Early support should help autistic children lead flourishing lives. We sought to understand parents' experiences of their children's involvement in early intervention and associated research, through focus groups with 23 parents (of 22 children) enrolled in a university-affiliated service. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed four themes. Parents…

The developmental shifts encountered by boys during adolescence can have long-term implications for mental health. This paper describes a holistic approach to wellbeing and development (the On Queenslea Drive, or OQD, program), which draws upon a traditional Rites of Passage framework to support the development of boys during this period. This…

This study examines the impact of an Australian enabling program, underpinned by critical pedagogy, on students' academic and professional success. Qualitative focus group data were collected from individuals who had completed an enabling program at a regional Australian university and progressed to undergraduate study. Quantitative data comparing…

Young people tend to have low levels of sexual health literacy. The aims of this work were to explore health professionals' perspectives of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education in Australia and what they considered should be the core components of SRH curriculum, particularly for Year 11 and 12 students. In September and October, 2021,…

IGNITE, a high school-based programme, was developed for high ability underachievers using the Achievement Orientation Model (AOM), Maker Model, and Bibliotherapy in a mainstream setting. This paper reports on the effects discovered while implementing the programme over the course of 2 years. Year 7 (13 year olds) and Year 9 (15 year olds)…

International health science students face many challenges at the beginning of their courses, including a lack of awareness of cultural differences, adjusting to academic expectations, communication difficulties, clinical placement challenges, financial pressures, maintaining cultural and religious practices, discrimination, and emotions such as…

Collaborative goal setting is recognized as a hallmark of good practice in early intervention (EI). This qualitative study describes mothers' and practitioners' perceptions of the utility of the Family Goal Setting Tool: Autism Spectrum Disorder Version (FGST: ASD Version), which supports family identification and prioritization of goals and…

Despite growing scholarly interest in student voice and leadership over the past two decades, both terms continue to be used with little consensus about their meaning. They are also often evoked without much clarity or agreement as to how they should be enabled or enacted, for what purposes they should be fostered, or what conditions are necessary…

Recent surveys have indicated a worryingly low level of support for democracy among Australian youth and around the world. For example, in the 2017 Lowy Institute Poll, 36% of Australians indicated that, in some circumstances, a nondemocratic government is preferable. Such concerns, while hardly new, have triggered calls for more civic education…

"Growing Our Own" is an innovative and unique program for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in the remote Northern Territory. As a partnership between Catholic Education, Northern Territory (CENT) and Charles Darwin University (CDU), lecturers travel to remote Indigenous communities to deliver unit content to local 'Assistant Teachers'…

Gender equity and the empowerment of women is a significant international issue. Successful adult education programs are vital to enhance women's situation. Lessons learned from a personal development program provided for thousands of women are analysed. The program is conducted by community service providers in Australia and internationally, with…

In January 2009 the School of Education, University of Western Sydney decided to appoint an e-learning officer with the aim of improving the quality of online learning environments across course units. The e-learning officer had built a strong relationship with 45 academics across two campuses, with a positive impact on the application of…

Community workers are often described as unsung heroes who work for, with and alongside others in order to make qualitative differences to the communities they serve. This paper reports on the story of a community-based arts educator, Morgan Jai-Morincome, winner of the ACT Adult Learners Week Award for an outstanding program in 2007. This…

DRACON (DRAma for CONflict management) is an interdisciplinary and comparative action research project aimed at improving conflict handling among adolescent schoolchildren through the use of educational drama. The main purpose of our research has been to develop an integrated programme using conflict management as the theory and practice, and…

We discuss a recent peer-learning project we undertook as co-conductors of the Young Conservatorium Wind Orchestra at Griffith University. Drawing on current educational theory on peer learning and material from our conducting practice and research, we explore how this approach offers professional conductors the opportunity to work together in an…