Environmental education : from policy to practice

The field of environmental education faces a process of continuous conceptual reconstruction that is underpinned by the complexity of the social and political changes occurring throughout the world as consequences of environmental crises and the different perspectives through which they are understood in different contexts. Thus there is a need to review and reflect on the meanings of environmental education, its theory and its practice. To address such issues the seminar, 'Environmental Education: from policy to practice', was held at King's College London in March 2001, under the sponsorship of the British Council and directed by Justin Dillon. The seminar brought together environmental educators from a broad spectrum--policy developers, researchers and practitioners--from Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Swaziland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. During a thought-provoking six days the seminar discussed a diverse range of ideas about the current trends and future practices in environmental education. In this report we present our 'reading' and reflection on two major aspects of the discussion: the meanings of environmental education and education for sustainable development in different cultures and contexts. This we do from our own positions as academics working on environmental education in Latin American contexts.

But, where are the children?

We examine the position and positioning of children in leadership studies through describing a project where we have worked with children as researchers and policymakers. The research group that we are a part of is located in a successful secondary school, and we have worked together over the past two years to find out more about student and staff perceptions of bullying with a view to developing and implementing a revised school policy. We examine the findings from this work, and show how it challenges current notions regarding pupil voice, and how the potential exists to think differently about what leadership is and how it is practiced.

Policy rhetoric and the renovation of English schooling: the case of Creative Partnerships

Facing difficulties in the implementation of its ‘standards’ agenda, the English government has recently introduced a set of policy strategies and initiatives which seek to promote enjoyment, innovation and creativity in education. One such initiative is Creative Partnerships (CP). Funded predominantly from the Arts portfolio, CP brings creative practitioners into schools with the intention of bringing change to teaching and learning, and, more widely, of achieving whole school change. Using a corpus of policy texts and interviews, we examine the claims made within CP about innovation and indicate the rhetorical means by which the impression of radical change is married to the standards agenda. In particular, we highlight the ways in which texts re-work traditions of progressive change. We argue that this rhetorical recuperation of the ideals of an earlier period is a sign of a more general policy adjustment in English education. However, since it is combined with a continuing commitment to market-driven change, it cannot be said to be indicative of a new policy settlement.

"The children must go out white"

This study looks at indigenous child removal in Western Australia as a case of genocide. The key figure in the process of child removal in Western Australia was the Chief Protector, A.O. Neville. The intention was complete biological absorption through forced child removal and controlled procreation of Aboriginal women.

Radical conservative experiment in New South Wales education

This study, written from the perspective of a parent activist, articulates the 'battle of ideas' or struggle 'around the truth' of public education in New South Wales since the conservative Greiner government came to power in 1988 and instituted the 'new right' agenda. Political control is theorised in the light of debates about hegemony, power, ideology and truth. Documents what happened in 'consultations' about educational reform between the Ministers and their appointees on on the one hand, and the public education lobby, on the other.

Exploring positive cross-gender peer relations : Year 10 students' perspectives on cross-gender friendships

Much of the current academic and policy literature on gender and inclusive education calls for schools and teachers to move towards understanding gender as a multidimensional process of negotiated social relations that is informed by a range of discursive practicesbut how students themselves can conceptualize gender relations in these ways is under researched. This paper reports on an aspect of an exploratory study that had as its focus students' perceptions of cross-cultural and cross-gender friendships. This project, funded by a small Australian Research Council grant from La Trobe University, began with surveys of Year 10 students at two schools who have previously participated in gender reform projects. Those students who indicated they had cross-category friendships were then interviewed to elicit narratives that depict their perspectives on these friendships.

Current findings on Australian children in postseparation disputes : outer conflict, inner discord

This paper sets out descriptive baseline data on the first 111 Australian families participating in a current study of the efficacy of child-focused and child-inclusive Family Law Mediation. The families come from the first of two treatment groups in that comparative study. While outcome data are not yet available on this group, the baseline data, gathered prior to intervention, are of interest and value. The paper describes the nature of parents' conflict with each other, the strength of their parental alliance, and the psychological functioning of their children at the time of presentation to the mediation service. High mental health risk for the children in these families is evident, both from parents' and children's perspectives. Uniquely, the paper includes the perceptions of 73 children about their parents' conflict and its impact on them. Implications are discussed, underscoring the imperative of early intervention with separating families that includes screening of the children's experience of conflict and their own needs for recovery.

Use of restraint in residential care settings for children and young people

An international movement promoting the reduced use of physical restraint and other coercive practices has brought into focus the ways in which those who are responsible for the care of children and young people respond to problematic behaviour. The topic generates emotive discussion, with proponents advancing the argument that the use of coercive measures enhances the quality of care and protects young people from harm, and civil libertarians who argue that restraint is never an appropriate way of managing behaviour. Despite such debates there is an absence of good research and scholarly activity on restraint practices, leading to uncertainty about the immediate and long-term effects of particular practices on both staff and young people. Consequently, it has been difficult for agencies to develop clear, consistent, and definitive policies. Drawing on international perspectives, the aim of this article is to discuss issues relevant to the practice of restraint in residential care facilities for children and young people in Australia, highlighting a number of issues that require resolution prior to the development of practice guidelines.

A framework for re-thinking learning in science from recent cognitive science perspectives

Recent accounts by cognitive scientists of factors affecting cognition imply the need to reconsider current dominant conceptual theories about science learning. These new accounts emphasize the role of context, embodied practices and narrative-based representation rather than learners’ cognitive constructs. In this paper we analyze data from a longitudinal study of primary school children’s learning to outline a framework based on these contemporary accounts, and to delineate key points of difference from conceptual change perspectives. The findings suggest this framework provides strong theoretical and practical insights into how children learn and the key role of representational negotiation in this learning. We argue that the nature and process of conceptual change can be re-interpreted in terms of the development of students’ representational resources.

