Manchester Metropolitan University Research Articles

Teatr Piesn Kozla and its integration into Western European theatre training

Drawing on interviews, discussions, observations of classes and rehearsals and my own participation in expeditions and workshops, this article begins by identifying the central principles and philosophy of training work created by the Polish theatre company Teatr Piesn Kozla. It considers the role of this type of training within a predominantly Stanislavsky-based UK actor training and asks whether it is possible to satisfactorily apply the principles of this work within the time and curriculum constraints of UK actor training. The article looks specifically at the way in which the MA Acting programme, run by Teatr Piesn Kozla with Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre, UK, is structured on the stages of Teatr Piesn Kozla's work pattern: expedition, training/rehearsal and performance.

Service‐oriented architecture and curriculum transformation at Manchester Metropolitan University

PurposeThe need to establish more flexible and adaptable university curricula has been recognised as a strategic priority in recent years and has been supported by a number of initiatives including the Curriculum Design and Delivery programme funded by the Joint Information System Committee (JISC) in the UK. The challenges of addressing flexibility of curriculum design are both technical and pedagogical. Manchester Metropolitan University has been developing an integrated, institution‐wide virtual learning environment (VLE) since 2006 and this paper seeks to consider the impact of this system.Design/methodology/approachA case study is used to illustrate how one institution has developed and integrated a curriculum design system.FindingsBy adopting a streamlined technology strategy the university can provide learners with personalized and flexible access to the university's resources from the range of different devices and contexts (whether mobile, VLE, or social software) in which learners may find themselves as they engage with their education.Originality/valueA need to establish more flexible and adaptable university curricula is a strategic priority for academic institutions. This case study provides an insight into how one institution is achieving this.

How will the recession affect crime rates in Greater Manchester?

PurposeThis paper aims to explore what impact the recent economic recession and ongoing economic difficulties experienced in the UK might have on crime in Greater Manchester.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, we summarise existing literature on the relationship between crime trends and economic trends. Then, drawing on data on crime, the economy and other relevant socio‐demographic trends in Greater Manchester some broad conclusions are drawn about likely crime trends in Greater Manchester over the coming years.FindingsThe paper concludes that recent reductions in crime might not be sustained, with crime rates in Manchester City's most vulnerable council area levelling out or even rising. This is particularly likely of the rate of violent crime.Research limitations/implicationsThis work is part of an ongoing project based at Manchester Metropolitan University to predict future crime trends in Greater Manchester.Originality/valueThis paper will be of value to police forces and local authorities, principally when conducting their strategic assessments.

Human control of an inverted pendulum: Is continuous control necessary? Is intermittent control effective? Is intermittent control physiological?

Human motor control is often explained in terms of engineering 'servo' theory. Recently, continuous, optimal control using internal models has emerged as a leading paradigm for voluntary movement. However, these engineering paradigms are designed for high band-width, inflexible, consistent systems whereas human control is low bandwidth and flexible using noisy sensors and actuators. By contrast, engineering intermittent control was designed for bandwidth-limited applications. Our general interest is whether intermittent rather than continuous control is generic to human motor control. Currently, it would be assumed that continuous control is the superior and physiologically natural choice for controlling unstable loads, for example as required for maintaining human balance. Using visuo-manual tracking of an unstable load, we show that control using gentle, intermittent taps is entirely natural and effective. The gentle tapping method resulted in slightly superior position control and velocity minimisation, a reduced feedback time delay, greater robustness to changing actuator gain and equal or greater linearity with respect to the external disturbance. Control was possible with a median contact rate of 0.8±0.3 s(-1). However, when optimising position or velocity regulation, a modal contact rate of 2 s(-1) was observed. This modal rate was consistent with insignificant disturbance-joystick coherence beyond 1-2 Hz in both tapping and continuous contact methods. For this load, these results demonstrate a motor control process of serial ballistic trajectories limited to an optimum rate of 2 s(-1). Consistent with theoretical reasoning, our results suggest that intermittent open loop action is a natural consequence of human physiology.

