Self-determination in Aboriginal political thought

Part 1 - Political Ideas -- Liberalism and the Liberal Party of Australia -- The Australian Labor Party and the Third Way -- Australian feminism: the end of 'the universal woman'? -- Self-determination in Aboriginal political thought -- From the 'social laboratory' to the 'Australian Settlement' -- Australian nationalism and internationalism -- Part 2 - Institutions of Democracy -- Parliament and the Executive -- Political integration and the outlook for the Australian party system: party adaptation or regime change? -- Administrative agencies and accountability -- The institutional mediation of human rights in Australia -- The news media and Australian politics -- The role of the state: welfare state or competition state? -- Part 3 - Political Issues and Public Policies -- National policy in a global era -- The economic policy debate -- The decentralisation of industrial relations -- The labour market and the future of employment -- The welfare reform agenda -- The social consequences of the rural reform agenda -- Politics and the environmental policy debate -- Immigration policy and the attack on multiculturalism.

Editorial

In the way that submissions to journals sometimes observe a strange synchronicity, this issue commences with three essays focusing on film. Relatively little work has been carried out on the ideologies of films designed specifically for children or of that large body of films regarded as family viewing, and which cater both to child viewers and also to the adults who accompany them. The three ‘film’ essays we present here apply a variety of theoretical and methodological frames to films which in the main fit within the second of these categories—family films.

'Learning to cooperate': a study of how primary teachers and children construct classroom cultures

This paper reports on the findings of a study, the 'Constructing Classroom Cultures' project, funded by a small Australian Research Council grant at the University of Melbourne. Located in three primary school classrooms in Melbourne, Victoria, this study investigated how teachers and grade 3-4 students develop shared values and understandings concerning formal and informal codes of behaviour. Drawing on classroom observations, individual interviews with teachers and focus group interviews with children, this paper discusses the ways that teachers and children together build classroom cultures. Practices that work to produce supportive classroom environments as well as problem areas are identified. Examining classroom cultures at the micro-political level offers scope for considering how power relations can contribute positively to educational processes. Additionally, the ways in which informal interactions between teacher and students and among students call into play collaboration, compliance and resistance are opened up for examination. These case studies aim to contribute to understanding how productive classroom cultures are constructed in day-to-day interactions, a significant area of concern for teachers and teacher education students.

Overweight and obesity from childhood to adulthood: a follow-up of participants in the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey

Objective: To examine overweight and obesity in Australian children followed through to adulthood.

Design and participants: A cohort study of 8498 children aged 7–15 years who participated in the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey; of these, 2208 men and 2363 women completed a follow-up questionnaire at age 24–34 years in 2001–2005.

Main outcome measures: Height and weight were measured in 1985, and self-reported at follow-up. The accuracy of self-reported data was checked in 1185 participants. Overweight and obesity in childhood were defined according to international standard definitions for body mass index (BMI), and, in adulthood, as a BMI of 25–29.9 and ≥ 30 kg/m2, respectively, after correcting for self-report error.

Results: In those with baseline and follow-up data, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in childhood was 8.3% and 1.5% in boys and 9.7% and 1.4% in girls, respectively. At follow-up, the prevalence was 40.1% and 13.0% in men and 19.7% and 11.7% in women. The relative risk (RR) of becoming an obese adult was significantly greater for those who had been obese as children compared with those who had been a healthy weight (RR = 4.7; 95% CI, 3.0–7.2 for boys and RR = 9.2; 95% CI, 6.9–12.3 for girls). The proportion of adult obesity attributable to childhood obesity was 6.4% in males and 12.6% in females.

Conclusion: Obesity in childhood was strongly predictive of obesity in early adulthood, but most obese young adults were a healthy weight as children.

'Research as dialogue' and cross cultural consultations : confronting relations of power

The 'rescuing' of Indigenous children (from their communities) through education, and the notions of assimilation associated with that, is an aspect of colonialism that has persisted into the so-called 'post-colonial' era. Recent national policy statements (eg. MCEETYA, 2000; NBEET, 1995) argue the importance of education/research that keeps the locus of control within the Aboriginal community as a means to further the goal of self determination and improve educational outcomes. In this paper, we report on the initial stage of a small empirical research project, Engaging Aboriginal Students In Education Through Community Empowerment.

'Research as dialogue' was a guiding principal and a primary aim was to listen actively to all key stake holders in the remote community setting, particularly to Indigenous parents, teachers and service providers, in order to identify current

strengths and concerns regarding the provision of culturally inclusive schooling; and then, to develop, on the basis of these consultations and in collaboration, community-based education projects that engage non-attending Aboriginal students.

In this paper, we critically analyse the difficulties as well as potential strengths of trying to form collaborative partnerships as researchers, across cultural differences and with diverse community groups. For example, what does 'acknowledging' very different cultural perspectives actually mean to/in this kind of research process? The ways in which relations of power amongst all parties are played out in/through such an approach is also opened up for scrutiny and further discussion.

Towards a framework for exploring children's analytical thinking and creativity in technology

Technology education provides children with opportunities to be creative as they engage in problem solving and make products that address human needs. When thinking creatively, children generate new ideas through remote associations and brainstorming and this type of thinking is enhanced when attention is allowed to wander in a relaxed and uncompetitive environment. Research shows that the two mental states (generative and nongenerative/analytical) cannot exist simultaneously (Howard-Jones 2002). It follows that at some point in the technological process a child’s generative mental state needs to give way to a nongenerative, analytical state so that the child can focus on analysing information. This research project aims to investigate the impact of analytical thinking on creativity in the context of technology education in young children.