Successful VET partnerships in Australia

This paper reports findings of the first phase of a study conducted to investigate the factors that contribute to the success of partnerships between vocational education and training (VET) providers and community/industry, and the processes partnerships employ to produce quality learning outcomes for individuals and other stakeholders, including enterprises, industries and communities. This phase of the project maps the partnerships that have previously been researched or reported, using a meta-analysis methodology. The literature reviewed here is restricted to the period since 1995, and 117 partnerships from several sources were identified and analysed. The partnerships identified in this paper are analysed in terms of their status at the time of reporting in the literature. The review of Australian VET partnerships found that industry-provider partnerships were the most common. Industry-provider partnerships were predominant in urban areas, while in rural areas community-industry-provider partnerships were most common. This rural/urban divide was also reflected in different purposes of the partnerships. While urban partnerships were most frequently concerned with industry development, rural partnerships were most frequently concerned with regional development through education and training. Measures of success were found to be determined primarily by stakeholders of partnerships, generally by comparing outcomes with goals and objectives. The most frequently reported outcomes were community development, access and equity and collaboration between stakeholders. The findings of this paper raise several questions about partnerships and quality training outcomes. Further investigation is required to determine what measures (other than customer satisfaction) should be used to evaluate quality of training outcomes.

Vietnamese-born health professionals : negotiating work and life in rural Australia

Introduction: Australia is a culturally diverse nation due to migrants from a wide variety of countries creating a multicultural society. The health professions are highly valued by the younger generation of overseas-born migrants who have acculturated into Australian society; many have chosen health care as their profession in Australia. However, most migrants settle in metropolitan areas and young health professionals may find working in rural or remote Australia culturally and professionally highly challenging. The present study of migrant health professionals examined the life experiences and acculturation strategies of Vietnamese-born health professionals working and living in rural Australia. Objectives: The two main study objectives were to: (1) examine aspects of the acculturation of overseas-born and Australian-trained health professionals in the Australian health discourse; and (2) identify key coping strategies used by them when in working in the rural context.

Methods: Six overseas-born, Australian-trained health professionals were invited to participate in this qualitative study using a snowball sampling technique. The participants were all born in Vietnam and had experienced working in rural Australia. They included three medical doctors, a dentist, a physiotherapist and a nurse. The interviews were recorded and four participants also provided additional written responses to some of the open-ended interview questions. The interview data were transcribed and later coded for thematic analysis. Topics and themes that emerged focused on the issues and strategies of acculturation to the rural health context.

Results: The study showed that the acculturation process was affected by the participants’ views about and attitudes towards working in an Australian rural context. The study identified these essential strategies used by the participants in adapting to a new workplace: collaborating, distancing, adjusting, repairing, and accommodating.

Conclusion: The study provides insights into the lives of these health professionals in a rural context, and particularly their experience of cultural shock and the coping strategies they may use. A need is identified for a larger study to inform recruitment and retention of these health professionals to rural Australia, and to assist universities to prepare such students and their clinical supervisors for rural placements.

Statphylococcus aureus bacteraemia : a major cause of mortaility in Australia and New Zealand

Objective : To document the types of, and mortality from, Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in Australia and New Zealand, and determine factors associated with mortality.

Design and setting : Prospective observational study in 27 independent or hospital pathology laboratories in Australia (24) and New Zealand (3), employing a web-based database to prospectively record demographic features, selected risk factors, principal antibiotic treatment and mortality data on all patients with positive blood cultures for S. aureus from June 2007 to May 2008.

Main outcome measure : 30-day all-cause mortality.

Results : 1994 episodes of S. aureus bacteraemia were identified, and complete 30-day follow-up data were available for 1865. Most episodes had their onset in the community (60.8%; 95% CI, 58.7%–63.0%). Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) caused 450 episodes (24.1%; 95% CI, 22.2%–25.9%), and 123 of these (27.3%) had a susceptibility profile consistent with community-associated MRSA. All-cause mortality at 30 days was 20.6% (95% CI, 18.8%–22.5%). On univariate analysis, increased mortality was significantly associated with older age, European ethnicity, MRSA infection, infections not originating from a medical device, sepsis syndrome, pneumonia/empyema, and treatment with a glycopeptide or other non-β-lactam antibiotic. On multivariable analysis, independent predictors of mortality were age, sepsis syndrome, pneumonia/empyema, device-associated infection with a secondary focus, left-sided endocarditis, and treatment with a glycopeptide such as vancomycin, but not MRSA infection.