Comment from the Field: Disability and the Majority World: Challenging Dominant Epistemologies

The one-day conference, held on 9 July 2010 at the Gaskell campus at Manchester Metropolitan University, successfully brought together academics, disability activists, researchers, and other stakeholders, to discuss and contribute to the often partial and fragmented debate around disability in the global South. More specifically, it sought to provide an open space for dialogue, and for the articulation and questioning of dominant epistemologies, to instead explore themes often bypassed, ignored, or rejected by Western disability studies; engaging alternative approaches to knowledge and its generation; challenging dominant epistemologies and exploring the possibilities of developing a Disability Studies that is both critical and global. My opening presentation, Intersections in Disability, Poverty and Development: A Global Disability Studies?, problematized some of the complexities in articulating a debate around disability, development, and poverty, highlighting how various gaps remain, bound to Western Disability Studies and epistemologies such as the social model, unequipped and even unwilling to engage with contextual, historical, economic, and many other critical aspects that differentiate the global South in its complex heterogeneity. I concluded that the exportation of Western epistemologies will not do, extending the call for a critical global Disability Studies that is interdisciplinary, open, questioning, and willing to learn and challenge ideas at its very core. Susan Buell from the University of East Anglia, in Social, Medical or Ch'alla?: The Poisoned Chalice of the Disability Professional, focused on people with a communication impairment in Bolivia to explore the experiences of families and the spaces where they find representation, support, and information. Buell, among other things, argued that the concept of the disability professional, within the Western social model context, continues to be enmeshed with that of the medical model in the exportation of knowledge. Overall, within dominant models of disability, specialist knowledge, she argued, is viewed as a poisoned chalice that is made so in practice by ignoring the value that skilled knowledge can contribute to breaking down barriers for families by providing support at the micro level, especially when professionals are willing to gain and share knowledge and to work with traditional systems. Alison Sheldon from the University of Leeds, in her presentation Locating Disability in the Majority World: Geography or Poverty?, adopted a materialist social model approach, and argued around/against the notion of a majority world as a separate space and a poverty within, as something different or separate from that in the West, drawing instead similarities between poverty in the global South and homeless people in the United Kingdom, stating that experiences of deprivation among other things are shared and operate on similar dynamics, and that in turn even open the spaces for relevance of Western theories. The next presentation, Rising to the Challenge of Inclusive Networking: Balancing Insider and Outsider Perspectives, by Susie Miles from the University of Manchester, introduced the Enabling Education Network (EENET), while reflecting on the meaning of inclusive education, highlighting the culturally determined nature of this concept. …

