This article draws on work with communities in the rural and remote towns of Brewarrina, Wilcannia and Enngonia, New South Wales (NSW) to explore the relationship between low adult literacy levels and the continuing alienation of Aboriginal communities from educational decision making. Building on the analysis of community-school relations…

International fieldschools to developing countries have become an important component of the university curriculum because they provide experiential learning and research skills, while also contributing a range of soft skills such as resilience, empathy, resourcefulness, critical thinking, and cross-cultural communication. Yet, with the increasing…

Supporting children in their early development and learning has long-term benefits for both them and the broader community. Yet in Australia we still have significant examples of inequality of opportunity (Allan, 2010) and other structural barriers to family wellbeing, particularly in Indigenous and rural and remote communities (Bourke, Humphreys,…

This paper provides insight into the experience of Clemente humanities education for six regional and rural Australian women living around Ballarat. Each took part in an audio-taped semi-structured interview which explored the impact that university study had on their lives. Their responses suggest that Clemente Ballarat was life-giving. The…

This paper discusses the community engagement program, "Refugee Action Support" (RAS) at the University of Western Sydney. RAS is a partnership program between the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, The NSW Department of Education and Training and the university. The Refugee Action Support program prepares pre-service teachers…

The Cultural Immersion Projects at Indiana University offer teacher education majors the opportunity to be placed in culturally-diverse settings, where full-time student teaching, required community participation, ongoing reflection, and academic reporting combine to provide experiences that go well beyond the common foci of conventional student…

Building the research capacity of the vocational education and training (VET) sector is a key concern for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). To assist with this objective, NCVER supports an academic scholarship program, whereby VET practitioners are sponsored to undertake university study at honours', master's or…

This collection of occasional papers, developed to show the spread of continuing education activities in Tasmania, Australia, includes (1) "Adult Education--Beyond the Traditional Class Programme" by Gordon Goward, Assistant Director of Adult Education; (2) "Forming a New Group in the Community" by Frank Perry, Prison Education…

Discusses philosophical issues related to health education in developed countries: the role of the health educator, the Health Belief Model for the study of health behaviors, community involvement, and the relationship between education and coercion as a function of legislation. (CM)

The project described in this paper, called Talking to Literacy Learners or TTALL, was designed to improve the quality of parent child interaction involving reading and writing, to promote gains in literacy standards, and to engender a more positive attitude toward schooling. Designed for an urban community in New South Wales where adult and youth…

Despite the huge potential of information and communication technology (ICT) to assist communities to increase their overall well-being through community development, there are relatively few examples of sustained community networks built around ICT when compared to commercial applications, even in the developed countries where the technology has…

In 1976 the Schools Commission (Australia) commenced a program of evaluation of its specific-purpose programs in order to obtain objective assessments of the impact of these programs and to determine ways in which they might be improved. One of the programs chosen for evaluation was the Development Program. This report discusses the design and…

This report is made up of 20 case descriptions of tertiary level distance-delivered educational programs developed specifically for indigenous students in three countries: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Included in each case is a description of the institutions and stakeholders involved in each course or program, history of the initiative,…

Describes a center for education, research, and passive recreation in wetland settings operated by a community conservation organization in cooperation with the state and a local university. Discusses the philosophy, on-site programs (formal and nonformal), the outreach program, and community involvement in ornithological research of the center.…

This paper describes The Talk to a Literacy Learner (TTALL) program, which was designed to introduce parents to a broad range of literacy practices, and to offer parents an effective way to talk with other parents about specific literacy practices that have helped empower their children to cope more effectively with the demands of schooling. The…