Donald Super's Influence in the United Kingdom

The impact of Donald Super's work on the theory and practice of career guidance in the UK is reviewed. He played an important role in the move away from a ``talent-matching' to a developmental model, and in the emergence of the concept of careers education. He also made significant direct contributions to the field during the three years he spent in England towards the end of his own career. The critique to which his work was subjected led to innovative theoretical work which stands in its own right. While in some respects his legacy was more indirect than direct, it is still evident.     

Gender segregation in higher educational attainment in Australia 1978–94

In this paper the extent and change of the gender segregation ofcourse completions across fields of study in higher education over theperiod 1978–94 in Australia is measured. It is argued that similarforms of measurement are appropriate in documenting changing patterns ofattainment in higher education by gender, as those which are used formeasuring occupational gender segregation. The issues relating to themeasurement of gender segregation are briefly explored. Over the period1978–86, women and men exhibited a more integrated distribution ofcourse completions, as measured by the Karmel and Maclachlan index of(occupational) segregation. Although women continued to raise their share ofcompletions over the period 1987–94, there was little change in theextent of gender segregation in aggregate, and segregation increased inMasters and Bachelors courses. Reference is also made to the impact ofchanges in the Higher Education Contributory Scheme in 1996 on the gendercomposition of undergraduate course completions. Policies designed toattract women into atypical Higher Education courses are explored.     

Careers guidance in a developing country: Malaysia

Formal careers guidance services are a product of economic and social development. In relatively primitive societies, allocation to adult roles is determined largely by the family, caste or class into which one is born. As the society becomes more complex, these systems start to break down, and careers guidance services are needed to lubricate—and, perhaps, catalyse (Daws, 1977)—increasing levels of social and occupational mobility. How then is the role of careers guidance evolving in those Third World countries that are trying so to accelerate the pace of economic and social development that they will be able to catch up with the living standards attained by the Western world? How far are they being influenced by the approaches to careers guidance that have evolved in such countries as the USA and Britain? How applicable are these approaches to cultures that in many ways are very different? An opportunity to examine these questions in the context of one developing country—Malaysia—was afforded by a visit carried out in February-March 1977. This article outlines some impressions of the careers guidance system that seems to be emerging there.     

The affective dimensions of learning science

In this study, we identified middle school and college students' prior ideas about electrostatic induction and interviewed them through presenting observational evidence which supported or refuted their own prior ideas. Their responses to the evidence were interpreted from perspectives based on philosophies of science, especially the Popperian and Lakatosian views of scientific hypothesis testing. In the process of confirmation, almost all of the students showed a logical error known as an 'error of affirmation of the consequent' in a syllogism. The students' falsification processes were classified into two groups: those which rejected the hard core of prior ideas, and those which modified the students' protective belt of auxiliary ideas related to the hard core while still preserving the hard core. From an analysis of the students' falsification processes, it was found that the Lakatosian rather than the Popperian view was more acceptable in understanding the students' responses to the conflicting evidence. It was observed that the quality of the understanding of auxiliary ideas should also play an important role in the changing of core concepts.     

Indigenous Digital Art as Politics in Australia

This essay contributes to discussions about Indigenous politics and debates about contemporary democracy. It uses a case study of video art produced by young indigenous people and a community development organisation in the Pilbara, Australia. Those involved in the project use digital media under the auspices of the Big hART Yijala Yala Project to produce an interactive comic series. The essay addresses the following questions: Do contemporary community development projects play a conservatising role serving the interests of a neoliberal polity? Given the long-standing practice of representing modern media as a vehicle for western domination what, if anything, do these projects imply about the political relations between Aboriginal and non-indigenous Australians? Are Indigenous media and cultural work inherently political? What conceptions of the political are at stake in such arguments? We focus on how certain groups of young people use new media, and how their activities are political. The argument is that Indigenous media like these are ‘inherently political’ because they are about efforts to reclaim the images of indigenous peoples for themselves.