bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Economic Growth in England Before the Industrial Revolution: Some Methodological Issues
Authors: Hartwell Richard M.
Published: August 2016

This paper, as presented at the Fourth Congress of the International Economic History Association, is the first of four concerned with economic growth in England before the industrial revolution, in what, for purposes of brevity and analytical distinction, I propose to call “preindustrial England.” It might be prudent for this period to talk of “economic change” (“the movement of economic processes over time”) rather than “economic growth” (“the growth of output per head of population”), because change does not necessarily imply growth, and because, for the thousand years which preceded English industrialization, the historians are uncertain about the direction and duration of the secular trend of the economy over long periods, although they seem to have identified some periods of growth as well as some periods of decline.
Patterns in Medieval Trade: The Commerce of Amalfi Before the Crusades
Authors: Citarella Armand O.
Published: August 2016

The long and glorious commercial history of Amalfi, which began some time about the middle of the eighth century, came to an abrupt end on November 24, 1343. On that day a raging storm accompanied by a tidal wave destroyed the lower town and swallowed all the harbor installations, including the famed sea fortifications. From that blow Amalfi never recovered. The present lovely resort appears as a most unlikely setting for a republic which was once a great maritime town in the western Mediterranean.
French Entrepreneurship During the Restoration: The Record of a Single Firm, the Anzin Mining Company
Authors: Barker Richard J.
Published: August 2016

In this paper, which examines the business operations of the Anzin Mining Company during the Restoration, the record of a single firm has been used to assess recent interpretations of the nature of French entrepreneurship in the nineteenth century. These interpretations portray French industry in its formative period developing around “small units, small volume, and small horizons.” “Cautious management, obsolescent plants, and high profits” have been cited as main features which came to characterize the business operations of even the largest firms. It has been pointed out also that maximization of profits was not a fundamental aim of the French entrepreneur, nor did he indulge in the competitive business practices common to American industrial development. In France, security and continuity of the firm were as important to the entrepreneur as profits, and the acquired rights of the small or marginal firm were respected and preserved. The family character of most French enterprises has been emphasized in explanation of these phenomena. Close identification of family name and family honor widi business holdings prescribed a minimizing of risks in the family firm, as well as consideration for the welfare of other family enterprises. Finally, in order to allow these conditions to endure, French entrepreneurs favored a high protective tariff.
The Italian Tariff and the Conflict Between Agriculture and Industry: The Commercial Policy of Liberal Italy, 1860–1922
Authors: Coppa Frank J.
Published: August 2016

Liberal Italy, 1860–1922, has never stimulated the same interest as theRisorgimentoera, which spawned the unitary state, or the Fascist experiment, which destroyed it. Admittedly a number of works have dealt with the liberal period, but these have been all too few and very general in scope. Little, for example, has been written in English about Italian economic growth during these years and even less is known about the commercial policy of the unitary Kingdom. Contemporary critics of the tariff clamored that duties were exorbitant, were politically motivated, favored the North at the expense of the South, and increased industrial profits while they burdened agriculture. But there has not been a full scholarly analysis of commercial policy which would permit an appraisal of these criticisms.
Some Notes on Coerced Labor
Authors: Evans Robert
Published: August 2016

Though Social critics have often spoken of the “wage slavery” associated with modern capitalism, it is more common to believe that coerced labor was banished with the coming of modern standards of civilization. Thus the corvee of ancient China, the feudalism of Western Europe and Japan, and the New World enslavement of blacks in the 17th-19th centuries are seen as products of those earlier and less enlightened ages, mere way stations in the historical evolution of modern day economies.
Reply To Mr. Danière and Some Reflections on the Significance of the Debate
Authors: Landes David S.
Published: August 2016

We have reason to be grateful to Mr. Danière for bringing the thesis of Professor Labrousse to our attention once again. For this is not just an ordinary thesis. Since its statement in the thirties, it has become a staple of French historiography, shaping and informing the work of a whole generation of scholars. Such terms as “crise d'ancien type,” “crise de sous-production agricole,” and “économie des blés et des textiles” have become stock phrases, and few French historians would think of discussing any trade crisis before the middle of the nineteenth century without laying special stress on the causative role of inadequate harvests. Indeed, the fame of this thesis has so flourished with time and Professor Labrousse had become so closely identified with the problem of agriculture and the cycle, that any kind of link between harvests and farm income on the one hand and business conditions on the other–even where the relationship observed is the opposite of what the Labroussian model would lead one to expect–has been enough to make scholars cite his name in evidence.
The Economic History of Modern Britain
Authors: Habakkuk H. J.
Published: August 2016