When parents love and don't love their children : some children's stories

This paper discusses a small pilot study with Anglo-Australian children aged 6 to 8 years. The children expressed through stories of what it meant for them when parents love and care for their children, and when they do not. Themes from stories of parental love and care included: relationships, shared special times, being safe and protected, and physical affection. Stories about parents who did not love or care for their children covered themes of abandonment, isolation and sadness. The study contributes an approach that can improve professional practice with children and early outcomes showing the importance of seeking children's perspectives in decision-making about their welfare.

The subjective wellbeing of high-school students : validating the personal wellbeing index—school children

The Personal Wellbeing Index—School Children (PWI-SC) is designed as a parallel form of the adult PWI-A, to measure subjective wellbeing. This study examines the psychometric properties of the PWI-SC. Data from 351 students, aged between 12 and 20 years, were collected by two independent studies over the years 2005–2006. Using the combined data, the results indicate good psychometric properties for the PWI-SC. It is also found that females have higher SWB but that both genders show an age-related decline in SWB from early to mid adolescence. Notably, School satisfaction meets the criteria for a new domain for the PWI-SC and should be considered for inclusion in a future revision of the scale. The use of the PWI-SC in schools can provide important information for the development of educational policy.

Obesity prevention in the family day care setting : impact of the romp & chomp intervention on opportunities for children's physical activity and healthy eating

Background The Romp & Chomp intervention reduced the prevalence of overweight/obesity in pre-school children in Geelong, Victoria, Australia through an intervention promoting healthy eating and active play in early childhood settings. This study aims to determine if the intervention successfully created more health promoting family day care (FDC) environments.
Methods The evaluation had a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental design with the intervention FDC service in Geelong and a comparison sample from 17 FDC services across Victoria. A 45-item questionnaire capturing nutrition- and physical activity-related aspects of the policy, socio-cultural and physical environments of the FDC service was completed by FDC care providers (in 2008) in the intervention (n = 28) and comparison (n = 223) samples.
Results Select results showed intervention children spent less time in screen-based activities (P = 0.03), organized active play (P < 0.001) and free inside play (P = 0.03) than comparison children. There were more rules related to healthy eating (P < 0.001), more care provider practices that supported children’s positive meal experiences (P < 0.001), fewer unhealthy food items allowed (P = 0.05), higher odds of staff being trained in nutrition (P = 0.04) and physical activity (P < 0.001), lower odds of having set minimum times for outside (P < 0.001) and organized (P = 0.01) active play, and of rewarding children with food (P < 0.001).
Conclusions Romp & Chomp improved the FDC service to one that discourages sedentary behaviours and promotes opportunities for children to eat nutritious foods. Ongoing investment to increase children’s physical activity within the setting and improving the capacity and health literacy of care providers is required to extend and sustain the improvements.

Being and becoming : children as audiences

In this article, Katya Johanson and Hilary Glow examine the ways in which performing arts companies and arts policy institutions perceive the needs of children as audiences. Historically, children have been promoted as arts audiences. Some of these represent an attempt to fashion the adults of the future – as audiences, citizens of a nation, or members of a specific community. Other rationales focus on the needs or rights of the child, such as educational goals or the provision of an antidote to the perceived corrupting effect of electronic entertainment. Drawing on interviews with performing arts practitioners, the authors explore some of these themes through case studies of three children's theatre companies, identifying the development of policy rationales for the support of practices directed at children which are primarily based on pedagogical principles. The case studies reveal a shift away from educational goals for children's theatre, and identify a new emphasis on the importance of valuing children's aesthetic choices, examining how these trends are enacted within the case-study organizations, and the implications of these trends for company programming. Hilary Glow is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Arts Management Program at Deakin University, Victoria. She has published articles on cultural policy and the audience experience in various journals, and in a monograph on Australian political theatre (2007). Katya Johanson lectures and researches in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University. She has published on Australian cultural policy and on the relationship between art, politics and national identity. With Glow she is the author of a monograph on Australian indigenous performing arts (2009).

Inclusive schooling policy : an educational detective story?

Since the publication of the Salamanca statement (UNESCO 1994), inclusive schooling has formed a growing part of the deliberations of the special education community. Inclusive schooling research in Australia in the main continues to reproduce traditions of the special education field, emphasising the dominant psychological perspectives that have been superimposed on inclusive education discourses. At the fifth International Congress of Special Education (ISEC 2000) held in Manchester, ‘the death knell of the concept of special education’ (ISEC 2000) was announced. The concept proposed by Mike Oliver, Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Greenwich, asserts an end to understandings of diversity dependent on medical, psychological and charity-based discourses. From a recent study of inclusive schooling policy, and drawing from poststructuralist methodology, I suggest an approach to research, policy development and practice that questions traditionalist theorising in the special education field. Reflecting on the implementation of the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities Policy (DECCD 1995) in the Tasmanian government school system, I outline my alignment with Oliver’s view and highlight how questions of epistemology and reconstructions of research methodologies are central to rethinking understandings of difference. I also illustrate a methodological orientation that offers possibilities for a different science to take place, thereby understanding diversity as multiple and contradictory – and beyond the single ‘detective story’ (Gough 1998) of the medical, psychological and charity-based discourses that circulate in schools as the populist conceptions of ‘inclusion’.