Translating vision research into policy and practice to improve visibility, and hence safety, of road workers at night

This case study report describes the stages involved in the translation of research on night-time visibility into standards for the safety clothing worn by roadworkers. Vision research demonstrates that when lights are placed on the moveable joints of the body and the person moves in a dark setting, the phenomenon known as “biological motion or biomotion” occurs, enabling rapid and accurate recognition of the human form although only the lights can be seen. QUT was successful in gaining funding from the Australian Research Council for a Linkage grant due to the support of the predecessors of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to research the biomotion effect in on-road settings using materials that feature in roadworker clothing. Although positive results were gained, the process of translating the research results into policy, practices and standards relied strongly on the supportive efforts of TMR staff engaged in the review and promulgation of national standards. The ultimate result was the incorporation of biomotion marking into AS/NZS 4602.1 2011. The experiences gained in this case provide insights into the processes involved in translating research into practice.

Reconceptualising policy integration in road safety management

Unless sustained, coordinated action is generated in road safety, road traffic deaths are poised to rise from approximately 1.3 to 1.9 million a year by 2020 (Krug, 2012). To generate this harmonised response, road safety management agencies are being urged to adopt multisectoral collaboration (WHO, 2009b), which is achievable through the principle of policy integration. Yet policy integration, in its current hierarchical format, is marred by a lack of universality of its interpretation, a failure to anticipate the complexities of coordinated effort, dearth of information about its design and the absence of a normative perspective to share responsibility. This paper addresses this ill-conception of policy integration by reconceptualising it through a qualitative examination of 16 road safety stakeholders’ written submissions, lodged with the Australian Transport Council in 2011. The resulting, new principle of policy integration, Participatory Deliberative Integration, provides a conceptual framework for the alignment of effort across stakeholders in transport, health, traffic law enforcement, relevant trades and the community. With the adoption of Participatory Deliberative Integration, road safety management agencies should secure the commitment of key stakeholders in the development and implementation of, amongst other policy measures, National Road Safety Strategies and Mix Mode Integrated Timetabling.

High-stakes literacy tests and local effects in a rural school

High-stakes literacy testing is now a ubiquitous educational phenomenon. However, it remains a relatively recent phenomenon in Australia. Hence it is possible to study the ways in which such tests are reorganising educators’ work during this period of change. This paper draws upon Dorothy Smith’s Institutional Ethnography and critical policy analysis to consider this problem and reports on interview data from teachers and the principal in small rural school in a poor area of South Australia. In this context high-stakes testing and the associated diagnostic school review unleashes a chain of actions within the school which ultimately results in educators doubting their professional judgments, increasing the investment in testing, narrowing their teaching of literacy and purchasing levelled reading schemes. The effects of high-stakes testing in disadvantaged schools are identified and discussed.

Californian 'John Schools' and the social construction of prostitution

Within political and social arenas, prostitution continues to be a highly contested and debated issue. Generally conceptualised as a ‘problem’ in need of eradication, prostitution is strongly linked to immorality and deviance. The methods of addressing this phenomenon have experienced a shift from focusing predominantly on the sex worker, to directly targeting the clients of commercial sex. Such practices have resulted in the creation of policy initiatives such as ‘John Schools’—diversionary programs for clients, or ‘Johns’ who have been arrested for prostitution offences. The programs aim to educate participants on the various harms and risks associated with such behaviour and claim to offer a means to reduce prostitution by targeting the demand for sexual services. It is evident however, that these programs perpetuate traditional social constructions of prostitution, characterising the act, and the actors, as sexually deviant. This paper examines the curriculum of these programs in order to identify how prostitution is constructed—firstly through the depiction of the victims in the program and secondly through the characterisation of prostitution offenders—and argues that such initiatives merely extend the charge of sexual deviance from the sellers of sex to the buyers,whilst failing to acknowledge autonomy and choice for sex workers and clients.

