Blake Bennett - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Blake Bennett

Inhalation Toxicology, 2012

Ambient particulate matter (PM) is associated with acute exacerbations of airflow obstruction. Ad... more Ambient particulate matter (PM) is associated with acute exacerbations of airflow obstruction. Additionally, elderly individuals are more susceptible to increased functional morbidity following acute PM exposure. The purpose of this study is to determine the aging effects of PM exposure on the responsiveness of airway smooth muscle in mice. We hypothesized that airway reactivity induced by methacholine (Mch) will increase with age in PM exposed mice. Male C57BL/6 (B6) mice at 11, 39, 67, and 96 weeks of age were exposed to carbon black (CB) or room air (RA) for 3 h on 3 consecutive days. One day after the last exposure, mice were anesthetized and airways resistance (R(aw)) was measured by forced oscillation following half-log dose increases of aerosolized Mch. Baseline R(aw) was significantly lower in 67 and 96 week mice compared to 11-week mice (p < 0.05). In RA exposed mice, an age-dependent decline in Mch-induced airway reactivity occurred in association with the highest Mch doses at ages 67 and 96 weeks (p < 0.05). A significantly (p < 0.05) greater Mch-induced R(aw) response occurred in 67-week mice exposed to CB compared with age-matched RA-exposed mice. Our results show a progressive decrease in the Mch-induced R(aw) response with age in mice. The effect of CB exposure resulted in greater airway reactivity in middle-aged mice, which highlights the effects of PM exposure on the lung as it relates to increased morbidity and mortality with older age.

Movimento

Covid-19 has resulted in the implementation of social distancing measures and school closures wor... more Covid-19 has resulted in the implementation of social distancing measures and school closures worldwide. This study explores some of the impacts, such as pedagogies, teaching strategies, reflections, and barriers of the teacher as he suddenly moved to an online teaching environment and taught PE lessons with the use of technology (Google Sites). A self-study methodology with thematic analysis was used to investigate the lead author’s experiences. Findings and discussions highlight how the teacher had to find new forms of teaching online, ways of making the students not be exclusively in front of the screen, and simultaneously be concordant with the social and dynamic characteristics of PE. Ultimately, the experiences and the process of reflection demonstrated the need to be coherent with teaching beliefs, assumptions, theoretical approaches and practices as a teacher. This article foregrounds and contributes to future ways of teaching PE online by understanding one teacher’s praxis.

Movimento

This paper reports on the first phase of a three-year project in which we explored ways to adapt ... more This paper reports on the first phase of a three-year project in which we explored ways to adapt and evolve our pedagogies in relation to the use of new and emerging digital technologies. Our aim is to develop a shared understanding and resourcefulness for teaching in an age where pedagogy in a university setting is an increasingly complex and novel problem. We focus specifically on our experiences of emergency remote teaching (ERT) where we pivoted mid semester from on-campus classroom-based teaching to exclusively online delivery and assessment. Through a dialogical approach enabled by the self-study, we support each other, describe the key challenges we have experienced, and identify the key assumptions that underpin our practices as teachers in digital learning contexts. The themes found in this dialectical relationship were named as: the visibility of students, the constraints of technology, and the fact that we are neophyte lecturers again.

Pensar a Prática

This article considers the lived challenges facing three educators as they adapt, plan, and teach... more This article considers the lived challenges facing three educators as they adapt, plan, and teach online lessons as a response to the Coronavirus disease. The closure of schools has forced many educators into new and uncertain territory and practices. Teaching online has been challenging in different terms and has also forced a deeper reflection on the nature of education. A self-study methodology was used to analyse the perceptions and feelings of the participants as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In conclusion, migrating quickly to a virtual environment deeply challenges educators’ teaching praxis beyond their technical proficiency and includes the ability to be coherent with their deeper beliefs, values, theoretical approaches, and practices as educators.

Sport, Education and Society, 2021

This paper aims to extend the small but growing body of global literature on the topic of child s... more This paper aims to extend the small but growing body of global literature on the topic of child safeguarding (CSG) policy in sport and related educational contexts. The authors, all male coaches/ed...

