RSS 1.0Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing
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Injury incidence and severity in Chinese pre-professional dancers: a prospective weekly monitoring surveyObjective: To determine dance injury incidence and severity in full-time Chinese pre-professional dancers. Study Design: Prospective weekly online monitoring survey Methods: Respondents were asked to record all dance-injury incidences between September 2020 to July 2021 using a remote weekly self-report injury monitoring tool. An inclusive definition of injury was used in this study to record all injuries, even if they didn’t cause a cessation of training. Data were excluded if respondents completed less than 90% of the survey period and had over 3 consecutive weeks of missing data. Results: 450 individuals from 11 different schools were included in the analyses. A total of 1157 injuries were reported over a 30-week academic year. Injury prevalence was 64.9% and injury incidence was 5.51 injuries per 1000 hours. Forty-eight percentage of the injuries were minor severity and 41% were of moderate severity, and the main injury sites were knees (0.89/1000hrs), lower back (0.80/1000hr), feet (0.58/1000hrs), groin (0.56/1000hrs). Female dancers reported significantly higher injury prevalence and injury incidence, and higher rates of moderate to severe injuries than males. The university group reported higher injury incidence than the adolescent group (p<0.05), whereas the latter reported higher rates of moderate to severe injuries than the former (p<0.001). Conclusion: The injury incidence found in this study (5.1 injuries/1000hrs) is higher than most previous sets of data. Female dancers are at a higher risk of injury and reported higher levels of injury severity than male dancers, especially for the female adolescent group.
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Can culinary capital be (re) produced in school?Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the paper draws on conceptions of culinary capital and socialisation to explore children’s experiences of mealtime in one academy school. In this paper, the author argues how ‘healthy eating’ interventions have led to the neglect of the social significance of dining together. The paper highlights how children’s culinary capital is reproduced in schools, whilst recognising the rising tensions between how eating spaces designed for children become consumed by adults. The findings from the study outline the growing power relationships in relation to school food spaces.
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Doing qualitative research: Methodological reflections on researching teachers workReflexive commitments tend to be lacking, particularly from the perspective of early career scholars. This is particularly true in relation to published research, but evident in doctoral studies exploring teachers work. Using principles of phenomenological reflexivity, this methodological paper explores the critical incidents that have come to shape a qualitative, ethnographical case study before entering the field. Key findings highlight four implications for novice researchers: an engagement with critical independent reflection, critical friendship, skills development through academic modules and reflexive reading, and communities of practice. The paper calls for continued attention to the methodological framing of research, particularly during and after entering the field.
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‘Why are they making us rush?’ The school dining hall as surveillance mechanism, social learning, or child’s space?School mealtimes, for many schools, are characterized by behavioural difficulties, a problematic time of day requiring much attention and resources. Yet for many school food reformers, those wanting food environments to be educative and pleasant, strict behavioural interventions are contrary to the ideals of social learning. This paper presents an ethnographic case study of Peartree Academy, an all-through academy school in England, to explore how school personnel used the dining hall simultaneously as a community space and as surveillance mechanism. We deliberate on causes and variations of how this manifests. A Foucauldian lens, viewing dining space as ‘heterotopia’ and ‘heterochronies’ [Foucault, M. 1986. “‘Of Other Spaces.” Translated by J. Miskowiec. Diacritics 16 (1): 22. https://doi.org/10.2307/464648], highlights tensions that shape the everyday for both students and staff in the school. As counter-spaces used differently by administrators, pupils, and food reformers, we show how rules and regulations imposed by staff work against the original intentions to develop the dining hall into a community forum in which children develop positive eating behaviours and good citizenship. The children became subjected to power relations through which bodies became docile or resistant, with less opportunity for social learning. True progressive food reform thus requires, ultimately, deeply understanding and negotiating the multiple, overlapping functions of dining spaces.
