Role models of Australian female adolescents: A longitudinal study to inform programmes designed to increase physical activity and sport participation
- Authors: Young, Janet , Symons, Caroline , Pain, Michelle , Harvey, Jack , Eime, Rochelle , Craike, Melinda , Payne, Warren
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Physical Education Review Vol. 21, no. 4 (2015), p. 451-466
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- Description: In light of the importance attributed to the presence of positive role models in promoting physical activity during adolescence, this study examined role models of adolescent girls and their influence on physical activity. Seven hundred and thirty two girls in Years 7 and 11 from metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions of Victoria, Australia, were surveyed regarding whether they had a role model (in general, not limited to sport), and if they did, the gender, age, type and sporting background of that individual. Participants were also asked about the amount of physical activity they did. Descriptive statistics and a series of generalised estimating equations, one-way ANOVAs and a chi-square analysis were conducted to analyse the data. The majority of participants nominated a family member, peer or celebrity sportsperson as their role model who was female, played sport and was less than 50 years of age. Non-metropolitan-based adolescent girls, and Year 11 adolescent girls, were more likely to select a role model who they knew played sport than metropolitan-based adolescent girls and Year 7 girls respectively. In the first two years of the study girls whose role models played sport were significantly more physically active than girls whose role models did not play sport. It is recommended that family members, peers and sports people are included as role models in programmes designed to increase physical activity.
Supporting nursing student supervision: An assessment of an innovative approach to supervisor support
- Authors: Browning, Mark , Pront, Leeanne
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 35, no. 6 (2015/06/01/ 2015), p. 740-745
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- Description: Summary The responsibility for clinical supervision is recognised by both the nursing literature and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, through an expectation that RNs will provide support and facilitate student learning in the clinical environment (Atack et al., 2000; Gray and Smith, 2000; Brammer, 2005; Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2006; Hallin and Danielson, 2008). RNs identify with and acknowledge the need for the supervisory role and are willing participants however, request strategies to guide and support students in the clinical environment (Bourbonnais and Kerr, 2007, Hallin and Danielson, 2008). Objectives The aim of this study was to provide a means of support to clinical supervisors of nursing students through a computer-based clinical supervisor educational package (CSEP) and to test the effectiveness of the CSEP. Design The effectiveness of the CSEP was determined by a pre-test–post-test evaluation sheet that included open and Likert scale questions. Settings 4 regional hospitals in South Australia, Australia. Participants 28 participants completed the questionnaire on their experience with the CSEP. Methods Analysis of quantitative data utilised non-parametric testing with SPSS version 20. A Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was performed on the Likert scale questions to establish any significant difference between the pre- and post-tests. The responses to the open-ended questions were thematically analysed separately by the two authors. The themes were then amalgamated. The results were then compared to find similarities or differences. Conclusions The CSEP is an effective education package in promoting increased preparedness to supervise and increased confidence to promote learning.
