Evaluation of the intercultural understanding field trial

In 2011, the Innovation and Next Practice Division (INP) of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) conducted a field trial on intercultural understanding in partnership with a research and evaluation team from the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. The field trial was sponsored by the Languages, English as another Language (EAL) and Multicultural Education Division of DEECD.

Erasure, exclusion by inclusion, and the absence of intersectionality: introducing bisexuality in education

Even though many schools and educational systems, from elementary to tertiary, state that they endorse antihomophobic policies, pedagogies, and programs, there appears to be an absence of education about, and affirmation of, bisexuality, and minimal specific attention to bi-phobia in curriculum, policy, and student welfare. Bisexuality continues to fall into the gap between the binary of heterosexuality and homosexuality across all educational sectors. These absences and erasures leave bisexual students, family members, and educators feeling silenced and invisibilized within school communities. Indeed, these absences and erasures have been considered a major factor in bisexual young people, family members, and educators in school communities experiencing worse mental, emotional, sexual, and social health than their homosexual or heterosexual counterparts. Also of interest is the persistence of bisexual erasure in adult-developed resources and programs, even though there is increasing evidence of sexual identities and practices in youth subcultures that are adopting shifting discursive and societal constructs of sexuality, characterized by notions of fluidity, ambisexuality, and a reluctance to label their sexuality according to the heterosexual/homosexual binary. The articles in this issue profoundly engage with and problematize the three impediments to education systems when those systems engage with sexual diversity instead of sexual duality, namely, erasure, exclusion by inclusion into gay and lesbian categories, and the absence of intersectionality (wherein other facets of identity and experience that interweave with sexuality are not taken into account, such as class, gender, Indigeneity/Aboriginality, ethnicity, geographical location, and religion). 

Informing brain health behaviour choices: the efficacy of a high-school brain awareness pilot study

Aims:
Lifestyle choices such as diet and exercise significantly impact mental wellbeing and this is particularly so during the period of adolescence. The aim of the current study was to determine whether neuroscience concepts could be introduced to the classroom in a manner that improved high school student awareness of how health behaviour choices impact brain health. 

Study Design:
This study was a quantitative study that measured 47 assertions relating to brain health and neuroscience pre and post an interactive seminar.

Place and Duration of Study:
A Victorian high school in Geelong, Australia. Participation in the seminar took approximately 100 minutes, including time to complete the questionnaires.

Methodology:
The current study trialed a ‘Brain Basics’ educational program in a Victorian high-school. The neuro-educative interactive seminar was presented to 48female year 11 students. The level of student understanding, interest and enjoyment was assessed prior to and following an interactive seminar.

Results:
Student understanding of brain health significantly improved in 31 out of 47 questionnaire items and interest and enjoyment were highly rated.

Conclusion:
This supports the notion that basic neuroscience concepts can be introduced into Victorian schools to increase brain health awareness of our youth during this criticaltime of brain development. - See more at: http://www.sciencedomain.org/abstract.php?iid=431&id=21&aid=3887#.UykK5oXAwZm

The association between sports participation, alcohol use and aggression and violence: a systematic review

Objectives
To review the current research on alcohol-related violence and sports participation.

Methods
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were used to identify relevant studies for inclusion. A search of six databases (EBSCOhost) was conducted.

Results
A total of 6890 studies was were identified in the initial search. Of these, 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of the studies were from the US (n = 10) and focused on collegiate athletes (n = 7), adolescents (n = 3), professional/former professional athletes (n = 1).

Conclusion
The reviewed research indicates higher rates of alcohol use and violence in athlete populations when compared against non-athlete populations. Masculinity, violent social identity and antisocial norms connected to certain sports stand out as potential factors that may impact the association between sport and violence in athlete populations.

Accessibility and autonomy preconditions to ‘our’ inclusion: a grounded theory study of the experiences of secondary students with vision impairment

In this paper, I report core findings of a small-scale qualitative study that I conducted with a group of young people with vision impairment who attended an inclusive secondary school in the Australian state of Queensland. My objective was to capture their voiced experiences of their schooling through face-to-face interviews and to develop a substantive theory that was grounded in the collected data. Relevant to the study was my status as an insider researcher, which impacted both data collection and analysis. Here, I develop the methodological process that I followed and present core findings of the study. These findings shed light on the practices within schools that are designed to promote inclusion yet perpetuate exclusion for students with impaired vision.

The “inclusion” of students with vision impairments: generational perspectives in Australia

In this paper I draw upon findings of a recent qualitative project conducted in Queensland, Australia in which all actors – the researcher and 5 participants aged 13-17 years — were linked together by our shared experiences of being students with impaired vision (VI) and who were educated in inclusive secondary schools in Australia during the last two decades. The narrative demonstrates the alienating legacy of two everyday routines of schooling, the placement and the daily commute. In the paper I show how referential knowledge acquisition of a trans-identity research alliance can reveal barriers to inclusion that might be ordinarily overlooked. Theoretically I map the research relationship formed between myself and participants using both Foucault’s analysis of how human beings are made subjects (1982) and Bourdieu’s understanding of reflexive interviewing in qualitative research (1998). The empirical contribution of this paper is to demonstrate how special education discourses render subjects more “special” than the sum of their actual impairments, and methodologically to highlight the role of qualitative inquiry in the field of inclusive schooling.

Patient participation in treatment in the context of acute care

This mixed methods, case study identified key patient, clinician and environmental factors associated with hospitalised patients’ ability and willingness to participate in their recovery after cardiac surgery. Patient participation is a significant component of the processes for achieving quality and safety outcomes. The findings inform redesign of the care delivery system to facilitate participation within acute care environments.

