Using conversation analysis for understanding children’s talk about traumatic events

This chapter provides a theoretical overview of literature that uses conversation analysis (CA) to explore children’s interactions related to trauma and associated mental health matters. The relatively new approach of using CA to understand trauma reveals the importance of talk in the process of recovery, and also how the participants co-construct talk about traumatic experiences. The chapter will explore literature using a CA approach to investigate children’s trauma talk with professionals as well as literature specifically discussing children’s talk about their traumatic experiences with people who are not qualified therapists or psychiatrists. We conclude by calling for more research using a CA approach for investigating children’s traumatic experiences due to the insight it provides into each child’s personal sense making of traumatic events with a range of people.

Elemental composition of ambient fine particles in urban schools : sources of children’s exposure

Currently, there is a limited understanding of the sources of ambient fine particles that contribute to the exposure of children at urban schools. Since the size and chemical composition of airborne particle are key parameters for determining the source as well as toxicity, PM1 particles (mass concentration of particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 1 µm) were collected at 24 urban schools in Brisbane, Australia and their elemental composition determined. Based on the elemental composition four main sources were identified; secondary sulphates, biomass burning, vehicle and industrial emissions. The largest contributing source was industrial emissions and this was considered as the main source of trace elements in the PM1 that children were exposed to at school. PM1 concentrations at the schools were compared to the elemental composition of the PM2.5 particles (mass concentration of particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm) from a previous study conducted at a suburban and roadside site in Brisbane. This comparison revealed that the more toxic heavy metals (V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb), mostly from vehicle and industrial emissions, were predominantly in the PM1 fraction. Thus, the results from this study points to PM1 as a potentially better particle size fraction for investigating the health effects of airborne particles.

A theoretical approach to segmenting children’s walking behaviour

Childhood obesity is a leading public health concern globally. This study aimed to extend research applying the principle of market segmentation to gain insight into changing the physical activity behaviour of children, particularly their walk to/from school behaviour. It further examined the utility of employing theory, specifically the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), for this purpose. The study demonstrates the usefulness of behavioural, geographic and psychographic variables, as measured by the TPB, in distinguishing segments, offering an important contrast to prior segmentation studies emphasising demographic variables. This result provides empirical evidence of the value of employing the four segmentation bases, extending beyond a demographic focus, and the importance of incorporating behavioural theory in market segmentation. In so doing, this research provides key insights into changing children’s walking behaviour.

Literacy and Digital Culture in the Early Years

In this chapter we present data drawn from observations of kindergarten children using iPads and talk with the children, their parents/guardians and teachers. We identify a continuum of practices that extends from ‘educational apps’ teaching handwriting, sight words and so forth to uses of the iPad as a device for multimodal literacy development and substantive conversation around children’s creative work. At the current time high stakes testing and the implementation of the Australian Curriculum are prompting new public and professional conversations about literacy and digital technology. The iPad is construed as both cause of and solution to problems of traditional literacy education. In this context we describe the literacies enabled by educational software available on iPads. We higlight the time constraints which bore on teachers' capacity to enact their visions of literacy education through the iPad platform and suggest ways of reflecting on responses to this constraint.

Ultrafine Particles from Traffic Emissions and Children’s Health (UPTECH) in Brisbane, Queensland (Australia): Study design and implementation

Ultrafine particles are particles that are less than 0.1 micrometres (µm) in diameter. Due to their very small size they can penetrate deep into the lungs, and potentially cause more damage than larger particles. The Ultrafine Particles from Traffic Emissions and Children’s Health (UPTECH) study is the first Australian epidemiological study to assess the health effects of ultrafine particles on children’s health in general and peripheral airways in particular. The study is being conducted in Brisbane, Australia. Continuous indoor and outdoor air pollution monitoring was conducted within each of the twenty five participating school campuses to measure particulate matter, including in the ultrafine size range, and gases. Respiratory health effects were evaluated by conducting the following tests on participating children at each school: spirometry, forced oscillation technique (FOT) and multiple breath nitrogen washout test (MBNW) (to assess airway function), fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO, to assess airway inflammation), blood cotinine levels (to assess exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke), and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (to measure systemic inflammation). A pilot study was conducted prior to commencing the main study to assess the feasibility and reliably of measurement of some of the clinical tests that have been proposed for the main study. Air pollutant exposure measurements were not included in the pilot study.

