The gradual release of responsibility: A case study of teaching science inquiry skills

This thesis investigated how a year-4 teacher used a pedagogical approach referred to as the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) model of instruction for teaching Science Inquiry Skills in a primary classroom. Through scaffolding her students' learning using the GRR, the teacher guided her students towards developing an understanding about Scientific Inquiry leading to the foundations of scientific literacy. A learning environment was established in which students engaged in rich conversations, designed and conducted experiments using fair testing procedures, analysed and offered justifications for results, and negotiated knowledge claims in ways similar to some of those in the scientific community.

Editorial: Closing the gap: Nurses and midwives making a difference

Life expectancy at birth is one of the main indicators of health inequality. Current health and social status indicators for Australian Indigenous people demonstrate major discrepancies in comparison to other Australians. For example, in Australia in 2005–2007 the Indigenous life expectancy gap at birth was 11.5 years for males and 9.7 years for females (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). This gap has remained relatively constant over the last few decades (ABS, 2008). While the main causes of death for Indigenous Australians are similar to those of non-Indigenous Australians, the percentages attributed to the different disease categories are significantly different. For example, death from external causes is 16.2% for the Indigenous population compared to 6.3% for non-Indigenous, and diabetes is 8% for Indigenous Australians compared to 2.4% for non-Indigenous (ABS, 2008; AIHW, 2008). The Australian Government’s response to this troubling issue, urged on by unprecedented support from the public, was the Close the Gap initiative which aims to reduce the gap in life expectancy within a generation (Shadow Report, 2010). Since the introduction of the Close the Gap strategy there have been some claims of success. For example, the Honourable Warren Snowden (Snowden, 2010), Minister for Indigenous Health, outlines some of the changes that have occurred as a result of the implementation of the Indigenous Chronic Disease Package, funded at $805.5 million over four years, as: 294 new positions...

Directors and officers insurance – Recent critical issues in Australia and New Zealand

Directors and Officers Liability Insurance (“D&O insurance”) has grown and evolved rapidly over the past 80 years to assume an important position in most corporations’ corporate governance and risk management strategies. This article focuses upon certain topical matters of particular concern to directors and officers including the availability of defence costs where a D&O policy is subject to a statutory charge; the commercial desirability of stand-alone “A-side” coverage, being the cover provided directly to directors and officers for loss resulting from claims made against them for wrongful acts; the impact of fraud and/or dishonesty upon D&O cover; and disclosure of the nature and extent of D&O cover to the directors and officers themselves and to third parties – in the latter case such access frequently being necessary to determine the economic viability of pursuing a proposed action against a company and its directors and officers.

Fraudsters change tactics as a crackdown cuts some losses due to online scams

The amount of financial loss from online fraud suffered by people in Western Australia has almost halved, dropping from A$16.8 million in 2014 to A$9.8 million for 2015, according to a statement this January from the state’s Attorney General and Minister for Commerce, Michael Mischin. In addition, the minister noted that losses from relationship and dating fraud have fallen by 55%, to A$4.9 million lost last year. These are both impressive claims, and at face value, there is truth to the statistics. Both assertions are based on data received by WA’s Scamnet, which is the public interface between consumer protection and citizens. While it is good to see a reduction in the number of losses overall, particularly to relationship and dating fraud, it is highly unlikely that the statistics tell the full story.

Expecting too much? Can Indigenous sport programs in Australia deliver development and social outcomes?

Sport holds a special place in the national psyche of many nations with claims for sport being far reaching. More recently sport has been identified as a development and an educational tool in the areas of health and behaviour modification. Against the backdrop of the Close the Gap blueprint for Indigenous Australians and within the context of competing claims for sport, this paper discusses whether sport can genuinely contribute to community development in Indigenous Australian communities. Drawing on cases from sports-based programmes that spanned a 5-year research programme and informed by a theoretical framework inspired by Sen’s notion of ‘Development as Freedom’, this paper makes the case that sport can be a robust developmental tool capable of delivering social outcomes to marginalized communities.

An eroding social justice agenda: The case of physical education and health edu-business in schools

In this paper we draw on current research to explore notions of a socially just Health and Physical Education (HPE), in light of claims that a neoliberal globalisation promotes markets over the states, and a new individualism that privileges self-interest over the collective good. We also invite readers to consider United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s ambition for PE in light of preliminary findings from an Australian led research project exploring national and international patterns of outsourcing HPE curricula. Data were sourced from this international research project through a mixed method approach. Each external provider engaged in four phases of research activity: (a) Web-audits, (b) Interviews with external providers, (c) Network diagrams, and (d) School partner interviews and observations. Results We use these data to pose what we believe to be three emerging lines of inquiry and challenge for a socially just school HPE within neoliberal times. In particular our data indicates that the marketization of school HPE is strengthening an emphasis on individual responsibility for personal health, elevating expectations that schools and teachers will “fill the welfare gap” and finally, influencing the nature and purchase of educative HPE programs in schools. The apparent proliferation of external providers of health work, HPE resources and services reflects the rise and pervasiveness of neoliberalism in education. We conclude that this global HPE landscape warrants attention to investigate the extent to which external providers’ resources are compatible with schooling’s educative and inclusive mandates.