Conclusions : S. aureus bacteraemia is a common infection in both the community and hospitals in Australia and New Zealand, and is associated with appreciable mortality. Invasive MRSA infection may be more life-threatening, partly because of the inferior efficacy of the standard treatment, vancomycin. National web-based surveillance of S. aureus bacteraemia and its outcomes is not only important but also easily achievable.

Governance, employees and CSR : integration is the key to unlocking value

Corporate governance has gained increasing importance in the last decade as organisations have been involved in bankruptcies and frauds alongside decreases in organisational value and jobs. Researchers have signalled a need for new perspectives and models of governance, especially one that clearly identifies and embeds employees as part of the system. This article explores the importance of human resources as a key component of the governance system. It discusses whether organisational rhetoric in relation to stakeholders and social responsibility incorporates employees and in doing so it delves into the concept of labour as a key stakeholder. The article examines publicly available reports of two resource-based firms and two finance-sector firms: Rio Tinto, Shell Australia, Westpac and ANZ Bank to explore the position of labour. It concludes that the position of labour as a stakeholder is problematic, with a divergence between espoused statements on CSR and how they are operationalised throughout the organisation. The emphasis seems to be on environmental and financial sustainability with lesser importance placed on dimensions of workplace management and accompanying employee relations approaches.

The cost-effectiveness of removing television advertising of high-fat and/or high-sugar food and beverages to Australian children

Objective: To model the health benefits and cost-effectiveness of banning television (TV) advertisements in Australia for energy-dense, nutrient-poor food and beverages during children's peak viewing times.

Methods: Benefits were modelled as changes in body mass index (BMI) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) saved. Intervention costs (AUD$) were compared with future health-care cost offsets from reduced prevalence of obesity-related health conditions. Changes in BMI were assumed to be maintained through to adulthood. The comparator was current practice, the reference year was 2001, and the discount rate for costs and benefits was 3%. The impact of the withdrawal of non-core food and beverage advertisements on children's actual food consumption was drawn from the best available evidence (a randomized controlled trial of advertisement exposure and food consumption). Supporting evidence was found in ecological relationships between TV advertising and childhood obesity, and from the effects of marketing bans on other products. A Working Group of stakeholders provided input into decisions surrounding the modelling assumptions and second-stage filters of 'strength of evidence', 'equity', 'acceptability to stakeholders', 'feasibility of implementation', 'sustainability' and 'side-effects'.

Results: The intervention had a gross incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of AUD$ 3.70 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) $2.40, $7.70) per DALY. Total DALYs saved were 37 000 (95% UI 16 000, 59 000). When the present value of potential savings in future health-care costs was considered (AUD$ 300m (95% UI $130m, $480m), the intervention was 'dominant', because it resulted in both a health gain and a cost offset compared with current practice.

Conclusions: Although recognizing the limitations of the available evidence, restricting TV food advertising to children would be one of the most cost-effective population-based interventions available to governments today. Despite its economic credentials from a public health perspective, the initiative is strongly opposed by food and advertising industries and is under review by the current Australian government.

Dancing doctorates downunder? Defining and assessing 'doctorateness' when embodiment enters the thesis

Assessment frames the focus of this paper, which emerges from our collaborative research, Dancing Between Diversity and Consistency: Refining Assessment in Postgraduate Degrees in Dance, funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC). We examine the attributes of danced ‘doctorateness’, giving special attention to those factors in the Australian environment, which may endow resilience to concepts of excellence, independent thinking and originality when kinaesthetic knowledge becomes pivotal to research. Have the small pool of examiners and relationships between academia and the professional artistic environment shaped these doctorates in a particular way? Can these perspectives illuminate and forge parameters by which to legitimate danced insight? These and related issues are interrogated giving voice to supervisors, research deans, candidates and industry professionals across Australia who participated in this research project.

Developing a rural and regional science challenge to utilise community and industry-based partnerships

Interest and participation in science in schools has been declining for many years and there is a genuine need to rejuvenate interest in science at the high school level. One possible solution is the completion of challenging science projects which fulfill an authentic purpose in the community. This paper discusses the results of ongoing research into the establishment of a rural and regional Science Challenge which makes use of partnerships with local industries and community groups to encourage the development of authentic science projects. In the development of the Science Challenge, many issues are emerging in relation to teachers' work, resources, administration and school cultures. This paper reports on the preliminary findings and indicates directions for the future.