Sustainability education : Researching practice in primary schools
- Authors: Green, Monica , Somerville, Margaret
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Environmental Education Research Vol. 21, no. 6 (2015), p. 832-845
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- Description: Many teachers are keen to implement sustainability education in primary schools but are lacking the confidence, skills and knowledge to do so. Teachers report that they do not understand the concept and cannot integrate sustainability into an already overcrowded curriculum. Identifying how teachers successfully integrate sustainability education into their teaching practice can offer important insights into how these perceived problems can be overcome. The paper is based on data from the third year of a longitudinal study about teacher education and teacher professional learning for sustainability in primary education. The third year of the study investigated teachers’ understandings of sustainability and how sustainability education is manifested in eight rural and regional primary schools in Victoria, Australia. Data included photographs of school grounds and sustainability projects, audio recordings of focus groups with teachers and principals, and field notes of meetings with school staff. Sustainability education was found to be an emergent practice necessarily constituted in the relation between teachers, students and community members and the materialities of local places. Partnerships were found to be an essential part of integrated sustainability programmes which extended into communities and places beyond the schools. The processes of learning involved pedagogies of creative problem-solving and inquiry learning that enabled children to lead the way. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
The mirror of the sea : Narrative identity, sea kayak adventuring and implications for outdoor adventure education
- Authors: Miles, Beau , Wattchow, Brian
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Outdoor Education Vol. 18, no. 1 (2015), p. 16-26
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- Description: This paper explores the complex and changing nature of adventure as a form of cultural practice. Borrowing from Joseph Conrad's memoirs The Mirror of The Sea (1907), sea kayaking is contextualized here as a journey that takes place just as much between 'landfall and departure' as it does between the paddler's ears (i.e., in the paddler's mind). That is to say, to gain useful insights into the experience of sea kayaking it is necessary to consider both the external and internal journey of the paddler, and the relationship that exists between these two phenomena. Using tenets of personality psychology which presents new ways of understanding narrative identity, we will 'waymark' textual vignettes from four modern day sea kayaking adventure narratives to explore ideas of self, narrative identity and meaning making. These key passages aim to reveal how the adventurer's story is influenced by "external factors that shape the public expression of stories about the self" (McAdams & McLean, 2013, p. 233). Summary discussion will address potential implications for contemporary outdoor adventure education, offering a way of stimulating reflective practice about the culturally and textually constructed nature of adventure.
Writing difference differently
- Authors: Fisher, Karen , Williams, Miriam , Fitzherbert, Stephen , Instone, Lesley , Duffy, Michelle , Wright, Sarah , Suchet-Pearson, Sandie , Lloyd, Kate , Burarrwanga, Laklak , Ganambarr, Ritjilili , Ganambarr-Stubbs, Merrkiyawuy , Ganambarr, Banbapuy , Maymuru, Djawundil , Country, Bawaka
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: New Zealand Geographer Vol. 71, no. 1 (2015), p. 18-33
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- Description: This paper investigates the writing of situated knowledge and explores the possibilities of enacting difference by writing differently. We present a selection of research stories in which carrier bags, sounds, baskets, gardens and potatoes are interpreted less as objects of research or metaphors to aid in analysing phenomena, than as mediators of the stories. Our stories emphasise the ontological politics of engaging with and representing the relational, the messy, the spontaneous, the unpredictable, the non-human and bodily experiences. These stories demonstrate how writing is performative and how it is integral to the production of knowledge. © 2015 New Zealand Geographical Society.
Assessment of decision-making performance and in-game physical exertion of Australian football umpires
- Authors: Larkin, Paul , O'Brien, Brendan , Mesagno, Christopher , Berry, Jason , Harvey, Jack , Spittle, Michael
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sports Sciences Vol. 32, no. 15 (2014), p. 1446-1453
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- Description: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of in-game physical exertion on decision-making performance of Australian football umpires. Fifteen Australian football umpires (Mage = 36, s = 13.5 years; Mgames umpired = 235.2, s = 151.3) volunteered to participate in the study. During five competitive Australian football pre-season games, measures of in-game physical exertion (blood lactate levels, global positioning system [GPS]) and decision-making performance (video-based test) were obtained. There were no significant correlations between physical exertion in a particular quarter and decision-making performance in either the same quarter or any other quarter. Video-based decision-making performance was effected by time in game χ2(3) = 24.24, P = 0.001, with Quarter 4 performance significantly better than both Quarter 2 and Quarter 3. In-game physical exertion (blood lactate) significantly decreased over the course of the game χ2(3) = 11.58, P = 0.009. Results indicate no definable link between in-game physical exertion and decision-making performance. It is, however, presumed that decision-making performance may be affected by the time or context of the game. Future research is warranted to explore the relationship between physical exertion and decision-making performance to potentially inform Australian football umpire training programmes that replicate in-game physical and decision-making demands.
