Effects of eight weeks of physical training on physical performance and heart rate variability in children

Study aim: Physically active adults have been shown to have higher heart rate variability (HRV) than less active adults, but less is known about children in this regard. In adults, training-induced changes in physical performance have been shown to be related to increase in HRV, especially in its high frequency component (HF), which is a marker of parasympathetic activity. The purpose of this study was to examine whether 8 weeks of instructed physical training would improve physical performance and cardiac autonomic function (HRV) in secondary school pupils and to examine the relationship between changes in physical performance and the function of the autonomic nervous system. Material and …

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Control and Trust in Local School Governance

External school inspection and state supervision represent key instruments in many European countries for improving the quality of education. Although some countries, such as England, France, and the Netherlands, have a long tradition of school inspectorates, other countries such as Sweden only recently reintroduced a school inspection system (Johansson O, Holmgren M, Nihlfors E, Moos L, Skedsmo G, Paulsen JM, Risku M, Local Decisions under Central Watch – a new Nordic quality assurance system. In: Moos L (ed) Transnational influences on values and practices in Nordic educational leadership – is there a Nordic model? Springer, Dordrecht, 2013). In Denmark, the relationship between the state…

Effects of eight weeks of physical training on physical performance and heart rate variability in children

Kraama, Liisa. 2013. Effects of eight weeks physical training on physical performance and heart rate variability in children. University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Biology of Physical Activity. Master’s Thesis in Exercise Physiology. 52 pp. Physical activity and aerobic capacity have decreased among children and adolescents during the last decades. Physically active adults have been shown to have higher heart rate variability (HRV) than less active adults. In adults training-induced changes in physical performance have been shown to be related to increase in HRV, especially in high frequency component (HF), which is a marker of parasympathetic activity. The purpose of this study was to exa…

Finland: Finnish Principal

The presentation of principalship in Finland begins by giving an overall description of the Finnish education system and of the formal position of principals in Finland. The more detailed examination of the Finnish principal comprises two main sources. Both sources are reviews on research on principals in Finland in 2000–2010. The first one was conducted for the Swedish Research Council by Risku and Kanervio (Doctoral and regular research on principals in Finland 2000–2010. In: Johansson O (ed) Rektor – en forskningsoversikt 2000–2010 [Principal – a research report]. Vetenskapsradets rapportserie 4:161–186, 2011). The second one is a report by Alava et al. (Changing school management. Statu…

The School Boards Between Power and Influence

The decentralized Scandinavian school structure with the municipal school committee as a central factor between the municipal council and other school interests gives the school board a central role in the implementation of the centrally decided school legislation from the parliament. Therefore, the central questions in modern Scandinavian schooling are: what are the ways of influence and what power mechanisms are in play throughout the schooling system.

Educational Governance: Politics, Administration and Professionalism

The current restructuring of Nordic educational governance systems is creating new relationships between the state, local authorities and schools and, therefore, between politicians, managers and educational professionals. With inspiration from transnational agencies – primarily the OECD – new chains of governance are being created. Some elements of governance are being de-centralised, whilst other elements are being re-centralised. The couplings of economies, human resource management and operations are being loosened while at the same time the links between an educational content, aims and accountabilities are being tightened. This tendency has also led/made many municipalities to restruc…

Role and influence of school boards on improving educational quality

Ensuring educational quality is high on the policy agenda in many countries, especially efforts regarding students’ learning outcomes.

Finnish Superintendents Are Striving with a Changing Operational Environment

When one considers Finland’s education system through the 10-year curriculum reform cycle, slogans of trust and mild evaluation or results from international surveys on learning outcomes, one may think that Finnish superintendents’ operational environment is placid and serene. The truth, however, is very different. For historical reasons, Finnish society is now undergoing many of the changes that, for example, the other Nordic countries already encountered decades ago. Of course, the same contemporary international trends which affect the other Nordic countries influence Finland as well, but because they do so in a nation that is in many ways in a different developmental phase, they often m…

School Boards in Finland

In today’s global societal development, Finland in many ways seems to be an outlier relying on policies, the goals, contents and enactment of which differ from those of many other countries. Furthermore, the policies Finland relies on appear to provide outlying results concerning both the education system and the society (Risku M, Ital J Sociol Educ, forthcoming; Risku M, Kanervio P, The Finnish superintendent. In: Nir A (ed) The educational superintendent: between trust and regulation: an international perspective. Lambert Academic Publishing, New York, 2014). The many-sided outlying character of Finland makes it an interesting case of research.