Teacher induction in Australia : a sample of what’s really happening

Retention rates and stress levels of beginning teachers are of concern. Well-planned induction programs can assist beginning teachers to make the transition successfully into the profession, which may increase retention rates. This qualitative, year-long study aims to explore and describe the induction experiences of eight beginning teachers as they negotiated their first year of teaching. Data gathered through interviews and emails indicated that these teachers required further development on: catering for individual differences, assessing in terms of outcomes, relating to parents, relating to the wider community, and understanding school policies; however, relating to students and understanding legal responsibilities and duty of care were not issues. At the conclusion of their first year only one beginning teacher was assisted by a mentor (veteran teacher) on whole-school programming, and planning for improving teaching with opportunities to visit other classrooms. This was also the only beginning teacher who received a reduced workload in order to meet with the mentor to discuss pedagogical developments. The inadequate support provided to beginning teachers in this study highlights the need for principals and school staff to reassess induction processes, which includes providing time, funding, mentoring support and clear guidelines for a quality induction program.

The Later Years

Chapter summary • The adolescent and work — Advantages of part-time work — Disadvantages of part-time work — Theory/literature re vocational issues — Influences on vocational choice — How do we prepare young people for thinking about work? • The Education and Training Reforms for the Future (ETRF) in Australia: Learning or earning — What these changes mean for young people — VET (Vocational Education and Training) • Summary • Key points • Further thinking • References Who we are, our self-concept and self-esteem, for many people is tied closely to what we do. Our profession, our employment and our ambitions define us in many ways. In our society we have not yet separated completely the notion of personal worth from social contribution and status. At Australian BBQs, a pretty staple question to ask is ‘So, what do you do?’ when meeting someone new. We are pretty tolerant with a range of responses to that question, but the bottom line is the notion that there ought to be a coherent answer. Adolescents know this, and as they try to define their identity/identities and launch into adulthood they are confronted with the great unknown, the world of work...

Electronic workplace surveillance and employee privacy : a comparative analysis of privacy protection in Australia and the United States

More than a century ago in their definitive work “The Right to Privacy” Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis highlighted the challenges posed to individual privacy by advancing technology. Today’s workplace is characterised by its reliance on computer technology, particularly the use of email and the Internet to perform critical business functions. Increasingly these and other workplace activities are the focus of monitoring by employers. There is little formal regulation of electronic monitoring in Australian or United States workplaces. Without reasonable limits or controls, this has the potential to adversely affect employees’ privacy rights. Australia has a history of legislating to protect privacy rights, whereas the United States has relied on a combination of constitutional guarantees, federal and state statutes, and the common law. This thesis examines a number of existing and proposed statutory and other workplace privacy laws in Australia and the United States. The analysis demonstrates that existing measures fail to adequately regulate monitoring or provide employees with suitable remedies where unjustifiable intrusions occur. The thesis ultimately supports the view that enacting uniform legislation at the national level provides a more effective and comprehensive solution for both employers and employees. Chapter One provides a general introduction and briefly discusses issues relevant to electronic monitoring in the workplace. Chapter Two contains an overview of privacy law as it relates to electronic monitoring in Australian and United States workplaces. In Chapter Three there is an examination of the complaint process and remedies available to a hypothetical employee (Mary) who is concerned about protecting her privacy rights at work. Chapter Four provides an analysis of the major themes emerging from the research, and also discusses the draft national uniform legislation. Chapter Five details the proposed legislation in the form of the Workplace Surveillance and Monitoring Act, and Chapter Six contains the conclusion.

Multi-victim sexual assault : a case study in rural Australia

Objective: There is a paucity of information regarding cases of multi-victim sexual assault of children. The reported incidence suggests that these cases are rare. The aim of this paper is to provide practitioners with information about effective intervention strategies arising out of the direct experience of managing a case of multi-victim sexual assault in an Australian rural community. --------- Method: A descriptive, case-report methodology summarizing the investigation and intervention in a case of multi-victim sexual assault is reported. A community based intervention arising out of the disclosures of 21 male children is described. The intervention occurred at an individual, group, and community level using a coordinated multi-disciplinary team and natural helping networks. ---------- Results: The coordination of police and welfare services increased the communication flow to victims, their families, and the community. The case also demonstrated the utility in regularly briefing political and bureaucratic authorities as well as local officials about emergent issues. Coordinating political and bureaucratic responses was essential in obtaining ongoing support and sufficient researching to enable the effective delivery of services. ---------- Conclusions: Interventions were focused at an individual, group, and community level using a coordinated multi-disciplinary team and natural helping networks. This provided a choice of services which were sensitive to the case setting. Recommendations are offered for practitioners who are confronted with similar events. While this paper describes an approach for intervening in a case of multi-victim sexual assault, further empirical research is needed to enable service deliverers to efficaciously target interventions which offer choice to victims and their families.

