Environmental education through listening to children

Environmental education centres contribute to schools and communities in Environmental Education and Education for Sustainability through nature and urban -based, experiential learning and action learning approaches. An underlying assumption of these centres is that intensive, short-term, outdoor/environmental education experiences can change key attitudes and/or actions leading to positive environmental behaviour. This study reflects the interests of a researching professional who investigated aspects of a program that he designed and implemented as principal of an environmental education centre. Most evaluations of similar programs have used quasi-experimental designs to measure the program outcomes. However, this study considered the experiences of the program from the perspectives of a group of key stakeholders often overlooked in the literature; the children who participated in the program. This study examined children’s accounts of their own experiences in order to contribute new understandings of children’s perspectives and how they can be considered when designing and implementing environmental education programs. This research drew on key theoretical assumptions derived from the sociology of childhood. Within sociology of childhood, children are considered to be competent practitioners within their social worlds, who, through their talk and interaction, participate actively in the construction of their own social situations. This approach also views children as capable and competent learners who construct their knowledge through everyday participation in social experiences. This study set out to generate children’s own accounts of their experiences of a five day residential program at the Centre. In total, 54 children participated in the study that used a multi-faceted data collection approach that included conversations, drawings, photographs and journal writing. Using content analysis, data were analysed by means of an inductive approach to develop themes related to the children’s perspectives of their experiences. Three interrelated and co-dependent components of the experience emerged from the analysis; space and place; engagement and participation; and responsiveness and reflection. These components co-exist and construct the conditions for effective experiences in environmental education at the Centre. The first key finding was the emphasis that the children placed on being provided with somewhere where they could feel safe and comfortable to interact with their environment and engage in a range of outdoor experiences. The children identified that place was an outdoor classroom where they could participate in first-hand experiences and, at times, explore out-of-bound spaces; that is, a place where they had previously been limited, often by adults, in their opportunities to interact with nature. A second key finding was the emphasis that the children placed on engagement and participation in environmental experience. The children described participating in a range of new primary experiences that involved first-hand, experiences and also described participating in collaborative experiences that involved interacting with peers and with teachers, who appeared to behave differently to how they behaved at school. Finally, the children described a different type of interactional relationship with teachers, comparing the active educational role they played on camp to a more passive role at school where they sat at a table and the teacher wrote on the board. The final key finding was the emphasis that the children placed on responsiveness and reflection in the experience. In responding to their experiences, the children described the fun and excitement, confidence and satisfaction that they gained from the experience. The children also identified how their experiences contributed to the development of a caring-for-nature attitude and the value of a disorienting dilemma in promoting responsiveness to the environment. This disorienting dilemma was an event that caused the children to reassess their own beliefs and attitudes. From the three main findings, a theoretical framework that represented the children’s accounts of their experiences and a pedagogic approach that respected their accounts was developed. This pedagogic approach showed how a disorienting dilemma could create a disequilibrium in relation to a child’s existing ideas and experiences. As a result, children were challenged to reflect upon their existing environmental beliefs and practices. The findings of this research have implications for the field of environmental education. Adopting sociology of childhood provides an alternative foundation to research and can present a deeper understanding of what children believe, than an approach that relies solely on using scientific methods to undercover and analyse these understandings. This research demonstrates the value of gaining children’s accounts to assist educators to design environmental education programs as it can offer more than adult and educator perspectives. This study also provides understandings of environmental education practice by describing how the children engaged with informal learning situations. Finally, two sets of recommendations, drawn from this study, are made. The first set considers nine recommendations about and for future research and the second relates to redesigning of the environmental educational program at the research site, with six recommendations made.

