This study investigates how bullying and banter are conceptualised and rationalised by those in male adolescent community football. The authors employ a social constructivist, interpretative phenomenological analysis approach using qualitative, semi-structured interviews. These methods explore the meanings behind the perceptions and experiences of…

Drawing on experiential learning and transformative learning theory, a transformative model of continuing professional development (CPD) was employed to implement symbolic gesturing in a day nursery. The model of CPD aimed to empower practitioners working with infants to have autonomy over their professional learning. Perspectives of the nursery…

The August 2011 riots in England occasioned widespread condemnation from government and the media. Here, we apply the concepts of hypocrisy and affiliation to explore reactions to these riots. Initially acknowledging that politics necessitates a degree of hypocrisy, we note that some forms of hypocrisy are indefensible: they compromise integrity.…

Concerns about schoolboy "laddish" anti-learning and/or anti-school cultures are pervasive in current education discourses. Mandates to tackle laddishness frequently assume that there is a common understanding of what laddishness means, and also that teachers will know how to tackle it. This article explores these assumptions, drawing…

Following Bennis and Shepard's work, groups are thought to become preoccupied with problems of gaining reassurance about six basic human tasks in turn. One can show that these problems, called focal problems, have two forms, inclusive and narrowed, and that progressing through the problems requires three subphases. (Author/ABL)

This study aimed to examine when children come to distinguish between the private affairs of an individual and the group's matter in relation to group decision making and whether there are any differences between Japan and England in learning the distinction. In total 217 children aged 8, 11, and 13 years, and undergraduates participated in the…

Outcomes of fantasy play training were compared with those of nonfantasy/skills training in English nursery classes and play groups. Children receiving fantasy play training engaged in cooperative play more than did those receiving skills training, played more often in larger subgroups, and were more physically active. Most effects were present at…

Explores the different attitudes of English girls and boys to General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) work. Provides suggestions to account for the differences, particularly related to peer pressure, image, and social groupings. Finds that boys were ridiculed more for working hard and were under greater pressure to confirm to a cool,…

Compares a discussion of class and gender by English upper-class girls with girls from lower-class families. Found both shared a perception of the problems of girlhood; but unlike the students from the comprehensive schools, upper-class females were uncomfortable with feminist theory. Analyzes the differences as discursive. (NL)

Explores the tensions and interactions among four 13-year-old boys in a British secondary classroom. Suggests that the boys subscribe to a hegemonic ideal of masculinity that celebrates autonomy as the individualized rejection of dependence in relationships in school. Relates this to broader changes in available social texts. (MJP)

Part of a longitudinal study of women and their first-born children who have different employment and day care experiences during the children's first three years of life, this study focuses on the socioemotional development of children at 18 months of age, who had received at least nine months of continuous day care. Particular attention is given…

This book describes a British project which used cooperative group work as a curriculum approach to help reduce children's social difficulties and encourage cooperation and friendship across such barriers as race, sex, or disability. The book consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of research findings and theory related to peer…