Schools, ‘ferals’, stigma and boundary work: parents managing education and uncertainty in regional Australia

This paper examines forms of boundary work undertaken by parents in a regional Australian city to negotiate social processes around the school market amidst rising economic insecurity. It outlines structural changes, which have increased economic inequality in Australia and impacted on educational reform, and the specific challenges faced by public schools in regional settings. Drawing on 18 months’ qualitative research in one regional location, it identifies and analyses forms of boundary work undertaken by middle-class families to manage these uncertainties in a field of scarce economic and cultural resources. Theories of class culture, stigma and whiteness are used to show how local social labels such as ‘ferals’ and ‘shiny people’ acted as classed and racialised ways of negotiating this social and economic landscape through the school field. Such practices engendered feelings of security and control and shed light on feelings of class-based resentment and anxiety in regional Australia, specifically a middle-class ‘fear of falling’.     

Books Not Burgers: Six Highly Effective Ways to Motivate and Retain Library Student Employees

Although there is a healthy amount in the literature about the importance of motivating student library employees in an academic setting, very little of it discusses the practical aspects of how to motivate students. A supervisor must often use ideas from other disciplines, including the business world and academia. In this article, the author suggests six highly effective, yet cost-conscious methods that have been used successfully in an academic library setting to keep student employees motivated and to retain them year after year. These six methods are: (a) encouraging autonomy, (b) holding contests, (c) providing food, (d) being open to suggestions, (e) using employee strengths, and (f) celebrating seasonal or university-specific events.     

THE BULLYING DYNAMIC: PREVALENCE OF INVOLVEMENT AMONG A LARGE‐SCALE SAMPLE OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES

Bullying has been the topic of much debate and empirical investigations over the past decade. Contemporary literature contends that students with disabilities may be overrepresented within the bullying dynamic as both perpetrators and victims. Unfortunately, prevalence rates associated with the representation of students with disabilities is limited due to measurement, disability status identification, and definition issues. The present study attempted to address these issues by assessing the prevalence rates of specific subgroups of students with disabilities in a large‐scale cross‐sectional study with 13,325 students without disabilities and 1,183 students with disabilities in Grades 6 through 12. Results suggest that overall, students with disabilities reported proportionally higher rates of bullying, fighting, relational aggression, victimization, online victimization, and relational victimization than did their peers without disabilities. These findings suggest that schools must begin to establish targeted interventions to support skill development based on characteristics associated with specific disability identification.     

Foreign-born Counselor Educators: Strengths,Challenges, and Areas of Support

International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling - This article features strengths and challenges indicated by foreign-born counselor educators in programs accredited by the Council for...