Gendering Industrial Citizenship

In this paper we analyse the gendered construction of 'industrial citizenship' from the model envisaged by Marshall in 1950 to possibilities suggested in 'Third Way' thinking. We argue that the Marshallian model, while clearly exclusive to men, provided a framework on to which a more inclusive industrial citizenship could be built, primarily through its recognition of a social component to citizenship. Rather than giving an uncritical endorsement of Marshall's vision, we seek to highlight the benefits for women of viewing citizenship as inclusive of social rights, and the problems associated with dismantling this type of vision of the relationship between citizenship and work.

The prevalence of childhood obesity in primary school children in urban Khon Kaen, Northeast Thailand

Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem because of its strong association with adulthood obesity and the related adverse health consequences. The published literature indicates a rising prevalence of childhood obesity in both developed and developing countries. However no data exists on the prevalence in Northeast Thailand, one of the poorest regions of the country and one that has experienced a recent economic transition. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of obesity in seven to nine year old children in urban Khon Kaen, Northeast Thailand. A cross-sectional school based survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of obesity in children of urban Khon Kaen, Thailand. Multi-staged cluster sampling was used to select 12 school clusters of 72 children each between the ages of 7 and 9 years, in primary school grades 1, 2 and 3 from government, private and demonstration schools. A total of 864 seven to nine year old school children were studied. Anthropometric measurements of standing height and weight were taken for all subjects to the nearest tenth of a centimetre and tenth of a kilogram respectively. Childhood obesity was defined as a weight-for-height Z-score above 2.0 standard deviations of the National Center for Health Statistics/World Health Organisation reference population median. The prevalence of childhood obesity was 10.8% (95% CI: 7.6, 13.9). Obesity was significantly more prevalent in boys than girls. The biggest difference was observed between the three school types, with the highest prevalence of obesity found at teacher training demonstration schools and the lowest at the government schools. This study provides the first data on childhood obesity prevalence in Northeast Thailand. The prevalence of 10.8 per cent is lower than that found in two other urban areas of Thailand but slightly higher than expected for this relatively poor region. If this prevalence rate increases, as observed in other countries in economic transition, the incidence of non-communicable diseases associated with obesity is also likely to increase, thus raising cause for concern and reason for intervention to both control and prevent obesity during childhood.

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.

Interrogating single-sex classes as a strategy for addressing boys' educational and social needs

This paper explores the policy of single-sex classes that is currently being adopted in some schools as a strategy for addressing boys' educational and social needs. It draws on research in one Australian government, coeducational primary school to examine teachers' and students' experiences of this strategy. Interviews with the principal, male and female teachers responsible for teaching the single-sex classes and the students involved in these classes are used to illustrate the impact and effect of the strategy on pedagogical practices in this particular school. The data are used to raise critical questions about the impact and effects of teachers' pedagogical practices in light of the current literature and research about single-sex classes. In this case study, it was found that teachers had a tendency to modify their pedagogical practices and the curriculum to suit stereotypical constructions about boys' and girls' supposed oppositional orientations to learning. It is concluded that teacher knowledges and assumptions about gender play an important role in the execution of their pedagogies in the single-sex classroom.

Tympanometric findings in children at school entry: A normative study

This study presents tympanometric normative data for Australian children at school entry in view of the lack of age-specific population-based data for this group. Participants were 327 children (164 boys, 163 girls) aged between 5 and 6 years, who had no history of middle ear infection, and passed pure-tone screening at 20 dB HL. Normative values for static admittance (SA), ear canal volume (ECV), tympanometric peak pressure, tympanometric width (TW) and tympanometric gradient were established. Based on these normative data, the use of the ASHA (1997) guidelines for medical referral, in which ECV > 1.0 ml in the presence of a flat tympanogram, SA < 0.3 ml, or TW > 200 daPa may not provide the best criteria for Australian children aged between 5 and 6 years. If SA < 0.3 ml were used instead of SA < 0.16 ml, a greater proportion of Australian children would have failed tympanometry, thus increasing the false alarm rate.

Measuring the ability of school children with a history of otitis media to understand everyday speech

The present study compared the ability of school-aged children with and without a history of otitis media (OM) to understand everyday speech in noise using the University of Queensland Understanding of Everyday Speech Test (UQUEST). Participants were 484 children (246 boys, 238 girls) attending Grade 3 (272, mean age = 8.25 yr., SD = 0.43) and Grade 4 (212, mean age = 9.28 yr., SD = 0.41) at 19 primary schools in Brisbane metropolitan and Sunshine Coast schools. Children selected for inclusion were native speakers of English with normal hearing on the day of testing and had no reported physical or behavioral impairments. The children were divided into three groups according to the number of episodes of OM since birth. The results showed no significant differences in speech scores across the participant groups. However, a significant difference in mean speech scores was found across the grades and the noise conditions. Although children with a history of OM performed equally well at a group level when compared to the controls, they exhibited a large range of abilities in speech comprehension within the same group.

General self-concept and life satisfaction for boys with differing levels of physical coordination: The role of goal orientations and leisure participation

Participation in leisure-time activities, self-concept perceptions and individual dispositional goal orientations were examined as mediators of relationships between physical coordination and self-evaluations of life satisfaction and general self-concept for 173 boys aged 10-13 years. Participants completed seven-day activity diaries and 12-month retrospective recall questionnaires recording participation in leisure-time activities. Self-report measures of self-concept, global life satisfaction and dispositional goal orientations were also completed. Results showed that boys with moderate to severe physical coordination difficulties had significantly lower self-concept perceptions of physical ability and appearance, peer and parent relations and general self-concept, as well as lower life satisfaction than boys with medium to high levels of physical coordination. The relationships between boys' physical coordination and their self-perceptions of life satisfaction and general self-concept were significantly influenced by individual self-concept appraisals of physical ability and appearance, peer and parent relations. Adopting task-oriented goals was found to positively change the relationship between physical coordination and both general self-concept and life satisfaction. Team sport participation positively mediated the relationship between physical coordination and life satisfaction. The potential for team sport participation and adoption of task-oriented goals to influence life satisfaction for boys with differing levels of physical coordination was discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.