The literature indicates that the values of, and justification for, rugby participation in Japan ... more The literature indicates that the values of, and justification for, rugby participation in Japan and New Zealand share many similarities including the development of young males' character. Aside from a small number of studies, there appears to be a scarcity of research concerning the historical and sociocultural influences on pedagogies in Japanese high school rugby, and a similar sentiment could be made regarding New Zealand secondary school rugby contexts. Accordingly, the question guiding this research asked: What are the historical and sociocultural influences on pedagogical approaches in rugby from the perspectives of secondary school coaches and players in Japan and New Zealand? Conversations with four Japanese coaches and their players, five New Zealand coaches and their players, and researcher experiences as a bilingual athlete and coach were the main sources of data. A hermeneutic methodology, which seeks to understand and interpret, rather than explain and verify, was...

Despite an increase of academic activity directed at sport coaching it continues to lack conceptu... more Despite an increase of academic activity directed at sport coaching it continues to lack conceptual frameworks that address the complex realities of the coaching environment. Present practice largely rejects the proliferation of research regarding inadequacies of traditional methods for enhancing athlete learning. Dominant coaching practices forego recognition of the complex responsibilities that a coach has within the cognitive, social, cultural and moral, dynamics of the coaching environment. This article argues that first and foremost a coach is an educator. Given this role, sport coaching needs to develop and align itself with more contemporary developments in education. In this alignment, conceptual frameworks need to be developed. In this development, two questions immediately need to be addressed. First, if the coach is an educator what content can they draw from to educate the athlete in a holistic sense? Second, 'what pedagogy/pedagogies will enhance this content delivery in order to maximise holistic athlete development?' Drawing on the supportive arguments of scholars it is suggested that Olympism provides a useful content related coaching framework. In addressing the second question it is suggested that a pedagogical constructivist framework utilizing psychological, social and critical components of constructivism provides the 'best of constructivist worlds' The conceptualisation of the two frameworks; An Olympism based content framework and a synthesised constructivist pedagogical framework gives due focus to an overall coaching framework that is educative, engaging and moving coaching in a more professional direction. It consolidates the coach as educator in an environment which is progressive, educationally sustainable and with a strong focus on meaning-making, reflection and reciprocity.

The literature indicates that the values of, and justification for, rugby participation in Japan ... more The literature indicates that the values of, and justification for, rugby participation in Japan and New Zealand share many similarities including the development of young males’ character (Abe, 2008; Phillips, 1996). Importantly to the pursuit of Olympism studies, such development resonates with de Coubertin’s intentions for sport participation in young males (Muller, 2000). The current article presents hermeneutic interpretations of texts (conversations) held with Japanese and New Zealand secondary school rugby coaches. Findings reveal the ways Japanese coaches sought to enhance various qualities in their players as they spoke explicitly about developing traits beyond the physical domain. The idea of ningen keisei (人間形成; character development or human cultivation) emerged as the premise of their aims. Conversely, New Zealand coaches indicated that they put emphasis on technical skills, and despite equal opportunity, did not articulate any intention to develop their athletes beyond...

This self-study examines Carlos’s journey of shifting from Brazil as a qualified and experienced ... more This self-study examines Carlos’s journey of shifting from Brazil as a qualified and experienced teacher to become a teacher in a primary school in New Zealand. Using bricolage (Rogers, 2012), the study weaves together the disparate threads involved in being from ‘somewhere else’ as he navigates language differences, curriculum differences, schooling differences, and cultural differences. This rich tapestry of experience is then examined using the concept of praxis to better understand the tensions that emerge between how he thinks about teaching (formed through biography, experience, and formal education) and how he enacts teaching (as it is constrained within schooling contexts). Praxis is a useful lens through which to understand teaching because it captures the dialectic process by which theory becomes enacted, embodied, and informed by practice (Freire, 1987). Rather than positioning such tensions as problematic, the study examines how the differences experienced can be generative for questioning how we reposition, reframe, and re-imagine possibilities for assembling praxis formed from the bricolage of our teaching past.

