Agonistic democracy and passionate professional development in teacher-leaders

Politicians and policy-makers in education routinely proclaim the centrality of schools and teachers in sustaining and consolidating democracy and democratic society. This article offers an account of teachers engaged in research in their schools and classrooms, with peers and students, so as to highlight the democratic potential of this engagement. In order to do so, it draws on an agonistic account of democracy that is distinct from more familiar liberal or procedural versions. Such an account is characterised by an emphasis on the values of constitutive pluralism, robust contestation and enduring tragedy, where the latter entails recognition of the ineliminable nature of (political) conflict and the inevitability of loss in human life. The teachers involved in this research demonstrated capacities which, it is argued, reflect an agonistic democratic ethos, including: developing the confidence to assume intellectual leadership by asking questions and eliciting and engaging plural perspectives in relation to these questions; engagement in the cut and thrust of research without the expectation of finding any final or perfect solutions; and an acceptance of difference and disagreement as constitutive and constructive elements in rethinking areas of policy and practice. Developing and encouraging these capacities, it is argued, is important in an increasingly authoritarian policy context that threatens the vital links between democracy and education highlighted by Dewey a century ago.     

The relationship between qualified personnel and self-reported implementation of recommended physical education practices and programs in U.S. schools

The authors analyzed data from the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000 to assess the associations between the presence of a district physical education coordinator and district-level physical education policies and practices recommended by federal government agencies and national organizations. The authors also examined the relationship between teacher qualifications and staff development related to physical education and self-reported implementation of recommended teachingpractices. District-level data were collected by self-administered mail questionnaires from a nationally representative sample of school districts. Classroom-level data were collected by computer-assisted personal interviews with teachers of randomly selected classes in elementary schools and randomly selected required physical education courses in middle/junior high and senior high schools. Nearly two thirds (62.2%) of districts had a physical education coordinator, and those were generally more likely than other districts to report having policies and practices that corresponded with national recommendations for high-quality physical education programs. More than two thirds of teachers (66.9%) met the criteria for teacher qualifications based on their education and certification. These teachers were more likely than others to report use of certain recommended physical education teaching practices. Teachers who participated in staff development also were more likely to use recommended teaching practices in their classrooms. Using a district physical education coordinator and teachers with appropriate qualifications as well as offering staff development opportunities on physical education may enhance school physical education programs.     

SROI in the art gallery; valuing social impact

ABSTRACT

This article considers a project that used the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology to describe and measure the social impact of Turner Contemporary art gallery in Margate, a coastal town in the South East of England. The article details the reasons why the methodology was chosen by the gallery, setting this in the context of the wider debate around evaluation and social impact reporting. A section of the research and analysis, which was carried out by COaST, a consultancy and research centre based within Canterbury Christ Church University, is described in detail, allowing the reader to understand the processes involved in this type of project and the kinds of outcomes that can be delivered using this method. Finally, an account is given of the impact the work had on the management of the gallery, and the ways in which the final report was used.     

Widening access by changing the criteria for selecting medical students

Objective: To review the principles underlying medical student selection from the perspective of the imperatives of widening access policies.     

临沂离区域性金融中心目标有多远——临沂区域金融发展对实体经济支持力度分析

重点研究临沂市银行贷款和股票市场融资对实体经济的支持力度,分析临沂金融发展水平离区域性金融洼地的目标还有多远。数据分析显示,在金融发展的度量指标中,临沂仅境外股票上市融资情况发展良好,而银行业机构贷存比、贷款/GDP比率和境内股票市场上市融资等均发展不足,对实体经济的支持力度不仅落后于山东省内大多数兄弟地市,也显著落后于经济结构类似、可比性较强的浙江省金华市。基于此,提出了包括提高贷存比、发展民间融资等推动临沂金融发展的政策建议。     

Teaching collaborative skills with a group leader computer tutor

This paper discusses how a group leader computer tutor may aid students in learning collaborative skills in a co-operative learning environment. However, students need to learn collaborative skills and practice using them. The group leader computer tutor discussed in this paper is designed on the principles of co-operative learning, intelligent tutoring systems and computer-supported collaborative work within an intelligent collaborative learning system (ICLS). The group leader aims to facilitate group work on the task level and to teach students how to use collaborative skills in the discussion level as students work on networked computers in the Jigsaw method of co-operative learning. The ICLS and its group leader were used by two classes at a liberal arts university. Qualitative research shows that the students' co-operative attitudes changed and academic achievement improved from pre- to post-treatment. Students, especially, used the communication skill of openness in comment type discussions. The students enjoyed working collaboratively through the ICLS and their teachers thought that the experience was valuable for them.     

Topic Valence and Ambiguity in Parent-Emerging Adult Child Postdivorce Discussions

Communication privacy management theory maintains permeability rules manifest as communication strategies used during conversation. Although postdivorce families tend to privilege openness, this conclusion is based on recalled reports and single discussions about negatively valenced topics. To determine whether ambiguity functions as a manifestation of permeability rules and its effects on relational satisfaction and psychological well-being, 39 parent-emerging adult child dyads discussed one negatively valenced and one positively valenced postdivorce topic. Results indicated parents were ambiguous while discussing negatively and positively valenced topics, and children were perceptive of parents' ambiguity during the conversations. No differences were found between parents' use and children's perceptions of parents' ambiguity. Further, children's relational satisfaction and psychological well-being were affected by ambiguity in both discussions.     

Physical activity and obese children

Childhood obesity is an epidemic of global proportions, accompanied by an alarming increase in various metabolic disorders. It would appear that childhood obesity stems largely from excessive energy intake and that it is the ensuing obesity that leads to physical inactivity in children, as opposed to initial physical inactivity inducing obesity. How changes in body composition that accompany obesity influence physical activity (PA) and the mechanistic basis for this remains poorly understood. This review provides an overview of the PA habits and body composition of the obese children. We suggest skeletal muscle metabolism as a key driver of PA. The role both quantitative and qualitative changes in skeletal muscle may play in oxidative metabolism in the obese children are discussed. There is a real need for research examining the mechanistic basis of physical inactivity in the obese. The dearth of information on the role of skeletal muscle metabolism in the PA of obese youngsters and the emergence of new technologies allowing cellular and metabolite mechanisms to be explored provides plenty of scope for future work.