How the Men's Shed idea travels to Scandinavia
- Authors: Ahl, Helene , Hedegaard, Joel , Golding, Barry
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Adult Learning Vol. 57, no. 3 (2017), p. 316-333
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- Description: Australia has around 1,000 Men’s Sheds – informal community- based workshops offering men beyond paid work somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to. They have proven to be of great benefit for older men's learning, health and wellbeing, social integration, and for developing a positive male identity focusing on community responsibility and care. A Men’s Shed is typically self- organized and 'bottom-up', which is also a key success factor, since it provides participants with a sense of ownership and empowerment. Men's Sheds are now spreading rapidly internationally, but the uptake of the idea varies with the local and national context, and so too may the consequences. Our paper describes how the Men's Shed travelled to Denmark, a country with considerably more 'social engineering' than in Australia, where Sheds were opened in 2015, via a 'top-down' initiative sponsored by the Danish Ministry of Health. Using data from the study of the web pages of the Danish 'Shed' organizations, from interviews with the central organizer, and from visits and interviews with participants and local organizers at two Danish Men's sheds, we describe how the idea of the Men's Shed on the Australian model was interpreted and translated at central and local levels. Preliminary data indicate that similar positive benefits as exist in Australia may result, provided that local ownership is emphasized.
Beyond the Abaya : School reform in the Middle East
- Authors: Albon, Nerissa
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: ATEA 2009 Conference, Australian Teacher Education Association, 2009, p. 1-17
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- Description: This autoethnography focuses on a study undertaken during the writers 15 month employment in a Muslim girls’ school in the United Arab Emirates. The paper outlines a school improvement project in the Abu Dhabi Emirate and the imposition of an Australian curriculum on the schools involved in this program. The teachers in these schools were exposed to regular professional development sessions as part of an informal teacher education program. While most of the teachers had a degree related to their teaching specialism they lacked any formal teaching qualifications. The professional development the teachers were required to undertake in the schools added to their daily teaching load and did not involve credit towards a degree. School improvement strategies currently in use in Australian state education systems will be discussed in light of their recent implementation in the United Arab Emirates. In discussing the issues that schools faced implementing a new curriculum, teaching approaches, and associated school improvement strategies, it is important that the cultural context of the community and the school be explored with reference to the impact of these proposed changes in many schools across Abu Dhabi. Implementing a new curriculum and encouraging teachers to involve the students in more active learning challenged local teachers’ notions of teaching and of how students learn. An outline of my reasons for undertaking an autoethnography will be provided including the problematic nature of “cultural difference” where a western researcher is working with and observing teachers in a Muslim context. As Rosaldo (1993:202) suggests “Although the notion of “difference” has the advantage of making culture particularly visible to outsiders, it poses a problem because such differences are not absolute. They are relative to the cultural practices of ethnographers and their readers.” On-going discussions related to the western notion of school reform implementation in the Middle East continues to raise issues related to culture and long standing teaching practices that are now being challenged by those who have come from communities and cultures that have very different borders, boundaries and contexts
Educational leadership and the imperative of including student, voices, student interests, and student's lives in the mainstream
- Authors: Angus, Lawrence
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Leadership in Education Vol. 9, no. 4 (2006), p. 369-378
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- Description: Smyth introduces this special issue with the claim that the question of 'how to pursue forms of leadership that listen to and attend to the voices of...young people' is the 'most urgent issue of our times'. Of special concern to him in recent times has been the increasing number of such students who are poorly served by schools and are, in effect, pushed out of the institution of schooling by a system that is largely uncaring and remote from their needs and interests. This article looks at the hardening of educational policy, student participation in reform efforts, leaders and followers, the moral purpose of educational leadership, and what counts as 'genuine' participation.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003002105
School choice: neoliberal education policy and imagined futures
- Authors: Angus, Lawrence
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sociology of Education Vol. 36, no. 3 (2015), p. 395-413
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- Description: The launch in Australia of a government website that compares all schools on the basis of student performance in standardized tests illustrates the extent to which neoliberal policies have been entrenched. This paper examines the problematic nature of choosing schools within the powerful political context of neoliberalism. It illustrates how key elements of the neoliberal worldview are normalized in the day-to-day practices of schooling and how certain norms and values that characterize neoliberalism are shaped and reinforced in the education system and also in personal, family and social imaginaries. The task for educational sociology, therefore, is to problematize and ‘re-imagine’ the prevailing neoliberal imaginary. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
The role of the computer in learning Ndj bbana
- Authors: Auld, Glenn
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Language Learning and Technology Vol. 6, no. 2 (2002), p. 41-58
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- Description: While Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is being superseded by an integrated approach to language learning and technology, it still has great potential to assist indigenous peoples in becoming print-literate in their own languages. This can also help to combat the disempowerment experienced by indigenous people as their world is penetrated by others with radically different backgrounds. This paper reports on research on an application of CALL implemented among the Kunib dji, a remote, indigenous Australian community. It focuses on the use of talking books in Ndj bbana, a language with only 200 speakers; the books were displayed on touch-screens at various locations in the community. Investigations into the roles of the computer to support language learning and cultural understanding are also reported. The computer was found to be a useful tool in promoting Kunib dji collaboration and cultural transformation.
