Gifted education, professional development and the contemporary landscape of teachers' work : challenges and choices

This paper examines the perspectives of primary school teachers, administrators and personnel working in eastern suburban Melbourne as they consider the rationale for, and the purposes of, gifted education within the broader landscape of teachers' work. The data for this presentation are drawn from a single case qualitative case study where semi-structured interviews were held four years after the school participated in the Bright Futures gifted professional development. The school proudly proclaims a tradition of scholarship and excellence within a friendly, caring, cooperative and democratic ethos. Teachers welcomed the opportunity to express their thoughts, sentiments and opinions on curriculum, assessment and reporting practices, their attitudes to the aims of gifted education, the selection of children for pull-out programs, and their views to school management and to parents in relation tho these matters. Using a Foucoultian framework, I analyse how teachers juggle many goals within the complex reality of daily classroom teaching, and how they are wedged between the power of formal school rhetoric and educational policy working to improve learning outcomes for all students. This, in turn, has significant repercussions for addressing the needs of gifted students and generates considerable ambivalence about the implementation of gifted programs. I propose that such responses are important elements in the contemporary landscape of teacher's work

Teachers' work and gifted education

This paper examines the perspectives of teachers and personnel working in a State Government primary school situated in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, four years after participating in the Bright Futures gifted professional development. Although the school proudly proclaims a tradition of scholarship and excellence within a friendly, caring and democratic ethos, the data from semi-structured interviews in a qualitative, single case casestudy, shows considerable ambivalence towards gifted education programs. This has significant negative repercussions for meeting the individual educational needs of gifted students. Using a Foucaultian framework, I analyse the data showing that whilst teachers are striving to improve the learning outcomes for all students, they are caught within a complex reality, created by the often conflicting influences of educational policy, formal school rhetoric and their own personal beliefs, which in turn have been influenced by egalitarian principles detrimental to gifted education.

Japanese investment on the Gold Coast : the interface of globalization and locality

This study explored the interface between the forces of globalization and a given place, at a given time, the Gold Coast during the 1980s. The global economic boom of the 1980s was one in which the role of Japan was particularly important. In less than half a decade capital flows from Japan surged to make it the world's largest investor. Locations in the Pacific Basin were favoured destinations for Japanese investment, one of the most significant was the Gold Coast. Japanese capital and tourism helped transform its urban area from a national resort to an international tourist destination and resort centre, The surge of capital arriving to the Gold Coast was a function of economic conditions in Japan, as was its steep reduction after November 1989, Thus the Gold Coast became integrated into global capital flows and so dependent on decisions made in Tokyo, one of the main financial centres of the world. However this study has also sought to explore a more complex reality; namely, that this place also became the interface of complex cultural forces and perceptions. The wealth of the Japanese investors on the Gold Coast enabled them to realize their dream of developing projects in the most fashionable global styles. These styles were essentially Western, and it was onto these that their Japanese owners ascribed their own meanings; meanings that reflected the cultural baggage that they had brought from Japan, and through which were filtered the economic and environmental realities of the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast as locality also included residents. Hence it became an interface between two different groups of people, the Japanese and the strongly Anglo-Celtic local community. Some in the local community perceived the Japanese presence as a threat to their perception of the Gold Coast, in fact, a threat to their perception of Australia's national identity. A campaign based on the politics of memory of the Japanese developed on the Gold Coast. Within weeks it became a national debate in which isolationalist, if not xenophobic traditionalists, concentrated on the Gold Coast challenged the economic rationalism and multicultural tolerance of the self-interested and ideologically convinced advocates of globalization. Governments at all levels sought to arbitrate, to legitimize standpoints, but more often than not were seen to move into positions of ineffectual flexibility. The forces of globalization on the Gold Coast were catalysts for change that in turn provoked local opposition which rapidly became a debate about national identity and direction. It is in the exploration of the complex and contradictory economic, cultural and political forces engendered by globalization that this study has sought to make a distinctive contribution.

