More than the power of two: sharing leadership for social justice in Australian schools with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

Australian schools are now under constant pressure to improve student achievement, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Successful school-community interrelationships are considered an important contributing factor to this improvement as is the school's educational leadership. This paper reports on a four year research project that looks into these contributing factors, through the work of Indigenous Education Workers (IEWs)/Community Education Counsellors (CECs) and principals and how they collaborate together. Informed by theoretical underpinnings emanating from a critical theorist framework, a mixed method, participatory action research multi-site case study approach was undertaken in a large educational region in the state of Queensland, Australia. Insights into the significance of the IEW/CEC role and the distinctive educational leadership relationship practice between IEWs/CECs and principals are presented. Finally, the paper explains the scholarly significance of the project and its potential to influence system policy and actions of educational leaders in Australian schools

Educational disengagement : a review of international, Australian and state policy responses

This paper reviews international and Australian policies to re-connect young people disengaged from education, training and employment. Current Australian education policies recognise young people resisting educational opportunities and suggest they receive additional adult intervention. The professional/client casework model, which increases surveillance and control practices, is evident in a range of international, state & federal education strategies. A critical review of literature sought to examine the policies that measure and affect change in the lives of young people experiencing educational disadvantage. The paper is structured around four questions: Do generic definitions of disengaged youth exist? How are governments around the world responding to youth disengagement? What are the aims of Australian education policies in relation to these global responses? How is the state of Queensland responding

Not Your Usual Success Story: Young Women Achieve Academic Success Against the Odds

367 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1993.This study sought to understand how young women with multiple stressors in their lives became academically successful at school. The author observed and interviewed five young women in a down state Illinois high school for one year. Each of them was recommended as successful by their teachers and peers because of their academic awards and/or their leadership achievements. All but one had grade point averages above 4.5 on a 5.0 scale. The young women experienced significant stressors in their lives, ranging from parental drug abuse and marital discord to physical and sexual abuse, personal depression, and frustration. Moreover, they worked long hours after school. Parents, teachers, and friends of the young women were also interviewed to situate the study in the contexts of family and school.The study found the "agency of self" as an interactive protective factor in the contexts of family and school. The young women became successful by (a) taking control of their own education and being a leader at school; (b) channeling their stress and anger into education; (c) being mature; (d) being hard working perfectionists; (e) having the focus of commitment to academic success; (f) establishing idiosyncratic credit; and (g) seeking success-supporting relationships. Their parents believed education was important, their extended families provided a supportive social net, and their relationships with their parents made them autonomous, a strength which they transferred to their education. The young women worked the school for success by mastering the local school politics and tapping into the learning environment, including effective counseling services.This research fills the gap of needed studies which crisscross contexts of family and school in seeking to understand how young women with multiple stressors become successful, rather than dropping out of school or settling for low academic performance. Their socialization, contrary to expectations, was found to be a strength for academic achievement, although fraught with stress. This study points to the need for schools to unwrap their homogeneous notions of success and expand opportunities for more students to be successful.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

A cross-country study on research students' perceptions of the role of supervision and cultural knowledge in thesis development

This paper presents preliminary findings from a research study in Australia, Malaysia and Iran on students’ perceptions of the roles of supervisor and student in the production of their thesis and the contribution of their cultural knowledge to thesis development. The 360 respondents answered an online survey and were studying for their Masters or Doctorate degrees in universities in Malaysia, Australia and Iran. The results of the study indicate that despite some variations, most students, whether their native language was English or not, have similar ideas about the process of thesis writing, the role expected of a supervisor and themselves, and the role of cultural knowledge in thesis development

Literature, evaluations and research on Australian Indigenous young parents programs: a review

[Extract] Queensland Health has recognised the strategic importance of providing additional support to young Indigenous parents to optimise outcomes for them and their children. However, limited evidence is available about best practice in providing such support.\ud \ud This review has two primary aims:\ud \ud 1. To gather evidence from the literature (both published and unpublished), from program evaluations and from primary research with service providers and young parents to identify:\ud \ud • Key issues impacting on young Indigenous mothers and fathers in Queensland\ud \ud • Innovation and good practice for delivering young parent programs\ud \ud • The supports/resources needed by service providers/workers to ensure effective delivery of these types of programs\ud \ud • Mechanisms for engaging with young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are "at risk" of becoming young parents or who are pregnant or already parenting\ud \ud • Barriers to effective implementation of such programs and strategies to minimize the likelihood of these barriers occurring.\ud \ud 2. To provide advice about how the evidence collected can best be turned into practice in government and non-government provided services