There is now a rough consensus of opinion among English economic historians about the broad chronology of English population history. According to this chronology there were three main phases of rapid growth. The first occurred in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and was brought to an end by a marked fall in population in the fourteenth century. The second phase occupied most of the sixteenth century and the early seventeendi, after which there was some slowing down in the later seventeenth century and possibly an absolute check in the 1720's and 1730's. And finally tliere was the sustained cumulative increase that started in the later eighteenth century.
Ocean Freight Rates and Economic Development 1730-1913
Authors: North Douglass
Published: August 2016

Revolutionary developments in transport have been an essential feature of the rapiddevelopments in transportgrowth of the past two centuries. Reduction in the cost of carriage has enabled specialization and division of labor on a national and international basis to replace the relatively self-sufficient economies that predominated in the western world two centuries ago. The striking role of the railroad in the nineteenth century is well known. However, it was water transport in which the bulk shipment of commodities began, and it was the development of ocean shipping that was an integral aspect of die growing economic interdependence of the western world, the opening up of the undeveloped continents, and the promotion of the settlement of the “empty lands.” The declining cost of ocean transportation was a process of widening the resource base of the western world. The agriculture of new countries was stimulated (and that of old countries at least temporarily depressed), the specter of famine as a result of crop failure reduced, and the raw materials were provided for industrialization. In short, the radical decline in ocean freight rates was an important part of the redirection of the resources of the western world in the course of the vast development of die past two centuries.
Some Thoughts on the Nature of Economic Imperialism
Authors: Landes David S.
Published: August 2016

One should distinguish from the start between the economic interpretation of imperialism and economic imperialism. The one is an explanation, an essentially monistic explanation, of an historical phenomenon. The latter is an aspect of the phenomenon itself: if imperialism is the dominion of one group over another, economic imperialism is the establishment or exploitation of such dominion for continuing material advantage. The definition assumes that economic imperialism is more than simple, once-for-all pillage; rather that it tries to cultivate relationships that yield a recurrent harvest of profit, as the ground its corn. Moreover, it makes no distinction between dominion established for economic motives and dominion that, for whatever reasons established, is maintained and exploited primarily for material ends. Finally, it does not confine imperialism to cases of formal rule or protectorate, but includes that “informal” dominion that is often far more effective and lucrative than direct administration.
The Philosophic Radicals and Colonialism
Authors: Semmel Bernard
Published: August 2016

In 1948, in an address before this association, the late J. B. Brebner spoke of laissez-faire as a “myth,” describing it as a battle cry of the middle classes in their struggle with the landed aristocracy, and noting particularly that the philosophic Radicals—the Benthamites—were proponents not of laissez-faire, as they had been represented to be, but of a new bureaucratic collectivism. It is becoming clear that the reputed mid-Victorian policy of “anti-colonialism” is likewise a myth, as two Cambridge dons argued in an article in 1953, for England continued to extend her empire—both “formal” and “informal”—during the middle years of the nineteenth century. Was the policy which led to the extension of the empire in direct contradiction to the ideas of the men who had revealed the absurdities of the “Old Colonial System” in the bright beam of the new science of political economy and had brought about the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 and of the Navigation Acts in 1849? Or is the “anti-colonialism” of Radical doctrine also a myth? I hope to show that Benthamite Radicals, far from being ideological opponents of colonialism, as they are usually depicted, were advocates of positive programs of empire, and, grounding their argument upon the new economic science, constructed and maintained a set of doctrines of which the keystone was the necessity of empire to an industrial England.
Some Reflections on the Economic History of Modern China (1840–1949)
Authors: Hou Chi-Ming
Published: August 2016

The study of the economic history of modern China is underdeveloped. There is urgent need for original work both in ascertaining facts and in interpretations. Though investigations into the various phases of the Chinese economy had been made by the Chinese Maritime Customs since the 1860's, and by interested contemporary observers such as Morse and Wagel, statistical surveys on a large scale were not systematically conducted with any degree of reliability until the 1930's. They represented the efforts of the government, academic institutions, and individual scholars. A comprehensive survey on agriculture was made by John L. Buck and the National Agricultural Research Bureau of the National Government. An industrial census of Chinese-owned factories was planned and carried out by D. K. Lieu for the National Resources Commission of the National Government. Mining statistics were collected by government agencies under the direction of Ting Weng-chiang and Weng Wen-hao. Railway statistics have been published (since 1915) and a monumental collection of some 37 huge volumes on transportation and communications was compiled by the Ministry of Communications. The Nankai Institute of Economics—with which professors Franklin Ho, Fang Hsien-ting (H. D. Fong), C. M. Li and many others were associated—made significant contributions in the study of prices, terms of trade, modern industries, and handicrafts. Banking statistics were collected by various institutions, especially the Bank of China. The most comprehensive work on foreign investment was done by C. F. Remer and later by the Japanese East Asian Research Institute. The Japanese Manchuria Railway provided a great deal of economic information on Manchuria after the latter was taken by Japan in 1931. A few sample studies were made both by research institutions and by the government on the characteristics of the Chinese population.
The Price System and Economic Change, A Commentary on Theory and History
Authors: Lampard Eric E.
Published: August 2016

