Developing Disability Sport: The case for a critical pedagogy

As a key stakeholder in the development of physical culture and the promotion of inclusive practice, the university sector has the capacity to contribute extensively to expanding and enhancing provision for disability sport at the local, regional and global level.1-3 Such activity is, in part, predicated on nurturing students as critical practitioners able to challenge established patterns of thinking about disability and traditional models of activity provision. This criticality should inform approaches to programming and promotion of inclusive practice both as part of the university physical activity portfolio and in the practitioner’s subsequent work with local, regional and international stakeholders. It should also equip students to challenge the systemic inequities increasingly characteristic of competitive disability sport in local and global settings.4-6 This paper reports on a small scale action research project, which sought to explore the impact of one University’s adoption of a critical pedagogy approach to teaching and learning through a level 6 elective module. The research identified that placement learning provided an impetus for the students to engage in more critical reflection and the notion of a ‘lived experience’ through the range of elements of the module was essential in developing students’ ability to question and challenge established ways of working. It also considers implications for adopting critical pedagogic approaches to teaching and learning for students, academics and administration

Reframing Impairment? Continuity and Change in Media Representations of Disability through the Paralympic Games

This study, which examines key features of contemporary media representations of disabled athletes in the context of the Paralympic Games, engages with established literature on representations of disability in order to critically interpret recent trends in journalistic inquiry. The analysis of media coverage of the 2012 and 2014 Paralympic Games identifies salient themes concerning the representation of disability. This, along with an investigation of documentary evidence concerning attempts by key stakeholders including the International Paralympic Committee to influence the nature of representation, contributes to an interrogation of the disability narrative emerging from the Paralympic Games and a consideration of the extent to which media coverage has shifted significantly from previous representations of disability

Re-assessing sport-for-development: Moving beyond mapping the territory.

Over the past decade, as the efficacy of many development interventions was being challenged, sports-based development initiatives appeared to offer alternative conduits for addressing health, education and other developmental concerns. We have, over the past 5 years, contributed to an emerging body of literature, which has explored the rationale, structure and delivery frameworks underpinning this so-called sport-for-development movement. Commenting on the literature, Lindsey and Grattan are critical of the overt focus on ‘Northern’ actors engaged with sport-for-development programmes and postulate a ‘decentred’ approach (that encompasses a more nuanced understanding of ‘Southern voices’) thus broadening our comprehension of the development process. This article constitutes our response to Lindsey and Grattan's contentions, while also taking into account Darnell and Hayhurst's rejoinder, which advocates a refocusing on the global hegemony of key development actors and a critical analysis of Northern-led development initiatives. We argue that both papers make valuable contributions, promoting the theorizing of sport-for-development discourse through what are in many respects, methodologically rigorous complementary perspectives. Having examined the contribution of these two papers, we consider key issues that are likely to characterize the future trajectory of sport-for-development discourse thus taking the debate beyond ‘mapping the territory’. These issues include the power relations in sport-for-development; the evolving contribution of sports INGOs as key actors in sport-for-development; and the challenge of evaluating development processes. This article highlights the importance of engaging with the established mainstream development discourse that provides an extensive body of theory through which to construct a critical assessment of sport-for-development. This is evident, for example, in contending theories relating to the process of evaluating the impact of development interventions. This article concludes by highlighting the importance of listening to the voices of all stakeholders involved in the sport-for-development process if the significance of such interventions is to be fully understood

Re-thinking sport and physical activity: management responses to policy change

Purpose and scope This special issue contributes to a critical understanding of the challenges key stakeholders across the globe encounter as they seek to manage periods of transition brought about by public policy change relating to the provision of sport and physical activity. Such challenges have, for example, characterised work across the UK where policy change and subsequent strategic responses have been predicated on an alternative vision for the development of an active nation through engagement with broader physical culture. This engagement typically requires established stakeholders across sports sector to operate as part of a new configuration of actors where partnerships are encouraged with a range of public, private and third sector organisations. In the UK the government's sport strategy A sporting future; A new strategy for an active nation (2015), which has promoted concerns for wellbeing, is reflected variously in physical activity, community development, public health, education and environmental agendas. Seeking a wider range of outcomes through sport-based interventions and establishment of partnerships with non-sport sectors is characteristic of policy aspirations internationally (e.g. Grix & Carmichael, 2012; Kumar et al., 2018; Lyras & Welty-Peachey, 2011; Mansfield, 2016; Skinner, Zakus, & Cowell, 2008; Trendafilova, Ziakas, & Sparvero, 2017; Weed, 2016; Weed et al., 2015; Ziakas, 2015). This special issue, triggered by the thematic problematics emerging from the UK Sport Development Network (UKSDN) 2017 conference, seeks to uncover the global challenges in terms of managing the re-orientation of stakeholder activities and organisational strategies in response to re-alignments of sport policy. The resulting collection of papers in the special issue constitutes a balanced synthesis of contributions from those present at the conference and from academics and practitioners who form part of the wider global sport and leisure management research community