- Description: 2003000137
What can we say about 112,000 taps on a Ndjebbana touch screen
- Authors: Auld, Glenn
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education Vol. 30, no. 1 (2002), p. 1-7
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- Description: In a remote Aboriginal Australian (Kunibidji) community, three touch-screen computers containing 96 Ndjebbana-language talking books were made available to children in informal settings. The computers' popularity is explained by the touch screens' form and the talking books' intertextual and hybrid nature. The Kunibidji are transforming their culture by including new digital technologies that represent their social practice.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000139
Preparing student nurses for healthcare reform
- Authors: Barnett, Tony , Sellick, Kenneth , Cross, Merylin , Walker, Lorraine , James, Ainsley , Henderson, Tamie
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Focus on Health Professional Education Vol. 14, no. 1 (2012), p. 23-24
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- Description: This research aimed to determine how clinical agencies and universities can best prepare student nurses to develop the capability to contribute to healthcare reform. A list of desirable reform capabilities (graduate attributes) was developed and validated. A case study approach was used and interviews conducted with personnel at six clinical agencies in Victoria and South Australia to assess the extent to which student nurses achieved or were likely to achieve these capabilities and to identify strategies that would assist their development. As a significant component of the healthcare workforce, nurses are positioned to play a critical role in healthcare reform. A major challenge facing the profession is how best to prepare nurses and equip them with the skills and attributes necessary to contribute to the reform agenda. Nine reform capabilities were identified. Some were more likely to be achieved than others during undergraduate preparation. Strategies were identified to assist the development of each capability though a number of challenges were also identified by participants. These related to: university–agency relationships, the clinical learning environment, student–graduate transition, curriculum and organisational culture. The research concluded that graduate nurses are unlikely to demonstrate all nine capabilities on initial entry into the workforce. If these are regarded as desirable attributes for beginning practitioners, universities and clinical agencies need to develop and implement more effective strategies to support their development during undergraduate preparation. [Author abstract]
10 tips for using video analysis more effectively in physical education
- Authors: Beseler, Brad , Plumb, Mandy
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Vol. 90, no. 1 (2019), p. 52-56
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- Description: In order for video replay to be an effective assessment and teaching tool, a number of steps need to be followed. This article provides some useful tips for physical educators to ensure they are implementing this video technology effectively when teaching the overarm throw.
Being 'Dumped' from Facebook : Negotiating issues of boundaries and identity in an online social networking space
- Authors: Best, Gill , Hajzler, Darko , Pancini, Geri , Tout, Dan
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Peer Learning Vol. 4, no. (2011), p. 24-36
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- Description: While Facebook, the world’s most popular Social Networking Site (SNS), has been warmly welcomed by many commentators and practitioners within the educational community, its effects, impacts and implications arguably remain insufficiently understood. Through the provision of an anecdotal and experiential account of the authors’ attempt to introduce Facebook into an existing Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) student peer mentoring program at Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne, this paper aims to explore and thereby explicate some of the issues inevitably arising in relation to the adoption and utilisation of social networking technologies in educational settings. While the authors’ experiences of their own ‘Facebook experiment’ were somewhat ambiguous and ambivalent, this paper is intended to contribute to the ever-expanding body of literature concerned with the use of Facebook in education and to thereby assist in improving educators’ requisite understanding of both the potential positives and pitfalls involved. On the basis of the authors’ experience, it is suggested that careful consideration as well as explicit and iterative articulation and negotiation surrounding issues of staff and student expectations, boundaries and identity management in an online environment comprise the minimum requirements for the successful implementation of social networking into student peer mentoring programs.
