Fusionless scoliosis correction using shape memory alloy staples

Severe spinal deformity in young children is a formidable challenge for optimal treatment. Standard interventions for adolescents, such as spinal deformity correction and fusion, may not be appropriate for young patients with considerable growth remaining. Alternative surgical options that provide deformity correction and protect the growth remaining in the spine are needed to treat this group of patients 1, 2. One such method is the use of shape memory alloy staples. We report our experience to date using video-assisted thoracoscopic insertion of shape memory alloy staples. A retrospective review was conducted of 13 patients with scoliosis, aged 7 to 13 years, who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic insertion of shape memory staples. In our experience, video-assisted thoracoscopic insertion of shape memory alloy staples is a safe procedure with no complications noted. It is a reliable method of providing curve stability, however the follow up results to date indicate that the effectiveness of the procedure is greater in younger patients.

Combining the parts to make the whole : integrated child and family services in Queensland

Over the past decade, the promotion of 'integrated child and family services' has emerged as a strong and consistent theme within Australian early childhood policy. Fuelling this trend is the belief that integrated service provision is more responsive to holistic family needs, offering better support to parents and thereby promoting better outcomes for young children. Adding further strength is the prevention and early intervention literature, and suggested social and economic benefits of 'effective' early years services and supports. States and territories are introducing new integrated child and family service models and Reflections is continuing to profile these. In this edition, we look at directions and new service models in Queensland, in particular, the new Early Years Centre service model.

Dangerous places: A novel

Dangerous Places is a novel about the gap between mythological (or 'dreamed') constructions of reality and actual life. The story centres on V en, a married woman with two young children. Her love for her children is fiercely protective and encompassing, but she feels alienated from her husband and to a certain extent her society; so when her first love, Yanni, re-enters her life,she is strongly tempted to resume her affair with him. She is however seduced more by the memories she has 'mythologized' about him than by his physical reality; in the course of the novel she is forced to come to terms with her own delusions. The subplot of the novel involves other characters who are caught between illusion and reality as well, and who deal with 'truth' in differing ways. The themes of the book are explored using a number of structures which underlie and support the surface story. The Greek myths of Adonis/ Aphrodite and Hades/Persephone are framing agents for the plot, and the setting in contemporary Brisbane and North Stradbroke Island is symbolic.

Art in early childhood : the discourse of 'proper' teaching

This thesis is a problematisation of the teaching of art to young children. To problematise a domain of social endeavour, is, in Michel Foucault's terms, to ask how we come to believe that "something ... can and must be thought" (Foucault, 1985:7). The aim is to document what counts (i.e., what is sayable, thinkable, feelable) as proper art teaching in Queensland at this point ofhistorical time. In this sense, the thesis is a departure from more recognisable research on 'more effective' teaching, including critical studies of art teaching and early childhood teaching. It treats 'good teaching' as an effect of moral training made possible through disciplinary discourses organised around certain epistemic rules at a particular place and time. There are four key tasks accomplished within the thesis. The first is to describe an event which is not easily resolved by means of orthodox theories or explanations, either liberal-humanist or critical ones. The second is to indicate how poststructuralist understandings of the self and social practice enable fresh engagements with uneasy pedagogical moments. What follows this discussion is the documentation of an empirical investigation that was made into texts generated by early childhood teachers, artists and parents about what constitutes 'good practice' in art teaching. Twenty-two participants produced text to tell and re-tell the meaning of 'proper' art education, from different subject positions. Rather than attempting to capture 'typical' representations of art education in the early years, a pool of 'exemplary' teachers, artists and parents were chosen, using "purposeful sampling", and from this pool, three videos were filmed and later discussed by the audience of participants. The fourth aspect of the thesis involves developing a means of analysing these texts in such a way as to allow a 're-description' of the field of art teaching by attempting to foreground the epistemic rules through which such teacher-generated texts come to count as true ie, as propriety in art pedagogy. This analysis drew on Donna Haraway's (1995) understanding of 'ironic' categorisation to hold the tensions within the propositions inside the categories of analysis rather than setting these up as discursive oppositions. The analysis is therefore ironic in the sense that Richard Rorty (1989) understands the term to apply to social scientific research. Three 'ironic' categories were argued to inform the discursive construction of 'proper' art teaching. It is argued that a teacher should (a) Teach without teaching; (b) Manufacture the natural; and (c) Train for creativity. These ironic categories work to undo modernist assumptions about theory/practice gaps and finding a 'balance' between oppositional binary terms. They were produced through a discourse theoretical reading of the texts generated by the participants in the study, texts that these same individuals use as a means of discipline and self-training as they work to teach properly. In arguing the usefulness of such approaches to empirical data analysis, the thesis challenges early childhood research in arts education, in relation to its capacity to deal with ambiguity and to acknowledge contradiction in the work of teachers and in their explanations for what they do. It works as a challenge at a range of levels - at the level of theorising, of method and of analysis. In opening up thinking about normalised categories, and questioning traditional Western philosophy and the grand narratives of early childhood art pedagogy, it makes a space for re-thinking art pedagogy as "a game oftruth and error" (Foucault, 1985). In doing so, it opens up a space for thinking how art education might be otherwise.