Running on empty : 'modernising' the British and Australian labour parties

Australia's cultural cringe towards Britan does not just focus on the monarchy. Many in the ALP and the media pay undue deference to Tony Blair's so-called new Third Way. This book shows why the ALP needs to reassess its own history and examines the complex reality of how it compaes with the British Labor Party.

Improving schools: productive tensions between the local, the systemic and the global

This unique book explores school improvement policy – from its translation into national contexts and school networks to its implementation in leader and teacher practices in individual schools and classrooms within this network of schools and its impact on students’ learning. It draws on multiple conceptual and theoretical resources to explore the complexities attached to a school improvement process in a network of schools in Australia. These conceptual and theoretical resources include discourse, practice, representation and network, concepts common to both policy research as well as studies of leadership and classroom practice. They lead to a more detailed understanding of the intersections between educational policy and intervention processes, and the complex reality of school processes and teaching practices. In the book we trace the implementation of school improvement policies through its multiple phases, levels and contexts. Our data-collection and analysis methods draw on a variety of perspectives in the way different players perceive their roles and the nature of the initiative and the ways in which these intersect. The research findings are used to seek productive approaches to school improvement that combine policy integrity with local flexibility. The book contributes to the school improvement literature through its exploration of tensions between global and systemic settings and local practices and histories.

Human right to food security in refugee setting: rhetoric versus reality

Despite recent advances in the area of humanitarian responses and the publication and dissemination of various guidelines with regard to nutritional interventions, there is, however a paucity of studies which have examined the human right to food in complex emergencies. 186 countries including those affected by both human made and natural disasters and countries who are donors of humanitarian relief aid adopted the Rome Declaration on Food Security and World Summit plan of Action reaffirming “ the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger”. The human right to adequate and nutritious food in refugee settings implies that every refugee has physical and economic access to sufficient food to provide the necessary nutrients for effective physical and physiological functions and achieve well being. There are many grounds for believing that the current humanitarian responses to disasters more often violate than respect the human right to adequate and nutritious food. Using elements of household food security as our working framework this paper focuses on the complex ethical and moral questions raised by the conventional humanitarian assistance framework and in particular the issue of human right to food and household food security in refugee settings.

Quantum cryptography - one step closer to reality

Most of cryptographic techniques today provide secure enough communications in society. However, none of them can provide unconditional security (except One-Time pad, which is the only such mechanism). They all have weaknesses. That is why they should be consistently updated and renovated along with changes in technology.

However, the quantum computers have potential to completely revolutionize cryptography. They would be so powerful that all complex computations and mathematical problems on which current cryptography rely, would become trivial. They would be able to solve them in a matter of seconds. At the same time quantum cryptography would offer perfectly secure communication.

This paper is brief introduction to quantum computing, quantum cryptography, and to existing quantum technology.

Is life history a barrier to dispersal? Contrasting patterns of genetic differentiation along an oceanographically complex coast

Extreme variation in early life-history strategies is considered a moderately good predictor of genetic subdivision and hence dispersal for a range of marine species. In reality, however, a good deal of population differentiation must reflect historical effects, more subtle variation in life histories, and, particularly, the interaction of larvae with oceanographic processes. Using a combination of allozyme and microsatellite markers, we show that the large-scale genetic structure of populations of three species (direct and planktonically developing cushion stars and a planktonic developing sea anemone that is also asexually viviparous) varies consistently, in line with the predicted capacity for dispersal within three geographic regions. We detected high levels of genetic subdivision for the direct developing cushion star (FST = 0.6), low levels for the planktonically developing cushion star (FST = 0.009), and intermediate levels for the sexual/asexual sea anmone (FST = 0.19). These patterns are exhibited despite the highly variable patterns of current movement and the presence of biogeographic barriers. Our results suggest that, although there is large scale genetic differentiation for two species, patterns of population connectivity are remarkably consistent within major regions and do not reflect variation in major oceanographic processes or genetic discontinuity coincident with biogeographic boundaries.

