Place and identity: What can we learn from the dead

In his book Last Landscapes (2003), Ken Warpole notes that, for a number of reasons, cemetery architecture is the most conservative aspect of the institutions and practices surrounding death and memorialisation in the West. This is starting to change, with designers and architects responding to the groundswell of sentiment demanding that we moderns modernise our ceremonies and associated institutions. In the following essay, I look at the different demands and opportunities in urban and rural cemetery design, and focus on the multifunctional roles that cemeteries have played in the past and might yet play again. This essay is the meeting place of previous work on paddock architecture in the Australian landscape and a recent project looking at death and the landscape. I am interested in the ways that design might respond to the nexus identified by the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk as ‘reactionary religion and progressive technological medicine’ (2013: 421), which can bar the possibility of a dignified death and a dignifying place for the dead among the living. This doesn’t mean a return to the ostentation of Victorian mourning rituals or adopting the ‘death as party’ practices of Ghana or Mexico—which isn’t to say we can’t learn anything from these. Instead, the task seems to be finding a way to give meaning to the values of specific lives and the contexts in which they are embedded, and to provide better support structures (both material, atmospheric and symbolic) for those who gather around the absence created by the departed

The Lists of W. G. Sebald

Since the late 1990s, W. G. Sebald’s innovative contribution to the genre of prose fiction has been the source of much academic scrutiny. His books Vertigo, The Rings of Saturn, The Emigrants and Austerlitz have provoked interest from diverse fields of inquiry: visual communication (Kilbourn; Patt; Zadokerski), trauma studies (Denham and McCulloh; Schmitz), and travel writing (Blackler; Zisselsberger). His work is also claimed to be a bastion for both modernist and postmodernist approaches to literature and history writing (Bere; Fuchs and Long; Long). This is in addition to numerous “guide to” type books, such as Mark McCulloh’s Understanding Sebald, Long and Whitehead’s W. G. Sebald—A Critical Companion, and the comprehensive Saturn’s Moons: A W. G. Sebald Handbook. Here I have only mentioned works available in English. I should point out that Sebald wrote in German, the country of his birth, and as one would expect much scholarship dealing with his work is confined to this language

Genome-wide phylogenetic analysis of the pathogenic potential of Vibrio furnissii

This is the final version of the article. Available from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this record.We recently reported the genome sequence of a free-living strain of Vibrio furnissii (NCTC 11218) harvested from an estuarine environment. V. furnissii is a widespread, free-living proteobacterium and emerging pathogen that can cause acute gastroenteritis in humans and lethal zoonoses in aquatic invertebrates, including farmed crustaceans and molluscs. Here we present the analyses to assess the potential pathogenic impact of V. furnissii. We compared the complete genome of V. furnissii with 8 other emerging and pathogenic Vibrio species. We selected and analyzed more deeply 10 genomic regions based upon unique or common features, and used 3 of these regions to construct a phylogenetic tree. Thus, we positioned V. furnissii more accurately than before and revealed a closer relationship between V. furnissii and V. cholerae than previously thought. However, V. furnissii lacks several important features normally associated with virulence in the human pathogens V. cholera and V. vulnificus. A striking feature of the V. furnissii genome is the hugely increased Super Integron, compared to the other Vibrio. Analyses of predicted genomic islands resulted in the discovery of a protein sequence that is present only in Vibrio associated with diseases in aquatic animals. We also discovered evidence of high levels horizontal gene transfer in V. furnissii. V. furnissii seems therefore to have a dynamic and fluid genome that could quickly adapt to environmental perturbation or increase its pathogenicity. Taken together, these analyses confirm the potential of V. furnissii as an emerging marine and possible human pathogen, especially in the developing, tropical, coastal regions that are most at risk from climate change.This research was funded by a grant from Shell Research Ltd

Shifting the belief of the “hard-to-reach parents” to “reachable parents”: Parent-teacher collaboration within schools in a post-colonial country

Interacting with Indigenous parents effectively can be a challenge for primary school teachers, regardless of their teaching experience. Unfortunately, within schools in post-colonial countries, teachers often perceive that this challenge exists because Indigenous parents are hard-to-reach or unresponsive to their children's educational needs. With the intention of dismantling these destructive colonial views towards Indigenous groups, this phenomenological study explored how 22 Indigenous West Papuan parents perceived their roles in their children's education and how these parents and 8 teachers discursively established their own versions of parent-teacher collaboration. Parents in this study believed that their role is critical for their children's educational success. Two types of parent-teacher collaboration were identified: transactional and culturally responsive. Although both parents and teachers understood the importance of their collaboration, this did not necessarily result in effective collaboration. Some parents reported that their collaboration with teachers was hindered by teachers’ lack of understanding of the impact of discriminatory treatment, colonisation, and erosion of Indigenous culture on their communities and the implications of teachers’ attitudes towards pedagogical practices. Further implications for practice are also discussed

Complete genome sequence of a free-living Vibrio furnissii sp. nov. strain (NCTC 11218)

This is the final version. Available from American Society for Microbiology via the DOI in this record. Shell Research Limited