Injury risk from popular childhood physical activities: results from an Australian primary school cohort

Background: Children engage in various physical activities that pose different injury risks. However, the lack of adequate data on exposure has meant that these risks have not been quantified or compared in young children aged 5-12 years. Objectives: To measure exposure to popular activities among Australian primary school children and to quantify the associated injury risks. Method: The Childhood Injury Prevention Study prospectively followed up a cohort of randomly selected Australian primary and preschool children aged 5-12 years. Time (min) engaged in various physical activities was measured using a parent-completed 7-day diary. All injuries over 12 months were reported to the study. All data on exposure and injuries were coded using the International classification of external causes of injury. Injury rates per 1000 h of exposure were calculated for the most popular activities. Results: Complete diaries and data on injuries were available for 744 children. Over 12 months, 314 injuries relating to physical activity outside of school were reported. The highest injury risks per exposure time occurred for tackle-style football (2.18/1000 h), wheeled activities (1.72/1000 h) and tennis (1.19/1000 h). Overall, boys were injured more often than girls; however, the differences were non-significant or reversed for some activities including soccer, trampolining and team ball sports. Conclusion: Although the overall injury rate was low in this prospective cohort, the safety of some popular childhood activities can be improved so that the benefits may be enjoyed with fewer negative consequences.

The relationships among teacher behaviours, teacher efficacy, and student quality of school life: A multilevel perspective

This Study invesdgated the impact of teacher behaviours on student quaUt}' of school Ufe (SQSL). A measure of teacher organisadonal cidzenship behaviour (OCB) was developed, tapping two dimensions of organisadon-focused OCB (OCBO) and one dimension of individual-focused OCB (OCBI). In Une with previous research suggesdng that OCBOs may consdtute efficacyenhancing experiences, as weU as studies demonstradng the posidve consequences of teacher efficacy for students, we expected teacher efficacy to mediate the reladonship between OCBO and SQSL. Hypotheses were tested in a muldlevel design in which 171 teachers and their students (N=3018) completed quesdonnaires. A significant propordon of variance in SQSL was attributable to classroom factors. Support was found for the main effects of OCBO, as well as the main and mediadng effects of teacher efficacy.

Distortion product otoacoustic emissions in school children: Effects to gender, ear asymmetry and handedness

Accurate interpretation of distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) data cannot be made without realizing the effects of non-pathological factors on DPOAEs. The present study aimed to examine the effects of ear asymmetry, gender and handedness on DPOAEs obtained from school children. One thousand and three children (528 boys and 475 girls) with a mean age of 6.2 years (SD = 0.4, range = 5.2 7.9 years) were tested in a quiet room at their schools using the GSI-60 DPOAE system. The stimuli consisted of two pure tones of different frequencies f1 and f2 presented at 65 and 55dB SPL respectively. A DP-gram was obtained for each ear with f2 varying from 1.1 to 6.0 kHz and the ratio of f2/f1 being kept at 1.21. The signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) (DPOAE amplitude minus the mean noise floor) at the tested frequencies 1.1, 1.5, 1.9, 2.4, 3.0, 3.8, 4.8, and 6.0 kHz were measured. The results revealed a small, but significant difference in SNR between ears, with right ears showing a higher mean SNR than left ears at 1.9, 3.0, 3.8 and 6.0 kHz. At these frequencies, the difference in mean SNR between ears was less than 1 dB. A significant gender effect was also found, with girls exhibiting a higher SNR than boys at 3.8, 4.8 and 6.0 kHz. The difference in mean SNR, as a result of the gender effect, was about 1 to 2 dB at these frequencies. The results from the present study indicated no significant difference in mean SNR between left-handed and right-handed children for all tested frequencies. In conclusion, these non-pathological characteristics of DPOAEs should be considered in the interpretation of DPOAE results for school children.

The relationship between extra-role behaviours and job burnout for primary school teachers: A preliminary model and development of an organisational citizenship behaviour scale

Recent research on teacher stress in primary schools (e.g. Leonard, Bourke & Schofield, 1999) has shown that higher levels of teacher exhaustion are associated with higher levels of student satisfaction. This paper seeks to explain this surprising finding by considering a construct discussed widely in the organisational literature known as extra-role or organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Teacher OCB may include extra efforts to make lessons enjoyable and interesting, organising extra-curricular activities and spending personal time talking with students. The proposed model of analysis also draws on literature relating to job burnout (Maslach, 1982), which generally suggests that the three components of chronic occupational stress - exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced accomplishment - occur together. However, this paper proposes that although teachers who engage in more OCB experience more exhaustion, they may simultaneously increase their feelings of personal accomplishment and work identification, which may in turn help to avert burnout. It is argued that only with this particular set of job attitudes are the effects of exhaustion caused by high levels of OCB sufficiently buffered to avoid job burnout, and thus positively affect students' quality of school life. The development and piloting of an instrument to measure teachers' OCB will be discussed. The preliminary findings reported herein are part of a larger ongoing study investigating the consequences of stress and OCB in primary school teachers.