The transformative potential of young motherhood for disadvantaged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in Townsville, Australia

Objective: To explore attitudes to pregnancy and parenthood among a group of Indigenous young people in Townsville, Australia.\ud \ud Design and participants: Mixed methods and a cross-sectional design involving Indigenous women from a Young Mums Group designing the research instruments and\ud acting as peer interviewers. Data were collected in 2004 from young Indigenous people who had never been pregnant (171 students at three high schools and 15 people at a\ud homeless youth shelter) using a computer-assisted self-administered survey; from 59 of this group who also participated in single sex focus group discussions; and from 10 pregnant and parenting young women in individual semi-structured interviews.\ud \ud Main outcome measure: Self-reported attitudes and behaviour about aspirations, pregnancy and parenthood.\ud Results: Only eight of 186 young Indigenous people who had never been pregnant reported wanting to have a child as a teenager. Large proportions of this group of 186\ud reported idealised views about pregnancy, particularly young men, with 50.5% reporting that being a parent would always be enjoyable, and 62.6% reporting that being a mother\ud or a father would not change their lives. Idealised views were associated with earlier sexual initiation (P =0.001). Issues identified in the narratives of young mothers related to difficult backgrounds, pregnancy "just happening" to them, and the transformative impact of having a child on their lives and aspirations.\ud \ud Conclusions: Accurate parenting information may be necessary to address unrealistic views about parenting among Indigenous young people. Young Indigenous parents\ud often come from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds, and becoming a parent may be the impetus for positive change

Attitudes and behaviours of young indigenous people in Townsville concerning relationships, sex and contraception: the "U Mob Yarn Up" project

Objective:\ud To gain some understanding of the attitudes and behaviours of Indigenous young people in Townsville concerning relationships, contraception and safe sex.\ud \ud Design:\ud Cross-sectional study using a computer-assisted self-administered survey and single-sex focus group discussions designed by a Young Mums’ Group operating on participatory action principles and acting as peer interviewers.\ud Participants and setting:\ud \ud 171 Indigenous students in Years 9–11 at three high schools and 15 residents of a homeless youth shelter in Townsville, Queensland, 27 April – 8 December 2004.\ud \ud Main outcome measures:\ud Self-reported attitudes and behaviour about relationships, sexual intercourse and contraception.\ud \ud Results:\ud 84/183 participants (45.9%) reported past sexual intercourse, with 56.1% commencing intercourse at age 13–14 years. The likelihood of having had sex increased with being male (P = 0.001), increasing age, increased perceived sexual activity of peer group (both P = 0.000), and drinking alcohol at least weekly (P = 0.015). Young women were more likely to report unwanted sexual touching (P = 0.031), and less likely to report enjoying sexual intercourse (P = 0.001). The main qualitative themes concerned females’ reputations, coercion, and denial of female desire. Only 49/80 participants (61.3%) reported always using condoms. The main reasons for not using contraception were “just not thinking about it”, shame, and problems with access. Despite having reasonable knowledge about contraception, most lacked the confidence and negotiation skills to communicate with partners about condom use.\ud \ud Conclusions:\ud Like teenagers elsewhere, Indigenous teenagers in Townsville are becoming sexually active at a young age, and not practising safe sex reliably. The need to protect their reputations puts young women at risk by not being prepared for safe sex by carrying condoms.\u

Personality, socio-economic status and inflammation: cross-sectional, population-based study

Background: Associations between socio-economic status (SES), personality and inflammation were examined to determine whether low SES subjects scoring high on neuroticism or hostility might suffer relatively higher levels of inflammation than affluent subjects. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, 666 subjects were recruited from areas of high (most deprived – ‘‘MD’’) and low (least deprived – ‘‘LD’’) deprivation. IL-6, ICAM-1, CRP and fibrinogen were measured along with demographic and healthbehaviour variables, and personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism (hostility). Regression models assessed the prediction of inflammation as a function of personality, deprivation and their interaction. Results: Levels of CRP and IL-6 were an increasing function of neuroticism and extraversion only in LD subjects opposite trends were seen in MD subjects. The result was ascribed parsimoniously to an inflammatory ceiling effect or, more speculatively, to SES-related health-behaviour differences. Psychoticism was strongly associated with ICAM-1 in both MD and LD subjects. Conclusions: The association between neuroticism, CRP and IL-6 may be reduced in MD subjects confirming speculation that the association differs across population sub-groups. The association between psychoticism and ICAM-1 supports evidence that hostility has adverse effects upon the endothelium, with consequences for cardiovascular health. Health interventions may be more effective by accounting for personality-related effects upon biological processes