The Reef Cycle: Engaging in creativity and global awareness

This is a report of a musical theatre production performed at QUT Gardens Point Campus in November 2014 for the occasion of the end of year Annual Art Exhibition and concert of the Post graduate research students. Both the performance and the exhibition focused on environmental issues especially in relation to coal and coral in Queensland. The poster was prepared by Stephen Bennett former student in Creative Industries.

In pursuit of some appreciation: Assessment and group membership in children’s second stories

Group membership is central to social interaction. Within peer groups, social hierarchies and affiliations are matters to which members seriously attend (Corsaro, 2014). Studies of peer groups highlight how status is achieved through oppositional actions. This paper examines the way in which competition and collaboration in a children’s peer group accomplishes status during the production and management of “second stories” (Sacks 1992). We present analysis of the interaction of young boys in a preparatory year playground who are engaged in a single instance of storytelling “rounds”. Analysis highlights the pivotal role of members’ contributions, assessments and receipts in a series of second stories that enact a simultaneously competitive and collaborative local order.

Empowering the disempowered through voice-inclusive practice: Children’s views on adult-centric educational provision

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a significant platform to include children’s views on issues that affect their lives, yet, in many contexts, particularly in educational practice, children’s perspectives continue to be irregularly sought and are rarely acted upon. By providing children’s perspectives on what they would like adults to know, this article explores a unique view of childhood and the interactions with family, community, educational experiences and well-being. The children’s insights about their worlds that they feel adults are missing potentiate the development and incorporation of voice-inclusive practice. While the sense that each child makes of their Lebenswelt – the ‘ingredients’ – is idiosyncratic and will be influenced by many factors, including peers, teachers, parents, other adults and the media, it is the nature of this personal understanding that is poorly understood, and consequently ignored by adults. By exploring the commentary of more than 1000 children across five countries – Australia, England, New Zealand, Italy and Sweden – this research reveals an overwhelming collection of what the authors describe as ‘comments that rhyme’ in terms of the identification of expressed sentiment and thematic representations of their perspectives.

Examining the new product innovation – performance relationship: Optimizing the role of individual-level creativity and attention-to-detail

New product innovation has been identified as the key to firms' marketplace success, profit and survival. Yet, the failure rate for new products is high. Because of the high costs associated with new product development, there is considerable theoretical and managerial interest in how to minimize the high failure rates of new products and what separates new product winners from losers. This study focuses on individual level ambidexterity – namely head of the R&D departments' capacity to engage in creativity and attention-to-detail simultaneously, a skill involving different centers of attention, and relying on somewhat incompatible behaviors and processes. The ability to engage in these behaviors simultaneously is seen as being ambidextrous. Drawing from the data of 150 advanced manufacturing firms in India (gathered from one CEO and one head of the R&D department for each firm), the results show that when an individual head of R&D engages heavily only in creativity, too many new, risky ideas may come and when he/she engages heavily only in attention-to-detail, he/she may suffer through a lack of novel ideas. Both approaches limit individual's contribution to enhancing product innovation – financial performance relationship. The results also show that an individual head of R&D needs to engage in high levels creativity and attention-to-detail in the pursuit of enhancing product innovation to achieve superior financial performance.

The invisibility cloak of creativity

There is often a gap between teaching beliefs and actual practice, between ‘what is valued and what is taught’ (Jones, 2009, p. 175). This may be particularly true when it comes to teaching creatively and teaching for creativity in higher education. This lack of congruence is not necessarily due to a lack of awareness about what is possible, or the desire to enact change in this domain. It may, however, be due to a mix of less easily manipulated contextual factors (environmental, socio-cultural, political and economic), and a lack of discourse (Jackson, 2006) around the problem...