The client's complex decision-making environment on international mega projects

More than ever before, architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) firms are working on international mega projects. The mega project environment offers a range of opportunities for firms but is but is characterised by a high level of risk and uncertainty. International mega projects bring together networks of people with differing backgrounds and cultures to work in unfamiliar locations to integrate the social, economic, technical and political components of design and construction. Within such an intense environment there is a process of rapid relationship development at an unprecedented level. The interests and power relations on such projects are often very strong given the vast amount of money, jobs, environmental impacts, publicity and national prestige involved. Therefore in a field as costly or consequential as mega project design and construction there is an increased need to effectively manage these projects given the associated high risks of failure. Internationalisation is a relatively new field of research in the AEC sector and past research has tended to focus on explaining the attitudes and behaviour of the industry itself towards improving performance on such projects. To date there has been little research investigating the sophistication of the international client in terms of their regular business environment which is characterised by a set of social, economic and political responsibilities. The values that clients ascribe to their everyday practices and experiences inevitably condition how they act economically, which in turn impacts upon project decision-making. Clients establish the structural organisation of project teams through the procurement strategy and establish the context for effective decision-making. To a large extent they establish a unique culture that project team members need to work within and make decisions. Since clients establish the context within which firms operate the findings of past studies on the industry’s position and attitudes are more indicative than enlightening. Clients occupy a distinctly different position in the construction supply chain and therefore experience and respond to project matters based upon their environment and not the construction industry environment. Clients are confronted with uncertainties and need support to help them understand the critical role that they play in creating good decision-making environments. This theoretical paper seeks to develop a rationale for studying the client’s complex decision-making environment on international mega projects. Specifically it charts the quest for improved industry performance through client leadership as documented in various industry and government publications since the 1940s and highlights that there has been considerable attention to address industry problems through client leadership, however, with little evidence that the issues have been resolved. This paper is positioned within a PhD study, which seeks to move beyond the aspirations of policymakers and idealistic descriptions of how clients ought to behave to explain the reality of what really happens on mega project client decision-making based upon a critique of cultural political economy.

Evolutionary perspective of cancer: myth, metaphors, and reality

The evolutionary perspective of cancer (which origins and dynamics result from evolutionary processes) has gained significant international recognition over the past decade and generated a wave of enthusiasm among researchers. In this context, several authors proposed that insights into evolutionary and adaptation dynamics of cancers can be gained by studying the evolutionary strategies of organisms. Although this reasoning is fundamentally correct, in our opinion, it contains a potential risk of excessive adaptationism, potentially leading to the suggestion of complex adaptations that are unlikely to evolve among cancerous cells. For example, the ability of recognizing related conspecifics and adjusting accordingly behaviors as in certain free-living species appears unlikely in cancer. Indeed, despite their rapid evolutionary rate, malignant cells are under selective pressures for their altered lifestyle for only few decades. In addition, even though cancer cells can theoretically display highly sophisticated adaptive responses, it would be crucial to determine the frequency of their occurrence in patients with cancer, before therapeutic applications can be considered. Scientists who try to explain oncogenesis will need in the future to critically evaluate the metaphorical comparison of selective processes affecting cancerous cells with those affecting organisms. This approach seems essential for the applications of evolutionary biology to understand the origin of cancers, with prophylactic and therapeutic applications.

Towards a resilience management framework for complex enterprise systems upgrade implementation

The lack of knowledge of how resilience management supports enterprise system (ES) projects accounts for the failure of firms to leverage their investments in costly ES implementations. Using a structured-pragmatic- situational (SPS) case study research approach, this paper reports on an investigation into the resilience management of a large utility company as it implemented an ES upgrade. Drawing on the literature and on the case study findings, we developed a process-based resilience management framework that involves three strategies (developing situation awareness, demystifying threats, and executing restoration plans) and four organisational capabilities that transform resilience management concepts into practices. We identified the crucial phases of ES upgrade implementation and developed indicators for how different strategies and capabilities of resilience management can assist managers at different stages of an ES upgrade. This research advances the state of existing knowledge by providing specific and verifiable propositions for attaining a state of resilience, the knowledge being grounded in the empirical reality of a case study. Moreover, the framework offers ES practitioners a roadmap to better identify appropriate responses and levels of preparedness.