Do as we do and not as we say: teacher educators supporting student teachers to learn on teaching practice

This paper reports data from a larger study into the ways in which Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students engaged in professional learning during teaching practice (TP) in Ireland. The study comprised one umbrella case study of Greendale University, schools and PETE students that consisted of five individual cases: tetrads of PETE student teacher, cooperating teacher (CT), University tutor (UT) and School Principal (SP). Each tetrad was defined as a unique community of practice located within the wider structures of school, education and university policies on teacher education. Data were collected over one academic year using qualitative research methods and grounded theory as a systematic data analysis tool.

Findings indicate that in each of the five cases, support for PETE student learning was, to some degree, dysfunctional. In particular, it became evident that there were two conflicting teacher-learning curricula in operation. The official curriculum, expressed in policy and by SPs, UTs and CTs (also referred to as mentors), valued a PETE student who cared for pupils, had a rich pedagogical content knowledge, knew how to plan for and assess pupils’ learning, valued reflection, and was an active member of a community of practice. The unofficial but essentially more powerful enacted curriculum, encouraged PETE students to draw upon their own resources to learn pedagogical content knowledge in an isolated and unsupported manner.

The data highlight the force of the unofficial curriculum and the ways in which PETE students were guided to the core of the dysfunctional community of practice by untrained CTs (mentors) and untrained UTs. PETE students in this study learned to survive in a largely unsupportive professional learning environment and, just as theories of social reproduction intimate, indicated that they would reproduce this practice with PETE students in their care in the future.

The findings suggest that in cases similar to those studied, there is a need for teacher educators in Ireland, (in both universities and schools) to critically interrogate their personal practices and implicit theories of teacher education and to engage in training for their role. There is also evidence to suggest that PETE students in Ireland could benefit from the development of school–university partnerships that act as fundamental units of high quality professional learning. In the cases studied, this may have led to a stronger focus on the intended or official curriculum of TP, led by the revised maxim: ‘Do as we say and as we do’.     

A biomechanical comparison of dominant and non-dominant arm throws for speed and accuracy

Training a non-dominant limb may increase a competitor's ability to perform with either side of his or her body and confer an advantage over competitors that use one side of the body exclusively. The aim of this study was to determine the kinematic differences between dominant and non-dominant arm throwing techniques for speed and accuracy in Under-17 and Under-19 high-performance cricketers. Seven participants performed ten throws for each arm (dominant/non-dominant) and condition (speed/accuracy) at a target positioned 10 m in front of them. Three-dimensional kinematic variables were measured using a Vicon motion analysis system. Digital footage was used to calculate stride data, ball speed, and record target accuracy. Data were analysed using repeated-measures analysis of variance and chi-squared tests. The non-dominant arm throws had significantly lower maximum lead knee lift, did not extend the lead knee in the arm acceleration phase, had significantly less elbow flexion before extension, had significantly less shoulder external rotation at the start of the arm acceleration phase, did not have a delay between the initiation of pelvic and upper torso internal rotation, and displayed a less than optimal coordination pattern. A speed–accuracy trade-off existed for the dominant arm throws. No trade-off was identified for the non-dominant arm throws. Through an enhanced understanding of how throwing technique varies between dominant and non-dominant arms, an opportunity exists for a performance-enhancing programme to be implemented so that ambidexterity of the throwing skill can be improved.     

Effects of a cooling collar on affect,ratings of perceived exertion,and running performance in the heat

Abstract

During prolonged exercise, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and affect (pleasure; activation) play an important role in performance, especially in hot conditions. Although various mechanisms have been tried to manage the effects of heat (e.g. cooling jackets), the purpose of the current research was to assess the effect of a cooling collar on RPE, affect, thermal sensation, and running performance in the heat. Participants (n =8) wore a cold collar, uncooled collar or no collar as they completed three 90-min preloaded treadmill time-trials in the heat (30.5±0.1°C), which included 75 min at ～60% [Vdot]O_2max followed by a 15-min time-trial. Affect, RPE, and thermal sensation were measured throughout. Performance during the time-trial was significantly improved in the cold collar compared with the uncooled collar and no-collar trials; however, pleasure and activation ratings were highest for the no-collar trial. Findings suggest that a cooling collar may improve performance, but not necessarily “feel good”. Practically, it seems necessary to ensure sufficient education about the benefits, on balance, of the cold collar, while the performance improvements outweighed the reported discomfort of athletes in this study. In addition, the cold collar may prove quite beneficial for individuals who work in hot climates and or conditions, as it may be effective in minimizing discomfort associated with heat for other groups as well.     

