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Melbourne Graduate School of Education
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PublicationsResearchAll Research Reports cost $16.50 (GST incl) Pathways, Personal Issues, Public Participation This report provides a contextual framework for the analysis of youth policy issues. It examines research evidence on the impact of policy in specific areas of young people's lives. In particular, it demonstrates the extent to which the experience of young people points to a mismatch between policy implementation and needs. The report was prepared for the Victorian Youth Affairs Division.
This report builds on the information gathered for Research Report 1, focusing on the costs associated with various aspects of young people’s pathways to independent adult status. In researching the cost factor, this report establishes a basis for further policy development within the youth sector, paying particular attention to schooling, the labour market, housing and the difficulties encountered by different groups of young people. The report was prepared for the Victorian Youth Affairs Division.
Early School Leavers
Are young people interested in or committed to environmental issues? What lies behind these concerns? Why do some young people get involved in environmental projects while others prefer other, more personal kinds of activities? This project examines the involvement of young people in environmental groups, the barriers that operate to limit the access of young people to the organisations, and suggestions for coordinated initiatives and structural changes. Volume 1 is the report of this project. Volume 2 contains a sample of the databases developed in this research, and is a useful source of information about Victorian environmental groups.
Health Services for Young Women
Full text available (pdf) The main finding of the research, as discussed in the report, is that gender and parental education have a major influence on patterns of environmental concern, knowledge and behaviour. Environmental degradation and amelioration are of central, not marginal, theoretical concern.
The Research Report is presented in three sections: a description of the project; a profile of the young pregnant women; and longitudinal data on the young mothers. The five-year longitudinal study of the young women, aged 19 and under when pregnant, was commenced at the end of 1987.
This study confirmed findings from other studies on the negative status of VET pathways within students’ school settings. However, survey respondents as a whole presented a dramatically different assessment of VET as a result of their more recent experience. The respondents, including those whose further education was restricted to university settings, were overwhelmingly positive about both the value and usefulness of the VET pathway. Those young people with some direct personal experience of VET study were much more positive (over 70% in agreement) than their university counterparts about how well organised and well taught their courses were. Over 50% of those with some form of VET exposure agreed that their experience had been ‘generally better than I’d expected’, while 85% of those with both VET and university backgrounds and 86% with only VET experience considered that it was ‘worth recommending to others’. The report also looks at the response of VET providers to this data. They provided an informed assessment of both the strengths and weaknesses of current VET operations and their capacity to meet the need of the student participants. They reinforced most of the evidence uncovered in the participant interviews and also the large questionnaire. They are confident from their more recent experience and monitoring that many of the circumstances resulting in bias against TAFE and ignorance of the TAFE experience have changed so that barriers to consideration of VET have been lowered. Creating New Choices - An Evaluation The program took a broad definition of violence that went beyond fighting and bullying to encompass inequalities of power and social relations that are not respectful and do not value individuals. In the schools, the project tried to address the causes of violence and its various manifestations. The program worked with the whole school community including the administrative staff, the teaching staff, students and parents to look at the structural issues that may encourage violent behaviour, and the way power and social relationships lead to violence. The project took a preventive focus. There was considerable effort to address violence on a variety of fronts, and to mobilise all members of the school community. The methods used in the program ranged from workshops for staff and students and special events such as multicultural weeks. The schools saw the Creating New Choices program as a major catalyst for change to a less violent culture. A major feature of the program was the way in which it developed and maintained a professional link between Sutherland as an external community agency and the school. The school saw Sutherland as an integral part of its community. The evaluation also makes detailed suggestions for the future development of the program. Young People Living in Rural Australia in the 1990s No longer available The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the situation of young people in rural Australia in terms of their health and well-being. It aims to identify the challenges which young people face, as well as the challenges for policy makers. The paper explores the relevance of the concept of ‘resilience’ as a strategy for identifying successful strategies, positive outcomes and directions for policy. The report draws on the available literature: research reports, articles and government and agency reports on young people in rural Australia. The views expressed in the literature have been tested against the views and experiences of young people and professional workers who are associated with young people, through a series of focus groups undertaken in five rural areas: Dubbo (NSW), Wangaratta, Myrtleford, Wodonga and Trafalgar (Victoria). In addition, feedback has been obtained from participants in the National Rural Public Health Forum (1997) where this report was presented.
