Interdisciplinary Teaching in Physical Education

The interdisciplinary approach has risen in the modern curricula as it is considered an important and challenging technique. Physical education is a prime content area for interdisciplinary learning. In order to integrate different subject areas into Physical Education lessons, the specialist needs to learn more about the academic curriculum. Integrating core subjects with physical activity can easily be done and can be very beneficial to student learners in all levels of Education. A great effort is done in addition to be integrated with other subjects. Over the last twenty years there have been frequent internal changes at international level, which also affect pre-school curricula. This trend has been intensified in recent years, with unprecedented mobility being observed, to the point of demanding a fundamental reform of the educational mission of the kindergarten.  An interdisciplinary approach has been at the core of attention in primary and secondary school education recently. In this approach, teachers collaborate to invent and apply more effective means of teaching by associating the subjects and activities of a school subject in the curriculum with other subjects. The basic aim and purpose is to cultivate skills and values such as cooperatives, flexibility, adaptability, solidarity, but above all to provide basic knowledge, exploration, classification, selection, evaluation, resolution, and observation

Satisfacción laboral y burnout de los profesores de la educación física en Grecia

The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences and relations in Physical Education (P.E.) teachers’ perceived job satisfaction and burnout, in relation to educational sector (private vs public), educational level (primary vs secondary) and gender. Two hundred and eighty two P.E. teachers, aged from 24 to 65 years old (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), both from elementary and secondary schools, participated in the study. One hundred of them served in private schools and 182 in public ones. Their working exprerience ranged from one to 37 years (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). The Employee Satisfaction Inventory (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997) was employed to assess job satisfaction. For the measurement of burnout, Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), which has been validated for the Greek population, was used. The results revealed a negative relationship between job satisfaction and burnout. Private sector P.E. teachers seem to experience higher job satisfaction and lower burnout compared to their public sector colleagues. Furthermore, P.E. teachers who serve both in elementary and secondary schools, appear to experience higher job satisfaction. Finally, secondary P.E. teachers seem to experience lower burnout compared to their primary education colleagues. No statistically significant differences were found in relation to gender for both job satisfaction and burnout. Overall, it seems that P.E. teachers who work in private schools and/or in secondary education seem to be more satisfied and less burned-out. Implications of the aforementioned observed relationships are discussed.El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar las posibles diferencias y relaciones en la Educación Física (EF) con respecto a la percibida satisfacción laboral y el burnout de los profesores de la EF en relación con el sector de la educación (privado versus público), nivel educativo (primario versus secundario) y género. 282 profesores de la EF participaron en el estudio, con edades entre 24 y 65 años (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), tanto de escuelas primarias que de secundarias, 100 siendo de las escuelas privadas y 182 de las públicas. Su experiencia de trabajo varía de uno a 37 años (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). Para la evaluación de la satisfacción laboral se empleó el Inventario de Satisfacción del Empleado (ESI) (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997). Para la medición del burnout, se utilizó el Inventario Maslach Burnout (MBI) (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), que también ha sido validado para la población griega. Los resultados revelaron una relación negativa entre la satisfacción laboral y el burnout. Los profesores de la EF trabajando en las escuelas privadas parecen experimentar mayor satisfacción en el trabajo y menor burnouten comparación con suis colleges del sector público. Además, los profesores de EF trabajando en el mismo tiempo en las escuelas primarias y secundarias, parecen experimentar mayor satisfacción laboral, mientras que los de la secundaria parecen experimentar menor burnout. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en relación con el género, tanto para la satisfacción como para el burnout. Sobre la base de los resultados anteriormente mencionados, resulta que los profesores de EF que trabajan en escuelas privadas o en la educación secundaria parecen estar más satisfechos y menos “desgastados”.Actividad Física y Deport

Satisfacción laboral y burnout de los profesores de la educación física en Grecia