Theatre, co-creativity & co-creative spectatorship

Theatre is a socially and politically aware artform. It participates in the construction – and, potentially, the contestation – of a community’s history, identity, and ideals. It does this live, in the moment, where artist, artwork and audience meet here, now, together. This, most theatre makers think, gives theatre special power to make spectators think about the stories it stages. But it also creates challenges.

Social media, audiences, and audience co-creativity in contemporary performance: Restoring balance?

Producers, technicians, performers, audiences and critics are all critical components of the performing arts ecology – critical components of an ecosystem that have to come together into some sort of productive relationship if the performing arts are to be vital, viable and successful. Different performance practices developed in different times, spaces and places do, of course, connect these players in different ways as part of their attempt to achieve their own definition of success, be it based on entertainment, educational, expression, empowerment, or something else. In some contemporary performance practices, social media platforms, applications and processes are seen to have significant potential to restore balance to the relationship between performer and audience, providing audiences with more power to participate in a performance event. In this paper, I investigate prevailing assumptions about social media’s power to democratise performance practice, or, at least, develop more co-creative performance practices in which producers, performers and audiences participate actively before, during and after the event. I focus, in particular, on the use of social media as a means of developing a participatory aesthetic in which an audience member is asked to contribute to the cast of characters, plot or progression of a performance. Although diverse – from performances streamed online, to performances that offer transmedia components the audience can use to learn more about character, context and plot online, to performances that incorporate online voting, liking or linking, to performances that unfold fully online on websites, blogs, microblogs or other social media platforms – what a lot of uses of social media in contemporary performance today share is a desire to encourage audiences to reflect on their role in making, and making meaning, of the event. In this paper I interrogate if, and if so how, this democratises or develops deeper levels of co-creativity in the relationship between producers, performers and audiences.

Use of online health information to manage children’s health care: A prospective study investigating parental decisions

Background The use of the internet to access information is rapidly increasing; however, the quality of health information provided on various online sites is questionable. We aimed to examine the underlying factors that guide parents' decisions to use online information to manage their child's health care, a behaviour which has not yet been explored systematically. Methods Parents (N=391) completed a questionnaire assessing the standard theory of planned behaviour (TPB) measures of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC), and intention as well as the underlying TPB belief-based items (i.e., behavioural, normative, and control beliefs) in addition to a measure of perceived risk and demographic variables. Two months later, consenting parents completed a follow-up telephone questionnaire which assessed the decisions they had made regarding their use of online information to manage their child's health care during the previous 2 months. Results We found support for the TPB constructs of attitude, subjective norm, and PBC as well as the additional construct of perceived risk in predicting parents' intentions to use online information to manage their child's health care, with further support found for intentions, but not PBC, in predicting parents' behaviour. The results of the TPB belief-based analyses also revealed important information about the critical beliefs that guide parents' decisions to engage in this child health management behaviour. Conclusions This theory-based investigation to understand parents' motivations and online information-seeking behaviour is key to developing recommendations and policies to guide more appropriate help-seeking actions among parents.

Becoming bilingual: Children’s insights about making friends in bilingual settings

The majority of the world speaks more than one language yet the impact of learning a second language has rarely been studied from a child’s perspective. This paper describes monolingual children’s insights into becoming bilingual at four time points: two months before moving to another country (while living in Australia), as well as one, six, and twelve months after moving to Germany. The participants were two monolingual English-speaking siblings (a male aged 7- to 8-years and a female aged 9- to 10-years) who subsequently learned to speak German. At each of the four time points, interviews were undertaken with each child using child-friendly drawing and questionnaire techniques. Three themes were identified: (1) the children’s awareness of language competence; (2) inclusion factors, and; (3) exclusion factors that influenced friendship formation. The impact of language ability on making friends was a dominant theme that arose across the four time points and was triangulated across data collection methods. The children made friends with others who had similar language competence in German, even though they were younger, and did not share the same first language. Age-matched peers who were more competent in German were less likely to be described as friends. Across all three themes, the playground was highlighted by both children as the key site where becoming bilingual most strongly impacted initiation and negotiation of friendships. Becoming bilingual impacted the children’s friendship formation and socialization opportunities with more competent language users.