Proactive communication management beats hostile media exposure : training for multi-cultural community leaders in living with mass media

Proactive communication management instead of mortification in the glare of hostile media attention became the theme of a four-day training program for multi-cultural community leaders, the object of this research. The program in Brisbane from December 2009 through to February this year was conducted under auspices of a Community Media Link grant program shared by Griffith University and the Queensland Ethnic Communities Council, together with Journalism academics from the Queensland University of Technology. Twenty-eight participants from 23 organisations took part, with a team of nine facilitators from the host organisations, and guest presenters from the news media. This paper reviews the process, taking into account: its objectives, to empower participants by showing how Australian media operate and introducing participants to journalists; pedagogical thrust, where overview talks, with role play seminars with guest presenters from the media, were combined with practice in interviews and writing for media; and outcomes, assessed on the basis of participants’ responses. The research methodology is qualitative, in that the study is based on discussions to review the planning and experience of sessions, and anonymous, informal feed-back questionnaires distributed to the participants. Background literature on multiculturalism and community media was referred to in the study. The findings indicate positive outcomes for participants from this approach to protection of persons unversed in living in the Australian “mediatised” environment. Most affirmed that the “production side” perspective of the exercise had informed and motivated them effectively, such that henceforth they would venture far more into media management, in their community leadership roles.

Multicultural training experiences as predictors of psychology students’ cultural competence

The psychologists in the western world, including Australia, are required to be culturally competent due to the cultural diversity of these societies. Previous studies conducted in North America and Europe have found multicultural teaching, clinical experience with culturally diverse clients, and discussion of multicultural counselling issues in supervision to be related to the practitioner’s cultural competency. The present study examined factors contributing to trainee psychologists’ perceived level of cultural competence. It was hypothesised that multicultural teaching, clinical experience and supervision would be related to students’ level of cultural competence. One hundred and twenty seven postgraduate clinical psychology students completed an online survey battery that included demographic information, a social desirability measure, and the Multicultural Mental Health Awareness Scale (Khawaja, Gomez & Turner, 2009). This hypothesis was partially supported. Clinical experience and supervision focusing on multicultural issues were found to be related to participants’ perceived cultural competence, however, multicultural teaching was not. These results provide insight into how universities around Australia can facilitate future psychologists’ competence in working with clients from different cultural backgrounds.

Pushing cultural competence boundaries in nutrition and dietetics training

A health workforce ready for safe practice is a government priority, and particularly critical to support indigenous communities closing ‘the gap’. Increased pressure exists on dietetic training programs for quality placements, with fewer opportunities for immersion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to demonstrate cultural competence. In 2012, Queensland University of Technology established a partnership with Apunipima Cape York Health Council with 56 weeks of dietetic placement for 8 students provided to achieve these aims. Clinical practice in Community Public Health Nutrition (CPHN) was structured in a standard 6 week placement, with Individual Case Management (ICM) and Foodservice Management (FSM) integrated across 8 weeks (4 each), with an additional 2 weeks ICM prior in a metropolitan indigenous health service. Students transitioned from urban to rural then remote sites, with new web-based technologies used for support. Strong learning opportunities were provided, with CPHN projects in antenatal and child health, FSM on standardisation of procedures in a 22 bed health facility, and ICM exposing students to a variety of cases via hospital in/outpatients, general clinics and remote community outreach. Supervisor focus group evaluation was positive, with CPHN and FSM enhancing capacity of service. Student focus group evaluation revealed placements exceeded expectations, with rating high, and strong confidence in cultural competence described. Students debriefed final and third year cohorts on their experiences, with increased awareness and enthusiasm for work with indigenous communities indicated by groups. With the success of this partnership, placements are continuing 2013, and new boundaries in dietetic training established.

