Heritage destruction and violence in Iraq : bombing mosques and ethno-religious sectarian violence, 2006-7

Since the invasion of 2003, Iraq has suffered an extraordinary era of both heritage destruction and devastating spikes in violence. While cases such as the 2003 attacks on the Iraq National Museum and the Iraq National Library and Archive, as well as the systematic looting of Iraq’s sensitive archaeological sites, understandably caused outrage among scholars of heritage studies across the world, little attention has been paid to the destruction of Iraq’s many significant Islamic sites – particularly during the ethno-religious sectarian violence that raged across the nation in 2006-7. This paper presents the first results of a three year project funded by the Australian Research Council which aims to empirically test the assumption that a significant relationship exists between this spike in violence and the targeting of sites of Islamic heritage (mosques, shrines, etc.). To do this, the paper will compare and contrast the information in the world’s first database of heritage destruction (created by the author) and existing measures of violence in Iraq (such as the Iraq Body Count database). This will set the precedent for studies of both heritage and violence and enable policy formation towards the minimization of heritage destruction and spikes in violence during times of conflict.

Teach for Australia (TFA) : can it overcome educational disadvantage?

This paper considers an alternative teacher certification pathway known as Teach for Australia (TFA) that is currently operating in the Australian state of Victoria. A discursive approach informed by critical theory is used in the paper to critically examine the specific case of TFA as an alternative teacher certification pathway charged with improving student learning outcomes and reducing educational disadvantage. The problematization of educational programmes such as TFA, including specific terms and statements found in TFA documentation, features prominently in the paper alongside the political and economic policy context of public education. The argument and central contention of the paper is that TFA will not overcome educational disadvantage; nor will it over time improve student learning outcomes.

Sexuality education matters : preparing pre-service teachers to teach sexuality education

Given the challenges to successful teacher-led, whole-school sexuality education there is an overall awareness that teacher education is crucial to the success of any sexuality education program undertaken within the school context. There is evidence that such teacher education, when provided, can address two of the most commonly identified barriers to successful teacher-led implementation of these programs; familiarity with the subject and curriculum content and increased levels of personal comfort and confidence regarding the topic of students’ sexual health. Sexuality Education Matters is designed to support pre-service teacher education programs to prepare students to teach sexuality education in primary and secondary schools. It builds on the research and teaching experience of Debbie Ollis and Lyn Harrison at Deakin University. It assumes that sexuality education in Australian schools is part of a comprehensive health and physical education curriculum. Even so, many of the readings and teaching and learning experiences could be adapted or used in other contexts that focus on school-based sexuality education. Sexuality Education Matters aims to equip teachers with the knowledge, skills and confidence to teach sexuality education. In light of the lack of resources for primary school based programs there is a deliberate focus on preparing both primary and secondary school pre-service teachers to teach sexuality education.
The resource is designed to:
– provide a theoretical understanding of the area
– explore the current debates
– increase knowledge
– give pre-service teachers access to a range of pedagogical approaches relevant to sexuality education
– increase students’ confidence and comfort level
– explore personal values, attitudes and ethical considerations.

Religious/spiritual well-being, coping styles and personality dimensions in people with substance use disorders

Religiosity and spirituality have been found to be negatively associated with a range of addictions. It has been suggested that religious/spiritual well-being might play an important role in the development, course and the recovery from addictive disorders. A sample of addiction in-patients (n=389) was assessed using the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being (MI-RSWB) and compared with a matched group of non-addicted community controls (n=389). RSWB was found to be substantially lower in people with substance use disorders compared to the normal sample. Discriminate functional analysis showed that Experiences of Sense and Meaning, General Religiosity and Forgiveness were the dimensions of RSWB which strongly distinguished the groups. Within the group of people with substance use disorders, RSWB was strongly positively associated with the personality dimensions of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Openness as well as Sense of Coherence and positive Coping styles. The study suggests that therapeutic intervention programs focusing on building a positive and meaningful personal framework, akin to that of a religious/spiritual orientation, may contribute to positive outcomes in addiction treatment.

Improving the value of the national curriculum through ethics and the religious

Ethics and religion are currently being considered for inclusion into Australia's national curriculum. This paper argues that such a consideration ought to be founded upon an education for democracy, where students are encouraged to become critical inquirers. It is also contended here that an engagement with ethics and the religious has a lot of potential for enhancing the educative value of our national curriculum because currently ACARA lacks any aspirational purposes for education and is merely focused upon the technical concerns regarding teaching and learning.

Ethno-religious tragedy rebuilds in Iraq

In the shadows of Syria's deadly civil war, a new tragedy is building right next door, in Iraq

“Never read anything that can at all unsettle your religious faith”: reading and writing in the monthly packet

The Monthly Packet of Evening Readings for Younger Members of the English Church (1851–99) reveals the interest that Charlotte Yonge had in promoting and supporting girls as readers and writers. As the editor and as a major contributor, Yonge provided a variety of material for the magazine as part of a strategy for the development of girls' reading and writing habits in ways that were consistent with their High Anglican beliefs and that would never cause them to question their faith.

Using second life to teach about marketing in second life

There are compelling reasons for educators to consider incorporating virtual worlds (VWs) in their marketing curriculum. That said, the ways in which VWs can be implemented into the teaching curriculum are many and varied. This article reports on two studies in which notionally similar graduate classes are taught about marketing in Second Life (SL). The degree of student and instructor immersion is intentionally varied: One class is taught entirely in SL, by a technically expert instructor, while novice/intermediate instructors teach the second class in an interactive tutorial setting. Taken together, these studies offer marketing educators insights into developing “full” and “lite” approaches to teaching in SL, thereby lowering the barrier to uptake of the technology by catering to a broader spectrum of both instructor and student competencies, interests, and abilities.

TOBY play-pad application to teach children with ASD – a pilot trial

 Purpose: To investigate use patterns and learning outcomes associated with the use of Therapy Outcomes By You (TOBY. Playpad, an early intervention iPad application. Methods: Participants were 33 families with a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 16 years or less, and with a diagnosis of autism or pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified, and no secondary diagnoses. Families were provided with TOBY and asked to use it for 4-6 weeks, without further prompting or coaching. Dependent variables included participant use patterns and initial indicators of child progress. Results: Twenty-three participants engaged extensively with TOBY, being exposed to at least 100 complete learn units and completing between 17% and 100% of the curriculum. Conclusions: TOBY may make a useful contribution to early intervention programming for children with ASD delivering high rates of appropriate learning opportunities. Further research evaluating the efficacy of TOBY in relation to independent indicators of functioning is warranted.