Teaching in rural and remote schools: a literature review

In this paper. the authors examine a wide range of recent research into the preparation and support for teachers working in rural and remote schools. The paper reviews many preservice and inservice initiatives which highlight issues affecting:teaching and learning in schools outside the major metropolitan centres. The work is reviewed from an Australian perspective but evaluates research from throughout the world. The paper concludes that despite a large body of research (Gibson, 1994), that has identified the need for specialised pre-service preparation which accommodates the social and professional differences associated with work in rural and remote areas, the implementation of such programs by teacher training institutions has been sparse, lacking in cohesion and in many cases non-existent. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

How adolescents cope with bullying

Bullying is a stressful event for adolescents at school and was the fourth most common reason for calls to Kids Help Line in 2002. This study sought to examine coping styles used by students affected by bullying in Years 8 and 10 attending three Queensland high schools. Eighty-eight students completed the Bully Survey containing questions about bullying experiences and the way they coped in those situations. No year level differences were found in terms of the type of bullying experienced or the way in which students coped with these experiences. A significant interaction was found between duration of bullying and perceived control for the proportional use of disengagement coping (i.e., denial, avoidance and wishful thinking strategies). A significant simple main effect was found between perceived stressfulness and proportional use of involuntary engagement coping (i.e., rumination, intrusive thoughts, emotional arousal, physiological arousal and impulsive actions). Implications of these findings for schools are discussed.

The endgame for national girls' schooling policies in Australia?

Gender equity: A framework for Australian schools is the most recent policy dealing with gender in schools at the national level in Australia. This paper provides a critical discourse analysis of the policy document, tracking two themes: 'the construction of gender', and 'equity: a discourse of education for all boys and girls'. Through this analysis the authors argue that the policy signals a substantial shift in focus-from girls and boys in relation to girls, to both girls and boys-within a framework of presumptive equality. It is also argued that the policy shuts down federal involvement in policy for girls' schooling. In the process, responsibility is devolved to the states and territories where, in many cases, gender equity programs will be struggled over at a local, school-based level. At the same time, however, spaces have been created which potentially enable new strategies for gender equity policies in Australian schools.

Critical cyber pedagogy: Doing multiliteracies in the Singapore classrooms

The Ministry of Education in Singapore has embarked on the ambitious project of introducing IT in schools. The IT Masterplan, budgeted at a cost of $2 billion, aims to wire up all schools by the year 2002. While the well-funded IT Masterplan is seeing the project in its final phase of implementation, this paper argues for a "critical cyber pedagogy" along with the acquisition of the functional and operational skills of technology. Drawing on theories of critical multiliteracies (Burbules & Callister, 2000; Luke, 2000b; New London Group, 1996), this paper explores and suggests how an instructional design of two classroom activities can be utilized as new forms of cyber and technoliteracies. Through the critical evaluation of websites and hypertext construction, students will be equipped with a new literacy that extends reading and writing by incorporating new blended forms of hybrid textualities. This technology-assisted pedagogy can achieve the desired outcome of self-directed learning, teamwork, critical thinking and problem solving strategies necessary for a knowledge-based society.

Anxious futures: Magpie2 and 'new generationalism' in Australian youth-specific theatre

The field of contemporary youth-specific theatre in Australia is one of change and, in some cases, anxiety. While Drama Studies continue to grow in popularity in schools, previously conventional developmental paradigms have become less mandatory for theatre, for, by, and about young people outside the school context. Instead, 'new generation' approaches in youth-specific performance are placing greater value on young people's own preferences in cultural activity. Yet this development is being tempered and further complicated by a cultural 'generationalism', particularly in larger arts organization as the youth sector becomes a more integral part of marketing strategies for the future. The resulting ambiguity in the representation, value, and positioning of young people and youth-specific arts in Australia's theatre industry is considered by focusing on Magpie2, a former youth-specific company attached to the State Theatre Company of South Australia. Magpie2 ceased operation in 1998 after experimenting with a 'new generation' approach to theatre for young people in the State Theatre realm. Both the artistic policy of Magpie2 Director, Benedict Andrews, and the critical reception of his two productions in 1997, Future Tense and Features of Blown Youth, demonstrate how competing systems of cultural value characterize the field of youth-specific theatre in Australia.

