Documents found
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3731.More information
The main aim of the present study was to identify motor difficulties in Greek preschoolers. Secondary aims were to identify possible differences in prevalence of motor difficulties related to gender, age, body mass index, place of residence, and hand preference. 302 preschoolers were assessed using the first age band (3–6 years) of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2nd edition). The results showed high prevalence of significant (12.3%) and moderate (12.3%) motor difficulties in preschool children. Moreover, gender, age, BMI, residence, and hand preference effects showed no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) and need further consideration among preschool children. However, there was evidence that some differences may exist between boys and girls, 4- and 5-year-old children, children with high and typical body mass index, children living in rural or urban areas, and right and left-handed children, regarding the occurrence of motor difficulties. These findings highlighted the need for early assessment in domains of motor development, such as hand dexterity, ball skills and balance in order for developmentally appropriate preschool physical education programs to be applied, with the aim to help preschoolers improve their difficulties and be physically active later in life.
Keywords: motor skills, motricité, trouble de la coordination du développement (DCD), Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), batterie d'évaluation du mouvement pour les enfants (2e édition ; MABC-2), Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2nd edition; MABC-2), ball skills, habiletés avec le ballon, hand dexterity, dextérité manuelle, balance, équilibre
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3732.More information
The widespread adoption of mobile phone and other location-tracking devices, and the enormous amounts of data they produce, has provided municipalities with the opportunity to automate previously time-consuming and labour-intensive data collection processes. Municipal planners, in particular, have begun to integrate the aggregated data sets of private urban technology platforms into active transportation and broader infrastructure planning initiatives. To date, however, there has been limited research on the implications of this integration for municipal decision-making and governance processes. Using the Strava Metro data stream and its free-access model as a case study, this paper explores both the motivations behind municipal adoption of the Strava platform and the benefits that accrue from its usage. Through the application of a mixed methods approach, including the building of a use case database via a search of internet and academic literature sources and qualitative interviews with municipal planning staff, our research examines how Strava data is used to support the work of municipal planners and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of that use. Our study finds that Strava Metro data aided municipal staff in the planning of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, complementing available in-house data sets; helped spur new active transportation initiatives; and enabled innovation and professional curiosity on the part of planners. The paper concludes by exploring the ramifications of Strava data for community wellness and broader public realm improvements, as well as extending a discussion with respect to the platform’s sociodemographic representativeness and related limitations.
Keywords: Données, Data, plateformisation, platformization, évolution de la technologie, evolving technology, Strava, Strava
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3735.More information
Music plays many important roles in language revitalization, from attracting learners and fostering speech communities to supporting language learning. These effects, however, are largely independent from the skills which linguists bring to language revitalization. This study introduces one concrete way in which applied linguistics can directly support musical language revitalization with UTAUloids – speech-and-music software synthesizers – illustrated through the creation of a Cherokee UTAUloid as part of ancestral language reclamation by a learner-linguist Cherokee Nation citizen. Through their focus on “massive collaboration,” low-resource music production, and youth involvement, UTAUloids are uniquely situated to serve as instruments for language revitalization. Even the act of creating an UTAUloid itself allows speakers and learners who may not consider themselves “musical” to contribute to musical language revitalization, and this study provides a step-by-step methodology to make creating an UTAUloid as accessible as possible for anyone interested in incorporating music into their own language revitalization practice.
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3736.More information
In most French-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa, environmental conservation areas are largely the legacy of colonial occupation. For more recent protected areas, their conceptualization, establishment and management programs are almost exclusively carried out by international players, in more or less close collaboration with national authorities, and with varying degrees of consultation and integration of local communities living in or near these environmental spaces. Presented as international development projects, these protected areas are for the most part created ex nihilo, and are only weakly integrated into the territories and their socio-environmental, political and economic structures. This introduction to the thematic issue provides a non-exhaustive synthesis of the literature on protected areas, environmental conflicts and the prospects for community integration and management by and for riparian communities. It examines how, on the one hand, the endogenous environmental, social and political norms and practices of riparian communities can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and, on the other, how their integration into the management processes of natural protected areas can help strengthen environmental conservation programs and the appropriation of the environmental services they can provide.
