Education and work in service of the nation: Canadian and Australian girls' fiction, 1908-1921

This chapter compares early twentieth-century Australian novels by Ethel Turner, Mary Grant Bruce, and Lilian Turner to Canadian novels by Nellie McClung and L.M. Montgomery to demonstrate important differences in attitudes towards education and work. Girls’ fiction in these white settler colonies has many similarities, containing strong ideals related to domesticity, education, employment, and femininity. In the Canadian fiction, attitudes towards women’s higher education and employement are generally much more positive. Although both Australian and Canadian girls’ fiction typically conclude with marriage, Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Nellie McClung’s Pearlie Watson are offered the opportunity to pursue higher education and use this education to teach others. In contrast, Lilian Turner’s Paradise and the Perrys, Ethel Turner’s Fair Ines, and Mary Grant Bruce’s ’Possum emphasise the importance of domesticity while also showing how girls sought to earn income without leaving home. Through our comparison of these Canadian and Australian novels, all published between 1908 and 1921, we demonstrate how the different feminine ideals embodied through these heroines are inevitably intertwined with the needs of the nation

Geographical dimensions of imagined futures: post school participation in education and work in peri-urban and regional Australia

This paper discusses preliminary findings from a sub-set of empirical data collected for a recent NCVER study that explored the geographic dimensions of social exclusion in four locations in Victoria and South Australia with lower than average post school education participation. Set against the policy context of the Bradley Review (2008) and the drive to increase the post-school participation of young people from low socio-economic status neighbourhoods, this qualitative research study, responding to identified gaps in the literature, sought a nuanced understanding of how young people make decisions about their post-school pathways. Drawing on Appadurai’s (2004) concept ‘horizons of aspiration’ the paper explores the aspirations of two young people formed from, and within, their particular rural ‘neighborhoods’. The paper reveals how their post-school education and work choices, imagined futures and conceptions of a ‘good life’, have topographic and gendered influences that are important considerations for policy makers.

The social work bursary in England : impact of funding arrangments upon social work education and the future workforce

The financial support available to students on social work qualifying programmes appears to be a neglected topic in published social work research. This article draws on a literature review and secondary data analysis of an existing dataset to discuss what is known about this topic and specifically considers the impact of a financial incentive to undertake social work qualifying education in England, the social work bursary. In the context of major changes to the funding of higher education in England, it suggests that the introduction of the social work bursary has helped increase the number of students enrolling on social work qualifying programmes in England and supported some students whose personal and financial circumstances might have prevented them from undertaking social work qualifying education. While students report their appreciation of financial assistance in the form of the bursary, many have additional needs in the form of support for children and other dependants, and for help in defraying the costs of travel while undertaking practice placements. The paper concludes that attention needs to be paid to the specific needs of social work students when considering the impact of changes to funding higher education.

Investigating well-being, work limitations and preferences for self-management education and peer support among younger people with hip and knee osteoarthritis: protocol for a cross-sectional study

Introduction: 

Preparing health professionals to work in diabetes education and care: a situation analysis

Worldwide, the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases places enormous expectations of and responsibility on health systems. Preparing the health workforce to adequately respond to these increasing demands is a challenge of critical importance. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of how health professionals (HPs) are prepared to work in diabetes care and education. A one shot cross-sectional study was undertaken to collect the data using self-completed anonymous on-line questionnaires. The invitation to complete the questionnaire was sent to more than 3745 HPs. One thousand one hundred and sixteen responses were collected, 68% were from highincome countries and 32% from middle- and low-income countries (LMIC). Most HPs developed their knowledge and skills through work experience and self-study: very few attended a formal education program as part of their training. Thirty-six percent of LMIC respondents did not have a credential/certification in diabetes and 72% reported their organizations support them to learn about diabetes education/care. Moreover, 80% referred to the International Diabetes Federation publications when making clinical decisions or planning diabetes care. Results provide insight into how HPs are educationally prepared to work in diabetes education and care and could serve as a foundation for future research. These findings emphasize the emerging necessity to develop certified/credentialing programs for HPs, especially in LMIC.

Outdoor education and bush adventure therapy: A social-ecological approach to health and wellbeing.

Together, outdoor education and bush adventure therapy can be seen to constitute a population-wide health intervention strategy. Whether in educational or therapeutic settings, the intentional use of contact with nature, small groups, and adventure provides a unique approach in the promotion of health and wellbeing for the general population, and for individuals with identified health vulnerabilities. This paper explicitly emphasises human and social health, however, an integral assumption is that a healthy and sustainable environment is dependent on healthy human relationships with nature. We invite outdoor educators and bush adventure therapy practitioners to examine the proposition that healthy interactions with nature can create a unique stream of socio-ecological interventions. A spectrum of outdoor adventure programs is provided, allowing outdoor educators and bush adventure therapy practitioners to locate their work according to program context and aims, and participant aims and needs.

