Where to From Here for the Catholic Church- Recommendations 94 and 95 of the Redress and Civil Litigation Report

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse handed down its Final Report in December 2017. In 2015 it presented its interim Redress and Civil Litigation Report which contained final recommendations in relation to reform in civil litigation. Recommendations 94 and 95 of the Redress and Civil Litigation Report both directly and indirectly address the lack of legal entity for the Catholic Church in Australia and the problems this causes litigants seeking legal recompense. This paper considers the current legal status of the Catholic Church in Australia in light of the Recommendations

Courage to move beyond the past: Common law and canonical structures for the governance of Australian congregational schools in the 21st century

The future governance and ownership of congregational schools has become a compelling question for many congregations still seeking to determine the future of their schools and education ministry. Some congregations have already made the transition to new legal structures, some are in a transitional phase, and still others are yet to make decisions. The purpose of this thesis is to determine suitable common law and canon law structures for the future governance and ownership of congregational schools when the congregations are no longer willing or able to continue in their current roles. The following aspects determine the focus of the thesis: 1. The suitability of current common law and canon law structures in Catholic school governance and ownership; 2. The availability of any alternative common law and canon law structures for future governance and ownership of congregational schools; and 3. The impact of canonical requirements on the choice of any new common law structures. In addressing these aspects, consideration is given to the possibility of future governance and ownership of congregational schools as diocesan schools and in so doing examines the corporation sole, the unincorporated association and agency. It then considers the current common law structures of the Presentation Sisters in WA and Qld and of the Christian Brothers in Oceania. In doing so it examines the incorporated association, the company limited by guarantee and the statutory corporation. The relevant canon law relating to temporal goods and public juridical persons is examined and explained. The thesis reaches several conclusions relevant to a congregation’s decision-making of future governance and ownership of its schools. Firstly, it identifies the deficiencies in the legal capacity of diocesan schools. Secondly, it identifies the incorporated association, company limited by guarantee and the statutory corporation as the most viable options for future governance and ownership. Lastly, the thesis identifies the canonical requirements and implications on the choice of any new common law structure and ascertains that canon law is not necessarily an impediment to adopting new common law structures

English Speaking and Listening Assessment Project - Baseline. Bangladesh

This study seeks to understand the current practices of English Language Teaching (ELT) and assessment at the secondary school level in Bangladesh, with specific focus on speaking and listening skills. The study draws upon prior research on general ELT practices, English language proficiencies and exploration of assessment practices, in Bangladesh. The study aims to provide some baseline evidence about the way speaking and listening are taught currently, whether these skills are assessed informally, and if so, how this is done. The study addresses two research questions: 1. How ready are English Language Teachers in government-funded secondary schools in Bangladesh to implement continuous assessment of speaking and listening skills? 2. Are there identifiable contextual factors that promote or inhibit the development of effective assessment of listening and speaking in English? These were assessed with a mixed-methods design, drawing upon prior quantitative research and new qualitative fieldwork in 22 secondary schools across three divisions (Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong). At the suggestion of DESHE, the sample also included 2 of the ‘highest performing’ schools from Dhaka city. There are some signs of readiness for effective school-based assessment of speaking and listening skills: teachers, students and community members alike are enthusiastic for a greater emphasis on speaking and listening skills, which are highly valued. Teachers and students are now speaking mostly in English and most teachers also attempt to organise some student talk in pairs or groups, at least briefly. Yet several factors limit students’ opportunities to develop skills at the level of CEFR A1 or A2. Firstly, teachers generally do not yet have sufficient confidence, understanding or competence to introduce effective teaching or assessment practices at CEFR A1-A2. In English lessons, students generally make short, predictable utterances or recite texts. No lessons were observed in which students had an opportunity to develop or demonstrate language functions at CEFR A1-A2. Secondly, teachers acknowledge a washback effect from final examinations, agreeing that inclusion of marks for speaking and listening would ensure teachers and students took these skills more seriously during lesson time. Thirdly, almost two thirds of secondary students achieve no CEFR level, suggesting many enter and some leave secondary education with limited communicative English language skills. One possible contributor to this may be that almost half (43%) of the ELT population are only at the target level for students (CEFR A2) themselves, whilst approximately one in ten teachers (12%) do not achieve the student target (being at A1 or below). Fourthly, the Bangladesh curriculum student competency statements are generic and broad, providing little support to the development of teaching or assessment practices. The introduction and development of effective teaching and assessment strategies at CEFR A1-A2 requires a profound shift in teachers’ understanding and practice. We recommend that: 1. Future sector wide programmes provide sustained support to the develop teachers' competence in teaching and assessment of speaking and listening skills at CEFR A1-A2 2. Options are explored for introducing assessment of these skills in terminal examinations 3. Mechanisms are identified for improving teachers own speaking and listening skills 4. Student competency statements within the Bangladesh curriculum are revised to provide more guidance to teachers and students

Obesity Prevention and Health Promotion: How Family Life Educators View Their Role

Parenting and family life educators should be part of the multi-disciplinary solution to childhood overweight. Their ability to work in a preventative capacity to facilitate healthy family practices around eating and activity can help alter one of the key social contexts in which children develop. This article shares the results from a survey of parenting and family life educators that explored their current efforts and understanding regarding childhood overweight, willingness to increase future involvement with the issue, barriers to addressing the issue, and need for Extension support

The effectiveness of Design Thinking techniques to enhance undergraduate student learning

Students have access to an ever-increasing quantity and diversity of information, presented to them in multiple formats; the challenge for them is to identify and use this data effectively. Many undergraduate students experience difficulties in managing the knowledge that they gather, in recognising the quality and authenticity of this information, and in assessing the importance and priority of data. This therefore requires the development of strategies to support their learning

Attitudes towards prisoner-to-prisoner bullying and the association with prison environments: Examining the components.