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Culinary capital and conceptualisations of school mealtimeThis paper presents ethnographic work conducted to investigate how notions of culinary capital have the potential to shape the everyday experiences of children during mealtime in school. Children’s early experiences with mealtimes and food are critical determinants for eating behaviour over the life course. The paper presents an account of conceptual debates based on longstanding ethnographic work on school food with a particular focus on a case study of Maple Field Academy to frame the research. Research methods used included semi-structured interviews, fieldnotes and photographs with the aim of capturing a rich picture of the school. This paper introduces Laird’s (1985) sensory theory to frame the discussion. This research calls for the need to recognize the social good that can be realized from participating in mealtimes and school is a microcosm of society, which means it can function as a driver for social change. The paper calls for more engagement with social theorising on studies which focus on researching food in school.
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Force plate coverings significantly affect measurement of ground reaction forcesThe purpose of this study was to carry out a material test to investigate the effect of different force plate coverings on vertical and horizontal ground reaction force and derived parameters. Four surface conditions were analysed; bare plate, vinyl, sportflex, and astroturf on a Kistler force plate. Vertical data were collected by dropping a 2 kg rigid, textured medicine ball from a low (61 cm) and a high (139 cm) height. Horizontal data were collected using a custom-built, rigid, metal pendulum device. A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of surface on peak force and rate of force development for high height, low height, and horizontal force conditions (all p<0.001), with effect sizes in the post-hoc analysis being mostly large to very large. Interestingly, sportflex yielded the highest vertical but the lowest horizontal ground reaction forces. This study showed the use of current force platform coverings had a significant effect on peak force and rate of force development measurements during a standardised testing procedure. Future research should try to obtain rate of force development values that more closely replicate aspects of human performance during standardised testing procedures. Also further investigate the effect of the different surfaces on ground reaction forces during human movement.
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Effects of a transoceanic rowing challenge on cardiorespiratory function and muscle fitnessUltra-endurance sports and exercise events are becoming increasingly popular for older age groups. We aimed to evaluate changes in cardiac function and physical fitness in males aged 50-60 years who completed a 50-day transoceanic rowing challenge. This case account of four self-selected males included electro- and echo-cardiography (ECG, echo), cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness measures recorded nine-months prior to and three weeks after a transatlantic team-rowing challenge. No clinically significant changes to myocardial function were found over the course of the study. The training and race created expected functional changes to left ventricular and atrial function; the former associated with training, the latter likely due to dehydration, both resolving towards baseline within three weeks post-event. From race-start to finish all rowers lost 8.4-15.6 kg of body mass. Absolute cardiorespiratory power and muscular strength were lower three weeks post-race compared to pre-race, but cardiorespiratory exercise economy improved in this same period. A structured programme of moderate-vigorous aerobic endurance and muscular training for >6 months, followed by 50-days of transoceanic rowing in older males proved not to cause any observable acute or potential long-term risks to cardiovascular health. Pre-event screening, fitness testing, and appropriate training is recommended, especially in older participants where age itself is an increasingly significant risk factor.
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Reliability, variability and minimal detectable change of the isometric mid-thigh pull in adolescent dancersIntroduction: The importance and potential benefits of muscular strength in the adolescent’s development for health and fitness has been demonstrated in the literature. Maximal muscular strength and its assessment, however, is not a primary assessment criterium in the selection of young talented dancers. Methods: The present study evaluated the within- and between session reliability, variability, and minimal detectable change (MDC) of the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP). Thirty-five participants (female n = 17) participated in 2 identical assessments on the same day with 4-hour break in between. Three 3-second IMTP were performed, and the mean peak force value was used for the analyses. Results: Within-session the ICC indicated excellent reliability (ICC = .99, 95% CI: 0.98-0.99). Between-session reliability was excellent (ICC = .98, 95% CI: 0.95-0.99). The standard error of measurement was 4% (48 N), the minimum detectable change was 12% (134 N) and the CV was 3%. There were no within-session statistically significant differences, but statistically significant differences between-session were observed (P < .001). Limits of agreement ranged from −121 N (95% CI −186 to −56 N) to 307 N (95% CI 243-372 N). Conclusion: The observed results demonstrated excellent within- and between sessions reliability, low variability, and an MDC of 12%. The consistency of the within-session scores suggest that peak force data may be obtained with single try efforts. The statistically significant difference in the means of the retest session, however, suggests that the time of the day or the time since entrained awakening may be affecting performance in adolescent dancers. The results of the current study indicate that the IMTP is a reliable assessment tool for maximal muscular strength in adolescent dancers.
