Self-management needs during life transitions among younger people with type 2 diabetes : an Australian and Danish cohort comparison

The primary aim of this pilot study is to provide cross-cultural and detailed insights into how psychological and social factors impact on younger people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and self-management skille (20-40 years). The specific objectives are to: identify self-management strategies used by younger people with T2DM during life transitions in the period from 20-40 years of age; investigate participants' perception of self-management to identify the specific needs of younger people with T2DM. This research will provide health professionals with insights to the specific needs for young adults with T2DM and will add ground breaking innovative information by investigating cultural comparison between Australia and Denmark.

Measuring happiness and subjective well-being

This chapter begins by defining the constructs of happiness and subjective well-being in terms of taxonomy and conceptual frameworks. Issues of measurement are addressed separately for qualitative and quantitative methodology. Two special areas of measurement difficulty are then discussed: the validity of data derived from low-functioning populations and cross-cultural measurement equivalence. Finally specific scales are considered in terms of their consistency with the foregoing analysis.

Is it myth or dilemma to construct and negotiate identities in an increasingly changing and diverse global context?

Identity is complex and it is difficult to come to terms with one’s identity when challenged by cross-cultural and migration transitions and the pressures of globalisation. From such perspectives, I define the terms ‘identity’, and ‘representation’ and how I situate the ‘self’ within such transitions and experiences. Discourses from cultural theorists such as: Zygmunt Bauman, Edward Said, Stuart Hall, Homi Bhabha, Arjun Appadurai and Edward Soja frame notions that support my arguments. My narratives and artworks make reference to my historical legacies, cultural and Diasporic inheritances, sense of belonging from home country and migration transitions. This journey underscores subjectivities in constructing my identities. I describe my own experiences and process of migration transitions to happen within a ‘liminal space,’ as I negotiate and adapt to new social and cultural structures. Through my discussion, I describe how it becomes important to “know who you are” and how to define new ‘spaces’ and parameters of identification and representation. The shifts in ‘spaces’, places’ and new social interaction, I argue indicates hybridity and ambivalences in situating the ‘self’. My arguments extend to reflect on how identity matters, and why it is significant to make it seem present and less as ‘dilemma’ or ‘myth’ in an increasingly diverse, changing and challenging global context.

The value of circles and the dangers of straight lines

This article focuses on how respectful learning relationships based on reciprocity between a Anglo-western raised educator and South Sudanese Australian students and graduates in social work and welfare courses in a regional location have (re)shaped the development of a research process. A reflective critique is intertwined with a description of my search (as an experienced practitioner but new researcher) for an appropriate ethical cross cultural framework for researching and advocating with a small ethnic population in a regional location. This includes a description of the process of exploring the need for, and positioning of, changing and re-creating relationships between the ‘researcher(s)’ and the ‘researched’ as co-authors; co-researchers; collaborators and participants to address issues of selfdetermination and power in the context of cross cultural research, education and human rights. The motivation to research seems a pivotal part of ethics in cross cultural research. As an educator I became concerned that the courses I taught in, and my own teaching practices, were (unintentionally) discriminatory. There appeared to be a lack of acknowledgement and/or action regarding the ingrained Western whiteness permeated and privileged knowledge and approaches in the construction and delivery of courses. I did not think I was adequately responding to, recognising or incorporating the different knowledge’s, strengths and needs of South Sudanese Australian students and graduates. There was a lack of fit between the academic rhetoric of human rights and diversity and my/our educator practice. This article explores the ‘corralling’ effect of mainstream research culture with attention to its potential for seduction and corruption that tends to separate the passion from the researcher, the researcher from the researched, and the actual issue(s) of concern ….from everyone.

Teaching international students in vocational education : new pedagogical approaches

Teaching International Students in Vocational Education: New pedagogical approaches is designed to support vocational education teachers in both addressing the distinctive learning characteristics of international students and preparing domestic students for global skills mobility in the ‘Asian Century’.

Well-grounded in theories about teaching and learning in vocational and international education, and supported by empirical data drawn from interviews with teachers and program managers, the book expounds several evidence-based, highly effective, pedagogical approaches within the context of competency-based training. These include:
- the intercultural approach
- the Ubuntu approach
- the language and vocational learning integration approach
- the perspective transformation approach
- the value-added approach
- work-based learning
- flexible and divergent pedagogy.

These approaches focus on developing the learner’s ability to consider the broader issues in an intercultural context, to capitalise on prior experience and to adapt vocational skills to workplace settings transnationally. The underpinning theory is brought to life with real-world exemplars, ‘Implications for Practice’, quotes and insights from teachers, as well as reflective questions throughout the book.

More than a game: evaluation report

‘More than a Game’ is a sport-based youth mentoring program developed and implemented by Western Bulldogs in partnership with Newport Islamic Society (NIS), the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and Hobsons Bay City Council, with funding from the Attorney General’s Department Building Community Resilience (BCR) grant scheme. The program aimed to develop a community-based resilience model that would use team-based sports to address issues of identity, sense of belonging and cultural isolation amongst young men of Islamic faith, all of which are identified as factors that may promote forms of violent extremism. The program involved 60 young men, aged 15-25, from the Newport Islamic Society in Melbourne’s Western suburbs. The boys were engaged in numerous activities where they were mentored by staff from Western Bulldogs, Victoria Police and Australian Federal Police, who worked in conjunction with community leaders from the Newport Islamic Society.

