AbstractOver the past few decades, there has been a shift from the traditional family structure, with more acceptance of different structures, including those led by single parents. This qualitative photo‐narrative study aimed at making the voices of single mothers raising children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) heard. According to the literature, parenting a child with a disability can be very stressful on several different levels. Seven single mothers living in southern Israel and parenting children with ASD told their life stories and took photographs depicting their motherhood experience. The data underwent thematic content analysis. The main themes that emerged were the shattering of the family dream, the mothers and the educational setting, the present in the shadow of the future, single parents' support resources and the mothers' search for meaning. The data demonstrated that the mothers' daily life was rife with challenges. Providing assistance and support during different stages, including diagnosis, educational transitions and daily struggles, as outlined in the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement, was crucial. The mothers also stressed that they drew strength from their love for their child and their existing support systems.

Recent technological developments, such as automatic broadcasting systems and computer vision, are enabling cost-effective data gathering, bringing big data analytics to youth sports. In a recent insightful article, Bar-Eli et al. (2023) discussed among other issues the subjective and objective talent selection approaches, advocating for the use of big data analytics to harness the benefits of both methods. My aim in this commentary is to complement that big data predictive tools also were found to be vulnerable to biases that render their decisions unfair. Therefore, artificial intelligence in the domain of youth talent identification should be approached with caution and in-depth consideration of ethical issues needs to be undertaken before these predictive tools can be widely adopted.

When making talent-selection decisions in sport, coaches, scouts, program directors, and policymakers typically adopt two approaches: The subjective approach, also known as the coach's eye, where these professionals select or de-select athletes based on their personal observations and impressions; and the objective approach, where they apply a multi-faceted formula for awarding scores to the athletes' motor skills (such as agility and coordination) and psychological capabilities (such as leadership and motivation) – as a mean for predicting their future success. These two approaches are often perceived as complementary in the strive to reach optimal selection decisions in sport. In this conceptualized article, we examine challenges associated with such talent-selection decisions, and address the coach's eye as an example of a subjective assessment approach. We also address the concept of fast and frugal heuristics for making selection decisions in sport, while elaborating on bounded rationality and the human machine paradigm. Finally, in addition to discussing certain "built-in" limitations in sport-selection decisions, based on judgment and decision-making models, we provide a rationale for adding the big-data approach, as a mean for enhancing links between the subjective and objective assessments currently used in talent-selection decisions in sport.

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the complexity of the national representation of Arab players on the Israeli national soccer team. For 90 min, the players are part of society and their presence resembles the inclusion of Arabs in Israel. However, when the match ends, they are again part of the deprived Arab minority and excluded from Israeli society. The study is based on theoretical academic materials, interviews with six prominent Arab soccer players who played in the national team from 1976 until the present day, and selected press interviews with several other Arab internationals. The research findings show that the players define themselves as Arabs who, first and foremost, represent themselves and their families and communities. They ignore racist calls based on ethnic, national, or religious differences. Ultimately, all of them have a hybrid identity and see soccer as a way of life and an opportunity to promote their career and make their families and communities proud due to being part of the national soccer squad. These findings thus adhere to the theoretical framework of instrumental inclusion that this paper offers.

ABSTRACT The article discusses the role of the different forms of capital within the patterns of relationships between kindergarten teachers (KTs) and parents in kindergartens located in one medium-high socioeconomic status neighborhood in Israel. The qualitative analysis conducted reveals how the parents’ cultural capital serves as a resource to advance the kindergarten in functioning and marketing, and for the KTs, to improve trust, cope with solitude, and receive parents’ feedback. The benefits for parents include furthering their children’s educational progress and enhancing their well-being, dealing with the municipal bureaucracy, and controlling the kindergarten’s operation. At the same time, it was found that capital resources may generate costs. For KTs, these may stem from parents’ interfering, crossing boundaries, and bullying, and cause KTs to placate the parents; for the parents, the costs may come in the form of anxiety about their children’s well-being.

The purpose was to synthesize information gathered from the interpretation and conclusion sections of the Global Matrix of Para Report Cards on the physical activity of children and adolescents with disabilities. The synthesis was based on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats framework. The procedure consisted of three stages: (a)the application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as the theoretical framework; (b)identifying and aligning Global Matrix indicators and benchmarks with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health components through a Delphi approach; and (c)using content analysis to identify themes from specific report cards. Outcomes reveal that further attention toward including children and adolescents with disabilities in fitness assessments is needed as well as adapted assessment methods. Program availability, equipment and facilities, and professional training emerged as strengths but need further development to overcome weaknesses. Paralympic inspiration was an opportunity, whereas extreme weather conditions presented potential threats to physical activity participation among children and adolescents with disabilities.

While people with intellectual disabilities tend to refrain from physical activity, outdoor physical activity programs increase motivation to engage in physical activity. Eighty adults with intellectual disabilities participated in a 12-month outdoor physical activity program. Attendance was used to assess feasibility. Aerobic capacity (6-min walk test), lower extremity endurance (30-s chair stand), and mobility (timed up and go) were assessed at three-time points: before, during, and after the program. Six interviews were also conducted with six staff members and participants. The physical activity program was feasible, with all six groups completing the year-long activity. The six-minute walk and timed-up-and-go tests improved significantly. The qualitative analysis indicates the program's strengths (instructors' qualities and programs' social component) and weaknesses (dependency on weather and bureaucracy). Among adults with intellectual disabilities, a long-term outdoor physical activity program is feasible as a means for increasing aerobic capacity and improving mobility ability.

ABSTRACT The inclusion of children with disabilities in physical education (PE) classes is of the utmost importance and is addressed in teacher training programmes through a range of courses, aimed at providing teachers with knowledge and tools for enhancing inclusion in their PE classes. This paper provides a scoping review of research papers on such courses that are conducted online. The search was conducted through Google Scholar, Sport Discus (via EBSCO Host), and PubMed databases, using two search term clusters: population and subject matter and teaching. Eight articles were then assessed according to participants, programme content and procedures, methodology and instruments, and outcomes and discussion. Four studies provide comparative online/face-to-face courses data between participants. One applied a mixed methods design, three were quantitative, and four were qualitative studies. Most of the findings indicate participant satisfaction with online courses on inclusive PE classes, with scores of knowledge and self-efficacy regarding such inclusion being similar to those seen in face-to-face courses. However, some studies lacked important background variables, such as gender and previous experience working with people with disabilities. The findings of this scoping review highlight several directions for future exploration of such online courses.

ABSTRACT This article discusses Israeli Bible teachers’ perceptions of the ‘otherness’ and their actions in a reality in which teachers are required to balance the tension between being experts in the field of knowledge, coping with a state curriculum that promotes a faith-religious worldview, and acting as educators in promoting discourse dealing with social issues of inclusion, respect, and tolerance for the ‘other’. The research is qualitative-interpretive, based on interviews with 13 teachers. It focuses on describing and explaining Bible teachers’ perceptions and interpreting their actions. Findings point to two main perceptions: (1) A perception that transcends the boundaries of biblical academic discourse and fosters a moral dialogue of integration, tolerance, openness, and awareness of the ‘other’ as part of the Bible teacher’s role. (2) A perception focused only on biblical discourse and refrains from dealing with issues of ‘otherness’ in the lesson. This research offers new tools and courses of action to implement these perceptions. Its conclusions may encourage teachers to develop pedagogical flexibility and an ability to navigate through issues of ‘otherness’ while responding to social, value, and moral issues that arise spontaneously in the multicultural dialogue in Bible lessons.