A Very Private Language

AVery Private Language Giventhatitscharacters area deafhusbandanda blindwife, recently diagnosed withbreastcancer, thetitleofO Thiam Chin'sstory, "EyesandEars/7 might seem a little insensitive (WLT, July 2011, 12-15). Not so. In clear,unsentimental prose, O managesto pique our sympathy and pitywhileatthesametimeinviting us to admiretheuniqueand private language hischaracters havecreated. Thecoupleareliberated bytheir language :thehusband experiences hiswife's wordsas "bloodandwater andspirit"; in return, he brings thevisualworldtohis wifethrough physicalsensation. Within their ownworld, they areso finely tuned to each othertheyare able to expressa depth offeeling that goeswaybeyond the limitation ofwords.Together, they create a worldof"infinite forms." Yetas much asthey areliberated bytheir owncreation, theyare also confined: theirlanguage carries thembeyondthephysical senses uponwhich itisparadoxically reliant, and it cannotfunction beyondtheboundary ofthecouple'srelationship. Thereis no doubtthat, in thewhat-if absenceofthe woman, this private language willbelost. Farfrom beingcrassorexploitative, O's narrative leads us to wonderat the sensitivity, thesubtlety, and thebeauty that exists within allhumanrelationships andwithin languageitself. Itis an exampletous allofhow,inthisworldofcommunication breakdowns, we might better use,notjustourowneyesandears, butall other sensesas well. Nicola Skye Timmis Manchester Metropolitan University , UK States of Unification Inthe enlightening andthoughtfully assembledspecial section ofyour July 2011issue, "TheManyVoicesof ItalianLiterature," Antony Shugaar's excellent essay,"Darkness at theHeartof RecentItalianLiterature ," is an incisive andbroadly infor41 World Literature Today mative survey ofhow several decadesof sociopolitical states-of-affairs have been reflected and critiqued in contemporary Italian letters. Whilewisely noting thedifficulty ofdetermining whether the questionableactions ofa certain leaderhavebeen "more detrimental orinspirational toItaly's writers," Shugaar provides a very effective framework within whichreaders perhaps unfamiliar withsuchmatters might better comprehend much oftherest ofthespecial section, from someofDaciaMaraini's views expressed in herinterview, to severalof thetextual citations inthearticle onGianni Celati, toa great many oftheverses inthe variably authored poetry sections. WhereDaniel Simon'sadditionof anti-immigrant sentiments, inhiselegant editor'snote,to Italy'scurrent laundry listofsoiledpolitics gainsfooting, then, is in Cavazzoni's curiousexcerptfrom Brief Lives ofIdiots and,evenmoreboldly, in theimmediately engrossing and,ifI may, rather amusing excerpt from Divorce IslamicStyle , by Amara Lakhous.Both engaging andengaged, thislatter piece despitesharing page-spacewithsuch a wealthofestimable literature - is easily, for me,thekeystone feature ofthis special section. Forifoneelement therein might givereaders reason tofeel surprised atthe mereexistence ofa pieceofwriting, orat thesuccess ofa writer andthefreshness of a voice,itis intheproseofthisAlgerianbornauthor whosenon-Italian nameand meta-Mediterranean taleherald, perhaps, greater literary opennessand inclusiveness at a moment when a greatmany time-weary traditions all'italiana arebeing revisited, critiqued, revised.The photographof Lakhouson the coverof the magazine thusfunctions as a statement of change andpromise initself. Bravo. Bravi. Bravissimi. Yourspecial section onItalian literature, withwonderfultranslations throughout, hasbeenprofoundly enjoyable andedifying. I applaud andamvery grateful for youreffort. PaulD'Agostino CUNYBrooklyn College ...

Lacanian psychoanalysis: Revolutions in subjectivity. In the series: 'Advancing theory in therapy'.


 
 
 The sub-title of this book suggests a focus on the dynamic nature of the relation between Lacanian psychoanalysis and the socio-political, historical conditions within which subjectivity is constructed and situated. But more than that, there is a radical and subversive connotation to the concept of 'revolutions', pointing to a concern with contradiction, resistance, change and transformation at the level of the individual as well as the social. Ian Parker, Lacanian psychoanalyst and Professor of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University, is a leading figure in the endeavours of contemporary social, theoretical analysis to navigate the unsettling, if not turbulent, points of juncture and disjuncture that sustain the relations between the various discourses of the 'psy complex' and the social conditions that sustain them. Parker's book pushes this agenda to the forefront, examining the way Lacanian psychoanalysis is both a product of the same socio- political milieu as psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy, including the classification systems of the late nineteenth century, and yet at the same time tears against every aspect of these traditions, breaking with them definitively. To a large extent, Parker's book establishes the 'scene' within which the points of convergence and divergence across these fields are enacted theoretically and clinically, in both historical and ideological terms.
 
 

Healthy universities: Shaping the future

Jennie Cawood, from the English National Healthy University Network at the University of Central Lancashire, along with Mark Dooris, Director of the Healthy Settings Development Unit at the University of Central Lancashire, and Sue Powell, Head of Academy for Health and Well-Being at Manchester Metropolitan University, argue that the higher education sector offers an ideal setting for promoting health and well-being

A Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) Based Framework for Evaluating Managed Learning Environments