La Relevancia de las creencias sobre diversidad cultural en la formación del docente = The significance of beliefs on cultural diversity in the training of teachers

Uno de los rasgos más característicos de los centros educativos en estos momentos lo constituye la presencia de un alumnado culturalmente diverso. Gestionar de forma adecuada tal diversidad cultural y asegurar una educación de calidad para todos/as que posibilite la construcción de una ciudadanía plural, intercultural y democrática se plantea como uno de los retos más importantes a los que se enfrenta el sistema educativo en general y el profesorado en particular

Museum training to develop the social awareness of cultural identity in a time of universalization

The main theme of the ICTOP'94 Lisbon meeting is museum personnel training for the universal museum. At the very beginning it is important to identify what the notion universal museum can cover. It is necessary to underline the ambiguity of the term. On the one hand, the word 'universal' can be taken to refer to the variety of collected museum materials or museum collections, on the other hand it could refer to the efforts of the museum to be active outside the museum walls in order to achieve the integration of the heritage of a certain territory into a museological system. 'Universal' could also refer to the "new dimensions of reality: the fantastic reality of the virtual images, only existing in the human brain" (Scheiner 1994:7), which is very close to M. McLuhan's view of the world as a 'global village'. Thus, what is universal could be taken as being common and available to all the people of the world. 'Universal' can imply also the radical broadening of the concept of object: "mountain, silex, frog, waterfonts, stars, the moon ... everything is an object, with due fluctuations" (Hainard in Scheiner 1994: 7), which will cause the total involvement of the human being into his/her physical and spiritual environment. In the process of universalization, links between cultural and natural heritage and their links with human beings become more solid, helping to create a strong mutual interdependence.

Guidelines for strategic national planning of training and education for museums, cultural heritage and related fields in Sweden and in international co-operation

The guidelines presented in this document are a preliminary strategy for establishing a comprehensive policy for the needs of training and education wiyhin the sector and adjoining areas, across fields of knowledge and professions concerned, on relevant levels and for the varies institutions and operators. The objective of these guidelines is to analysis the problems, objectives and goals for development of a far reaching system of educational and training programs and courses for museums, cultural heritage and related fields of activities. This objective comprises a close collaboration between museum, cultural heritage organizations and educating organizations, notably within universities and colleges, but also other kinds of educating bodies.

A study in Britain and France of the development of cross-cultural in-house sales training using distance learning.

The thesis is concerned with cross-cultural distance learning in two countries: Great Britain and France. Taking the example of in-house sales training, it argues that it is possible to develop courses for use in two or more countries of differing culture and language. Two courses were developed by the researcher. Both were essentially print-based distance-learning courses designed to help salespeople achieve a better understanding of their customers. One used a quantitative, the other qualitative approach. One considered the concept of the return on investment and the other, for which a video support was also developed, considered the analysis of a customer's needs. Part 1 of the thesis considers differences in the training context between France and Britain followed by a review of the learning process with reference to distance learning. Part 2 looks at the choice of training medium course design and evaluation and sets out the methodology adopted, including problems encountered in this type of fieldwork. Part 3 analyses the data and draws conclusions from the findings, before offering a series of guidelines for those concerned with the development of cross-cultural in-house training courses. The results of the field tests on the two courses were analysed in relation to the socio-cultural, educational and experiential background of the learners as well as their preferred learning styles. The thesis argues that it is possible to develop effective in-house sales training courses to be used in two cultures and identifies key considerations which need to be taken into account when carrying out this type of work.

Digital scholarship and pedagogy, the next step : cultural science.

There are two aspects to the problem of digital scholarship and pedagogy. One is to do with scholarship; the other with pedagogy. In scholarship, the association of knowledge with its printed form remains dominant. In pedagogy, the desire to abandon print for ‘new’ media is urgent, at least in some parts of the academy. Film and media studies are thus at the intersection of opposing forces – pulling the field ‘back’ to print and ‘forward’ to digital media. These tensions may be especially painful in a field whose own object of study is another form of communication, neither print nor digital but broadcast. Although print has been overtaken in the popular marketplace by audio-visual forms, this was never achieved in the domain of scholarship. Even when it is digitally distributed, the output of research is still a ‘paper.’ But meanwhile, in the realm of teaching, production- and practice-based pedagogy has become firmly established. Nevertheless a disjunction remains, between high-end scholarship in research universities and vocational training in teaching institutions; but neither is well equipped to deal with the digital challenge.