Chinese teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) academics' perceptions about research in a transitional culture

Research capacity building has become a prominent theme in higher education institutions in China and across the world. However, Chinese Teaching English as a Foreign Language academics' research output has been quite limited. In order to build their research capacity, it is necessary to understand their perceptions about research. This case study presents the perceptions about research of six Chinese Teaching English as a Foreign Language academics in a context of growing institutional demands for research. One-on-one interviews of 35-60 minutes' duration were conducted with these academics from an institution in north China. Thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews indicated that the Chinese Teaching English as a Foreign Language academics held positive perceptions about the teaching-research nexus. However, the value of research to them seemed to be limited to teaching and career advancement. They also expressed varied concerns about the institutional research requirements. The findings suggested several implications for the institution's administrators to further enhance academics' research capacity building.

Desperately seeking Asia through China: Reading ‘China’ in the Australian Curriculum: History through children’s literature

This paper considers how Asia can be meaningfully studied and understood in the first national history curriculum to be implemented in Australia. Its focus is on how empathy might be conceptualised as part of the process of becoming ‘Asia literate’ and the ways in which an empathetic understanding can be developed in the Australian Curriculum: History by engaging students with children’s literature. We argue that stories about Chinese experiences in Australia from particular episodes in the nation’s past can be utilised for their potential to prompt historical inquiry and empathetic engagement in the classroom.

Critical attributes of public-private partnerships : a case study in vocational education

The term ‘partnership’ is increasingly used by governments, industry, community organisations and schools in supporting their daily businesses. Similar to the terms ‘ICT’ and ‘learning’, ‘partnerships’ are now ubiquitous in policy discourse. Yet, the term remains ill-defined and ambiguous. This study reviews and reflects on a government led industry-school partnership initiative in the state of Queensland, Australia, to understand how the term is used in this initiative. Given the frequent use of Public Private Partnership (PPP) language, PPP was used as a framework to review this initiative. The methodology of this qualitative case study involved consultations with stakeholders and an analysis of Gateway schools documents, policy documents, and literature. The review suggests that despite the use of terminology akin to PPP projects in Gateway school and policy documents, the implicit suggestion that this initiative is a public-private partnership is untenable. The majority of principles shaping a PPP have not been considered to a significant extent in the Gateway project. Although the review recognises the legitimate and sincere purpose of the Gateway schools initiative, the adoption of a PPP framework during the design, monitoring, or evaluation stages could have strengthened the initiative in terms of outcomes, benefits, and sustainability.

Food policy, dietary intakes and chronic disease in prisons

International research on prisoners demonstrates poor health outcomes, including chronic disease, with the overall burden to the community high. Prisoners are predominantly male and young. In Australia, the average incarceration length is 3 years, sufficient to impact long term health, including nutrition. Food in prisons is highly controlled, yet gaps exist in policy. In most Western countries prisons promote healthy foods, often incongruent with prisoner expectations or wants. Few studies have been conducted on dietary intakes during incarceration in relation to food policy. In this study detailed diet histories were collected on 120/945 men (mean age = 32 years), in a high-secure prison. Intakes were verified via individual purchase records, mealtime observations, and audits of food preparation, purchasing and holdings. Physical measurements (including fasting bloods) were taken and medical records reviewed. Results showed the standard food provided consistent with current dietary guidelines, however limited in menu choice. Diet histories revealed self-funded foods contributing 1–63% of energy (mean = 30%), 0–83% sugar (mean = 38%), 1–77% saturated fats (mean = 31%) and 1–59% sodium (mean = 23%). High levels of modification to food provided was found using minimal cooking amenities and inclusion of self-funded foods and/or foods retained from previous meals. Medical records and physical measurements confirmed markers of chronic disease. This study highlights the need to establish clear guidelines on all food available in prisons if chronic disease risk reduction is a goal. This study has also supported evidenced based food and nutrition policy including menu choice, food quality, quantity and safety as well as type and access to self-funded foods.

