Trends in International and Internal Teacher Mobility in Three Pacific Island Countries

High‐skilled migration has increasingly been the subject of migration research over the past decade, but the focus has tended to be on health and IT professionals. In this paper, we address the mobility of schoolteachers in a region that has so far received little attention, the Pacific Islands. It is timely to examine trends in teacher mobility in the Pacific, given the shortages that are occurring elsewhere. In particular, the tailoring of immigration policies to attract highly skilled workers in areas of shortage could impact on the Pacific. The focus of the paper is on emigration and we argue that of three countries studied, only Fiji is negatively affected by teacher mobility. The Cook Islands and Vanuatu are currently experiencing low levels of international teacher emigration. Levels of internal mobility are also investigated in an attempt to see if remote areas and outer islands are experiencing teacher shortages. The preference for working near one’s land or on one’s home island is a strong drawcard in bringing people back home to teach. A problem arises, however, when not enough people are trained from a region/island and the incentives to encourage others to go and work there are less than effective.     

Language,culture and access to mathematics: a case of one remote Aboriginal community

For many students, coming to learn mathematics is as much about the pedagogical relay through which concepts are conveyed as it is about the mathematics per se. This relay comprises social, cultural and linguistic norms as well as the mathematical discourse. In this study, I outline the practices of one remote school and how the teaching practices scaffold Indigenous learners whose home language is different from the language of instruction (Standard Australian English) as they come to learn mathematics. Through various strategies, teachers have created positive learning environments that celebrate the home languages of the students while supporting the transition into Standard Australian English and the discourse of mathematics.     

Borders, margins and bridges: Possibilities for change for marginalized young women

This paper interrogates the notion of exclusion with a particularfocus upon the experiences of young women. It focuses on thepotential that community processes hold for drawing marginalizedyoung people back into mainstream life. It considers two examplesthat were each concerned with the development of community facilities.One sought to remove young people from an inner city area, theother was intended to provide community facilities for youngpeople. Each adopted a different approach to the participationof young people and had different outcomes. The discussion exploresthe potential that public planning processes hold for encouragingthe participation of young people and for providing effectiveavenues for the diverse realities of young people to be validatedand to contribute to decision-making. The successful participationof young people in public life is a challenge, yet they arerarely encouraged to participate in defining solutions to theproblems they are identified as causing. The experiences reportedin this paper therefore offer insights into effective strategiesfor engaging young people in the resolution of community issues.     

Pathways to educational aspirations: resilience as a mediator of proximal resources and risks

Educational aspirations play an important role in educational achievement, understanding more about the factors that shape aspirations should enable educators and others who support young people to better articulate educational ambitions and then to work towards their achievement. Given this, the current paper uses a form of integrative data analysis to examine two issues. First, it identifies that a social ecological measure of resilience mediates the impact which proximal risks and resources have upon young people’s educational aspirations. Second, it establishes that the linkages between these proximal risks and resources, resilience and educational aspirations are similar for young people facing high levels of adversity and young people on more or less normative developmental pathways. The paper draws on a data collected in the first wave of the Youth Transitions Study; a longitudinal mixed-methods investigation of the factors that influence transitions to adulthood for a group of vulnerable teenagers.     

It's no picnic: personal and family safety for rural social workers

This paper reports the key research findings related to personal and family safety of rural welfare and social workers, from a study conducted in rural Victoria, Australia. Significant findings included concerns about personal and family safety, frequency of episodes of work related violence and harassment, and the resultant impact on personal and family activities. A range of useful strategies was identified to combat and cope with both the risk and experience of violence and harassment for the worker, and for their families. Workplaces, professional associations and educators need to recognise the impact of this occupational hazard and respond with sensitivity to these issues, which have particular relevance for rural practitioners where anonymity and privacy are frequently compromised.     

Australian Social Work Reviewers 2010

Abstract

Children placed in out-of-home care are a particularly disadvantaged group in society, who have often been exposed to trauma and socioeconomic disadvantage. As a result, they experience poorer health outcomes than children in the general population, especially mental health outcomes. One health outcome that has yet to be researched thoroughly is overweight and obesity of children placed in out-of-home care. Hence, the overall goal of this paper was to review the extant literature over the last decade on weight-related issues for children in out-of-home care, with particular emphasis on overweight and obesity. The findings of the review revealed that there is a lack of rigorous Australian research in relation to prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in children in out-of-home care; there is a lack of strategies or interventions designed specifically to combat overweight and obesity in children in out-of-home care; and one of the major limitations of Australian research to date is the use of self-report measures to assess the weight status of children in out-of-home care. It was concluded that prevention and intervention strategies are needed that target children as they enter out-of-home care.     

