Practical Transformations and Transformational Practices : Globalization, Postmodernism, and Early Childhood Education : Advances in Early Education and Day Care

Both traditional and progressive curricula are inadequate for the task of responding to the economic, political, social, and cultural changes that have occurred as a result of globalization. This book documents some of the ongoing work occurring in early childhood settings that is aimed at improving, and ultimately transforming, early childhood practice in these changed and changing times. The authors do not simply critique developmental approaches or the increasing standardization of the field. Instead, they describe how they are playing around with postmodern ideas in practice and developing unique approaches to the diverse educational circumstances that confront early childhood educators. Whether it is preparing teachers, using materials, or developing policies, each chapter provides readers with possibilities for enacting pedagogies that are responsive to the contemporary circumstances shaping the lives of young children.

Effects and feasibility of a multi-disciplinary orientation program for newly registered cancer patients : design of a randomised controlled trial

Background Diagnosis and treatment of cancer can contribute to psychological distress and anxiety amongst patients. Evidence indicates that information giving can be beneficial in reducing patient anxiety, so oncology specific information may have a major impact on this patient group. This study investigates the effects of an orientation program on levels of anxiety and self-efficacy amongst newly registered cancer patients who are about to undergo chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy in the cancer care centre of a large tertiary Australian hospital. Methods The concept of interventions for orienting new cancer patients needs revisiting due to the dynamic health care system. Historically, most orientation programs at this cancer centre were conducted by one nurse. A randomised controlled trial has been designed to test the effectiveness of an orientation program with bundled interventions; a face-to-face program which includes introduction to the hospital facilities, introduction to the multi-disciplinary team and an overview of treatment side effects and self care strategies. The aim is to orientate patients to the cancer centre and to meet the health care team. We hypothesize that patients who receive this orientation will experience lower levels of anxiety and distress, and a higher level of self-efficacy. Discussion An orientation program is a common health care service provided by cancer care centres for new cancer patients. Such programs aim to give information to patients at the beginning of their encounter at a cancer care centre. It is clear in the literature that interventions that aim to improve self-efficacy in patients may demonstrate potential improvement in health outcomes. Yet, evidence on the effects of orientation programs for cancer patients on self-efficacy remains scarce, particularly with respect to the use of multidisciplinary team members. This paper presents the design of a randomised controlled trial that will evaluate the effects and feasibility of a multidisciplinary orientation program for new cancer patients.

Strategic short termism as an issue of top-teams’ temporal orientation

Short-termism among firms, the tendency to excessively discount long-term benefits and favour less valuable short-term benefits, has been a prominent issue in business and public policy debates but research to date has been inconclusive. We study how managers frame, interpret, and resolve problems of intertemporal choice in actual decisions by using computer aided text analysis to measure the frequency of top-team temporal references in 1653 listed Australian firms between 1992-2005. Contrary to short-termism arguments we find evidence of a significant general increase in Future orientation and a significant decrease in Current/Past orientation. We also show top-teams’ temporal orientation is related to their strategic orientation, specifically the extent to which they focus on Innovation-Expansion and Capacity Building.

Globalization, frontier masculinities and violence : booze, blokes and brawls

Over the last two decades, two new trajectories have taken hold in criminology - the study of masculinity and crime, after a century of neglect, and the geography of crime. This article brings both those fields together to analyse the impact of globalisation in the resources sector on frontier cultures of violence. This paper approaches this issue through a case study of frontier masculinities and violence in communities at the forefront of generating resource extraction for global economies. This paper argues that the high rates of violence among men living in work camps in these socio-spatial contexts cannot simply be understood as individualised expressions of psycho-pathological deficit or social disorganisation. Explanations for these patterns of violence must also consider a number of key subterranean convergences between globalising processes and the social dynamics of male-on-male violence in such settings.

