Helen Boon

Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory for modelling community resilience to natural disasters

This paper advocates the use of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory as a framework to analyse resilience at diverse scales. Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory can be employed to (a) benchmark social resilience, (b) target the priority interventions required and (c) measure progress arising from these interventions to enhance resilience to natural disasters. First, the paper explores resilience to natural disasters in the context of climatic change as building resilience is seen as a way to mitigate impacts of natural disasters. Second, concepts of resilience are systematically examined and documented, outlining resilience as a trait and resilience as a process. Third, issues arising in relation to the measurement of resilience are discussed. Fourth, Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory is described and proffered to model and assess resilience at different scales. Fifth, studies are described which have supported the use of the bioecological systems theory for the study of resilience. Sixth, an example of the use of Bronfenbrenner’s theory is offered and the paper concludes with suggestions for future research using Bronfenbrenner’s theory.

Risk or resilience? What makes a difference?

Dropping out of school has been associated with a student’s ethnicity, socioeconomic status, challenging behaviours and low academic achievement. This paper describes research conducted with 1050 students aged 12–15, in three North Queensland urban high schools to investigate issues related to Indigenous and non-Indigenous students at risk of dropping out of school before gaining adequate qualifications.A path-analytic model was developed to assess the influence of socio-demographic, structural family and behavioural factors upon low academic achievement, the strongest predictor of dropping out of school. The specific hypothesis tested was that challenging behaviour, indexed by suspensions, predicts low academic achievement or at-risk status, more strongly than SES or family structure variables.Results indicate that for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, suspensions are a stronger predictor of low achievement than socioeconomic or family factors. Moreover, a model testing low achievement as a precursor to suspensions was not supported. Suggestions for future practice and research are proposed.

Disaster resilience in a flood-impacted rural Australian town

Abstract This paper reports exploratory research conducted in a flood-impacted rural Australian town to identify the factors which residents perceived as supporting community resilience to disaster. There is a gap in this research area centred in the Australian disaster context. Since Australia is predicted to be highly impacted by the effects of climate change in the form of an increased incidence of flooding, an urgent need exists to examine the factors that confer resilience to disaster-impacted localities to inform suitable disaster mitigation and adaptation policies for the future. Because of the complexity of community resilience and its interrelationship with individual resilience, a multi-method approach was used: a demographic study to assess community stability and functioning before and after the flood disaster, focus group interviews to obtain from community members their views on what supported them and their community resilience and a survey to generalise the interview findings. Our operating hypothesis was that individuals remaining in the town post-flood were likely to be resilient to the flood disaster. The demographic study results pointed to a resilient community after the floods as they reflected stability in population numbers and socio-economic indicators. The interviews and survey showed that individual resilience was promoted by social connectedness and a sense of place, a factor that was also negatively linked to the desire to relocate from the community. The use of structural equation modelling of our results provided verification of prior research findings about the role of sense of place in supporting individuals’ resilience. Results are discussed in the context of future climate change adaptation policy.

School moves, coping, and achievement: Models of possible interactions.

ABSTRACT A sample of 1,050 regional Australian secondary students participated in a study investigating the relationship between mobility and academic achievement. Measures of mobility, academic achievement, suspensions, coping strategies, parental education, and family structure were used to test the hypothesis that academic coping strategies interact with mobility to negatively predict behavioral problems and academic achievement or, alternatively, to support academic achievement in mobile students. Analyses applied to a theoretical model indicated that positive coping strategies protect students from behavioral problems and lower academic achievement linked to mobility. The model accounted for 53% of the variance in achievement. Possible explanations for prior inconsistent findings are suggested.

Climate Change? When? Where?.

Regional Australian students were surveyed to explore their understanding and knowledge of the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion and climate change. Results were compared with a parallel study undertaken in 1991 in a regional UK city.The comparison was conducted to investigate whether more awareness and understanding of these issues is demonstrated by students as a result of over 16 years’ accumulated knowledge, increased certainty among experts of greenhouse effects on climate, media publicity and inclusion of the greenhouse effect in the Australian school curriculum.Data obtained from a combined sample of 740 Year 8/10 secondary students examined the extent of student understanding and knowledge, models of explanation and sources of information of the phenomena. A path analytic, Structural Equation Model (SEM) tested links between student understanding of the greenhouse effect, knowledge of greenhouse gases and experience of being in a greenhouse, to conceptions of climate change.Results show similarities between the two groups, with knowledge and understanding of these important scientific literacy issues remaining unacceptably low in 2007. Sociocultural influences are proposed in relation to results and implications for practice are suggested.