Women’s cycling participation in Australia: examining influences and the role of cycling education

Cycling education programs were found to provide much needed support to Australian women as they commenced participation in different forms of cycling. To further encourage women’s participation, a network of cycling education providers, social riding groups and bicycle retailers could be established make cycling a less daunting prospect for new participants.

Book review : Citizen voices: performing public participation in science and environment communication

In Citizen Voices Phillips, Carvalho and Doyle present a collection of articles exploring the meaning of “citizens” and their role as initiators of communication on science and as actors in formal public engagement exercises involved in science governance. Focusing on the dialogic process, the articles provide empirical insight into the effect of citizen voices on participatory decision-making and a range of related theories and methodologies.

More yuppy stuff coming soon: gentrification, cultural policy, social inclusion and the arts

Responding to gentrification has become a key planning issue for many urban municipalities. Local governments need to balance the often-competing agendas of urban regeneration, social inclusion and arts access and participation. This paper argues that arts and cultural units within local government bear the impact of such tensions. More importantly, however, local government policies and their implementation represent a third position in the polarised discussion on the cultural impact of gentrification. The example discussed here is the rapidly gentrifying City of Maribyrnong in Melbourne’s western suburbs: a municipality where any potential realisation of the economic benefits of gentrification is balanced against the needs of a significant population of resident professional artists, and the social inclusion needs of socio-economically disadvantaged residents. Maribyrnong’s arts and cultural unit, like those within many municipalities in the developed world, has had to develop cultural policies and plans as tools for negotiating complex relationships and diverse needs of community members by considering the economic, social and cultural benefits of the arts for all residents.

Exploring children’s work involvement and school attendance in rural Cambodia

This thesis is entitled: Exploring children’s work involvement and school attendance in rural Cambodia. The author identified that children’s participation in education is heavily influenced by family financial strain, limited school and community engagement, risks of school dropout for unskilled work opportunities and the failure of education leading to employment.

Effect of changes to the school food environment on eating behaviours and/or body weight in children: a systematic review

Previous school obesity-prevention reviews have included multi-component interventions. Here, we aimed to review the evidence for the effect of isolated food environment interventions on both eating behaviours (including food purchasing) and/or body weight. Five electronic databases were searched (last updated 30 November 2013). Of the 1,002 unique papers identified, 55 reported on school food environment changes, based on a review of titles and abstracts. Thirty-seven further papers were excluded, for not meeting the inclusion criteria. The final selection consisted of 18 papers (14 United States, 4 United Kingdom). Two studies had a body mass index (BMI) outcome, 14 assessed purchasing or eating behaviours and two studies assessed both weight and behaviour. Seventeen of 18 papers reported a positive outcome on either BMI (or change in BMI) or the healthfulness of food sold or consumed. Two studies were rated as strong quality and 11 as weak. Only three studies included a control group. A school environment supportive of healthy eating is essential to combat heavy marketing of unhealthy food. Modification of the school food environment (including high-level policy changes at state or national level) can have a positive impact on eating behaviours. A need exists, however, for further high-quality studies.

Do schools promote social inclusion? The experiences of intercountry adoptees in Australia

Intercountry adoption programs have brought children from racially and culturally diverse backgrounds to live as Australians, including 30 children from Rangsit Children’s Home who arrived in South Australia in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As part of a project which explored the life experiences of 12 adults who had arrived as children aged between 4 and 9 from Rangsit, this paper explores the role of schools in facilitating their inclusion into life in Australia. The school experience was often critical in learning English and was pre-requisite for acceptance in the school yard but also a place in which most of these Thai-born intercountry adoptees experienced racism. More than half of the participants did not complete secondary school but all had employment. However, many of these jobs were low-paying and this precluded them from participating in opportunities to return to Thailand to learn more about their Thai origins or participating as adoptive parents in intercountry adoption programs. Hence, while schools can play an important role in facilitating social inclusion, the school system alone may be unable to address the multiple dimensions of exclusion experienced by intercountry adoptees.

The influence of protective and risk factors in individual, peer and school domains on Thai adolescents' alcohol and illicit drug use: a survey

This study investigates risk and protective factors for substance abuse in a sample of 1778 students attending technical colleges in Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces of Thailand using a self-report questionnaire modified from the Communities That Care youth survey. Low school commitment was strongly associated with illicit drug use, with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 2.84 (glue sniffing) to 10.06 (ecstasy). Having friends using drugs, and friends with delinquent behaviors increased the risk of using alcohol and illegal drugs, with adjusted odds ratios of 6.84 and 6.72 respectively for marijuana use. For protective factors, approximately 40-60% of students with high levels of moral belief, participation in religious activities, and social skills were less likely to use alcohol. It is concluded that peer influence is a significant contributor to Thai adolescents' participation in substance abuse and that engaging in religiosity may assist adolescents to internalize negative aspects of harmful drugs into positive perceptions and encourage them to avoid alcohol and illegal drugs.

Supporting healthy communities through arts programs

There are some evaluations, critical descriptions of programs and systematic reviews on the benefits to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from participation in arts programs. These include: improved physical and mental health and wellbeing; increased social inclusion and cohesion; some improvements in school retention and attitudes towards learning; increased validation of, and connection to, culture; improved social and cognitive skills; and some evidence of crime reduction.The effects of arts programs can be powerful and transformative. However, these effects tend to be indirect.For example, using these programs to reduce juvenile anti-social behaviour largely work through diversion: providing alternative safe opportunities to risk taking, maintenance of social status, as well as opportunities to build healthy relationships with Elders and links with culture.Art forms such as song, dance and painting, coupled with ceremony, are integral to cultural continuity and cultural maintenance in Indigenous Australian communities.