Inclusion: Culture,Policy and Practice: A Queensland Perspective

Schools are currently undergoing a process of reconstructed educational thinking and practice in Queensland. They are being challenged to review their organisational structures, the curriculum they teach and their pedagogical practices with the intention of transforming their structures, curriculum and pedagogies to ensure that all students are truly included in the school community. This paper reviews the background research that has informed the inclusion movement and the role schools play in developing inclusive education and outlines the specific initiatives that have been undertaken in Queensland, Australia.     

Risk factors for the perpetration of child sexual abuse: a review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: Since the late 1980s, there has been a strong theoretical focus on psychological and social influences of perpetration of child sexual abuse. This paper presents the results of a review and meta-analysis of studies examining risk factors for perpetration of child sexual abuse published since 1990. METHOD: Eighty-nine studies published between 1990 and April of 2003 were reviewed. Risk factors were classified into one of the following six broad categories: family factors, externalizing behaviors, internalizing behaviors, social deficits, sexual problems, and attitudes/beliefs. Sex offenders against children (SOC) were compared to three comparison groups identified within the 89 studies: sex offenders who perpetrated against adults (SOA), non-sex offenders, and non-offenders with no history of criminal or sexual behavior problems. RESULTS: Results for the six major categories showed that SOC were not different from SOA (all d between -.02 and .14) other than showing lower externalizing behaviors (d=-.25). Sex offenders against children were somewhat different from non-sex offenders, especially with regard to sexual problems and attitudes (d=.83 and .51). Sex offenders against children showed substantial differences from non-offenders with medium sized effects in all six major categories (d's range from .39 to .58). CONCLUSION: Child sex offenders are different from non-sex offenders and non-offenders but not from sex offenders against adults. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study suggests that the presence of general risk factors may lead to a variety of negative behavioral outcomes, including the perpetration of child sexual offending. Family factors were strongly related to the perpetration of child sex offending (vs. non-sexual offending or non-offending) and may be valuable intervention points for interrupting the development of child sex offending, as well as other negative behaviors. Other potential points for intervention may focus on the development of appropriate social and emotional skills that contribute to sexual offending.     

The Schooling Experience of Adolescent Boys with AD/HD: An Australian Case Study

This study explored the experience of schooling of six adolescent boys diagnosed with AD/HD from the perspectives of the boys, their mothers and their teachers. The study utilised social constructionism as the theoretical orientation and the Dynamic Developmental Theory (DDT) of AD/HD as the explanatory framework. Utilising a multiple, instrumental case-study, data were collected by means of semi-structured individual and focus group interviews as well as a review of school reports across a two year period. Findings of the study suggest that taking medication as prescribed together with supporting the students to make and manage friendships, utilising classroom strategies that support learning, and providing an engaging classroom environment are important considerations to promote a positive schooling experience for adolescents with AD/HD.     

Experiential learning and values education at a school youth camp: Maintaining Jewish culture and heritage

In our post-modern, globalised world, there is a risk of unique cultural heritages being lost. This loss contributes to the detriment of civilization, because individuals need to be rooted in their own specific identity in order to actively participate in community life. This article discusses a longitudinal case study of the efforts being made by Australian Jewish schools to maintain Jewish heritage through annual experiential religious education camps, coordinated in a programme called Counterpoint. The researchers’ aim was to analyse how a school youth camp can serve as a site for socialisation and education into a cultural and religious heritage through experiential learning and informal education. During research trips which took place over several years, interviews enabling insights into the process of experiential education were conducted with a total of three different Directors of Informal Jewish Education, two Jewish Studies heads, five participating teachers, seven youth leaders, as well as seven student focus groups. In their analysis of the semi-structured interviews, the authors of this article employed a grounded theory approach using a constant comparative method, which enabled a more nuanced understanding of the main phenomenon investigated. Over the years, they were able to observe two philosophical approaches, one of which focused more on socialisation, with immersion into experience, while the other focused on education, with immersion into Jewish knowledge. Their findings reveal that some educators aim to “transmit” knowledge through “evocation”, with the students involved in active learning; while others focus more on students’ “acquisition” of knowledge through transmission. Experiential learning activities were found to be more meaningful and powerful if they combined both approaches, leading to growth.     

The Conceptual Framework for the Development of a Mathematics Performance Assessment Instrument

How can you align instruction, learning, and assessment in an educationally sound way? How can you define and measure competence in mathematics? What areas of competence do you need to specify and how? How can one evaluate the validity and consequences of using a particular assessment instrument or technique?     

Edward B. Aveling: the people's Darwin

By the late-19th century, evolutionary theory, known by most people as Darwinism, had earned a reputation as an atheistic theory that challenged religious orthodoxy. From recent historical work we now know a great deal about how those with religious convictions received Darwinian ideas, and the role that professional scientists played in styling and communicating 'Darwinism' to the wider public and between themselves. However, relatively little is known about how Darwinian ideas were received and used by avowedly irreligious groups, and how these groups set about communicating their own version of Darwinism to a public hungry for cheap and accessible science. The activities of the Secularist Edward Bibbins Aveling, a prolific popularizer of Darwinian ideas in the late-19th century, offer a unique insight into this relatively uncharted territory. His work helped to develop the polemic of popular irreligious groups and imbue Darwinism with overtly atheistic connotations; it also engendered unprecedented support for atheism from the general public, and challenged the monopoly that some professional scientists enjoyed over imparting serious scientific knowledge to them.     

Collaborative teaching in a linguistically and culturally diverse higher education setting: a case study of a postgraduate accounting program

The Language for Professional Communication in Accounting project has changed teaching practice in a linguistically and culturally diverse postgraduate accounting program at Macquarie University in Australia. This paper reflects on the project’s interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to diversity in the classroom by tracing its growth and development and describing the way in which it is supporting the integration of professional communication skills and discipline‐specific content within the Master of Accounting program. In particular, the paper demonstrates that discipline specialists working in a continuous and collaborative relationship with English language specialists, to integrate and assess communication skills and enrich the curriculum, leads to better outcomes for students and staff. The paper contributes to a growing literature on approaches that integrate particular graduate attributes into programs with diverse student populations, rather than bolt‐on interventions by language specialists that have limited outcomes.     

Education Quality in the Middle East

International Review of Education - Some of the most dramatic growth in the provision of primary and secondary education over the last decade has occurred across countries of the Middle East and...     

Inquiry and Astronomy: Preservice Teachers’ Investigations of Celestial Motion

This study investigated the impact of an open inquiry experience on elementary science methods students’ understanding of celestial motion as well as the methods developed by students to answer their own research questions. Pre/post interviews and assessments were used to measure change in participants’ understanding (N = 18). A qualitative approach was used to describe the nature of each participant’s investigation through an analysis of their science journal and poster presentations. A comparison of participants’ inquiry projects with the change in their understanding revealed that while most participants improved in both their area of inquiry and beyond, elementary science methods students may need more guidance to reach a full scientific understanding across all aspects of celestial motion.     

Discourse of Making Sense of Data: Implications for Elementary Teachers’ Science Education

This study of classroom discourse and other data from a physical science course for in-service teachers show the areas of success and challenge of the participants in making claims supported by justifications. It also shows that the teachers learned to make scientific claims and were able to make some justifications. Nevertheless, many found the process difficult. Some of those who performed well in the course did not consider the pedagogy suitable for their own students. The implications of the findings for elementary teacher education are discussed.