Search results

A five‐month exploratory in‐depth study was conducted in two sites in England with young people age 8‐17 years and adults with a professional or personal interest in health promotion within this age group. Over 90 young people and 40 adults, including parents, teachers, youth workers, health promotion officers, general practitioners and clinical staff, were interviewed. The study aimed to examine adults’ and young peoples’, sometimes differing, beliefs about health, illness and health promotion messages. The findings suggested that young people operate with an integrated concept of health and well‐being which affords high importance to social relations and social activities. Similarly, adults with a broad professional role in relation to young people tended to report that they did not favour a focus on specific health topics, such as drugs, smoking and sexual health, but would prefer to provide a more inclusive approach which takes account of the mental, emotional and social dimensions of health experiences. The research suggests that a narrow focus solely on commonly‐defined priorities, such as drugs and sexual health, may not meet the needs of young people.

This paper describes findings from recent research in the UK on one particular type of bullying, that linked to sexuality and the assumed sexual orientation of the victim ‐ namely homophobic bullying. A survey involving 307 secondary schools throughout England and Wales showed that awareness of general bullying among school staff was almost universal. Most respondents also knew of homophobic verbal bullying, and over one in four were aware of homophobic physical bullying. Existing school policies on bullying and confidentiality rarely referred to lesbian and gay issues. Respondents identified barriers to tackling homophobic bullying, but most thought schools were appropriately placed to provide information on lesbian and gay issues. Study recommendations include: modernising national policy, supporting local teachers and policy‐making in schools through training, new initiatives in citizenship education, and encouraging schools to build collaborative relationships with other local community agencies.

Theatre in education (TIE) has recently been advocated as an effective health education method with young people. However, evaluation findings to date have been mixed. Describes the evaluation of a TIE project involving 19 African and African‐Caribbean young people in inner‐city London. Project objectives included the development of social skills, performing arts skills and opportunities to learn about relevant health topics. The project consisted of workshop sessions culminating in performances at a local theatre. Contextual factors and stakeholder expectations encouraged the development of an innovatory evaluation workshop method. Findings suggested that the intervention was largely successful, with participants reporting opportunities to learn about and discuss relevant health‐related topics, and enhanced social skills and confidence. The evaluation concluded that actively involving young people, addressing their concerns and using activities that engage them in productive group work processes, can be usefully applied whatever the resources available.

Teacher professional development is a perennial topic in teaching and teacher education. While it is largely agreed that the professional development of teachers is a necessity, what that professional development entails and who decides its content and delivery is disputed. This chapter revisits critical issues in the professional development of teachers. Different forms of professional learning, the influence of collaboration, the pursuit of inclusion and social justice, and the role of technology are discussed. In the future, it is expected that professional development contexts and opportunities will be reimagined along with a new calibration of face-to-face and virtual pedagogies.

The Australian Radical Education Group (RED G) was created in June 1976, which in turn launched a magazine for radical(ising) teachers, the Radical Education Dossier (RED), that would be published for the next 30 years. The purpose of this paper is to characterise the emergence and first phase of RED’s publication up to its name change in 1984.

The authors draw on interviews with key members of the magazine’s editorial collective, and a review of RED’s contents, to identify the major political ambitions as manifest in RED in historical context. The authors contextualise this radical education project in the post-1968 world context of social and political upheaval, rejecting the Cold War options of either Soviet style Communist or US-based capitalist pathways.

In this context RED generated powerful critiques of dominant educational policy in multiple areas. The critique was part of a project to promote a socialist understanding of mass education, and to promote the transformation of Australian society towards socialism. The authors argue that the debates and struggles within RED in this period, seeking to define and advance a socialist educational project, reflected a broad and consistent critique of progressive educational reforms, rooted in its radical political foundations.

This paper provides an historical review of a 30-year radical education publishing initiative in Australia, about which no accounts have been published. It connects directly with contemporary educational issues, and offers insights for interviews with those directly involved in the historical project.

Describes the Promoting Health in Secondary Schools project, which was commissioned by the Health Education Authority in January 1994. The aim of the project was to support regional and local education and health professionals and colleagues in secondary schools in their efforts to develop effective whole‐school approaches to health at the levels of both policy and practice. The work was co‐ordinated by the Institute of Education and Goldsmith’s College, University of London. Gives, as an example of what can be achieved, a range of future projects identified by one of the secondary schools involved. Concludes that the project was able to stimulate healthy alliances, create opportunities for sharing effective practice and influence local funding priorities. Evaluation showed that health issues, if developed in a whole‐school context, can articulate closely with wider school and community concerns about making school more effective and increasing school achievement. Regrets that the project was not extended beyond the stage described.

Discusses the main advances in epistemological perspectives and meta‐theoretical frameworks within which recent research and academic work in the field of educational administration in Australia has been articulated and developed. Arising from work currently undertaken by the OECD and considerations of developments in educational policy and administration throughout Australia, puts forward a proposal for a new set of agenda for research and professional advancement in the field.

Within current educational management literature, it could be argued that the cultural perspective that is generally articulated is one in which the social context of education policy, school culture and educational management is almost entirely overlooked (Angus, 1996). The emphasis is typically on individual school ‘leaders’ and an internally constructed organizational culture in which principals are expected to become manipulators of culture and belief. School principals, in this literature, and in current government policy in many countries, are expected to construct or impose corporate control within their institutions in the increasingly decentralized organizational form that is considered necessary for organizational efficiency and, most importantly, market success and legitimacy in the increasingly complex post-industrial society (Parker, 1992). My general argument is that this perspective misconceives culture as an internal aspect of organizations that may be manipulated by management in order to enhance organizational commitment and efficiency (Caldwell & Spinks, 1993, 1998; Deal & Peterson, 1999).