1948 and 1968 Czech refugee settlers in Australia : a comparison of the settlement and integration processes among two waves of settlers

Nearly eighteen years ago when I first became interested in the history and sociology of Australian immigration, I was particularly attracted by the fact and opportunity to incorporate immigration settlement, experience and accomplishments in my history teaching in secondary school. In particular it was the area of the settlement of Australia that needed a fuller understanding in the teaching of Australian history. By that I mean it was needed to show that there were many other ethnic groups besides the Anglo-Saxon group which had participated in the development of Australia since 1788. Since the end of World War II, the Australian population has doubled, the population structure and characteristics have changed and knowledge about the diverse groups forming the Australian nation is now sought. Sane ethnic groups, mainly the numerically large, have been studied and numerous reports are available. But many of the smaller groups have attracted little interest among Australian scholars. This was one of the reasons that I decided to research the behaviour of one of the smaller groups - the Czechs - to find out about their immigration history to Australia; their immigration processes such as re-settlement and re-establishment; and their community life since World War II. Because of the scarcity of written materials on Czechs in Australia, I had to rely on interviews, personal reminiscenses, letters and documents translated from the Czech language. I should like to express my gratitude to all people and officials of Czech ethnic organisations and clubs in Australia, who agreed to be interviewed and who provided me with documentary material so important for my work. Respecting the wishes of my interviewees their anonymity had to be preserved. In the course of my research, I have received substantial help and the encouragement from the Editor of the now extinct Czech language paper Newspaper Hlas domova, Mr. F.V., whose co-operation is gratefully recognised. I am also grateful to Associate Professor William D. Rubinstein for his help and encouragement in all stages of my work. The introductory part of the study is covered in Chapter One. She reasons for the need to increase Australia's population after World War II and an analysis of the development of settlement in Australia between 1947 and 1984 are discussed. The emigration of Czechs into Australia and their place in the post-war immigration scheme is introduced. To obtain an overview of how Czechs have emigrated around the world, the literature describing their settlement is compared. Also discussed in the literature on Czech settlement in Australia from an historical point of view. The studies on the concept of ethnicity and settlement in Australia are used to document the theoretical issues for an understanding of Australian society. This chapter also contains aspects of sources and research, shewing the processes of documentary research, interviews and related matters. In Chapter Two the history of Czech emigration is discussed, covering the period from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. The first contacts with Australia are highlighted, continuing into the inter-war period and finally the re-settlement of Czechs after World War II. To understand why Czechs left their ancestral country after World War II, the political situation in Czechoslovakia is analysed. The third chapter concentrates mainly in the 1948 wave of settlers, who left Czechoslovakia after the communist take-over in 1948. Their means of departure from their homeland, selection of Australia as a new homeland and their re-settlement and re-establishment are discussed. Their attitudes after their arrival and their later stages of their settlement are analysed. The formation of numerous Czech ethnic organisations which mushroomed between 1950 and 1954 led to an active community life which began to change about five years after their arrival. These charges led to disorganisation of Czech community's life. The causes of these changes which were influential for the failure of the 1948 group to establish a viable community in Australia are analysed. In Chapter Four the wave of 1968 is viewed, their arrival and settling is covered. The study of their group attitudes and formation of group institutions is the main part of this section. A comparison of my data of the two waves, 1948 and 1968, reveals the information that these two groups did not develop the harmonious relationship expected of them as members of the one ethnic group. Chapter Five discusses immigration typologies and concentrates on the differences between legal and illegal emigrants from the Czechoslovak point of view. The integration processes of Czechs and their incorporation into Australian society are discussed. The sixth chapter sums up the findings of this disertation and states the influences which were responsible for the divisions in Czech ethnic life in Australia in the 1980s.