This paper is intended to provoke a general discussion of the nature and uses of historical sociology and its possible relevance to the work of economic historians. It is not an exhaustive treatment of the topic. Terms of reference merely call for a reconsideration of “the penetrative powers of the price system.”
Patent Medicines: An Early Example of Competitive Marketing
Authors: Young James Harvey
Published: August 2016

Patent medicines in the United States played a pioneering role in marketing. The nostrum manufacturer, during the early decades of the nineteenth century, exploited a brand name and developed a distinctive symbol as a trademark. His wares were sold in a package of distinctive shape or design. He sought to achieve as national a market as transportation conditions permitted. His advertising appeared in newspapers of all regions, appealing to citizens to buy from local retailers an article made hundreds of miles away. In a highly competitive market, the remedy promoter was forced to explore in his advertising a wide variety of psychological lures.
The American Business Elite: A Collective Portrait
Authors: Mills C. Wright
Published: August 2016

The Dictionary of American Biography contains 1,464 biographies of eminent American businessmen. Among them are most of the wellknown financial and business figures, as well as many others never widely known or else long forgotten. The announced criterion for inclusion in the D.A.B. is that the person “did something notable in some field of American life.” Over 100 “consulting specialists” handled the various lists of candidates for inclusion; these specialists included economic and business historians.
Institutionalization of Savings and the Long-Term Outlook for the Securities Industry
Authors: Friend Irwin
Published: August 2016

I am going to consider three questions. First, what have been the trends in the institutionalization of savings and, as a consequence, in the evolving role of institutions in the equity markets? Second, what have been the effects of these trends on the securities industry, narrowly defined; that is, on the securities broker-dealers. And, third, what have been the effects of these trends on the financial markets and the economy as a whole?
Balloon dilation for eustachian tube dysfunction: systematic review
Authors: Hwang S Y , Kok S , Walton J
Published: August 2016

Background:

Eustachian tube dysfunction is a disorder for which there are limited medical and surgical treatments. Recently, eustachian tube balloon dilation has been proposed as a potential solution.

Method:

A systematic literature review was performed. Abstracts were selected for relevance, and pooled data analysis and qualitative analysis was conducted.

Results:

Nine prospective studies, describing 713 eustachian tube balloon dilations in 474 patients (aged 18–86 years), were identified. Follow-up duration ranged from 1.5 to 18 months. Ability to perform a Valsalva manoeuvre improved from 20 to 177 out of 245 ears following eustachian tube balloon dilation and, where data were reported in terms of patient numbers, from 15 to 189 out of 210 patients. Tympanograms were classified as type A in 7 out of 141 ears pre-operatively and in 86 out of 141 ears post-operatively.

Conclusion:

Prospective case series can confirm the safety of eustachian tube balloon dilation. As a potential solution for chronic eustachian tube dysfunction, further investigations are warranted to establish a higher level of evidence of efficacy.
Synchronous or metachronous lymphoma and metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck region: a diagnostic and management dilemma
Authors: Kader I , Leavers B , Shashinder S , Wylie B , Chi K-K , Sundaresan P
Published: August 2016

Objective:

To review our experience of managing patients with a dual diagnosis of metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck region and low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The secondary aim was to evaluate the utility of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography during diagnosis.

Methods:

Patients diagnosed with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in a five-year period, were identified. Patient, tumour and treatment characteristics were identified. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging was reviewed and correlated with histopathology findings.

Results:

Eight patients were identified. There was a delay in diagnosis of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma in two patients. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography differentiated metastatic squamous cell carcinoma from low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma with a sensitivity of 88.2 per cent and a specificity of 94.7 per cent. In 38 per cent of patients, compromises in management had to be made.

