Exploring pedagogy and practice: meaningful physical education (MPE) in elementary pre-service teacher education

In this paper, we share how three physical education teacher educators (PETE), working in different universities in Ireland, adopted a Meaningful Physical Education (MPE) approach (Beni, Fletcher & Ní Chróinín, 2017) for one 12-week semester. Guided by the principles of collaborative self-study (Roberts & Ressler 2016) and informed by research on communities of practice (e.g. Patton & Parker 2017), the paper examines our exploration of the MPE approach with pre-service teachers (PST). Building on previous work focused on learning about meaningful PE (LAMPE) (Ní Chróinín et al. 2017), we sought to simultaneously apply MPE-appropriate methodologies and principles through the contexts of our differing individual modules over one semester. Our central research question was: how does our engagement with the principles of MPE impact our pedagogical approaches

Writing and iPads in the Early Years: A Report for the Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South

This chapter sets out the rationale for the project and also sets out the policy context for literacy and digital technology in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Writing in a digital age: Beard (2000) argues that the ability to write, along with reading, is acclaimed as one of the twin peaks of literacy and one of the central gains from education. Writing is both a powerful form of expression and a vehicle for learning. It affords the learner the ability to reflect, think, compose, rearrange and respond (Andrews and Smith, 2011). However, writing is a complex and effortful activity and many children lose interest and motivation when asked to engage in writing. In a recent survey by the National Literacy Trust of pupils aged 8 to 18, just over 50% of children and young people said they enjoyed writing either very much or quite a lot. However, that leaves the other 50% who only enjoy writing a bit or not at all (Clark and Teravainen, 2017). Fewer children are engaging in daily writing outside of class but when they do write, it is technology based formats which dominate this writing (Clark, 2016). So whilst schools maintain what Yelland et al. (2008) refer to as a ‘heritage curriculum’ where value is attached to print texts, children themselves are appropriating and using digital technology for their own purposes in their daily lives. Indeed, McTavish (2014, p320) suggests that ‘for young children born into this technological epoch, there may be no choice, it is simply a way of being’. Many curriculum documents recognise and affirm the importance of communicating meaning through both traditional and digital texts yet print literacy continues to be privileged in classrooms (McKee and Heydon (2015). Therefore, this contradiction in rhetoric and reality is making it very difficult for educators to integrate new literacies and technologies within their classrooms (Wohlwend, 2009). Furthermore, where there is an emphasis on high-stakes testing, expanded views of literacy, beyond print-centric literacy practices, are difficult to achieve (Loerts and Heydon, 2017). With this apparent gap in what policy is advocating and what is happening in classrooms, it is important to look briefly at policy in the two jurisdictions for this study, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to set the context for the study

Prospectus, January 14, 1991

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1991/1000/thumbnail.jp

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Food Consumers' Awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance, OneHealth, and Animal Welfare Information on Food Labels

Covid-19 is a OneHealth crisis with far-reaching and unexpected impacts on many aspects of society. Previous OneHealth issues, such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), have not received a similar level of attention or action from the public despite representing significant public health and economic threats to society. The current study aimed to explore whether the Covid-19 pandemic may act as a catalyst to increase public awareness related to OneHealth issues, in particular, AMR. This short paper presents overview findings from a survey carried out in September 2020 with a representative sample of food consumers on the island of Ireland (n = 972). The survey revealed Covid-19 had increased awareness of AMR amongst 47% of respondents; increased awareness of connected animal and human health amongst 43% of respondents; and increased awareness of animal welfare information on food labels amongst 34% of respondents. A cluster analysis revealed five distinct consumer segments impacted differently by Covid-19. These segments differed in their levels of objective and subjective knowledge of antibiotic use practises in farming, AMR risk perception, and attributions of responsibility for action on AMR. Findings are discussed with respect to future efforts by the agri-food sector to communicate with the public about AMR and responsible antibiotic use in farming, with particular emphasis on the implications for strategies that incorporate front-of-pack labelling

Prospectus, December 3, 1990

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1990/1026/thumbnail.jp