What young children say about art : a comparative study

Given the opportunities, young children can be prolific in their productions of drawings and paintings. In the study reported in this paper, we had two questions about this. Why do young children draw and paint? And, what does this prolific activity do? We consider that particular ways of seeing art position children, and children use their artistic activities to position themselves, producing their identities. We interviewed a group of children in Hong Kong, aged between 4 and 5 years, (n=27), and a group of children in Brisbane, Australia, who were of similar ages (n=15). The cross-cultural dimension added another dimension to our thinking and conversations around art and young children.

Rolling in the aisles : a comparative study of male and female grocery shopper typologies

The purpose of this paper is to segment male and female grocery shoppers based on store and product attribute evaluations. A rich profile for each segment is developed. Gender comparisons are operationalised and these developed contemporary shopper typologies are further contrasted against earlier works. Data of 560 grocery shoppers was attained by a survey questionnaire. Factor analysis, cluster analysis and ANOVA were employed to develop specific segments of shoppers. Four distinct cohorts of male shoppers and three cohorts of female shoppers emerge from the data of eight constructs, measured by 46 items. One new shopper type, not found in earlier typology literature, emerged from this research. This shopper presented as a young, well educated, at the commencement of their career and family lifecycle, attracted by a strong value offer and willingness to share the family food shopping responsibilities. This research makes a contribution to segmentation literature and grocery retail practice in several ways. It presents the first retail typology of male supermarket shoppers, employing a cluster analysis technique. Comparisons between male and female grocery shopping typologies are accordingly facilitated. The research provides insights into the modern family food shopping behaviour of men; a channel in which men are now recognised as equal contributors. Research outcomes encourage supermarket retailers to implement targeted marketing and rationalized operational strategies that deliver on attributes of importance. Finally, this research provides the basis for further cross-cultural, cross-contextual comparative studies.

The financial services cultural orientation matrix

With saturation within domestic marketplaces and increased growth opportunities overseas, many financial service providers are investing in foreign markets. However, cultural attitudes towards money can present market entry challenges to financial service providers. The industry would therefore benefit from a strategic model that helps to align financial marketing mixes with the cultural dimensions of a foreign market. The Financial Services Cultural Orientation (FSCO) Matrix has therefore been designed, with three cultural dimensions identified which influence preference for financial products; preference for cash, aversion to debt and savings orientation. Based on a combination of these dimensions and their relative strength within a culture, eight different consumer segments for financial products are identified, and marketing strategies for each consumer segment are then proposed. Three cultural clusters from the GLOBE Project House et al. (2002) are used to highlight possible geographic markets for each of these consumer segments. In particular, this paper focuses on GLOBE’s Confucian Asia, Southern Asia and Anglo cultural clusters, as these clusters represent the most well established financial markets in the world and the fastest growing financial markets for the future. The FSCO Matrix provides the financial services industry with an innovative and practical tool for addressing cross-cultural challenges and developing successful marketing strategies for entry into foreign markets.

Engineering across cultures : new learning resources for intercultural competency in engineering

BACKGROUND The work described in this paper has emerged from an ALTC/OLT funded project, Exploring Intercultural Competency in Engineering. The project indentified many facets of culture and intercultural competence that go beyond a culture-as-nationality paradigm. It was clear from this work that resources were needed to help engineering educators introduce students to the complex issues of culture as they relate to engineering practice. A set of learning modules focussing on intercultural competence in engineering practice were developed early on in the project. Through the OLT project, these modules have been expanded into a range of resources covering various aspects of culture in engineering. Supporting the resources, an eBook detailing the ins and outs of intercultural competency has also been developed to assist engineering educators to embed opportunities for students to develop skills in unpacking and managing cross-cultural challenges in engineering practice. PURPOSE This paper describes the key principles behind the development of the learning modules, the areas they cover and the eBook developed to support the modules. The paper is intended as an introduction to the approaches and resources and extends an invitation to the community to draw from, and contribute to this initial work. DESIGN/METHOD A key aim of this project was to go beyond the culture-as-nationality approach adopted in much of the work around intercultural competency (Deardorff, 2011). The eBook explores different dimensions of culture such as workplace culture, culture’s influence on engineering design, and culture in the classroom. The authors describe how these connect to industry practice and explore what they mean for engineering education. The packaged learning modules described here have been developed as a matrix of approaches moving from familiar known methods through complicated activities relying to some extent on expert knowledge. Some modules draw on the concept of ‘complex un-order’ as described in the ‘Cynefin domains’ proposed by Kurtz and Snowden (2003). RESULTS Several of the modules included in the eBook have already been trialled at a variety of institutions. Feedback from staff has been reassuringly positive so far. Further trials are planned for second semester 2012, and version 1 of the eBook and learning modules, Engineering Across Cultures, is due to be released in late October 2012. CONCLUSIONS The Engineering Across Cultures eBook and learning modules provide a useful and ready to employ resource to help educators tackle the complex issue of intercultural competency in engineering education. The book is by no means exhaustive, and nor are the modules, they instead provide an accessible, engineering specific guide to bringing cultural issues into the engineering classroom.

