The earth sciences in the scientific letters of Giovanni Capellini

Giovanni Capellini (1833-1922) was one of the leading representatives of the Italian and international scientific community from the mid-19th century until 1922, the year of his death. Professor of Geology at the University of Bologna from 1860, geologist, palaeontologist and archaeologist, in 1871 he organised, straight after the unification of Italy, the 5th International Congress in Archaeology and Prehistoric Anthropology, first in Italy, and in 1881 brought to Bologna, for the first time ever in Italy, the 2nd International Geological Congress. His studies and publications strongly influenced the geological thinking of his times. At the Archiginnasio Library in Bologna there are as many as 30,000 documents from his scientific letters (The Capellini Archive), the result of an intense correspondence he had with geologists, seismologists, astronomers and meteorologists, but also with people from the world of culture and politics. The letters relating to the earth sciences, from scientific but also political point of view, are the majority. The archive includes letters from more then 4,300 senders, of which at least 25% foreign ones incuding Charles Lyell (geologist), Emmanuel Friedlaender (volcanologist), Philip Eduard De Verneuil (naturalist), Henry James Johnston Lavis (volcanologist)

Holly goes to school to become a PE teacher … and doesn’t! : a three-act play

The characters HOLLY: an elite kayaker, children’s coach and student teacher at a university in Queensland, Australia. Holly is about to undertake her final professional placement (teaching practice or practicum). TED: an ageing health and physical education (HPE) teacher, senior soccer coach, coordinator of the senior programme (years 11 and 12). SANDRA: a teacher of 12 years’ experience, senior netball coach and regional district coach, Holly’s supervising teacher. JENNIFER: head of health and physical education, senior examinations officer, head of the district review panel. KIRSTY: a health and physical education teacher with two years’ experience

Thinking about complexity thinking for physical education

In this chapter we attempt to think about complexity thinking with regard to different forms of physical education pedagogy that have captured the attention of physical education teachers and researchers over the years. Specifically, we consider Mosston’s (1966) famous spectrum of teaching styles, Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982, and many after) and sport education (as per Siedentop, 1994). In so doing we are interested to see if complexity thinking can provide a generative way of theorizing pedagogy in physical education in ways that are advantageous over other ways of theorizing physical education pedagogy. We acknowledge that this potentially sets up an unwelcome binary that may be challenged. However, we position ourselves, initially at least, as sceptics with a view not to discard complexity thinking but rather to seek its most viable attributes to help shape pedagogical practice in physical education. We then return to the idea of complexity as a metaphor and finally ask whether the attractiveness (usefulness) of complexity thinking might be understood by considering it as a meme (the cultural equivalent of a gene) that happens to have gained attention at this particular point in time

Creating physical education in remote Australian schools : overcoming the tyranny of distance through communities of practice

This paper reports on a qualitative case study undertaken in a remote part of Queensland, Australia. While there is some modest agreement about the capacity of contemporary information technologies to overcome the problems of schooling in areas of extreme remoteness, generally, children educated in such contexts are considered to be disadvantaged. The experiential areas of the curriculum, which often require specific teaching expertise, present the greatest challenge to teachers, and of these, physical education is perhaps the most problematic. This research reports on a case study of three remote Queensland multi-age primary (elementary) schools that come together to form a community of practice to overcome the problems of teaching physical education in such difficult circumstances. Physical education is constructed in these contexts by blurring the school and community boundaries, by contextualizing the subject content to make it relevant, and by adjusting the school day to accommodate potential physical education experiences. Each community gathers its collective experience to ensure the widest possible experiences are made available for the children. In doing so, the children develop a range of competencies that enable seamless transition to boarding high schools

Entering the field as a sports coordinator : negotiating the micropolitics of the profession

The study reported in this chapter (Flanagan 2012) followed seven beginning HPE teachers into a variety ofurban and rural, departmental and general staffrooms in Australia (four teachers were in urban departmental staffroom settings and three in rural general school settings). We were interested in the beginning teachers' positioning experiences of the staffroom space into which they transitioned. We understood the staffroom as a physical space in which the field of education is played out, and used a narrative inquiry approach (Clandinin and Connelly 2000) to understand how beginning HPE teachers positioned themselves politically in the staffroom and how this influenced their learning and practices in their first year of teaching. Bourdieu's interconnected notions of habitus, field, practice and capital (Bourdieu 1977, 1998a, 1997 /2000) articulated well with this focus, offering a new and fresh way to understand and unpack beginning teachers' positioning experiences of the staffroom

Sport development programmes for Indigenous Australians : innovation, inclusion and development, or a product of 'white guilt'?

