Feeling the pressure: Early childhood educators’ reported views about learning and teaching phonics in Australian prior-to-school settings

Early childhood educators’ beliefs about literacy teaching can impact on the types of phonics experiences educators provide for children in prior-to-school settings. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework supports a play-based, intentional approach to teaching phonics, however little is known about what Australian early childhood educators believe is important in teaching phonics in the prior-to-school years. Using a qualitative content analysis, this research study investigates 115 early childhood educators’ views about how phonics should be taught and the use of commercially produced phonics programs (e.g. Jolly Phonics and Letterland) in prior-to-school settings. This study further investigates educators’ perceived pressures to include structured phonics lessons, as a way of addressing parental notions of ‘school readiness’. The results of this study indicate conflicting views were held about how phonics should be taught. Some educators also experienced external pressures to engage in literacy practices that may be in opposition with their own beliefs about how literacy is learnt. This study provides insights into the pedagogical practices early childhood educators believe are appropriate when teaching phonics. The educational implications are discussed.

Evaluating unmanned aircraft systems for deployment in plant biosecurity

This report provides a qualitative evaluation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and on-board sensor technology for use in plant biosecurity in the Australian context. The more general term UAS describes both the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and all supporting components required to operate it. This may include a ground station, operator or pilot, and a launch and recovery device for example. The focus is to identify how and under what circumstances UAS may be useful for plant biosecurity. This can be used to help guide future decisions regarding investment in UAS for plant biosecurity.

The largest Au deposits in the St Ives Goldfield (Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia) may be located in a major Neoarchean volcano-sedimentary depo-centre

The largest Neoarchean gold deposits in the world-class St Ives Goldfield, Western Australia, occur in an area known as the Argo-Junction region (e.g. Junction, Argo and Athena). Why this region is so well endowed with large deposits compared with other parts of the St Ives Goldfield is currently unclear, because gold deposits at St Ives are hosted by a variety of lithologic units and were formed during at least three different deformational events. This paper presents an investigation into the stratigraphic architecture and evolution of the Argo-Junction region to assess its implications for gold metallogenesis. The results show that the region's stratigraphy may be subdivided into five regionally correlatable packages: mafic lavas of the Paringa Basalt; contemporaneously resedimented feldspar-rich pyroclastic debris of the Early Black Flag Group; coarse polymictic volcanic debris of the Late Black Flag Group; thick piles of mafic lavas and sub-volcanic sills of the Athena Basalt and Condenser Dolerite; and the voluminous quartz-rich sedimentary successions of the Early Merougil Group. In the Argo-Junction region, these units have an interpreted maximum thickness of at least 7,130 m, and thus represent an unusually thick accumulation of the Neoarchean volcano-sedimentary successions. It is postulated that major basin-forming structures that were active during deposition and emplacement of the voluminous successions later acted as important conduits during mineralisation. Therefore, a correlation exists between the location of the largest gold deposits in the St Ives Goldfield and the thickest parts of the stratigraphy. Recognition of this association has important implications for camp-scale exploration.

Low δ18O zircons from the Bruneau-­Jarbidge eruptive center: A key to crustal anatexis along the track of the Yellowstone hotspot

The Bruneau-Jarbidge eruptive center (BJEC) in the central Snake River Plain, Idaho, USA consists of the Cougar Point Tuff (CPT), a series of ten, high-temperature (900-1000°C) voluminous ignimbrites produced over the explosive phase of volcanism (12.8-10.5 Ma) and more than a dozen equally high-temperature rhyolite lava flows produced during the effusive phase (10.5-8 Ma). Spot analyses by ion microprobe of oxygen isotope ratios in 210 zircons demonstrate that all of the eruptive units of the BJEC are characterized by zircon δ¹⁸O values ≤ 2.5‰, thus documenting the largest low δ¹⁸O silicic volcanic province known on Earth (>10⁴ km³). There is no evidence for voluminous normal δ¹⁸O magmatism at the BJEC that precedes generation of low δ¹⁸O magmas as there is at other volcanic centers that generate low δ¹⁸O magmas such as Heise and Yellowstone. At these younger volcanic centers of the hotspot track, such low δ¹⁸O magmas represent ~45 % and ~20% respectively of total eruptive volumes. Zircons in all BJEC tuffs and lavas studied (23 units) document strong δ¹⁸O depletion (median CPT δ¹⁸OZrc = 1.0‰, post-CPT lavas = 1.5‰) with the third member of the CPT recording an excursion to minimum δ¹⁸O values (δ¹⁸OZrc= -1.8‰) in a supereruption > 2‰ lower than other voluminous low δ¹⁸O rhyolites known worldwide (δ¹⁸OWR ≤0.9 vs. 3.4‰). Subsequent units of the CPT and lavas record a progressive recovery in δ¹⁸OZrc to ~2.5‰ over a ~ 4 m.y. interval (12 to 8 Ma). We present detailed evidence of unit-to-unit systematic patterns in O isotopic zoning in zircons (i.e. direction and magnitude of Δcore-rim), spectrum of δ¹⁸O in individual units, and zircon inheritance patterns established by re-analysis of spots for U-Th-Pb isotopes by LA-ICPMS and SHRIMP. In conjunction with mineral thermometry and magma compositions, these patterns are difficult to reconcile with the well-established model for "cannibalistic" low δ¹⁸O magma genesis at Heise and Yellowstone. We present an alternative model for the central Snake River Plain using the modeling results of Leeman et al. (2008) for ¹⁸O depletion as a function of depth in a mid-upper crustal protolith that was hydrothermally altered by infiltrating meteoric waters prior to the onset of silicic magmatism. The model proposes that BJEC silicic magmas were generated in response to the propagation of a melting front, driven by the incremental growth of a vast underlying mafic sill complex, over a ~5 m.y. interval through a crustal volume in which a vertically asymmetric δ¹⁸OWR gradient had previously developed that was sharply inflected from ~ -1 to 10‰ at mid-upper crustal depths. Within the context of the model, data from BJEC zircons are consistent with incremental melting and mixing events in roof zones of magma reservoirs that accompany surfaceward advance of the coupled mafic-silicic magmatic system.