Transitioning students to work through authentic employment-based training in an Australian senior secondary VET program.

A common challenge among OECD countries has been the development of education and training pathways that accommodate student needs and interests at the upper secondary level (OECD, 2000). The introduction of trade-focussed Australian Technical Colleges (ATCs) has met with mixed response. The ATCs aim to create a supported transition from school to work through dual pathway programs enabling students to follow a trade career while completing their upper secondary studies. There has been little explicit examination of the effectiveness of such senior secondary school arrangements. Using one such Australian Technical College as a case-study, this paper investigates the perceptions of the employers and students who were associated with the college. Using mixed-methods consisting of quantitative perception surveys and focus interviews, the results of this study show that students and employers are very satisfied with the College and illustrate that students have made significant gains in relating their learning to the workplace and everyday life.

Principal preparation and training : a look at China and its issues

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of principal preparation and training in China by providing a background discussion of principal preparation in a number of countries. As an illustration, it provides an overview of the curriculum used in the initial preparation of school principals at Beijing Normal University.-----Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws mainly on writing and research from China, Australia and the USA to explore principal preparation and training in China.-----Findings: In addition to providing a rich description of principal preparation in China, the paper's main findings comprise seven key challenges that confront China as it endeavours to provide quality principal preparation. These challenges include China's diversity and uneven social, cultural and educational development; limited resources in some regions throughout China; the place and importance of study tours for principal preparation; the teaching approach used to train principals; the process used for assessing principal learning during their training programs; the limited transfer of learning from the classroom to the school environment; and the timing of training for principals.-----Practical implications: Each of the challenges arising here raises important practical implications for developers of principal training programs.-----Originality/value: The paper paints a picture of principal preparation in China and raises a number of issues and challenges with which it continues to grapple. Of note is that China is not alone in facing some of these ongoing concerns.

Transitional employment aspirations for bridging retirement : implications for training and development

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the transitional employment aspirations and training and development needs of older and younger workers at risk of early retirement due to limited education and/or employment in blue collar occupations. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: A computer based methodology was used to evaluate the demographic effects of gender, education level and occupation group on aspirations pertaining to transitional employment and training and development in a sample of over 1000 Local Government employees. Findings: Older blue collar, secondary school educated and younger workers were less interested in transitional employment than older workers with higher levels of education or from white collar backgrounds. The early retirement risk factors of blue collar work and secondary school education had a more limited effect on perceived training and development needs for older workers. However for younger workers, these risk factors provided the impetus to undertake training to move into less physically demanding or more challenging roles as their careers progressed. Practical Implications: Via the identification of education level and occupation types groups’ transitional employment aspirations and perceptions of preparatory training and development within younger and older cohorts, long term strategies to develop and retain staff may be formulated. Originality/ Value: Past studies of transitional employment have rarely included younger workers or older workers at risk of early retirement. Preparatory training and development for transitional employment roles has not been considered in the literature.

Training young people as researchers to investigate engagement and disengagement in the middle years

This paper reports on the first stage of a study that used Young People as Researchers to investigate the phenomenon of middle-year student engagement and disengagement. The first stage of the study focused on a two-day workshop that provided training for students and teachers from four secondary schools in conducting research in their schools. An overview of the three stages is presented and the workshop procedures and example activities for Stage 1 of the Young People as Researchers model are described. Further to this, the paper reports on data collected in the workshop to address the research question: How do middleyear students describe engagement and disengagement?

Effective models of employment-based training

Australia needs highly skilled workers to sustain a healthy economy. Current employment-based training models have limitations in meeting the demands for highly skilled labour supply. The research explored current and emerging models of employment-based training to propose more effective models at higher VET qualifications that can maintain a balance between institution and work-based learning.