William Lawless

Bio: William Lawless is an academic researcher from Southampton Solent University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Physical education & Primary education. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 3 publications receiving 16 citations.

Inclusionary and Exclusionary Banter: English Club Cricket, Inclusive Attitudes and Male Camaraderie

Abstract: Sport has traditionally been a hostile environment for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people. More recently, however, research on a range of British sports has documented a considerable shift towa...

The primary PE and sport premium from a staff perspective

Abstract: In 2013 the UK government introduced the primary physical education and sport premium (PPESP) to improve Physical Education (PE) provision in eligible schools. In 2017 this was doubled, and further...

Parents’ Perceptions of Secondary Physical Education

Abstract: There is a large quantity of research (Alguacil, 2018; Ciotto & Gagnon, 2018; McKenzie and Lounsbery, 2014) which states the importance Physical Education (PE) has in pupils’ lives. However, there is a state of decline for the status of the subject (Harris, 2018; Kirk et al., 2013). Parents perception is an under-researched area (Na, 2015; Yilmaz, 2018), especially in the UK, therefore, it is important parents’ beliefs are explored to understand an important stakeholder’s viewpoint. Purpose: To explore and gain an understanding of the perception’s parents have of Secondary PE, investigating what the perceptions are and why they have them. Methodology: This study uses a mixed-methods exploratory design to discover, the perceptions parents have on Secondary school PE, using a quantitative online survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews. 263 parents/guardians completed the survey, which was then followed by 8 parents taking part in the interviews. Results: From the data sets collected 5 themes were identified: Importance of PE; Teacher-Pupil relationship; PE in relation to other subjects; competitive nature of PE and impact PE has on confidence. 50% percent of parents did believe that PE is as important as subjects such Maths, English and Science, but, in comparison to other subjects 61% of parents do not favour PE overall. With results demonstrating the growing awareness parents have of the crucial role PE plays in health and wellbeing for pupils. Conclusion: Although parents understand the importance of PE, parents perceptions differ on some aspects of the subject. This study is a starting point for other researchers and should be continued to be researched to support PE in the curriculum.

Risk Determination versus Risk Perception: A New Model of Reality for Human-Machine Autonomy

Abstract: We review the progress in developing a science of interdependence applied to the determinations and perceptions of risk for autonomous human–machine systems based on a case study of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) faulty determination of risk in a drone strike in Afghanistan; the DoD’s assessment was rushed, suppressing alternative risk perceptions. We begin by contrasting the lack of success found in a case study from the commercial sphere (Facebook’s use of machine intelligence to find and categorize “hate speech”). Then, after the DoD case study, we draw a comparison with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) mismanagement of its military nuclear wastes that created health risks to the public, DOE employees, and the environment. The DOE recovered by defending its risk determinations and challenging risk perceptions in public. We apply this process to autonomous human–machine systems. The result from this review is a major discovery about the costly suppression of risk perceptions to best determine actual risks, whether for the military, business, or politics. For autonomous systems, we conclude that the determinations of actual risks need to be limited in scope as much as feasible; and that a process of free and open debate needs to be adopted that challenges the risk perceptions arising in situations facing uncertainty as the best, and possibly the only, path forward to a solution.

The Shifts and the Shocks: What We've Learned - and Have Still to Learn - from the Financial Crisis

Abstract: The Shifts and the Shocks: What We've Learned - and Have Still to Learn - from the Financial Crisis Martin Wolf Penguin Press, 2014The Great Recession has given rise to a vast literature of high quality, which makes it all the more extraordinary for us to suggest that this book by Martin Wolf ranks among the more important. Its significance lies in the fact that Wolf, a prominent economic commentator, has written a book that can serve as a bridge between the main flow of post-crisis thinking, which seeks ways to reform (while essentially perpetuating) the existing financial system, and a body of thought that calls for radical monetary and financial reconstruction. The latter, centered on "the Chicago Plan" which we will explain later here, has stayed "under the radar," hardly acknowledged by mainstream thought, even though it enjoys a remarkably distinguished pedigree. If the reconstruction it calls for continues to be ignored even after the world's recent economic cataclysm, that will be an intellectual and policy default of historic significance. By raising the subject and taking it seriously, Wolf is leading the way toward bringing such reconstruction into the light for what hopefully will be serious consideration.Wolf, a British journalist, is the associate editor and chief economic analyst for the London-based international newspaper Financial Times. He earned his "master of philosophy in economics" degree from Nuffield College at Oxford in 1971. Although he preferred a life of journalism over academia, and thus chose not to go for a doctorate, his merit as an economist has been such as to earn him honorary doctorates. After graduation from Nuffield, he joined the staff at the World Bank, where he quickly rose in rank to senior economist. Wolf has been with the Financial Times since 1987, producing a large body of financial writing, both in books and articles. Lawrence Summers, a former U.S. Treasury Secretary, calls Wolf "the world's preeminent financial journalist." It is precisely Wolf's preeminence that makes this book so meaningful a bridge to the body of thought that until now has been submerged.The Shifts and Shocks is by no means devoted solely, or even primarily, to the Chicago Plan. It gives insights into the economic foundations of the recent crisis which, by stressing a "savings glut and associated imbalances," differ from the analyses found in so many other commentaries. The Eurozone is also a subject that receives considerable attention. Nevertheless, it is Wolf's recognition of the need to question the entire existing system of world finance and to find a much more satisfactory foundation for a market economy that makes this book stand out.His discussion of that issue is based on two premises. The first is his awareness, which he shares with so many others, of the extraordinary dangers that hang over the global economy. Wolf joins the others in seeing that it is "a world that is hugely crisis prone." The threat of catastrophe is, in effect, "the elephant in the room," not to be forgotten as the world picks up the pieces after what is now called The Great Recession. Wolf's second premise is that, out of the intellectual crisis that now exists in economic thought and especially in "conventional macroeconomics," the time has come to see the "need for a new kind of system." It won't be enough, he says, simply to tinker with the existing financial structure. The reforms that are coming into place are so complex that it is "virtually inconceivable that [they] will work." People operating within banks and other financial institutions will be overwhelmed by the resulting complexity, not knowing or understanding what is required of them. A "new orthodoxy" has come into being that "gives enormous discretionary power to bureaucrats" to manage finance. Wolf sees that this is not the sort of re-thinking that is so imperative. Something much better is needed to assure the success, and with it even the long-term legitimacy, of capitalism. …

Gay male athletes’ coming-out stories on Outsports.com

Abstract: For two decades, Outsports.com – the world’s first website dedicated to the LGBT+ community’s experiences in sport – has provided sexual minority athletes with the opportunity to share their storie...