Conclusion:

The management of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma can be challenging in patients with low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography can be useful in the diagnosis of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma in patients with low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
First assessment of biomass and abundance of cephalopods Rossia palpebrosa and Gonatus fabricii in the Barents Sea
Authors: Golikov Alexey V. , Sabirov Rushan M. , Lubin Pavel A.
Published: August 2016

Studies on the quantitative distribution of cephalopods in the Arctic are limited, and almost completely absent for the Barents Sea. It is known that the most abundant cephalopods in the Arctic are Rossia palpebrosa and Gonatus fabricii. Their biomass and abundance have been assessed for the first time in the Barents Sea and adjacent waters. The maximum biomass of R. palpebrosa in the Barents Sea was 6.216–6.454 thousand tonnes with an abundance of 521.5 million specimens. Increased densities of biomass were annually registered in the north-eastern parts of the Barents Sea. The maximum biomass of G. fabricii in the Barents Sea was 24.797 thousand tonnes with an abundance of 1.705 billion specimens. The areas with increased density of biomass (higher than 100 kg km−2) and abundance (more than 10,000 specimens km−2) were concentrated in deep-water troughs in the marginal parts of the Barents Sea and in adjacent deep-water areas. The biomass and abundance of R. palpebrosa and G. fabricii in the Barents Sea were much lower than those of major taxa of invertebrates and fish and than those of cephalopods in other parts of the World Ocean. It has been suggested that the importance of cephalopods in the Arctic ecosystems, at least in terms of quantitative distribution, could be somewhat lower than in the Antarctic or the tropics. Despite the impact of ongoing warming of the Arctic on the distribution of cephalopods being described repeatedly already, no impact of the current year's climate on the studied species was found. The only exception was the abundance of R. palpebrosa, which correlated with the current year's climate conditions.
Archaeology in Greece, 1925–26
Authors: Woodward A. M.
Published: August 2016

This article summarises all excavations in Greek lands of which particulars have reached me since the completion of my report published a year ago.

American School

At Corinth, Professor T. L. Shear continued his excavations at the Theatre, and at the presumed site of the Sanctuary of Athena Chalinitis. At the former, he has now cleared the entire Orchestra, with the Parodoi leading into it, and uncovered the front part of the stage and the lower rows of the cavea. The wall painted with life-sized figures of men and beasts, which was found in 1925, has now been all laid bare, and on it are preserved novel and interesting scenes in brilliant colours. In one case, a bull, richly bedecked with ribbons and fillets, has rushed on the extended spear held by a crouching gladiator, and blood is shown streaming from a wound in its throat. In another scene, which represents an acrobat making a pole-vault over the back of a charging leopard, both man and beast are depicted at the moment when they are in the air. In another, an athlete, with hands on the ground and head raised, is about to spring over the back of a huge charging lion.
Organisational Justice and Work-Family Policies
Authors: Haar Jarrod , Spell Chester S. , O'Driscoll Michael P.
Published: August 2016

Based in a local government organisation in New Zealand, this paper links the literature on work-family balance to the literature on organisational justice, by examining the predictors of perceived fairness in work-family polices. The study also expands an earlier study in Grover (1991), by considering work-family policy sets, rather than single policies only. Perceptions of the fairness in work-family policies were partly predicted, positively, by a combination of management seniority, perceived benefits in work-family policies, and own usage of those policies. These findings suggest the influence of both group values and self-interest. In terms of organisational justice, the findings raise a question for future research, namely how fairness attitudes relate to the sustainability of work-family initiatives.
Making Change in Oksapmin Tradestores: A Study of Shifting Practices of Quantification Under Conditions of Rapid Shift towards a Cash Economy
Authors: Saxe Geoffrey B. , Esmonde Indigo
Published: August 2016

We report two studies about shifting practices of quantification in tradestores in Oksapmin communities (Papua New Guinea). In Study 1, we enlisted 7 local tradestore clerks to collect information about customers' language practices of quantification, age cohort, schooling level, and cost of purchase. Analyses of 305 exchanges revealed that older cohorts tended to use indigenous practices and extensions of the indigenous language. Younger cohorts – particularly those with some schooling -- tended to use practices that involved Melanesian Pidgin. In Study 2, we analyze interviews with 9 tradestore clerks who described typical purchase transactions with customers from different age cohorts/schooling levels. Analyses of interviews revealed that elders tended to structure multi-item purchases into sequential transactions and use extensions of indigenous approaches to quantification. Schooled adults tended to purchase multiple items in a single transaction and use Pidgin quantifiers. We argue that tradestores today sustain multiple practices of quantification but also support change towards the exclusive use of Melanesian Pidgin.
Materialism and life satisfaction in Australia: Is more better?
Authors: Saunders Shaun , Michael Allen
Published: August 2016

The Australian Oxford Dictionary (1992) defines materialism means an “excessive concern for material possessions” which according to critics is likely to be associated with dissatisfaction (eg, Fromm, 1955; Cushman, 1990, Harman, 1996). Despite this, materialism has often been referred to as a predominant American value (eg, Funkhouser, 1989) and also an Australian one (Hawkins, Neal, Quester & Best, 1994). The present study aims to assess the relationship between Materialism and Life Satisfaction amongst Australians.
Development of community based Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) workers in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory
Authors: Atkinson Carol , Jessen Janice
Published: August 2016

