Double disadvantage : the influence of ethnicity over socioeconomic position on childhood overweight and obesity: findings from an inner urban population of primary school children

Objective: To examine the relationship between overweight/obesity in children, socioeconomic status and ethnicity/cultural background.

Design: Cross-sectional survey of children aged 4–13 years.

Setting: A total of 23 primary (elementary) schools in an inner urban municipality of Melbourne, Australia.

Participants: A total of 2685 children aged 4–13 years and their parents.

Main exposure measures: Ethnicity/cultural background – maternal region of birth; socioeconomic position (SEP) indicators – maternal and paternal educational attainment, family employment status, possession of a healthcare card, ability to buy food, indicator of disadvantage (Socioeconomic Index for Areas, SEIFA) score for school; parental weight status.

Main outcome measure: Prevalence of overweight/obesity.

Results: Prevalence of overweight/obesity approached 1 in 3 (31%) in this sample. Prevalence of overweight/obesity was greater for children of both North Africa and Middle Eastern background and children of Southern, South Eastern and Eastern European background compared with children of Australian background. This difference remained after adjusting for age, sex, height, clustering by school, SEP indicators and parental weight status; odds ratio, OR=1.57 (95% confidence interval, CI 1.12–2.19) and 1.88 (95%CI 1.24–2.85), respectively.

Conclusions: There is a clear independent effect of ethnicity above and beyond the effect of socioeconomic status on overweight and obesity in children. Further research is required to explore the mediators of this gradient.

Social capital, educational institutions and leadership

Social capital refers to the norms and networks that enable people to act collectively. It is a set of resources that reside in the relationships among people that allow them to share their knowledge and skills. Social capital is built and accessed through interactions between people and groups. Educational institutions and their community benefit from building social capital. Educational leaders who are committed to lifelong learning and view the community as a resource for the institution have a key role in unlocking and building social capital. Social capital is developed through a partnership process with common purpose or vision where leadership is gradually shared between institution and community.

Gender inequality and education : changing local/global relations in a ‘post colonial’ world and the implications for feminist research

This article explores the relationship between education reform and gender equity, both within and between nation states. Utilising feminist critical policy analysis and post-colonial theory, it examines how education reform over the past decade has impacted on gender equity, and how educational reform is itself gendered. It considers the nature of gender restructuring; maps significant shifts in gender equity policy in the wider context of educational and social inequality debates; and through an analysis of recent research on gender identity, schooling and leadership argues that gender can no longer be privileged when identifying and responding to educational inequality. Key assumptions underpinning how social change and education reform delivers equity are questioned, concluding with feminist theorising about how social justice may inform equity policy and practice in culturally diverse educational contexts.

Rural-urban differences in reasons for living

 Objective: The suicide rate in Australia is cause for concern, especially the increase in attempted and completed suicides in rural and regional locations. The present study examined reasons for choosing not to commit suicide as a function of residential location. Method: The study involved 655 Victorian residents from four population-based strata; urban, regional city, regional town, and rural. Results: Results from the Reasons for Living Inventory revealed significant differences as a function of residential location. Overall, residents in rural locations reported having significantly more to live for than their urban counterparts. Further analysis of six reasons for living (child, family, moral, social, coping and death-related concerns) showed a pattern whereby residents in rural locations reported having the most to live for, followed by regional residents, and urban residents who reported having the least to live for. Conclusions: These findings are in contrast to increase of suicide rates in rural areas, and highlight the need for a greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying suicidal behaviour.

E-learning opportunities and challenges for legal education in rural Victoria

Access to justice extends beyond consideration of the systems and institutions of justice; it includes infrastructure such as transport, health, education and communications. Rural, regional and remote (‘RRR’) communities are more likely to face difficulties in accessing advice and accurate information on laws and processes available for resolution of disputes. Perhaps more fundamentally, they rarely have a voice in effecting reforms in laws and related policies. For several decades, community legal centres, legal aid, courts, and a range of other institutions have used community legal education programs to improve knowledge and access to law and justice systems, services and organisations. The recent Productivity Commission Inquiry into Access to Justice Arrangements notes that, ‘Better coordination and greater quality control in the development and delivery of these [community legal education, legal information] services would improve their value and reach.’ At the same time, research into the professional needs of RRR legal practitioners has found that many of these practitioners face considerable difficulties accessing good quality continuing professional development (‘CPD’) and informal networking/support opportunities.6 Current and emerging internet-based technologies open up opportunities for legal organisations to better meet the educational needs of both rural communities and legal practitioners. Though limitations still exist at multiple levels, relatively low-cost, media-rich, synchronous and tailored education programs can now be delivered effectively in many rural and remote areas. However, complex layers of decisions are required to critically assess, harness and optimise technologies to best suit the needs of users, and to utilise teaching and learning techniques that best match the technologies and participant needs. Getting these elements — needs, technology and learning technique — right, nevertheless offers extraordinary opportunities. Sound decisions and good practices should enable state-wide and specialist law and justice-related services interested in improving their engagement with RRR communities to dramatically improve the reach and quality of outcomes, not only for distant participants but the spectrum of stakeholders.