Beyond knowledge : an insight into the practice of a learning support teacher

Increasingly, schools are being asked to meet the challenges of providing inclusive classrooms for all children. Inclusion is no longer about special education for a special group of students. It is about school improvement in order to bring about the changes that are needed to classroom practices to ensure the improvement of student learning outcomes. Inclusion is no longer a policy initiative. Rather it has been transformed to become a process that moves a school towards inclusive practices that will result in school improvement, heightened student learning outcomes and greater opportunities for all students to gain equal access to education. This study focuses on the challenge of diversity as it translates into implementing inclusive practices across two secondary school contexts. I have undertaken this research in my role as a Learning Support Teacher over a period of five years. Central to my research is a constructivist ontology and a practice epistemology that aligns with a practitioner research methodology of action research. Seven generalisable propositions have emerged from this research that inform the strategies I am using to more easily accommodate legislated inclusivitiy. These propositions include: 1. School communities need to share a common understanding of equity. 2. The school principal must provide overt leadership in moving towards an inclusive school culture. 3. A whole-school approach is needed to narrow the gap between inclusion rhetoric and classroom practice. 4. Pedagogical reform is the most effective strategy for catering for diverse student learning needs. 5. Differentiating curriculum is achieved when collaborative planning teams develop appropriate units of work. 6. School communities need to make a commitment to gather, share and manage relevant information concerning students. 7. The Learning Support Teacher needs to be repositioned within a curriculum planning team.

Parent views of play in the Preparatory Year in Queensland

Over the past ten years, Queensland has experienced a period of significant education reform including the introduction in 2007 of a Preparatory Year of schooling for children aged five years. Recently, the development of a new Australian Curriculum represents a further curriculum reform impacting on Prep in Queensland, as Prep is, for the first time, part of the broader school curriculum and specific content is to be taught. The place of play as a context for learning is a current topic of interest during this period of change, and this thesis argues that consideration of parent views with regard to play and its place in Prep is timely and strategic. This thesis reports the findings of a research project that used case study to elicit and describe the ways in which eight parents viewed play in Prep. Analysis of parent interviews identified four themes: (1) parents interpreting play in Prep, (2) play and learning in Prep, (3) the Prep teacher's role in play and (4) parent tensions regarding play and learning in Prep. The results of the study suggest that variation exists in the ways in which parents may view and interpret play in Prep in Queensland. Analysis of the data further suggests that these interpretations may reflect parents' understanding of the Prep program and their attitudes to play and school generally. This thesis suggests that parents may spend limited time in Prep classrooms, which may impact on their understanding of play as a theoretical tenet in Prep and may highlight limitations in parent-teacher partnerships. The results of this study suggest that more attention be given to engaging parents in early childhood programs and eliciting their views on these programs. The results also suggest the importance of early childhood teachers advocating on behalf of play with their teaching colleagues, school leaders and policy makers.

Health and community services for trafficked women : an exploratory study of policy and practice

The trafficking of women has attracted considerable international and national policy attention, particularly since the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), of which the Australian Government has been a signatory since 2005. The provision of health and community services for trafficked women is a central feature of this Protocol, but in Australia service provision is made difficult by how trafficked women are understood and treated in policy and legal terms. This study aimed to explore the provision of health and community services for trafficked women in the Greater Sydney region through a series of interviews with government and non-government organisations. The findings reveal that services have been inaccessible as a result of sparse, uncoordinated, and poorly funded provision. The major obstacle to adequate and appropriate service provision has been a national policy approach focusing on 'border protection' and criminalisation rather than on trafficked women and their human rights. We conclude that further policy development needs to focus on the practical implications of how such rights can be translated into the delivery of health and community services that trafficked women can access and be supported by more effectively.

Hepatitis C and policy implementation : ethics as a dialogic process for resource allocation

Hepatitis C, which was first identified in 1988, has become an important issue for public health as epidemiological and clinical evidence has emerged. These disciplines have highlighted the extent of infection and its medical consequences. Now, governments at both the state and federal levels are sifting through this evidence and are attempting to create structures to deal with the problem of hepatitis C. These structures have generally taken the form of expert committees and working parties organised from established medical, scientific and public health bodies...

