After the marketplace: evidence, social science and educational research

This paper is an essay on the state of Australian education that frames new directions for educational research. It outlines three challenges faced by Australian educators: highly spatialised poverty with particularly strong mediating effects on primary school education; the need for intellectual and critical depth in pedagogy, with a focus in the upper primary and middle years; and the need to reinvent senior schooling to address emergent pathways from school to work and civic life. It offers a narrative description of the dynamics of policy making in Australia and North America and argues for an evidence-based approach to social and educational policy – but one quite unlike current test and market-based approaches. Instead, it argues for a multidisciplinary approach to a broad range of empirical and case-based evidence that subjects these to critical, hermeneutic social sciences. Such an approach would join educational policy with educational research, and broader social, community and governmental action with the aim of reorganising and redistributing material, cultural and social resources.

Organizations as intergroup contexts: Communication, discourse, and identification

wenty-eight international scholars contribute 11 chapters on the key role of communication in intergroup relations. Following an introductory essay on intergroup theory and communication processes, the text focuses on specific intergroup contexts, examining communication within and between cultural, disability, age, sex and sexuality, and language groups. The remaining chapters explore the communicating of identity across communication contexts, including small group, organizational, mass, and Internet communications. The text is designed for scholars in the fields of communication and intergroup social psychology, and is also suited for use in upper- division undergraduate and introductory graduate courses in those areas. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability

The relationship between the quality of parent-child interactions and positive child developmental trajectories is well established (Guralnick, 2006; Shonkoff & Meissels, 2000; Zubrick et al., 2008). However, a range of parental, family, and socio-economic factors can pose risks to parents’ capacity to participate in quality interactions with their children. In particular, families with a child with a disability have been found to have higher levels of parenting stress, and are more likely to experience economic disadvantage, as well as social isolation. The importance of early interventions to promote positive parenting and child development for these families is widely recognised (Shonkoff & Meissels, 2000). However, to date, there is a lack of evidence about the effectiveness of early parenting programs for families who have a young child with a disability. This thesis investigates the impact of a music therapy parenting program, Sing & Grow, on 201 parent-child dyads who attended programs specifically targeted to parents who had a young child with a disability. Sing & Grow is an Australian national early parenting intervention funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and delivered by Playgroup Queensland. It is designed and delivered by Registered Music Therapists for families with children aged from birth to three years. It aims to improve parenting skills and confidence, improve family functioning (positive parent-child interactions), enhance child development, and provide social networking opportunities to socially isolated families. The intervention targets a range of families in circumstances that have the potential to impact negatively on family functioning. This thesis uses data from the National Evaluation Study of Sing & Grow from programs which were targeted at families who had a young child with a disability. Three studies were conducted to address the objectives of this thesis. Study 1 examines the effects of the Sing & Grow intervention on parent reported pre and post parent mental health, parenting confidence, parenting skills, and child development, and other parent reported outcomes including social support, use of intervention resources, satisfaction with the intervention and perceived benefits of and barriers to participation. Significant improvements from pre to post were found for parent mental health and parent reported child communication and social skills, along with evidence that parents were very satisfied with the program and that it brought social benefits to families. Study 2 explored the pre to post effects of the intervention on children’s developmental skills and parent-child interactions using observational ratings made by clinicians. Significant pre to post improvements were found for parenting sensitivity, parental engagement with child and acceptance of child as well as for child responsiveness to parent, interest, and participation in the intervention, and social skills. Study 3 examined the nature of child and family characteristics that predicted better outcomes for families while taking account of the level of participation in the program. An overall outcome index was calculated and served as the dependent variable in a logistic regression analysis. Families who attended six or more sessions and mothers who had not completed high school were more likely to have higher outcome scores at post intervention than those who attended fewer sessions and those with more educated mothers respectively. The findings of this research indicate that the intervention had a positive impact on participants’ mental health, parenting behaviours and child development and that level of attendance was associated with better outcomes. There was also evidence that the program reached its target of high risk families (i.e., families in which mothers had lower educational levels) and that for these families better outcomes were achieved. There were also indications that the program was accessible and highly regarded by families and that it promoted social connections for participants. A theoretical model of how the intervention is currently working for families is proposed to explain the connections between early parenting, child development and maternal wellbeing. However, more research is required to further elucidate the mechanisms by which the intervention creates change for families. This research presents promising evidence that a short term group music therapy program can elicit important therapeutic benefits for families who have a child with a disability.