A knowledge-based economy landscape: implications for tertiary education and research training in Australia

This paper discusses the higher education sector’s role in knowledge-based economy though research training, that is, doctoral education. It also examines how a Faculty of Education supports its doctoral candidates in their endeavours to become ‘knowledge producers’. Two themes are explored: one is Australia’s limited investment in education by international standards; and the other is the research training needs and circumstances of doctoral candidates who are located in professional and workplace contexts. The paper discusses the role of online support and a Doctoral Studies in Education (DSE) online seminar program to support primarily off-campus, part-time mid-career professionals. These are typical of many of Australia’s doctoral candidates. E-learning is examined as part of a comprehensive support and research training strategy for doctoral candidates studying at a distance. We discuss the sorts of opportunities and experiences our candidates receive and the extent to which they are readied to work effectively in a knowledge-based economy.

Language and power in vocational education and training

In this paper I explore the way language is used in Training Packages, and the impact this language has when Training Packages are used to support work-based vocational programs. Training Packages are a fundamental component of the regulatory framework of the national vocational education and training (VET) system [in Australia]. The national strategy for VET places employers and individuals at the centre of VET, and policy commitments to access and equity are enshrined in the auditable standards of the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF). Yet Training Packages and related official VET texts are written in an abstract, generalised and complex language form which acts as an insurmountable barrier to many people at the front line of VET. My PhD research (a work in progress) explores the proposition that this language form is representative of, and constructive in, unequal power relationships. Early data analysis suggests that VET practitioners and training participants talk about their experience of this language in terms of power and exclusion. In contrast, the official VET response generally leaves the official language form above challenge, and instead largely focuses on the presumed deficient language and literacy skills of those who are excluded by these texts.

Measuring moral judgement and the implications of cooperative education and rule-based learning

The Defining Issues Test (DIT), developed by Rest (1986), measures a person's level of moral development using hypothetical social dilemmas. Although the DIT is useful for measuring moral development in social settings, it might not adequately capture an individual's moral judgement abilities in solving work-related problems (Weber, 1990; Trevino, 1992; Welton et al., 1994). In the present study, the moral judgement levels of 97 accounting students were measured over a 1 year period using two separate test instruments, the DIT and a context-specific instrument developed by Welton et al. (1994). The test scores are significantly higher on the DIT than the Welton instrument (between the instruments and over time), suggesting that accounting students use higher levels of moral reasoning in resolving hypothetical social dilemmas and lower levels of moral reasoning in resolving context-specific dilemmas. The difference in test scores was highest during cooperative education (work placement programme), implying that the environment is a significant determinant on students' test scores.

Passion in Jamie's kitchen : the vital ingredient in education and training for young workers?

In this paper we will sketch out and briefly analyse a recurring and central theme throughout the reality TV series Jamie’s Kitchen – that of passion:

• Passion for food;
• Being passionate as you construct and present yourself;
• Being passionate about your work;
• Having a go, getting passionate in a training environment which compresses years of training into months of training.

In this series the high profile celebrity chef Jamie Oliver set out to transform a group of unemployed young Londoners into the enterprising, entrepreneurial, ideal worker of 21st century flexible capitalism. This series, and its figure of the entrepreneurial, risk taking, small businessman (who in this instance is also a global celebrity brand) seeking to develop similar dispositions and behaviours in a workforce that initially does not display such character features, illuminates, and provides a means to explore, key features of new work regimes. The emphasis on passion in the analysis – which draws on Foucault’s later work on the care of the self - allows us to connect to discussions about education and training that highlight the passionate/pleasure dimensions of pedagogy. These elements of education and training very rarely get discussed in a vocational education and training environment which is largely driven by modules/competencies/outcomes.

Student learning: "the heart of quality" in education and training

This paper surveys the development of various approaches to quality that are essentially learning-centred:

•In the Schools sector: a brief overview of the Victorian Quality in Schools project;

•In Higher Education: work in progress at two Australian universities (Victoria University of Technology and Swinburne Universities of Technology in Melbourne); and

•In Vocational Education and Training: work in progress in re-orienting the policy approach to Quality towards a more flexible and learning-centred model.

This paper will argue that when looked at from the perspective of the individual learner, there is a strong case for student learning to be placed at the very heart of Quality Systems in all sectors of education, and also therefore in related sectoral Quality Assurance programs and processes.

Wages, career progression, training and work family policies : an integrated approach to explaining gender discrimination

While the Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) literature suggests that considerable progress has been made towards addressing gender-based discrimination (primarily through legal instruments), direct and indirece forms of discrimination persist and tend to be perpetuated through organisational practices (Tomaskovic-Devey 2001). Women are still receive less remuneration than men and are disadvantaged with respect to fundamental entitlements such as promotion and training and education. Furthermore, as more women enter employment the issue of work and family balance has become an organisational priority. There is a large body of research literature in the disciplines of economics, sociology, industrial relations, human resource management, organisational studies and public administration that examines the sources, nature and extent of gender-based discrimination in labour markets. This paper seeks to integrate this literature by taking a multi-disciplinary approach to the problem of women, EEO and discrimination. It is argued that our understanding of discrimination is greatly enhanced by theories and models that incorporate both economic and organisational explanations. Furthermore, it is argued that discrimination in terms of promotion, pay and training are endogenous. That is, the interrelationship between these variables needs to be taken into account simultaneously to accurately estimate the degree of direct and indirect discrimination that women face. The paper provides a review of the literature on the key themes of pay equity, career progression, education and training and work-family policy, and seeks to provide a synthesis of key themes. Emerging from this literature are a number of testable hypotheses. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.