Managed Learning Environments (MLEs) in higher education institutions (HEIs) are relatively new to the arena of higher education, even though there are over 90% of institutions in the higher and further education sector who are currently engaged in some kind of MLE development activity (University of Brighton 2003). However, when it comes to the task of assessing the performance of an MLE there are no universally recognisable frameworks for evaluating MLEs in HEIs currently discussed within the literature. The paper advances a general systemic framework for evaluating MLEs based on Checkland’s SSM and reports on the first stages of our attempt to evaluate the MLE at Manchester Metropolitan University involving the team developing the system and the stakeholders concerned. Two of three iterations of this research have been completed and, whilst outside the scope of this paper, have found that SSM has coped with the criteria demanded of the evaluation framework within its context. After completing a stakeholder analysis, the criteria for evaluating an MLE, based on the stakeholders’ requirements, emerged. These iterations have tentatively concluded that by contextualising SSM to the evaluation requirements of an MLE in a UK HEI, the measures of performance suggested by SSM need to be adjusted. The final iteration will check this outcome.

Song of the Goat Theatre: Finding Flow and Connection

Anna Zubrzycki and Grzegorz Bral worked for a number of years with Gardzienice before founding Teatr Pieéń Kozła – Song of the Goat Theatre – in Wrocław in 1996. The conversation that follows took place on 22 June 2009, during Song of the Goat's run of Macbeth, their most recent production. Created in tandem with the Year of Grotowski theatre festival, the ‘World as a Place of Truth’ held in Wrocław on 13–30 June 2009, it was one of a series of meetings, presentations, and performances organized by Joanna Klass of Arden 2 for the US Artists Initiative, a project established in partnership with the Grotowski Institute and the Center for International Theatre Development. Macbeth will be performed at the Barbican Centre in London as part of Song of the Goat's two-month-long British tour of this production in October and November 2010, accompanied by workshops and demonstrations. Its itinerary is Eastleigh (4–9 October), Birmingham (11–15 October), Cambridge (18–23 October), Manchester Metropolitan University (25–30 October), London (3–20 November), and Brighton (21–26 November). This conversation about some of the principles of the company's work was led by Maria Shevtsova, Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London, and co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly.

Personalisation: Perceptions of the Role of Social Work in a World of Brokers and Budgets

Dr Janet Leece is a registered social worker who has worked in social care for many years, initially as a social work practitioner and later a Commissioning Officer. She is an honorary research fellow at Staffordshire University and an independent researcher. Janet has published extensively in the area of direct payments, including the Practitioner’s Guide to Direct Payments, published by Venture Press, and a co-edited book, Developments in Direct Payments, published by Policy Press in 2006. Dr David Leece is Professor of Financial Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School and Director of the Centre for Professional Accountancy and Financial Services. He has researched and published in areas of personal finance and in financial aspects of social care.

