Neil David John Harris

Exploring the Process of Global Citizen Learning and the Student Mind-Set

Increasingly, university and employer discourse identify a need for graduates to have an intellectual and global “mind-set” beyond disciplinary competencies and national boundaries. Universities aiming to educate global citizens show limited outcomes. Global citizen research has investigated the mobility experience, yet limited attention has been paid to the theoretical process of student change to inform how domestic students could engage in comparable learning experiences. The purpose of this study was to expand knowledge on the process of global citizen learning and the student mind-set. Two phases of research gathered in-depth information from international higher education key informants and mobility students. The research resulted in a conceptual model for global citizen learning and an “identikit” of recognizable markers for a global citizen disposition. The model identifies facilitators and manifestations of “student change” and identifies reflexivity, relationality, criticality, and the social imaginary as capacities of global mind-set. These findings suggest that educating all students as global citizens could be more closely aligned to the internationalization of education and employability agendas.

Ecological Aging: The Settings Approach in Aged Living and Care Accommodation

As the proportion of older people increases within populations, financial demands related to the cost of health service delivery threaten global stability. This population trend challenges the traditional approach to health service delivery to older populations. This article presents the Australian context as a case study to argue that the application of a health promoting settings approach to aged care may lead to improved well-being for older people to the extent that the periods of chronic morbidity often associated with aging can be compressed into an ever shorter period of time. Promoting an ecological perspective to aged care suggests that there is no need to manage older people in isolation, as is common practice, but as integral to the way society lives, works, and plays. The article maps parallels between characteristics of health promoting settings such as Health Promoting Schools and the aged living and care industry, arguing that the setting encompassing services for the elderly is a prime location for the establishment of a new health promotion setting. Supporting life opportunities for our aged is central to such an approach. More broadly, an ecological approach orients us toward the connection between environment and health, and encourages increased attention and action within the aged living and care sector on reducing environmental impacts of this growing population. As such, the application of this approach to the aged living and care sector has the potential to reduce the threat that a dependant older population has on global sustainability.

Refugees Connecting with a New Country through Community Food Gardening

Refugees are a particularly vulnerable population who undergo nutrition transition as a result of forced migration. This paper explores how involvement in a community food garden supports African humanitarian migrant connectedness with their new country. A cross-sectional study of a purposive sample of African refugees participating in a campus-based community food garden was conducted. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with twelve African humanitarian migrants who tended established garden plots within the garden. Interview data were thematically analysed revealing three factors which participants identified as important benefits in relation to community garden participation: land tenure, reconnecting with agri-culture, and community belonging. Community food gardens offer a tangible means for African refugees, and other vulnerable or marginalised populations, to build community and community connections. This is significant given the increasing recognition of the importance of social connectedness for wellbeing.

Framing risk: communication messages in the Australian and Swedish print media surrounding the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

Background: Australia and Sweden have similar immunisation rates. However, during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic the uptake of immunisation was 60% in Sweden and 18% in Australia. During pandemics, perceptions of risk are largely formed by media communication which may influence the public’s response. Aim: The study aimed to compare the differences in how the media framed the 2009 H1N1 pandemic message and the associated public perceptions of risk as expressed through the uptake of vaccinations in Australia and Sweden. Methods: A qualitative content analysis was conducted on 81 articles from the Australian and Swedish print media: 45 and 36, respectively. Results: The risk of H1N1 was communicated similarly in Australia and Sweden. However, major differences were found in how the Australian and Swedish media framed the pandemic in terms of responsibility, self-efficacy, and uncertainty. In Australia, responsibility was predominantly reported negatively, blaming various organisations for a lack of information, compared to Sweden where responsibility was placed on the community to help protect public health. Furthermore, there was limited self-efficacy measures reported in the Australian media compared to Sweden and Sweden’s media was more transparent about the uncertainties of the pandemic. Conclusions: This study affirms the association between the framing of health messages in the media and the public’s perception of risk and related behaviour. Governments need to actively incorporate the media into pandemic communication planning.

Educating global citizens in business schools

Purpose – Global citizenship, social responsibility and sustainability are constructs increasingly used in business schools. Yet, there is no widely accepted definition or conceptualization of the global citizen, nor is there strong evidence of how the global citizen is effectively translated into university ethos, culture and practice. This paper aims to conceptualize the global citizen in higher education broadly and more specifically in regard to business schools. Design/methodology/approach – International higher education, social science and business literature has been reviewed to present an integrated understanding of the global citizen; contextualized to higher education generally and business schools specifically. Findings – It is argued that the global citizen, viewed through a moral and transformative cosmopolitan lens, provides an alternative to the rhetoric frequently paid to the construct. This paper describes “global citizen learning” underpinned by the social imaginary, relationality and r...