Land use planning and the airport metropolis

Australian airports have emerged as important urban activity centres over the past decade as a result of privatisation. A range of reciprocal airport and regional impacts now pose considerable challenges for both airport operation and the surrounding urban and regional environment. The airport can no longer be managed solely as a specialised transport entity in isolation from the metropolis that it serves. In 2007 a multidisciplinary Australian Research Council Linkage Project (LP 0775225) was funded to investigate the changing role of airports in Australia. This thesis is but one component of this collaborative research effort. Here the issues surrounding the policy and practice of airport and regional land use planning are explored, analysed and detailed. This research, for the first time, assembles a distinct progression of the wider social, economic, technological and environmental roles of the airport within the Australian airport literature from 1914 – 2011. It recognises that while the list of airport and regional impacts has grown through time, treatment within practice and the literature has largely remained highly specialised and contained within disciplinary paradigms. The first publication of the thesis (Chapter 2) acknowledges that the changing role of airports demands the establishment of new models of airport planning and development. It argues that practice and research requires a better understanding of the reciprocal impacts of airports and their urban catchments. The second publication (Chapter 3) highlights that there is ad hoc examination and media attention of high profile airport and regional conflict, but little empirical analysis or understanding of the extent to which all privatised Australian airports are intending to develop. The conceptual and methodological significance of this research is the development of a national land use classification system for on-airport development. This paper establishes the extent of on-airport development in Australia, providing insight into the changing land use and economic roles of privatised airports. The third publication (Chapter 4) details new and significant interdependencies for airport and regional development in consideration of the progression of airports as activity centres. Here the model of an ‘airport metropolis’ is offered as an organising device and theoretical contribution for comprehending the complexity and planning of airport and regional development. It delivers a conceptual framework for both research and policy, which acknowledges the reciprocal impacts of economic development, land use, infrastructure and governance ‘interfaces’. In a timely and significant concurrence with this research the Australian Government announced and delivered a National Aviation Policy Review (2008 – 2009). As such the fourth publication (Chapter 5) focuses on the airport and urban planning aspects of the review. This paper also highlights the overall policy intention of facilitating broader airport and regional collaborative processes. This communicative turn in airport policy is significant in light of the communicative theoretical framework of the thesis. The fifth paper of the thesis (Chapter 6) examines three Australian case studies (Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra) to detail the context of airport and regional land use planning and to apply the airport metropolis model as a framework for research. Through the use of Land Use Forums, over 120 airport and regional stakeholders are brought together to detail their perspectives and interactions with airport and regional land use planning. An inductive thematic analysis of the results identifies three significant themes which contribute to the fragmentation of airport and regional and land use planning: 1) inadequate coordination and disjointed decision-making; 2) current legislative and policy frameworks; and 3) competing stakeholder priorities and interests. Building on this new knowledge, Chapter 7 details the perceptions of airport and local, state and territory government stakeholders to land use relationships, processes and outcomes. A series of semi-structured interviews are undertaken in each of the case studies to inform this research. The potential implications for ongoing communicative practice are discussed in conclusion. The following thesis represents an incremental and cumulative research process which delivers new knowledge for the practical understanding and research interpretation of airport and regional land use planning practice and policy. It has developed and applied a robust conceptual framework which delivers significant direction for all stakeholders to better comprehend the relevance of airports in the urban character and design of our cities.

Health informatics domain knowledge analysis : an information technology perspective

Health Informatics is an intersection of information technology, several disciplines of medicine and health care. It sits at the common frontiers of health care services including patient centric, processes driven and procedural centric care. From the information technology perspective it can be viewed as computer application in medical and/or health processes for delivering better health care solutions. In spite of the exaggerated hype, this field is having a major impact in health care solutions, in particular health care deliveries, decision making, medical devices and allied health care industries. It also affords enormous research opportunities for new methodological development. Despite the obvious connections between Medical Informatics, Nursing Informatics and Health Informatics, most of the methodologies and approaches used in Health Informatics have so far originated from health system management, care aspects and medical diagnostic. This paper explores reasoning for domain knowledge analysis that would establish Health Informatics as a domain and recognised as an intellectual discipline in its own right.

The nature of intra-familial conflict in large-scale privately-held family businesses in Indonesia

This thesis is a qualitative study aimed at better capturing the complexity of conflict in family businesses. An inductive content analysis revealed two important issues: the dynamics of intergenerational conflicts and the escalation process of conflicts. The results demonstrated that conflicts are more likely to be intergenerational than intra-generational due to the role of senior members in daily business operations, generational differences, and a perception gap that exist between generations concerning each other’s competencies in doing the business. Furthermore, the set of factors contributing to conflict escalation is related to how family members handle the conflict, how they manage their emotions, and how they are able to avoid non-family employee involvement. These findings provide a foundation for taking preventative actions, implementing strategies for managing conflicts or devising effective solutions for resolving conflicts before they become more destructive.