WHY WALKING FLAT-FOOTED HURTS AFTER HIGH HEELS

When it comes to shoes, some women will go through hell for a pair of Jimmy Choos. But what effect does wearing high heels have on our bodies? Clinicians have known for a long time that if you hold a limb in a shortened position over an extended period, the muscles shorten. High-heeled shoes push our heels up, which made Marco Narici from Manchester Metropolitan University wonder whether wearing heels on a regular basis could shorten our calf muscles. According to Narici, there was some anecdotal evidence that something changed because secretaries in the 1950s complained about discomfort when they took their heels off and walked flat-footed. ‘I thought it was an experiment which was inadvertently being done by women. What we could do was test high heel wearers to see if we could find some changes in the calf muscle,’ says Narici (p. 2582).At that time, Robert Csapo, from the University of Vienna, Austria, was visiting Narici's Active Lifespan Lab, so Narici and Costis Maganaris asked Csapo to test the theory. Placing an advert in the Manchester Evening News asking for volunteers ranging in age from 20 to 50 years who had regularly worn 5cm high heels for 2 years or more, Csapo attracted 80 recruits, which he whittled down to a final group of 11 who felt uncomfortable walking without their heels. Then he recruited a second group of women who did not wear high heels and teamed up with Olivier Seynnes to look at the internal workings of both groups' calf muscles.Measuring the size of the women's calf muscles with MRI, the team found that the calf muscles of the high heel wearers were the same size as those of the women who preferred flat shoes; they hadn't shrunk. ‘We were expecting slightly smaller muscle volumes in the high heel wearers because we thought that if the muscle is in a shortened position then you are loading it less and the muscle volume should be smaller,’ explains Narici.Next Csapo and Seynnes used ultrasound to measure the muscle fibre length in the women's calf muscles, and this time they did see a difference. The high heel wearers' muscle fibres were 13% shorter than those of the women who wore flat shoes. ‘This confirmed the hypothesis,’ says Narici, ‘because when you place the muscle in a shorter position, the fibres become shorter.’ However, by shortening the fibres, the muscles would have to contract more to shorten by the same length, and if this was the case the high heel fans' calf muscles could no longer function optimally and thus would produce less force than the flat shoe wearer's calf muscles. Had the shortened muscle fibres made it more difficult for high heel addicts to walk efficiently?The team turned their attention to the tendons that attach the calf muscle to the heel. Scanning with MRI, the team could see that the Achilles' tendon was the same length in the two groups of women. The tendon had not lengthened to compensate for the shorter calf muscle. However, the high heel fans' tendons were much thicker and stiffer than the flat shoe wearers'. Narici and his team realised that by thickening and stiffening, the Achilles' tendon compensates for the shortened muscle fibres in the calf muscle, allowing the fashion addicts' calf muscles to function optimally as they walk, but causing discomfort when walking on flat feet because the tendon cannot stretch sufficiently.So should women give up wearing high heels? Narici doesn't think so, but suggests that fashion addicts may want to try stretching exercises to avoid soreness when they kick off their heels at the end of the day.

Contributions from the Department of Information and Communications, Manchester Metropolitan University

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on research carried out at the Department of Information and Communications at Manchester Metropolitan University.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reflects on two factors: the context of the Department within the University; and beyond that in the “city region” of Manchester. It also introduces the contributions to the special issue from the Department.FindingsThe papers are opinion pieces, exploratory studies, evaluation of practice and critical perspectives and reflects the research of the Department of Information and Communications in the context of developments in the information and knowledge disciplines. The scope ranges from the detailed study of a particular system or organization to the understanding of the sector, which enables the information and communications industry.Originality/valueThe paper is important in the face of the renewed focus on the applicability of the academic enterprise.

Encouraging creativity and employability skills in undergraduate microbiologists

Key skills such as communication and critical thinking are essential for today's microbiology graduate. There are many opportunities within the undergraduate curriculum to help students to use, develop and appreciate their own unique set of skills. This article describes personal experiences of research-led teaching at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) which have been used successfully to encourage creativity and other employability skills in both large and smaller classroom settings, and through individual student project work.