The aim of this paper is to document community development initiatives undertaken to address substance misuse issues in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory (NT). This paper is describing work in progress that primarily focuses on the early stage of an evolving community development process to provide alcohol and drug services, particularly in the “treatment” domain, in remote NT communities. Treatment in this context refers to counselling and various support and caring activities, which can take place in a variety of settings, such as a residential facility, a health clinic, a women's or community drop-in centre. The context is community development as the paper explores options to address a community defined need to have effective alcohol and other drug programs available to people living in remote communities.
Motivation and performance in teams: Transforming loafing into resonance
Authors: Glynn Tony , Carr Stuart G.
Published: August 2016

Employee responses to being placed in workplace “teams” range from free-riding (shirking, social loafing) to working harder than ever before, and feelings of identity (or in-group) with the team may play a key role in facilitating the working harder response. Fifty-two Australian future managers worked on a workplace simulation task, either (a) alone (Control), (b) among a simulated unidentified aggregate of other students (team setting, no social identity), (c) with simulated other students from the same faculty competing against the Faculty of Law (in-group, social identity condition), or (d) amid a simulated out-group of students from Law, competing against the participant's own faculty (out-group condition, pre-existing conflicting loyalty condition). As predicted, compared to (a) working alone, aggregation (b) resulted in free-riding, which was reversed by merely invoking (c) a social (faculty) identity, but then reappeared under (d) an out-group condition. Tentative though the current data may be, “flip-over” effects like these may depend on a worker's pluralistic mix of individualistic and collectivistic repertoires. To the extent that such pluralism is found throughout Australia and elsewhere in the South Pacific (Taylor & S. Yavalanavanua, 1997), our findings may apply to ‘thinking through’ workplace team development elsewhere in the region.
Perceptions and Consequences of Social Change Among Elderly Japanese-American Workers in a Hawaii Plantation Community: A Case Example of Industrial Withdrawal
Authors: Kameoka Velma A. , Marsella Anthony J.
Published: August 2016

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions and consequences associated with the closing of a sugar plantation company for a group of Japanese American plantation workers who were born and raised on the plantation. These workers were the children of Japanese immigrants who had come to Hawaii at the turn of century to plant and harvest sugar. The participants were thirty nisei (second generation) Japanese-American male residents of a rural plantation community in Hawaii. Using the techniques of participant observation, interviewing, and record research, the study explored the worker's (1) perceptions of change, (2) evaluations of perceived change, (3) stresses resulting from change, (4) coping strategies, and (5) future expectations. These subjective dimensions of change were examined across eight major areas of community life (i.e., employment, housing, community relations, community services, family life, education, physical environment, and crime). The data were analyzed to determine perceptions, evaluations, and stresses resulting from community change and to identify strategies used to cope with community change. The impact of change on resident attitudes and lifestyle patterns are discussed and summarized under three major themes: (1) communal versus individualistic lifestyles, (2) association versus dissociation of employment and the community, and (3) continuity versus discontinuity of life in the plantation.

Personal comments of workers are presented to demonstrate the utility and significance of the present research approach in assessing individual experiences in response to social changes. An understanding of the impact of change on resident attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyle patterns provides the basis for devising change programs that are sensitive to the social and psychological needs of individuals affected by the changes.
The Internet and indigenous language use: A Filipino case study
Authors: Watters Maya F. , Watters Paul A.
Published: August 2016

The Internet is a potentially non-coercive technology which has the capacity to facilitate the development and dissemination of locally-relevant and culturally-appropriate discourse. Many countries, especially those in Europe, have moved to utilise the Internet as a resource for expressing and revitalising their autochthonous languages, in response to cultural pressures from globalisation. However, there has been little evaluation of whether the Internet might give rise to a renaissance of indigenous language use in the postcolonial Asia-Pacific region. In this paper, we examine the case of the Philippines, which this year celebrates a centenary of independence from Spain, to determine whether introduction of the Internet has in fact enhanced the provision of indigenous language information services. We sampled 1% of the Internet sites listed in a popular search engine, in each second-level domain (educational, commercial, government and non-government organisations), and found very little evidence of indigenous language use in any of the sites in these categories. This suggests that the Internet has not yet realised its potential as a medium for indigenous language use in the Philippines, but that greater awareness of its capabilities in this arena might change the situation in the future.
The use of a rapid priming technique I: Adult language processing
Authors: Davis Chris , Castles Anne
Published: August 2016

