Dr. Seuss and the "Great Balancing Act" : Exploring the Ethical Places You’ll Go Within Australian Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology

Stories by children’s writer Dr. Seuss have often been utilised as non-traditional narrative reflections regarding the issues of ethics and morality (Greenwood, 2000). Such case studies are viewed as effective teaching and learning tools due to the associated analytical and decision-making frameworks that are represented within the texts, and focus upon the exploration of universally general virtues and approaches to ethics (Hankes, 2012). Whilst Dr. Seuss did not create a story directly related to the sport, exercise or performance domains, many of his narratives possess psychological implications that are applicable in any situation that requires ethical consideration of the thinking and choices people make. The following exploration of the ‘ethical places you’ll go’ draws upon references to his work as a guide to navigating this interesting and sometimes challenging landscape for sport, exercise, and performance psychologists (SEPP).

Performance in the spotlight : exploring psychology in the performing arts

Sport and exercise psychologists are often sought after to apply their knowledge, skills and experience from a sporting context into other performance-related industries and endeavours. Over the past two decades, this has noticeably expanded out from a natural progression into the performing arts with other ‘typical’ performers (e.g., dancers, actors, musicians, singers) through to people who work in high pressure environments that consist of clear performance outputs and requirements that are usually linked to high impact consequences for non-achievement (e.g., lawyers, surgeons, executives, military personnel, safety professionals). Whilst these areas of application continue to increase in popularity and performance psychology is more readily recognised as an important factor in people performance across industries, the use of psychology within the performing arts continues to deepen and solidify its value as an essential and critical factor for success. This article focuses on the contribution of psychology to the performing arts that I have observed over more than 20 years – obtained through a variety of roles primarily within the dance sector including as performer, educator, health professional, researcher, commentator and senior leader.

Hidden Innovation : Policy, Industry and the Creative Sector

The latest book in the internationally acclaimed Creative Economy series. The term ‘two cultures’ was coined more than 50 years ago by scientist and novelist C.P. Snow to describe the divergence in the world views and methods of scientists and the creative sector. This divergence has meant that innovation systems and policies have focussed for decades on science, engineering, technology and medicine and the industries that depend on them. The humanities, arts and social sciences have been bitt players at best; their contributions hidden from research agendas, policy and program initiatives, and the public mind. But structural changes to advanced economies and societies have brought services industries and the creative sector to greater prominence as key contributors to innovation. Hidden Innovation peels back the veil, tracing the way innovation occurs through new forms of screen production enabled by social media platforms as well as in public broadcasting. It shows that creative workers are contributing fresh ideas across the economy, and how creative cities debates need reframing. It traces how policies globally are beginning to catch up with the changing social and economic realities. In his new book, Cunningham argues that the innovation framework offers the best opportunity in decades to reassess and refresh the case for the public role of the humanities, particularly the media, cultural and communication studies disciplines.

Words and Silences : The journal of the International Oral History Association

Words and Silences is the official on-line journal of the International Oral History Association. It is an internationally peer reviewed, high quality forum for oral historians from a wide range of disciplines and a means for the professional community to share projects and current trends of oral history from around the world. We are extremely pleased to release the first online issue of Word &Silences. This e-journal is the result of long standing discussion and debate about the best way to publish a quality bilingual oral history journal (including a blind peer reviewed section) as a viable solution to mounting difficulties associated with publishing in print. We have discovered that an online version is also not without its challenges and requires tremendous labor intensive dedication. We strongly encourage members to assist us with small review process tasks in the future, so that we can ensure the sustainability of an annual W&S publication for our members and beyond.

Shut up and write! Some surprising uses of cafes and crowds in doctoral writing

This chapter discusses a ‘writing movement’, which is currently occurring in various parts of Australia through the support of social media. A concept emerging from the café scene in San Francisco, ‘Shut Up and Write!’ is a meetup group that brings writers together at a specific time and place to write side by side, thus making writing practice, social. This concept has been applied to the academic environment and our case-study explores the positive outcomes in two locations: RMIT University and Queensland University of Technology. This informal learning practice can be implemented to assist research students in developing academic skills.

