A. Taggart

A Spring in their Steps? Possibilities for Professional Renewal through Sport Education in Australian Schools

ABSTRACT We report on three projects and an accompanying critical research agenda designed to establish and evaluate a new pedagogy in Australian physical education based on the sport education curriculum model first published by Siedentop et al. [Siedentop, D., Mand, C. & Taggart, A. (1986) Physical Education: Teaching and Curriculum Strategies for Grades 5‐12 (Palo Alto, Mayfield]. The projects, involving over 80 schools throughout Australia, are set in a context featuring an amalgam of postmodern youth culture, governmental inquiries and reports and the continuing difficulties facing physical educators in their workplaces. Against a backdrop of subject marginatyia, the projects’ findings have lent support to the proposition that it is dysfunctional programme structures (rather that deficits in teaching skills) that are most to blame in denying teachers access to significant subject matter learning targets. Our work presents evidence that the student‐centred, extended‐unit sport education curriculum mod...

Parental smoking and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in 10- to 12-year-old children☆☆☆★★★

OBJECTIVE Smokers have multiple adverse health-related behaviors and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We examined whether health behaviors in parents who smoke may influence childrens health behaviors. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional data from 10- to 12-year-olds (n = 800) entering a trial of health promotion programs. RESULTS Smoking in children was independently associated with maternal (odds ratio 2.1, confidence interval 1.2, 3.8) and paternal smoking (odds ratio 2.1, confidence interval 1.2, 3.7) and was less likely in girls (odds ratio 0.4, confidence interval 0.2, 0.6). Maternal smoking and paternal smoking were additive predictors in children of lower physical activity (P = .0013 for mothers; P = .0476 for fathers) and more television watching (P = .0335 for mothers; P = .0241 for fathers). Childrens fat intake was significantly greater if either parent smoked. Childrens body mass index (P = .0183) and waist-to-hip ratio (P = .0009) were significantly greater if mothers smoked. CONCLUSIONS Poor health behaviors associated with smoking in parents, particularly mothers, are likely to influence childrens long-term risk of having lifestyle diseases. The results may also explain some of the apparent effects attributed to passive smoking in families.

Effects of a home-based activity program: a study with low fitness elementary school children

A home-based behavioral program utilizing contingency contracts and parent-determined rewards was employed in a changing criterion design to modify childrens physical activity levels and subsequent measures of health fitness. Children were initially diagnosed as being low in health fitness. Following diagnosis, the childs parents, with support from a trained physical education teacher (parenter), recorded baseline physical activity levels during nonschool hours. During intervention the level of physical activity was systematically increased by setting specific criterion levels of activity for each week. Levels of physical activity increased markedly during the extended 9-12 week intervention phase. Improvements in health fitness criterion measures were recorded. The implications for application and future research involving parents in areas related to physical education were discussed.

Catching Them before They Fall: A Vygotskian Approach to Transitioning Students from High School to University.

ABSTRACT University enabling programs, worldwide, generally target high school students who excel at school, or post-secondary students who have underperformed in their university entry examinations. Murdoch University provides an access program for Year/Grade 12 students who are not on a university pathway during their final year of high school. This intervention engages students at a transitional stage of cognitive development to: (a) determine their readiness to move to the next level of their cognitive thinking; (b) facilitate that process through collaborative learning; (c) support and nurture university aspirations and (d) provide a direct transition pathway from secondary to higher education. The influence of Vygotskys zones of proximal development in the context of this program is discussed, and by comparing the performance of these students in their first year of university with other domestic-entry students, we argue that this enabling program prepares them for successful transition into higher education.