Comparative Perspectives on Child poverty: a review of poverty measures

Child poverty matters directly as children constitute a large share of the population and indirectly for future individual and national well- being. Developed country measures of child poverty are dominated by income-poverty, although health and education are often included. But these are not necessarily the most direct measures of the things that matter to children. Moreover, a broader range of factors than material well-being matter for child development; family and community play an important role. The conclusion is that social and psychological variables are an important component of child welfare. Can such a conclusion be extended to developing countries? It might be thought not, since the dictates of a focus on absolute poverty imply concern with fundamentals such as malnutrition, illiteracy and premature death and the things which cause these outcomes. But such a view is short-sighted. Child development concerns are at least as important in developing countries as developed ones (if less well understood). Hence approaches to child welfare in developing countries (both measurement and policy) should also adopt a broad-based approach which embraces diverse aspects of the quality of a child’s life, including child rights.Children, poverty measurement, child poverty

Making connections in science: engaging with ICT to enhance curriculum understanding

The “Teaching Teachers for the Future” (TTF) project (DEEWR, 2012) provided the La Trobe University School of Education with the opportunity to rethink the integration of Information and Communication Technology in the science curriculum subjects offered in their teacher education programs. The La Trobe University iteration of the Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) project focused initially on subject in the second semester, third year of the Bachelor of Education course called the Multi-Disciplinary Science & Technology Integrated Experience (MSTIE). Two pairs of pre-service teachers were placed in the school where the TTF ICT Pedagogy Officer (ICTPO) worked as an ICT specialist. The two teams worked with classroom teachers and the ICTPO to cooperatively plan, teach and evaluate a science curriculum project enhanced by strong ICT integration. The experience was a catalyst for significant educational insight, for the students involved, but also for other pre-service teachers and teachers from the school and university. In the second cycle of the project the ICTPO worked with academics from the university to draw on findings from the first cycle in order to design and implement integrated ICT initiatives in a first semester, second year Science curriculum subject. This structure means that students who will take MSTIE in their third year will have a strong foundation of Science ICT integration on which to base their MSTIE preparation and implementation. &nbsp

First-year Transition in Teacher Education: The Pod Experience

Research on student retention and transition in higher education has been an ongoing focus since the 1950s and during the past decade research into this area has gathered momentum as institutions of higher education increasingly recognise the economic and social costs of failing to retain and transition future graduates. Measures to improve transition and retention rates have generally focused on developing strategies to engage students in their studies and tertiary discourses by providing institutional, academic and/or social support. In this paper we discuss ‘Pods’ as an effective and innovative approach to transitioning first-year pre-service teacher education students in regional Victoria. This paper argues that students’ sense of connectedness is greatly enhanced through the grouping of students into Pods in order to promote social and academic engagement and a sense of belonging

How could an influx of users be prevented if Canberra introduces a trial of controlled availability of heroin?

Financial support came from the Australian National University’s Strategic Development Fund and NCEP

Trends in the Digitalization of K-12 Schools: The Australian Perspective

Although Australian children have plenty of access to digital technologies in school, a common perception is that this hasn't made a difference to the quality of education in Australia. In fact, it is widely considered that educational standards are in decline and schools are failing to teach children the skills that they will need for the future. The Australian Government, however, do recognize that the road to digitalization is long and they have invested in a new digital technologies curriculum and the provision of equipment and teacher professional development to support this goal. While this is a positive move and exciting projects are being implemented in schools, there is less focus on educational research in this area. This is a missed opportunity because research outcomes can provide an additional level of credibility that is required to justify why ‘new literacies’ are essential in a contemporary school curriculum

How do Teacher Evaluation Ratings on Kentucky\u27s Professional Growth and Effectiveness System Relate to Student Achievement?

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Martha Collins Jones, Jennifer R. Allen, and Jim Masters on January 23, 2017

The Challenges of Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans’ Transition from Military to Civilian Life and Approaches to Reconnection

Afghanistan and Iraq veterans experienced traumas during deployment, and disrupted connections with friends and family. In this context, it is critical to understand the nature of veterans’ transition to civilian life, the challenges navigated, and approaches to reconnection. We investigated these issues in a qualitative study, framed by homecoming theory, that comprised in-depth interviews with 24 veterans. Using an inductive thematic analysis approach, we developed three overarching themes. Military as family explored how many veterans experienced the military environment as a “family” that took care of them and provided structure. Normal is alien encompassed many veterans experiences of disconnection from people at home, lack of support from institutions, lack of structure, and loss of purpose upon return to civilian life. Searching for a new normal included strategies and supports veterans found to reconnect in the face of these challenges. A veteran who had successfully transitioned and provided support and advice as a peer navigator was frequently discussed as a key resource. A minority of respondents—those who were mistreated by the military system, women veterans, and veterans recovering from substance abuse problems—were less able to access peer support. Other reconnection strategies included becoming an ambassador to the military experience, and knowing transition challenges would ease with time. Results were consistent with and are discussed in the context of homecoming theory and social climate theory. Social support is known to be protective for veterans, but our findings add the nuance of substantial obstacles veterans face in locating and accessing support, due to disconnection and unsupportive institutions. Larger scale work is needed to better understand how to foster peer connection, build reconnection with family, and engage the broader community to understand and support veterans; interventions to support reconnection for veterans should be developed

Snapchat 'selfies': The case of disappearing data

Little has been written about the impact of ephemeral messaging technologies such as Snapchat, Wickr and iDelete on learner identities. The authors explore how disappearing social media may enable young people to take up a range of discourses and demonstrate discursive agency in ways that support social mobility through shifting relationships with their peers. Much of this unfolds through the transmission of digital images that promote social flexibility. The visibility, of seeing and being seen, demonstrates a Foucauldian 'gaze' where power plays out through the capacity to be visible and recognisable to others and specific practices (e.g. selfies) become normalised. Social media technologies furnish emergent spaces for underlife activity that foster this gaze. Taking up the Foucault's concept of subjectivities as discursively constituted identity categories, the authors explore the relationship between disappearing media and youth identities