La Pointe Saint Mathieu, Brittany, France

The "Pointe Saint Mathieu" is one of the most westerly continental landmarks of France. The promontory is located at the entrance of the "Goulet de la Rade de Brest", that is the entrance channel of the harbour of Brest in Brittany (France). It marks also the Southern end of the "Chenal du Four" that is the main navigation channel between the islands of Ouessant, Molène and Béniquet, and Brittany. The "Chenal du Four" is reputed for its dangers. The tidal range is greater than 7 m in spring tides, and the mid-tide current may exceed 5 knots. The Saint Mathieu promontory is equipped with a lighthouse and a semaphore. The former is located in the ruins of an old monastery, founded during the 6th century AD by Saint Tanguy. The present ruins are the remnants of buildings from the 11th to 15th centuries. The first lighthouse was installed in 1689, although the monks of the monastery used to maintain a signal light since the 1250s. Completed in 1835, the present "Phare de la Pointe Saint-Mathieu" is 37 m high and it reaches 58.8 m above sea level During World War 2, the Pointe Saint Mathieu was defended by a series of concrete fortifications built by the Germans. Some were based upon some earlier French bunker systems, like the coastal battery at the Rospects which included 4 main gun bunkers (4*150 mm, or 2*150 mm & 2*105 mm), an observation bunker on the Western side close to sea, and several smaller structures. There was also the large Kéringar Blockhaus system, near Lochrist, located about 1 km inland and designed for 4 guns of 280 mm. Its command bunker remains a landmark along the main road. All this area was very-heavily bombed between 1943 and 1944, and particularly during the battle of Brest in August-September 1944 ("L'Enfer de Brest").

From idola conceptiones to discourse analysis: A response to Bart Crum

Crum's notion of idola as a conceptual fallacy is interesting, somewhat helpful, yet potentially limiting in a critique of research in PE if one is to accept a postmodern or poststructuralist position. In line with a poststructuralist position, a strength in Crum's application of idola is the recognition that research in PE is constituted by the researcher and their social world which, in turn, constitutes the researcher. Limitations to Crum's idola thesis arise when the notion is used to suggest that as a result of the researcher's lack of conceptual clarity, the quest for knowledge or truth about PE pedagogy is undermined as this assumes that meanings can be unequivocal and precede a linear research process. In contrast, this response argues that a priority in research should be to examine how, and under what conditions, particular discourses come to shape PE practices in schools and universities. In a postmodern world, conceptual clarity should not be the goal but rather a coming to understand how PE knowledge and practice is being constructed across sites and contexts.