Reconnecting Disaffected Youth through Successful Transition to Work. According to the ABS (2006) more than 15% of Australia's youth receives employment benefits at a cost that the Department of Family and Community Services (2000) estimated between $44 000 and $46 000/person/year. High rates of offending and repeat arrests are prevalent within the group at a cost to the youth concerned and to the nation. The Productivity Commission estimated in 2004 that outlay to keep someone in prison was bet ....Reconnecting Disaffected Youth through Successful Transition to Work. According to the ABS (2006) more than 15% of Australia's youth receives employment benefits at a cost that the Department of Family and Community Services (2000) estimated between $44 000 and $46 000/person/year. High rates of offending and repeat arrests are prevalent within the group at a cost to the youth concerned and to the nation. The Productivity Commission estimated in 2004 that outlay to keep someone in prison was between $67,000 and $85,0004 per year. We seek to short-circuit the human and economic costs of the failure cycle by improving individuals' capacities to gain and retain work, and to have healthy lifestyles and positive self-concept, and thereby to contribute to their positive participation in society. Read moreRead less
Workplace participatory practices: Learning through and for work. The project aims to examine the relationship between individuals? participation in and their learning through paid work. This is warranted because current conceptions of learning throughout working lives fail to fully account for the reciprocal processes of workplace affordances and individual engagement that together shape participation in and learning from work. The study seeks to illuminate participatory practices across differ ....Workplace participatory practices: Learning through and for work. The project aims to examine the relationship between individuals? participation in and their learning through paid work. This is warranted because current conceptions of learning throughout working lives fail to fully account for the reciprocal processes of workplace affordances and individual engagement that together shape participation in and learning from work. The study seeks to illuminate participatory practices across different kinds of workplaces and also those within workplaces for different categories of workers. The procedures comprise an investigation of the participation in and learning of 6 groups of workers employed in distinct kinds of work over an eighteen month period.Read moreRead less
Innovations in Clinical Education for Physiotherapy Students. Australia has workforce shortages and an ageing population. Physiotherapists are key players in promoting and maintaining good health through their leadership in physical activity and rehabilitation to retain Australians in the workforce and to ensure quality of life for our ageing population. There is a national shortage of physiotherapists. Increasing numbers of physiotherapists are being trained, requiring new models of clinical tr ....Innovations in Clinical Education for Physiotherapy Students. Australia has workforce shortages and an ageing population. Physiotherapists are key players in promoting and maintaining good health through their leadership in physical activity and rehabilitation to retain Australians in the workforce and to ensure quality of life for our ageing population. There is a national shortage of physiotherapists. Increasing numbers of physiotherapists are being trained, requiring new models of clinical training as there is no capacity in conventional training to cope with student numbers. This research will develop and evaluate new models of training incorporating standardised patients (actors) and simulators (mannequins) which increase education capacity. Models are transferable to other health professions.Read moreRead less
Sustaining older workers' competence: Informing policy and practice. Maintaining the effective working life of older Australian workers is central for sustaining the economic and social health of the nation and for their workplace efficacy and sense of self as productive members of the community. This project will identify and recommend practices and policies for both Australian workplaces and educational institutions to sustain and develop further the skills of Australia's growing number of ol ....Sustaining older workers' competence: Informing policy and practice. Maintaining the effective working life of older Australian workers is central for sustaining the economic and social health of the nation and for their workplace efficacy and sense of self as productive members of the community. This project will identify and recommend practices and policies for both Australian workplaces and educational institutions to sustain and develop further the skills of Australia's growing number of older workers and effectively manage their work transitions. These outcomes will also be used to inform processes and practices to develop the capacities of older Australians in maintaining personally and economically productive working lives.Read moreRead less
Learning and mentoring in high performance sports coaching. Effective coaching is held responsible for Australia's international sporting performance. Yet little is known about how best elite sports coaches learn effective and innovative high-performance coaching practices. This project aims to identify and contribute to effective elite sport coaching development in Australia. This will be achieved through understanding how best current elite coaches learn through their coaching work. Implicatio ....Learning and mentoring in high performance sports coaching. Effective coaching is held responsible for Australia's international sporting performance. Yet little is known about how best elite sports coaches learn effective and innovative high-performance coaching practices. This project aims to identify and contribute to effective elite sport coaching development in Australia. This will be achieved through understanding how best current elite coaches learn through their coaching work. Implications here extend across sport and to other domains of human activity. The contribution of sport to Australian national identity is well established and the economic benefit of sport and more specifically sporting success in Australia is also well recognised.Read moreRead less
Australian Children and the Arts: Meaning, value and participation. This project employs innovative research techniques in the fields of social research and educational inquiry to explore a research problem of major economic and cultural significance to Australia, that of the meaning and value of the arts in the lives of Australian children.
Outcomes of the research include new knowledge concerning: the meaning and value of the arts for Australian children; and the ways in which Australian chil ....Australian Children and the Arts: Meaning, value and participation. This project employs innovative research techniques in the fields of social research and educational inquiry to explore a research problem of major economic and cultural significance to Australia, that of the meaning and value of the arts in the lives of Australian children.
Outcomes of the research include new knowledge concerning: the meaning and value of the arts for Australian children; and the ways in which Australian children engage with the arts. This new knowledge shall inform the development of future arts policy and practice and advance knowledge in the discipline of arts education.Read moreRead less
A Multi-disciplinary Investigation of how Trauma and Chronic Illness impact on Schooling, Identity and Social Connectivity. School connectedness and retention is an established key to both immediate and long-term health, academic and life outcomes. Young people with chronic illness or accident trauma often miss schooling and get caught in a spiral of catching up and disconnection from important peer relationships and from school. This study investigates the experiences and perspectives of young ....A Multi-disciplinary Investigation of how Trauma and Chronic Illness impact on Schooling, Identity and Social Connectivity. School connectedness and retention is an established key to both immediate and long-term health, academic and life outcomes. Young people with chronic illness or accident trauma often miss schooling and get caught in a spiral of catching up and disconnection from important peer relationships and from school. This study investigates the experiences and perspectives of young people whose schooling is disrupted by illness and trauma. It will produce guidelines for better practice by health and schooling professionals and parents of such children, and provide better knowledge about the processes by which disconnection occurs.Read moreRead less
Assessing new learning spaces: learning, governance and outcomes. Supporting learning amongst 'at risk' individuals is an urgent global challenge, given changes in work and society. New learning spaces are emerging in response. They target the 30% of Australians not served by traditional education and training. New learning spaces are based in social partnerships. They offer distinctive learning relationships, and scope for localised governance and decision-making. They promise enhanced life cha ....Assessing new learning spaces: learning, governance and outcomes. Supporting learning amongst 'at risk' individuals is an urgent global challenge, given changes in work and society. New learning spaces are emerging in response. They target the 30% of Australians not served by traditional education and training. New learning spaces are based in social partnerships. They offer distinctive learning relationships, and scope for localised governance and decision-making. They promise enhanced life chances for individuals and improved community-building. This project will (1) build theory to understand new learning spaces; (2) document how they reshape learning relations and practices; and (3) assess claims that they improve learning, governance and outcomes.Read moreRead less