Factors associated with the wish to hasten death : a study of patients with terminal illness

Background. There is considerable debate regarding the clinical issues surrounding the wish to hasten death (WTHD) in the terminally ill. The clinical factors contributing to the WTHD need further investigation among the terminally ill in order to enhance understanding of the clinical assessment and treatment needs that underlie this problem. A more detailed understanding may assist with the development of appropriate therapeutic interventions. Method. A sample of terminally ill cancer patients (N=256) recruited from an in-patient hospice unit, home palliative care service and a general hospital palliative care consulting service from Brisbane Australia between 1998–2001 completed a questionnaire assessing psychological (depression and anxiety), social (family relationship, social support, level of burden on others) and the impact of physical symptoms. The association between these factors and the WTHD was investigated. Results. A high WTHD was reported by 14% of patients. A discriminant function analysis revealed that the following variables were associated with a high WTHD (P<0·001): higher levels of depressive symptoms, being admitted to an in-patient hospice setting, a greater perception of being a burden on others, lower family cohesion, lower levels of social support, higher levels of anxiety and greater impact of physical symptoms. Conclusions. Psychological and social factors are related to a WTHD among terminally ill cancer patients. Greater attention needs to be paid to the assessment of psychological and social issues in order to provide appropriate therapeutic interventions for terminally ill patients.

A new educational technology for media and communication studies : mapping media in Australia and Sweden

This chapter reports on Australian and Swedish experiences in the iterative design, development, and ongoing use of interactive educational systems we call ‘Media Maps.’ Like maps in general, Media Maps are usefully understood as complex cultural technologies; that is, they are not only physical objects, tools and artefacts, but also information creation and distribution technologies, the use and development of which are embedded in systems of knowledge and social meaning. Drawing upon Australian and Swedish experiences with one Media Map technology, this paper illustrates this three-layered approach to the development of media mapping. It shows how media mapping is being used to create authentic learning experiences for students preparing for work in the rapidly evolving media and communication industries. We also contextualise media mapping as a response to various challenges for curriculum and learning design in Media and Communication Studies that arise from shifts in tertiary education policy in a global knowledge economy.

Digital storytelling as participatory public history in Australia

This chapter discusses digital storytelling as a methodology for participatory public history through a detailed reflection on an applied research project that integrated both public history and digital storytelling in the context of a new master-planned urban development: the Kelvin Grove Urban Village Sharing Stories project.

Encouraging ethics and challenging corruption : reforming governance in public institutions

Encouraging Ethics and Preventing Corruption brings theory and practice together in addressing the question: How are we to be ethical in public life and through public institutions? It is a major contribution to public sector ethics within Australia and internationally because it provides an exhaustive analysis of reform across a decade in one jurisdiction, Queensland, and then proceeds to itemise a best practice integrity system or ethics regime. Drawing on the extensive research of two of Australia's leading practical ethicists, this text is essential reading for all students and practitioners of applied and professional ethics in the public sphere. Part A of the text provides a preferred theoretical and conceptual framework which both justifies and guides the development of a public sector ethics regime. Part B examines the place of the individual within a world of institutional ethics. Part C outlines the Queensland governance reforms introduced since 1989 following the Fitzgerald Inquiry which exposed corruption in the police and ministry. The final chapter, the 'Epilogue', gathers the insights of earlier chapters and suggests a more explicitly ethics-centred approach to governance reform that may take us 'beyond best practice'. Clearly, while it is the Australian context we have in mind, we are confident that this is a text which addresses the quest for integrity and ethics in government wherever society is committed to social and liberal democratic ideals.

Quality-based benefit design in health insurance : the impact of a product benefit design change on the utilisation of oral health services by members of a private health insurance fund in regional and rural New South Wales, Australia