All in a knot of one another's labours: self-determination,network organising and learning

This essay is about how to learn to organise to tackle the intractable and most difficult problems of organisations and societies. It opens with a discussion of the nature of such problems, which are the spur for Revans' action learning and the focus of some recent thinking on leadership. Action learning works on the basis of peer relationships and self-determination lends itself naturally to attempts to organise in networks rather than in hierarchies. Taking cancer care as an example of an intractable problem, the centre point of the essay is a case study of an NHS Cancer Network which shows the complex dependencies and connections of this way of working. Although the recent history of organising has been summed up as a trajectory ‘from hierarchies to networks’, I argue that our capabilities with the intractable and wicked problems are limited by our dependence upon hierarchical models of organising and also by management practices that are best suited to ‘tame’ problems and a management education tradition that produces ‘subalterns’ rather than self-determining actors. These points are made via an excursion through three philosophies of freedom: post-colonialism, anarchism and Quakerism. These ideas reveal the cultural legacies to be overcome in the quest to learn how to organise with free actors. The triple practices of action learning, distributed leadership and network organising are offered as being part of the solution.     

Motherhood as Contested Ideological Terrain: Essentialist and Queer Discourses of Motherhood at Play in Female–female Co-mothers' Talk

Framed by relational dialectics theory (Baxter), this investigation considered the meaning(s) of motherhood in female–female co-motherhood. Analysis identified two competing discourses: (1) discourse of essential motherhood (DEM) and (2) discourse of queer motherhood (DQM). Speakers' invocation of the DEM reinscribes the mainstream US cultural discourse that children can have only one authentic (i.e., biological) mother, whereas invocation of the DQM denaturalizes the DEM's presumptions of authentic motherhood as biological, interrupts monomaternalism, destabilizes the patriarch, and troubles the equation of biological with moral motherhood. Whereas interpenetrations of the DEM and DQM were typically sites of adversarial discursive struggle, in a few instances, the DEM and DQM rose above their antagonistic relationship, combining to create new meanings of motherhood.     

“English is not easy,but I like it!”: an exploratory study of English learning attitudes amongst elementary school students in Taiwan

In response to the growing needs of proficient English speakers, the Taiwan Ministry of Education officially included English in standard elementary school curriculum since 2001. English courses at elementary level were extended from the fifth grade to the third grade since the fall of 2005. It is significant to examine whether the educational reform has positively affected students’ learning attitudes. Through focus group interviews and questionnaire survey at six elementary schools, this study explores students’ attitudes towards learning English and ways of instruction. Results indicate that students generally have strong interests in English‐speaking people and desire to spend time in English‐speaking places. A majority of students enjoy learning English through games, and compliments from teachers or parents boost their learning motivation. The finding also reveals that English education in Taiwan seems to have directed students towards a narrow viewpoint of foreign cultures since many students associate foreigners with English‐speaking people only. Finally, many students experience learning English at cram schools, which indicates the important role cram schools play in students’ extracurricular learning.     

Practice chains of production and consumption: mediatized practices across social fields

The argument developed in this paper is that a focus on practice provides some resolutions to methodological problems facing Bourdieuian scholarship in education. In order to develop Bourdieu's work on practice to account for the interactions between practices, this paper presents a conceptualization of practice as chains of production and consumption. The first part of the paper reviews the account of practice offered by Bourdieu both embedded in practice games and as field effects. The second part of the paper introduces practice chains of production and consumption as a way to conceptualize practice by drawing on a case involving print journalists’ involvement with policy makers over the course of an Australian policy review. The final section presents a discussion of this conceptualization and highlights the potential of the concept for further research in understanding the processes of educational policy development.     

Citizens now and for the future? Leaders,learners, and 14–19 Reform in England. Messages from research

How do researchers and practitioners understand and interrogate education reform when it is heralded as the solution to many problems, not all of which are educational? As importantly, how can applied educational researchers delve ‘beneath the skin’ of ‘given’ problems to solve or report, and suggest a range of explanations? In this article, the issue is leadership for ‘citizenship’ and the research project, conducted in 2007–2008, refers to participants’ understandings about 14–19 Reforms to ‘produce’ confident and responsible citizens. From contested theoretical and policy as well as research perspectives, this paper explores how citizenship is being framed and understood. Specific attention is given to students’ voices. Findings suggest that educating for citizenship is far from uppermost in the minds and reported activities of many who work or study in the organisations sampled. Implications for practitioner and academic communities are considered, not least the appropriate promotion of education for citizenship that is coherent, holistic, and feasible rather than peripheral or rhetorical.     

基于语言评价信息的毕业设计质量评价

该文针对经济类本科毕业设计评价时不容易定量的实际情况,提出了一种基于语言评价信息的质量评价方法。依据《青岛大学毕业设计质量评价指标体系》标准,对2009届金融学专业本科毕业设计进行了实例抽样评价分析。