Diurnal temperature range and childhood asthma : a time-series study

BACKGROUND: Hot and cold temperatures have been associated with childhood asthma. However, the relationship between daily temperature variation and childhood asthma is not well understood. This study aimed to examine the relationship between diurnal temperature range (DTR) and childhood asthma. METHODS: A Poisson generalized linear model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model was used to examine the relationship between DTR and emergency department admissions for childhood asthma in Brisbane, from January 1st 2003 to December 31st 2009. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant relationship between DTR and childhood asthma. The DTR effect on childhood asthma increased above a DTR of 10[degree sign]C. The effect of DTR on childhood asthma was the greatest for lag 0--9 days, with a 31% (95% confidence interval: 11% -- 58%) increase of emergency department admissions per 5[degree sign]C increment of DTR. Male children and children aged 5--9 years appeared to be more vulnerable to the DTR effect than others. CONCLUSIONS: Large DTR may trigger childhood asthma. Future measures to control and prevent childhood asthma should include taking temperature variability into account. More protective measures should be taken after a day of DTR above10[degree sign]C.

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.

Intermediaries and imaginaries in the cultural and creative industries

This paper conducts an historical and conceptual review of the idea of ‘cultural intermediaries’ and sets up a contrast between the cultural and creative industries. It draws on theorizations of ‘economic imaginaries’ and reconstructs the respective imaginaries of cultural and creative industries. It suggests that the former was organized around the culturalization of the economy and the second around the economization of culture. Nevertheless, there are complicities between them, not least in the contention that a new set of economic developments would redeem the traditional promises of culture.

Creative intersections : supervision, practice and the space between

Supervision in the creative arts is a topic of growing significance since the increase in creative practice PhDs across universities in Australasia. This presentation will provide context of existing discussions in creative practice and supervision. Creative practice – encompassing practice-based or practice-led research – has now a rich history of research surrounding it. Although it is a comparatively new area of knowledge, great advances have been made in terms of how practice can influence, generate, and become research. The practice of supervision is also a topic of interest, perhaps unsurprisingly considering its necessity within the university environment. Many scholars have written much about supervision practices and the importance of the supervisory role, both in academic and more informal forms. However, there is an obvious space in between: there is very little research on supervision practices within creative practice higher degrees, especially at PhD or doctorate level. Despite the existence of creative practice PhD programs, and thus the inherent necessity for successful supervisors, there remain minimal publications and limited resources available. Creative Intersections explores the existing publications and resources, and illustrates that a space for new published knowledge and tools exists.

An exploratory study of associations between Australian-Indian mothers’ use of controlling feeding practices, concerns and perceptions of children’s weight and children’s picky eating

Aim This cross-sectional study explores associations between migrant Indian mothers’ use of controlling feeding practices (pressure to eat, restriction and monitoring) and their concerns and perceptions regarding their children’s weight and picky eating behaviour. Methods Two hundred and thirty mothers with children aged 1-5 years, residing in Australia for 1-8 years, participated by completing a self-reported questionnaire. Results Perceptions and concerns regarding children’s weight were not associated with any of the controlling feeding practices. A positive association was noted between pressure feeding and perceptions of pickiness after adjusting for covariates: children’s age, gender and weight-for-age Z-score. Girls, older children, and children with higher weight-for-age z scores were pressure fed to a greater extent. Conclusions This study supports the generalisation of findings from Caucasian literature that pressure feeding and perceptions of pickiness are positively related.

Concepts, water and reflections on practice

This paper discusses the nature of the conceptual structure in art practice, by example. It draws on insights gained from a practice based research (PBR) approach to making art. The PBR methods used include Reflective Practice and are briefly described. They have informed an understanding of the conceptual structure as an instance of problem framing. This is demonstrated by two creative examples, taken from two interactive artworks. These were informed by an evolving conceptual structure concerned with water.