Towards an integration of theories of achievement motivation

This thesis investigated children's school achievement in terms of an integration of three theories of achievement motivation. The three theoretical outlooks were expectancy-value theory (EVT), implicit theories of intelligence (ITI), and flow theory (FT). The first of two studies was an exploratory investigation of the effectiveness of each theory independently and combined to predict children's achievement in four school subjects. The subject areas were maths, reading, instrumental music and sport. Participants were 84 children (40 females and 44 males) aged 9 to 10 years, one of each child's parents, and school teachers of each child in the four subject areas. All data were collected through questionnaires based on the three models. The results indicated that EVT and FT but not ITI accounted for a significant amount of the variance in children's achievement, including effects for subject area and gender. A second confirmatory study tested EVT, FT and an integrated model for the prediction of achievement in maths, reading and instrumental music. The participants were a further 141 children (74 females and 67 males) aged 10 to 11 years, and a parent and teachers of each child. Data collection using questionnaires occurred early in the school year (Timel) and approximately five months later (Time2). For EVT, children and parents’ competence beliefs were significant predictors of children's achievement in each subject area. Females tended to believe themselves more competent at reading and instrumental music and also valued these subjects more highly than boys. Modeling results for flow theory indicated that children's emotional responses to classes (happiness and confusion) were significant predictors of achievement, the type of emotion varying between subject areas and time periods. Females generally had a more positive emotional reaction to reading and instrumental music classes than males did. The integrated model results indicated significant relationships between EVT and flow theories for each subject area, with EVT explaining most achievement variance in the integrated model. Children's and parents’ competence beliefs were the main predictors of achievement at Timel and 2, Subject area and gender differences were found which provide direction for future research. Anecdotal reports of parents and teachers often attest to individual differences in children's involvement in various school domains. Even among children of apparently similar intelligence, it is not uncommon to find one who likes nothing better than to work on a mathematics problem while another much prefers to read a novel or play a musical instrument Some children appear to achieve good results for most of the activities in which they are engaged while others achieve in a less consistent manner, sometimes particularly excelling in one activity. Some children respond to failure experiences with a determination to improve their performance in the future while others react with resignation and acceptance of their low ability. Some children appear to become totally absorbed in the activity of playing sport while others cannot wait for the game to end. The primary research objective guiding the current thesis is how children's thoughts and feelings about school subjects differ and are related to their school achievement. A perusal of the achievement motivation literature indicates several possible models and concepts that can be applied to explain individual differences in children's school achievement. Concepts such as academic self-concept, multiple intelligences, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-beliefs, competence beliefs, subjective task values, mastery and performance goals, ‘Flow’ experiences and social motivation are just some of the constructs used to explain children's achievement motivation, both within and between various activity domains. These constructs are proposed by researchers from different theoretical perspectives to achievement motivation. Although there is much literature relevant to each perspective, there is little research indicating how the various perspectives may relate to each other. The current thesis will begin by reviewing three currently popular theoretical orientations cited in achievement motivation research: subjective beliefs and values; implicit theories of intelligence, and flow experience and family complexity. Following this review, a framework will be proposed for testing the determinants of children's school achievement, both within each of the three theoretical perspectives and also in combination.

Maximising the benefits of radio frequency identification technology (RFID) integration in clinical contexts : a linear conduit

Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFIO) has been explored for various process enhancements in clinical contexts, particularly hospitals, for asset tracking. The technology has been accepted in such environments, as it is inexpensive and, in principle, uncomplicated to integrate with other clinical support systems. It is perceived to offer many benefits to currently resource critical/strained clinical environments. This research investigation focuses on the exploitation of the potential of the technology, to enhance processes in clinical environments. In this paper, the researchers aimed to uncover if the technology, as presently deployed, has been able to achieve its potential and, in particular, if it has been fully integrated into processes in a way that maximises the benefits that were perceived. This research is part of a larger investigation that aims to develop a meta-model for integration of RFIO into processes in a form that will maximise benefits that may be achievable in clinical environments. As the first phase of the investigation, the key learning from a clinical context (hospital), which has deployed RFIO and attempted to integrate it into the processes, to enable better efficiencies, is presented in this paper. The case method has been used as a methodological framework. Two clinical contexts (hospitals) are involved in the larger project, which constitutes two phases. In Phase 1, semi structured interviews were conducted with a selected number of participants involved with the RFIO deployment project, before and after, in clinical context 1 (hereinafter named as CCl). The results were then synthesised drawing a set of key learning, from different viewpoints (implementers and users), as reported in this paper. These results outline a linear conduit for a new proposed implementation (CC2). On completion of the phase II, the researchers aim to construct a meta-model for maximising the potential of RFIO in clinical contexts. This paper is limited to the first phase that aims to draw key learning to inform the linear conduit.