Doctrinal research : researching the jury

This chapter examines the doctrinal methodology which many lawyers consider best typifies a distinctly legal approach to research. Legal research skills have been identified as a core skill for lawyers, and within the profession, such skills are regarded as synonymous with the doctrinal research method. Good legal research skills are a necessary step in attaining the ability to ‘think like a lawyer’ and achieving valid legal reasoning outcomes. For lawyers, therefore, the doctrinal method is an intuitive aspect of legal work. Yet as this chapter demonstrates, the doctrinal methodology is not without its detractors. There have been serious criticisms of the method put forward by exponents of the various critical legal theories, as well as a perception in some academic circles that the doctrinal research method is nothing more than mere ‘scholarship’ and as a result less compelling or respected than the research methods used by those in the sciences and social sciences. Despite these attacks, and the incursions on the method posed by the growth in the use of non-doctrinal and interdisciplinary research work by lawyers, the argument put forward in this chapter is that the doctrinal method still necessarily forms the basis for most, if not all, legal research projects.

A discourse on the non-method

In spite of the activism of professional bodies and researchers, empirical evidence shows that project management still does not deliver the expected benefits and promises. Hence, many have questioned the validity of the hegemonic rationalist paradigm anchored in the Enlightenment and Natural Sciences tradition supporting project management research and practice for the last 60 years and the lack of relevance to practice of the current conceptual base of project management. In order to address these limitations many authors, taking a post-modernist stance in social sciences, build on ‘pre-modern’ philosophies such as the Aristotelian one, specially emphasizing the role of praxis (activity), and phronesis (practical wisdom, prudence). Indeed, ‘Praxis … is the central category of the philosophy which is not merely an interpretation of the world, but is also a guide to its transformation …’ (Vazquez, 1977:. 149). Therefore, praxis offers an important focus for practitioners and researchers in social sciences, one in which theory is integrated with practice at the point of intervention. Simply stated, praxis can serve as a common ground for those interested in basic and applied research by providing knowledge of the reality in which action, informed by theory, takes place. Consequently, I suggest a ‘praxeological’ style of reasoning (praxeology being defined as study or science of human actions and conduct, including praxis, practices and phronesis) and to go beyond the ‘Theory-Practice’ divide. Moreover, I argue that we need to move away from the current dichotomy between the two classes ‘scholars experts-researchers’ and ‘managers/workers-practitioners-participants’. Considering one single class of ‘PraXitioner’, becoming a phronimos, may contribute to create new perspectives and open up new ways of thinking and acting in project situations. Thus, I call for a Perestroika in researching and acting in project management situations. My intent is to suggest a balanced praxeological view of the apparent opposition between social and natural science approaches. I explore, in this chapter, three key questions, covering the ontological, epistemological and praxeological dimensions of project management in action. 1. Are the research approaches being currently used appropriate for generating contributions that matter to both theory and practice with regards to what a ‘project’ is or to what we do when we call a specific situation ‘a project’? 2. On the basis of which intellectual virtues is the knowledge generated and what is the impact for theory and practice? 3. Are the modes of action of the practitioners ‘prudent’ and are they differentiating or reconciling formal and abstract rationality from substantive rationality and situated reasoning with regards to the mode of action they adopt in particular project situations? The investigation of the above questions leads me to debate about ‘Project Management-as-Praxis’, and to suggest ‘A’ (not ‘THE’) ‘praxeological’ style of reasoning and mode of inquiry – acknowledging a non-paradigmatic, subjective and kaleidoscopic perspective – for ‘Knowing-as-Practicing’ in project management. In short, this is about making a ‘Projects Science’ that matters.

Acting and knowing in temporary and project-based organizing : turning from the practice world to a liberation praxeology?

The purpose of this article is to offer a critical discussion about the “practice” lens and its weaknesses in addressing acting and knowledge & competence development in the context of temporary and project-based organizing. I demonstrate that “practice turn” and “phronetic proposal” are dual and opposite perspectives within the “practice” world, none of them being fully relevant to grasp project organizing and that each of them maintain the opposition between the “observer” and the “natives “of the practices. I suggest an alternate style of reasoning in order to address the dissatisfaction in face of problems, antinomies, perplexities and contradictions generated by the dichotomous thinking: a liberation praxeology rooted in Aristotle philosophy aiming, through praxis & phronesis and practical acquired experience & perfecting actualization, at reconciling facts & values and means & ends, and Ethics & Politics in the quest for human happiness and social good through project organizing.