This paper discusses the background and use of the masked priming procedure in adult psycholinguistic research. Using this technique, we address the issue of how precise the letter and word processing systems of adults is for rapidly displayed stimuli. Data is reviewed that suggests that, for skilled readers, the letter and word recognition system is sensitively tuned to the discrimination demands imposed on it by the properties of the written language. That is, the recognition system is able to be discriminative where precision is required, but is also able to consider and use incomplete information when this is predictive.
The Role of Criticism in the Epistemology of Habermas and Popper
Authors: Hayes Geoffrey
Published: August 2016

At the highest altitude, the issue addressed in this paper has to do with the epistemological status of criticism in Western philosophy. What type of knowledge results from criticism and what is the basis on which criticism may be judged as valid or invalid? It is arguable that criticism as a legitimate attitude toward the intellectual and aesthetic products of a society (including the social system itself) did not exist prior to ancient Greek philosophy. The pre-Socratic philosophers were possibly the first to employ criticism in something like the sense that we use this term today. It is not at all clear that traditional societies, including the remnants of traditional societies that exist today, either tolerated or encouraged criticism of their central beliefs, myths and values, and in the middle ages criticism dropped out of sight altogether, virtually until the enlightenment. Some idea of what happened to would-be critics of Christian societies in the middle-ages can be gained by observing some of the Islamic societies today with their enthusiasm for punishing heretics with death sentences.
Predicting the Peacetime Performance of Military Officers: Officer Selection in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force
Authors: Bau Louis P. , Dyck Murray J.
Published: August 2016

This article reports an evaluation of the officer selection procedures of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force based on the performance of 195 officers. Results indicate that a linear combination of selection variables, including psychometric measures, academic achievement, interview impressions, and hands-on performance tests, was not predictably related to the criterion measure of officer performance. Post-hoc validation checks suggest that only one of the psychometric tests used in selection meets basic construct validation criteria and that the criterion measure of officer performance is unreliable. No evidence was found to support the predictive validity of selection procedures.
Philosophy for Children in Remote Aboriginal Classrooms
Authors: Laird Robert
Published: August 2016

The Philosophy for Children programme was developed during the 1970s and 1980s to address the low level of thinking skills exhibited by university and high school students in the United States. A programme of studies in philosophy for children from grade one upwards was based on eight novels with accompanying instructional manuals to assist the teacher in extracting the philosophical issues from the novels as children choose them. This programme is relevant and appropriate for use as part of the English curriculum in a remote Aboriginal school in Australia: whether the school has a bilingual or bicultural program in place or not, Philosophy for Children is fitting as it makes thinking skills explicit. Basing it on a concept of a community of inquiry is very supportive to people from a non-English speaking background. The programme of Philosophy for Children brings in subjects from all curriculum areas, thus encouraging the recently supported integrated approach, but is particularly useful for language learning and understanding.
Absenteeism and the Aboriginal Child
Authors: Peacock Lyn
Published: August 2016

This paper is written with the intention of educating those Teachers who may at some stage of their career come into contact with Aboriginal children and their unique and complex learning style, as Sherwood (1982, p.41) states, “most student teachers, as well as practising teachers have no real preparation for teaching Aboriginal pupils or for teaching about Aboriginal Australians”.
“A Pussy Cat has Three Whiskers”
Authors: Dywer John
Published: August 2016

I had been telling a group of Aboriginal mothers about some of the things that we had learned about how their children talk. The discussion had become quite animated as they recognised elements of their own speech in the examples I was giving. It was obvious that they were pleased that I regarded their way of talking as worthy of study and as something to be valued.
Why not Try Positive Discrimination?
Authors: Goves-Jacka R.
Published: August 2016

Education systems are devised by the members of a society to perpetuate the values, customs and beliefs of that culture. Therefore, in a multicultural society, any child from a minority cultural group who is educated in the educational system of the majority cultural group as, for example, most Aboriginal students, must be at a disadvantage.
Hardship's Road in a White World
Authors: Coutts Di
Published: August 2016

National Aborigines Week begins on July 5, and with it, a major campaign to force politicians and Australian educators to reverse the disturbing pattern of failure at all levels of Aboriginal education.
Why is Life so Hard for Aboriginal Students in Urban Classrooms?
Authors: Malin Merridy
Published: August 2016

This paper is a report on a recent study of urban Aboriginal children at home and at school, in Adelaide It will mostly describe the situation for just three of the students in one reception/Year one classroom, as they are representative of many Aboriginal students in the other classroom which was closely studied, and in classroom whose teachers I interviewed, or who were observed by me. In other words, the situation that I am describing for Naomi, Jason and Terry is, I believe, similar to the situation for many young Aboriginal students in urban classrooms in South Australia. Naomi, Jason and Terry were three physically attractive, energetic, bright and curious five year olds. Outside the classroom they were articulate and confident but inside the classroom, by the end of the year, they were in the lowest academic group for their age, considered troublesome by their teacher, and were largely ostracised by their non-Aboriginal peers.
Aborigines and Their Central Schools: Part II - The Teachers’ Perceptions
Authors: Hill Bob
Published: August 2016

Part I of this article outlined the findings of a 1987 study of attitudes of Aboriginal students in 19 New South Wales Central Schools. It showed that, despite higher attrition rates, Aboriginal children seemed to be as favourably disposed towards
their schools as were their non-Aboriginal peers.