The Sociology of Cosmopolitanism:Globalization, Identity, Culture and Government

The dream of a cosmopolitical utopia has been around for thousands of years. Yet the promise of being locally situated and at the same time globally connected and mobile has never seemed more possible than it is today. The question remains as to whether it is positive and realistic for us to have multiple loyalties. Can we sustain community and solidarity with our neighbours while we look beyond our nation? And if we can't - or won't – consider distant strangers as part of our own world, are there increasingly dire consequences? This book reconnects classical sociological theory and contemporary ideas on mobility, otherness, material assemblages, consumption and surveillance to render the idea of a global cosmopolitan utopia amenable to sociological investigation. The book takes a realistic approach to the development of cosmopolitical arrangements. It embraces the imaginative impulses the cosmopolitan dream provides, but takes into account the political, ethical and cultural dimensions of such cosmopolitan developments. In revisiting the relevance of classical sociological approaches in the context of contemporary theoretical challenges, the distinctive approach this book takes to understanding cosmopolitanism will be of use to scholars and students alike.

Art and the sublime : the paradox of indeterminacy unknowing and (dis)orientation in the presentation of the unpresentable

the (dis)orientation of thought in its encounter with art can be understood as the direct result of an encounter with indeterminacy as a lack in meaning. As an artist I am aware of how this indeterminacy impacts on the perceived value and authority of the artistic voice and in particular its value as a research voice. This paper explores this indeterminacy of meaning, as a profound and disturbing unknowing characteristic of the sublime and argues its value to advanced thought and for any methodological understanding of practice-led research. Lyotard described the sublime as an ‘understanding’ through which art and its associated practices may be able to resist an all too easy assimilation by the public as just a consumer commodity. His thought represents an attempt to both politically and philosophically understand art’s, and particularly abstract painting’s, affect as a state of profound and positive unknowing. To talk of the sublime in art is to speak of the suspension of any comfortable certainty in being and instead to engage with the real as a limit to meaning and knowing. It is to talk of the presentation of the unpresentable as a momentary but significant dissolution of representation. This understanding of the sublime is then further explored through the cultural phenomena of the monochrome painting and applied to the work of the two contemporary artists, Franz Erhard Walter and Günter Umberg. Initially the monochrome was understood as an attempt to go beyond traditional representation and present the unpresentable. In the one hundred years or so since that initial move this understanding has broadened. The monochrome now presents itself as a genre or even project within visual art but it still has much to teach us. In the concretely abstract and performative artworks of Franz Erhard Walter and Günter Umberg, traces of this ambition remain and their work can be seen to pose questions probing our understandings and experiences of artistic meaning, its value and the real.

Internal market orientation construct and consequences

Research in services has long recognized the need for managers to focus internally on employees as well as externally on customers. This internal focus is the domain of internal marketing. Despite over 2 decades of discussion of internal marketing, most operationalizations of marketing are grounded in ideas of product markets and remain resolutely focused on the external market, ignoring the internal focus necessary in services markets. Such operationalizations of marketing are outdated in modern markets where most purchases involve a combination of product and service elements, and, in the long term, service quality may be more important than product quality to the consumer. This paper reconceptualizes marketing and develops a new construct, ‘internal market orientation’ (IMO), which closely parallels and complements existing models of external market orientation. The relationship between internal and external market orientations is explored, and the performance implications of IMO are discussed. A second model of these proposed relationships is presented with implications for managers and recommendations for future research.

Influence of smectite suspension structure on sheet orientation in dry sediments : XRD and AFM applications

