Bridgewater State University

ABSTRACT Teachers, at various stages and contexts in their careers, can harness inquiry and action research as tools to examine tensions in their practice and to create more equitable experiences for their students. In this study, teacher educators used second-order inquiry to examine tensions they experienced while supporting teacher candidates engaging in practitioner inquiry for the first time. Using arts-based methods of analysis, these teacher educators found that engaging in second-order inquiry provided a powerful way to acknowledge and address the tensions they encountered as they sought to foster community and connection with inquirers in a hybrid course. They also found equity pedagogy, the intersection of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Pedagogy (CLSP), served as a guiding framework to address these tensions. Through equity pedagogy, teacher educators created flexible pathways for teacher candidates to communicate and connect within an inquiry community in a hybrid course landscape.

As educational landscapes continue to evolve, teacher leaders occupy a unique and vital position in shaping the responsible integration of AI. AI technologies hold transformative potential to enrich instructional design, foster critical thinking, and support learning. However, the pace and scope of their adoption remain uneven, shaped by disparities, highlighting the need for teacher leaders who can act as change agents, ensuring that AI is implemented strategically, responsibly, and inclusively. Grounded in Diffusion of Innovation Theory, this chapter examines how teacher leaders can utilize their roles to facilitate the adoption of AI in educational settings. By positioning teacher leaders as early adopters and champions of innovation, this chapter proposes that they can guide students, colleagues, and institutions through the innovation-decision process while safeguarding pedagogical integrity and student well-being. The chapter introduces four core strategies as a practical framework to equip teacher leaders with actionable tools for responsible AI integration.

Co-authored by three giants in the fields of sport history and the history of physical education, this volume traces the checkered career of physical education in both the Canadian school curriculum and Canadian society from the 1840s to the current day.The book can be described as part history, part celebration, part lament, and part prescription.Its strength derives in good measure from the accomplishments and experiences of these three authors, who have shaped the field with their own scholarship and administrative leadership, and have witnessed in their time the transformation of the field and its aims.Educating the Body was prompted by two factors.It was overdue: more than fifty years had passed since the last history of the field was published.What's more, there is a sinking feeling that physical education is, once again, under siege.This book is a reckoning.Educating the Body is organized in seven roughly chronological chapters which, taken together, assert three central points.Physical education in Canada a) has always been rooted in public, state-sponsored schools though its influence has extended outside them as well, in civic institutions such as the YMCA and YWCA, and in government-funded programs such as "Pro-Rec" and ParticipACTION; b) has always been political, contested terrain on which successive generations of thinkers and states people projected their needs, aspirations, and imperatives; and c) has always been less than inclusive, a place where male privilege and "whiteness" has predominated and where Black and Indigenous children, as well as those experiencing disability, have been made to feel left out.The authors understand that they are publishing this Canadian history at a time when the meaning of history (and of Canada) has been upended by the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2009-2015).What should national history look like in the wake of the 94 Calls to Action?Educating the Body is one convincing answer.It offers a robust description of Indian Residential Schools and their legacy in its introduction, and then masterfully weaves examples from Indigenous experiences with formal physical education into each chapter.(Sadly, but not unexpectedly, they conclude that the IRS curriculum in physical education for Indigenous students was woefully inadequate, as it was in so many other ways.)In the same way, the book balances contexts with topics nicely, occasionally expanding its scope to describe how Confederation, American aggression, world wars, and neoliberalism (and other changes) have influenced the urgency for and shape of physical education.The book is ably written (three authors but one voice) and is usefully illustrated with photographs and a series of insert boxes that highlight (mostly) biographical features of significant figures.Chapter 1 examines Ontario public school founder Egerton Ryerson's vision for physical education as a universal, compulsory force that aimed to produce morality, health, and national spirit -a new citizenry.Though Ryerson's legacy has foundered

The Convention on Biological Diversity's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets ambitious goals to protect and restore biodiversity. It includes a monitoring framework that mandates countries to track progress toward these goals using indicators that summarize biodiversity trends. Calculating indicators is challenging for countries because of fragmented biodiversity monitoring efforts, technical barriers, a lack of available data and tools, and capacity bottlenecks. The BON in a Box platform for biodiversity monitoring and indicator calculation, developed by the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network, was created to address these challenges by providing open, transparent, and reproducible analysis pipelines that convert data into essential biodiversity variables and indicators. These pipelines are built by experts and contributed by the community, follow FAIR principles, and help scientists apply their research to coordinate biodiversity monitoring efforts, build capacity to track progress toward the GBF, and affect policy change.

Amphibians are among the most threatened vertebrate groups globally, with over 40% of species at risk of extinction. However, a gap remains in understanding how to effectively develop and implement amphibian conservation strategies at local and global scales to minimize extinction risk. This review synthesizes multidisciplinary evidence to frame amphibian conservation as a priority not only for species preservation but for safeguarding ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Drawing on ecological, physiological, biomedical, and technological literature, we highlight the foundational roles amphibians play in various biomes: regulating invertebrate populations, mediating nutrient and energy flows, modifying physical habitats, and supporting biodiversity through trophic interactions. Their dual aquatic-terrestrial life cycles and highly permeable skin make them highly sensitive to environmental change, positioning them as bioindicators for ecosystem health. We further explore emerging tools and concepts such as environmental metabolomics, remote sensing, and citizen science for monitoring population trends and environmental stressors. Additionally, we discuss conservation challenges in relation to land-use change, climate disruption, invasive species, emerging diseases, and institutional underinvestment. We argue for the recognition of amphibians as ecological allies and the increased integration of amphibian conservation into broader frameworks such as ecosystem service valuation, climate resilience planning, and public health policy improvement. Finally, we identify key research gaps and suggest future directions to remedy these oversights, including the incorporation of traditional knowledge, socio-cultural engagement, and technological innovations for sustainable amphibian conservation. Realizing this vision will require globally coordinated, locally grounded strategies that fuse scientific insight, inclusive governance, and long-term investment-ensuring that amphibian conservation advances ecosystem stability and benefits both nature and society.

ABSTRACT This field experiment and action research examines whether and how a public bench intervention strategy can promote social interaction and connection among community members by nudging phatic communication, such as small talk, in response to the growing issue of loneliness. To achieve this, the study implemented ‘Happy to Chat Benches’ at a mid-sized public university in southeastern Massachusetts and evaluated their impact on fostering in-person social interaction, social connections, and psychological well-being, including feelings of inclusion. Data were collected through online surveys, with descriptive statistics used for quantitative analysis and content analysis for qualitative insights. The findings indicate that the Happy to Chat Benches successfully created a welcoming space where participants felt comfortable engaging in both casual and meaningful conversations within the university setting. The study highlights potential societal benefits, including advancing community engagement strategies, influencing urban design practices, and addressing social isolation. Additionally, the project’s interdisciplinary nature offers opportunities for collaboration among scholars in urban planning, communication, and community development, contributing to more inclusive and connected urban environments.

This study explores stakeholders’ sentiment during Mattel’s “Wicked” Dolls debacle using sentiment analysis. The analysis covers 1.19 million posts from Twitter (now ‘X’) collected via Brandwatch’s Consumer Intelligence Platform from November 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024. The findings reveal a predominant negative sentiment among stakeholders, with anger and disgust being the most prevalent emotions. Positive sentiment was linked to stakeholders who appreciated Mattel’s corrective actions. The study highlights the importance of timely and transparent communication in crisis management and recommends that organizations prioritize addressing stakeholders’ emotions to mitigate negative impacts and rebuild trust. These insights contribute to the existing literature on crisis communication and provide practical recommendations for improving organizational responses during crises.