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News, Reviews & Resources || Issue 101 July 2013 Dear Reader, The web is an always-fascinating place to wander, as we gather bits and pieces for
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News, Reviews & Resources || Issue 101 July 2013 |
Dear Reader,
The web is an always-fascinating place to wander, as we gather bits and pieces for each month's issue of Starlink. This month has been no exception and we've once again harvested a diverse collection.
For example, among other items, we bring you some unsurprising but interesting Aussie research results, a possibly useful piece of sofware for volunteer treasurers, a new direction for Connect (after more than 30 years in publication), a glorious short movie of the Aurora Borealis lighting the sky in Finland and some ideas for staying away from the "Affluenza" epidemic.
Enjoy!
Cheers
Sue & Chris
BJ Seminars International |
The National Anti-Racism Strategy was launched in Melbourne on 24 August 2012 and is in place until 2015.
Racism: It Stops With Me is one component of the strategy and is a campaign that invites all Australians to reflect on what they can do to counter racism wherever it happens.
The website has links to a several resources, including campaign materials and other websites with resources for individuals, communities, workplaces, schools and sporting organisations.
Another section of the site provides information and resources for young people, including the music video, What you say matters, which was developed by hip-hop artist Brothablack together with the cast, who are all students at James Meehan High School in south-western Sydney. The students workshopped the scenes based on real-life experiences and the issues that are important to them. James Meehan is one of the most culturally diverse schools in the state and cultural identity is a big issue for many of the students.
Words are powerful. When we use them well, they can bring people together. When we use them carelessly, they can tear people apart. |
Completed by researchers from the Institute of Child Protection Studies at the Australian Catholic University, Identity and Meaning in Vulnerable Young People is a qualitative study that explored the role and potency that concepts such as identity, and a search for meaning, have in the lives of vulnerable young people. Literature has found that having a positive view of self, the world and the future is important in the lives of vulnerable young people. However, much of this research is international (predominately the UK and USA), and little is actually known about how the current service system in Australia does, or should, support vulnerable young people in a search for positive identity and meaning.
During 2012, 24 interviews were completed with vulnerable young people in the ACT aged between 15 and 25 years. Through these interviews, the study elicited an in-depth narrative of the young people's life experiences, with particular reference to how they view themselves and make sense of their world and their place within it. The implications this has for how the service sector provides support to vulnerable young people was also explored.
Outcomes of this Australian study were highly consistent with previous research elsewhere in the world, including the wealth of research that has been done into resilience. For example, there are few surprises in the following factors, which were found to be pivotal in young people's development of a positive sense of self, purpose and meaning in life:
* Positive caring connections with others;
* Opportunities to participate in meaningful activities and/or contribute to their communities (through sport, study, work, youth groups, church groups, music groups, volunteering or caring activities);
* Being acknowledged for being good at something;
* Finding a sense of belonging to a place or group (via family, cultural group, or church); and
* Developing hope for the future.
Download the report, Me, Myself and I, in pdf format or listen to an online playback of the launch of the report and accompanying seminar. |
In many local clubs or other voluntary community groups, the silence can certainly be deafening when this question is asked "So who would like to be Treasurer this year?" :)
Well, we've stumbled across a resource that just might help to ease the pain felt by many voluntary treasurers who finally step up to take that particular hot seat.
Developed by Nerida Gill in Australia, for Australian community groups, Admin Bandit is described as an easy and affordable accounting software package that guides you through every task required in your role as volunteer treasurer. It’s fast and easy to use, even if you have absolutely no accounting experience.
On the website you can learn more about Nerida and the background to the software and check out the various features. The annual fees vary, depending on the features you need, but even the most comprehensive option is still reasonable. There is also a 55 day trial version, which should allow enough time to give it a test run.
So you or someone you know is involved in a voluntary organisation that also has to manage the financial side of things, this software may well be worth a look. |
 COVER: Student Voice via hip hop at McCarthy College
PHOTO: courtesy of Keith Heggart |
Connect is an independent bi-monthly publication supporting active student participation in primary and secondary schools. It is primarily a 'practice journal', documenting, sharing and supporting stories by students, teachers, consultants, parents, administrators and others about active student participation in areas of school governance, curriculum, community etc.