Objective: To examine the impact on dental utilisation following the introduction of a participating provider scheme (Regional and Rural Oral Health Program {RROHP)). In this model dentists receive higher third party payments from a private health insurance fund for delivering an agreed range of preventive and diagnostic benefits at no out-ofpocket cost to insured patients. Data source/Study setting: Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia (HCF) dental claims for all members resident in New South Wales over the six financial years from l99811999 to 200312004. Study design: This cohort study involves before and after analyses of dental claims experience over a six year period for approximately 81,000 individuals in the intervention group (HCF members resident in regional and rural New South Wales, Australia) and 267,000 in the control group (HCF members resident in the Sydney area). Only claims for individuals who were members of HCF at 31 December 1997 were included. The analysis groups claims into the three years prior to the establishment of the RROHP and the three years subsequent to implementation. Data collection/Extraction methods: The analysis is based on all claims submitted by users of services for visits between 1 July 1988 and 30 June 2004. In these data approximately 1,000,000 services were provided to the intervention group and approximately 4,900,000 in the control group. Principal findings: Using Statistical Process Control (SPC) charts, special cause variation was identified in total utilisation rate of private dental services in the intervention group post implementation. No such variation was present in the control group. On average in the three years after implementation of the program the utilisation rate of dental services by regional and rural residents of New South Wales who where members of HCF grew by 12.6%, over eight times the growth rate of 1.5% observed in the control group (HCF members who were Sydney residents). The differences were even more pronounced in the areas of service that were the focus of the program: diagnostic and preventive services. Conclusion: The implementation of a benefit design change, a participating provider scheme, that involved the removal of CO-payments on a defined range of preventive and diagnostic dental services combined with the establishment and promotion of a network of dentists, appears to have had a marked impact on HCF members' utilisation of dental services in regional and rural New South Wales, Australia.

Rethinking copyrights for the library through Creative Commons licensing

Two recent and related social developments of note for libraries are an upsurge in cultural participation enabled by Web 2.0 media and calls in government policy for enhanced innovation through education. Ironically, these have occurred at the same time that increasingly stringent copyright laws have restricted access to cultural content. Concepts of governmentality are used here to examine these tensions and contradictions. In particular, Foucault’s critique of the author figure and of freedom as part of the will to govern within liberal democratic societies is used to argue for better quality copyright education programs in school libraries and library information science education programs. For purposes of teaching and research, copyrights are defined as agglomerations of legal, economic, and educational discourses that enable and constrain what can and cannot be done with text in homes, schools, and library media centers. The article presents some possibilities for renewal of school libraries around copyright education and Creative Commons licensing.

Benchmarking introductory accounting curricula : Experience from Australia

Within the context of debate about the state of accounting education in general, introductory accounting subjects have been the target of considerable criticism, particularly in terms of narrow content, technical focus, use of transmissive models of teaching, and inattention to the development of students‟ generic skills. This paper reports on the results of an exploratory study of these issues in introductory accounting and which involved the review of subject outlines and prescribed textbooks, and the conduct of a cross-sectional survey of the introductory accounting teaching coordinators in Australian universities (n=21). The primary aims of the study were to establish and apply benchmarks in evaluating existing curricula with respect to subject orientation, learning objectives, topics, teaching delivery, learning strategies, and assessment. The results of our study suggest that traditional approaches to subject content and delivery continue to dominate, with limited indicators of innovations to enhance the diversity and quality of learning experiences and learning outcomes.

Final report : offsite manufacture in Australia Final report off-site manufacture in Australia

Off-site Manufacture (OSM) has long been recognised, both in Australia and internationally, as offering numerous benefits to all parties in the construction process. More importantly, it is recognised as a key vehicle for driving improvement within the construction industry. The uptake of OSM in construction is however limited, despite well documented benefits. The research aims to determine the ‘state-of-the-art’ of OSM in Australia. It confirms the benefits and identifies the real and perceived barriers to the widespread adoption of OSM. Further the project identifies opportunities for future investment and research. Although numerous reports have been produced in the UK on the state of OSM adoption within that region, no prominent studies exist for the Australian context. This scoping study is an essential component upon which to build any initiatives that can take advantage of the benefits of OSM in construction. The Construction 2020 report predicted that OSM is set to increase in use over the next 5-15 years, further justifying the need for such a study. The long-term goal of this study is to contribute to the improvement of the Australian construction industry through a realisation of the potential benefits of OSM.

Sustainability and the building code of Australia

This report is the culmination of a two-stage research project to inform the Australian property and construction industry generally, in addition to providing the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) with information to allow it to determine whether or not sustainability requirements are necessary in the Future Building Code of Australia (BCA21). The Australian Building Codes Board is a joint initiative of all levels of government in Australia. The Board’s mission is to provide for efficiency and cost effectiveness in meeting community expectations for health, safety and amenity in the design, construction and use of buildings through the creation of nationally consistent building codes, standards, regulatory requirements and regulatory systems. The Stage 1 (literature review) and Stage 2 (workshops) reports are intended to be read in conjunction with one another. These reports and the Database are provided as appendices. The Conclusions of this, the final report, are the result of the overall program of work.