Part II, drawing from the same Central Schools study, compares the perceptions of teachers in these Central Schools according to whether the schools were ‘predominantly Aboriginal’, ‘significantly Aboriginal’ or ‘non-Aboriginal’.
Effective Teaching Strategies in Isolated Aboriginal Communities: Some Issues to Consider
Authors: Higgins Ross
Published: August 2016

The factors that influence the learning and processing of information in any "normal" teaching environment are many but in comparison to the environment where cultural variables are added the "normal" teaching environment appears to lack complexity. Added to cultural variables an environment where the language being used in learning experiences is, if not a totally different language to the first language learnt by the child, certainly a differing form of their first language; then you have a truly complex environment in which to guide the learning and processing of information. Such a description fits the Aboriginal Community schools in the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York regions of Queensland. In particular, I intend to focus on Doomadgee State School, arguably the most isolated of community schools, where in my position as Curriculum Master I have seen the conflict of culture, language and curriculum first hand. It is the intention of this paper to examine how and why this conflict affects student performance and to focus on methods by which this conflict can be minimised.
Language, Cultural Identity and Empowerment in the Dominant Culture
Authors: Phillips Virginia
Published: August 2016

Lack of a common means of verbal or written communication always creates problems of interpersonal communication and gives rise to misunderstandings and (possibly) prejudice against one or other party. On the surface, there would seem to be a good deal of merit in the suggestion that “if everyone spoke the same language, all these problems would disappear”. However, the matter is not as simple as it seems, for questions must be asked as to what language should be chosen, the dialect of it, and to what extent cultural factors, deeply related to the true understanding of how thought is expressed within a language, need to be addressed. In Australia, most reasonably well education Anglo-Celtic Australians asked these questions would immediately think of Standard Australian English (SAE), though working-class and indigenous Australians may consider it too “posh” and out of touch with their lifestyles. Few from the dominant group, however, would be even remotely aware of the degree to which cultural factors influence how thought is expressed in a language (as already mentioned), and how this influences the spoken language and, more particularly, the written language in a literate society.
Can We Count On Maths?
Authors: Graham B.
Published: August 2016

Would you like a hot dog? The Aboriginal man, who was on his first visit to a city and to whom the question was addressed, looked amazed and then responded, “Can I come and have a look?”. He soon discovered that ‘hot dogs’ were not what his grasp of English and the mental picture it had conjured up – of a cooked canine – had led him to believe. A rather relieved young man enjoyed his first ‘hot dog’. An amusing incident at the time, but how often do the words used in Aboriginal schools – particularly in maths lessons – evoke mental pictures or concepts that differ markedly from those of children who grow up speaking English and with a conceptual view of the world related to the western system of knowledge? What is perhaps even more alarming is that teachers are often unaware that this is happening, and when the child fails to act intelligently in certain situations the teacher often despairs and then gives up trying to teach maths effectively and concentrates on teaching ‘sums’, at which Aboriginal children, with their strong aural and visual memories, gain some measure of success. But such an approach, though measurable in school, fails to equip a child to operate mathematically in the real world where, for example, we meet our subtraction operations not clothed in the language of ‘take away’ and certainly never ‘minus’ but in comments like: “Red Cravats scored 32 and Waratahs finished 6 goals behind them,” or “Nhulunbuy are at the top of the ladder with 34 points and Yirrkala are second with 29”.
Systemic Bias in Education
Authors: Eckermann A.K.
Published: August 2016

Since the early 1970s there have been many positive developments in the education of Aboriginal Australian children as well as education about Aboriginal society, past and present, for all children. We only have to look at such developments as Aboriginal Secondary Grants, Study Grants, home-school liaison, language programs, (e.g. Van Leer or the bilingual programs), family support/counselling (e.g. the Inala Family Project), Aboriginal Education Consultative groups at local, regional, state and national levels. The list of positive developments appears to be endless. Certainly teachers, schools and State Departments of Education have consulted with Aboriginal groups to develop policy statements about Aboriginal Education/Aboriginal Studies in schools. Money has been spent on employing (and sometimes training) Aboriginal teaching assistants; Aboriginal schools have received some support and in areas such as the Northern Territory and Northern Queensland, efforts are underway to decentralise education.

