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We explored the semiotic choices children in grades 1–6 made that nurtured embodied, dramatizing performances in science classes at urban public schools, serving predominantly students of color in a large US city. We studied how such choices in school and home settings (when instruction was remote during the COVID-19 pandemic) were implicated in the children's knowledge and identity construction and related to available resources and positionings. Multimodality and social semiotics, social practice theory, and positioning theory were the three theoretical anchors that guided the study, along with sociocultural and sociopolitical framings of science education. The study took place in the context of the multi-year collaboration STAGE (Science Theatre for Advancing Generative Engagement) among teachers and university educators designing and studying pedagogies of embodiment as part of students' engagement in school science. The ethnographic design of the larger research allowed us to engage over a school year with each class. The focus of this study is on classes of three teachers, who collaborated with a teaching artist, using data from video-recordings, fieldnotes, and conversations with students and teachers. The findings point to the generative nature of embodiments in terms of both the knowledge and identities that the children were constructing and the factors that shaped that generativity. These include (a) the resources available, (b) the children's own particular interests and sources of excitement, and (c) the simultaneous use of multiple semiotic tools that offer different affordances for meaning making. The findings affirm that multimodal embodied performances children design and create in school spaces (classrooms and settings for larger school gatherings, like auditoria) and at home provide opportunities to desettle expected axiological, ontological, and epistemological norms that often dominate science teaching. The power of dramatizing and of performing arts is facilitating the development of connections, solidarity, and feelings among peoples and materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on urban teacher education (UTE) programs have studied teacher candidates' (TCs) perceptions of urban communities and schooling, but have provided limited insights on how ideologies about dis/ability are entangled with race and other markers of difference, shaping TCs' learning about urban education. In this paper, we present an analysis drawn from a 2-year qualitative study that answers the following questions: What social categories of difference are present in a UTE program's curriculum? What ideologies related to dis/ability are utilized by TCs to describe urban education? We found that despite the UTE's program's strong emphasis on race and social justice, TCs not only drew from asset-based approaches but also from three interrelated ideologies of disablement to discuss students' behaviors: individualism, medical, and personal tragedy. We provide recommendations for UTE programs and research-based on an intersectional approach to teacher education that foregrounds dis/ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' language ideologies inform our assumptions about what counts as valued practices in schools. As teacher educators in an urban elementary education program, we aim to sustain youths' linguistic and cultural diversity, in part by cultivating a critical language ideology with teachers that explicitly acknowledges the relationship between language, power, and race. Drawing from a series of semi-structured interviews with three pre-service teachers over two years, we examined their developing critical language ideologies. Although all three pre-service teachers were making moves towards a critical language ideology, they also navigated multiple tensions, with: (1) the push-pull of a standard language ideology; (2) consistently positioning languages as resources; and (3) expanding positionings of multilingual students' reading abilities. In a process of reflexive self-study, we engaged with these tensions in order to critically reflect on and adapt our own curriculum and instruction. We conclude with suggestions for future research and invite dialogue among teacher educators, pre-service teachers, and practicing teachers about pedagogical challenges and promising approaches to fostering a critical language ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can we improve upon an income-driven approach for assisting poor single mothers? This study evaluates the No Limits program (Illinois) by applying Amatya Sen's capabilities approach, which implies that the main purpose of welfare programs for single mothers should be to improve their capability to increase their opportunities beyond income. Using qualitative interviews with 16 single mothers who are participants of the program, this study investigates if and how No Limits provides participants with opportunities and resources to improve capabilities beyond income. Implications for welfare programs for single mothers suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The qualitative study shows how 20 teachers from 4 districts in the same state enacted mandated school-wide writing curricula. Analyses of the observations and interviews revealed that 4 teachers were faithfully following the district-adopted curriculum, 4 rejected it, and 12 teachers adapted the curriculum to meet their students’ needs. The teachers who followed the curriculum had positive views of it but were inexperienced or uncomfortable teaching writing and had less access to professional development (PD) than teachers in other groups. Most of the teachers who adapted the curriculum were experienced teachers and felt supported in making changes due to the quality of PD. The teachers who rejected the curriculum were unhappy with the existing curriculum and drew from a number of different resources; however, their writing instruction lacked coherence and an underlying philosophy of writing. The findings show that factors such as policies, PD, and personal factors including previous writing experiences and philosophies influenced teachers’ enactments. While previous studies have found that overarching policies including NCLB increase pressure on teachers resulting in a lack of autonomy, our findings explore the ways that teachers were able to navigate their school contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using ethnographic methods, this article looks closely at how a team of first-grade teachers and digital media artists in an urban elementary school used video in innovative ways during professional development over the course of one year. Extending a body of literature that primarily documents how video can be used as a tool in professional development to develop pedagogical knowledge and support reflective practice, this article documents how teachers in this partnership also consumed, connected through, and created videos to deepen digital media content knowledge and showcase their teaching and learning with a broader audience as part of a school-wide culture that attempted to create a “new ethos” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2007) of digital media arts mindsets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: The authors examined relationships among social physique anxiety, obligation to exercise, and exercise choices. Participants and Methods: College students (N = 337; 200 women, 137 men) volunteered to complete 3 questionnaires: the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire (OEQ), and Physical Activity Specification Survey (PASS). Results: On the SPAS, men (M score = 31.9 ± 8.8) differed from women (M score = 37.3 ± 8.3; p = .001). Men (M score = 43.0 ± 9.9) and women (M score = 43.0 ± 9.6) responded similarly (p = .94) on the OEQ. There was no interaction between sex and exercise level on the SPAS or OEQ. When separated by low, medium, and high SPAS scores, neither OEQ nor exercise scores differed. Conclusions: Obligation to exercise appears to be similar for both sexes. Women, however, appear to have higher levels of anxiety regarding how others evaluate their physique than do men. The combination of level of activity and sex do not appear to be associated with social physique anxiety or obligation to exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of study was to descriptively evaluate the performance of fundamental gross motor skills in children enrolled in Head Start. Participants of this study were 138 children (73 females and 65 males), ages five years old. Children's fundamental gross motor skills were assessed with the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD) (Ulrich, 1985). The levels of performance in children who were enrolled in Head Start were compared and contrasted with performance profiles of the TGMD and normative data for same‐aged children. The results of this study indicated that 41% of children in Head Start performed below average and 16% of children demonstrated substantial deficiency in overall fundamental gross motor skills. Multivariate statistics followed by univariate statistics indicated significant group differences on locomotor skills (F,,244 = 229.50, p<.01 with 02 = .49) and overall gross motor skill (F1,244 = 34.77, p<.01 with 02 = .13). Based on these results, the authors suggest that curriculum for Head Start programs should focus on the importance of developing fundamental gross motor skills. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents information on a study that was conducted to determine whether children six to eight years of age with learning disabilities display an inhibition to cross the midline (MCI) of the body during upper and lower extremity movements. Method that was used to conduct the study; Details on the study's conclusions.

Presents an abstract on the effect of midline crossing on individuals with moderate mental retardation. Definition of midline crossing; Inhibition of midline crossing.