Connect supports educational change and development through assisting students and teachers to document and share practices in which students have substantial decision-making and implementation roles in primary and secondary schools, around real and important issues. It includes stories from initiatives around Australia (and occasionally elsewhere), and develops and reviews resources.
Over the years we have promoted Connect in Starlink from time to time, and it's again timely to give our readers another 'heads up' about it, because with this year's June Issue, Connect is now an online-only publication.
It's a new direction for this information-packed resource, which has been delighting its readers for more than 30 years! Roger Holdsworth, founder and editor, published the first issue way back in 1979. And, as Roger says on the Connect website, he retired in 2004 but 'failed' at it .. So he remains an active, passionate and committed champion of real roles of value for young people in schools. In Roger's case, there's been no such thing as retirement. Instead, it's been 're-firement' all the way. :)
Download the current (June) issue of Connect - it's a rich collection of stories and resources.
All back issues are also available (at no charge) for download as pdfs from the site. Use the drop-down list in the left hand sidebar to select the issue you would like to view.
To subscribe to Connect, order back issues or purchase other Connect publications, contact Roger by email. |
 Aurora Borealis | |  Effective Engagement | |  Your Brain Matters | |  Resourcing Parents |
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With chilly winter upon us here in the south, there's the customary focus on avoiding an influenza epidemic.
But there's another worldwide epidemic that isn't at all seasonal. It can affect folk all year round - Affluenza!
So what on earth is that, you ask? Here are a couple of definitions from the Buy Nothing New Month website:
Affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.[1]
Affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.
Buy Nothing New Month is a global movement for collective, conscientious consumption. It's a little idea, that started in Melbourne and is spreading to the Netherlands and USA. It's a one month challenge to buy nothing new (with the exception of essentials like food, hygiene and medicines). Buy Nothing New Month isn't Buy Nothing New Never. Nor is it about going without. It's about thinking where our stuff comes from (finite resources) and where it goes when we're done (often landfill) and what are the fantastic alternatives out there to extend the life of our 'stuff'. It's easy. It's fun. It's moving from consumption-driven to community-driven. It's good for us, our wallets and our planet.
October is Buy Nothing New Month, so we know we're mentioning it early. But perhaps you might like to check out their website and plan for your own 'anti-affluenza' campaign in October! :) |
Newly published by the Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies, Adolescent wellbeing: Trends, issues and prospects fills a major gap in the range of resources that address the complexity of adolescent development in a holistic way. While health and wellbeing is a primary focus in education, health, sports and related legislation, there is little available that presents high standard and practically relevant studies under one cover.
To address that need, the collection’s editors, J-F, Darren Pullen and Annemaree Carroll, have brought together a contemporary, comprehensive and up-to-date overview on adolescent wellbeing within an Australasian context. Selected from research-based articles published in Youth Studies Australia, the book is designed for a broad range of readers, in particular those wanting to work within both a clinical and educational context. The content will be of interest to practitioners, students and teachers, and to youth researchers.
Adolescent wellbeing: Trends, issues and prospects, edited by J-F, Darren Pullen and Annemaree Carroll, ACYS Publishing, Hobart, 2013, 285pp., ISBN 9781875236657, RRP $59.95.
To order, email Sue.Dilley or phone: (03) 6226 2591. |
Visit our Events Calendar to find details of conferences, workshops, training opportunities, exhibitions and special days to celebrate!
Another busy month in August. There are conferences covering cradle to grave, including International Mental Health, Aged Care Better Practice, Safe Sleep Space and the Australian Youth Affairs National Conference.
It's also Tradies' Health Awareness Month, and a month of Honey Money Days raising funds to combat the cruelty of bear bile farming. There's Children's Book Week as well as the 40 Hour Famine. And many more!
Go to the relevant date in the Events Calendar for details and links to the event websites. |
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