A Five-Country Survey on Ethics Education in Preservice Teaching Programs

Despite a broad consensus on the ethical dimensions of the teaching profession, and long-standing efforts to align teacher education with wider trends in professional education, little is known about how teacher candidates are being prepared to face the ethical challenges of contemporary teaching. This article presents the results of an international survey on ethics content and curriculum in initial teacher education (ITE). Involving five Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries—the United States, England, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands—the study’s findings shed light on teacher educators’ perspectives on the contribution of ethics content to the education of future teachers and provide a snapshot of how well existing programs line up with their aspirations. The results showed that 24% of the ITE programs surveyed contain at least one mandatory stand-alone ethics course. The meaning of the results vis-à-vis opportunities for expanding ethics education in preservice teaching programs is also discussed.

Rate of Prescription of Antidepressant and Anxiolytic Drugs after Cyclone Yasi in North Queensland

INTRODUCTION The need to manage psychological symptoms after disasters can result in an increase in the prescription of psychotropic drugs, including antidepressants and anxiolytics. Therefore, an increase in the prescription of antidepressants and anxiolytics could be an indicator of general psychological distress in the community. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a change in the rate of prescription of antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs following Cyclone Yasi. METHODS A quantitative evaluation of new prescriptions of antidepressants and anxiolytics was conducted. The total number of new prescriptions for these drugs was calculated for the period six months after the cyclone and compared with the same six month period in the preceding year. Two control drugs were also included to rule out changes in the general rate of drug prescription in the affected communities. RESULTS After Cyclone Yasi, there was an increase in the prescription of antidepressant drugs across all age and gender groups in the affected communities except for males 14-54 years of age. The prescription of anxiolytic drugs decreased immediately after the cyclone, but increased by the end of the six-month post-cyclone period. Control drug prescription did not change. CONCLUSION There was a quantifiable increase in the prescription of antidepressant drugs following Cyclone Yasi that may indicate an increase in psychosocial distress in the community.

Perceptions of climate change risk in four disaster-impacted rural Australian towns

Abstract Australia, a country which has regularly experienced various natural disasters, is now set to face more intense and frequent disasters in the twenty-first century as a result of climate change. Prior research indicates that in Australia, the perceived risks of climate change are mixed and becoming less prevalent across rural and urban locations, posing a threat to the public’s adoption of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Research was conducted in four disaster-impacted rural Australian towns to investigate whether prior disaster experience, trust in climate change risk communications and specific location predicted climate change risk perceptions. Four case study sites were chosen exemplifying communities impacted by different types of disaster events. The case study towns were Beechworth (wildfire, 2009) and Bendigo (drought, 2002–2008) in Victoria; Ingham (flood, 2009) and Innisfail (cyclone, 2006) in Queensland. Structural equation modelling analyses of surveys returned by a sample of 1,008 householders across the four towns showed that prior disaster experience had no impact upon climate change risk perceptions. Instead climate change risk perceptions were predicted by trust in climate change communications, climate change knowledge and the geographical location of the sample, suggesting the need for targeted, place-specific contextual communication interventions that consider the needs and socioeconomic characteristics of the community in question.

Complex collaboration champions: university third space professionals working together across borders

ABSTRACT In an age of global interconnectedness of people, cultures, technology and professions, within higher education, collaborations between university staff increase in complexity and traverse time and space. Global and local changes and challenges give rise to new and hybrid university professionals – third space professionals – often operating outside their predefined work portfolios on various collaborative projects. Analysing the literature on complex collaborations, the authors discuss three dimensions of collaborative engagements: first, culture in its local, national and global representations; second, integration between professions/occupations; and third, the level of interaction/engagement. Integrating these dimensions into a conceptual model, it is proposed that the university third space serves both as a portal between dimensions and as a vehicle for advancing cross-border collaborations. Third space professionals are likely candidates to assume the role of collaboration champions. Further research and development of the proposed model of university complex collaborations will enhance university workforce development, building staff capabilities and thus increasing organisational collaborative capital.

‘In the too hard basket': issues faced by 20 rural Australian teachers when students with disabilities are included in their secondary classes

Given the urban dominance of inclusion literature, it is germane to explore issues pertaining to including students with disability in the rural school. As such, this paper uses a qualitative research methodology to examine how 20 teachers experience including students with disabilities in their rural secondary classrooms. As a mother of an adult with disabilities and as a former teacher in both rural primary and secondary schools, the first author and the person responsible for the field-work was an insider researcher. Teachers in the study described having students with disabilities as a relatively new phenomenon. Although they tentatively supported the philosophical ideals of inclusion, many expressed mixed feelings about including students with a disability in their rural classrooms due to a perceived lack of support, high staff turnover, difficulties accessing professional development and the prohibitive constraints of providing for a diverse range of needs within a rural context. Data analysis indicates the need for a more multidimensional approach to rural issues. Despite negative urban comparisons, rural social representations using minor theory can be shown to be dynamic and continually adapting to fresh circumstances in ways that are relevant and anticipatory.