India and Australia : Re-establishing old links

The author explores the age-old trade links between two British colonies, Australia and India. The influence of this trade on the culture and practices that developed in Australian society are discussed.

Study of the Geelong Local Learning and Employment Network

In common with many Western nations, Australian governments, both state and federal, have increasingly embraced network-based approaches in responding to the effects of globalisation. Since 2001, thirty one Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLEN) have been established across all areas of Victoria, Australia in line with recommendations of a Ministerial Review into Post Compulsory Education and Training Pathways. That review reported that, in the globalised context, youth in transition from schooling to independence faced persistent and severe difficulties unknown to previous generations; it also found problems were frequently concentrated in particular groups and regions. LLEN bring together the expertise and experience of local education providers, industry, community organisations, individuals and government organisations. As a result of their local decisions, collaboration and community building efforts it is intended that opportunities for young people will be enhanced. My research was conducted within an Australian Research Council Linkage Project awarded to Deakin University Faculty of Education in partnership with the Smart Geelong Region LLEN (SGR LLEN). The Linkage Project included two separate research components one of which forms my thesis: a case study of SGR LLEN. My data was generated through participant observation in SGR LLEN throughout 2004 and 2005 and through interviews, reflective writing and archival review. In undertaking my analysis and presenting my thesis I have chosen to weave a series of panels whose orientation is poststructural. This approach was based in my acceptance that all knowledge is partial and fragmentary and, accordingly, researchers need to find ways that highlight the intersections in and indeterminacy of their empirical data. The LLEN is -by its nature as a network -more than the contractual entity that gains funding from government, acts as the administrative core and occupies the LLEN office. As such I have woven firstly the formation and operational structure of the bounded entity that is SGR LLEN before weaving a series of six images that portray the unbounded LLEN as an instance-in-action. The thesis draws its theoretical inspiration from the work of Deleuze and Guattari (1987). Despite increased use of notions of networks, local decision-making and community building by governments there had been little empirical research that explored stakeholder understandings of networks and their role in community building as well as a lack of theorisation of how networks actually ‘work.’ My research addresses this lack and suggests an instituted network can function as a learning community capable of fostering systemic change in the post compulsory education training and employment sector and thereby contributing to better opportunities for young people. However the full potential of the policy is undermined by the reluctance of governments to follow through on the implications of their policies and, in particular, to confront the limiting effects of performativity at all levels.

Communication and meaning : the first year experience of off-campus study

The substantive field of the thesis is the sociology of distance education. The issues investigated centre on the relationship between off-campus students and the institutions of higher education with which they enrol, in which the first year experience is construed as an encounter between the students’ personal contexts and institutional cultures. A theoretical framework is constructed which synthcsises elements of phenomenology, hermeneutics and feminist theory. The author reports research into the way a small sample of people experienced off-campus study. The students selected resided in Victoria, Australia, and were enrolled with one of two Victorian tertiary institutions: the (then) Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education and Deakin University. Using a case study approach, the subjective experiences of the students were studied by means of a series of interviews which took place at their homes or places of employment in the period January 1988 to November 1989. Methodological issues relating to the application of hermeneutic principles to the use of interviews in educational research are explored. The results of the interpretation of the interview material are presented in terms of an integrationist model of socialisation. The thesis argued is that certain theoretical and practical issues in distance education are best understood as social and cultural phenomena rather than as technical problems. The implications of the findings about the effects of gender and culture on student experience are discussed in relation to the issues of access and equity, student support, and models of teaching and learning.

Integration at Harryson Primary School : a study of aspects of a primary school's involvement in the integration of students with disabilities into its programs

The integration of students with disabilities, impairments and problems in schooling has been stated government policy in the Victorian education system since 1984. Many schools have become involved in programs whereby students with varying disabilities have participated in the educational and social lives of their local school. This research details one primary school's experiences with the integration program. The involvement of teachers, parents, students, integration aide and principal in mutually supportive roles is described. The role of the Integration Support Group is highlighted. The participation of the students being integrated and their non-disabled peers is described in detail. The roles of the principal, the integration aide and the Integration Support Group are found to be crucial in this school's program.

Continuity and change at C.B.C. : an ethnography of a Catholic Brothers School in Australian society

This thesis is an ethnographic investigation of a Catholic Brothers school, Christian Brothers College (C.B.C.), in the provincial city of Newburyport, Australia* The study explores the traditions and historical purposes of education at the independent, religious school, and examines the manner in which these have changed or are changing. All names, including the name of the school and the city, have been altered to preserve anonymity. The opening section discusses the emergence of the theoretical problem of the dialectic of change and continuity in the ongoing activity of C.B.C. actors. This is followed by an argument that an understanding of such activity requires an ethnographic perspective. Such a perspective, however, must not overlook the organisational and structural constraints within which participants operate. Hence, a critical ethnography, which takes account of both the agency of human actors and the structures which influence their activity, is advocated as the most suitable approach for understanding continuity and change within a complex organisation in its social context. This argument is followed by an ethnographic account of Christian Brothers College, which focuses on the perceptions and activities of teachers and administrators, Individual chapters deal with the Christian Brothers Order and its educational mission at C.B.C.; the nature of religious education at the school; the administration of the school; approaches to control and discipline; the curriculum and evaluation of pupils; and the relationship between C.B.C. and the wider Newburyport community. The concluding section integrates an analysis of continuity and change at C.B.C. with a discussion of theoretical perspectives on reproduction and transformation. The thesis concludes that, although change has occurred in many ways, an institutionalised image of C.B.C. as 'Brothers’ school'persists and impedes the formation of more democratic authority relations, curriculum, and evaluation. The potential for such change, however, is seen most strongly in the ongoing reform of religious education.

Definition and quantification of assets

The word ‘asset’ was originally taken into the English language, from the Latin ‘ad satis’ and French ‘asez’, as a term used at law meaning sufficient estate or effects to discharge debts. It later came to be used in the sense of property available for the payment of debts. Assets were understood to be property (objects owned and rights of ownership) that could be exchanged for cash. The importance of factual knowledge of the money equivalents of property and debts, in managing mercantile affairs, was emphasised in accounting manuals during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The rights of investors and creditors to factual up-to-date information about the financial state of affairs of companies, given the advent of limited liability, underscored the early company legislation that required the preparation and auditing of statements of property and debts. During the latter part of the nineteenth century the emphasis in accounting moved away from assets as exchangeable property to assets as deferred costs. Expectations took the place of observables. The abstract (expectational) notion of assets as ‘future economic benefits’ was embraced by accountants in the absence of rigorous definitions of the elements and functions of dated statements of financial position and performance. Assets are quantified financially by a heterogeneous mass of potentially inconsistent rules that, by and large, have no regard for the empirical nature of measurement. Consequently, accountants have failed to provide the community with up-to-date factual information about the financial state of affairs and performance of business entities - and, hence, with an informative basis for financial action.

Cyber bullying and cyber safety

Cyberbullying is a concern for governments, educational authorities, teachers, parents and children alike. Using technology (i.e. mobile phones, emails, instant messaging, blogs, websites) to annoy, harass, intimidate, abuse or threaten others has become known as cyberbullying.

E-learning in the university : some constructionist perspectives

This title brings together stories of research and practice concerning online learning across a large, disparate and evolving university. In different ways, contributors explore the extent to which emerging technologies engage with issues of identity, and of community. In doing so, each contributes to a broader conversation about whether we are experiencing a change in the very nature of learning, and in how we see ourselves, as both teachers and learners. The text is intended for academics and students who share an interest in exploring both the possibilities and limitations of e-learning in post-compulsory contexts.