Building intercultural competence one “Patch” at a time

This paper describes a program called Patches that was implemented to assist a group of Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers to enhance their intercultural competence through their involvement in a series of reciprocal learning activities. Each learning experience was considered a “patch” that eventually created a “quilt of intercultural learning.” The purpose of this study was to enhance the intercultural competence of domestic and international students through organized intercultural activities, through a series of reflective writing sessions, and mutual engagement on a common project. The effectiveness of the Patches program was analysed in accordance with Deardorff’s elements of intercultural competence. The qualitative findings indicate that both cohorts of preservice teachers showed elements of intercultural competence through participation in the program, with both groups reporting a deeper appreciation and understanding of how to communicate more effectively in intercultural contexts.

Teacher Reporting Attitudes Scale (TRAS): confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses with a Malaysian sample.

The Teacher Reporting Attitude Scale (TRAS) is a newly developed tool to assess teachers’ attitudes toward reporting child abuse and neglect. This article reports on an investigation of the factor structure and psychometric properties of the short form Malay version of the TRAS. A self-report cross-sectional survey was conducted with 667 teachers in 14 randomly selected schools in Selangor state, Malaysia. Analyses were conducted in a 3-stage process using both confirmatory (stages 1 and 3) and exploratory factor analyses (stage 2) to test, modify, and confirm the underlying factor structure of the TRAS in a non-Western teacher sample. Confirmatory factor analysis did not support a 3-factor model previously reported in the original TRAS study. Exploratory factor analysis revealed an 8-item, 4-factor structure. Further confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated appropriateness of the 4-factor structure. Reliability estimates for the four factors—commitment, value, concern, and confidence—were moderate. The modified short form TRAS (Malay version) has potential to be used as a simple tool for relatively quick assessment of teachers’ attitudes toward reporting child abuse and neglect. Cross-cultural differences in attitudes toward reporting may exist and the transferability of newly developed instruments to other populations should be evaluated.

A sociological quantitative study about Chineseness and Chinese heritage language for young Chinese Australian adults in urban Australia

The relationship between Heritage Language and ethnic identity has gained significant research ground in North America. However, there is a dearth of similar research conducted in other regions of the world. There seems to be little if any work investigating the link between Chinese Australians’ ethnic identity and their Chinese Heritage Language. This sociological quantitative study interpreted Chinese Australians’ “Chineseness” as their ethnic identity, linked this “Chineseness” to their Chinese Heritage Language, and did so by virtue of Bourdieu’s key concept ‘habitus’. 227 cases were analyzed by Structural Equation Modelling. The result demonstrated a statistically significant strong positive relationship between Chinese Australian urban young adults’ “Chineseness” and their self-perceptions of their Chinese Heritage Language proficiency (r=.73). This paper explained the findings in light of Bourdieu’s (1991) contention that people make choices about languages according to the habitus they have.

Evaluating the QUT Homestay Program : lessons learnt in providing quality services to international students

The QUT Homestay Program is an essential part of the university’s commitment to meet the accommodation needs of international students. Despite the importance of this style of accommodation, there is very little research addressing issues related to homestay arrangements. The program at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was evaluated in 2002 to develop a continuous improvement framework to ensure provision of quality homestay services to international students. This paper presents an overview of the evaluation and key lessons learnt in providing quality homestay services to international students. It will cover social and cross-cultural issues faced by providers and international students in the homestay environment, the homestay support needs, program information, policies, procedures and code of practice governing the program.

Heritage language for young Chinese Australian adults in urban Australia : Capital and habitus in fields

Studies of Heritage Language learners‟ commitment and their ethnic identity are increasing, yet there is scant sociological research addressing topics relating to Chinese Heritage Language learners. Drawing on Bourdieu‟s signature notions of „habitus‟, „capital‟, and „field‟, this mixed methods study investigates two problems: (1) impacts of “Chineseness” and accessible resources on Chinese Heritage Language proficiency of young Chinese Australian adults in urban Australia; and (2) the meanings of Chinese Heritage Language to these young people.