Preferences and intention of rural adolescents toward seeking help for mental health problems
- Authors: Boyd, Candice , Hayes, Louise , Nurse, Sarah , Aisbett, Damon , Francis, Kristy , Newnham, Krystal , Sewell, Jessica
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Rural and Remote Health Vol. 11, no. 1 (2011), p. 1-13
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- Description: Introduction: In Australia, rural adolescents still face barriers to obtaining professional psychological help due to poor availability and accessibility of services in rural areas when delay in seeking help for mental health problems can lead to poorer treatment outcomes. The aims of this study were to: investigate the preferences and intentions of rural Australian youth towards seeking help for mental health problems; determine predictors of help-seeking intention among rural adolescents; and verify results from previous qualitative research on the barriers to help-seeking in a rural context. Method: Participants were 201 adolescents recruited from 8 rural schools in the state of Victoria, Australia. Participants ranged in age from 11 to 18 years. Using the Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+), approximately 149 participants were classified as currently living in an inner regional area of Victoria, whereas 52 participants lived in an outer regional area. Participants completed an open-ended survey of help-seeking intention. Results: Overall, 55.7% of the sample indicated that they would seek help for a mental health problem. The majority of participants, regardless of subgroup, indicated that they would seek help for a mental health problem from a school counsellor as their first choice. Gender differences were observed such that males had a higher preference for seeking help from a psychologist than females. Furthermore, older adolescents were more likely to prefer seeking help from a GP than younger participants. A multivariate analysis of help-seeking intentions revealed that ARIA was the only predictor of help-seeking intention; however, when extreme scores of depression and anxiety were also taken into account, these also predicted help-seeking intention. A content analysis of the barriers to help-seeking nominated by participants revealed that perceived limited availability of professional services in towns, perceived social proximity and fear of rural gossip, and difficulties associated with travelling to obtain help were the most significant concerns for these youth. Conclusions: These findings verify previous research on help-seeking among rural youth and reinforce that these young people face additional barriers to help-seeking by virtue of living in a rural environment. The availability of services for rural youth needs to be improved, as do young people's knowledge of service availability and access (especially travel options). It must be taken into account that rural adolescents of different ages and sex may differ in their help-seeking preferences. Finally, mental health promotion work with rural youth should consider the influence of rural culture on help-seeking intentions.
Rattling the Cage : Moving beyond ethical standards to ethical praxis in self-study research
- Authors: Brandenburg, Robyn , Gervasoni, Ann
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Studying Teacher Education Vol. 8, no. 2 (2012), p. 183-191
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- Description: The ethical practice underpinning self-study research has been addressed extensively in the literature of self-study of teacher education practices. Less attention has been paid to how researchers deal with ethical tensions and dilemmas when they arise unexpectedly during self-study research. In this article, we examine how the extrapolation and examination of one critical incident in the process of conducting self-study research challenged our ethics as researchers and led us to new understanding and knowledge. Our focus is on the initial acknowledgment of what we considered to be an ethical dilemma as it had rattled our cage. We were uncomfortable, disturbed, and challenged. We analyzed the data using critical incident analysis and discussed the outcomes in relation to being ethically responsive as researchers. Our responsiveness has led us to ethical praxis, whereby we now routinely and intentionally incorporate ethical dilemma identification and data analysis into our research designs. This study also highlights that our responsibilities as researchers are both private and public. By distilling the essence of a single critical incident, we can contribute new knowledge to the conversation about ethical practice. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Methodological capacity within the field of "educational technology" research : an initial investigation
- Authors: Bulfin, Scott , Henderson, Michael , Johnson, Nicola , Selwyn, Neil
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Educational Technology Vol. 45, no. 3 (2014), p. 403-414
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- Description: The academic study of educational technology is often characterised by critics as methodologically limited. In order to test this assumption, the present paper reports on data collected from a survey of 462 "research active" academic researchers working in the broad areas of educational technology and educational media. The paper explores their familiarity and expertise with various methods of data collection and analysis. Data from the survey highlight a preference for relatively basic forms of descriptive research, coupled with a lack of capacity in advanced quantitative data collection and analysis. The paper concludes with some directions for "methodological capacity building" to broaden the use of methods in educational technology research.
'Power, regulation and physically active identities' : the experiences of rural and regional living adolescent girls
- Authors: Casey, Meghan , Mooney, Amanda , Smyth, John , Payne, Warren
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Gender and Education Vol. 28, no. 1 (2016), p. 108-127
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990206
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- Description: Drawing on interpretations of Foucault's techniques of power, we explored the discourses and power relations operative between groups of girls that appeared to influence their participation in Physical Education (PE) and outside of school in sport and physical activity (PA) in rural and regional communities. Interviews and focus groups were conducted in eight secondary schools with female students from Year 9 (n = 22) and 10 (n = 116). Dominant gendered and performance discourses were active in shaping girls' construction of what it means to be active or sporty', and these identity positions were normalised and valued. The perceived and real threat of their peer's gaze as a form of surveillance acted to further perpetuate the power of performance discourses; whereby girls measured and (self) regulated their participation. Community settings were normalised as being exclusively for skilled performers and girls self-regulated their non-participation according to judgements made about their own physical abilities. These findings raise questions about the ways in which power relations, as forged in broader sociocultural and institutional discourse-power relations, can infiltrate the level of the PE classroom to regulate and normalise practices in relation to their, and others, PA participation.