Keywords: aires naturelles protégées, conflits environnementaux, droit de l’environnement, droit endogène de l’environnement, gestion participative, communautés riveraines, Afrique subsaharienne, protected natural areas, environmental conflicts, environmental law, endogenous environmental law, participatory management, riparian communities, sub-saharan africa
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3737.More information
This article highlights an organisational system designed to achieve two main objectives: firstly, to improve and prevent mental health problems in the workplace by empowering teaching staff individually and collectively to influence the organisation of work in their school, and secondly, to take transformative action on the constraints arising from the organisation of work that generates risky work situations for teaching staff. This article focuses on a case study and presents the implementation of the organisational system in a specific school. It describes the architecture and framework of the system, the players involved and their respective roles and describes and assesses the implementation process and the results observed.
Keywords: Mental health at work, Santé mentale au travail, organizational intervention, intervention organisationelle, evaluation, évaluation, milieux scolaires, school environments, work organization, organisation du travail
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3738.More information
The bureaucratic precepts engendered by modern universities produce a slew of negative effects inimical to educational justice. Drawing on historiographical evidence from the 1968 Strax Affair, a little-known protest held at the University of New Brunswick, we identify the arts of discombobulation as a novel approach to challenge the intellectual constraints imposed by university bureaucracies. By theorizing the arts of discombobulation, we aim to counteract bureaucracy’s most alienating affective residues, equipping scholars with an administrative arsenal capable of transforming the corporate academy into a playful, joyful environment. Inspired by cultural historian Johan Huizinga’s theory of the “play-function,” we introduce five interrelated tactics—burlesque versions of both formal and informal administrative practices—that amplify the contradictions inherent to the corporate academy’s contemporary bureaucratic structure: personalization, befuddlement, signal jamming, mapping, and abeyance. Even during moments of Kafkaesque bureaucratic defeat, discombobulation can generate a sense of heightened play necessary to fuel democratic resistance.
Keywords: universities, bureaucracy, resistance, discombobulation, play
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3739.More information
The overarching objective of this study is to become more closely attuned to the politics of curriculum by identifying the discursive practices employed by governments to position curricular reform. In particular, this analysis aims to show how the twinning of neoliberalism and neoconservatism has served to justify shifts in curriculum at three North American sites in recent years. Further, using rhetorical analysis as a form of critical discourse analysis, the study demonstrates how discursive tools are used to advance neoliberal and neoconservative values under the guise of a taken-for-granted sense of education’s purpose and role. Rather than an analysis of curriculum documents as texts, this study focuses on government rhetoric describing the rationale for curricular reform so as to better recognize which values are gaining formal power, offer clarity into what is oppressed or ignored, and, ultimately, provide insights into where resistance might be aimed.
Keywords: neoliberalism, neoconservatism, curricular reform
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3740.More information
This study explored the pedagogical strategies employed by grade 12, life-sciences teachers in township schools to teach complex concepts, such as genetics and meiosis, using improvised teaching resources. Resource constraints in South African township schools often limit learners’ access to traditional teaching materials and technologies. In response, this research examined how teachers adapt and innovate their methods to effectively convey abstract life-sciences concepts. An embedded mixed-methods design was utilized, with a purposive sample of four life-sciences teachers from diverse township schools, selected to reflect varied teaching experiences and resource availability. Data was collected through interviews and classroom observations, offering insights into their instructional practices. Thematic analysis of interview data and systematic observation of classroom activities revealed a range of creative and adaptive pedagogical approaches. Instructors commonly adopted collaborative, learner-centred, and inquiry-based teaching methods. They employed creative strategies, including designing hands-on activities, using analogies, and incorporating real-life examples to enhance learners’ understanding. Collaboration among teachers and the use of community resources also emerged as key strategies for enriching the learning experience. The findings underscore the resilience and ingenuity of grade 12, life-sciences teachers in overcoming resource constraints to create effective educational environments. This study contributes to the understanding of the interplay between pedagogy and resource availability in underserved educational settings, providing valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and curriculum developers aiming to enhance science education in resource-limited contexts.
Keywords: teaching approaches, Teaching Strategies, pedagogical content knowledge, under-resourced schools, genetics, meiosis, township schools