Music, Mime & Metamorphosis: Interdisciplinary intersections, interactions and influences between music, mime and corporate communication

This doctoral thesis comprises three distinct yet related projects which investigate interdisciplinary practice across: music collaboration; mime performance; and corporate communication. Both the processes and underpinning research of these projects explore, expose and exploit areas where disparate and apparently conflicting fields of professional practice successfully and effectively; intersect, interact, and inform each other - rather than conflict - thereby enhancing each, both individually and collectively. Informed by three decades of professional practice across: music; stage performance; television; corporate communication; design; and tertiary education, the three projects have produced innovative, creative, and commercial viable outcomes, manifest in a variety of media including: music; written text; digital, audio/visual; and internet. In exploring new practice and creating new knowledge, these project outcomes clearly demonstrate the value and effectiveness of reconciling disparate fields of practice through the application of inter-disciplinary creativity and innovation to professional practice.

Communication patterns within social networks : a case study of Australian women

Based on the perception that “individual bonds to one another is the essence of society” (Fischer, 1982a, p. 2), this paper examines contemporary networks of friends: friendworks, of adult women in an Australian sea change community. Communication patterns are examined drawing on findings from a case study of 26 women aged 35-76 years. Among the case study participants, many have undertaken a ‘sea change’ as adults, which in most cases has led to a significant reconstruction of their friendworks. Location and lifestyle are identified as impacting factors on communication patterns with friends; face-to-face interactions are by far the most frequent and preferred method of communication among the participants. The landline telephone and internet are the main communication methods used to maintain friendships with distant loved ones, while the mobile phone is reported as the communication method employed the least. The infrequency of mobile phone use can be attributed to cost issues, highlighting a discrepancy between these women’s social and communication needs and the current Australian mobile phone policy.

Case management educational intervention with public health nurses : cluster randomized controlled trial

Aim: This paper is a report of a study conducted to determine the effectiveness of a community case management collaborative education intervention in terms of satisfaction, learning and performance among public health nurses. Background: Previous evaluation studies of case management continuing professional education often failed to demonstrate effectiveness across a range of outcomes and had methodological weaknesses such as small convenience samples and lack of control groups. Method: A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted between September 2005 and February 2006. Ten health centre clusters (5 control, 5 intervention) recruited 163 public health nurses in Taiwan to the trial. After pre-tests for baseline measurements, public health nurses in intervention centres received an educational intervention of four half-day workshops. Post-tests for both groups were conducted after the intervention. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was performed to evaluate the effect of the intervention on target outcomes. Results: A total of 161 participants completed the pre- and post-intervention measurements. This was almost a 99% response rate. Results revealed that 97% of those in the experimental group were satisfied with the programme. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in knowledge (p = 0.001), confidence in case management skills (p = 0.001), preparedness for case manager role activities (p = 0.001), self-reported frequency in using skills (p = 0.001), and role activities (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Collaboration between academic and clinical nurses is an effective strategy to prepare nurses for rapidly-changing roles.

Information and communication technologies : catalysts for sustainable development

The concept of sustainable urban development has been pushed to the forefront of policy-making and politics as the world wakes up to the impacts of climate change and the effects of modern urban lifestyles. Today, sustainable development has become a very prominent element in the day-to-day debate on urban policy and the expression of that policy in urban planning and development decisions. As a result of this, during the last few years, sustainable development automation applications such as sustainable urban development decision support systems have become popular tools as they offer new opportunities for local governments to realise their sustainable development agendas. This chapter explores a range of issues associated with the application of information and communication technologies and decision support systems in the process of underpinning sustainable urban development. The chapter considers how information and communication technologies can be applied to enhance urban planning, raise environmental awareness, share decisions and improve public participation. It introduces and explores three web-based geographical information systems projects as best practice. These systems are developed as support tools to include public opinion in the urban planning and development processes, and to provide planners with comprehensive tools for the analysis of sustainable urban development variants in order to prepare the best plans for constructing sustainable urban communities and futures.