News, Reviews & Resources   ||   Issue 107 May 2014 Dear Reader, There have been very few times over the years when we've failed to send out an issu

StarlinkHead

News, Reviews & Resources   ||   Issue 107 May 2014

bumper-car

Dear Reader,

There have been very few times over the years when we've failed to send out an issue of Starlink for several months.

Unfortunately, for various reasons beyond our control, this has been one of those times.

It's probably far too much to expect, given the deluge of emails everyone receives these days, but we hope you may have missed us ... just a little bit at least .... :)

To make up for our absence a little, we've put together a bumper issue this month for you. We hope you enjoy the ride and bump into something useful. :)

Cheers
Sue & Chris
BJ Seminars International

National Centre for Vocational Education Research

boy-studying

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) is a professional and independent body responsible for collecting, managing, analysing, evaluating and communicating research and statistics about vocational education and training (VET) nationally.

Their website contains a huge collection of resources and valuable information for anyone involved in the VET sector. Well worth bookmarking and revisiting!

Professional Development Workshops 2014

We are very excited to be offering four different one-day workshops in 2014! Each will take place once only this year in each of four capital cities. So don't miss out on registering if any of these are of interest for you:

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Chair Chi Training
Level One

Melb: 2 June
Syd: 23 June
Brisb: 28 July
Adel: 25 August

 
falls prevention

Falls Prevention the Tai Chi Way
Melb: 3 June
Syd: 24 June
Bris: 29 July
Adel: 26 August

 
great-conversations

Creating Great Conversations
Melb: 4 June
Syd: 25 June
Bris: 30 July
Adel: 27 August

 
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A Taste of Appreciative Inquiry
Melb: 5 June
Syd: 26 June
Bris: 31 July
Adel: 28 August

Chair Chi Training (Level One) and Falls Prevention: The Tai Chi Way are designed for carers, workers and volunteers in the Aged Care sector.

A Taste of Appreciative Inquiry is for all those who are 'dipping their toes' in the water of AI and would like to learn the essentials of this approach.

Creating Great Conversations, also based on using an appreciative approach, is for anyone who would like to improve communication and conversations with colleagues, co-workers, clients ... or family!

All four workshops are highly interactive, strength-focused and very practical!

The registration fee for each workshop is $341 (including GST), which includes a delicious morning tea and lunch.

You will also take away, as an ongoing resource and reference, a comprehensive workbook/manual or a set of professionally produced cards (depending on the workshop).

Places are limited, so if you would like to join us, use the above links and book now!

A Vision for Supervision

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Subtitled Strengths-based Questions for Reflective Conversations, A Vision for Supervision is a fabulous new card set from St Luke's Innovative Resources in Bendigo!

Do you supervise others? Or do you receive supervision yourself? Supervision plays a pivotal role in the professional development of social workers, psychologists, counsellors, managers, health practitioners, life coaches and other human service professionals. At its best, supervision can be a powerful crucible of discovery and learning for both supervisor and practitioner—with the benefits also flowing on to clients.

A Vision for Supervision consists of 40 cards arranged in 5 colour-coded suits:
* Beginning: Establishing a relationship
* Contexting: Identifying our accountability
* Sharpening the Focus: Making each session count
* Widening the Lens: Mapping our professional development
* Ending: Celebrating the journey

There are also 40 key topics such as ‘Hopes and plans’, ‘Present situation’, ‘What worked?’ and ‘Noticing success’, along with 160 strengths-based, reflective questions for building your supervision conversations from start to finish.

The Empathy Library

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The Empathy Library is the world’s first online empathy collection and a treasure house for catapulting your imagination into other people’s lives. What might it be like to be a child growing up in Tehran, or to be born without sight, or to be a soldier fighting someone else’s war? The library takes you on these journeys into unknown worlds.

The library is full of recommended books to read (fiction, non-fiction and children’s books) and great films to watch (from feature films to documentaries and video shorts). Their common thread? The power to deepen our empathy – to help us step into the shoes of other people and look at the world through their eyes. The library offers a unique form of armchair travel that can give you a taste of a different culture, a different generation, a different life.