Introduction: The Portuguese-Speaking Diaspora in Great Britain and Ireland

Introduction The PortugueseSpeakingDiaspora in GreatBritainand Ireland Jaine Beswick and Mark Dinneen Since thesixteenth century and thevoyages of thediscoveries, emigration has playeda pivotalrolein Portuguese lifeand culture. However,hugenumbers of nativePortuguese speakers fromBrazil,Angola,Mozambique,Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde,Macau, São Tomé and Príncipe,and East Timorhavealso shared suchmigratory experiences acrosstheglobe,and havethushelpedto establish important Portuguese-speaking diasporasthroughout Europe, the Americas andbeyond.Therehasbeen a upsurgeofinterest in diasporastudies in thelast twenty-five yearsor so, butit is somewhatsurprising thatdespitetheplethora ofresearch carried outintothephenomenon ofPortuguese-speaking migrations to Canada andtheUSA from theAzoresandBrazil,1 andto othercountries in Europe,2Portuguese-speaking migrations to GreatBritainand Irelandhavenot featured moreprominently. ThisspecialissueofPortuguese Studies examines justa fewexamples ofPortuguese-speaking migration to GreatBritain andIreland, but eachcasestudy is highly significant andtheirinclusionheregoes a longwayto rectifying thisglaring omission from diasporastudies. Buildingon twoinformal workshopsheld at ManchesterMetropolitan University in 2007 and at the University ofSouthampton in2008,itrepresents thefirst compilation ofleading 1 Amongst themost significant work onmigration toNewEngland istheliterary production ofOnésimo T.Almeida, himself anAzorean migrant. SeealsoCarmen Ramos,Tlie Metaphorical 'Tenth bland'inAzoreanLiterature: The Tlieme ofEmigration inthe AzoreanImagination (Lampeter: Edwin Meilen Press,2006). Recent non-literary workincludesDomingosMarquesand Manuela Marujo, WithHardened Hands: A Pictorial History ofPortuguese Immigration toCanada in theIQ50S(Toronto:New LeafPublications,1993); TliePortuguese in Canada: FromtheSea to the City, ed.byJoséCarlosTeixeira andVictor M. P.daRosa (Toronto: University ofToronto Press, 2000).Foraninteresting overview ofAzorean andCape Verde migration totheUS, see David E. Bertão, Tlie Portuguese ShoreWlialers ofCalifornia, 1854-1Ç04(San Jose: Portuguese Heritage Publications ofCalifornia, 2006);for Brazilian migration seeforexample MaxineL. Margolis,An Invisible Minority: Braziliansin New YorkCity (Boston, MA: Allynand Bacon, 1998).Andrea Klimt's early worklookedatPortuguese migration toGermany, butherlatest workrevisits migration totheUS: Kimberly da CostaHoltonandAndrea Klimt, Community, Culture andtheMakingsofIdentity: Portuguese-Americans AlongtheEastern Seaboard(Dartmouth: University ofMassachusetts Dartmouth, Centerfor Portuguese Studies andCulture, 2009). 2In Europe,themostprominent recentworkis thatof MichèleKoven,Selvesin Two Linguages:Bilinguals'VerbalEnactments of Identity in Frenchand Portuguese (Amsterdamand Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2007). Portuguese Studies vol.26 no. 1(2010),5-9© ModernHumanities Research Association 2010 6 JaineBeswick and Mark Dinneen interdisciplinary investigation oftheseparticular diasporicgroups,and seeksto shedlighton theirmigratory patterns, theirparticular migrant experiences and issues,aswellas their transnational andcross-cultural relationships. WithinthePortuguese-speaking diasporain theBritishIslestherearemany migrants who harbourplansto return to the homelandas soon as theyhave amassed enoughsavings to provide lasting financial security. However, manyend up settling in thereceptor society on a long-term or evenpermanent basis.The social,cultural andlinguistic impacttheyfrequently exerton thelocalspaceand thevitalroletheycan come to playin thelocal economyareclearly illustrated in some oftheessays in thiscollection.The research involved is certainly long overdue.At the same timethatpublic debateon immigration is intensifying more thanever,with increasing concernbeing expressedin the media over such issuesas social exclusion,racismand cultural conflict, academicresearch on diasporacontinuesapace. Broadly, contemporary studieshavetakenone of two directions: theoretical advancement,3 or specific case studies.4 Further, the recentUK-based and AHRC-funded researchprogramme titled'Diasporas, Migrationand Identities', has carriedout groundbreaking research intoglobal diasporaand migration, whilstconferences suchas thatheldin Lisbonin 2008 titled 'Narrating thePortuguese DiasporaConference: International Conference on Storytelling', servetobringtogether academics withaninterest inLusophone postcolonialstudies.To date,however,with the notableexceptionof earlier workbyauthors contributing tothisissue,5 thestudy ofthePortuguese-speaking diasporain Britainand Irelandhas largely been neglectedboth in publicand academicdiscourse. 3 Recent work includes Theorising Diaspora:A Reader,ed. byJanaEvans Braziel and Anita Manur (Maiden, MA: Blackwell, 2003) and Robin Cohen, Global Diasporas:An Introduction (London: UCL Press,1997). For thelatestoverviewoftheoretical constructs and intersections pertainingto diaspora,see the edited volume Diasporas:Concepts, Identities, Intersections, ed. by Kim Knottand Sean McLoughlin (forthcoming 2010). 4 See for example, Michael Clyne, Dynamicsof LanguageContact:Englishand Immigrant Languages(Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress,2003); Tlie SouthAsian Diaspora: Transnational Networks and Changing Identities, ed. by Rajesh Rai and PeterReeves (Oxford: Taylor & Francis,2008). 5 Alreadypublished are:José Carlos Pina Almeida, 'Citizens of the World: Migration and Citizenship of the Portuguese in the UK', Portuguese Studies,23, 2 (2007), 208-29; Jaine Beswick, 'The PortugueseDiaspora in Jersey',in Tlie Consequences ofMobility: Linguistic and Sociocultural ContactZones,ed. by Bent Preisler, Anne Fabricius,Harmut Haberland, Susanne Kjaerbeck and Karen Risager (Roskilde, Denmark: Roskilde UniversityPress,2005), online at: [accessed 30 November 2009]; Martin Eaton, 'From Porto to Portadown: Portuguese Workersin NorthernIreland'sLabour Market', Portuguese Journal ofSocialScience, 6, 3 (2008). 6 Two exceptions fromacademia are: Guida Abreu, Teresa Silva and Hannah Lambert, Portuguese Childrenin BritishSchools:Englandand the Channelhlands (Luton: Universityof Luton, Department...