This Research Report presents a progress analysis of a large longitudinal study of young Victorians who were planning to finish their schooling in 1991. The original database included 29,155 participants, who were resurveyed a year later. In 1995, a matching sample of 10,985 from the original set was contacted again to provide an up-date on their progress since 1991. Then in 1996, 1997 and now again in 1998, this study has conducted a detailed annual survey with a representative sample of about 2000 (composed mainly of those still involved with further study), as well as individual interviews with a sub-sample of 100. From the surveys, it can be shown that over half of the 2000 have graduated from a course in their further studies. In addition, over half have made a change in their studies in some way - their institution/course, deferred, discontinued. By 1997, 54% considered they had found genuine career prospects. From the qualitative data, the social, economic, political and individual circumstances of this generation are explored. The choices these young people have and are making are placed in the context of structural constraints and the changing social environment. How they negotiate the barriers to their life-goals is investigated further, and questions of how much agency is involved in their life-pathways are raised.
The report identifies and draws upon relevant national and international research and literature. The views expressed in the literature have then been tested against the views and experiences of likely Youth Allowance participants, service workers and schools through a series of focus groups and interviews undertaken in two metropolitan and two rural areas. Using the information emerging from these discussions, the Report develops a schema for identifying different needs of students and some concrete suggestions for appropriate responses of schools and systems. Journeying Through the Nineties: The Life Patterns Project 1991-2000 This Research Report is an overview of the Life Patterns 10-year longitudinal study. The report begins with the latest findings from the Year 2000 survey of the participants in the Life Patterns Project and thus provides an up to date picture of what life is like for those who finished their schooling in 1991 and are now in their late twenties and establishing themselves in adult life. The report concludes suggesting that many of the conventional research and policy assumptions about young people’s transitions to adulthood are increasingly out of touch with the realities of their experience and the choices they are making as they shape a new adulthood for themselves.
The Victorian Youth Enterprise Strategy Pilot was implemented in the South West of Victoria early in 2000 – in Corangamite and Moyne Shires and the City of Warrnambool. The Strategy tested current thinking and practice about the establishment of networks and collaborations across sectors, to map out what it would look like to extend the boundaries of cooperation and vision. In one strategy, it brought together education, training and employment networks, youth enterprise and enterprising communities, and regional economic development. The Strategy was designed to develop partnerships between young people, education, industry, community and all levels of government. The Strategy aimed to promote regional development in which young people are a catalyst for change. Its objective was to engage young people in the development of the region and to foster young people’s contribution to its future prosperity. It was designed to generate knowledge about the ways in which cultural change can enhance economic development in local, rural and regional contexts. This report documents the development of the seven ‘projects’ that were funded under the Strategy. It describes the breadth and extent of initiatives undertaken, and identifies gaps, barriers and particular difficulties. The evaluation also identifies key areas that would need to be addressed in the application of the Strategy to other areas, and concludes with the implications of the Youth enterprise Strategy Pilot for Victorian policy.
In 2002, a research team from the Centre for Adolescent Health (Royal Children’s Hospital) and the Youth Research Centre (The University of Melbourne) undertook an investigation of the ‘Application of Enabling State Principles in the Delivery of Youth Services’. The report of this investigation examines the international developments in thinking about the enabling state and community building. The key elements of these enabling state processes are:
This report describes models of service delivery with young people, focusing on key principles for practical implementation. These include: joined-up approaches, community capacity building, youth participation and engagement, and intentional links with research and policy. The models that emerge through the work are based on an understanding of the processes that are integral to community programs and services for youth. The focus is on building bridges and sustainable relationships between services, programs, policy, research, community, government (local and State) and the private sector. This report is a starting point in the process of defining what it means to apply the principles of the enabling state to youth services. The core elements of the response related to a change in:
The report provides a table of implications for policy, programs and practice for youth-focused organisations, including schools, youth services, non-Government organisations, and community agencies, for parents and families, the media, local governments, and research organisations.
This Research Report presents the analysis of results from Phase 2 of the Student Action Teams Program, involving 36 Victorian primary and secondary schools in 2001-2002. The report builds upon the initial implementation documentation of this Program that was outlined in the Centre’s Working Paper 21, 2001. These 36 schools were challenged to form teams of students to identify and tackle a significant community or school issue. A wide range of practices were observed within the group of schools, and characteristics of the program approaches were described by students through this evaluation. These characteristics were then compared with students’ reports of outcomes for themselves, and some powerful correlations are noted between program practices and outcomes. These are analysed by gender and team size, and presented within the context of the current literature on education and health - particularly noting the importance of issues of meaning/purpose, control and belonging/bonding. The report finally presents recommendations for program organisation and implementation.