Multiple sulfur isotope analyses support a magmatic model for the volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the Teutonic Bore volcanic complex, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

We report sensitive high mass resolution ion microprobe, stable isotopes (SHRIMP SI) multiple sulfur isotope analyses (32S, 33S, 34S) to constrain the sources of sulfur in three Archean VMS deposits—Teutonic Bore, Bentley, and Jaguar—from the Teutonic Bore volcanic complex of the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, together with sedimentary pyrites from associated black shales and interpillow pyrites. The pyrites from VMS mineralization are dominated by mantle sulfur but include a small amount of slightly negative mass-independent fractionation (MIF) anomalies, whereas sulfur from the pyrites in the sedimentary rocks has pronounced positive MIF, with ∆33S values that lie between 0.19 and 6.20‰ (with one outlier at −1.62‰). The wall rocks to the mineralization include sedimentary rocks that have contributed no detectable positive MIF sulfur to the VMS deposits, which is difficult to reconcile with the leaching model for the formation of these deposits. The sulfur isotope data are best explained by mixing between sulfur derived from a magmatic-hydrothermal fluid and seawater sulfur as represented by the interpillow pyrites. The massive sulfide lens pyrites have a weighted mean ∆33S value of −0.27 ± 0.05‰ (MSWD = 1.6) nearly identical with −0.31 ± 0.08‰ (MSWD = 2.4) for pyrites from the stringer zone, which requires mixing to have occurred below the sea floor. We employed a two-component mixing model to estimate the contribution of seawater sulfur to the total sulfur budget of the two Teutonic Bore volcanic complex VMS deposits. The results are 15 to 18% for both Teutonic Bore and Bentley, much higher than the 3% obtained by Jamieson et al. (2013) for the giant Kidd Creek deposit. Similar calculations, carried out for other Neoarchean VMS deposits give value between 2% and 30%, which are similar to modern hydrothermal VMS deposits. We suggest that multiple sulfur isotope analyses may be used to predict the size of Archean VMS deposits and to provide a vector to ore deposit but further studies are needed to test these suggestions.

Policies and Procedures to Address Bullying at Australian Universities

While bullying is often researched in children and adolescents and in the workplace, there is limited research in the emerging adult population, especially in students at university. This is perhaps due to the fact that bullying generally declines as children and young people become older (e.g., Nansel et al., 2001; Wang, Iannotti, & Nansel, 2009). Although this may indeed be the case, it is apparent that bullying does not completely abate when students graduate from high school. The plethora of literature evidencing workplace bullying, clearly shows that bullying continues beyond the school years (e.g., Hoel, Cooper, & Faragher, 2001; Privitera & Campbell, 2009). With the advent of cyberbullying in the last decade it has been shown that this particular form of bullying may not decrease with age as does traditional bullying (Kowalski & Limber, 2007; Raskauskas & Stoltz, 2007). In addition, we know there is a spike in prevalence rates during the transition from primary to high school Pellegrini et al., 2010), so it is possible that new university students are at an increased risk of victimisation due to this being a transition period. This has led to some interest in examining the prevalence of bullying in the emerging adult population at universities (Chapell, Casey, & de la Cruz, 2004; Pontzer, 2010; Wensley & Campbell, 2009).

Does Social Anxiety and Bullying Victimization Create Loneliness in Young People?

Loneliness is a distressing, complex, universal phenomena. This chapter focuses on loneliness in children and adolescents, specifically examining research on the relationship between young people’s social anxiety and loneliness and the role of bullying victimisation and loneliness. It answers the question does social anxiety and bullying victimization create loneliness in young people. It was found from a review of the literature that all three concepts are distinct yet inextricably intertwined as antecedents and consequences of each other. The constructs are bi-directional, often forming a feedback loop or negative cycle. In addition these variables can also be mediating and moderating variables. Implications for interventions are discussed.