Online professional learning for rural teachers of mathematics and science

Professional learning is crucial for the ongoing development of teachers and the improvement of student outcomes. Professional learning in mathematics and science education has the potential to address concerns about shortages in these areas and their impact on economic growth. However, attendance at face-to-face professional learning is problematic for many teachers located in rural areas. This study explores the utilisation of online professional learning in mathematics and science education by teachers in rural areas, and canvasses teachers’ requirements for this form of professional learning. An activity system, using cultural-historical activity theory, is developed for online professional learning for teachers of mathematics and/or science. Qualitative interpretive analysis of transcripts of 14 semi-structured individual interviews with three different groups of people suggests that teachers of mathematics/science require professional learning programs which are not only flexibly delivered but also provide professional learning content that has high utility value. By better understanding how teachers respond to the notion and practice of online professional learning, informed decisions can be made about how best to support teachers and thus build capacity in schools for success in mathematics and science.

Gender inequality and education: changing local/global relations in a ‘post-colonial’ world and the implications for feminist research

This chapter explores the relationship between education reform and gender equity, both within and between nation states. Utilising feminist critical policy analysis and post-colonial theory, it examines how education reform over the past decade has impacted on gender equity and how educational reform is itself gendered. It considers the nature of gender restructuring, maps significant shifts in gender equity policy in the wider context of educational and social inequality debates and, through an analysis of recent research on gender identity, schooling and leadership, argues that gender can no longer be privileged when identifying and responding to educational inequality. Key assumptions underpinning how social change and education reform deliver equity are questioned, concluding with feminist theorising about how social justice may inform equity policy and practice in culturally diverse educational contexts.

"Knowing the rules of the game": rural sporting biographies and their influence on physical education pedagogy

The influence of place-based biographies in shaping professional identities and practices can be powerful. This is particularly prevalent in fields like Physical Education (PE) where personal physical and sporting prowess can readily become embodied signifiers of one’s credibility and expertise. In rural and regional communities, identities attached to, and social capital accrued from sports participation are often very strong. In this chapter we reflexively draw on aspects of our own personal biographies as active (and privileged) participants in rural community sport to explore the ways in which they have shaped our professional identities and practices as physical education teacher educators. We juxtapose our biographies alongside the experiences of ‘Rachel,’ a female physical education teacher who, at the time of data collection, had recently commenced teaching in a regionally based Catholic all-boys’ school after two previous posts in rural co-educational schools. Presented as heuristic devices, we look for points of intersection and divergence between Rachel’s experiences and our own biographies to consider the ways in which place shapes professional identities and pedagogical practices in PE. The practical translation of this self-study process is to be ultimately located in our undergraduate teacher education programs and in our identities as teacher educators.

Educational leadership and Nancy Fraser

Drawing on the work of Nancy Fraser, this book offers a critical view of contemporary educational leadership and reform discourses, exploring how her key concepts of redistribution, recognition and representation may apply to social and therefore educational justice.Fraser offers a political and pragmatic reconciliation between feminist, neo-Marxist, critical and post-structuralist theories. This book outlines how Fraser has worked on and worked over theories of social justice and how this can inform how we can understand educational theory, policy and practice generally. In particular, the book focuses on the field of educational administration and leadership (ELMA) as it relates to equity issues such as school choice and inequality, gender and inclusive leadership, and alternative schooling. Fraser’s argument about ‘scaling up’ social justice theory is shown to be highly salient given the emergence of the field of transnational education policy and its role in the context of intensified nation-state and edu-business competition.Overall, through the lens of Nancy Fraser’s unitary framework, this book considers epistemological questions about the nature of knowledge, examines the relationship between the state, the individual, education and social movements, addresses the difficulties and dilemmas which arise due to the intersections of gender, class, race, sexuality and culture in a globalized context, and illustrates how the principles of social justice can be mobilized by leaders in everyday practice.