The Life-Patterns research program is one of the centrepieces of the Australian Youth Research Centre. The program has been developed through an interest in youth transitions dating from the mid 1970s, when the traditional school-to-work transition was no longer seen as a predictable option. The results of this study have been reported over the intervening years in a series of research reports, journal articles and in a book. The latest update on the study, drawing on a survey and interviews with participants in 2002 is provided in Research Report 23. This report describes the completion of Phase One of the Life-Patterns Project in 2000 and the initial findings of Phase Two. Phase One set out to establish a ten-year record of youth transitions and pathways into adult life. A full description of Phase One is contained in ‘Youth Education and Risk: Facing the Future’, by Peter Dwyer and Johanna Wyn (Routledge/Falmer, 2001). In this first phase, we found the young people’s transitions between study and work are now much more complex than many of the established research and policy frameworks assume. The study found that only a third of participants could be said to have taken a ‘linear’ pathway through education and training and into work. By far the majority have had diverse experiences, balancing study and work, and keeping options open across different areas of life. We argue that it is necessary to re-examine the ways in which institutional and personal points of reference for young people’s transitions have been affected by uncertainty. For this generation, born after 1970, it is not a simple either/or between the past and the present but very much both as they try to balance traditional expectations and the new life circumstances. Phase Two of the project focussed specifically on what ‘career’ meant to them and on understanding the implications of the mixed patterns of life. In our report on the 2002 findings, we have found even stronger evidence that rather than the period of youth being extended, young people are entering that new form of adulthood earlier. The Life-Patterns project in Phase Two is exploring the implications of this for the definition of career inparticular. It is finding that the post-1970 generation expect to make choices about many aspects of their lives, they place a high value on flexibility and mobility, and they see career as a ‘mind-set’ (offering personal fulfilment, opportunities to be committed and opportunities for advancement). This finding has important implications for educational policy, labour force planning and social policy.
In 2002 the Youth Research Centre undertook a series of national focus groups with approximately 400 young people in 26 schools to gain their perceptions of the changing labour market, their own lives and how school fits within the multi-dimensional nature of their lives. The focus groups allowed for open ended discussion and for young people to initiate and name the issues relevant to them and their understanding of their lives and futures. Through the focus groups, the young people began to build their understandings and created links between their own personal narratives and the topics under discussion. These topics included:
Throughout all the topics was an overriding theme of generic and reflexive skills that the young people need to develop to enable them to negotiate their world and balance the many, varied aspects of their lives. Comprehensive career education gives a framework to schools to enable young people to draw on these skills through all aspects of their lives and school experience. Overwhelmingly the young people reported having access to good career information. Some reported having access to career counselling but there was little understanding about career education. The differences between these and how they are happening are explored in this report. The research findings have also highlighted a number of key areas including:
The Welfare Needs of Victorian Catholic Schools reports on the findings of a study commissioned by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria. This project was designed to investigate the nature, range and impact of the welfare issues Principals are called upon to deal with in their role as leader of Catholic school communities. School Principals were used as the key informants for this study as they are uniquely placed to observe the nature of welfare challenges that affect the capacity of children to engage in the learning experiences provided by the school. This study distinguished that schools respond to a very broad range of welfare problems, including those that arise in relation to:
Schools are experiencing considerable impact in terms of the energy, time, resources and emotional labour that is required to respond appropriately to the needs of that proportion of students who require additional welfare support from the school. Analysis of the survey data utilised an’ ‘priority’ rating which identified those issues that rated high on frequency and impact and low on adequacy of resourcing. Five key issues emerged at the top of the ‘priority’ index: Learning problems were identified as having a significant impact on student wellbeing, particularly literacy and numeracy problems. Secondary Principals in particular identified a significant concern with the lack of alternative settings for troubled students and the lack of pathways for less academic students. Student mental health problems were given high ratings, particularly the impact of the affective disorders of depression and anxiety and the conduct-related mental health disorders including ADHD, Autism, Aspergers and Conduct disorders. Family problems, particularly family break up, and family mental health problems including mental illnesses, suicide, gambling, violence and drug and alcohol problems. Social health was another area of high concern, particularly the prevalence of bullying and the impact of negative or defiant classroom behaviours. An accompanying need for high level classroom management skills was distinguished. Staff wellbeing issues also rated at a high level of concern. Principals identified staff mental health and staff burnout, as well as poor class management skills and poor relationship skills to be of significant concern in relation to potential impact on the students.
