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Space, Place and Agency in Childhood and Education
No full textThis symposium brings together perspectives from geography, philosophy, alternative education and sport and exercise science to consider a sense of place and agency in education beyond the classroom. Drawing on embodied perspectives to decenter the assumptions of the classroom as enclosure which frame much educational research (Lundie 2015). In place of the enclosure as locus of methodology, the challenges of non-formal and expansive educational settings refocus educational enquiry on the intrinsic, ipsative and intersubjective dimensions of the learner in their interactions with place, peers and nature.
Introducing the research programme for Space, Place and Agency in Childhood and Education at the University of St Mark and St John, Plymouth, an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Faculty of Education and Social Science and the Faculty of Sport and Health Science, the symposium will feature speakers who cross boundaries and challenge traditional dichotomies between formal, informal and non-formal education. The symposium will focus on methodological innovations which support educational research in contexts beyond the classroom, drawing upon current research projects in European youth work, disability sport education and alternative early years provision.
Paper 1 – Mark Leather: More than 'activities': using a sense of place in outdoor education
Paper 2 – David Lundie: More than 'methods': ipsative and interpersonal perspectives on decentering the classroom
Paper 3 – Kass Gibson: More than 'murder': ethics and hunting in New Zealand reconsidered
Paper 4 – Julie Evans: More than 'play': space, agency and the classroom in early years
Dr Leather’s paper presents empirical evidence from an action research project to demonstrate how a combination of formal and informal pedagogy can lead to a sociocultural and historical understanding of place and enrich the learning experience when teaching sailing. Adopting a Deweyan pedagogy of place that holistically integrated research, theory and practice (Ord & Leather 2011), students completed focus group interviews, photo elicitation and written reflections, evidencing a meaningful relationship between sociocultural history of place and the activity itself.
Drawing on the sport for development movement, which engages health and civic education, informal recreation and environmental education, Kass Gibson’s paper draws on mixed method qualitative research into sport (Gibson 2012) to explore students’ relationships to the culture of hunting (Gibson 2014). Bringing together indigenous ontologies with the methodological personalism refined by colleagues in this research group (Beacom & Golder 2015), this paper explores the normative, pedagogical and sustainability implications of hunting and its place in outdoor education.
Exploring the relation between the ‘offered’ curriculum and the ‘received’ curriculum in early years (Rogers & Evans 2007), Dr Evans’ paper reintroduces the concept of space and enclosure as ethnographic actor in context (Lundie 2015). Drawing on myriad autoethnographic representational strategies of the young people in the setting (Pahl 1999), Evans’ ethnography seeks to enable children’s voices to represent the physical limitations they experience. This paper reframes the Reception classroom as a ‘poverty of space’, acting upon the development and socialisation of young children
Practice makes perfect? The pedagogic value of online independent phonetic transcription practice for speech and language therapy students
Get PDFAccuracy of phonetic transcription is a core skill for speech and language therapists (SLTs) worldwide (Howard & Heselwood, 2002). The current study investigates the value of weekly independent online phonetic transcription tasks to support development of this skill in year one SLT students. Using a mixed methods observational design, students enrolled in a year one phonetics module completed 10 weekly homework activities in phonetic transcription on a stand-alone tutorial site (WebFon (Bates, Matthews & Eagles, 2010)) and 5 weekly online quizzes (the ‘Ulster Set’ (Titterington, unpublished)). Student engagement with WebFon was measured in terms of the number of responses made to ‘sparks’ on the University’s Virtual Learning Environment Discussion Board. Measures of phonetic transcription accuracy were obtained for the ‘Ulster Set’ and for a stand-alone piece of coursework at the end of the module. Qualitative feedback about experience with the online learning was gathered via questionnaire. A positive significant association was found between student engagement with WebFon and performance in the ‘Ulster Set’, and between performance in the ‘Ulster Set’ and final coursework. Students valued both online independent learning resources as each supported different learning needs. However, student compliance with WebFon was significantly lower than with the ‘Ulster Set’. Motivators and inhibitors to engagement with the online resources were investigated identifying what best maximised engagement. These results indicate that while ‘independent’ online learning can support development of phonetic transcription skills, the activities must be carefully managed and constructively aligned to assessment providing the level of valance necessary to ensure effective engagement
Examining the response programming function of the Quiet Eye: Do tougher shots need a quieter eye?
