Collecting women’s archives at the ANU Archives

The Australian National University Archives holds both the archives of the University and a large collection of business and labour archives in the Noel Butlin Archives Centre. Both are governed by collecting policies, and neither of these policies mention gender. The relative absence of women’s voices in both collections raises the question about whether archival policies should seek to redress past silences.     

A U.S.-Chinese Comparison of Affectionate Communication in Parent-Child Relationships

Affectionate communication is central to the maintenance of relational closeness, but it is also subject to relational, contextual, and cultural factors. This study was designed to examine the cultural effects on affectionate communication in parent-child relationships in the United States and China. Results indicated that Chinese fathers and mothers expressed less verbal, nonverbal, and supportive affection to their children than American parents. Both Chinese and American parents expressed affection to their children more through supportive behaviors than through verbal and nonverbal behaviors. In both cultures, mothers engaged in more verbal, nonverbal, and supportive affection with their children than fathers.     

The end of “information”: Computers,democracy, and the university

This paper describes some of the challenges which the growing pervasiveness of computers and electronic communications technology present to liberal democracies. We argue that these technologies, by their influence on the mechanisms of publicity and privacy, make possible the abuse of an under-developed popular epistemology. The confused response of the courts to cases of information crime suggests that the university is a better forum in which to meet and master these challenges.Freedom is not a simple experience. And as technology becomes more sophisticated, living in freedom—which means living with constant, changing choice—will only become more complex.     

Two-Year-Old Children's Sensitivity to a Parent's Knowledge State When Making Requests

These studies examined whether toddlers take their communicative partners' knowledge states into account when communicating with them. In Study 1 , 16 2-year-old children (mean age 2-7) had to ask a parent for help in retrieving a toy. On each trial, a child was first introduced to a new toy that was then placed in 1 of 2 containers on a high shelf. The parent either witnessed these events along with the child or did not because she or he had left the room or had covered her or his eyes and ears. As predicted, when asking for help in retrieving the toy, children significantly more often named the toy, named its location, and gestured to its location when a parent had not witnessed these events than when she or he had. In Study 2, 16 2-year-old children (mean age 2-3) had to ask a parent for help in retrieving a sticker dropped into 1 of 2 identical containers placed out of reach in the far corners of a table. The parent either witnessed, along with the child, which container the sticker was dropped into or did not because her or his eyes were closed. In their requests for help, young 2-year-old children gestured to the sticker's location significantly more often when the parent did not know its location than when she or he did. The implications of these findings for current characterizations of 2-year-old children's ability to assess the knowledge of others is discussed.     

Jack in two boxes: A postmodern perspective on the transformation of persons into portraits

The paper explores issues surrounding portrayal in educational research and interrogates the notion of a life as a textual product, via an analysis of two short biographical narratives which happen to portray the same person — a British primary school head teacher nearing the end of his career. The discrepancies between these two texts point to the problematic nature of the relationship between person and portrait, and make visible some of the textual devices that writers/researchers use in order to achieve coherence and authenticity in biographical narratives.     

Exposing athletes to playing form activity: outcomes of a randomised control trial among community netball teams using a game-centred approach

This study evaluated whether exposing junior netball players to greater amounts of competition relevant activity (playing form activity) had an effect on game play outcomes and session involvement. A group-randomised controlled trial in one junior netball club in the Hunter Region, NSW, Australia. Ninety female athletes (mean age = 9.04 years, SD 1.53) were randomised by team (n = 11) into the intervention (n = 41) or 9-week wait-list control (n = 49) condition. The Professional Learning for Understanding Games Education into Sport (PLUNGE into Sport) programme was undertaken in the first half of nine training sessions (9 × 30 min). The intervention exposed athletes to playing form activity through a coach development programme within training sessions. Athletes’ decision-making, support and skill outcomes during a small-sided invasion game, and session involvement (pedometer step/min), were measured at baseline and 9-week follow-up. Linear mixed models revealed significant group-by-time intervention effects (P < 0.05) for decision-making (d = 0.4) and support (d = 0.5) during game play, and in-session activity (d = 1.2). An intervention exposing athletes to greater levels of playing form activity, delivered via a coach education programme, was efficacious in improving athlete decision-making and support skills in game play and increasing athlete involvement during sessions.     

‘Am I safe here and do you like me?’ Understanding complex trauma and attachment disruption in the classroom

Elementary and special education teachers and school counsellors currently provide support to children presenting learning disabilities and behavioural problems symptomatic of the more hidden diagnosis of complex trauma resulting from abuse or severe attachment disruption. Specific disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) may be diagnosed in such children, but not the aetiology of complex trauma, resulting in missing information in the development of remedial and behavioural interventions. The evolving field of trauma counselling provides important information to special education teachers and school counsellors who work with children who have experienced trauma. In this review article authors Linda O'Neill of the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Francis Guenette who is a doctoral student at the University of Victoria and Andrew Kitchenham of the University of Northern British Columbia summarise attachment, neurobiological, and complex trauma research that can be used in school settings to understand better the needs of these children. They conclude by suggesting that teachers and school counsellors would benefit from training on the consequences of childhood trauma and attachment disruption to develop interventions that will be effective and to identify what types of behaviours children can control and those they cannot.     

Starting New

New leaders have unique challenges in orienting themselves to a new position and likely a new department or organization. There are some actions an individual can undertake that will ease the transition and build relationships, create an understanding of the new organization, and build confidence of the employees in the leader. There are issues to be aware of as a new leader adjusts to a new position and awareness will facilitate the transition in working within a new department or organization.