The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, informed by understandings of the need to address the challenge of mental health promotion, invested in a professional development program in student welfare as a central element of its mental health promotion and suicide prevention strategy. Central to the philosophy of the selected postgraduate course - Postgradate Diploma in Educational Studies (Student Welfare) - is ‘translating caring into action’. This is underpinned by the belief that all teachers have a welfare role which is intrinsic to their teaching role, and that they can develop specific knoweldge and skills which will enhance their capacity to perform this role effectively. This evaluation of the Course was set in the context of a discussion about mental health promotion in school settings. A summary of relevant literature addressing the mental health promotion, school change and teacher development informed the evaluation. Research with primary and secondary school students explored their perceptions of how schools could best support student learning and social-emotional wellbeing. The Course was thus evaluated both within the context of the needs, directions and principles identified in the literature and those distinguished by the school students. Translating Caring Into Action documents a unique initiative in systematic, in-depth and high quality professional development across an education system. The Student Welfare program has also provided an opportunity to ‘test’ a number of assumptions underlying teacher professional development. The evaluation provides a compelling evidence base on which to undertake further analysis and on which to base further developments in professional development.
This final report on the Life-Patterns Project concerns a representative sample of young Australians, born in the early 1970s, who undertook further study during the 1990s after leaving school in 1991. By 2004, at age 30, most were married and in full-time career jobs, and a third had children of their own. The participants’ narratives illustrate their progress through life since leaving school. They set the scene for our analysis of the progress of a generation from the time of leaving secondary school to the age of 30. The evidence on their progress into adulthood calls into question many of the media stereotypes and research assumptions about their generation. Their transitions have been complex and varied and they have realised that the changing nature of the labour market within the global economy suggests that flexibility is replacing permanency as a determining factor of career success. Their own assessments of their lives suggest that they are shaping new ways of becoming adult. Our research suggests that it is the traditional models of transition held by academics and policy-makers that may be now called into question. Most believe they have been faced with a new adulthood characterised by an increase in the positive value placed on personal autonomy and on attaining a balance across life spheres of work, education, leisure and personal relationships with family and friends. They see that this demands greater flexibility on their part to cope with uncertainty and achieve a genuine balance between their top priorities in life. The evidence also suggests that the decisions they make concerning study and careers have been shaped in large part by developments affecting the more personal aspects of their lives. There is a third dimension of identity formation that determines many of the choices they make in other dimensions of life. Not yet married or parents or homeowners by their late twenties, they were however the most highly qualified generation of Australians and already established in their careers. In this sense they were immigrants in time who were confronted with an on-going mismatch between present-day realities and the established ‘time-line’ of youth transition into adulthood idealised by their parents. It is paramount for them to display a readiness to reflect on their own life circumstances so that they can face and negotiate the uncertainties of life and be ready to change in the face of changing life circumstances rather than insist on what ‘ought to be’.
Civic Engagement and Young People This report examines recent national and international literature on young people’s civic engagement, citizenship and participation, and explores practices in several Victorian local government areas. It acknowledges the importance of these issues for all young people and for the City of Melbourne (which commissioned this report), and the endorsement of such approaches by State, National and international policy directions.
Generations and Social Change: Negotiating Adulthood in the 21st Century. Report on the Life-Patterns Research Program: 2005 - 2007 Full text available (PDF)
Rethinking Youth Citizenship: Identity and Connection This research report summarises the key findings from the project Rethinking Youth Citizenship: Identity and Connection. The project aimed to gain a greater understanding of the changing nature of citizenship and identity for young people in Victoria, Australia. It contributes to the exploration of the issue of youth citizenship from the perspective of new life patterns that see the current generation making adult choices in a highly individualised context. In much youth research today, conventional notions of a ‘mainstream’ and of linear transitions to adulthood forged through a straightforward school to work transition have been replaced by an acknowledgement of the diversity, complexity and multifaceted nature of young people’s lives. This development is highly relevant for the study of youth citizenship because it may be leading to the recognition of new practices of engagement. If young people are no longer experiencing continuous, structured identities and predictable life trajectories, what does this mean for their participation in political and civic life? Youth-led learning: local connections and global citizenship Abstract: Not available |
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