The complexity of young children's physical education

This paper is based on the belief that young children’s physical education is a much more complex phenomenon than is often portrayed in the literature. Using key principles from complexity thinking, the paper discusses how, as children grow older, they iteratively engage in a self-organising process that involves regular negotiation of the personal and environmental boundaries that are part of their daily lives (Jess, 2019). From a physical education experiences, this recursive process involves engagement in a range of structured and unstructured learning activities that, to varying degrees, help children develop physical activity habits and movement competence. This complex mix of physical activity and movement learning is central to children developing the physical education foundation that will act as the catalyst for successful engagement in sport, dance and other physical activities as they get older (Howells, 2017). This complex learning process however is not a one-size-fits-all experience but a dynamic, emergent and non-linear process for each child and requires to be appropriately differentiated over time. Young children’s physical education is subsequently not something that should simply be left to chance but should be a focus of primary/elementary school and preschool/kindergarten programmes. Teachers and early years’ practitioners need to be supported to develop the knowledge and skills to ensure that young children are offered regular opportunities that help them develop physically active habits and movement control and coordination. Critically, these learning experiences should not be isolated to the gymnasium but should act as the basis of a meaning-making experience that connects physical education across children’s lives in school, the community and at home. The presentation concludes by offering suggestions as to how children’s physical activity habits and movement competence can be developed through a long term capacity building process. Howell, K., (2017) Developing Curiosity and Physical Development in Howells K., with Carney, A., Castle, N. and Little R., Mastering Primary Physical Education. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Jess, M (2019) The Complex Nature of Early Childhood Movement Skill Development, in Duncombe, R., (Ed), Young Children’s Physical Development Needs: (Re)Defining Physical Education in the Early Years, Taylor & Francis, London, U

C# 3.0 makes OCL redundant!

Other than its 'platform independence' the major advantages of OCL over traditional Object Oriented programming languages has been the declarative nature of the language, its powerful navigation facility via the iteration operations, and the availability of tuples as a first class concept. The recent offering from Microsoft of the "Orcas" version of Visual Studio with C# 3.0 and the Linq library provides functionality almost identical to that of OCL. This paper examines and evaluates the controversial thesis that, as a result of C# 3.0, OCL is essentially redundant, having been superseded by the incorporation of its advantageous features into a mainstream programming language

Letter from George Miller Howells to B. R. Colson

Letter from George Miller Howells to B. R. Colson. The four-page handwritten note is dated 17 March 1910. There is a transcript of the correspondence in the item PDF

Letter from George M. Howells to B. R. Colson

Letter from George M. Howells to B. R. Colson. The three-page handwritten note is dated 7 March 1910. There is a transcript of the correspondence included in the item PDF

China's Water Quality, Quantity, Environmental Management Issues and the Effectiveness of Government-Imposed Solutions: An Analysis from Thirty Thousand Feet

China's water quality, quantity, and environmental management issues and policies were analyzed through three lenses: environmental policy through regulations, policies and projects to increase water quantity, and water quality treatment and distribution methods pursued. Three issues, rather than one, were focused upon in order to enable a more holistic understanding of the political climate and the policy mechanisms employed by the Chinese government. Concerning environmental regulations, current state of the art, as well as implementation issues were studied concerning Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in China. Additionally, China's surface water regulations were compared to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Primary Drinking Water Standards in order to determine the level of stringency reached by Chinese standards. Though it was determined that Chinese standards are equally -or more strict -than the American standards, implementation and enforcement of regulations remains an issue.The effectiveness of some water quantity solutions implemented by the Chinese government were explored as well, specifically, the effectiveness of the South-to-North water transfer project was analyzed by comparing the water gained from that project to the water saved if more efficient irrigation methods were installed under varying scenarios of acceptance for three study years. It was determined that the amount of water gained from the entire water transfer project was nearly equal to, or less than, the volume of water saved if more efficient irrigation methods were utilized. Additionally, further development of rainwater harvesting program in Gansu Province was referenced as another means by which to increase the quantity of water available.Government priorities concerning various methods of water treatment and distribution were addressed as well. Though the government has made major investments in the construction of modern treatment plants, requisite investments have not been made in the distribution system. Consequently, the collection rates in many areas are low. In order to bridge the gap between infrastructure construction and treated water demand, distributed treatment, or point-of-use treatment was also explored. However, it was determined that the barriers to entry of point-of-use treatment in China are high, and thus, it would be difficult to establish a treatment program