The library is founded on the belief that empathy can transform both our own lives and the societies we live in. As the novelist Ian McEwan put it, 'Imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of compassion, and it is the beginning of morality.' There is now plenty of research showing that books and films are a great way to help us make the imaginative leap of empathy.

On Education and Schools

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We've collected for you some of our favourite talks and short videos about education. Inspiring, thought-provoking and, at times laugh-aloud amusing!
We hope you will enjoy them too. Some you may have seen before - but they're certainly worth watching again!

First, a collated video - TED Talks Education. At 55 minutes in total, you'll need to set some time aside to watch it. But it's well worth it!

For example Rita Pearson talks about the importance of human connection, Sir Ken Robinson explains how to escape education's 'death valley' and Bill Gates discusses how important 'real feedback' is for teachers.

Next, hear Raj Dhingra answer the question "Can Technology Change Education?"with a resounding "yes".

Pierre Pirard, who managed companies in the corporate sector for 25 years, left this career to become a teacher in the most disadvantaged areas of Brussels. He talks about the 5 principles of highly effective teachers.

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And for the historians among our readers ... here's a short film made by the National Film Board in 1947 called Australia At School. It was part of the Australia and Your Future series, designed for immigrants.

Finally, while we're delving into old archival footage, here's another interesting snippet from the US (1947) about How to Maintain Classroom Discipline.

Out and About on the Web

empathy

Six Habits of Highly Empathic People

 
obesity

Youth Overweight & Obesity

 
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Road Safety Education Victoria

 
earlylearning

Early Learning Association Australia

risk

Managing Risk

 
ncie

National Centre for Indigenous Excellence

 
accs

ACCS - Australian Community Children's Services

 
youthnetwork

Student Youth Network (SYN) (Melbourne)

Young Health Programme

YHP

The AstraZeneca Young Health Programme (YHP) aims to positively impact the health of adolescents in marginalised communities worldwide through research, advocacy and on-the-ground programmes which are focused on NCD prevention.

This site is aimed at organisations and individuals who work with young people to provide information on the Young Health Programme and share materials and resources.

You can read what is happening in YHP around the world (including Australia) and download resources including the Youth Engagement Toolkit

Mental Health Resources for Schools

school

The UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools was established in 1995, the same year that Starlink was born. They were mentioned in one of the first issues, we've highlighted their resources many times over the years - and it's timely to do so again. Though based in the US, this clearing house offers a treasure trove of information and resources for Australian visitors as well.

Here are just a few examples gleaned from recent newsletters:

A Practitioner's Resource Guide: Helping Families to Support Their LGBT Children

Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family–School Partnerships

Motivation, Engagement and Re-Engagement

Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model

Inspiration ... and Fun!

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Here are a few items we hope will brighten your day ...

First ... The Queensland Symphony Orchestra surprises a curious and enthusiastic crowd with a guerrilla-style performance of Ravel's Bolero in Brisbane's South Bank. The Orchestra relocated to the city's cultural hub in December of 2012 and performed the pop-up performance to celebrate their move into a new state of the art studio. The Orchestra's conductor was Tecwyn Evans. The film was co-produced with the ABC.

And here are some more joyous examples where music lightens hearts in public places. They're not new, but we think they're worth watching more than once!
A Riverdance on St Patrick's Day 2011 in Sydney

Ode to Joy in Sabadell, Spain, May 2012

Next an amusing skit about what it's like to be brought in as 'the expert' for a project. While it's based in a corporate setting, we reckon it's a wry take on the twists and turns taken to reach 'achievable outcomes' in lots of other settings as well!

dog

The mission of the US-based nonprofit Life Vest Inside is to To EMPOWER and UNITE the world with KINDNESS. And as part of their campaign to do so, they've borrowed an "Aussie-ism" ... the Kindness Boomerang. :) Visit their website to see some inspirational videos they've created. Reminiscent of "Pay it Forward", they remind us that small acts of kindness can make a difference in this world!

Finally, for all the dog lovers out there, here's a short piece called God Made A Dog.

From Our Blog

Dates for Your Diary

diary

Visit our Events Calendar to find details of conferences, workshops, training opportunities, exhibitions and special days to celebrate!

There is a great deal happening during the coming month, so go to the relevant date in the Events Calendar for details and links to the event websites.

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