Robot building for preschoolers

This paper describes Electronic Blocks, a new robot construction element designed to allow children as young as age three to build and program robotic structures. The Electronic Blocks encapsulate input, output and logic concepts in tangible elements that young children can use to create a wide variety of physical agents. The children are able to determine the behavior of these agents by the choice of blocks and the manner in which they are connected. The Electronic Blocks allow children without any knowledge of mechanical design or computer programming to create and control physically embodied robots. They facilitate the development of technological capability by enabling children to design, construct, explore and evaluate dynamic robotics systems. A study of four and five year-old children using the Electronic Blocks has demonstrated that the interface is well suited to young children. The complexity of the implementation is hidden from the children, leaving the children free to autonomously explore the functionality of the blocks. As a consequence, children are free to move their focus beyond the technology. Instead they are free to focus on the construction process, and to work on goals related to the creation of robotic behaviors and interactions. As a resource for robot building, the blocks have proved to be effective in encouraging children to create robot structures, allowing children to design and program robot behaviors.

Announcement and legislation enactment improve children’s seating position in regional areas

New legislation requires all children 7 years and younger to use child-specific Australian Standards approved restraints suitable to their age and restricts seating young children in the front of cars. Observations of child seating position and restraint use were undertaken in Toowoomba and Rockhampton before the Queensland legislation was announced (T1), after the announcement but before it was enacted (T2) and after it came into force (T3). From T1 to T2, the percentage of children seated in the rear increased (69% to 75%), with a further increase from T2 to T3 (75% to 77%). This pattern was clear when there were one or two children in the car, but not when there were 3 or more. The effect on restraint use was more complex. After the announcement (T2) the percentage of children using adult seatbelts significantly increased regardless of the number of child passengers. However, once the legislation was enacted (T3) there was a significant increase in the percentage of children using child seats/boosters where there was one or two child passengers. Where there were three or more children in the vehicle there was little change in restraint choice between pre (T1) and post (T3) legislation.

Family-focused weight management program for five- to nine-year-olds incorporating parenting skills training with healthy lifestyle information to support behaviour modification

his case study aims to describe how general parenting principles can be used as part of parent-led, family-focused child weight management that is in line with current Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines. A parent-led, family-focused child weight management program was designed for use by dietitians with parents of young children (five- to nine-year-olds). The program utilises the cornerstones of overweight treatment: diet, activity, behaviour modification and family support delivered in an age-appropriate, family-focused manner. Parents participate in 16 sessions (4 parenting-focused, 8 lifestyle-focused and 4 individual telephone support calls) conducted weekly, fortnightly then monthly over six months. This case study illustrates how a family used the program, resulting in reduced degree of overweight and stabilised waist circumference in the child over 12 months. In conclusion, linking parenting skills to healthy family lifestyle education provides an innovative approach to family-focused child weight management. It addresses key Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines, works at the family level, and provides a means for dietitians to easily adopt age-appropriate behaviour modification as part of their practice.

Who has rights to what? Inclusion in Australian early childhood programs

In early childhood settings prior to school and in the early years of primary school, debate continues over the meaning of inclusion and its scope in terms of the groups under consideration. The genealogies of early childhood education and care, early primary school, special education and cultural education were examined to identify recurring and emerging approaches to inclusion within Australian programs for children aged birth to eight years. Approaches to inclusion encompassing multiple forms of diversity co-exist in the Australian educational literature with targeted approaches focused on disabilities or risk. These differing approaches reflect underlying ideological divisions and varying assumptions about diversity. Multiple approaches, including the expansion of early childhood services, reflect tensions over children’s rights, conceptualisations of inclusion, expectations of teachers, system coordination, economic constraints and political pressure to cater for a complex range of young children in varied settings. The paper incorporates discussion on underlying philosophical tensions within the early childhood field.

Three primary school students’ cognition about 3D rotation in a virtual reality learning environment

This paper reports on three primary school students’ explorations of 3D rotation in a virtual reality learning environment (VRLE) named VRMath. When asked to investigate if you would face the same direction when you turn right 45 degrees first then roll up 45 degrees, or when you roll up 45 degrees first then turn right 45 degrees, the students found that the different order of the two turns ended up with different directions in the VRLE. This was contrary to the students’ prior predictions based on using pen, paper and body movements. The findings of this study showed the difficulty young children have in perceiving and understanding the non-commutative nature of 3D rotation and the power of the computational VRLE in giving students experiences that they rarely have in real life with 3D manipulations and 3D mental movements.