The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences and relations in Physical Education (P.E.) teachers’ perceived job satisfaction and burnout, in relation to educational sector (private vs public), educational level (primary vs secondary) and gender. Two hundred and eighty two P.E. teachers, aged from 24 to 65 years old (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), both from elementary and secondary schools, participated in the study. One hundred of them served in private schools and 182 in public ones. Their working exprerience ranged from one to 37 years (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). The Employee Satisfaction Inventory (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997) was employed to assess job satisfaction. For the measurement of burnout, Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), which has been validated for the Greek population, was used. The results revealed a negative relationship between job satisfaction and burnout. Private sector P.E. teachers seem to experience higher job satisfaction and lower burnout compared to their public sector colleagues. Furthermore, P.E. teachers who serve both in elementary and secondary schools, appear to experience higher job satisfaction. Finally, secondary P.E. teachers seem to experience lower burnout compared to their primary education colleagues. No statistically significant differences were found in relation to gender for both job satisfaction and burnout. Overall, it seems that P.E. teachers who work in private schools and/or in secondary education seem to be more satisfied and less burned-out. Implications of the aforementioned observed relationships are discussed.El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar las posibles diferencias y relaciones en la Educación Física (EF) con respecto a la percibida satisfacción laboral y el burnout de los profesores de la EF en relación con el sector de la educación (privado versus público), nivel educativo (primario versus secundario) y género. 282 profesores de la EF participaron en el estudio, con edades entre 24 y 65 años (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), tanto de escuelas primarias que de secundarias, 100 siendo de las escuelas privadas y 182 de las públicas. Su experiencia de trabajo varía de uno a 37 años (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). Para la evaluación de la satisfacción laboral se empleó el Inventario de Satisfacción del Empleado (ESI) (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997). Para la medición del burnout, se utilizó el Inventario Maslach Burnout (MBI) (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), que también ha sido validado para la población griega. Los resultados revelaron una relación negativa entre la satisfacción laboral y el burnout. Los profesores de la EF trabajando en las escuelas privadas parecen experimentar mayor satisfacción en el trabajo y menor burnouten comparación con suis colleges del sector público. Además, los profesores de EF trabajando en el mismo tiempo en las escuelas primarias y secundarias, parecen experimentar mayor satisfacción laboral, mientras que los de la secundaria parecen experimentar menor burnout. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en relación con el género, tanto para la satisfacción como para el burnout. Sobre la base de los resultados anteriormente mencionados, resulta que los profesores de EF que trabajan en escuelas privadas o en la educación secundaria parecen estar más satisfechos y menos “desgastados”.Actividad Física y Deport

Acculturation through sport: different contexts different meanings

Research on the role of sport as a social integrative agent for migrants has provided equivocal results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between ethnic–cultural identity and sport environmental factors. Young migrant male athletes from two different societal and sport contexts were studied: migrants from Eastern European countries living in Greece (n = 60) and from Latin America living in Spain (n = 60). Participants completed measures of ethnic and cultural identity, task-oriented motivational climate, and autonomy-supportive coaching behaviour. Analysis of variance revealed that Eastern European inhabitants of Greece scored higher on fringe and assimilation, and lower on lack of interaction compared to Latin American inhabitants of Spain. In addition, for the former group, a mastery motivational climate and autonomy-supportive coaching predicted an integrative identity, whereas for the latter group, the motivational environment did not predict acculturation patterns. The results suggest that sport may serve different acculturation purposes, thus explaining to a degree the lack of consistent results regarding the integrative role of sport. The study provides preliminary support for the importance of the sport motivational environment for the facilitation of integration

The IDENTIFY study: the investigation and detection of urological neoplasia in patients referred with suspected urinary tract cancer - a multicentre observational study

Objective To evaluate the contemporary prevalence of urinary tract cancer (bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer [UTUC] and renal cancer) in patients referred to secondary care with haematuria, adjusted for established patient risk markers and geographical variation. Patients and Methods This was an international multicentre prospective observational study. We included patients aged ≥16 years, referred to secondary care with suspected urinary tract cancer. Patients with a known or previous urological malignancy were excluded. We estimated the prevalence of bladder cancer, UTUC, renal cancer and prostate cancer; stratified by age, type of haematuria, sex, and smoking. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust cancer prevalence for age, type of haematuria, sex, smoking, hospitals, and countries. Results Of the 11 059 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 896 were included from 110 hospitals across 26 countries. The overall adjusted cancer prevalence (n = 2257) was 28.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.3–34.1), bladder cancer (n = 1951) 24.7% (95% CI 19.1–30.2), UTUC (n = 128) 1.14% (95% CI 0.77–1.52), renal cancer (n = 107) 1.05% (95% CI 0.80–1.29), and prostate cancer (n = 124) 1.75% (95% CI 1.32–2.18). The odds ratios for patient risk markers in the model for all cancers were: age 1.04 (95% CI 1.03–1.05; P < 0.001), visible haematuria 3.47 (95% CI 2.90–4.15; P < 0.001), male sex 1.30 (95% CI 1.14–1.50; P < 0.001), and smoking 2.70 (95% CI 2.30–3.18; P < 0.001). Conclusions A better understanding of cancer prevalence across an international population is required to inform clinical guidelines. We are the first to report urinary tract cancer prevalence across an international population in patients referred to secondary care, adjusted for patient risk markers and geographical variation. Bladder cancer was the most prevalent disease. Visible haematuria was the strongest predictor for urinary tract cancer

