The role of personality in predicting hooning-related driving behaviour

‘Hooning’ constitutes a set of illegal and high-risk vehicle related activities typically performed by males aged 17-25, a group that is over-represented in road trauma statistics. This study used an online survey of 422 participants to test the efficacy of the Five Factor Model of Personality in predicting ‘loss of traction’ (LOT) hooning behaviour. Drivers who engaged in LOT behaviour scored significantly lower on the factor of Agreeableness than those who did not. Regression analyses indicated that the Five Factor Model of Personality was a significant predictor of LOT behaviour over and above sex and age, although Agreeableness was the only significant personality factor in the model. The findings may be used to better understand those drivers likely to engage in LOT behaviours. Road safety advertising and educational campaigns can target less socially agreeable drivers, and aim to encourage more agreeable attitudes to driving, particularly for younger male drivers.

After the marketplace: evidence, social science and educational research

This paper is an essay on the state of Australian education that frames new directions for educational research. It outlines three challenges faced by Australian educators: highly spatialised poverty with particularly strong mediating effects on primary school education; the need for intellectual and critical depth in pedagogy, with a focus in the upper primary and middle years; and the need to reinvent senior schooling to address emergent pathways from school to work and civic life. It offers a narrative description of the dynamics of policy making in Australia and North America and argues for an evidence-based approach to social and educational policy – but one quite unlike current test and market-based approaches. Instead, it argues for a multidisciplinary approach to a broad range of empirical and case-based evidence that subjects these to critical, hermeneutic social sciences. Such an approach would join educational policy with educational research, and broader social, community and governmental action with the aim of reorganising and redistributing material, cultural and social resources.

The Supervisory Relationship

The nature of the relationship that is negotiated, developed and maintained between a clinical supervisor and supervisee is central to effectively engage in clinical work, to promote professional and personal development, and to ensure consistent ethical practice. In this chapter attention is given to the challenges, importance and benefits of the supervisory relationship. The ability to form and sustain relationships in supervision and in clinical practice is more crucial than specific knowledge and therapeutic skills (Dye, 2004). Attention to parallel process, the working alliance, multiple roles, expectations and acculturative issues are addressed. This is an introduction to some of the most salient issues concerning the supervisory relationship and is a review of concepts and processes discussed in greater depth throughout this textbook. The reader is encouraged to utilise the references and suggested readings to deepen their understanding of the supervisory relationship.

Supervising clinical placement

Internship and practicum are the pinnacle of the therapist training experience. During these fieldwork experiences trainees are challenged to apply what they have learned in coursework and research to a real-life workplace situation. Internship is where the rigorous science of the profession and the imperfect art of the practice intersect and trainees begin to develop clinical wisdom. The trainee therapist being prepared for their responsibilities who has a successful relationship with their supervisor can optimise the gains from this integrated experience. In this chapter, an introduction to supervised internship or practicum encounters is provided with the trainee therapist and future supervisor squarely in mind.

Beyond a battery hen model? : a computer laboratory, micropolitics and educational change

This paper investigates what happened in one Australian primary school as part of the establishment, use and development of a computer laboratory over a period of two years. As part of a school renewal project, the computer lab was introduced as an ‘innovative’ way to improve the skills of teachers and children in information and communication technologies (ICT) and to lead to curriculum change. However, the way in which the lab was conceptualised and used worked against achieving these goals. The micropolitics of educational change and an input-output understanding of computers meant that change remained structural rather pedagogical or philosophical.

Case management educational intervention with public health nurses : cluster randomized controlled trial

Aim: This paper is a report of a study conducted to determine the effectiveness of a community case management collaborative education intervention in terms of satisfaction, learning and performance among public health nurses. Background: Previous evaluation studies of case management continuing professional education often failed to demonstrate effectiveness across a range of outcomes and had methodological weaknesses such as small convenience samples and lack of control groups. Method: A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted between September 2005 and February 2006. Ten health centre clusters (5 control, 5 intervention) recruited 163 public health nurses in Taiwan to the trial. After pre-tests for baseline measurements, public health nurses in intervention centres received an educational intervention of four half-day workshops. Post-tests for both groups were conducted after the intervention. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was performed to evaluate the effect of the intervention on target outcomes. Results: A total of 161 participants completed the pre- and post-intervention measurements. This was almost a 99% response rate. Results revealed that 97% of those in the experimental group were satisfied with the programme. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in knowledge (p = 0.001), confidence in case management skills (p = 0.001), preparedness for case manager role activities (p = 0.001), self-reported frequency in using skills (p = 0.001), and role activities (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Collaboration between academic and clinical nurses is an effective strategy to prepare nurses for rapidly-changing roles.

Autoethnography in vocational psychology : wearing your class on your sleeve

This paper addresses reflective practice in research and practice and takes the issue of consciousness of social class in vocational psychology as a working example. It is argued that the discipline’s appreciation of social class can be advanced through application of the qualitative research method autoethnography. Excerpts from an autoethnographic study are used to explore the method’s potential. This reflexive research method is presented as a potential vehicle to improve vocational psychologists’ own class consciousness, and to concomitantly enhance their capacity to grasp social class within their own spheres of research and practice. It is recommended that autoethnography be used for research, training, and professional development for vocational psychologists.

Perspectives on enhancing educational policy processes

In this article we examine some of the challenges in the educational policy process today. While acknowledging the inherent tensions in, and complexities of, the policy process, we suggest some ways that might help to better understand it. An evidence-based approach to policy making is offered for consideration. While such an approach is not new, we frame the approach around three lenses drawn from the work of Head (2008): these lenses are titled political, research, and technical. It is argued that consideration of the complexities and challenges at play across these three lenses in a context of contested policy terrain can result in better understanding of the policy process and lead to better policy conceptualisation, planning, and implementation.