Research data finder : an institutional metadata repository

QUT’s new metadata repository (data registry), Research Data Finder, has been designed to promote the visibility and discoverability of QUT research datasets. Funded by the Australian National Data Service (ANDS), it will provide a qualitative snapshot of research data outputs created or collected by members of the QUT research community that are available via open or mediated access. As a fully integrated metadata repository Research Data Finder aligns with institutional sources of truth, such as QUT’s research administrative system, ResearchMaster, as well as QUT’s Academic Profiles system to provide high quality data descriptions that increase awareness of, and access to, shareable research data. In addition, the repository and its workflows are designed to foster smoother data management practices, enhance opportunities for collaboration and research, promote cross-disciplinary research and maximize existing research datasets. The metadata schema used in Research Data Finder is the Registry Interchange Format - Collections and Services (RIF-CS), developed by ANDS in 2009. This comprehensive schema is potentially complex for researchers; unlike metadata for publications, which are often made publicly available with the official publication, metadata for datasets are not typically available and need to be created. Research Data Finder uses a hybrid self-deposit and mediated deposit system. In addition to automated ingests from ResearchMaster (research project information) and Academic Profiles system (researcher information), shareable data is identified at a number of key “trigger points” in the research cycle. These include: research grant proposals; ethics applications; Data Management Plans; Liaison Librarian data interviews; and thesis submissions. These ingested records can be supplemented with related metadata including links to related publications, such as those in QUT ePrints. Records deposited in Research Data Finder are harvested by ANDS and made available to a national and international audience via Research Data Australia, ANDS’ discovery service for Australian research data. Researcher and research group metadata records are also harvested by the National Library of Australia (NLA) and these records are then published in Trove (the NLA’s digital information portal). By contributing records to the national infrastructure, QUT data will become more visible. Within Australia and internationally, many funding bodies have already mandated the open access of publications produced from publicly funded research projects, such as those supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC), or the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). QUT will be well placed to respond to the rapidly evolving climate of research data management. This project is supported by the Australian National Data Service (ANDS). ANDS is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy Program and the Education Investment Fund (EIF) Super Science Initiative.

A comparison of Chinese and Australian early childhood mathematics

In the 21st century mathematics proficiency is synonymous with a numerate citizenry. In the past few decades young children’s ability to reason mathematically and develop mathematical proficiencies has been recognised. This paper explores the history of early childhood mathematics (ECME) that may explicate differences in Chinese and Australian contexts. Results of this review established that China and Australia are diametrically positioned in ECME. Influencing each countries philosophies and practices are their cultural beliefs. ECME in China and Australia must be culturally sustainable to achieve excellent outcomes for young children. Ongoing critique and review is necessary to ensure that ECME is meeting the needs of all teachers and children in their particular context. China and Australia with their rich contrasting philosophies can assist each other in their journeys to create exemplary ECME for the 21st century.

Achieving at university and beyond : does it help to be good looking?

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between attitudes to academic achievement and post university success using perceptions of attractiveness, gender, ethnic identity, personality, and social acceptance as antecedents. Design/methodology/approach – An online questionnaire was completed by male (N=116) and female (N=126) university students from various cultural backgrounds. To evaluate the proposed relationships, multiple regression analysis was used. Findings – The findings suggest that attractiveness is related to attitudes to academic achievement and success through its association with social appeal and acceptance. Ethnic identity is also related to both academic achievement and post university success. Personality is not positively related to academic achievement. Finally, social acceptance is positively related to academic achievement for males and to success for females. Research limitations/implications – Whilst the survey targeted students from various cultural backgrounds studying in Australia, it did not look at university students from other countries. A cross-cultural perspective could reveal further differences in attitudes. Originality/value – This study links attractiveness and academic achievement theories. The findings have implications for tertiary institutions and suggest academics and policy-makers to vigorously promote core personality and values such as intelligence, communication skills, and sincerity, rather than allow superficial values such as attractiveness to be placed at the centre stage of students' endeavour.

Studying in Cuba, returning home to work : experiences of graduates from the English-speaking Caribbean

Cuba’s higher education scholarship program has received little attention in the literature on education and development. In this chapter, I discuss themes that emerge from my interviews with graduates from English-speaking Caribbean countries who studied in Cuba, as well as Cuban educators, on the nature of their academic programs and their subsequent careers. This facilitates exploration of a number of questions, including the following: 1. How, in the perceptions of scholarship students and graduates, have they experienced the philosophy of combing study, practical work, and research in the tertiary education curriculum in Cuban universities? 2. What impact does studying in Cuba appear to have on graduates after they return to their home countries? 3. How does the experience of the graduates throw light on the relationship between tertiary education and national development?

Introduction: Cuba's Capacity to Share

The Capacity to Share is the first book to document how Cubans share their highly developed educational services with other low-income states, especially those in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. A variety of international and Cuban authors break new ground in presenting this research. They investigate the experiences of people who have studied in Cuba on scholarships from the Cuban government, the implications for their home countries, and the work of Cuban teachers and administrators to support education in other countries. The authors discuss how the Cuban "solidarity" approach prioritizes global educational cooperation for mutual support, rather than imposing conditional aid. The book offers original and unusual insights into issues of culture, education, aid, development, and change as they relate to low-income states.

The Cuban Revolution and Internationalism: Structuring Education and Health

The Capacity to Share is the first book to document how Cubans share their highly developed educational services with other low-income states, especially those in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. A variety of international and Cuban authors break new ground in presenting this research. They investigate the experiences of people who have studied in Cuba on scholarships from the Cuban government, the implications for their home countries, and the work of Cuban teachers and administrators to support education in other countries. The authors discuss how the Cuban "solidarity" approach prioritizes global educational cooperation for mutual support, rather than imposing conditional aid. The book offers original and unusual insights into issues of culture, education, aid, development, and change as they relate to low-income states.