Probing the Soft X-ray Properties and Multi-Wavelength Variability of SN2023ixf and its Progenitor

We present a detailed analysis of nearly two decades of optical/UV and X-ray data to study the multi-wavelength pre-explosion properties and post-explosion X-ray properties of nearby SN2023ixf located in M101. We find no evidence of precursor activity in the optical to UV down to a luminosity of $\lesssim 7\times10^{4}\, \rm L_{\odot}$, while X-ray observations covering nearly 18 years prior to explosion show no evidence of luminous precursor X-ray emission down to an absorbed 0.3 - 10.0 keV X-ray luminosity of $\sim6\times10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Extensive Swift observations taken post-explosion did not detect soft X-ray emission from SN2023ixf within the first $\sim$3.3 days after first light, which suggests a mass-loss rate for the progenitor of $\lesssim5\times10^{-4}\,\rm M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ or a radius of $\lesssim4\times10^{15}$ cm for the circumstellar material. Our analysis also suggests that if the progenitor underwent a mass-loss episode, this had to occur $>$ 0.5 - 1.5 years prior to explosion, consistent with previous estimates. Swift detected soft X-rays from SN2023ixf $\sim4.25$ days after first light, and it rose to a peak luminosity of $\sim10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$ after 10 days and has maintained this luminosity for nearly 50 days post first light. This peak luminosity is lower than expected, given the evidence that SN2023ixf is interacting with dense material. However, this might be a natural consequence of an asymmetric circumstellar medium. X-ray spectra derived from merging all Swift observations over the first 50 days are best described by a two-component bremsstrahlung model consisting of a heavily absorbed and hotter component similar to that found using NuSTAR, and a less-absorbed, cooler component. We suggest that this soft component arises from cooling of the forward shock similar to that found in Type IIn SN2010jl.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figure

Catching Element Formation In The Act

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation. The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide set of astrophysical questions.Comment: 14 pages including 3 figure

Search for 511 keV Emission in Satellite Galaxies of the Milky Way with INTEGRAL/SPI

Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics. © 2018 ESO.The positron annihilation gamma-ray signal in the Milky Way (MW) shows a puzzling morphology: a very bright bulge and a very low surface-brightness disk. A coherent explanation of the positron origin, propagation through the Galaxy and subsequent annihilation in the interstellar medium has not yet been found. Tentative explanations involve positrons from radioactivity, X-ray binaries, and dark matter (DM). Dwarf satellite galaxies (DSGs) are believed to be DM-dominated and hence promising candidates in the search for 511 keV emission as a result of DM annihilation into electron-positron pairs. The goal of this study is to constrain possible 511 keV gamma-ray signals from 39 DSGs of the MW and to test the annihilating DM scenario. We use the spectrometer SPI on INTEGRAL to extract individual spectra for the studied objects. As the diffuse galactic emission dominates the signal, the large scale morphology of the MW has been modelled accordingly and was included in a maximum likelihood analysis. Alternatively, a distance-weighted stacked spectrum has been determined. Only Reticulum II (Ret II) shows a 3.1 sigma signal. Five other sources show tentative 2 sigma signals. The mass-to-511-keV-luminosity-ratio shows a marginal trend towards higher values for intrinsically brighter objects, opposite to the V band mass-to-light-ratio, which is generally used to uncover DM in DSGs. All derived flux values are above the level implied by a DM interpretation of the MW bulge signal. The signal from Ret II is unlikely to be related to a DM origin alone, otherwise, the MW bulge would be about 100 times brighter than what is seen. Ret II is exceptional considering the DSG sample, and rather points to enhanced recent star formation activity, if its origins are similar to processes in the MW. Understanding this emission may provide further clues regarding the origin of the annihilation emission in the MW.Peer reviewe

Catching Element Formation In The Act

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation. The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide set of astrophysical questions

Catching element formation in the act

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation. The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide set of astrophysical questions