Market fit, market orientation, and business performance : an empirical investigation

This thesis investigated the congruence of an organisation to its intended target markets. It was hypothesised that the internal activities of an organisation are, potentially, structured in response to its market dynamics with the ultimate aim of achieving the organisational objective(s). Market fit has been conceptualised to represent the fit of an organisation to its operating market environment. The information for this study was collected from senior marketing decision makers, using a self-administered questionnaire. The sample comprised 216 companies from a mix of industries and organisational sizes in Australia. There is evidence to suggest that the association of market orientation and business performance is inconsistent under different business operating circumstances, due to the exclusion of the influence of key environmental moderators. The model of market fit attempts to overcome this condition. The results suggest that market fit is associated with measures of business performance, and the levels of association are different from those related to the market orientation measures, reflecting the influence of moderators. The categories of environmental moderators contributing at different levels to the market fit measure include: (1) marketing planning, (2) implementation of marketing decisions, (3) market orientation, (4) market strength, (5) generic strategies, (6) organisational culture, (7) familiarity with the marketing audit, and (8) the external environment. The marketing audit procedure has been recommended as a tool to assist with the establishment and maintenance of market fit. The results of this study indicate that organisational familiarity with, and the conduct of, the marketing audit periodically are low, and that market fit may be a better predictor of business performance, than is market orientation.

Knowledge, identities and dilemmas of the self in physical education teacher education

The purpose of this study was to understand how becoming a physical education teacher is shaped by personally and socially constructed knowledge and is affected by the rules and resources of the structural systems in which physical education teacher education (PETE) takes place. The study was influenced by the traditions of Personal Construct Theory (Kelly 1955), the theoretical tenets of social constructionism (Gergen 1991), and Giddens’s work on structuration (1984) and self-identity (1991). Ten PETE students participated in the study over almost three years. They undertook repertory grid sessions periodically through their study, followed by ‘learning conversations’, in which the grid itself was discussed, reworked and collaboratively analysed. All conversations were audio taped and were fully transcribed. The data were analysed in three ways, all of which were used to construct a story of the study. First, the grids were analysed for patterns, consistencies across students and for consistencies within students. These grids provided the first level story that related to constructions of knowledge. These constructions were then content analysed using analysis categories developed from Gergen’s notion of the saturated self and Giddens’ ideas of identity in late modernity. These analyses represented what Giddens calls a double hermeneutic since to all intents and purposes, the story of the study was constructed from the participants’ constructions of what it is to be a physical education teacher. The data suggests that during the process of constructing professional knowledge the student experienced a series of dilemmas of professional self-identity. It seems that to become a PE teacher, the dilemmas must be worked through until a position of what Giddens calls ontologist security has been achieved. Some students in this study had not managed to reach such a point before they left university and entered the teaching profession. In spite of this, the methods of the study allowed the participants to begin to articulate their theories and visions of teaching physical education. The therapeutic qualities of Kelly’s theory encouraged a number of the students to ‘see it differently’ (Rossi, 1997) and to begin to develop a rationale for physical education based on educational practice that considers the needs of individuals and the promotion of a socially just community. I have argued however that this ‘critical’ approach to physical education pedagogy was considered risky and as such students who were prepared to engage in such risk strategies also had other strategic relational selves (Gergen, 1991) to minimise risk at key times during their teacher education.

Doing justice' : stories of everyday life in disadvantaged schools and neighbourhoods

I worked as a school administrator in 'disadvantaged schools' for many years. In this study I asked colleagues from sixteen schools in the northern and western suburbs of Adelaide to co - theorise about changes in their neighbourhood, school populations and programs, now that their schools are no longer recognised by policy as 'disadvantaged1. I explore the use of narrative method and arts based approaches by constructing a 'literary' research text that uses conventional sociological forms together with images, poetry and personal stories. I use anthropological and geographical theoretical constructs to look at the changing material, economic, cultural and social landscapes and the mosaic of inequalities in the city of Adelaide. I suggest that this is not a simple binary polarisation, although large numbers of people are similarly positioned by de-industrialisation and the diminishing social wage. After examining the literature on poverty in Australia, I am eventually prepared to call this space class, understanding that this is a sociological metaphor. Through a theorisation of each school as a 'place' within a specific neighbourhood, I look at the similarities and differences across sites. I suggest that 'disadvantaged schools' are similarly positioned as sites for the mediation of social inequalities, and that this can be readily seen in the time consuming 'housework' of discipline and welfare. I indicate how each school is differently able to 'do more with less', because of their unique neighbourhood and its narratives, knowledges, histories, teleologies and people. I show that the common coercive regimes of market devolution, new public management and the 'distributive curriculum' frame the work of teachers, students and administrators in ways that are not conducive to 'doing justice', despite the policy rhetoric of equity and community. I provide evidence that the neoliberal imaginary of context free schooling enshrined in effective schools literatures is Utopian and irrational. I argue that the capacity of the school to 'generate context' is always paradoxically dependent on 'context derived'. I discuss the notion of 'doing justice' and the benefits of 'disadvantaged schools' having a local set of principles that guide their decisions and actions and provide evidence that the school administrator's understandings of 'doing justice' are important. I also suggest that, despite being increasingly isolated and hindered by policy directions, the majority of the sixteen schools continue to work for and with principles of justice and equity, drawing on a range of emotional and intellectual resources and deep, longstanding commitments. I conclude by speculating on the kinds of policy and research agendas that might take account of both the commonalities and differences amongst 'disadvantaged schools', and what might be included in a comprehensive and systematic approach to 'doing justice'.