Auditor obligations in an evolving legal landscape

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at auditor obligations to their clients and potentially to third parties such as investors, with a focus on the quality of financial disclosure in an evolving legal framework. Design/methodology/approach – The article outlines and compares established and emerging trends relative to information disclosure and contractual performance in parallel contexts where information asymmetry exists. In particular, this article considers the disclosure regime that has evolved in the insurance industry to address the substantial imbalance in the level of knowledge possessed by the insured in comparison to the prospective insurer. Abductive reasoning is used to identify causal constructs that explain the data pattern from which the theorised potential for judicial revision of the interpretation of “true and fair” in line with “good faith” in legal regulation is derived. Findings – The authors conclude that there is little doubt that a duty of good faith in relation to auditor-company contractual dealings and potentially a broader good faith duty to third parties such as investors in companies may be on the horizon. Originality/value – In the context of stated objectives by organisations such as the International Federation of Accountants to reconcile ethical and technical skills in the wake of the global financial crisis, there is an increased need to rebuild public and investor confidence in the underpinning integrity of financial reporting. This paper offers a perspective on one way to achieve this by recognising the similarities in the information asymmetry relationships in the insurance industry and how the notion of “good faith” in that relationship could be useful in the audit situation.

Australian Tax Analysis : Cases, Commentary, Commercial Applications and Questions [9th Ed.]

Now in its ninth edition, Australian Tax Analysis: Cases, Commentary, Commercial Applications and Questions has a proven track record as a high-level work for students of taxation law written by a team of authors with many years experience. Taking into account the fact that the volume of material needed to be processed by today’s taxation student can be overwhelming, the well-chosen extracts and thought-provoking commentary in Australian Tax Analysis, 9th edition, provide readers with the depth of knowledge, and reasoning and analytical skills which will be required of them as practitioners. In addition to the carefully selected case extracts and the helpful commentary, each chapter is supplemented by engaging practice questions involving problem solving, commercial decision-making, legal analysis and quantitative application. All these elements combined make Australian Tax Analysis an invaluable aid to the understanding of a subject which can be both technical and complex.

Analyzing and defining information requirements of knowledge intensive construction management tasks on BIM

With the increasing popularity and adoption of building information modeling (BIM), the amount of digital information available about a building is overwhelming. Enormous challenges remain however in identifying meaningful and required information from a complex BIM model to support a particular construction management (CM) task. Detailed specifications of information required by different construction domains and expressive and easy-to-use BIM reasoning mechanisms are seen as an important means in addressing these challenges. This paper analyzes some of the characteristics and requirements of component-specific construction knowledge in relation to the current work practice and BIM-based applications. It is argued that domain ontologies and information extraction approaches, such as queries could significantly bring much needed support for knowledge sharing and integration of information between design, construction and facility management.

The confidence of speech-language pathology students regarding communicating with people with aphasia

Background Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that can present a significant barrier to patient involvement in healthcare decisions. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are viewed as experts in the field of communication. However, many SLP students do not receive practical training in techniques to communicate with people with aphasia (PWA) until they encounter PWA during clinical education placements. Methods This study investigated the confidence and knowledge of SLP students in communicating with PWA prior to clinical placements using a customised questionnaire. Confidence in communicating with people with aphasia was assessed using a 100-point visual analogue scale. Linear, and logistic, regressions were used to examine the association between confidence and age, as well as confidence and course type (graduate-entry masters or undergraduate), respectively. Knowledge of strategies to assist communication with PWA was examined by asking respondents to list specific strategies that could assist communication with PWA. Results SLP students were not confident with the prospect of communicating with PWA; reporting a median 29-points (inter-quartile range 17–47) on the visual analogue confidence scale. Only, four (8.2%) of respondents rated their confidence greater than 55 (out of 100). Regression analyses indicated no relationship existed between confidence and students‘ age (p = 0.31, r-squared = 0.02), or confidence and course type (p = 0.22, pseudo r-squared = 0.03). Students displayed limited knowledge about communication strategies. Thematic analysis of strategies revealed four overarching themes; Physical, Verbal Communication, Visual Information and Environmental Changes. While most students identified potential use of resources (such as images and written information), fewer students identified strategies to alter their verbal communication (such as reduced speech rate). Conclusions SLP students who had received aphasia related theoretical coursework, but not commenced clinical placements with PWA, were not confident in their ability to communicate with PWA. Students may benefit from an educational intervention or curriculum modification to incorporate practical training in effective strategies to communicate with PWA, before they encounter PWA in clinical settings. Ensuring students have confidence and knowledge of potential communication strategies to assist communication with PWA may allow them to focus their learning experiences in more specific clinical domains, such as clinical reasoning, rather than building foundation interpersonal communication skills.