International Sport Coaching Journal, 2021

Having investigated the history of rugby over the last century in Japan, a study reported that, h... more Having investigated the history of rugby over the last century in Japan, a study reported that, historically, rugby participation has been underpinned by the quest to develop young males’ character. The traditional Japanese view of rugby as a medium for education and dominant cultural values has also been considered to be a contrasting view to the Westernised professional perspectives of rugby as a form of entertainment. With a focus on the role of rugby in the school-based club experience, this article presents hermeneutic interpretations of conversations held with four Japanese secondary school rugby coaches and four players, and it explores the socioculturally relevant notion of kimochi (気持ち; feeling/attitude/vitality) in players’ corporeal experiences. Furthermore, the ways in which kimochi is described by the coaches as a means to cultivate kokoro (mind/heart/spirit) and prepare players for adult life are investigated. The extent to which this idea emerged from the participants...

Journal of Global Sport Management, 2018

ABSTRACT The literature indicates that, historically, justification for rugby participation in Ne... more ABSTRACT The literature indicates that, historically, justification for rugby participation in New Zealand is intended to develop young males’ character. However, possible shifts in these assumptions has implications for rugby coaching and player development in 21st century learning contexts. Given the current emphasis on humanistic, athlete-centred pedagogies in secondary school physical education and coach education documents in New Zealand, a scarcity of contemporary research exploring this area remains. The current hermeneutic study investigates conversations held with five New Zealand secondary school rugby coaches. Participants’ use of control and power and a reluctance to change from entrenched coach-centred pedagogy is observed, as is an absence of reference to the wider educative nature of rugby participation. Drawing on Bourdieusean notions of ‘capital’ and the socio-cultural contexts in which learning occurs, discussion questions the alignment of the participants’ pedagogies with the current direction and intentions of contemporary curriculum documents in New Zealand.

Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 2020

ABSTRACT Despite the numerous reported benefits of implementing technology-enhanced learning (TEL... more ABSTRACT Despite the numerous reported benefits of implementing technology-enhanced learning (TEL) strategies in sport coaching, and advancements in the ‘user-friendliness’ of technologies available to human movement educators, learner perceptions of such pedagogies are yet to be fully understood. In an effort to address this, the current article employed a phenomenographic methodology to present the variation of conceptions, or understandings, of athletes involved in a ‘Video Coach (VC)’ project – whereby a coach and athletes connected regularly via video calling technology during a preparation phase for high performance competition. The current article builds on a procedural account of the VC project by exploring the ways in which participants’ discerned the various elements of the encounter. Here, phenomenography, an emerging research methodology in the sport coaching literature, offered the advantage of providing different understandings to a contemporary coaching approach. Upon interpreting the individual ways in which the phenomenon (the VC encounter) was experienced, the outcome space demonstrates the interrelatedness of athletes’ perceptions by showing that it was considered a necessary, albeit an ‘authoritative’ observation tool, beneficial in absence of alternative arrangements or conventional (read: face-to-face) coaching approaches. In this sense, the VC project was a ‘needs-must’ approach for participants, and was valued as such. This study provides a starting point for future research, where coaches and researchers could explore the benefits and drawbacks of a VC in a range of other human movement contexts according to athlete perception(s).

International Sport Coaching Journal, 2020

Success in sport relies on access to high-quality coaching, yet in many sports organisations—part... more Success in sport relies on access to high-quality coaching, yet in many sports organisations—particularly those with limited financial resources—access to coaching expertise can be problematic. Although coaching capability may exist within a sports organisation, access to and retention of coaching staff for high-performance teams can be inconsistent and dependent on a number of factors, such as conflicts of interest or lucrative contracts. In the current article, a self-study methodology guided an initiative to connect several high-performance kendō athletes and their coach via video calling/conferencing technologies. Termed the “Video Coach,” a description of the methods used is provided to demonstrate the ways in which easily accessible technologies can enable consistency in the coach–athlete exchange. The “Video Coach” approach has potential application at a high-performance level where the face-to-face exchange between coach and athlete(s) is limited; however, the initial findin...

