scholarly journals Exploring Park Director Roles in Promoting Community Physical Activity

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 731-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Marsh ◽  
Kathryn Pitkin Derose ◽  
Deborah A. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Staff Training ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Administrative Burden ◽  
Community Interaction ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Physical Features ◽  
And Training

Background:Parks provide numerous opportunities for physical activity (PA). Previous studies have evaluated parks’ physical features, but few have assessed how park staff influence PA.Methods:We conducted semistructured interviews with 49 park directors, focusing on perceptions of their role, park programs, marketing and outreach, external collaborations, and PA promotion. Directors also completed a questionnaire providing demographics, education and training, and other personal characteristics.Results:Park directors’ descriptions of their roles varied widely, from primarily administrative to emphasizing community interaction, though most (70% to 80%) reported offering programs and community interaction as primary. Including PA in current programs and adding PA-specific programs were the most commonly reported ways of increasing PA. Also noted were facility and staffing improvements, and conducting citywide marketing. Many directors felt inadequately trained in marketing. Most parks reported community collaborations, but they appeared fairly superficial. An increasing administrative burden and bureaucracy were recurring themes throughout the interviews.Conclusions:Staff training in marketing and operation of PA programs is needed. Partnerships with health departments and organizations can help facilitate the PA promotion potential of parks. As there are competing views of how parks should be managed, standardized benchmarks to evaluate efficiency may help to optimize usage and PA promotion.

scholarly journals How schools contribute to keeping students on track: Narratives from vulnerable students in vocational education and training

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-65
Author(s):  
Evi Schmid ◽  
Beate Jørstad ◽  
Gøril Stokke Nordlie
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Dropping Out ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Immigrant Background ◽  
And Training

This article examines characteristics, practices and conditions within schools that enable vulnerable students to succeed in school. Research suggests that factors related to structure, educational organisation or the climate within schools may play a part in either pushing out or holding on to students whose personal characteristics may put them at risk of dropping out. The study is based on 25 qualitative interviews with students in the second year of vocational education and training. All the students had a low grade point average from lower secondary school, and the majority had an immigrant background from Africa or Asia. The analysis shows that practice-oriented learning from authentic work tasks provided meaningful connections between schoolwork and students’ career choices and opportunities to experience success and mastery. Furthermore, positive expectations and the active support of teachers as well as mutual motivation and support among classmates contributed to students’ sense of belonging at school. The study discusses the importance of schools supporting less school-oriented young people in connecting and identifying with school, both with the social environment and with the educational content and learning methods.

Paper 11: Training for Management

1966 ◽  
Vol 181 (13) ◽  
pp. 54-66
Author(s):  
B. T. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Staff Training ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Training Needs ◽  
Training Centre ◽  
The Real ◽  
Management By Objectives ◽  
And Training

The paper emphasizes the importance of management in engineering and states the need for formalized education and training in management today. The content of some of the courses, seminars, and conferences covered at the English Electric Staff Training Centre at Dunchurch is then discussed together with some of the projects and exercises used. Some of the difficulties of running such a centre and ascertaining the real training needs are then mentioned. The importance of evaluation on a proper feedback basis by the use of management-by-objectives principles is also considered.

“Just Going to a Spin Class”: Participant Experiences of Inclusion Within an Integrated Indoor Cycling Program

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Joanna M. Auger ◽  
Nancy L.I. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Relational Ethics ◽  
Instrumental Case Study ◽  
Ethics Framework ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Class B ◽  
Medical Model Of Disability ◽  
And Training

Justifications for access to physical activity for people who experience disability tend to focus on the health benefits associated with a medical model of disability. The result is often programs that are segregated and impairment-focused, with limited access to integrated settings that are also potentially inclusive. In this instrumental case study, the authors engaged 20 participants with and without impairment from an adult integrated indoor cycling program to explore what contributed to meaningful and inclusive experiences in this setting. Data were generated through semistructured interviews and reflective notes. Thematic analysis led to three themes: (a) “just going to a spin class” (b) “seamless”? and (c) “deliberate community.” Using a relational ethics framework, the findings are discussed with regard to their potential to inform the development of integrated and inclusive physical activity programs, with emphasis on program structure and instructor reflexivity and training.

scholarly journals What do we know about physical activity interventions in vocational education and training? A systematic review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Grüne ◽  
Johanna Popp ◽  
Johannes Carl ◽  
Klaus Pfeifer
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Screening Process ◽  
And Training

Abstract Background: Although the health benefits of physical activity (PA) are well known, young people’s level of PA is often insufficient and tends to decline in adolescence. Numerous studies have investigated the effectiveness of PA-promoting interventions among young people, but none have reviewed the effectiveness of PA interventions in the vocational education and training (VET) setting. This systematic review aims to (1) synthesize and review the available literature on PA-promoting interventions in VET and (2) examine the effects of these interventions on PA-related outcomes such as PA level, physical fitness, physiological parameters, or psychological factors. Methods: Five electronic databases were searched for studies involving adolescents aged 15 to 20 years that took place in VET settings and evaluated the effects of interventions with a PA component on PA-related outcomes such as PA level, physical fitness, physiological parameters, or psychological factors. The screening process and the quality assessment were conducted by two independent reviewers; data extraction was conducted by one reviewer and verified by another. Results: The literature search identified 18,959 articles and 11,282 unique records. After the screening process, nine studies, all coming from European or Asian countries, met the pre-defined eligibility criteria and were included in qualitative analyses. All but two studies reported significant improvements for at least one PA-related outcome. The interventions substantially differed in their development approaches (top-down vs. bottom-up approaches), complexity (multi- vs. single-component), and addressed behavior (multi-behavioral vs. single-behavioral). The most conspicuous finding was that bottom-up approaches tend to improve outcomes at the psychological level and top-down approaches at the physical level. Regarding the interventions’ complexity and addressed behavior, we did not reveal any conclusive results.Conclusion: This systematic review highlights the varying effects of PA-promoting interventions in VET. Nevertheless, heterogeneous effects, overall weak study quality and availability of studies only from two continents limited our ability to draw clear conclusions about the potentially most effective intervention strategies. Therefore, future research should focus on high-quality studies with long-term follow-ups to make recommendations for practical use. Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42018109845

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