To Freire or not to Freire : educational freedom and the populist right‐wing 'Escola sem Partido' movement in Brazil

This article addresses key topics of academic freedom and critical pedagogy during a time of right‐wing populist politics. The rise of the far‐right politician Jair Bolsonaro to Brazil’s presidency in 2019 was accompanied by a vow to eradicate any vestige of the ideas of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire from the country’s schools. Bolsonaro’s campaign was supported by ultra‐conservative groups that have as their core mission a traditional Christian and anti‐Communist educational agenda. At the forefront of these groups is the influential and conspicuous ‘Escola sem Partido’ (ESP) movement that has forcefully campaigned against Freire’s critical pedagogy across the country and promoted physical and online abuse of teachers since 2014. This article asks how Freire’s philosophies can be an ally in the struggle for democratic education in the current political climate in Brazil. It employs a method of dialogical narrative to bring Freire’s theories and critical methodology to life and test their potency against the ESP educational philosophies. It initially employs Freire’s core ideas to examine the ESP policies and parliamentary bills. In the second part, it analyses documents and online content produced by civil society resistance to ESP pressures. The findings show the vitality of Freire’s pedagogical philosophy to empower oppressed communities in their demands for quality education. The narrative concludes by demonstrating the vital role of the critical consciousness process and of Freire’s pedagogy of freedom to support ongoing struggles by teachers and communities to block ESP attempts to abolish critical thinking in Brazilian public education

The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup: Human Rights Legacy and Impact for the Australian Grassroots Sports Gender Equity Agenda: A Pilot Study

The UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) unequivocally confirms in its article 10, that State parties will take all appropriate measures to ensure women equal rights of men in the field of education, and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women that boys and girls should have 'the same opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical education' (CEDAW, article 10, item (g) ). As Australia co-hosts the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, the aim of this study was to investigate the gender equity legacy and impact of the sport mega event in the country's grassroots football organizations. The researchers asked whether the emphasis on gender equity of the 2023 FIFA Women's football World Cup bid would be translated within the anti-bulling policies and frameworks of grassroots football organizations in NSW. The project conducted a documentary analysis of all anti-bulling and harassment policies, procedures and frameworks published by major NSW football organizations to investigate whether there were specific policies/procedures targeted to protect and empower women and girls within the game. The findings disclosed that a) There was a 'blind spot' within the policies, codes, frameworks and procedures examined; b) while there was some focus on child safety, there was no mention of women and girls; c) the documents did not acknowledge existing problems with bullying and harassment of women and girls in the sport, nor engage with effective actions to affect culture change; d) there is a naïve perception that the increased number of women in leadership roles within clubs and associations was an effective deterrent against discrimination and harassment towards women and girls in the sport

Women's tennis diplomacy : Australia-China cultural relations and Li Na as a sports celebrity diplomat of the Australian Open

Mega sports events offer chances for hosting nations to build up their soft power by branding their countries as vibrant, confident and unique places, opening doors for strong cultural exchanges. This paper addresses key questions of cultural diplomacy in international sporting events contexts and furthers the analysis of the growing relevance of ‘women’s tennis diplomacy’. By examining Tennis Australia’s diplomatic strategy to raise its profile in neighbouring countries with the Australian Open Asia-Pacific campaign, this study adopts the alternative perspective of non-state-based sports diplomacy. It particularly examines the diplomatic role of Li Na, the Chinese female tennis player who has become a global sports celebrity after being the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam women’s singles title in 2011. It asks whether Li Na can be named as a sports celebrity diplomat of the Australian Open. By using a content analysis of significant Australian and Chinese newspapers between 2006 and 2019, this study examines Li Na’s global celebrityhood’s impact in the Australia–China binational connections. This analysis discusses the reasons for her success in this unofficial but relevant role for the cultural relations between Australia and China. The findings suggest that Li Na’s gender image as an independent woman, her neoliberal citizenship and her remarkable engagement with Australian and Chinese tennis fans facilitate her unofficial ambassadorship on behalf of the Australian Open. As a remarkable example of women’s tennis diplomacy, Li Na’s cultural influence shapes the understanding between Australian and Chinese publics beyond their governments

Forecasting Rainfall Distribution Based on Deseasonalising Fuzzy Time Series Model

Rainfall prediction is an essential process to reduce loss of lives and properties. However, the accuracy of this prediction has been of many concerns in literature. Therefore, this paper proposed a model of rainfall prediction based on deseasonalising data and fuzzy time series concept. The historical data of rainfall distribution were collected from Drainage and Irrigation Department, Perlis Malaysia between January 2000 and December 2013. These data were analysed in order to determine the seasonal components using fuzzy time series as a medium. The study made use of deseasonalising rainfall data by employing fuzzy time series model in order to forecast the rainfall distribution. The model performance was evaluated by using statistical criteria of Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). The obtained result was compared with several forecasting models in literature and it was found to be more accurate than others. Hence, this study demonstrates that fuzzy time series model is more suitable for the accurate prediction of rainfall distributions

(Digital competencies, curriculum and physical education teacher Education)

The text aims to identify themes related to digital competences in Physical Education teacher training proposals in three countries. By content analysis, statements about media and technology in curricular documents from three higher education courses in Physical Education in Australia, Brazil and New Zealand are categorized according to theoretical frameworks of digital skills for UNESCO and European Union teachers. The categories of “Uses of technology in the didactic field” and “Promotion of pedagogical aspects” are the most explored. New Zealand and Australia’s proposals cover all the dimensions discussed, in contrast to the Brazilian one. It defends an organic articulation of the methodological, critical and productive dimensions of media-education in teacher educatio

Neurodevelopmental risk factors in schizophrenia

The authors review environmental and neurodevelopmental risk factors for schizophrenic disorders, with emphasis on minor physical anomalies, particularly craniofacial anomalies and dermatoglyphic variations. The high prevalence of these anomalies among schizophrenic subjects supports the neurodevelopmental theory of the etiology of schizophrenia, since they suggest either genetically or epigenetically controlled faulty embryonic development of structures of ectodermal origin like brain and skin. This may disturb neurodevelopment that in turn may cause these subjects to be at increased risk for the development of schizophrenia and related disorders. The precise confirmation of this theory, at least in some cases, will provide further understanding of these illnesses, allowing easy and inexpensive identification of subjects at risk and providing guidelines for the development of new pharmacological interventions for early treatment and even for primary prevention of the illness