Enforcing minimum labour standards in Australia from 2010 : correcting or compounding problems

Fair Work Australia is to provide the institutional framework for the Australian industrial relations system from January 2010. Its creation provides the opportunity to improve minimum labour standards’ enforcement in Australia. However, the experience of the past must be appreciated and traditional assumptions about the operation of the Australian enforcement system discarded if the new institution is to be effective in its role. This paper focuses on the role of unions in enforcement as well as institutional location issues to expose a number of central enforcement problems that those seeking to establish new systems and processes should consider. A number of recommendations in respect of the structure of Fair Work Australia and the continuing role of unions are suggested.

The comprehensive Australian Study of entrepreneurial emergence (CAUSEE) high potential nascent entrepreneurs : some preliminary findings

Principal Topic The Comprehensive Australian Study of Entrepreneurial Emergence (CAUSEE) represents the first Australian study to employ and extend the longitudinal and large scale systematic research developed for the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) in the US (Gartner, Shaver, Carter and Reynolds, 2004; Reynolds, 2007). This research approach addresses several shortcomings of other data sets including under coverage; selection bias; memory decay and hindsight bias, and lack of time separation between the assessment of causes and their assumed effects (Johnson et al 2006; Davidsson 2006). However, a remaining problem is that any a random sample of start-ups will be dominated by low potential, imitative ventures. In recognition of this issue CAUSEE supplemented PSED-type random samples with theoretically representative samples of the 'high potential' emerging ventures employing a unique methodology using novel multiple screening criteria. We define new ''high-potential'' ventures as new entrepreneurial innovative ventures with high aspirations and potential for growth. This distinguishes them from those ''lifestyle'' imitative businesses that start small and remain intentionally small (Timmons, 1986). CAUSEE is providing the opportunity to explore, for the first time, if process and outcomes of high potentials differ from those of traditional lifestyle firms. This will allows us to compare process and outcome attributes of the random sample with the high potential over sample of new firms and young firms. The attributes in which we will examine potential differences will include source of funding, and internationalisation. This is interesting both in terms of helping to explain why different outcomes occur but also in terms of assistance to future policymaking, given that high growth potential firms are increasingly becoming the focus of government intervention in economic development policies around the world. The first wave of data of a four year longitudinal study has been collected using these samples, allowing us to also provide some initial analysis on which to continue further research. The aim of this paper therefore is to present some selected preliminary results from the first wave of the data collection, with comparisons of high potential with lifestyle firms. We expect to see owing to greater resource requirements and higher risk profiles, more use of venture capital and angel investment, and more internationalisation activity to assist in recouping investment and to overcome Australia's smaller economic markets Methodology/Key Propositions In order to develop the samples of 'high potential' in the NF and YF categories a set of qualification criteria were developed. Specifically, to qualify, firms as nascent or young high potentials, we used multiple, partly compensating screening criteria related to the human capital and aspirations of the founders as well as the novelty of the venture idea, and venture high technology. A variety of techniques were also employed to develop a multi level dataset of sources to develop leads and firm details. A dataset was generated from a variety of websites including major stakeholders including the Federal and State Governments, Australian Chamber of Commerce, University Commercialisation Offices, Patent and Trademark Attorneys, Government Awards and Industry Awards in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Industry lead associations, Venture Capital Association, Innovation directories including Australian Technology Showcase, Business and Entrepreneurs Magazines including BRW and Anthill. In total, over 480 industry, association, government and award sources were generated in this process. Of these, 74 discrete sources generated high potentials that fufilled the criteria. 1116 firms were contacted as high potential cases. 331 cases agreed to participate in the screener, with 279 firms (134 nascents, and 140 young firms) successfully passing the high potential criteria. 222 Firms (108 Nascents and 113 Young firms) completed the full interview. For the general sample CAUSEE conducts screening phone interviews with a very large number of adult members of households randomly selected through random digit dialing using screening questions which determine whether respondents qualify as 'nascent entrepreneurs'. CAUSEE additionally targets 'young firms' those that commenced trading from 2004 or later. This process yielded 977 Nascent Firms (3.4%) and 1,011 Young Firms (3.6%). These were directed to the full length interview (40-60 minutes) either directly following the screener or later by appointment. The full length interviews were completed by 594 NF and 514 YF cases. These are the cases we will use in the comparative analysis in this report. Results and Implications The results for this paper are based on Wave one of the survey which has been completed and the data obtained. It is expected that the findings will assist in beginning to develop an understanding of high potential nascent and young firms in Australia, how they differ from the larger lifestyle entrepreneur group that makes up the vast majority of the new firms created each year, and the elements that may contribute to turning high potential growth status into high growth realities. The results have implications for Government in the design of better conditions for the creation of new business, firms who assist high potentials in developing better advice programs in line with a better understanding of their needs and requirements, individuals who may be considering becoming entrepreneurs in high potential arenas and existing entrepreneurs make better decisions.