Children and Adolescents Coping with Loneliness

This chapter examines the ways young people cope with loneliness and the influences on these coping strategies. Loneliness is a distressing, complex and universal phenomena. It is an absence of fulfilling social relationships. Children, adolescents and young adults experience loneliness with an estimated 10-20% of young people experiencing continuous or recurrent feelings of loneliness (Perlman & Landolt, 1999). While there is a body of research examining how adults cope with loneliness there is scant research on how children and adolescents try to alleviate this unpleasant feeling. In this chapter definitions of coping are examined and different theoretical bases of coping are explored. Measurement issues with this population are discussed and implications for future research and for professionals helping young people are provided.

School counsellors' and students' attitudes to online counselling: A qualitative study

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted to examine the perceptions and attitudes of both school counsellors and students to online counselling. Focus groups were conducted with two groups of school counsellors and six groups of secondary students. It was found that counsellors were hesitant to use online counselling because they were not convinced that it was effective and without the necessary online skills, they were concerned they would not be competent to deal with potential litigious and security pitfalls. Students were generally positive about the opportunity to access the school counsellor online. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Exploring students' coping strategy intentions for cyberbullying

Most of the published research on cyberbullying has been conducted with children and adolescents, so little is known about cyberbullying in other populations. This study examined cyberbullying within an emerging adult population in a university setting (N = 282), and explored what coping strategies these individuals intended to use in response to future cyberbullying incidents. Blocking of the sender of the bullying message was found to be the most frequent intention to cope with cyberbullying among these emerging adults. It was also found that both gender and victimisation status (i.e., whether the emerging adult had, in the preceding twelve months, been a victim of cyberbullying) influenced coping strategy intentions. The implications for practice and future research are discussed.

University students' intentions to report cyberbullying

Little is known about the prevalence of cyberbullying among university students and less about whether they utilise anti-bullying policies. However, failure to report cyberbullying incidents to authorities would lessen the efficacy of these policies. This study investigated the prevalence of cyberbullying among university students and their reporting intentions for cyberbullying incidents. Two hundred and eighty- two students completed a survey on their intentions to report cyberbullying. Results found cyberbullying exists among university students and they would report to authorities if the policy outlined specific information. Students who had been cyber victimised were more likely to report than those students who had not been cyberbullied. Implications for universities are discussed.

Mothers' perception of the quality of childhood sibling relationships affected by disability

The quality of the sibling relationship has an important role in the development of psychosocial skills throughout childhood. While the literature suggests that the significance of sibling relationships is heightened when one sibling has a disability, empirical findings about the quality of these relationships are few and inconsistent. The present study aimed to address this gap, by investigating mothers’ perspectives about the impact of disability on the quality of the childhood sibling relationship. Forty-one mothers with a child with disability, and 48 with no children with disability completed an online questionnaire that assessed the amount of perceived warmth/closeness and conflict in their children’s sibling relationship. It was found that while there were no differences in reported conflict between the two groups, mothers with a child with disability reported significantly lower warmth/closeness in their children’s sibling relationship than mothers without a child with disability. Demographic variables such as number of children, gender grouping, target gender, target age and age order did not moderate this result. Mothers overall reported significantly more warmth/closeness for younger rather than older children, and more conflict when the sibling was younger than the target child as opposed to older than them. Clinical implications for intervention are discussed.

Australian pre-service teachers' Knowledge and understanding of cyberbullying: Implications for school climate

The beliefs, attitudes and understandings of pre-service teachers towards bullying and more recently, cyberbullying remains unclear. Previous studies have found them to be generally lacking confidence to address bullying, which could impact negatively on school climate if, when they enter the profession, these beliefs undermine existing anti-bullying initiatives. This study explores Australian pre-service teachers' (N= 717) understanding and knowledge of traditional bullying and cyberbullying and their confidence and capacity to deal with it. Findings from self-report, anonymous questionnaires from students attending three universities in Australia indicated that two thirds (66%) of current pre-service teachers felt informed to very informed and capable to very capable (62%) of dealing with school bullying and 90% could discern cyber and traditional bullying behaviours from other online and offline aggressive acts. Gender and Year level differences were found. The potential impact of their knowledge and understanding of bullying and cyberbullying on school climate, and sustaining and maintaining anti-bullying interventions as they enter the profession is discussed.

Correlates of traditional bullying and cyberbullying perpetration among Australian students

This study investigated the associations of gender, age, trait anger, moral disengagement, witnessing of interparental conflict, school connectedness and the religious makeup of the school setting in the involvement in traditional bullying and cyberbullying perpetration. Five hundred Australian students completed an anonymous self-report, paper-based questionnaire. According to the results, 25.2% of the participants reported having engaged in traditional or cyberbullying perpetration. While trait anger and moral disengagement were associated with being a traditional bully, trait anger, interparental conflicts, moral disengagement and school connectedness were associated with being a traditional bully-victim. Additionally, trait anger and moral disengagement were associated with being a traditional-and-a-cyberbully. Our findings indicated that besides individual variables, the family and school environment have an impact on traditional and cyberbullying perpetration behavior. Results imply that any prevention attempts to reduce traditional and cyberbullying should consider students’ experiences both at home and at school.