The structure-building phenomena within clay aggregates are governed by forces acting between clay particles. Measurements of such forces are important to understand in order to manipulate the aggregate structure for applications such as dewatering of mineral processing tailings. A parallel particle orientation is required when conducting XRD investigation on the oriented samples and conduct force measurements acting between basal planes of clay mineral platelets using at. force microscopy (AFM). To investigate how smectite clay platelets were oriented on silicon wafer substrate when dried from suspension range of methods like SEM, XRD and AFM were employed. From these investigations, we conclude that high clay concns. and larger particle diams. (up to 5 μm) in suspension result in random orientation of platelets in the substrate. The best possible laminar orientation in the clay dry film, represented in the XRD 0 0 1/0 2 0 intensity ratio of 47 was obtained by drying thin layers from 0.02 wt.% clay suspensions of the natural pH. Conducted AFM investigations show that smectite studied in water based electrolytes show very long-range repulsive forces lower in strength than electrostatic forces from double-layer repulsion. It was suggested that these forces may have structural nature. Smectite surface layers rehydrate in water environment forms surface gel with spongy and cellular texture which cushion approaching AFM probe. This structural effect can be measured in distances larger than 1000 nm from substrate surface and when probe penetrate this gel layer, structural linkages are forming between substrate and clay covered probe. These linkages prevent subsequently smooth detachments of AFM probe on way back when retrieval. This effect of tearing new formed structure apart involves larger adhesion-like forces measured in retrieval. It is also suggested that these effect may be enhanced by the nano-clay particles interaction.

Regulating corporate governance in China and Hong Kong : do Chinese values and ethics have a place in the age of globalization?

Much has been said about the convergence of corporate governance and regulations. The underlying assumptions of this phenomenon are driven by globalisation and the dominance of the Anglo-US model of corporate governance. Since the Asian crisis in 1997, Hong Kong and perhaps to a less extend Mainland China, had amended both Company laws and Stock Exchange Listing Rules obligations, arguably, mirroring provisions and rules in the UK and US. However, there has been a small amount of literature in law drawing from cross cultural management asking the question - is Western governance and regulation appropriate for the East? This paper will approach this issue from a different mindset, instead of drawing distinctions about East and West, a meta-regulatory framework will attempt to incorporate Western ‗hard‘ and ‗soft‘ laws with Asian ethical values. The aim is to combine laws and ethics thereby enhancing corporate governance and, improve compliance of those rules by adapting Chinese ethical values like Confucianism into the regulatory system. The overarching goal of this exercise is to adapt the wisdom of Chinese ethics into regulatory guidelines to suit the modern global market.

The Impact of Globalization and Corruption on Extraordinary Wealth: An Empirical Analysis

The billionaires of the world attract significant attention from the media and the public. The popular press is full of books selling formulas on how to become rich. Surprisingly, only a limited number of studies have explored empirically the determinants of extraordinary wealth. Using a large data set we explore whether globalization and corruption affect extreme wealth accumulation. We find evidence that an increase in globalization increases super-richness. In addition, we also find that an increase in corruption leads to an increase in the creation of super fortune. This supports the argument that in kleptocracies large sums are transferred into the hands of a small group of individuals.

Studying the effect of market orientation and organisational culture on a brand’s performance

It is now well accepted that effective implementation of market orientation leads to superior performance. This paper theorises that market orientation and an innovative culture enable organisations to achieve higher brand performance. To test this proposition data were gathered from a sample of firms across a range of industries. The results support the premise that market orientation and innovative cultures improve brand performance and that innovative culture influences market orientation. The results also indicate that innovative culture is the stronger driver of brand performance over market orientation.

Willingness to buy GM food products : the role of uncertainty orientation, consumer risk perceptions and information search in consumers from Australia

Genetically modified (GM) food products are the source of much controversy and in the context of consumer behaviour, the way in which consumers perceive such food products is of paramount importance both theoretically and practically. Despite this, relatively little research has focused on GM food products from a consumer perspective, and as such, this study seeks to better understand what effects consumer willingness to buy GM food products in Australian consumers.

Automatic calibration of a spiking head-direction network for representing robot orientation

Calibration of movement tracking systems is a difficult problem faced by both animals and robots. The ability to continuously calibrate changing systems is essential for animals as they grow or are injured, and highly desirable for robot control or mapping systems due to the possibility of component wear, modification, damage and their deployment on varied robotic platforms. In this paper we use inspiration from the animal head direction tracking system to implement a self-calibrating, neurally-based robot orientation tracking system. Using real robot data we demonstrate how the system can remove tracking drift and learn to consistently track rotation over a large range of velocities. The neural tracking system provides the first steps towards a fully neural SLAM system with improved practical applicability through selftuning and adaptation.