Needs or rights? A challenge to the discourse of special education

It is nearly 30 years since Mary Warnock's Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People introduced the phrase ‘special educational needs’ into the UK education system. In this article, Katherine Runswick‐Cole, Research Associate at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Nick Hodge, Principal Lecturer in Research Development at Sheffield Hallam University, argue for the abandonment of the ‘special needs’ discourse, claiming that it has, in fact, led to exclusionary practices within education. Building on the work of early years educators in Reggio Emilia schools in Northern Italy, the authors advocate for the adoption of the phrase ‘educational rights’ and suggest that the positive impact of such a linguistic turn would be significant for the lives of young people currently described as having ‘special educational needs’ and for children's rights.

Libraries Without Walls 7: Exploring “Anywhere, Anytime” Delivery of Library Services: Proceedings of an International Conference Held on 14‐18 September 2007, Organized by the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM), Manchester Metropolitan University

Libraries Without Walls 7: Exploring “Anywhere, Anytime” Delivery of Library Services: Proceedings of an International Conference Held on 14‐18 September 2007, Organized by the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM), Manchester Metropolitan University

Economy and disability in Tokyo and Manchester

The current temporary economic turmoil felt by citizens, therapy providers, their patients, and governments worldwide, has been described as ‘uncharted territory’ (Hames, 2008: 6). This description could equally be applied to the combination of the study of economics with that of disability. However, this area is beginning to be charted, as illustrated by a recent international conference entitled ‘Disability and Economy: Creating a Society for all’. Hosted at Manchester Metropolitan University, the event was part of the Todai Forum 2009, an annual highprofi le event organized by the University of Tokyo, Japan. Selected highlights of the event, along with the refl ections of one of its delegates, are reported below.