STOCK MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE CAUSAL LINKAGE

This paper addresses the question: does stock market development cause growth? It examines the causal linkage between stock market development, financial development and economic growth. The argument is that any inference that financial liberalisation causes savings or investment or growth, or that financial intermediation causes growth, drawn from bivariate causality tests may be invalid, as invalid causality inferences can result from omitting an important variable. The empirical part of this study exploits techniques recently developed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) to test for causality in VARs, and emphasises the possibility of omitted variable bias. The evidence obtained from a sample of seven countries suggests that a well-developed stock market can foster economic growth in the long run. It also provides support to theories according to which well-functioning stock markets can promote economic development by fuelling the engine of growth through faster capital accumulation, and by tuning it through better resource allocation.Financial Development, Economic Growth, Stock Market, Causality Testing, VARs, Incomplete Systems

Becoming physical education: the ontological shift to complexity

In this paper, we present the view that an ontological shift to complexitythinking will be significant in the future of physical education (PE). Complexity thinking not only moves PE beyond long dominant modernist approaches but also offers the opportunity to integrate many of the postmodern perspectives that currently seek to frame PE. Four interconnected complexity commonalities, becoming, lived time, selforganisation and boundaries, are presented in an overarching frame to guide future PE developments in ways that are coherent, connected and emergent. PE is subsequently viewed as a complex phenomenon that is always in a non-linear, messy and never-ending process of becoming. Students, teachers and other stakeholders are also complex as their past, present and future experiences constantly merge in a lived time unity to create lifelong and life-wide PE journeys that are both personalised and holistic. Central to these personalised journeys is each stakeholder’s ability to self-organise and influence the trajectory of their pathways. Self-organisation, however, is not a relativist ‘anything goes’ phenomenon but a process that takes place within a multiplicity of boundaries. While boundaries may traditionally be viewed as divisive features, complexity thinking recognises that many boundaries are flexible and enable the creation of ‘boundary spaces’ in which ‘rich’ discussions can take place to develop more coherent, connected and emergent forms of PE. Transdisciplinary Inquiry (TDI) and Ecologically Informed Practice (EIP) are presented as perspectives that can help teachers, and others, create the ‘boundary spaces’ in which ways to plan and introduce complexity-informed forms of PE can be explored. The paper concludes by proposing that the challenge for PE in the future will be for practitioners to develop the adaptability, openness, confidence and self-organising skills that will be needed to make the most effective use of the ‘rich interactions’ that these ‘boundary spaces’ offer

Mediator Strategies in New Zealand: The Views of the Mediated

Mediation is a process in which an impartial neutral (or a chairman with no right of decision) assists the disputants in settling their differences. The mediator's role is to facilitate voluntary agreements by the parties themselves; the parties' final decision is their own and not the mediator's. A mediator (and, for that matter, a conciliator in a dispute of interest) tries to persuade the disputants to reach a voluntary agreement by using strategies that fall short of outright arbitration. Because the philosophy and practice of mediation tend often to be misunderstood, this paper examines some of these strategies and the importance attached to them by employers and union officers. It offers some insight into what industrial relations practitioners consider to be the strategies most likely to lead to successful mediation

The Incentive Effects of Tournaments: The PGA Australasian Tour 1991

This paper examines the relationship betlveen the structure of tournament incentives and individual performance. Although it follows recent research on Professional Golf Association tournaments in the United States and Europe, it concentrates on the PGA Australasian Tour in 1991 for which financial incentives on average are much less attractive than for tourna1nents in the northern hemisphere. The results strongly confirm that tournan1ents do have an incentive effect. The incentive effects that such tournament-type reward structures are clearly shown to have may be applicable not only to professional sport hut also to industrial wage structures. Tournament models can offer a different perspective on the extent to which pay influences performance at the firm level