Mercantilist Cinderella : Deakin University and the distance education student in the postmodern world

This is a thesis presented on the position of the distance education student at a distance education university in the present era. Traditionally, the distance education student has been a sort of Cinderella: marginalised, being constructed as some form of lesser version of the on campus one. A largely invisible part of the higher education system in Australia since 1911, the distance education student has really only come to be foregrounded in university education discourses from 1983 onwards. It was not until then that the distance education student emerged from ‘hidden pools’ identified by Karmel (1975), and since then the construction of this student has undergone a number of modifications, mapped in this thesis. At the same time university education itself has undergone a series of modifications, not least of which has been its taking on mercantilist overtones as investments made by students in their own careers and professional development. The modifications, also mapped in this thesis, have progressed to the stage where the construction of the old distance education student is now one of a flexible learner in a mercantilist system of university education. The notion of distance education and the distance education student has undergone significant shifts, redefinitions and constructions, which are tracked in this thesis. My research has focussed on a number of pertinent questions, based on a study of Deakin University and its practice since its establishment. The thesis draws on a number of works which have been informed by those of Foucault, and I have framed my research questions accordingly. I have asked why and how Deakin University came into being as a distance education provider at tertiary level. What were the conditions of its establishment and progression in relation to the political events, economic practices and communication technology in use over time? To consider such questions, I needed to analyse the changes that I had seen occurring in the context of wider restructurings in university education. These had occurred in the context of government forging a closer interconnectedness between education and national economic aims and objectives at the same time as it demanded greater productivity in the face of commercial and industrial sector pushes for applied knowledge. Poststructuralist philosophical developments offer tools to explore not only questions of power, but the practical outcomes of questions of power, and how the complicity of individuals is established. This thesis explores ways in which such considerations helped to shape the changing constructions of the distance education student from a marginalised, disadvantaged and under-represented participant in higher education to a privileged, well catered for and advantaged learner. These same considerations are used to explore ways in which they have helped to shape university distance education courses from a perceived second-rate form of higher education to a prototype that better captures the essential elements of learning for what has been styled in a postmodern world as the Information Age. Overlaid on these considerations is a changing view of the economics of such provision of higher education. It is anticipated that this thesis will contribute to developing new understandings of the construction of subjectivities in relation to the distance education university student specifically, and to the university student generally, in the postmodern world. The implications of this examination are not inconsiderable for students and academics in a self-styled Information Society.

Nano related research in fibres and textiles

With the increasing hype surrounding what nanotechnology can actually deliver, research emphasis in this area needs to be placed on how nanotechnology can bring tangible benefits to existing industries and ordinary consumers. This paper gives selected examples of real world applications of nano-structured materials, including nano fibrous and particulate materials. It reviews recent research into nano-structured surface coating of textile substrates for enhanced functionalities, and the development of fine and uniform nanofibres for advanced applications. Emphasis has been placed on relevant research activities in the Centre for Material and Fibre Innovation at Deakin University, Australia. In the nano-structured surface coating area, several examples of enhancing fabric performance and functionality are provided, including silica coating for photochromic textiles, superhydrophobic surface coating and transparent ZnO coating to reduce colour fading of textiles exposed to UV radiation. In the nanofibre area, these activities include: elimination of beaded fibres without increasing the average diameter of the electrospun nanofibres, electrospinning of side-by-side bi-component nanofibres, new insight into the evolution of fibre morphology in electrospinning and the electrospinning technology itself.

Citizenship and the political institutions of cultural diversity in Australia

This thesis uses political theory to analyse and compare the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia. It argues that 'self-determination' and 'multiculturalism' in practice hide the power of the Anglo-Australian dominant culture and stifle the possibilities of more viable intercultural political innovation.

Stress, health, work and family in the Australian hospitality industry

Hospitality was found to be a potentially high stress occupation. Potential work and family stressors, symptoms, affective factors, coping strategies and resources were identified. A stress-psychological health model was developed. Possible implications for stress research, measurement, prevention and management in the hospitality industry were proposed.