Unpacking the black box: The problem of agency in the sociology of youth
- Authors: Coffey, Julia , Farrugia, David
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Youth Studies Vol. 17, no. 4 (2014), p. 461-474
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- Description: Agency is a conceptual problem for youth studies. While the term is used in many analyses of young people's lives, this paper argues that the nature and conceptual meaning of agency remain ambiguous: agency is a 'black box' which while fundamental to youth sociology remains unpacked. Ontological and epistemological confusion about the concept means that appeals to agency in contemporary youth sociology beg the very questions they claim to answer. Nevertheless, the concept has become central to the conceptual and political basis of youth research, coming to stand for practices that are 'bounded' by structures and resist existing states of affairs. This limits the explanatory power of theoretical frameworks in youth studies, and does not serve the ethical commitments of a politically engaged discipline. Identifying conceptual and normative problems raised by the way agency is deployed, this paper argues that a conceptually powerful and politically engaged youth sociology must move beyond the problem of agency as it stands, and incorporates theoretical perspectives on youth subjectivities and social action that indicate possibilities for how this might take place. © 2013 Taylor & Francis
The continuum of tendon pathology : Current view and clinical implications
- Authors: Cook, Jill , Rio, Ebonie , Purdam, Craig , Girdwood, Michael , Ortega-Cebrian, Silvia , Docking, Sean
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Apunts Medicina de l'Esport Vol. 52, no. 194 (2017), p. 61-69
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- Description: Cook and Purdam first proposed the Continuum model in 2009, with the aim of improving the understanding of the complexity of tendon pathologies. The Continuum is based on three states of tendon structure: reactive tendon, tendon disrepair and degenerative tendon. In contrast to other proposals, the Continuum model describes continuous changes in tendon structure. Each state of tendon structure represents a particular clinical presentation and requires a particular type of management. Evidence seen in histopathological studies, imaging and clinical studies all support the Continuum model for the analysis of tendon pathologies. © 2017 Consell Català de l'Esport. Generalitat de Catalunya
Taking responsibility for music education in the primary school: A case study
- Authors: De Vries, Peter , Albon, Nerissa
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Victorian Journal of Music Education Vol. 1, no. (2012), p. 3-11
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Predictors of teacher intervention in indirect bullying at school and outcome of a professional development presentation for teachers
- Authors: Dedousis-Wallace, Anna , Shute, Rosalyn , Varlow, Megan , Murrihy, Rachael , Kidman, Tony
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Educational Psychology Vol. 34, no. 7. (2014), Pages 862-875
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- Description: This study with 326 girls-school teachers developed and tested a model of predictors of the likelihood that teachers will intervene in indirect bullying, and evaluated a professional development presentation. Teachers responded to bullying vignettes before and after a presentation on indirect bullying (Experimentals) or adolescent mental health (Controls). In accord with the model, perceived seriousness of indirect bullying mediated between empathy for victims and likelihood of intervening. Self-efficacy also had a direct effect on likelihood of intervention, though level of knowledge of the impact of indirect bullying made only a small contribution. Compared with Controls, the Experimental Group scored more highly, after the presentation, on perceived seriousness of indirect bullying, empathy for victims, likelihood of intervening and self-efficacy, but not on knowledge of impact. It is concluded that teacher education about indirect bullying may be most effective if it focuses on feelings rather than facts, and provides practical intervention strategies.
Effective University leadership and management of learning and teaching in a widening participation context: Findings from two national Australian studies
- Authors: Devlin, Marcia
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Tertiary Education and Management Vol. 19, no. 3 (2013), p. 233-245
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- Description: The widening participation agenda in Australian higher education heralds changes that demand fresh thinking in university leadership and management of learning and teaching. The findings from interviews, across two national studies in 16 Australian universities, with 50 staff and 89 successful students from low socio-economic backgrounds, provide the basis for new directions related to the leadership and management of university teaching and learning in the context of an increasingly diverse student body. These directions relate to: institutional strategic alignment; reward for and recognition of teachers; appropriate resourcing; and effective structure and organization of teaching and learning support. © 2013 European Higher Education Society.
Effective university teaching: views of Australian university students from low socio-economic status backgrounds
- Authors: Devlin, Marcia
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Tertiary Education and Management Vol. 19, no. 3 (2013), p. 233-245
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- Description: The widening participation agenda in Australian higher education heralds changes that demand fresh thinking in university leadership and management of learning and teaching. The findings from interviews, across two national studies in 16 Australian universities, with 50 staff and 89 successful students from low socio-economic backgrounds, provide the basis for new directions related to the leadership and management of university teaching and learning in the context of an increasingly diverse student body. These directions relate to: institutional strategic alignment; reward for and recognition of teachers; appropriate resourcing; and effective structure and organization of teaching and learning support. © 2013 European Higher Education Society.
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The Student experience
- Authors: Devlin, Marcia , Larkin, Helen
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Educating Health Professionals: Becoming a University Teacher p.
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