Access, Delivery, Performance: The Future of Libraries Without Walls

This work is a scholarly tribute honoring the career of Peter Brophy, who retired as professor in 2008 from the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management, Department of Information and Communications, at Manchester Metropolitan University. The book begins with a chapter by Michael Buckland discussing Brophy's early career and influence at the Library Research Unit at the University of Lancaster in the early 1970s. A rather extensive survey of the funding travails, research interests, and work of the Library Research Unit is covered in the chapter. It also includes a discussion of their research measuring book availability and collection bias. The book then splits into four themes: “Libraries, Learning and Distance Learning”; “Widening Access to Information”; “Changing Direction of Information Delivery”; and “Performance, Quality and Leadership.” The topics are presented in reverse chronological order and help illustrate the contributions made by Brophy to the profession throughout his career. The first theme is developed by an overview of the history of library services and distance learning at Open University and the integration of library services into the curriculum. Another chapter explores distance learning as well as institutional repositories and electronic portfolios. The “Widening Access to Information” theme is presented in three chapters exploring library services to the visually impaired, the public library and its place in social movements, and social networking. Theme three, “Changing Direction of Information Delivery,” consists of two chapters, one discussing institutional repositories, their usefulness and challenges, and the other devoted to a discussion of controlled vocabularies, a historical perspective as well as new uses. Theme four, “Performance, Quality and Leadership,” is covered in three chapters. The first is a detailed description of a web-based decision-making and evaluation tool geared toward leaders of public libraries. The second chapter in this theme discusses quality and assessment of academic library resources. The third devotes itself to leadership and the definition, theories, and need for such in academic librarianship and beyond in the wider academy and profession. The book ends with a selected bibliography of Brophy. This book is not a “how to” manual on building a library without walls and does not have much immediate, practical application. Rather, the work provokes one to think in terms of the future of libraries and their attempts to remain relevant to their users in the world of ever-changing technology. One could also gain ideas from the book for research projects that either replicate past projects or utilize the new technologies discussed. Individual chapters could also be useful in courses teaching librarianship and information science, as each is a stand-alone essay that addresses timely topics in librarianship. In short, the book seems a fitting tribute to a UK colleague who contributed much to the profession during his career.

RESPONSE

Dear Editor-in-Chief: We are grateful for the encouraging comments by Dr. Ducher and coworkers. Indeed, our study shows that bones are structurally stronger in the arms and legs of master track cyclists, in particular in sprinters. This contradicts the common notion that cycling per se would be detrimental to bone health (3). It suggests that fractures, frequently experienced in the extremities by cyclists, may be unrelated to poor bone strength, but simply be caused by falls. However, as stated in the original manuscript, some points have to be considered. First, our study is based on a genuine elite sample, with several current and former world record holders and even an Olympic champion. With one exception (4), all other studies in the field were less selective regarding their participants. Second, we have applied extremely rigorous and stringent inclusion criteria for control participants to ascertain that they were truly sedentary (7). The study by Nichols et al. (5), conversely, included recreational exercisers as control participants, and some participants were doing heavy physical labor in their jobs. This will have contributed to the discrepancy between both studies, with Nichols et al. reporting reduced and our study finding enhanced bone strength estimators in cyclists. Third, participants in our study were specialized in track cycling, and mostly in sprinting events, whereas all other studies in the field have involved road cyclists. The differences between both types of cycling are obvious. For example, starting on a track involves very large forces within the body. Moreover, track cycles do not have brakes, and kinetic energy, therefore, has to be absorbed by the musculature. These, and other, less obvious differences may be crucially involved in bone adaptive processes and thus cause differences between track and road cyclists' bones. Finally, it cannot be ruled out that bones in the extremities respond differently to cycling than the hip and the axial skeleton. Unfortunately, the latter skeletal sites have mainly been studied by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). DXA results are given in terms of "areal bone mineral density" (aBMD) and have to be interpreted with great care, as they amalgamate bone structure, volume-to-tissue ratio, and bone material properties, with the latter being least variable in human bone (1). For example, the same amount of bone distributed with a wider diameter in a long bone will yield lower aBMD values as assessed by DXA, but greater torsional and bending strength (2,6). In consequence, it would be consistent with the literature and theoretically possible if cyclists had greater bone mineral content and section modulus in their hip bones, but reduced aBMD values. Future studies ought to address this question with appropriate methods. In conclusion, more qualified work is needed to study the axial skeleton in cyclists. However, it seems to be clear from our study that impact forces are not strictly required to grow strong bones. Likewise, it seems that the term "weight-bearing," which is a somewhat fuzzy concept in relation to cycling anyway, may be a dispensable term when discussing bone biology. Jörn Rittweger, MD, PhD Sally F. Gilliver, PhD Institute for Biomedical Research into Human Movement and Health Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester, United Kingdom Désirée C. Wilks, BSc MRC Human Nutrition Research Cambridge, United Kingdom