Making Sense of Bali: Unintended outcomes of study abroad programs

Study abroad programmes for teacher education students are increasingly being evaluated to determine their effectiveness in achieving intended outcomes. There is a danger, however, that such evaluations will ignore valuable but unintended and serendipitous outcomes of such programmes. This paper investigates an example of such an outcome, the development of a critical perspective towards media constructions of ‘otherness’. In 2002 a group of Australian teacher education students undertook an intensive in‐country Indonesian language programme. The course included mornings of formal immersion language classes and afternoons of cultural experiences with local students. Throughout and following the programme the students were interviewed and wrote about their changing perceptions of Indonesia and the implications of the experience for their professional development. Soon after their return Indonesian–Australian relations were challenged by the terrorist attack in the tourist heart of Bali. Two hundred and two people, including many Australian tourists, were killed in the bomb blast. In some cases the students were personally acquainted with Australian victims. As part of their reflection upon their in‐country experience the students were asked to comment upon whether, and in what ways, the Bali bombings might have affected their perceptions of Indonesia. The students were highly critical of the ethnocentric and stereotyped way in which the Australian media depicted Indonesians in their reporting of the bombing. These students were concerned with the effect that such media constructions might have upon Australian attitudes towards Indonesia and were prepared to challenge such media constructions in the classroom.     

Teachers and their Books

Too often there is far too large a gap between the sort of literature recommended by the English teacher and the normal reading tastes both of children and adults (W. Stewart, 1950).     

The “learning disabilities” label: An experimental analysis

The “learning disability” label is a relatively new addition to the field of special education and its effects have begun to be investigated. This study examined the differences produced by two categorical labels on students impressions of the “disturbingness” of behavior and their willingness to work with the labeled child. Aggressive behaviors thought to be exhibited by learning disabled youngsters were rated differently from identical behaviors thought to be exhibited by emotionally disturbed children. Implications of this study suggest that the “LD” label may connote a milder form of disability; and that teacher and professional training institutions should consider the deleterious effects labels may convey with regard to expected behaviors.