Discursive constructions of equity in Australian higher education: Imagined worlds and the case of people seeking asylum

There is a strong rationale for people seeking asylum and refugees given temporary protection to be key beneficiaries of Australian higher education equity practices. However, despite the extreme precarity they face, this group remains among the most educationally disadvantaged populations in Australia. Here, we use critical discourse analysis to examine the publicly available statements of 38 Australian universities to identify discursive representations of equity practices and connections, with our analytic gaze focused through the lens of people seeking asylum. Using a three-part analytic heuristic examining ‘statements’, ‘practices’ and ‘connections’, we offer a critical discourse analysis of how each public university expresses its commitment to the equity agenda in powerful stakeholder-facing documents—such as annual reports, strategic plans and media releases—and we compare this analysis against institutional stated practices with regard to people seeking asylum. In identifying misalignments between equity statements and stated practices, we suggest that institutional equity narratives articulate ‘imagined worlds’, in which all marginalised groups can access higher education. We argue that now is the time to move beyond these ‘imagined worlds’, to enact stated commitments to universal education, by instituting real and effective practices to facilitate equitable access to Australian higher education for people seeking asylum.     

Re-imagining the local in national cultural policy formulation – the case of the Anglophone Caribbean

ABSTRACT

The formulation of cultural policies in the Anglophone Caribbean constantly straddles the demands of global, regional and national imperatives as a function of its position as a region of post-colonial, small-island states. This paper will argue that the role these factors play in the art of policy making problematises conventions in the current global/local (glocal) debate circulating in the arena of Cultural Policy Studies. The paper shows that cultural policy making in the Caribbean constitutes a mélange of approaches that are in a constant state of contestation during the policy-making process. It employs content analysis of cultural policy texts from selected Caribbean states, as well as an analysis of stakeholder views from the national cultural policy consultations in Trinidad and Tobago to derive its findings. A Five Factor framework was developed to illustrate the range of responses that guide and shape local actors and activities in the national cultural policy domain. The research concludes that the relationship between the national and local (nocal) actors has to be re-imagined if cultural policy is to deliver on its promise of social transformation in the Caribbean.     

Exercise training and impaired glucose tolerance in obese humans

Individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) are at greater risk of developing diabetes than in normoglycaemia. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of 12-weeks exercise training in obese humans with IGT. Eleven participants (6 males and 5 females; 49±9 years; mean Body Mass Index (BMI) 32.4 kg · m(-2)), completed a 12-week brisk walking intervention (30 min per day, five days a week (d · wk(-1)), at 65% of age-predicted maximal heart rate (HR(max)). Anthropometric measurements, dietary intake, pulse wave velocity (PWV, to determine arterial stiffness) and blood pressure (BP) were examined at baseline and post intervention. Fasting blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin, insulin, blood lipids, indices of oxidative stress and inflammation (lipid hydroperoxides; superoxide dismutase; multimeric adiponectin concentration and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) were also determined. Post intervention, PWV (9.08±1.27 m · s(-1) vs. 8.39±1.21 m · s(-1)), systolic BP (145.4±14.5 vs. 135.8±14.9 mmHg), triglycerides (1.52±0.53 mmol · L(-1) vs. 1.31±0.54 mmol · L(-1)), lipid hydroperoxides (1.20±0.47 μM · L(-1) vs. 0.79±0.32 μM · L(-1)) and anthropometric measures decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Moderate intensity exercise training improves upper limb vascular function in obese humans with IGT, possibly by improving triglyceride metabolism, which may subsequently reduce oxidative stress. These changes were independent of multimeric adiponectin modification and alterations in other blood biomarkers.     

A paradigm for evaluating assessment interviewing techniques

For the school psychologist, interviewing is a commonly used but little understood assessment technique, often appreciated for its apparent simplicity and flexibility but criticized for its frequent lack of psychometric rigor. With few standardized and/or validated assessment interview schedules and little systematic training in diagnostic interviewing, the school psychologist is left to develop his or her own personalized assessment interview style. Three dimensions (namely, predetermination of questions, interviewer response options, and breadth of content explored) which appear to determine assessment interview structure and format are described and operationally defined and then combined into a conceptual model indicating 27 different assessment interview formats. This paradigm affords practitioners a model for classifying their own assessment interview techniques. Further research into the psychometric qualities of different types of assessment interviews so classified is suggested.     

The effects of reform: Have teachers really lost their sense of professionalism?

In this article, we reflect upon what research and other evidence tells us about the effects of many years of sustained, centrally initiated government reforms upon teachers’ work, lives and effectiveness. It is important to note that whilst the general intentions of school reform are almost always to improve standards of teaching, learning and achievement in increasingly unstable and turbulent economic and socially fragmented environments, their singular and cumulative effects are not always perceived to be efficacious or beneficial by those whose responsibility it is to enact them. In other words, reform may not always lead to renewal. As we approach the end of the first decade of this century, then, it is important to take stock of what, in some countries, have been 20 years of root and branch reform in schools, in pre-service teacher training (aka education) and in teachers’ conditions of work. Whilst the specifics of reform efforts differ in pace and in the ways they are managed in different countries, the general direction is the same.     

Carbohydrates for training and competition

An athlete's carbohydrate intake can be judged by whether total daily intake and the timing of consumption in relation to exercise maintain adequate carbohydrate substrate for the muscle and central nervous system ("high carbohydrate availability") or whether carbohydrate fuel sources are limiting for the daily exercise programme ("low carbohydrate availability"). Carbohydrate availability is increased by consuming carbohydrate in the hours or days prior to the session, intake during exercise, and refuelling during recovery between sessions. This is important for the competition setting or for high-intensity training where optimal performance is desired. Carbohydrate intake during exercise should be scaled according to the characteristics of the event. During sustained high-intensity sports lasting ~1 h, small amounts of carbohydrate, including even mouth-rinsing, enhance performance via central nervous system effects. While 30-60 g · h(-1) is an appropriate target for sports of longer duration, events >2.5 h may benefit from higher intakes of up to 90 g · h(-1). Products containing special blends of different carbohydrates may maximize absorption of carbohydrate at such high rates. In real life, athletes undertake training sessions with varying carbohydrate availability. Whether implementing additional "train-low" strategies to increase the training adaptation leads to enhanced performance in well-trained individuals is unclear.