In a very real sense giant steps appear to have been made in Aboriginal education over the past ten years or so. If we are really honest, however, the results of these giant steps remain comparatively disappointing. Thus, although we know that Aboriginal children stay at schools for longer now than they did during the 1960s, the proportion who actually complete senior high school at a satisfactory level is small. For example, in the North West Region of New South Wales, only 11 Aboriginal students were enrolled in Year 12 at the beginning of 1981. See Table 1 for further information.

In that same year, 224 Aboriginal students entered high school throughout the region. If the 1981 patterns of enrolment for Year 12 persist, then only 5% of the 224 children who started high school will actually complete the program. These figures are not encouraging, particularly as non-Aboriginal students’ enrolment patterns indicate that 29% of those who begin high school actually make it to Year 12.
Special Needs of Aboriginals in the Teaching of Reading
Authors: McEvoy Kathy
Published: August 2016

Success in teaching reading does not depend simply on materials and schemes. Locked into our own cultural norms as we are, we may overlook other fundamental influences.

The reason why some children take longer to talk to you is because they want to know you properly before they start talking. I know white people talk a lot to each other before they know each other properly.

(Ungunmerr 1976, p.4)
What is a Part Aborigine?
Authors: Christie M.J.
Published: August 2016

There can be no ethnic group in Australia that displays as much diversity as the Australian Aborigines. Their lifestyles range from hunting and gathering in the most remote corners of Australia, through a more settled existence in outback country towns and on the fringes of towns and cities, to an ongoing struggle to survive in the hearts of Australia’s biggest cities. What is it that unites all Aboriginal people regardless of where they live? Many people, white Australians especially, seem to think that it is the racial characteristics, skin colour and “blood”, which makes an Aborigine. To these people, the darker a person’s skin is, the more Aboriginal they are. When this sort of thinking predominates, as it so often does, many Aboriginal people start finding themselves robbed of their Aboriginality. People tell them that they are only half or a quarter Aborigine, or a “part Aborigine”.
Resource People in the Classroom
Authors: Shelley R.
Published: August 2016

Some members of the Central Queensland Aboriginal Corporation for Cultural Activities recently attended an in-service seminar. The focus of the seminar was on the teaching of Aboriginal students. The group identified a number of concerns relating to the participation of resource people in the classroom. These matters are given wider circulation in the interests of making more effective use of the valuable expertise which is available in the Aboriginal community.

Perhaps the key concept amongst the list of concerns is that of empathy with the Aboriginal visitors to the classroom. A clear understanding of the skills, life experience and the guest speakers preferred means of relating to children will help to ensure a productive and satisfying outcome both for the speaker and the students.
Balanda Education a Mixed Blessing for Aborigines
Authors: Lanhupuy W.
Published: August 2016

It is important that we all recognise the historic significance of the occasion we have just witnessed. That is the presentation of university degrees to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. And also the fact that traditional Aboriginal people have received university degrees.
Teaching English to Kriol Speakers – Where on Earth Do I Start?
Authors: Hudson Joyce , Taylor Anthea
Published: August 2016

Background Discussion

Readiness programmes are of little or no value. The door to reading for any [sic] beginning reader is his own language, used to express his own experiences.

(Sloan and Latham, 1981)

It is an irrefutable fact that most Aboriginal children are under-achieving scholastically. It is also fairly obvious that a contributing factor in this under achievement is poor literacy skills which can hold children back in most areas of school performance.

Many different reading schemes and approaches have been tried, including Bridging and Headstart programs, which have met with very little success in the long term. As a result it is all too easy for educators to fall back on the deficiency model and blame the child and the home. This is neither profitable nor an adequate explanation for the under-achievement of Aboriginal students.
A Conflict of Cultures
Authors: Topping Bob
Published: August 2016

Torres Strait Islanders are frequently characterised by other Australians as caught between two cultures. Evidence and speculation that the majority of Torres Strait Islanders have neither ‘made it’ in the white mainstream world nor live exactly and traditionally as their ancestors did, sometimes lead to the glib perceptions that Islander people are members of neither world and are caught somewhere between the two.

Implicit in this line of reasoning is the perception that the identity of Torres Strait Islanders in the contemporary world is an ‘either/or’ proposition - either Islanders must, in order to remain Islanders, remain totally traditional or they must, in order to survive at all, become totally assimilated into the dominant society. This erroneous and simplistic view of the choices open to Islander people ignores the value of the school in providing a cultural synthesis rather than a cultural replacement.