Boys and girls talking about what matters: student voice as text in the English classroom

For some years now we have been talking with young people across Australia. They have shared their experiences with us about school, family, their friends, relationships and just life in general (see Pallotta-Chiarolli 1998, Martino & Pallotta-Chiarolli 200la). Our major aim in this work has been to give young people the opportunity to 'speak their hearts and minds', to collaborate with us in the structuring and stylisation of a text 'by them and for them', and to enable their voices to be heard in the broader society, beyond the exclusive space of the academic journal (see Le Compte 1993). This is established praxis in feminist and postcolonial research that challenges the detached and hierarchical relations between researcher and researched in traditional Western masculinist research.

Girls and computing-still a way to go

Years after the introduction of computing in Australian schools, computer classrooms are still heavily dominated by male students studying subjects which have little appeal to female students, explains the author. This article looks at why girls are less likely to choose computing as a subject to study or to consider computing for a future career.

Quantifying the relationship between mechanical loading and the skeletal response in pre- and early-pubertal girls

PURPOSE
Before exercise prescription for bone health can be recommended, the relationship between mechanical loading characteristics and the skeletal response need to be quantified. We asked i) does moderate impact exercise result in a greater gain in BMC than low impact exercise, ii) what are the loading characteristics associated with a moderate and low impact exercise program and does this differ from non-structured play?, and iii) does loading history affect the osteogenic response to a moderate or low impact program?

METHODS
Sixty-eight pre- and early-pubertal girls (aged 8.9 +/- 0.2 yrs) were randomized to take part in a moderate or low impact exercise program 3 times/wk for 8.5 mnths. The number and type of loads associated with the exercise classes and non-structured play (recess) were assessed from video footage. The magnitude of load was assessed using a pedar in-sole mobile system. Hours of moderate and high impact organized sport were assessed from a physical activity questionnaire.

RESULTS
The moderate and low impact exercise programs consisted of -400 impacts per class, but the jumping, hopping and dynamic activities performed during the moderate impact program produced forces ranging from 2 to 4 times body weight (BW) compared to -1 BW for the low impact program. Moderate impact exercise resulted in a 2.7% greater gain in BMC at the tibia compared to the low impact exercise. The moderate impact exercise program consisted of fewer low impacts (1-2 BW) and a higher number of moderate impacts (2-4BW) compared to those typically performed during non-structured play. There were greater gains in BMC in subjects participating in the moderate versus the low impact exercise programs who participated in 2 to 3 hours of moderate impact sports outside school (2.5% to 4.5%, p

CONCLUSION
Approximately 400 impacts ranging 2-4 BW, 3 times/wk was enough stimuli to result in an osteogenic response in normally active girls; even in those actively involved in moderate impact sports outside school.

Discordance of international adiposity classifications in Australian boys and girls - The LOOK study

Background: Various charts based on body mass index (BMI) and per cent body fat (%BF) are used to classify childhood body composition but outcomes may vary.

Aim: The study investigated variation in incidences of childhood obesity as depicted by four classification charts.

Subjects and methods: BMI and DXA-derived %BF were assessed in 741 children. Incidences of overweight and obesity were compared between two BMI charts and two bioelectrical impedance (BIA)-based %BF charts.

Results: The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF)-adopted BMI chart designated 21%, 6% (boys), and 26%, 9% (girls) as overweight and obese, respectively. Corresponding figures using the USA CDC BMI chart were 27%, 11% (boys) and 27%, 12% (girls). Using a USA-derived %BF chart incidences were 17%, 2% (boys) and 21%, 8% (girls) and using a UK-derived %BF chart 51%, 24% (boys) and 53%, 36% (girls). Sensitivity of BMI varied according to the %BF reference chart.

Conclusions: In contrast to the BMI-based charts, there were considerable variations in depicted incidences of obesity between the %BF-based charts. These discordances were considered to result from previously reported variation within and between BIA and DXA %BF assessments underlying the charts. The present study highlights the need for valid, reliable, unchanging BIA and DXA procedures.

Girls challenging patriarchy through multimodal design and participation in online communities of practice.

This paper examines adolescent girls' multimodal design that challenges/resists patriarchy. Acts of uploading and multimodal design are discussed in terms of Bulter's theorisation of discursive performativity. The author suggests the girls employ a form of 'linguistic agency' or 'discursive agency' that allows them to make use of a wide range of multimodal design practices often unavailable in print dominated middle years classrooms. The girls in the study were involved in a set of relationships over time, both inside and outside of school in virtual and real time communities of practice. As a result, they engaged with particular areas of curricular knowledge differently than boys. The findings suggest that within online communities of practice, new contexts emerge where adolescent girls can contest the discourses of patriarchal power.