Describes the threshold-level movement in European language teaching. Objectives are not defined in terms of what material is to be covered but in terms of what behavior is desired. The movement's application to Australia is discussed from three perspectives: (1) social justice, (2) linguistic resources, and (3) multiculturalism. (PJM)

While most Rotarians had realistic perceptions of the extent of their own drug use, there were discrepancies in their attitudes regarding the treatment they suggested for various drug users. Overall, illicit drug users were viewed less favorably than users of the legal drugs. (Author)

Educators interested in social change have been using an analysis of privilege in their gender and anti-racist work for some time. Through working with adult Australians in a community education programme on asylum seekers, the applicability of an analysis of privilege to the exclusionary discourses concerning asylum seekers and refugees became…

This paper is written primarily as a call to those of us in the special education field in Australia to become more actively involved in responding to the popular culture construction of disability as it takes place in the mainstream media. It is not the aim to define the form such activism should take but rather to raise awareness of the issue…

University students viewed a young woman in a socially oriented role-play that portrayed either a smoker or a nonsmoker. Smoker was rated more outgoing and sophisticated, less easy to manipulate, and less emotional than nonsmoker. No differences were found on other measures. Results are related to previous studies. (Author/EMK)

Compares representations of Aboriginal identity across a range of text types from Biography and Family History to Mythology. Argues that, although many of the depictions of Aboriginal people can be contested, they are still valuable for the insights they offer. (NH)

Explores the possibilities provoked by the construction of the category of "youth-at-risk." Argues that discourses which attempt to regulate the behaviors and dispositions of youth provoke dangerous possibilities for the increased surveillance of, and intervention into, young people's lives by regulatory authorities. (Contains 67…

Sustainability is a contested concept. Whilst the "triple bottom line" is sometimes used to describe the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainability, there are differing conceptions of what this notion implies. There are nevertheless some recurring themes that are outlined in this paper. There has also been some…

Results show that the drawings attributed to the Aboriginal "artist" produced more positive impressions and were rated more highly on the semantic differential. This research was presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Convention, Denver, Colorado, April, 1978. (Author)

The author believes that protective legislation in Australia has made women second-class citizens. He argues that while the elimination of discriminatory laws may help to improve women's employment prospects, the real need is for a concerted attempt to change attitudes that deny women equal opportunities in training, appointment, and promotion.…

It's never easy to connect long-term social and cultural changes to short-term electoral ones. They're like two different timescales--one incremental, even geological in pace, the other immediate and seemingly will-o'-the-wisp. Opinion polls are like weather reports, where the weather-systems seem to scud around with arbitrary and unintelligible…

This study surveyed Australian high school students' conceptions of democracy. Students held that equal shares, equal say, equal quality, and rewarding productivity were essential to the democratic processes but emphasized them differently when presented with actual problems to solve democratically. (AM)

This paper investigates the relationship between school-based sex education policies and sexual health-related statistics of young people in four developed countries: the Netherlands, France, Australia, and the United States of America. Drawing upon literature searches in relevant CD-ROM databases, Internet websites, government reports and…

This paper focuses on a cohort of B.Ed. students' understandings about social difference and social justice as recorded in their professional journals in the first semester of third year. It shows that their reasons for choosing teaching as a career, reflections on their school experiences and discussions about future students are grounded in the…

This paper offers critical reflections on parenting education in its social context. The paper is informed by a feminist perspective, and by a structural approach to practice that emphasizes the importance of changing social structures. An introductory section explores the impact of the ideologies of the traditional family, and of motherhood and…