), smoking (OR?=?0.9; 95% CI 0.9–1.0) and adverse nutrition behaviour (OR?=?0.9; 95% CI 0.8–0.9). In conclusion, our study suggests that prevalence of symptoms of CMD is high among retired professional Rugby Union players, being associated with both a higher number of life events and a higher level of Rugby Union career dissatisfaction.     

Effects of rule changes on physical demands and shot characteristics of elite-standard men’s squash and implications for training

The physical demands and rally characteristics of elite-standard men’s squash have not been well documented since recent rule changes (scoring and tin height). This information is needed to design optimal training drills for physical conditioning provided here based on an analysis of movement and shot information. Matches at the 2010 (n = 14) and 2011 (n = 27) Rowe British Grand Prix were analysed. Rallies were split into four ball-in-play duration categories using the 25th (short), 75th (medium), 95th percentiles (long) and maximum values. Cohen’s d and chi-squared tests of independence evaluated effects of rally and rule changes on patterns of play. The proportion of long, middle and short shots was related to the duration of the rally with more shots played in the middle and front of the court in short rallies (phi = 0.12). The frequencies of shots played from different areas of the court have not changed after the adoption of new rules but there is less time available to return shots that reflect the attacking nature of match play for elite-standard men players. Aspiring and current elite-standard players need to condition themselves to improve their ability to cope with these demands using the ghosting patterns presented that mimic demands of modern match play.     

Prayers,punishment, and perception: an analysis of the response to the Tony Stewart – Kevin Ward Jr. incident on Facebook

The purpose of this study was to analyse the response to Tony Stewart’s first public statement following the Kevin Ward Jr. incident and determine how individuals were discussing the incident on Facebook utilizing the theoretical lens of framing. A total of 14,888 comments from 4594 users were analysed with the qualitative software Leximancer. Two frames emerged from the data analysis including judgement and knowledge. Within those frames were five themes including fault, accident, conviction, racing knowledge and evidence. These themes were bi-directional in nature, which allowed users to place blame, question other users’ knowledge, analyse the nature of the incident itself, express support or disdain and call for further examination of the incident. This study’s findings highlight how Facebook can be utilized as a platform for individuals to create an organic framework and attribute their own meaning to a controversial incident.