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The efficacy of strength and conditioning training on dance injury, physical fitness and dance performance in Chinese pre-professional dancersObjective: To examine the effects of a strength and conditioning training intervention on dance injury, physical fitness and dance performance in Chinese pre-professional dancers. Design: A prospective non-randomized controlled trial. Methods: A total of 89 full-time pre-professional dancers participated. Sixty-seven dancers volunteered for a 12-week strength and conditioning training intervention (2-session/week, 4060-min/session), and 22 dancers acted as controls. All members of the intervention group carried out seven physical fitness tests pre- and post-intervention and a dance performance test using a ratified 10-item performance proficiency tool. Information on injury was self-reported by the dancers using a weekly remote dance injury monitoring tool. An inclusive definition of injury was used to record all injuries, even if they didn’t cause a cessation of training. Multivariate analysis of variance was employed to assess differences in physical fitness and dance performance pre and post-intervention. Injury data were initially analyzed for differences between the intervention and control groups; the intervention groups’ injury data were further analyzed by comparing to their own data collected during the previous year at the same period. Results: The intervention group demonstrated significant increases in physical fitness (p<0.001), but their dance performance data remained statistically unchanged (p>0.05). The intervention group also demonstrated lower weekly injury prevalence (28% vs 15%, p<0.001) and injury incidence (8.09 vs 5.16 injuries per 1000hrs, p<0.05) during the intervention period compared to their own injury just a year earlier. Conclusion: Strength and conditioning training improved physical fitness levels and decreases the risk of injury in pre-professional dancers, without detrimentally affecting dance performance.
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Theoretically rich design thinking: blended approaches for educational technology workshopsThis paper is a reflective account that outlines the design of two Continual Professional Development (CPD) workshop sessions based on a blend of theory for design thinking about aspects of curriculum, pedagogy and technology. The theoretical approach blended aspects of design-based research, speculative design, Activity Theory and subtractive change to address issues, barriers and explore opportunities in each workshop example that is presented. The first of these workshops brought university engineering lecturers together to explore the opportunities and barriers for integrating ‘co-creation’ as a pedagogical strategy to subject teaching alongside a new interface into their curriculum. The results show how design thinking exposes limitations and challenges that prevent the realisation of pedagogically rich interventions. The second workshop brought together post-compulsory vocational lecturers to a teacher education workshop and used the same theoretical reference points to inform and antagonise the implications that Large Language Models, such as Chat GPT, present to subject knowledge, curriculum design and modes of assessment. Here these theoretically rich forms are proposed for planning use in learning design and for reshaping curricula, where academics and other professionals supporting teaching and learning may want to introduce new technologies and integrate innovative pedagogical methods or confront new challenges to their work. They may also be used as continual professional development sessions in highly participatory, practical and creative ways that allow for lucid experimentation and to imbue professionals with agency and trust.
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Negotiating the Daily Mile Challenge; looking-like a walking break from the classroomThe purpose of this study was to privilege the views of both pupils and staff in one school’s adoption of the Daily Mile Challenge (DMC). Listening seriously to the views of pupils, who are often the unheard subjects in whole school exercise interventions, the aim was to understand the meanings derived from the requirement to practice the DMC. Data are drawn from non-participant observations, 4 individual teacher interviews and 4 pupil focus groups with a total of 12 students. In order to understand the function of the DMC to its participants, a socio-cultural position was adopted using Dewey’s ends-in-view to analyse the data. This process revealed that complete adaptation of the DMC in name and form created an indeterminate space both for the teachers and pupils; an in-between space of not-classroom, not-break-time, not-running and not-a-mile. This allowed the DMC to be completed when teachers could fit it into their teaching, which was not on a daily or a regular basis. This in-between negotiated space formed the overarching landscape of the DMC. For the teachers, promoting purpose through moving in an orderly fashion was characterised by looking-like the DMC. Within this end-in-view, the pupils had to find an acceptable way to take a moving break. Rather than address unfounded concerns about fitness and risks of obesity, the adoption of the DMC in this school has inadvertently highlighted an important need; for pupils to have an outside break from pressurised classroom performances and to have more opportunities for quality social interactions.