Child participation in the early years : challenges for education

The view that children should have a say in and participate in the decision-making of, matters that affect them is now an accepted position when considering research and policy in the early years. This paper reviews the field of child participation in the Australian context to show that, despite growing evidence of support within policy and research arenas, young children’s participation rights in Australia have not been key agenda items for early childhood education. While a significant part of children’s daily experience takes place in classrooms, the actual practices of engaging young children as participants in everyday activities remains a challenge for early childhood education. Participation is an interactional process that involves managing relationships between children and adults. Recommendations include further research into the daily experiences of young children to show what participation might look like when translated to the everyday activities of the classroom and playground.

Working together for Toby : early childhood student teachers engaging in collaborative problem-based learning around child abuse and neglect

Early childhood teacher education programs have a responsibility, amongst many, to prepare teachers for decision-making on real world issues, such as child abuse and neglect. Their repertoire of skills can be enhanced by engaging with others, either face-to-face or online, in authentic problem-based learning. This paper draws on a study of early childhood student teachers who engaged in an authentic learning experience, which was to consider and to suggest how they would act upon a real-life case of child abuse encountered in an early childhood classroom in Queensland. This was the case of Toby (a pseudonym), who was suspected of being physically abused at home. Students drew upon relevant legislation, policy and resource materials to tackle Toby’s case. The paper provides evidence of students grappling with the complexity of a child abuse case and establishing, through collaboration with others, a proactive course of action. The paper has a dual focus. First, it discusses the pedagogical context in which early childhood student teachers deal with issues of child abuse and neglect in the course of their teacher education program. Second, it examines evidence of students engaging in collaborative problem-solving around issues of child abuse and neglect and teachers’ responsibilities, both legal and professional, to the children and families they work with. Early childhood policy-makers, practitioners and teacher educators are challenged to consider how early childhood teachers are best equipped to deal with child protection and early intervention.

The effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability

Background The relationship between positive parent-child interactions and optimal child development is well established. Families with a child with a disability may face additional challenges to establishing positive parent-child relationships. There are limited studies addressing the effectiveness of interventions which seek to address these issues with parents and young children with a disability. In particular, prior studies of music therapy with this group have been limited by small sample sizes and the use of measures of limited reliability and validity. Objective This study investigates the effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability and explores the factors associated with higher outcomes for participating families. Methods The participants were 201 mother-child dyads, where the child had a disability. Pre and post intervention parental questionnaires and clinician observation measures were taken on a range of parental wellbeing, parenting behaviours and child developmental factors. Descriptive data, t-tests for repeated measures and a predictive model tested via logistic regression are presented. Results Significant improvements pre to post were found for parent mental health, child communication and social skills, parenting sensitivity, parental engagement with child and acceptance of child, child responsiveness to parent, and child interest and participation in program activities. There was also evidence that parents were very satisfied with the program and that it brought social benefits to families. Reliable change on six or more indicators of parent or child functioning was predicted by attendance and parent education. Conclusions This study provides positive evidence for the effectiveness of group music therapy in promoting improved parental mental health, positive parenting and key child developmental areas. Whilst several limitations are discussed, the study does address some of the gaps in the music therapy evidence base in this area.

Reading places

In this chapter I explore how a critical approach to reading pedagogy has evolved over time in South Australia. I start with a brief review of the groundbreaking work of Jennifer O’Brien in the early 1990s in which she adapted feminist post-structuralist approaches for early childhood classrooms. O’Brien showed that young children can and do take an analytical position with respect to reading when tasks are framed in ways that draw their attention to representation and relationships in texts. Then, drawing from a range of empirical research projects, I discuss how a semiotic approach to reading can be productive for thinking about critical and inclusive literacies. I touch briefly upon how and why we incorporated children’s reading of environmental print into the 100 children go to school project. I then outline the ways in which we have capitalised on the notion of reading places in several projects to work with primary school children and their teachers.

Ethnography in the kindergarten:examining childrens'play experiences

This paper describes an ethnographic study completed within a kindergarten environment with the view of gaining insights into the development of new technology for young children. Ethnography within HCI has primarily focused on studies of work practices. This project explored the effectiveness of ethnography in supporting the design of playful technology for a constantly changing, creative, and (sometimes) messy environment. The study was effective in drawing out patterns in observations and as such provides useful suggestions for the development of technology for kindergarten settings.