Use of risk assessment and life cycle assessment in decision making: a common policy research agenda.

Quantitative risk assessment (RA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) are both analytical tools used to support decision making in environmental management. They have been developed and used by largely separate groups of specialists, and it is worth considering whether there is a common research agenda that may increase the relevance of these tools in decision-making processes. The validity of drawing comparisons between use of the tools is established through examining key aspects of the two approaches for their similarities and differences, including the nature of each approach and contextual and methodological aspects. Six case studies involving use of each approach in public decision making are described and used to draw out concerns about using RA and LCA in this context. The following categories of concern can be distinguished: philosophical approach of the tools; quantitative versus qualitative assessment; stakeholder participation; the nature of the results; and the usefulness of the results in relation to time and financial resource requirements. These can be distilled into a common policy research agenda focusing on: the legitimacy of using tools built on a particular perspective in decision making; recognition and role of value judgments in RA and LCA; treatment of uncertainty and variability; the influence of analytical tools in focusing attention on particular aspects of a decision-making situation; and understandability of the results for nonspecialists. It is concluded that it is time to bring together the experiences of RA and LCA specialists and benefit from cross-fertilization of ideas.     

A curriculum model for a community development approach to community-based rehabilitation

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is not a new concept but has become the focus for groups such as the World Health Organisation and other international aid agencies in facilitating the availability of rehabilitation services in developing countries throughout the world. Although much of the literature debates institutional versus community-based services and auxiliary versus fully trained personnel, little information is available to address the curriculum issues relating to training personnel to undertake CBR activities. The purpose of this paper is to present a curriculum model for preparing and implementing short programme workshops to encourage the development of CBR in different cultural settings. The curriculum model has foundations which are firmly rooted in curriculum and educational theory and concepts. It provides a flexible adult learning approach to introduce the broad concepts of CBR, providing the participants with culturally relevant, concrete, practical tools to allow the implementation of CBR activities. The workshop model has been used successfully with participants from diverse or homogeneous backgrounds.     

‘It's those first few weeks’: Women's views about breastfeeding support in an Australian outer metropolitan region

ObjectiveTo examine factors that influence the establishment and continuation of breastfeeding among women living in a southern region of Victoria.MethodSequential mixed methods design including paper-based survey and focus group enquiry.FindingWomen who had breastfed their infants (n = 170) reported reliance on midwives, lactation consultants and maternal and child health nurses for breastfeeding advice and support in the immediate and medium postnatal periods. Women who chose a private hospital appeared to receive less immediate postnatal support than those in a public hospital. Access to individual guidance from midwives and MCH nurses was regarded as critical to overcoming breastfeeding difficulties, in the face of the alternative suggested by people to ‘give up’. They described themes of: ‘Women's experience of nurses/midwives’, ‘Expectations versus reality’, ‘Not giving up despite difficulties’, and ‘Breastfeeding support’. Sources of lay support were not universal.ConclusionThe duration of breastfeeding might be extended by early problem resolution. To enhance breastfeeding participation, further examination of the extent and timeliness of service provision by health service providers is necessary.     

Jobs in the Bush: Global Industries and Inclusive Rural Development

How do rural communities manage the challenge of local governance and community capacity‐building, given the policy choices of central government (both state and national) in favour of global resource‐development industries? Central government policy choices expose rural communities to the vagaries of the global economy, even as the Australian government's stated intent vis‐à‐vis rural Australia is the exact opposite: to encourage locally driven economic and community sustainability. Rural development policy in Australia often has the effect of denying the very outcomes it hopes to achieve. On the one hand, government policies encourage rural communities to be independent, to build ‘social capital’, and to add value to their local produce; on the other hand, macroeconomic policies change the contexts within which these communities function, creating a tension which is difficult to reconcile. In the case of the Western District of Victoria, an established agricultural and pastoral region, the cycles of economic activity have been disrupted in recent years by new and exciting global industries whose trajectories sit largely outside local control. This paper questions whether governments have a systemic view of the impact of these competing demands on rural communities, and calls for a more informed, whole‐of‐government policy‐making for the development of Australia's rural regions.