Associations between behavior regulation, competence, physical activity, and health for adolescent females
- Authors: Craike, Melinda , Polman, Remco , Eime, Rochelle , Symons, Caroline , Harvey, Jack , Payne, Warren
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Physical Activity and Health Vol. 11, no. 2 (2014), p. 410-418
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Children's enjoyment of play during school lunchtime breaks : An examination of intraday and interday reliability
- Authors: Hyndman, Brendon , Telford, Amanda , Ullah, Shahid , Benson, Amanda , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Physical Activity & Health Vol. 11, no. 1 (January 2014 2014), p. 109-117
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- Description: Background: Enjoyment and play during school lunchtime are correlated with children's physical activity. Despite this, there is an absence of studies reporting children's enjoyment of play during school lunchtime breaks. The purpose of this study was to examine the intraday and interday reliability of children's enjoyment of school lunchtime play. Methods: Surveys used to assess children's enjoyment of lunchtime play were distributed to and completed by 197 children (112 males, 85 females), aged 8-12 years attending an elementary school in Victoria, Australia. Children completed the surveys during class before lunch (expected enjoyment) and after lunch (actual enjoyment) for 5 days. The intra- and interday enjoyment of school lunchtime play reliability were determined using a weighted kappa. Results: Intraday kappa values ranged from fair (0.31) to substantial (0.75) within each of the 5 days (median kappa = 0.41). In comparison, "expected" (0.09-0.40; median 0.30) and "actual" (0.05-0.46; median 0.28) interday enjoyment of lunchtime play displayed low reliability. Conclusions: Children's enjoyment of lunchtime play appears to be more consistent within days than across days. The findings suggest that assessment of children's enjoyment of lunchtime play once on a single day would be representative of a particular day but not necessarily that particular school week.
Connecting literacy learning outside of school to the Australian Curriculum in the middle years
- Authors: Auld, Glenn , Johnson, Nicola
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Literacy Learning : the Middle Years Vol. 22, no. 2 (2014), p. 22-27
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- Description: The complexity of teacher's work is manifest in the divergent use of digital technologies in and out of school. This article explores the logical step of connecting students' out-of-school mediated literacy learning to the content descriptors of the Australian Curriculum. The study uses published evidence from four previous studies of young people to demonstrate the diverse ways that out-of-school practices can be linked to literacy learning in the Australian Curriculum. The authors frame this linking of informal literacy learning to the Australian Curriculum by highlighting the 'funds of knowledge' children bring through the school gate. [Author abstract]
Dose-response of women's health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and life satisfaction to physical activity
- Authors: Eime, Rochelle , Harvey, Jack , Payne, Warren
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Physical Activity and Health Vol. 11, no. 2 (2014), p. 330-338
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- Description: Background: To examine the dose-response relationship between health related quality of life (HRQoL) and life satisfaction (outcomes) and duration of recreational physical activity (exposure). Further, to explore whether these relationships depend on type of physical activity (PA). Methods: 793 Australian rural-living women self-reported on duration of recreational PA; HRQoL via SF-36 Mental Component Summary (MCS) and Physical Component Summary (PCS); and a life satisfaction scale. ANOVAs and ANCOVAs investigated differences in outcomes (MCS, PCS, and life satisfaction) between tertiles of exposure to recreational PA, and types of PA (club sport, gymnasium, walking), with adjustment for potential confounders. Results: A significant positive dose-response relationship was found between PCS and level of PA. Furthermore, this relationship depended on type of PA, with club-sport participants recording higher PCS than non-club-sport participants in all but the highest tertile of exposure. Life satisfaction and MCS were not significantly related to level of PA. Conclusion: Physical health was positively associated with level of recreational PA, with club sport participation contributing greater benefits at low to moderate exposures than participation in gymnasium or walking activities. © 2014 Human Kinetics, Inc.