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Playing by white rules of racial equality: student athlete experiences of racism in British university sportInequalities related to racial identity are consistently reported across social institutions, not least education, and sport. These inequalities consistently challenge ‘post-race’ narratives that rationalise racism down to individual prejudices and poor decision-making. This paper presents part of the findings from a wider a twelve-month research project commissioned by British University and Colleges Sport (BUCS) to explore race equality. This wider research privileged the voices of non-White students and staff in an exploration of race and equality in British UK university sport. ‘Non-white’ was chosen as a race identifier to focus on Whiteness, the normalised, raceless power that reproduces itself both knowingly and unknowingly, to ensure racial ‘others’ remain subordinate. This paper presents the findings of the student voices. In this study a research team of academic and student researchers explored the experiences of 38 students across five universities. Generating case studies from each university, the data was analysed from an Intersectional and Critical Race Theory perspective. Two core themes relating to negotiating Whiteness were developed from the data analysis which reflected experiences of university sport as predominantly White spaces; ‘Play by the Rules’ and ‘Keep You Guessing’. Racial abuse was subtle, camouflaged in comments and actions that happened momentarily and hence were implausible to capture and evidence. For incidents to be addressed, evidence had to meet a ‘beyond doubt’ standard. Students were required to consciously negotiate racial bias and abuse to ensure they did not provide a justification for abuse. Navigating racialisation and stereotypes, plus White denial, was additional emotional labour for students. This mechanism of silencing the victim served to normalise racism for both the abused and perpetrator. The conclusion explores potential ways of disrupting these mechanisms of Whiteness in placing students’ welfare at the heart of university sport.
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Palestinian undergraduate learners’ foreign language classroom anxiety in online environmentsDespite foreign language classroom anxiety having been studied since the 1980s, there has been little research into this phenomenon in the context of online and blended learning environments. There is a clear need for this study as higher education becomes ever more adaptable, post-pandemic. The portfolio of methods for supporting teaching and learning is widening, with most institutions now offering online and hybrid modules and courses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of anxiety among Palestinian undergraduates learning the English language through online courses. This study also investigated the effects of gender variables (310 males and 1210 females) on foreign language classroom anxiety levels. We surveyed a random sample of 1520 undergraduate students from different universities in Palestine. We used the well-established Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale FLCAS (Horwitz et al., 1986; Horwitz, 2016), which is the most commonly-used measure of anxiety related to language learning. The findings of the study revealed that undergraduate learners experience anxiety when speaking with native speakers. Results indicate no significant differences in the students’ gender and foreign language classroom anxiety at universities. However, female learners were more anxious in language classrooms where the level of classroom anxiety was high. Finally, we offer tentative solutions for how tutors can support students experiencing foreign language anxiety.
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Exploring the journey and impact of advanced practice in care delivery for people with learning disabilities and/or autismBackground: Practitioners working in the field of learning disability and/or autism have seen their roles expand over the past several decades to promote and accommodate the complex needs of the population group. While the nuances and intricacies of working with this group of people may be less clearly defined, advanced practitioners are required to develop the roles in the field across the four pillars of clinical practice, leadership and management, education and research. Aim: This study aimed to review the published literature and explore, identify and describe the journey for practitioners towards advanced practice in learning disability and autism, as well as their impact on care delivery. Method: A scoping review approach was used to address the review question. The PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines was used as a structured format to report the review. Research question: What is the positionality, identity and impact of advanced practice for care delivery by advanced practitioners in learning disability and autism? Discussion: This scoping review is being designed to conceptualise the journey towards advanced practice, with a specific focus on learning disability and autism, exploring the impact on care delivery in this field of practice by advanced practitioners.