Maintaining shared knowledge of acquaintance : methods people use to establish who knows whom

Acquaintance is a fundamental determinant of how people behave when interacting with one another. This article focuses on how this type of personal knowledge is an important consideration for people as social actors. Studying naturally-occurring social encounters, I describe how speakers use particular references to convey whether a recipient should be able to recognise a non-present third party. On some occasions, however, the presumption of recognisability or non-recognisability that underpins the use of a particular reference proves questionable. By exploring how recipients can challenge reference forms, and thereby reject claims of either recognisability or non-recognisability, I explain how people establish and maintain a shared understanding of who knows whom. I conclude by discussing motivations for this behaviour, and thereby contribute to understanding the commonsense reasoning that underpins orderly conduct in this aspect of social encounters.

Towards a model for student selection in clinical psychology

Background Selection of candidates for clinical psychology programmes is arguably the most important decision made in determining the clinical psychology workforce. However, there are few models to inform the development of selection tools to support selection procedures. The study, using a factor analytic structure, has operationalised the model predicting applicants' capabilities. Method Eighty-eight clinical applicants for entry into a postgraduate clinical psychology programme were assessed on a series of tasks measuring eight capabilities: guided reflection, communication skills, ethical decision making, writing, conceptual reasoning, empathy, and awareness of mind and self-observation. Results Factor analysis revealed three capabilities: labelled “awareness” accounting for 35.71% of variance; “reflection” accounting for 20.56%; and “reasoning” accounting for 18.24% of variance. Fourth year grade point average (GPA) did not correlate with performance on any of the selection capabilities other than a weak correlation with performance on the ethics capability. Conclusions Eight selection capabilities are identified for the selection of candidates independent of GPA. While the model is tentative, it is hoped that the findings will stimulate the development and validation of assessment procedures with good predictive validity which will benefit the training of clinical psychologists and, ultimately, effective service delivery.

Approaches to reducing the most important patient errors in primary health care : patient and professional perspectives

We have previously reported a preliminary taxonomy of patient error. However, approaches to managing patients' contribution to error have received little attention in the literature. This paper aims to assess how patients and primary care professionals perceive the relative importance of different patient errors as a threat to patient safety. It also attempts to suggest what these groups believe may be done to reduce the errors, and how. It addresses these aims through original research that extends the nominal group analysis used to generate the error taxonomy. Interviews were conducted with 11 purposively selected groups of patients and primary care professionals in Auckland, New Zealand, during late 2007. The total number of participants was 83, including 64 patients. Each group ranked the importance of possible patient errors identified through the nominal group exercise. Approaches to managing the most important errors were then discussed. There was considerable variation among the groups in the importance rankings of the errors. Our general inductive analysis of participants' suggestions revealed the content of four inter-related actions to manage patient error: Grow relationships; Enable patients and professionals to recognise and manage patient error; be Responsive to their shared capacity for change; and Motivate them to act together for patient safety. Cultivation of this GERM of safe care was suggested to benefit from 'individualised community care'. In this approach, primary care professionals individualise, in community spaces, population health messages about patient safety events. This approach may help to reduce patient error and the tension between personal and population health-care.

Understanding cultural competence in a multicultural nursing workforce : registered nurses’ experience in Saudi Arabia

Purpose In Saudi Arabia, the health system is mainly staffed by expatriate nurses from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Given the potential risks this situation poses for patient care, it is important to understand how cultural diversity can be effectively managed in this multicultural environment. The purpose of this study was to explore notions of cultural competence with non-Saudi Arabian nurses working in a major hospital in Saudi Arabia. Design Face-to-face, audio-recorded, semistructured interviews were conducted with 24 non-Saudi Arabian nurses. Deductive data collection and analysis were undertaken drawing on Campinha-Bacote’s cultural competence model. The data that could not be explained by this model were coded and analyzed inductively. Findings Nurses within this culturally diverse environment struggled with the notion of cultural competence in terms of each other’s cultural expectations and those of the dominant Saudi culture. Discussion The study also addressed the limitations of Campinha-Bacote’s model, which did not account for all of the nurses’ experiences. Subsequent inductive analysis yielded important themes that more fully explained the nurses’ experiences in this environment. Implications for Practice The findings can inform policy, professional education, and practice in the multicultural Saudi setting.