Under the legacy of neoliberalism, it is important to consider how the indigenous people, in this case of Australia, are to advance, develop and achieve some approximation of parity with broader societies in terms of health, educational outcomes and economic participation. In this paper, we explore the relationships between welfare dependency, individualism, responsibility, rights, liberty and the role of the state in the provision of Government-funded programmes of sport to Indigenous communities. We consider whether such programmes are a product of 'white guilt' and therefore encourage dependency and weaken the capacity for independence within communities and individuals, or whether programmes to increase rates of participation in sport are better viewed as good investments to bring about changes in physical activity as (albeit a small) part of a broader social policy aimed at reducing the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in health, education and employment

The Impact of Indigenous Community Sports Programs: The Case of Surfing: Research Report

The objective of this research project was to consider the social impact of sport and physical activity on the lives of Indigenous Australians and their communities. There has been strong research interest in the links between sport and recreation programs and various health and social outcomes and a well-established body of literature exists on the use of sport to address social issues in mainstream society. The consensus is that physical activity is an important contributor to health for all people. While there is strong research interest, what remains unclear is the value and impact of sport and physical activity on Indigenous communities. Indigenous groups cannot be considered to be homogenous as there is much diversity between and within groups. It is therefore important this report is not viewed as taking an essentialist view of who Indigenous people are and how they develop. Rather, this paper attempts to describe and discuss the experiences of some individuals and their communities in site-specific surfing programs

Ongoing adaptation as a feature of complexity : further thoughts and possible ideas for pedagogy in physical activity

The purpose of this chapter is to trace the progression, over time, of theoretical pedagogical thinking found in textbooks produced for physical educators. As a means of providing a framework for identifying and assessing various theories, Richard Light's (2008) comments on behaviourism, constructivism and complicated and complex learning theories will provide a basis for this search. The nature of learning theories as they have been circulated in textbooks designated for physical education professionals, students and the general public from selected decades over the last 100 years will be examined. Although recommended physical activities and exercises are an important part of many physical education textbooks, it is not within the scope of this chapter to examine these, nor to determine if the theories advanced by the authors are, in fact, applied in the practical activities that they suggest. Three questions will be discussed as a conclusion to this chapter: Is there evidence that theoretical thinking in physical education textbooks has changed over time? Does complex learning theory appear as an aspect of theoretical thinking in physical education textbooks? Is there a future for physical education textbooks

Is sport for development already an anachronism in the age of austerity or can it be a space of hope?

This paper examines the capacity of sport for development (SfD) to survive within the context of economic austerity. The Global Financial Crisis placed severe pressure on development aid budgets around the world. The effect of this is being felt within low-to-middle income countries (LMIC) and amongst organisations working in the development space. SfD, as a less established development entity, has the potential to struggle for funding in an increasingly competitive development market. This paper considers the current economic situation and examines the potential of a coalescence between the ideas of Sen, Nussbaum and Friere related to development as freedom, a capabilities framework and critical pedagogy as a conceptual framework for reimagining SfD in an era of austerity. We propose that a capability approach, combined with tenets of critical pedagogy, provides a framework which positions SfD as a locally driven, sustainable endeavour that is less reliant on the fortunes of the global economy, where development and progress can be captured and understood at the level of local achievement (capabilities) rather than a reliance on economic metrics

Diversity, Difference and Social Justice in Physical Education: Challenges and Strategies in a Translocated World

This book presents a detailed analysis of the experiences of (minority ethnic) physical education (PE) teachers in both schools and higher education contexts. It examines and questions the lack of ethnic diversity in PE teacher education in high-income developed countries and suggests important new directions for transformative pedagogy to address the ‘whiteness’ of PE. The book draws on auto-ethnographical research conducted in Sydney, Australia—one of the world’s most culturally diverse cities—and in cities of the United Kingdom. The study is rooted in the concept of ‘trans-locality’, the networks that extend beyond the immediate community. It explores the challenges faced by PE teachers in culturally diverse workplaces, and the interconnections between place, institutions, and the parallel processes of mobility and globalisation. To understand and theorise the myriad of interactions and practice around diversity, differences, and social justice among lecturers, teachers, and students across the two locations, the book offers an emerging area of scholarship that focuses on a trans-local perspective in diversity and inclusion in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE). Diversity, Difference and Social Justice in Physical Education will be of significance to those who manage, teach, and research issues associated with diversity and advocate for diversifying the teaching workforce in PETE