Critical issues in recent developments in Reformational philosophy: a perspective1

Although the present is a time of great opportunity for Reformational thinking and activity, some Reformational philosophers are proposing a reconstruction of the tradition at the foundational level. Consequently, the present can also he seen as a time of crisis for the tradition as a whole. Proposed shifts are examined in the foundational areas of creation order, the antithesis and the authority of Scripture. These shifts are related to understandings of our context and thus the nature of modernity/postmodernity and its connection to these shifts also receives attention

Reading Ecclesiastes : Old Testament exegesis and hermeneutical theory.

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Promoting healthy eating in pregnancy: What kind of support services do women say they want?

Aim: To identify characteristics of the services and support women want to enable them to eat healthily during pregnancy to make a potential future service acceptable to this population. Background: An unhealthy diet during pregnancy may have a significant influence on pregnancy outcome, either directly through nutrient deficiencies or indirectly through maternal weight gain. Many pregnant women in the United Kingdom gain too much weight in pregnancy, and this weight gain may lead to an increased risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and having an obese child. Thus, there is a need for interventions aimed at improving healthy eating in pregnancy. It is crucial in developing successful interventions to understand how participation can be maximised by optimising intervention acceptability. Methods: Four focus groups were conducted; two with prenatal women (n = 9) and two with postnatal women (n = 14). Discussion focused on identifying relevant characteristics of a service targeting prenatal and postnatal women's eating to ensure that a future service was acceptable to the women. Findings: The participants’ responses were clustered into three broad themes: (1) early information leading to routine formation of healthier eating habits, (2) the delivery of practical sessions to increase information and (3) health professionals providing support and signposting to services. The participants reported wanting a practical service held in a convenient location, preferably led by women who have been pregnant themselves. The participants also reported wanting to be offered this service in pregnancy to help them get into a routine before they gave birth. Several suggestions for how this service should be marketed were mentioned, including through midwives and the internet. This research provides practical information for how to design support for prenatal women to increase their knowledge and practical skills regarding eating healthily during their pregnancy

Elementary School Staff Perspectives On the Implementation of Physical activity approaches in Practice: an Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study

INTRODUCTION: A whole-of-school approach is best to promote physical activity before, during, and after school. However, multicomponent programming is often complex and difficult to deliver in school settings. There is a need to better understand how components of a whole-of-school approach are implemented in practice. The objectives of this mixed methods study were to: (1) qualitatively explore physical activity approaches and their implementation in elementary schools, (2) quantitatively assess implementation levels, and (3) examine associations between school-level physical activity promotion and academic ratings. METHODS: We used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with elementary school staff from a Texas school district and used a directed content analysis to explore physical activity approaches and their implementation. Using qualitative findings, we designed a survey to quantitatively examine the implementation of physical activity approaches, which we distributed to elementary staff district wide. We used Pearson correlation coefficients to examine the association between the amount of physical activity opportunities present in individual schools and school-level academic ratings. RESULTS: We completed 15 interviews (7 principals/assistant principals, 4 physical educators, and 4 classroom teachers). Elementary school teachers and staff indicated PE and recess implementation was driven from the top-down by state and district policies, while implementation of classroom-based approaches, before and after school programming, and active transport were largely driven from the bottom-up by teachers and school leaders. Teachers and staff also discussed implementation challenges across approaches. Survey respondents ( CONCLUSION: Schools provided physical activity opportunities consistent with a whole-of-school approach, although there was variability between schools and implementation challenges were present. Leveraging existing school assets while providing school-specific implementation strategies may be most beneficial for supporting successful physical activity promotion in elementary schools

Observed and Perceived Benefits of Providing Physical Activity Opportunities in Elementary Schools: A Qualitative Study

INTRODUCTION: Schools play an important role in promoting physical activity for youth. However, school-based physical activity opportunities often compete with other academic priorities, limiting their implementation. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore elementary school teacher and staff perspectives on providing physical activity opportunities and how they impact students and learning. METHODS: We partnered with a school district in Texas to conduct semi-structured individual interviews. We used a purposeful sampling approach to recruit elementary teachers and staff knowledgeable about the physical activity opportunities provided at their school. Interviews included questions about participant opinions of providing physical activity opportunities and the types of opportunities provided. We analyzed data using a directed content analysis and iterative categorization approach. RESULTS: Fifteen participants (4 teachers, 4 physical education teachers, 3 assistant principals, and 4 principals) completed interviews from 10 elementary schools. Participants discussed observed and perceived benefits when providing physical activity opportunities, which emerged into four themes and subthemes: (1) academic benefits (learning readiness, learning engagement, and academic performance); (2) social-emotional benefits (behavior, interpersonal and social skills, and classroom culture); (3) physical benefits (brain health, skill development, physical health); and (4) instructional benefits (quality teaching time, helpful teaching tools, and teacher-student relationships). CONCLUSIONS: Teachers and staff observed numerous benefits when students had opportunities to be physically active, including the positive impact on academic and social-emotional outcomes. Our findings highlight the alignment of physical activity with other school priorities. Physical activity programming can be used in ways to support academics, learning, behavior, and other important outcomes

Quality deer management in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Beware of your teaching style: A school-year long investigation of controlling teaching and student motivational experiences

Relatively little research drawing from self-determination theory has examined the links between controlling teaching environments and student motivation. To this end, two longitudinal studies were conducted to explore how students’ perceptions of controlling teaching behavior and experiences of psychological need frustration were associated with a number of motivation-related outcomes over a school year. Multilevel growth modelling indicated that changes in perceptions of controlling teaching positively related to changes in need frustration across the school year (Studies 1 & 2) which, in turn, negatively related to autonomous motivation and positively related to controlled motivation and amotivation in Study 1 (N = 419); and positively related to fear of failure, contingent self-worth, and challenge avoidance in Study 2 (N = 447). Significant indirect effects also supported the mediating role of need frustration. These findings reinforce the need for research on the negative motivational pathways which link controlling teaching to poor quality student motivation. Implications for teacher training are discussed

Cost and feasibility: an exploratory case study comparing use of a literature review method with questionnaires, interviews and focus groups to identify barriers for a behaviour-change intervention

Background: It is often recommended that behaviour-change interventions be tailored to barriers. There is a scarcity of research into the best method of barrier identification, although combining methods has been suggested to be beneficial. This paper compares the feasibility and costs of three different methods of barrier identification used in three implementation projects conducted in primary care. Methods: Underpinned by a theory-base, project one used a questionnaire and interviews; project two used a single focus group and questionnaire, and project three used a literature review of published barriers. The feasibility of each project, as experienced by the research team, and labour costs are summarised. Results: The literature review of published barriers was the least costly and most feasible method, being quick to conduct and avoiding the challenges of recruitment experienced when using interviews or a questionnaire. The feasibility of using questionnaires was further reduced by the time taken develop the instruments. Conducting a single focus group was also found to be a more feasible method, taking less time than interviews to collect and analyse the barriers. Conclusions: Considering the ease of recruitment, time required and cost of the different methods to collect barriers is crucial at the start of implementation studies. The literature review method is the least costly and most feasible method. Use of a single focus group was found to be more feasible than conducting individual interviews or administering a questionnaire, with less recruitment challenges experienced, and quicker data collection. Future research would benefit from comparing the robustness of the methods in terms of the comprehensiveness of barriers identified