Get PDFSupport for the proposition that the Quiet Eye (QE) duration reflects a period of response programming (including task parameterisation) has come from research showing that an increase in task difficulty is associated with increases in QE duration. Here, we build on previous research by manipulating three elements of task difficulty that correspond with different parameters of golf-putting performance; force production, impact quality and target line. Longer QE durations were found for more complex iterations of the task and furthermore, more sensitive analyses of the QE duration suggest that the early QE proportion (prior to movement initiation) is closely related to force production and impact quality. However, these increases in QE do not seem functional in terms of supporting improved performance. Further research is needed to explore QE’s relationship with performance under conditions of increased difficulty
A new paradigm to explain functional disorders and the adaptive network theory of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia syndrome
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Reflecting practice/curating practice
No full textOne of the ways that practitioners are encouraged, indeed required, to ‘tell their practice’ is via reflective practice.
Reflective practice is the process of articulating professional decision-making, of bringing to awareness the threads that shape interventions and judgments, and of becoming critically alert to the forces that influenced them. This is assumed as achieved through the provision of accounts of practice, stories, with a view that to do so will heighten understanding of and develop individual professional practice as well as the practice of organisations themselves. Mainstream approaches to reflective practice, then, consider accounts told in this way both as true and as a gateway to the development and improvement of practice. The predominant focus is on reflections on practice after the event generated via writing and dialogue. In the conference I offer that these notions are problematic and instead work with a conception of those engaging in reflective practice acting as curators of stories of their practice, with ‘curating’ being a decision-making process of selection of “what to keep and what to discard” (McCartney, 2015:137). Here the process before curation is an important focus of reflective practice. It then follows that the outcome of curation can be creative. To this conference I brought three pieces of interactive art created from my reflections regarding my practice as senior lecturer in higher education. I do not consider myself to be an artist; the point here is one of creative engagement that offers a radically different approach to reflective practice, with ‘radical’ meaning getting (back) to or expounding the roots of ‘the true principle’ of reflective practice (borrowing from Fromm, in Neill, 1960:xii)
Time perception, pacing and exercise intensity: maximal exercise distorts the perception of time
Get PDFIntroduction
Currently there are no data examining the impact of exercise on the perception of time, which is surprising as optimal competitive performance is dependent on accurate pacing using knowledge of time elapsed.
Methods
With institutional ethics approval, 12 recreationally active adult participants (f = 7, m = 5) undertook both 30 s Wingate cycles and 20 min (1200 s) rowing ergometer bouts as short and long duration self-paced exercise trials, in each of three conditions on separate occasions: 1) light exertion: RPE 11, 2) heavy exertion: RPE 15, 3) maximal exertion: RPE 20. Participants were unaware of exercise duration and were required to verbally indicate when they perceived (subjective time) 1) 25%, 2) 50%, 3) 75% and 4) 100% of each bout's measured (chronological) time had elapsed.
Results
In response to the Wingate task, there was no difference between durations of subjective time at the 25%, nor at the 50% interval. However, at the 75% and 100% intervals, the estimate for the RPE 20 condition was shortest (P < 0.01). In response to rowing, there were no differences at the 25% interval, but there was some evidence that the RPE 20 condition was perceived shorter at 50%. At 75% and 100%, the RPE 20 condition was perceived to be shorter than both RPE 15 (P = 0.04) and RPE 11 (P = 0.008) conditions.
Conclusion
This study is the first to empirically demonstrate that exercise intensity distorts time perception, particularly during maximal exercise. Consequently external feedback of chronological time may be an important factor for athletes undertaking maximal effort tasks or competitions
'Living together': Making the most of residential experiences in outdoor and adventure education
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Living with the sea: Making connections - a personal and professional Heimat
No full textThis presentation is an autobiographical account of my connection with the sea and the
associated narratives that it holds. The sea is my Heimat – my homeland and I feel a personal
sense of belonging to this place. The concept of somaesthetics is introduced as a way of
exploring my embodied cognition of time with the sea. I consider how my earliest
experiences of the sea has influenced my professional practice as a university lecturer, and as
a consequence how seascapes have affected my students’ understanding of their own
connection to the sea. I discuss the romanticised stories of the sea and explore how matters
of social justice and oppression can be found just beneath the surface. Autobiography as my
construction of reality here is what Bruner (1991: 8) describes as “hermeneutic
composability”, that is the telling of my story and its comprehension as a story depends upon
the human capacity to process knowledge in an interpretive way. Autobiography is to do with
recovering a past “and depends on the deployment of an often shifting, partial and contested
set of personal or collective memories” (Cosslett, Lury and Summerfield, 2000: 4). Questions
of validity inevitably arise with the use of autobiography due to the subjective nature of
memory recall and the possibility of embellishment. Van Manen (1997) defends this use that
may include fictitious scenarios, emotions or moods within a life story, as they still allow us to
be imaginatively or emotionally involved. It is hoped that the audience may become involved
with the sea in this way