Effects of small-sided game and change-of-direction training on reactive agility and change-of-direction speed
- Authors: Young, Warren , Rogers, Nathan
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sports Sciences Vol. 32, no. 4 (2014), p. 307-314
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- Description: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of training change-of-direction speed and small-sided games on performance in the Planned-AFL agility test and reactive agility. Twenty-five elite-standard U-18 Australian Rules football players were randomly allocated either to a change-of-direction group or a small-sided games group. Players participated in one or two 15-min sessions per week with 11 sessions conducted over a 7-week period during the season. Tests conducted immediately before and after the training period included the Planned-AFL agility test and a video-based reactive agility test specific to Australian Rules football. The reactive agility test variables were total time, decision time and movement response time. The small-sided games group improved total time (P = 0.008, effect size = 0.93), which was entirely attributable to a very large reduction in decision time (P < 0.001, effect size = 2.32). Small-sided games produced a trivial change in movement response time as well as in the Planned-AFL agility test (P > 0.05). The change-of-direction training produced small to trivial changes in all of the test variables (P > 0.05, effect size = 0-0.2). The results suggest that small-sided games improve agility performance by enhancing the speed of decision-making rather than movement speed. The change-of-direction training was not effective for developing either change-of-direction speed as measured by the Planned-AFL test or reactive agility.
Emergency resuscitation team roles: What constitutes a team and who's looking after the family
- Authors: Porter, Joanne , Cooper, Simon J. , Taylor, Beverley
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Nursing Education and Practice Vol. 4, no. 3 (2014), p. 124
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- Description: Aim of study: This study aimed to investigate the attitudes of personnel working in emergency departments on the constitution of a resuscitation team in particular the perceptions of the family liaison role. Methods: A paper base survey on family presence during resuscitation was distributed to emergency personnel working in 18 public departments in the state of Victoria, Australia. Results: A combination of nurses (n = 282) and doctors (n = 65) working in rural and metropolitan emergency departments, identified seven unique resuscitation team roles. Resuscitation teams were identified as comprising of three doctors, three nurses and one other which could be either. Respondents identified seven unique roles as consisting of a team leader, airway doctor, airway nurse, procedure doctor and procedure nurse, drugs nurse and a scribe. The respondents identified the following components as key to discussions with family members; emergency personnel, reassurance, diagnosis, regular updates, intervention, and prognosis (ER-DRIP). Conclusion: The acronym ER-DRIP can be used as a reminder to emergency staff when speaking with family members during resuscitation events ensuring they receive all the necessary information and support.
Examining the satisfaction levels of continual professional development provided by a rural accounting professional body
- Authors: Halabi, Abdel
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian and International Journal of Rural Education Vol. 24, no. 2 (2014), p. 59-70
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- Description: The Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA) recognises education as a lifelong process, and there is a need for continuing education and training to be available to rural communities. This paper examines the satisfaction levels of accounting continual professional development (CPD) when provided by a rural accounting professional body. Prior research has noted that rural accountants are disadvantaged when completing CPD because professional accounting bodies are city centric, and cost is prohibitive. Results of this study show that when CPD is locally provided this led to high levels of satisfaction. Implications for professional accounting bodies and rural accountants are discussed, as well as limitations and areas for further research.
Exercise-Based Injury Prevention in Child and Adolescent Sport: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- Authors: Rossler, Roland , Donath, Lars , Verhagen, Evert , Junge, Astrid , Schweizer, Thomas , Faude, Oliver
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sports Medicine Vol. 44, no. 12 (2014), p. 1733-1748
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- Description: Background: The promotion of sport and physical activity (PA) for children is widely recommended to support a healthy lifestyle, but being engaged in sport bears the risk of sustaining injuries. Injuries, in turn, can lead to a reduction in current and future involvement in PA and, therefore, may negatively affect future health as well as quality of life. Thus, sports injury prevention is of particular importance in youth. Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to quantify the effectiveness of exercise-based injury prevention programs in child and adolescent sport in general, and with respect to different characteristics of the target group, injury prevention program, and outcome variables. Data Sources: An Internet-based literature search was conducted in six databases (CINAHL, Cochrane, EMBASE, ISI Web of Science, PubMed, SPORTDiscus) using the following search terms with Boolean conjunction: (sport injur* OR athletic injur* OR sport accident*) AND (prevent* OR prophylaxis OR avoidance) AND (child* OR adolescent OR youth). Study Selection: Randomized controlled trials and controlled intervention studies in organized sport, published in English in a peer-reviewed journal, analyzing the effects of an exercise-based injury prevention program in athletes younger than 19 years of age. Data Extraction: Two reviewers evaluated eligibility and methodological quality. Main outcome extracted was the rate ratio (RR). Statistical analyses were conducted using the inverse-variance random effects model. Results: Twenty-one trials, conducted on a total of 27,561 athletes (median age 16.7 years [range 10.7-17.8]), were included. The overall RR was 0.54 (95% CI 0.45-0.67) [p < 0.001]. Girls profited more from injury prevention than boys (p = 0.05). Both prevention programs with a focus on specific injuries (RR 0.48 [95% CI 0.37-0.63]) and those aiming at all injuries (RR 0.62 [95% CI 0.48-0.81]) showed significant reduction effects. Pre-season and in-season interventions were similarly beneficial (p = 0.93). Studies on programs that include jumping/plyometric exercises showed a significant better (p = 0.002) injury preventive effect (RR 0.45 [95 % CI 0.35-0.57], Z = 6.35, p < 0.001) than studies without such exercises (RR 0.74 [95% CI 0.61-0.90], Z = 3.03, p = 0.002). Conclusions: The results provide good evidence and clearly demonstrate beneficial effects of exercise-based injury prevention programs in youth sports as they can result in statistically significant and practically relevant injury reduction. In particular, multimodal programs including jumping/plyometric exercises can be recommended. However, there is a considerable lack of data for children (under 14 years of age) and for individual sports in general. Future research should include these groups and focus on the effect of specific exercises and compliance.
Historical imagination, narrative learning and nursing practice : Graduate nursing students' reader-responses to a nurse's storytelling from the past
- Authors: Wood, Pamela
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education in Practice Vol. 14, no. 5 (2014), p. 473-478
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- Description: Storytelling and narrative are widely used in nurse education and the value of narrative-based curricula, such as those governed by narrative pedagogy, is well recognised. Storytelling stimulates students' imagination, a central feature of narrative learning. One form of story and imagination yet to be fully considered by educators is the historical story and historical imagination. The use of historical storytelling creates a temporal dissonance between the story and reader that stimulates readers' imagination and response, and enables them to gain rich insights which can be applied to the present. Reader-response theory can support educators when using narrative and storytelling. This article presents an analysis of graduate nursing students' reader-responses to a nurse's story from the past. This narrative learning group used their historical imagination in responding to the story and prompted and challenged each other in their interpretation and in translating their responses to their current nursing practice. The article discusses this analysis within the context of reader-response theory and its potential application to narrative-based learning in nurse education. Historical stories stimulate historical imagination and offer a different frame of reference for students' development of textual competence and for applying insights to the present. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
How can the expansion of the apprenticeship system in India create conditions for greater equity and social justice?
- Authors: Smith, Erica , Kemmis, Ros Brennan , Comyn, Paul
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Adult Learning Vol. 54, no. 3 (2014), p.
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- Description: This paper reports on aspects of a recent project carried out for the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank, which was designed to feed into the process of updating and expanding India’s apprenticeship system. The apprenticeship system in India is extremely small for the country’s population, even taking into account the high proportion of jobs that are in the informal economy, and is subject to very rigid regulation. Expansion of the system has been seen as vital in order to improve the supply of skills to the rapidly expanding economy, and also to address issues of disparity in labour market participation and equity for certain groups in Indian society. The paper firstly explains how findings about apprenticeship systems from ten other countries, together with analysis of the Indian situation, were used to present options for consideration by the Indian government. It then analyses these options for their social justice and equity implications.
Improving 'at-action' decision-making in team sports through a holistic coaching approach
- Authors: Light, Richard , Harvey, Stephen , Mouchet, Alain
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sport, Education and Society Vol. 19, no. 3 (April 2014 2014), p. 258-275
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- Description: This article draws on Game Sense pedagogy and complex learning theory (CLT) to make suggestions for improving decision-making ability in team sports by adopting a holistic approach to coaching with a focus on decision-making 'at-action'. It emphasizes the complexity of decision-making and the need to focus on the game as a whole entity, where players, individually and collectively, attempt to manage disorder in the face of an opposition. It rejects the complicated, mechanistic approach to learning and cognitivist views that dominate the literature on decision-making in team sports that see it as being a linear process of conscious thinking limited to the individual mind. It offers an alternative, holistic view grounded in a practical example of how this might be achieved in coaching rugby union football and theorized within a CLT framework.
