Artifacts,Identity and Youth: A Cultural Intervention with Pacific Islander Young People Who Offend in Western Sydney,Australia

This article provides information on the evaluation of a project between the Australian Museum and the Juvenile Justice department in New South Wales, Australia, where young people who offend of Pacific Islander heritage were introduced to an extensive range of Pacific Islander cultural materials. The key assumption of the project was that young Pacific Islander people who offend struggled with cultural identity issues, and that a meaningful connection with their heritage would improve cultural knowledge and pride—thereby reducing their involvement in crime. However, this assumption was not borne out by the study's results. Firstly, the twenty‐two Pacific Islander young offender study participants were already proud of their heritage, and comfortable in their cultural identities. Secondly, though they enjoyed their visit to the museum, most did not want to visit again, so there was no sustained engagement. Thirdly, the Museum program was not designed as part of a holistic approach with multiple strategies which addressed the complex reasons for youth offending. Despite eight out of the twenty‐two participants reoffending after the Museum visit, there was enough potential for the rehabilitative intervention that the Museum was granted funding to take its program to the community and make it more user‐centered. This, it is hoped, will set it on a path towards more sustained engagement, and the potential for a greater influence on Pacific Islander youth.     

Mixed blessings: effects of educational resource materials on South African children in day care

Free play patterns of black South African children in 16 day care centres were observed before and after the introduction of an enrichment package. The package consisted of a range of educational toys and cost US$12 per child. Results indicated that the enrichment was associated with changes in social interaction and play patterns, though not all these may have been positive. Results are discussed in terms of often unexpected impacts that intervention schemes can have in the developing world, even those specifically designed for a particular population.     

Ethical elders: Campus role models for moral development

Educating for virtue has been a task of U.S. colleges and universities since the founding of this nation's first institution of higher learning. The authors of this article suggest that campus ethical elders have obligations toward students and toward younger colleagues who aspire to a life in education.     

Changing views and perceptions: the impact of the Australian Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program on students

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program has been delivered at 2 prisons in Victoria, Australia, Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and Marngoneet Correctional Centre, since 2015. Selected university (outside) students and prisoners (inside) engage in a collaborative learning environment, studying Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. Students critique complex criminal justice material and undertake university standard assessments. The programme was evaluated through pre-test and post-test surveys and focus groups. This paper outlines this evaluation, including the similarities and differences between inside and outside students’ experience, their knowledge of the criminal justice system, the stereotypes and the values, and challenges of the Inside-Out programme. Student views of the criminal justice system and each other were challenged and changed, often in unexpected ways. The knowledge from this evaluation will contribute to the improvement of Inside-Out processes and outcomes, nationally and internationally.     

TEACHING TELEVISION IN A SCOTTISH SECONDARY SCHOOL

The author outlines work undertaken in the teaching of television in the classroom, in the form of some general observations on what should constitute the content and methodology of such work, and offers three case studies which illustrate points in more depth. The article argues that the starting point for such work should be a programme of instruction in visual literacy, and goes on to show how such skills can deepen appreciation and perception of the medium. The case studies emphasise the need for a practical approach to the subject, and it is argued that theory can only be successfully developed through interaction with such practical techniques in the classroom. Finally, the author indicates three areas of perceived need in the development of such studies in Scottish secondary schools.     

Memory Profile of Children with Nonverbal Learning Disability

The aim of this study was to compare visual and verbal memory in children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD) using the Children's Memory Scale and to identify the profile of strengths and weaknesses in visual memory abilities. Performance was significantly lower on measures of visual than verbal memory, indicating that children with NLD have deficits in visual memory despite adequate verbal memory. A unique pattern of performance emerged for the visual but not the verbal subtests. Performance on the Faces Immediate subtest was well below average, although other measures of visual memory were within the average range. Hence, it appears that children with NLD have a specific deficit on immediate memory for faces. This facial memory deficit may be linked to a deficit in right hemisphere functioning, which has already been implicated in facial processing and may also be linked with other disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder) in which similar facial processing deficits have been documented. More research is needed to further understand the visual memory profile of children with NLD and to inform instruction and remediation.     

Where’s the Community Practice? Gaps in Community Practice Education in a Clinical-Community Social Work Program

Although the profession of social work has a rich history of supporting community organizing and engagement efforts, there has been a trend toward educational programs that focus heavily on the clinical components of social work. The purpose of this study was to perform an exploratory investigation of the potential need for more community-centered educational content at a school of social work in the Gulf Coast, which advertises itself as offering a clinical-community practice program. Researchers developed and administered a questionnaire to all current students of the School of Social Work to evaluate the program’s efforts to provide a balanced clinical-community practice education. Student responses to the questionnaire suggested that the community practice learning opportunities at the school were not represented equally in quality or quantity to the clinical material. Students reported limited access to field placements that focused on community practice. The researchers suggest that the results of this study are reflective of a potential national trend in social work education toward a narrower focus on clinical practice, and away from its roots in community organizing and advocacy.     

Strategies to increase the representation ofwomen on the academic staff of the Faculty of Medicineat Monash University

This study used focus groups to develop strategies toincrease the representation of women in the seniorlevels of academia in the Medical Faculty at MonashUniversity. The aims of the study were to: raiseawareness of a wide group of Faculty members on issuesassociated with equal opportunity; achieve greaterinvolvement in implementation of equal opportunitystrategies; and to obtain a broad base of opinions andideas from which to develop strategies that wouldincrease the representation of women on the academicstaff of the Faculty. The focus group method of datagathering resulted in `faculty ownership' ofaffirmative action and an implementation plan that hashigh priority and incorporates a number of peoplecommitted to achieving the target outcomes.