Inhalation Toxicology, 2012

Ambient particulate matter (PM) is associated with acute exacerbations of airflow obstruction. Ad... more Ambient particulate matter (PM) is associated with acute exacerbations of airflow obstruction. Additionally, elderly individuals are more susceptible to increased functional morbidity following acute PM exposure. The purpose of this study is to determine the aging effects of PM exposure on the responsiveness of airway smooth muscle in mice. We hypothesized that airway reactivity induced by methacholine (Mch) will increase with age in PM exposed mice. Male C57BL/6 (B6) mice at 11, 39, 67, and 96 weeks of age were exposed to carbon black (CB) or room air (RA) for 3 h on 3 consecutive days. One day after the last exposure, mice were anesthetized and airways resistance (R(aw)) was measured by forced oscillation following half-log dose increases of aerosolized Mch. Baseline R(aw) was significantly lower in 67 and 96 week mice compared to 11-week mice (p < 0.05). In RA exposed mice, an age-dependent decline in Mch-induced airway reactivity occurred in association with the highest Mch doses at ages 67 and 96 weeks (p < 0.05). A significantly (p < 0.05) greater Mch-induced R(aw) response occurred in 67-week mice exposed to CB compared with age-matched RA-exposed mice. Our results show a progressive decrease in the Mch-induced R(aw) response with age in mice. The effect of CB exposure resulted in greater airway reactivity in middle-aged mice, which highlights the effects of PM exposure on the lung as it relates to increased morbidity and mortality with older age.

Movimento

Covid-19 has resulted in the implementation of social distancing measures and school closures wor... more Covid-19 has resulted in the implementation of social distancing measures and school closures worldwide. This study explores some of the impacts, such as pedagogies, teaching strategies, reflections, and barriers of the teacher as he suddenly moved to an online teaching environment and taught PE lessons with the use of technology (Google Sites). A self-study methodology with thematic analysis was used to investigate the lead author’s experiences. Findings and discussions highlight how the teacher had to find new forms of teaching online, ways of making the students not be exclusively in front of the screen, and simultaneously be concordant with the social and dynamic characteristics of PE. Ultimately, the experiences and the process of reflection demonstrated the need to be coherent with teaching beliefs, assumptions, theoretical approaches and practices as a teacher. This article foregrounds and contributes to future ways of teaching PE online by understanding one teacher’s praxis.

Movimento

This paper reports on the first phase of a three-year project in which we explored ways to adapt ... more This paper reports on the first phase of a three-year project in which we explored ways to adapt and evolve our pedagogies in relation to the use of new and emerging digital technologies. Our aim is to develop a shared understanding and resourcefulness for teaching in an age where pedagogy in a university setting is an increasingly complex and novel problem. We focus specifically on our experiences of emergency remote teaching (ERT) where we pivoted mid semester from on-campus classroom-based teaching to exclusively online delivery and assessment. Through a dialogical approach enabled by the self-study, we support each other, describe the key challenges we have experienced, and identify the key assumptions that underpin our practices as teachers in digital learning contexts. The themes found in this dialectical relationship were named as: the visibility of students, the constraints of technology, and the fact that we are neophyte lecturers again.

Pensar a Prática

This article considers the lived challenges facing three educators as they adapt, plan, and teach... more This article considers the lived challenges facing three educators as they adapt, plan, and teach online lessons as a response to the Coronavirus disease. The closure of schools has forced many educators into new and uncertain territory and practices. Teaching online has been challenging in different terms and has also forced a deeper reflection on the nature of education. A self-study methodology was used to analyse the perceptions and feelings of the participants as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In conclusion, migrating quickly to a virtual environment deeply challenges educators’ teaching praxis beyond their technical proficiency and includes the ability to be coherent with their deeper beliefs, values, theoretical approaches, and practices as educators.

Sport, Education and Society, 2021

This paper aims to extend the small but growing body of global literature on the topic of child s... more This paper aims to extend the small but growing body of global literature on the topic of child safeguarding (CSG) policy in sport and related educational contexts. The authors, all male coaches/ed...