Improving the measurement and surveillance of child abuse in Queensland emergency departments

There are no population studies of prevalence or incidence of child maltreatment in Australia. Child protection data gives some understanding but is restricted by system capacity and definitional issues across jurisdictions. Child protection data currently suggests that numbers of reports are increasing yearly, and the child protection system then becomes focussed on investigating all reports and diluting available resources for those children who are most in need of intervention. A public health response across multiple agencies enables responses to child safety across the entire population. All families are targeted at the primary level; examples include ensuring all parents know the dangers of shaking a baby or teaching children to say no if a situation makes them uncomfortable. The secondary level of prevention targets families with a number of risk factors, for example subsidised child care so children aren't left unsupervised after school when both parents have to be at work or home visiting for drug-addicted parents to ensure children are cared for. The tertiary response then becomes the responsibility of the child protection system and is reserved for those children where abuse and neglect are identified. This model requires that child safety is seen in a broader context than just the child protection system, and increasingly health professionals are being identified as an important component in the public health framework. If all injury is viewed as preventable and considered along a continuum of 'accidental' through to 'inflicted', it becomes possible to conceptualise child maltreatment in an injury context. Parental intent may not be to cause harm to the child, but by lack of insight or concern about risk, the potential for injury is high. The mechanisms for unintentional and intentional injury overlap and some suggest that by segregating child abuse (with the possible exception of sexual abuse) from unintentional injury, child abuse is excluded from the broader injury prevention initiative that is gaining momentum in the community. This research uses a public health perspective, specifically that of injury prevention, to consider the problem of child abuse. This study employed a mixed method design that incorporates secondary data analysis, data linkage and structured interviews of different professional groups. Datasets from the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit (QISU) and The Department of Child Safety (DCS) were evaluated. Coded injury data was grouped according to intent of injury according to those with a code that indicated the ED presentation was due to child abuse, a code indicating that the injury was possibly due to abuse or, in the third group, the intent code indicated that the injury was unintentional and not due to abuse. Primary data collection from ED records was undertaken and information recoded to assess reliability and completeness. Emergency department data (QISU) was linked to Department of Child Safety Data to examine concordance and data quality. Factors influencing the collection and collation of these data were identified through structured interview methodology and analysed using qualitative methods. Secondary analysis of QISU data indicated that codes lacking specific information on the injury event were more likely to also have an intent code indicating abuse than those records where there was specific information on the injury event. Codes for abuse appeared in only 1.2% of the 84,765 records analysed. Unintentional injury was the most commonly coded intent (95.3%). In the group with a definite abuse code assigned at triage, 83% linked to a record with DCS and cases where documentation indicated police involvement were significantly more likely to be associated with a DCS record than those without such documentation. In those coded with an unintentional injury code, 22% linked to a DCS record with cases assigned an urgent triage category more likely to link than those with a triage category for resuscitation and children who presented to regional or remote hospitals more likely to link to a DCS record than those presenting to urban hospitals. Twenty-nine per cent of cases with a code indicating possible abuse linked to a DCS record. In documentation that indicated police involvement in the case, a code for unspecified activity when compared to cases with a code indicating involvement in a sporting activity and children less than 12 months of age compared to those in the 13-17 year old age group were all variables significantly associated with linkage to a DCS record. Only 13% of records contained documentation indicating that child abuse and neglect were considered in the diagnosis of the injury despite almost half of the sample having a code of abuse or possible abuse. Doctors and nurses were confident in their knowledge of the process of reporting child maltreatment but less confident about identifying child abuse and neglect and what should be reported. Many were concerned about implications of reporting, for the child and family and for themselves. A number were concerned about the implications of not reporting, mostly for the wellbeing of the child and a few in terms of their legal obligations as mandatory reporters. The outcomes of this research will help improve the knowledge of barriers to effective surveillance of child abuse in emergency departments. This will, in turn, ensure better identification and reporting practises; more reliable official statistical collections and the potential of flagging high-risk cases to ensure adequate departmental responses have been initiated.

Health and community services for trafficked women : an exploratory study of policy and practice

The trafficking of women has attracted considerable international and national policy attention, particularly since the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), of which the Australian Government has been a signatory since 2005. The provision of health and community services for trafficked women is a central feature of this Protocol, but in Australia service provision is made difficult by how trafficked women are understood and treated in policy and legal terms. This study aimed to explore the provision of health and community services for trafficked women in the Greater Sydney region through a series of interviews with government and non-government organisations. The findings reveal that services have been inaccessible as a result of sparse, uncoordinated, and poorly funded provision. The major obstacle to adequate and appropriate service provision has been a national policy approach focusing on 'border protection' and criminalisation rather than on trafficked women and their human rights. We conclude that further policy development needs to focus on the practical implications of how such rights can be translated into the delivery of health and community services that trafficked women can access and be supported by more effectively.