Purpose: The research aims to examine attitudes towards prisoner-to-prisoner bullying, further considering the association between attitudes and characteristics of the prison environment thought to promote prisoner bullying. Methodology: Questionnaires were administered to 423 adult male prisoners and 195 correctional officers from three prisons in Canada. Participants completed the Prison Bullying Scale (PBS) and the Prison Environmental Scale (PES). Findings: Convergence in attitudes between prisoners and officers were noted although staff were more likely to consider bullies to be skilled, whereas prisoners were more likely than officers to feel that victims of bullying should be supported. Associations between attitudes supportive of bullying and environmental characteristics likely to promote prison bullying were found primarily among prisoners; the strongest predictors of such attitudes were poor relationships (e.g. prisoner to officer; prisoner to prisoner). Research implications: The study highlights the importance of the social aspect of the prison environment. It further provides an outline of two measures that could have utility in evaluating interventions designed to reduce prisoner-to-prisoner bullying. Originality/value: The study is the first to examine attitudes in a combined sample of prisoners and officers and focuses on the role of the wider prison environment. It also utilises a sample from three prisons as opposed to focusing on a single establishment

Assessing awareness of colorectal cancer symptoms: Measure development and results from a population survey in the UK

Background: This paper describes the development of a Cancer Awareness Measure for colorectal (CRC) cancer (Bowel/Colorectal CAM(a)) (study 1) and presents key results from a population-representative survey using the measure (study 2).MethodsStudy 1: Items were taken from the literature and reviewed by expert groups. A series of three validation studies assessed reliability and validity of the measure. To establish test-retest reliability, 49 people over 50 years of age completed the Bowel/Colorectal CAM on two occasions (range 9-14 days, mean 13.5 days). Construct validity was assessed by comparing responses from bowel cancer experts (n = 16) and the lay public (n = 35). Lastly, a brief intervention study tested sensitivity to change with participants (n = 70) randomly allocated to be given a control leaflet or an intervention leaflet and their responses were compared. Study 2: 1520 respondents completed the Bowel/Colorectal CAM in a population survey carried out by TNS-British Market Research Bureau International (TNS-BMRB) in March 2010.ResultsStudy 1: Internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.84) was high. Test-retest reliability was over r = 0.7 for warning signs, risk factors and age people are first invited for screening, but lower (between 0.6 and 0.7) for other items (lifetime risk, awareness of bowel cancer screening, age at risk). Bowel cancer experts achieved higher scores than equally educated controls (54.7 [4.3] vs. 42.9 [5.7]; P < 0.001) demonstrating the measure has construct validity and intervention participants showed higher knowledge than controls (51.4 [5.9] vs. 42.9 [5.7]; P < 0.001) suggesting the measure is sensitive to change. Study 2: Respondents recalled on average, one CRC sign and one risk factor. There was particularly low prompted awareness of the signs 'lump in the abdomen' (64%) and 'tiredness' (50%) and several lifestyle risk factors for CRC, e. g. exercise (37%). Respondents from more affluent groups had consistently higher knowledge of signs and risk factors compared to those from more deprived groups.Conclusions: The Bowel/Colorectal CAM meets accepted psychometric criteria for reliability and construct validity and should therefore provide a useful tool for assessment of CRC awareness. The population survey revealed low awareness of several CRC signs and risk factors and emphasises the importance of continuing public education, particularly about the link between lifestyle behaviours and CRC

Development of a core outcome set for traumatic brachial plexus injuries (COMBINE): a study protocol

Introduction: Traumatic brachial plexus injury (TBPI) involves major trauma to the large nerves of the arm which control the movement and sensation. Fifty percent of injuries result in complete paralysis of the arm with many other individuals having little movement, sensation loss and unremitting pain. The injury often causes severe and permanent disability affecting work and social life, with an estimated cost to the NHS and the economy of £35 million per annum. Advances in microsurgery have resulted in an increase in interventions aimed at reconstructing these injuries. However, data to guide evidence-based decisions is lacking. Different outcomes are used across studies to assess the effectiveness of treatments. This has impeded our ability to synthesise results to determine which treatments work best. Studies frequently report short-term clinical outcomes but rarely report longer-term outcomes, and those focused on quality of life. This project aims to produce a Core Outcome Set (COS) for surgical and conservative management of TBPI. The TBPI COS will contain a minimum set of outcomes to be reported and measured in effectiveness studies and collected through routine clinical care. Methods and analysis: This mixed-methods project will be conducted in two phases. In phase 1 a long-list of patient-reported and clinical outcomes will be identified through a systematic review. Interviews will then explore outcomes important to patients. In phase 2 the outcomes identified across the systematic review and interviews will be included in a three round online Delphi exercise aiming to reach consensus on the COS. The Delphi process will include patient and healthcare participants. A consensus meeting will be held to achieve the final COS. Ethics and dissemination: The use of a COS in TBPI will increase the relevance of research and clinical care to all stakeholders, facilitate evidence synthesis and evidence-based decision making. The study has ethical approval