The literature indicates that the values of, and justification for, rugby participation in Japan ... more The literature indicates that the values of, and justification for, rugby participation in Japan and New Zealand share many similarities including the development of young males' character. Aside from a small number of studies, there appears to be a scarcity of research concerning the historical and sociocultural influences on pedagogies in Japanese high school rugby, and a similar sentiment could be made regarding New Zealand secondary school rugby contexts. Accordingly, the question guiding this research asked: What are the historical and sociocultural influences on pedagogical approaches in rugby from the perspectives of secondary school coaches and players in Japan and New Zealand? Conversations with four Japanese coaches and their players, five New Zealand coaches and their players, and researcher experiences as a bilingual athlete and coach were the main sources of data. A hermeneutic methodology, which seeks to understand and interpret, rather than explain and verify, was...

Despite an increase of academic activity directed at sport coaching it continues to lack conceptu... more Despite an increase of academic activity directed at sport coaching it continues to lack conceptual frameworks that address the complex realities of the coaching environment. Present practice largely rejects the proliferation of research regarding inadequacies of traditional methods for enhancing athlete learning. Dominant coaching practices forego recognition of the complex responsibilities that a coach has within the cognitive, social, cultural and moral, dynamics of the coaching environment. This article argues that first and foremost a coach is an educator. Given this role, sport coaching needs to develop and align itself with more contemporary developments in education. In this alignment, conceptual frameworks need to be developed. In this development, two questions immediately need to be addressed. First, if the coach is an educator what content can they draw from to educate the athlete in a holistic sense? Second, 'what pedagogy/pedagogies will enhance this content delivery in order to maximise holistic athlete development?' Drawing on the supportive arguments of scholars it is suggested that Olympism provides a useful content related coaching framework. In addressing the second question it is suggested that a pedagogical constructivist framework utilizing psychological, social and critical components of constructivism provides the 'best of constructivist worlds' The conceptualisation of the two frameworks; An Olympism based content framework and a synthesised constructivist pedagogical framework gives due focus to an overall coaching framework that is educative, engaging and moving coaching in a more professional direction. It consolidates the coach as educator in an environment which is progressive, educationally sustainable and with a strong focus on meaning-making, reflection and reciprocity.

The literature indicates that the values of, and justification for, rugby participation in Japan ... more The literature indicates that the values of, and justification for, rugby participation in Japan and New Zealand share many similarities including the development of young males’ character (Abe, 2008; Phillips, 1996). Importantly to the pursuit of Olympism studies, such development resonates with de Coubertin’s intentions for sport participation in young males (Muller, 2000). The current article presents hermeneutic interpretations of texts (conversations) held with Japanese and New Zealand secondary school rugby coaches. Findings reveal the ways Japanese coaches sought to enhance various qualities in their players as they spoke explicitly about developing traits beyond the physical domain. The idea of ningen keisei (人間形成; character development or human cultivation) emerged as the premise of their aims. Conversely, New Zealand coaches indicated that they put emphasis on technical skills, and despite equal opportunity, did not articulate any intention to develop their athletes beyond...

This self-study examines Carlos’s journey of shifting from Brazil as a qualified and experienced ... more This self-study examines Carlos’s journey of shifting from Brazil as a qualified and experienced teacher to become a teacher in a primary school in New Zealand. Using bricolage (Rogers, 2012), the study weaves together the disparate threads involved in being from ‘somewhere else’ as he navigates language differences, curriculum differences, schooling differences, and cultural differences. This rich tapestry of experience is then examined using the concept of praxis to better understand the tensions that emerge between how he thinks about teaching (formed through biography, experience, and formal education) and how he enacts teaching (as it is constrained within schooling contexts). Praxis is a useful lens through which to understand teaching because it captures the dialectic process by which theory becomes enacted, embodied, and informed by practice (Freire, 1987). Rather than positioning such tensions as problematic, the study examines how the differences experienced can be generative for questioning how we reposition, reframe, and re-imagine possibilities for assembling praxis formed from the bricolage of our teaching past.