Fine-scale adaptation in a clonal sea anemone

Local adaptation in response to fine-scale spatial heterogeneity is well documented in terrestrial ecosystems. In contrast, in marine environments local adaptation has rarely been documented or rigorously explored. This may reflect real or anticipated effects of genetic homogenization, resulting from widespread dispersal in the sea. However, evolutionary theory predicts that for the many benthic species with complex life histories that include both sexual and asexual phases, each parental habitat patch should become dominated by the fittest and most competitive clones. In this study we used genotypic mapping to show that within headlands, clones of the sea anemone Actinia tenebrosa show restricted distributions to specific habitats despite the potential for more widespread dispersal. On these same shores we used reciprocal transplant experiments that revealed strikingly better performance of clones within their natal rather than foreign habitats as judged by survivorship, asexual fecundity, and growth. These findings highlight the importance of selection for fine-scale environmental adaptation in marine taxa and imply that the genotypic structure of populations reflects extensive periods of interclonal competition and site-specific selection.

Asexual reproduction does not produce clonal populations of the brooding coral Pocillopora damicornis on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

We have investigated the relationship between genotypic diversity, the mode of production of brooded larvae and disturbance in a range of reef habitats, in order to resolve the disparity between the reproductive mode and population structure reported for the brooding coral Pocillopora damicornis. Within 14 sites across six habitats, the ratio of the observed (G o) to the expected (G e) genotypic diversity ranged from 69 to 100% of that expected for random mating. At three other sites in two habitats the G o /G e ranged from 35 to 53%. Two of these sites were recently bleached, suggesting that asexual recruitment may be favoured after disturbance. Nevertheless, our data suggest that brooded larvae, from each of five habitats surveyed, were asexually produced. While clonal recruitment may be important in disturbed habitats, the lack of clonality detected, both in this and earlier surveys of 40 other sites, implies that a disturbance is normally insufficient to explain this species’ continued investment in clonal reproduction.

Case study of the integration of ICT's into the school curriculum

This study, conducted in a laptop environment, found many factors mediate teachers' integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) into the curriculum. Successful integration of ICTs was not so much related to pedagogical style and teachers' self-sufficiency with computers, as to the principle of 'teachers first' and professional development which utilizes a 'situative-learning' model.

Effects of online professional development on the integration of technology in schools

This thesis examined how involvement in an online network (The Education Network of Ontario / Reseau educatif de l'Ontario) affected teachers professionally. Findings indicated that the network had supported an online community of practice which encouraged development of information and communication skills but that the community had eventually succombed to social and professional tensions.

Multi-point and multi-level solar integration into a conventional coal-fired power plant

Solar-aided power generation (SAPG) is capable of integrating solar thermal energy into a conventional thermal power plant, at multi-points and multi-levels, to replace parts of steam extractions in the regenerative Rankine cycle. The integration assists the power plant to reduce coal (gas) consumption and pollution emission or to increase power output. The overall efficiencies of the SAPG plants with different solar replacements of extraction steam have been studied in this paper. The results indicate that the solar thermal to electricity conversion efficiencies of the SAPG system are higher than those of a solar-alone power plant with the same temperature level of solar input. The efficiency with solar input at 330 °C can be as high as 45% theoretically in a SAPG plant. Even the low-temperature solar heat at about 85 °C can be used in the SAPG system to heat the lower temperature feedwater, and the solar to electricity efficiency is nearly 10%. However, the low-temperature heat resource is very hard to be used for power generation in other types of solar power plants. Therefore, the SAPG plant is one of the most efficient ways for solar thermal power generation.

Strategic framework for developing a process model for maximising the potential of radio frequency indentification (RFID) technology integration in hospital

Radio Frequency Identification is a radical technology that is being experimented in hospitals commonly for tracking high value equipment, in order to maximize the efficiency of processes. RFID deployment and integration is mostly vendor and business driven, and hence its potential is not maximized. In this chapter, we propose a strategic framework to develop a process model, that will assist in maximizing the potential of RFID in hospitals.