A systematic review of Indigenous parents' educational engagement

The vital role of parents in Indigenous children's education has long been recognised in the school system; however, there is still limited understanding of the complex challenges experienced by parents in their educational engagement. This systematic review synthesised evidence from 41 studies to provide an understanding of Indigenous parents' perceptions about their educational engagement and strategies used by schools to facilitate their engagement. By employing a qualitative thematic synthesis, we identified three main themes: (1) the self-perceived roles of Indigenous parents; (2) factors that hinder educational engagement; and (3) strategies that can support Indigenous parents. The findings suggest that cultural issues greatly influence the way parents perceive their role and are at the root of the hindering factors and effective strategies for increasing parental engagement. Schools' personnel can create opportunities for authentic collaboration with parents by undertaking a comprehensive identification of impeding factors and employing a strength-based framework that acknowledges the importance of integrating cultural aspects and culturally responsive approaches. Context and implications Rationale for this study Indigenous parental engagement in schools has continued to be a concern. Although such engagement is widely recognised as essential, fundamental enablers of parental engagement are not thoroughly examined. This study aimed to explore how home-school relations could be established in ways that accommodate the preferences of Indigenous parents. Why do the new findings matter This study provides a comprehensive analysis of how home-school partnerships could be undertaken to produce an authentic collaboration between schools and Indigenous parents. The findings contribute to the body of knowledge about the factors hindering Indigenous parental engagement and culturally responsive strategies to enhance it. Implications for practitioners and policy makers With the recognition of Indigenous cultures, schools can strengthen their genuine commitments to build an authentic and inclusive collaboration with Indigenous parents by empowering parents to engage in their children‘s education, building culturally responsive relationships with parents, and supporting the whole family and students‘ development. Moreover, policy makers might comprehensively investigate any culturally inappropriate and unsafe regulations in the existing policies and consider holistic programmes that are more culturally responsive

Strengthening Indigenous parents’ co-leadership through culturally responsive home-school partnerships: a practical implementation framework

The momentum of the decolonising education movement has led many scholars to rethink the ongoing impacts of colonialism on Indigenous peoples and generate catalysts for change. Using the decolonisation lens, the aim of this phenomenological study was to investigate the barriers, outcomes, and enablers of effective collaboration between West Papuan parents and teachers. Results suggested that although they encountered many obstacles, both groups of participants still believed in the possibility of establishing sustainable, culturally responsive home-school partnerships. In addition, when teachers embraced West Papuan culture in home-school partnerships, it increased their professional skills, parents’ agency, and self-efficacy, which in turn, enhanced children’s learning outcomes and strengthened children’s Indigenous identity. We offer a culturally responsive home-school partnership framework, developed from the bottom-up narratives of teachers and parents. The framework centres on three key strategies: culturally responsive communication, decolonising pedagogical practices, and emancipatory support

Accurately Assessing Teacher ADHD-Specific Attitudes Using the Scale for ADHD-Specific Attitudes

Objective: The aim of this study is therefore twofold, first to accurately examine the ADHD-specific attitudes of New South Wales Government school in-service teachers using the Scale for ADHD-Specific Attitudes (Authors 2016), and second, to determine if any of their socio-demographic features could predict their attitudes Method: Exploratory factor analysis found a 5-factor structure, and multiple regression analysis was performed to establish the existence of groups of variables with respect to teacher attitudes towards ADHD-type behaviours and any demographic predictors of teacher attitudes. Results: The final regression model found significant predictors of each factor with R2 values ranging from.007 to.147. Conclusion: This study illustrated that teachers had generally positive attitudes towards students who display ADHD-type behaviours, however, they found the externalised behaviours of ADHD irritating in the classroom and found teaching students with ADHD-type behaviours difficult, and teachers want more information about ADHD and how to manage it in the classroom

Using technology to facilitate partnerships between schools and Indigenous parents: A narrative review

Technological advances have the potential to support educational partnerships between schools and parents. While the positive benefits of technology for these partnerships have been reported in the literature, there is still incomprehension about how to best use this technology to meet the needs of Indigenous parents. Given the intergenerational impacts of colonisation, socioeconomic stress, structural barriers in schooling, and other critical challenges experienced by Indigenous parents, the use of technology as a tool for partnering with Indigenous parents requires careful consideration of their experiences. Therefore, the aim of this narrative review was to describe key attributes of the use of technology in home-school partnerships with Indigenous parents. Findings revealed that technology integration was beneficial to increasing Indigenous parental engagement, as it was connected to the wellbeing and future of Indigenous young generations. However, it could also exacerbate divide, raise cultural tensions, and bring undesirable consequences. Therefore, as a practical implication, schools should embed culturally appropriate approaches when adopting technology in their partnerships with Indigenous parents

Intelligent integration of BIPV and load management systems for modern buildings

This paper outlines the basics of load management, and highlights the possibility of maximising the contribution from the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) power generation. It will also explain the underlying principles of a dynamic modelling approach and its application in supporting the anticipatory control strategy for load shifting. For many types of building applications, the load profiles are well matched with the BIPV generation profiles such that the BIPV power source is already acting as the peak clipping device. The application of Building Management Systems (BMS) in load shifting should consider the supply from BIPV system. Secondly, due to the thermal mass of the building, there exists time delay in the response of the power requirement of the HVAC system in the building from the solar radiation data. The BIPV system, on the contrary, is responding almost instantaneously to the solar irradiance. A dynamic BIPV model could be applied in aiding the prediction of the load profile. This paper will outline these aspects of the BIPV system as a demonstration of its application in BMS.postprintThe 8th Annual Power Symposium, Hong Kong, 19 June 2009