Understanding the nutrition information needs of migrant communities: the needs of African and Pacific Islander communities of Logan, Queensland

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to investigate the nutrition information needs of the Pacific Islander and African migrant communities of Logan. DESIGN The present study was structured as a needs assessment and used qualitative research methods. An integrative review was used to gather and analyse data relating to comparative and normative needs, while semi-structured interviews were undertaken for the felt and expressed needs. SETTING Logan City, Queensland, Australia. SUBJECTS African and Pacific Islander migrants and health and social service providers within the Logan region. RESULTS The study identified the need for more accessible means of information delivery such as visual and face-to-face methods or hands-on demonstrations. The study found that information should be delivered in a staged approach on topics including food safety, Australian foods, healthy eating and diet-disease relationships, according to a migrants length of residence in Australia. CONCLUSIONS The present study contributes to our understanding of the nutrition information needs of African and Pacific Islander migrant communities of Logan. These findings will enable the development of more appropriate nutrition information and health services for these Logan communities and other similar communities across Australia.

Experiences of Australian Muslim Men in the Workplace: A Field Study of Employment Choices and Consequences

The workplace is an important setting that affects the health of workers, their families, and the population as a whole.2 However, limited research is available on workers from various ethnic and minority groups. A significant ethno-religious minority is the Australian Muslim population.3 There has been little research regarding how Australian Muslims experience contemporary Australian society, including the workplace. This study examines the work experiences of Australian Muslim men in order to understand the various ways in which their health and wellbeing is affected by their work and the workplace. The study was guided by the interpretive qualitative approach with the primary data collection method being in-depth interviews supported by direct observation and review of material culture. The analysis suggests that managing work, family and religious obligations is the defining aspect of the experiences of Australian Muslim men in the workplace. Seeking to balance work, family and religious commitments significantly influences what type of occupations Muslim men work in, under what conditions and ultimately, their health. By investigating the work experiences of Australian Muslim men, the study has increased our understanding of the ways in which their wellbeing is affected by this key setting.

Understanding the factors that characterise school‐community partnerships: The case of the Logan Healthy Schools Project

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives applied within a health‐promoting schools approach.Design/methodology/approach – The study used an explanatory case study approach of five secondary schools participating in a health‐promoting school programme, “The Logan Healthy Schools Project” in Logan, South‐East Queensland, Australia to investigate how school‐community partnerships support the sustainability of school health initiatives. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 16 deputy principals, school staff members, and community‐based partners, along with observations and a documentary analysis of Logan Healthy School Project activities. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data.Findings – The factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives include: a focus on building relationsh...

Trust and quality of life: A cross-sectional study of young women:

Background: Trust is increasingly identified as a psychosocial determinant of well-being. However the relationship between trust and well-being outcomes has not been comprehensively examined, particularly in socially and economically transitioning countries such as Iran and among young women. Aims: This cross-sectional study examined the association between trust and the quality of life of young Iranian women. Methods: A total of 391 young Iranian women aged between 18 and 35 years (M: 27.3, standard deviation (SD): 4.8) were recruited through cluster convenience sampling to participate in this cross-sectional study. The measures used included the ‘Trust scale’ adapted from the British General Household Survey (GHS) Social Capital scale, and the Persian version of the WHOQOL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire - brief version). Results: The participants (n = 391, mean age of 27 years) reported a relatively low level of trust. For the participants, trust was positively associated with better quality of life (r = .24, p value: .01). The findings also showed that there is a significant difference between socio-demographic factors such as the level of religiosity, occupation and income with the domains of trust. Conclusion: Policies are needed to improve participation and reciprocity at the level of individuals and informal social groups, including local to broader communities in order to increase the sense of community belonging, improving trust and consequently quality of life.

The Global Citizen Conceptualized Accommodating Ambiguity

Universities’ aims for educating global citizens are rarely supported by a theoretical underpinning or evidence of outcomes. This study explored how international higher education experts conceptualize the global citizen or related terms representing the “ideal global graduate.” A global notion of citizenship was accepted by the majority (24/26) of participants. Four participants used other terms to describe the “ideal global graduate,” yet the knowledge, skills, and attitudes described by all participants were highly consistent and provide a close “fit” with the epistemology and ontology of moral and transformative cosmopolitanism. This evidence could suggest that terms describing the “ideal global graduate” are of less consequence than the underpinning values and mind-set they represent. This article suggests that the inevitable ambiguity surrounding the global citizen term could be tolerated. As such, future discourse and research could be directed toward organizational and pedagogical strategies that foster ethical and transformative thinking citizens and work-ready professionals.