Povezanost emocija i samopouzdanja u grčkih sportaša iz različitih sportova

Emotional relationships are crucial for an accurate prediction and control of the impact of emotions on athletic performance. The Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) model attempts to describe and explain emotions related to individually successful and poor performances (Hanin, 1997, 2000). The participants were 617 Greek athletes (424 males and 190 females) from five different sports. Their ages ranged from 18 to 30 years (M=24.30, SD=3.70). All athletes completed the questionnaire on emotions (IZOF, Hanin, 2000), which was translated into Greek (Hanin, Papaioannou & Lukkarila, 2001). The aim of the study was the examination of a possible relationship between emotions and confidence and among different competitive sports in Greece. The results supported the good psychometric properties of the assessment tool. Additionally, the results indicated statistically significant differences among sports in almost all the questionnaire variables: (a) in optimal-pleasant emotions swimmers had higher scores than Graeco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers, (b) in optimal-unpleasant emotions swimmers had higher scores than taekwondoists and water polo players, and (c) in dysfunctional-unpleasant emotions swimmers had lower scores than taekwondoists and water polo players. On the other hand, in dysfunctional-pleasant emotions and in confidence no statistically significant differences among the sports were found. According to previous research, it is also important to indicate that emotional content and intensity are different in training practice and competitions and that they vary across the pre-, mid-, and post-event performance situations (Hanin & Stambulova, 2002). Possible future research might replicate and extend the study’s findings, explore an athlete’s anxiety, goal-orientations, motivation and performance, and develop effective intervention strategies.Povezanost emocija krucijalna je za točno predviđanje i kontrolu utjecaja emocija na sportsku uspješnost. Model Individualnih zona optimalnoga funkcioniranja (IZOF) pokušava opisati i objasniti emocije povezane s uspješnim i neuspješnim izvedbama sportaša (Hanin, 1997, 2000). Uzorak ispitanika činilo je 617 grčkih sportaša (424 muškarca i 190 žena) iz različitih sportova. Dob sportaša bila je od 18 do 30 godina (M=24,30, SD=3,70). Svi sportaši ispunili su upitnik za procjenu emocija (IZOF; Hanin, 2000) koji je preveden na grčki jezik (Hanin, Papaioannou, & Lukkarila, 2001). Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrđivanje mogućih povezanosti između emocija i samopouzdanja te njihove povezanosti među različitim sportovima. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su vrlo dobre metrijske karakteristike mjernog instrumenta korištenoga u istraživanju. Također, rezultati su potvrdili statistički značajne razlike među sportovima u gotovo svim varijablama upitnika: a) u optimalno ugodnim emocijama, plivači su imali više vrijednosti u odnosu na hrvače grčko-rimskim i slobodnim stilom, b) u optimalno neugodnim emocijama, plivači su imali više vrijednosti u odnosu na taekwondoaše i vaterpoliste i c) u disfunkcionalno neugodnim emocijama, plivači su imali niže vrijednosti u odnosu na taekwondoaše i vaterpoliste. S druge strane, u disfunkcionalno ugodnim emocijama te u razini samopouzdanja nisu utvrđene statistički značajne razlike između sportova. U skladu s dosadašnjim istraživanjima, vrlo je važno naglasiti da su emocionalni sadržaj i intenzitet različiti u treningu i natjecanju te da variraju tijekom događaja prije, tijekom i nakon utakmice ili nastupa (Hanin & Stambulova, 2002). Moguće buduće istraživanje moglo bi ponoviti i proširiti rezultate dobivene ovim istraživanjem te istražiti sportaševu anksioznost, ciljnu orijentaciju, motivaciju i uspješnost te razviti učinkovite intervencijske strategije

Mothers’ Self-Efficacy Regarding Dietary Behaviour and Physical Activity of Preschool Children

Background Obesity constitutes a crucial health issue during preschool period and has an impact on children regardless their ethnic backgrounds. The purpose of the study was to examine the self-efficacy perceptions of mothers and potential differences and correlations with dietary behaviour and physical activity of their preschool children in Finland. Materials and Methods: The sample for this study consisted of 154 mothers from nine private nurseries who lived in greater Helsinki and have Finnish or other nationality. There were 7 categories of geographical regions from which mothers came from, according to the nationality they declared. For the data collection the "Parental Self-Efficacy Questionnaire" was used, which evaluates the self-efficacy of parents regarding the dietary behaviour and physical activity of their children.   Results: The age range of the children was between 3 up to 6 years of age (Mean=5.08 + 0.96), while the age range of mothers was between 25 up to 54 years of age (Mean=37.7+ 4.85). Positive correlations were found between maternal self-efficacy and children’s physical activity as well as between maternal self-efficacy and dietary behaviour. As it occurs from the analysis of the results from Pearson correlations: dietary behaviour had a positive correlation with physical activity r=0.583, p Conclusion: Despite the non-statistically significant differences on these two factors, the results also showed high mean score values on maternal self-efficacy so in physical activity, as in dietary behaviour. Mothers who living in the same country which offers well structured guidelines about integrating nutrition and physical activity to help prevent lifestyle related diseases, possibly explains the fact that there are no differences related to ethnicity

Knowledge and information in prediction of intention to play badminton.

In this educational memo, we will explore in which measure and form gender and sexuality studies is a part of the Dutch sociology curriculum, and in particular the present situation at the University of Amsterdam and Radboud University. Both universities have a rich history in gender studies, but represent different perspectives within sociology. Looking at both curricula, a general image emerges of social-cultural man-woman differences and sexuality as themes, but these are not anchored in the final attainment level, which makes the individual role of the lectures quite big. In the required readings there is hardly any attention for a gender perspective in which students learn to apply gender as an analytical category. However, both universities offer a wide selection of specialisation courses to interested students. Here, opportunities seem to be missed to apply gender studies within sociology as a bridge between different disciplines and methodological approaches. This exploration ends with a brief outline of the further anchoring of gender and sexuality studies in the sociology curriculum on basis of three educational strategies