Through sports-based training, mentoring programs, and community dialogue, ‘More Than a Game’ aimed to develop participants’ leadership, communication, and cross-cultural engagement skills; to identify and facilitate the development of young role models in the community; to enhance greater understanding of the Muslim community in Melbourne’s West, and to foster greater intercultural contact and understanding between participants and other cultural groups. A number of activities were developed and implemented as a part of the program

Researching the relationship between physical activity and motherhood in older Somali women

This thesis explores participation in physical activity by a group of older Somali women living in Melbourne, Australia. First, it describes the methodological challenges faced by a white researcher conducting cross-cultural research; second, it explores how participants' experiences of motherhood and physical activity in Somalia and Australia influence their participation in physical activity. This research contributes data to address the scarcity of knowledge and research on physical activity amongst older African and Muslim women.

Trauma-related symptoms in Sri Lankan adult survivors after the tsunami: pretraumatic and peritraumatic factors

Limited research has addressed factors associated with psychological distress following disasters among non-Western populations. The 2004 tsunami affected 1.7 million people across South Asia and Africa, with considerable variations in trauma-related outcomes. Pretraumatic and peritraumatic conditions associated with trauma-related symptoms in 305 Sri Lankan adult survivors (28% male, aged 18-83 years; mean = 39.9 years; standard deviation = 15.3), clinically assessed 1 month posttsunami, were evaluated retrospectively. Outcome measures were total scores on 11 trauma-related symptoms. Multivariate linear regression analyses tested for associations between pretraumatic and peritraumatic conditions and symptom scores, with peritraumatic conditions adjusted for pretraumatic variables. Pretraumatic conditions of female gender, employment, prior health and social issues, and substance use and peritraumatic conditions of loss of family, witnessing the tsunami, or suffering an injury were associated with trauma-related symptoms. The findings facilitate understanding cultural contexts that define risk factors associated with trauma-related symptoms in Sri Lankans, which are critical for developing culturally appropriate interventions.

Digital technology to support students’ socioscientific reasoning about environmental issues

Scientific expertise and outcomes often give rise to controversy. An educational response that equips students to take part in such discussions is the teaching of socially acute questions (SAQs). With SAQs, the understanding of uncertainty, risk and how knowledge is developed is central. This study explores the way in which students from different disciplines and different continents are brought together via a digital platform to explore SAQs about environmental issues (a green algae outbreak linked to release of fertilisers along the coast of Brittany; the construction of a desalination plant near Melbourne to produce freshwater; and changes in meat consumption on a global scale, with regard to population projections in 2050). We have developed frameworks for looking at the quality of the collective reasoning and at the nature of students’ interactions, so that we can analyse the organisation of the learning communities and the building of collegial expertise. The results show that interdisciplinary discussions, especially on an international scale, foster the understanding of complex situations. In this paper, we discuss the modalities of one didactic scenario to enhance critical thinking and collaborative work, and to provide space for learners to support argumentation.

A study of children’s musical preference: A data mining approach

Musical preference has long been a research interest in the field of music education, and studies consistently confirm the importance of musical preference in one’s musical learning experiences. However, only a limited number of studies have been focussed on the field of early childhood education (e.g., Hargreaves, North, & Tarrant, 2006; Roulston, 2006). Further, among these limited early childhood studies, few of them discuss children’s musical preference in both the East and the West. There is very limited literature (e.g., Faulkner et al., 2010; Szymanska, 2012) which explores the data by using a data mining approach. This study aims to bridge the research gaps by examining children’s musical preference in Hong Kong and in South Australia by applying a data mining technique – Self Organising Maps (SOM), which is a clustering method that groups similar data objects together. The application of SOM is new in the field of early childhood education and also in the study of children’s musical preference. This paper specifically aims to expand a previous study (Yim & Ebbeck, 2009) by conducting deeper investigations into the existing datasets, for the purpose of uncovering insights that have not been identified through data mining approach.

Consultation unlocks interdisciplinary resources: A community museum evolving in the Kelabit Highlands, Malaysian Borneo

This article discusses the role of community consultation in the process of developing a community museum in the Kelabit Highlands in Sarawak. It reflects on the relationships between heritage conservation, cultural tourism and competing community aspirations.   

Students' intercultural development through language learning in Vietnamese tertiary education: a case study on the use of film as an innovative approach

Vietnam's open-door policy, its socialist-oriented market economy, recent growth in cross-border education and skills mobility, regionalisation and globalisation have created an increasing demand for Vietnamese graduates to develop not only their English language but also their intercultural competence. This paper discusses the issue of student intercultural learning and development in the Vietnamese English as a foreign language (EFL) class. Especially, it addresses the use of film as an innovative approach to engage Vietnamese students in intercultural learning and development in the EFL classroom. The study reported in this paper draws on rich sources of data which include in-depth interviews with students, student reflective journals and video-recorded class observations at a university in central Vietnam. Overall, five key themes relating to student intercultural learning through film have been identified in this study. These include enhancing knowledge about cultural differences, engaging in cross-cultural comparison, breaking cultural stereotypes, immersing students in authentic learning and living in the world of ‘other’ culture and the integrated mode of intercultural language learning. The study is a significant contribution to scholarly research on the use of media objects to enhance student intercultural learning in language classrooms in developing countries.