School libraries, teacher-librarians and their contribution to student literacy development in Gold Coast schools

This is the first research focusing on Gold Coast school libraries and teacher- librarians. It presents a detailed picture of library provision and staffing at a representative group of 27 government and non-government schools at the Gold Coast. It shows links between employment of a teacher-librarian and higher NAPLAN reading and writing scores. And it presents the principals’ generally positive views about teacher-librarians’ contribution to reading and literacy at their schools. The findings respond in part to the recent government inquiry’s call (House of Representatives, 2011) for research about the current staffing of school libraries in Australia, and the influence of school libraries and teacher-librarians on students’ literacy and learning outcomes. While the study has focused on a relatively small group of school libraries, it has produced a range of significant outcomes: • An extensive review of international and Australian research showing impacts of school libraries and teacher-librarians on students’ literacy and learning outcomes • Findings consistent with international research showing: - An inverse relationship between lower student to EFT library staff ratio and higher school NAPLAN scores for reading and writing - Schools that employ a teacher-librarian tend to achieve school NAPLAN scores for respective year levels that are higher than the national mean It is anticipated that the study’s findings will be of interest to education authorities, school leadership teams, teacher-librarians, teachers and researchers. The findings provide evidence to: • inform policy development and strategic planning for school libraries that respond to the literacy development needs of 21st century learners • inform school-based management of school libraries • inform curriculum development and teacher-librarian practice • support further collaborative research on a State or national level • enhance conceptual understandings about relationship(s) between school libraries, teacher-librarians and literacy/information literacy development • support advocacy about school libraries, teacher-librarians and their contribution to literacy development and student learning in Australian schools SLAQ President Toni Leigh comments: “It is heartening to see findings which validate the critical role teacher-librarians play in student literacy development and the positive correlation of higher NAPLAN scores and schools with a qualified teacher-librarian. Also encouraging is the high percentage of school principals who recognise the necessity of a well resourced school library and the positive influence of these libraries on student literacy”. This research arises from a research partnership between School Library Association of Queensland (SLAQ) and Children and Youth Research Centre, QUT. Lead researcher: Dr Hilary Hughes, Children and Youth Research Centre, QUT Research assistants: Dr Hossein Bozorgian, Dr Cherie Allan, Dr Michelle Dicinoski, QUT SLAQ Research Reference Group: Toni Leigh, Marj Osborne, Sally Fraser, Chris Kahl and Helen Reynolds Reference: House of Representatives. (2011). School libraries and teacher librarians in 21st century Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=ee/schoollibraries/report.htm

Diversity and Differentiation

New ways of working are being embraced by early childhood educators as they cope with demands from national reforms and changing communities. While reformers are pressing for social equity and improved outcomes for families and children, communities are diverging in terms of ethnicity, culture, language and socioeconomic status. As a consequence, early childhood educators are being challenged to expand their existing repertoire of practices in order to more effectively provide quality learning experiences for every child in their care. Practice enhancement and differentiated pedagogy are needed to address the additional needs of an increasing number of diverse learners. Community expectations are particularly focused on better educational supports for children in five cluster areas: • Culturally diverse and Indigenous backgrounds • ‘at risk’ because of socio-economic and abuse conditions • Communicative, emotional and behavioural disorders • Disabilities and learning difficulties and • Recognised gifts and talents This chapter focuses on some everyday ractices that can be used strategically to better support all children, including those with additional educational needs. All practices are well supported in the literature and are substantiated by either research findings or strong, socially determined values. They also very ‘doable’ and sustainable in today’s dynamic and multifaceted early childhood settings. Seven keys practices will be introduced, together with examples of how they can be applied to both enhance the learning of individual children and to strengthen a sense of group belonging. The practices are: • Having positive beliefs about all children • Learning about each child • Building meaningful relationships around the child • Creating supportive learning environments for the child • Providing engaging learning experiences for the child • Differentiating instruction for the child • Using child progress data to improve learning and teaching