Osteoporosis medication dispensing for older Australian women from 2002 to 2010: Influences of publications, guidelines, marketing activities and policy

Purpose Developments in anti-osteoporosis medications (AOMs) have led to changes in guidelines and policy, which, along with media and marketing strategies, have had an impact upon the prescribing of AOM. The aim was to examine patterns of AOM dispensing in older women (aged 76–81 years at baseline) from 2002 to 2010. Methods Administrative claims data were used to describe AOM dispensing in 4649 participants (born in 1921–1926 and still alive in 2011) in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. The patterns were interpreted in the context of changes in guidelines, indications for subsidy, publications (scholarly and general media), and marketing activities. Results Total use of AOM increased from 134 DDD/1000/day in 2002 to 216 DDD/1000/day in 2007 but then decreased to 184 DDD/1000/day in 2010. Alendronate was the most commonly dispensed AOM but decreased from 2007, while use of risedronate (2002 onward), strontium ranelate (2007 onward) and zoledronic acid (2008 onward) increased. Etidronate and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescriptions gradually decreased over time. The decline in alendronate dispensing coincided with increases of other bisphosphonates and publicity about potential adverse effects of bisphosphonates, despite relaxing indications for bone density testing and subsidy for AOM. Conclusions Overall dispense of AOM from 2002 reached a peak in 2007 and thereafter declined despite increases in therapeutic options and improved subsidised access. The recent decline in overall AOM dispensing seems to be explained largely by negative publicity rather than specific changes in guidelines and policy.

Teaching about deliberative politics: Case studies of classroom–community learning projects in four nations

Theories of deliberative politics position grass-roots community members as more than spectators of politics, and instead recognize their capacity for political engagement by discussing and evaluating options in order to make decisions about issues affecting community life. The processes and products of journalism can assist deliberative politics by providing community members with information resources that are vital for understanding the root causes of problems, weighing up competing claims, forming networks around shared concerns, reaching decisions and undertaking action. This article presents the findings of case studies of four community–classroom projects--one each from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and South Africa--that develop the capacity of journalism students to be effective contributors to deliberative politics. The research points to the importance of learning activities that prepare students to work in diverse communities, map significant community places and structures, identify leaders and stakeholders, engage in respectful dialogue about problems and perspectives, and appreciate community frames and values.

Business busts and U.S. auditors' interest in fraud detection: Evidence from the 20th century

We find evidence that U.S. auditors increased their attention to fraud detection during or immediately after the economic contractions of the 20th century, based on a content analysis of the 12 volumes of the 20th-century auditing reference series Montgomery’s Auditing. Contractions, however, do not seem to have affected auditors’ attention to the formal goal of fraud detection. The study suggests that auditors’ aversion to the heightened risks of fraud during economic downturns leads them to focus more on fraud detection at those times regardless of the particular guidance in formal audit standards. This study is the first to find some evidence of a recession-influenced difference between fraud detection practices and formal fraud detection goals.

Zaburoni HIV case: The law can sometimes be an ass, but not in this case

Lana Nowakowski's opinion piece on the High Court decision in the Zaburoni HIV case attacks "Queensland's absurd necessity to prove intention on transmission" and argues that "changes to the law are long overdue". Both claims are wrong...

Food waste, power, and corporate social responsibility in the Australian food supply chain

By examining corporate social responsibility (CSR) and power within the context of the food supply chain, this paper illustrates how food retailers claim to address food waste while simultaneously setting standards that result in the large-scale rejection of edible food on cosmetic grounds. Specifically, this paper considers the powerful role of food retailers and how they may be considered to be legitimately engaging in socially responsible behaviors to lower food waste, yet implement practices that ultimately contribute to higher levels of food waste elsewhere in the supply chain. Through interviews with key actors in the Australian fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain, we highlight the existence of a legitimacy gap in corporate social responsibility whereby undesirable behaviors are pushed elsewhere in the supply chain. It is argued that the structural power held by Australia’s retail duopoly means that supermarkets are able to claim virtuous and responsible behaviors, despite counter claims from within the fresh food industry that the food supermarkets’ private quality standards mean that fresh food is wasted. We argue that the supermarkets claim CSR kudos for reducing food waste at the expense of other supply chain actors who bear both the economic cost and the moral burden of waste, and that this is a consequence of supermarkets’ remarkable market power in Australia.