On-line writing: a link to learning in a teacher education program

This paper examines the use of on-line discussion as a medium for learning in a pre-service teacher education program. As part of an Education Studies course student teachers engaged in a discussion of issues related to technology and equity in schools. The design of the task and the subsequent analysis of the on-line text were part of a research project investigating whether and how communications technology can be used to integrate and extend the learning of teacher education students. The main argument developed in the paper is that through the on-line activity distinctive sets of writing practices were created. These practices enabled students to make connections between the often disparate parts of teacher education programs-theory and practice, campus and school, research and experience. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning difficulties in numeracy in Australia

In this article, we provide an understanding of the term numeracy as it is used in Australia and a description of numeracy education in this country. In particular, we discuss the role of outcomes-based curriculum frameworks and outline the dominant teaching approaches. The focus is on students with learning difficulties and how they are identified and supported in schools. We create two vignettes based on real students with difficulties in numeracy, which highlight two of the most common problems. We report on the prevalence of learning difficulties in numeracy in Australia and describe some of the initiatives related to the assessment and enhancement of learning in numeracy that are being undertaken in various states in Australia. Finally, we identify some of the future challenges facing the Australian education system in this area. These challenges relate to teacher knowledge, mandated assessment, and the role of parents. We conclude the article by calling for the evaluation of current assessment and intervention initiatives as well as the development of a national program to support the goal of numeracy for all students.

Issues in boys' education: A question of teacher threshold knowledges?

This paper explores the effects of specific teacher threshold knowledges about boys and gender on the implementation of a so-called 'boy friendly' curriculum at one junior secondary high school in Australia. Through semi-structured inter-views with selected staff at the school, it examines the normalizing assumptions and 'truth claims' about boys, as gendered subjects, which drive the pedagogical impetus for such a curriculum initiative. This research raises crucial questions about the need for the formulation of both school and governmental policy grounded in sound research-based knowledge about the social construction of gender and its impact on the lives of both boys and girls and their experiences of schooling. This is crucial, we argue, in light of the recent parliamentary report on boys' education in Australia which rejects gender theorizing and given the failure of key staff in the research school to interrogate the binary ways in which masculinity and femininity are socially constructed and institutionalized in schools through a particular 'gender regime'. While some good things are happening in the research school, the failure to acknowledge the social construction of gender means that ultimately the school's programs cannot be successful.

Productive leaders and productive leadership: Schools as learning organisations

This paper draws on a three-year study of 24 schools involving classroom observations and interviews with teachers and principals. Through an examination of three cases, sets of leadership practices that focus on the learning of both students and teachers are described. This set of practices is called productive leadership and how these practices are dispersed among productive leaders in three schools is described. This form of leadership supports the achievement of both academic and social outcomes through a focus on pedagogy, a culture of care and related organizational processes. The concepts of learning organisations and teacher professional learning communities as ways of framing relationships in schools, in which ongoing teacher learning is complementary to student learning, are espoused.

The effectiveness of hylan G-F 20 in patients with knee osteoarthritis: an application of two sets of response criteria developed by the OARSI and one set developed by OMERACT-OARSI

Objective: Secondary analyses of a previously conducted 1-year randomized controlled trial were performed to assess the application of responder criteria in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) using different sets of responder criteria developed by the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) (Propositions A and B) for intra-articular drugs and Outcome Measures in Arthritis Clinical Trials (OMERACT)-OARSI (Proposition D). Methods: Two hundred fifty-five patients with knee OA were randomized to appropriate care with hylan G-F 20 (AC + H) or appropriate care without hylan G-F 20 (AC). A patient was defined as a responder at month 12 based on change in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index pain and function (0-100 normalized scale) and patient global assessment of OA in the study knee (at least one-category improvement in very poor, poor, fair, good and very good). All propositions incorporate both minimum relative and absolute changes. Results: Results demonstrated that statistically significant differences in responders between treatment groups, in favor of hylan G-F 20, were detected for Proposition A (AC + H = 53.5%, AC = 25.2%), Proposition B (AC + H = 56.7%, AC = 32.3%) and Proposition D (AC + H = 66.9%, AC = 42.5%). The highest effectiveness in both treatment groups was observed with Proposition D, whereas Proposition A resulted in the lowest effectiveness in both treatment groups. The treatment group differences always exceeded the required 20% minimum clinically important difference between groups established a priori, and were 28.3%, 24.4% and 24.4% for Propositions A, B and D, respectively. Conclusion: This analysis provides evidence for the capacity of OARSI and OMERACT-OARSI responder criteria to detect clinically important statistically detectable differences between treatment groups. (C) 2004 OsteoArthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.