Measuring students perceptions of interprofessional clinical placements: Development of the interprofessional clinical placement learning environment inventory
- Authors: Anderson, Amanda , Cant, Robyn , Hood, Kerry
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education in Practice Vol. 14, no. 5 (2014), p. 518-524
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- Description: Pre-professional healthcare courses, including nursing, are increasingly focused on interprofessional learning and experimentation with clinical education in ‘training wards’. This involves students from at least two disciplines who, under supervision, are responsible for patients' care. There is no consensus on how students' clinical learning experiences in this context are evaluated. We report the development and testing of the Interprofessional Clinical Placement Learning Environment Inventory (ICPLEI) in the Australian context. A question set was developed to measure student's perceptions of key variables in an interprofessional clinical learning environment: orientation, supervision, roles, learning and autonomy. An expert nursing panel rated items for a Content Validity Index of .93. Reliability was tested with 38 students. After a 2-week interprofessional ward placement nursing, medical and allied health students (n = 38) rated their learning environment highly, with median responses 4 or 5 of five (mean total 83%). The scale was reliable with a Cronbach alpha of .80 and moderate item-to-total correlations for 22/26 items. The Interprofessional Clinical Placement Learning Environment Inventory is a reliable, feasible, fast to complete tool, suitable for use with pre-registration healthcare students in this setting. Further testing of the tool's psychometric properties is recommended.
Personalised learning in the open classroom: The mutuality of teacher and student agency
- Authors: Deed, Craig , Cox, Peter , Dorman, Jeffrey , Edwards, Debra , Farrelly, Cathleen , Keeffe, Mary , Lovejoy, Valerie , Mow, Lucy , Sellings, Peter , Prain, Vaughan , Waldrip, Bruce , Yager, Zali
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Pedagogies & Learning Vol. 9, no. 1 (2014), p. 66-75
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- Description: In this paper we examine how agency is characterised by teachers and students when personalised learning is enacted in the contemporary open classroom. A case study is outlined that identifies teacher reasoning for practice, the use of physical and virtual learning spaces, and student reaction to teacher facilitation of personalised learning. Agency is conceptualised as a multi-faceted set of behavioural, affective and cognitive choices, as realised by both teachers and students, drawing upon the action possibilities of contemporary educational contexts. A model of the mutuality of teacher and student agency is outlined. The model shows how a shared understanding of the affordances of flexible learning spaces and personalised learning interact to both produce teacher and student expectations and perceptions of their own and other's choices and actions. Specific student choices and actions are examined in relation to problem-solving and open access of resources to achieve the task requirements. Implications are noted for teaching and learning in modern school contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Perspectives on peer learning as adult education in diverse communities
- Authors: Townsend, Robert
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Adult, Community and Professional Learning Vol. 20, no. 2 (2014), p. 45-58
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- Description: Peer led learning reduces the number of barriers between education institutions, teacher led instruction, and learners. Peer led approaches to learning, whether in formal educational settings or as part of informal community services, can positively affect attitudes and behaviour. The research gap is identifying the elements of peer learning that can enhance education pathway development for individuals and groups who have turned away from formal education. Most activities, programs, and research around peer learning are directed at the 'formal' peer assisted learning within educational institutions or peer mentoring within clinical and professional settings. There is a need to locate, record, and debate all of the peer learning activities that occur within education providers, community programs, 'underground education', recreational clubs, and arts and performance spaces. This article will present the reflections of the author's own peer education experiences, as well as the preliminary findings of a systematic review about peer learning, and outline the need for future mixed methods research about student informal peer activities. © Common Ground, Rob Townsend, All Rights Reserved.