School libraries, teacher-librarians and their contribution to student literacy development in Gold Coast schools

This is the first research focusing on Gold Coast school libraries and teacher- librarians. It presents a detailed picture of library provision and staffing at a representative group of 27 government and non-government schools at the Gold Coast. It shows links between employment of a teacher-librarian and higher NAPLAN reading and writing scores. And it presents the principals’ generally positive views about teacher-librarians’ contribution to reading and literacy at their schools. The findings respond in part to the recent government inquiry’s call (House of Representatives, 2011) for research about the current staffing of school libraries in Australia, and the influence of school libraries and teacher-librarians on students’ literacy and learning outcomes. While the study has focused on a relatively small group of school libraries, it has produced a range of significant outcomes: • An extensive review of international and Australian research showing impacts of school libraries and teacher-librarians on students’ literacy and learning outcomes • Findings consistent with international research showing: - An inverse relationship between lower student to EFT library staff ratio and higher school NAPLAN scores for reading and writing - Schools that employ a teacher-librarian tend to achieve school NAPLAN scores for respective year levels that are higher than the national mean It is anticipated that the study’s findings will be of interest to education authorities, school leadership teams, teacher-librarians, teachers and researchers. The findings provide evidence to: • inform policy development and strategic planning for school libraries that respond to the literacy development needs of 21st century learners • inform school-based management of school libraries • inform curriculum development and teacher-librarian practice • support further collaborative research on a State or national level • enhance conceptual understandings about relationship(s) between school libraries, teacher-librarians and literacy/information literacy development • support advocacy about school libraries, teacher-librarians and their contribution to literacy development and student learning in Australian schools SLAQ President Toni Leigh comments: “It is heartening to see findings which validate the critical role teacher-librarians play in student literacy development and the positive correlation of higher NAPLAN scores and schools with a qualified teacher-librarian. Also encouraging is the high percentage of school principals who recognise the necessity of a well resourced school library and the positive influence of these libraries on student literacy”. This research arises from a research partnership between School Library Association of Queensland (SLAQ) and Children and Youth Research Centre, QUT. Lead researcher: Dr Hilary Hughes, Children and Youth Research Centre, QUT Research assistants: Dr Hossein Bozorgian, Dr Cherie Allan, Dr Michelle Dicinoski, QUT SLAQ Research Reference Group: Toni Leigh, Marj Osborne, Sally Fraser, Chris Kahl and Helen Reynolds Reference: House of Representatives. (2011). School libraries and teacher librarians in 21st century Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=ee/schoollibraries/report.htm

Background to the development of a curriculum for the history of “cyber” and “communications” security

For any discipline to be regarded as a professional undertaking by which its members may be treated as true “professionals” in a specific area, practitioners must clearly understand that discipline’s history as well as the place and significance of that history in current practice as well as its relevance to available technologies and artefacts at the time. This is common for many professional disciplines such as medicine, pharmacy, engineering, law and so on but not yet, this paper submits, in information technology. Based on twenty five elapsed years of experience in developing and delivering Cybersecurity courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, this paper proposes a rationale and set of differing perspectives for the planning and development of curricula relevant to the delivery of appropriate courses in the history of cybersecurity or information assurance to information and communications technology (ICT) students and thus to potential information technology professionals.

New and young firms Entrepreneurship policy and the role of government – evidence from the Federation of Small Businesses survey

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether new and young firms are different from older firms. This analysis is undertaken to explore general characteristics, use of external resources and growth orientation. Design/methodology/approach – Data from the 2008 UK Federation of Small Businesses survey provided 8,000 responses. Quantitative analysis identified significantly different characteristics of firms from 0-4, 4-9, 9-19 and 20+ years. Factor analysis was utilised to identify the advice sets, finance and public procurement customers of greatest interest, with ANOVA used to statistically compare firms in the identified age groups with different growth aspirations. Findings – The findings reveal key differences between new, young and older firms in terms of characteristics including business sector, owner/manager age, education/business experience, legal status, intellectual property and trading performance. New and young firms were more able to access beneficial resources in terms of finance and advice from several sources. New and young firms were also able to more easily access government and external finance, as well as government advice, but less able to access public procurement. Research limitations/implications – New and young firms are utilising external networks to access several resources for development purposes, and this differs for older firms. This suggests that a more explicit age-differentiated focus is required for government policies aimed at supporting firm growth. Originality/value – The study provides important baseline data for future quantitative and qualitative studies focused on the impact of firm age and government policy.