Mental health outcomes for unemployed individuals who attend occupational skills / personal development training programs

Four studies report on outcomes for long-term unemployed individuals who attend occupational skills/personal development training courses in Australia. Levels of distress, depression, guilt, anger, helplessness, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction and self esteem were used as measures of well-being. Employment value, employment expectations and employment commitment were used as measures of work attitude. Social support, financial strain, and use of community resources were used as measures of life situation. Other variables investigated were causal attribution, unemployment blame, levels of coping, self efficacy, the personality variable of neuroticism, the psycho-social climate of the training course, and changes to occupational status. Training courses were (a) government funded occupational skills-based programs which included some components of personal development training, and (b) a specially developed course which focused exclusively on improving well-being, and which utilised the cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) approach. Data for all studies were collected longitudinally by having subjects complete questionnaires pre-course, post-course, and (for 3 of the 4 studies) at 3 months follow-up, in order to investigate long-term effects. One of the studies utilised the case-study methodology and was designed to be illustrative and assist in interpreting the quantitative data from the other 3 evaluations. The outcomes for participants were contrasted with control subjects who met the same sel~tion criteria for training. Results confirmed earlier findings that the experiences of unemployment were negative. Immediate effects of the courses were to improve well-being. Improvements were greater for those who attended courses with higher levels of personal development input, and the best results were obtained from the specially developed CBT program. Participants who had lower levels of well-being at the beginning of the courses did better as a result of training than those who were already functioning at higher levels. Course participants gained only marginal advantages over control subjects in relation to improving their occupational status. Many of the short term well-being gains made as a result of attending the courses were still evident at 3 months follow-up. Best results were achieved for the specially designed CBT program. Results were discussed in the context of prevailing theories of Ynemployment (Fryer, 1986,1988; Jahoda, 1981, 1982; Warr, 1987a, 1987b).

Languaging the actor : an examination of the terminology used in actor training

Throughout the twentieth century increased interest in the training of actors resulted in the emergence of a plethora of acting theories and innovative theatrical movements in Europe, the UK and the USA. The individuals or groups involved with the formulation of these theories and movements developed specific terminologies, or languages of acting, in an attempt to clearly articulate the nature and the practice of acting according to their particular pedagogy or theatrical aesthetic. Now at the dawning of the twenty-first century, Australia boasts quite a number of schools and university courses professing to train actors. This research aims to discover the language used in actor training on the east coast of Australia today. Using interviews with staff of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, the Victorian College of the Arts, and the Queensland University of Technology as the primary source of data, a constructivist grounded theory has emerged to assess the influence of last century‟s theatrical theorists and practitioners on Australian training and to ascertain the possibility of a distinctly Australian language of acting.

Fiji pre-service primary teachers' understanding of physical science : a cultural perspective

Science and technology are promoted as major contributors to national development. Consequently, improved science education has been placed high on the agenda of tasks to be tackled in many developing countries, although progress has often been limited. In fact there have been claims that the enormous investment in teaching science in developing countries has basically failed, with many reports of how efforts to teach science in developing countries often result in rote learning of strange concepts, mere copying of factual information, and a general lack of understanding on the part of local students. These generalisations can be applied to science education in Fiji. Muralidhar (1989) has described a situation in which upper primary and middle school students in Fiji were given little opportunity to engage in practical work; an extremely didactic form of teacher exposition was the predominant method of instruction during science lessons. He concluded that amongst other things, teachers' limited understanding, particularly of aspects of physical science, resulted in their rigid adherence to the text book or the omission of certain activities or topics. Although many of the problems associated with science education in developing countries have been documented, few attempts have been made to understand how non-Western students might better learn science. This study addresses the issue of Fiji pre-service primary teachers' understanding of a key aspect of physical science, namely, matter and how it changes, and their responses to learning experiences based on a constructivist epistemology. Initial interviews were used to probe pre-service primary teachers' understanding of this domain of science. The data were analysed to identify students' alternative and scientific conceptions. These conceptions were then used to construct Concept Profile Inventories (CPI) which allowed for qualitative comparison of the concepts of the two ethnic groups who took part in the study. This phase of the study also provided some insight into the interaction of scientific information and traditional beliefs in non-Western societies. A quantitative comparison of the groups' conceptions was conducted using a Science Concept Survey instrument developed from the CPis. These data provided considerable insight into the aspects of matter where the pre-service teachers' understanding was particularly weak. On the basis of these preliminary findings, a six-week teaching program aimed at improving the students' understanding of matter was implemented in an experimental design with a group of students. The intervention involved elements of pedagogy such as the use of analogies and concept maps which were novel to most of those who took part. At the conclusion of the teaching programme, the learning outcomes of the experimental group were compared with those of a control group taught in a more traditional manner. These outcomes were assessed quantitatively by means of pre- and post-tests and a delayed post-test, and qualitatively using an interview protocol. The students' views on the various teaching strategies used with the experimental group were also sought. The findings indicate that in the domain of matter little variation exists in the alternative conceptions held by Fijian and Indian students suggesting that cultural influences may be minimal in their construction. Furthermore, the teaching strategies implemented with the experimental group of students, although largely derived from Western research, showed considerable promise in the context of Fiji, where they appeared to be effective in improving the understanding of students from different cultural backgrounds. These outcomes may be of significance to those involved in teacher education and curriculum development in other developing countries.