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'They tried to evil me': an explanatory model for Black Africans’ mental health challengesThis paper explores the explanatory models of mental challenges among Black Africans in England. It argues that understanding these models is critical for providing culturally appropriate care to this population. The study employed qualitative methodology, and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). 12 mental health service users who are living in England and self-identified as first or second-generation black Africans were purposively selected. The data was gathered using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data was manually analyzed in accordance with IPA concepts of searching for common, unique, and idiosyncratic themes across transcripts. The findings revealed three themes black Africans associated to their explanatory model of mental health challenges: complexities of migration, African-centred worldview, and negative life experiences. To help alleviate the Eurocentric nature of mental health practice in England, it is hoped that this explanatory model will become an integral part of mental health practice in the England and around the world.
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The effectiveness of project-based learning on improving the undergraduate students’ speaking skills through M-learningThis case study aimed to identify the lessons learned from using m- Learning in project-based learning as a potential to improve the oral skills of EFL students in a Language Use Course at a Palestinian university during the second semester of the academic year 2019/2020. Despite the sudden closure of universities due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers had to evaluate students’ oral proficiency in effective use of vocabulary and expressions found in the course, improvising daily life situations, with decent fluency and enjoyment. The participants were 97 (19 males and 78 females) EFL learners majoring English, who were enrolled in the Language Use course. The participants were assigned a project-based task to develop their speaking skill through collaborative projects that were submitted at the end of the course to evaluate their skills and performances. To achieve this objective, a project-based cycle (OMEGA-P) was developed, and semi-structured interviews via Messenger and WhatsApp were also administered with students. Findings showed impressive signs of creative outputs manifested in various skills. The findings also highlighted the effectiveness of using project-based experience as an approach to online ‘Discussion Sessions’ that provided a flexible and enjoyable learning environment, that enhanced students’ self-confidence through active involvement with real communicative situations with other students as well as with the teacher.
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Challenges in the management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) : Towards a compassionate approachRepresenting a growing ‘silent epidemic’, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects around 25–30% of the general population. Alarmingly, NAFLD increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, both independently and through its strong associations with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, whilst posing a substantial burden from an economic and health-related quality of life perspective. Moreover, growing evidence links NAFLD to common mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, and stress. In this context, recent clinical and research attention further focuses on potential additional problems faced by patients with NAFLD, such as perceived stigma, lack of awareness regarding the condition, and possible feelings of loneliness and isolation that might emerge from unmet support needs. To date, despite a wealth of literature on NAFLD, management of the condition remains challenging and not straightforward, with most cases in primary care being treated with lifestyle modification on top of any other comorbidity treatment. However, for many patients with NAFLD, weight loss is hard to accomplish and/or sustain (e.g., patients may lack the skills, confidence, and motivation required to adhere to dietary changes, and/or may have problems limiting opportunities for increased physical activity). Therefore, tailored interventions which are manageable from the perspective of the individual patient with NAFLD could glean greater results. Accordingly, although there is a lack of research exploring the potential benefits of person-centered and compassion-based approaches to the management of NAFLD, in the present review, we draw on evidence from methods utilized in the treatment of other chronic conditions in postulating the view that such approaches might prove beneficial in the future management of NAFLD.
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Brief online interventions to improve 5K runningAthletes and coaches strive to identify and learn to use interventions to enhance performance. The goal to be a competent user of psychological skills which aid performance is common among coaches and athletes. However, how frequently such skills are used and how they are learned is less well understood. Many athletes experience plateaus in performance despite efforts to improve, and as such are prime candidates to test interventions to enhance performance. To he present study investigate the effectiveness of learning brief psychological skills among athletes who competed in a weekly 5km time trial whose performances had plateaued. Participants (n = 7) volunteered to follow brief psychological skills training which involved watching brief videos on how to use one of self-talk, reappraisal, if-then plans, or a non-treatment condition, but in the context of the study represent receiving encouragement to mentally prepare. Data analysis compared intervention results with baseline data taken from 2 months of data before the intervention. Results Psychological skills usage associated with finishing 347.37m (p = .019) ahead of baseline. Post-race reflections indicated using psychological skills helped re-appraise fatigue. Findings offer encouraging data on encouraging runners to engage in mental preparation and that following brief psychological skills training is helpful, however, confirmatory research is needed with larger samples.