International Sport Coaching Journal, 2021

Having investigated the history of rugby over the last century in Japan, a study reported that, h... more Having investigated the history of rugby over the last century in Japan, a study reported that, historically, rugby participation has been underpinned by the quest to develop young males’ character. The traditional Japanese view of rugby as a medium for education and dominant cultural values has also been considered to be a contrasting view to the Westernised professional perspectives of rugby as a form of entertainment. With a focus on the role of rugby in the school-based club experience, this article presents hermeneutic interpretations of conversations held with four Japanese secondary school rugby coaches and four players, and it explores the socioculturally relevant notion of kimochi (気持ち; feeling/attitude/vitality) in players’ corporeal experiences. Furthermore, the ways in which kimochi is described by the coaches as a means to cultivate kokoro (mind/heart/spirit) and prepare players for adult life are investigated. The extent to which this idea emerged from the participants...

Journal of Global Sport Management, 2018

ABSTRACT The literature indicates that, historically, justification for rugby participation in Ne... more ABSTRACT The literature indicates that, historically, justification for rugby participation in New Zealand is intended to develop young males’ character. However, possible shifts in these assumptions has implications for rugby coaching and player development in 21st century learning contexts. Given the current emphasis on humanistic, athlete-centred pedagogies in secondary school physical education and coach education documents in New Zealand, a scarcity of contemporary research exploring this area remains. The current hermeneutic study investigates conversations held with five New Zealand secondary school rugby coaches. Participants’ use of control and power and a reluctance to change from entrenched coach-centred pedagogy is observed, as is an absence of reference to the wider educative nature of rugby participation. Drawing on Bourdieusean notions of ‘capital’ and the socio-cultural contexts in which learning occurs, discussion questions the alignment of the participants’ pedagogies with the current direction and intentions of contemporary curriculum documents in New Zealand.

Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 2020

ABSTRACT Despite the numerous reported benefits of implementing technology-enhanced learning (TEL... more ABSTRACT Despite the numerous reported benefits of implementing technology-enhanced learning (TEL) strategies in sport coaching, and advancements in the ‘user-friendliness’ of technologies available to human movement educators, learner perceptions of such pedagogies are yet to be fully understood. In an effort to address this, the current article employed a phenomenographic methodology to present the variation of conceptions, or understandings, of athletes involved in a ‘Video Coach (VC)’ project – whereby a coach and athletes connected regularly via video calling technology during a preparation phase for high performance competition. The current article builds on a procedural account of the VC project by exploring the ways in which participants’ discerned the various elements of the encounter. Here, phenomenography, an emerging research methodology in the sport coaching literature, offered the advantage of providing different understandings to a contemporary coaching approach. Upon interpreting the individual ways in which the phenomenon (the VC encounter) was experienced, the outcome space demonstrates the interrelatedness of athletes’ perceptions by showing that it was considered a necessary, albeit an ‘authoritative’ observation tool, beneficial in absence of alternative arrangements or conventional (read: face-to-face) coaching approaches. In this sense, the VC project was a ‘needs-must’ approach for participants, and was valued as such. This study provides a starting point for future research, where coaches and researchers could explore the benefits and drawbacks of a VC in a range of other human movement contexts according to athlete perception(s).

International Sport Coaching Journal, 2020

Success in sport relies on access to high-quality coaching, yet in many sports organisations—part... more Success in sport relies on access to high-quality coaching, yet in many sports organisations—particularly those with limited financial resources—access to coaching expertise can be problematic. Although coaching capability may exist within a sports organisation, access to and retention of coaching staff for high-performance teams can be inconsistent and dependent on a number of factors, such as conflicts of interest or lucrative contracts. In the current article, a self-study methodology guided an initiative to connect several high-performance kendō athletes and their coach via video calling/conferencing technologies. Termed the “Video Coach,” a description of the methods used is provided to demonstrate the ways in which easily accessible technologies can enable consistency in the coach–athlete exchange. The “Video Coach” approach has potential application at a high-performance level where the face-to-face exchange between coach and athlete(s) is limited; however, the initial findin...