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This paper reflects the collective experiences of fourteen internationally based social group work educators who met weekly and virtually for seven months during the transition to online teaching necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic. The meetings functioned as a mutual aid support group sponsored by the International Association of Social Work with Groups (IASWG). The paper discusses the group's perceptions of the essential components of effective online group work education. It begins with a review of the history of online social work education. It then outlines the key components instrumental in the planning and developing of engaged online group work classes. Topics include pre-course preparation, norm setting, and building community in the online classroom. Considerations related to the video conferencing platforms, course formats, activities, managing online fatigue, screen sharing, handling chat features, cameras, and break out rooms are interspersed throughout. The paper concludes with a discussion of the use of mutual aid groups as online teaching tools and highlights the online group work teaching experiences of two members in New Zealand and Namibia. Despite initial hesitancy to teach group work virtually, the authors recognize that this can be done effectively but requires additional planning and, ideally, peer and institutional support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexuality education is a compulsory part of The New Zealand Curriculum for state-funded schools. In 2015, the Ministry of Education has published an updated revision of their official guidelines for schools on the teaching of sexuality education. This paper employs Foucauldian discourse analysis to argue that this policy document, Sexuality Education: A Guide for Principals, Boards of Trustees, and Teachers, reflects and reproduces particular ways of knowing which constrain possibilities for socially just sexuality education. These discourses include the adoption of an intellectual approach to teaching sexuality, the mandate to measure learning objectives, and a narrow emphasis on positive sexuality. Intentions for the curriculum to deliver a holistic, socio-ecological vision of sexual health as well as one which embeds Māori values are undermined by dominant understandings of individual action which shape approaches to both sexuality and pedagogy. Furthermore, the liberal recognition of cultural, ethnic, sexual and gender diversity in the curriculum unintentionally reinscribes an unmarked white, secular, heterosexuality as the norm. This paper reflexively critiques the discursive tensions that inhibit the realisation of sexuality education in schools which meets the needs of diverse students and offers it as a possible site for social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How computers in schools impact on children's learning has been studied through research that explores student achievement at one point in time or by comparing different classroom contexts with differing results. The introduction of an optional netbook purchasing scheme for children in a low socio‐economic community provided an opportunity to compare the academic improvement for those who joined the scheme with those who did not with both groups learning within the same context with the same teachers. Using nationally calibrated assessment tools that test reading, writing, and mathematical skill progression, the student achievement data from six schools across a 2‐year period were analysed using chi‐square testing, regression analysis, propensity score matching, and cumulative logit modelling. The results identified few significant differences between the students in most aspects of achievement and no significant difference in academic improvement between the two groups. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Whole class use of netbooks can improve achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.Children in low socio‐economic contexts have limited access to the Internet or netbooks for learning. What this paper adds to this: The use of netbooks alone has an insignificant effect on achievement in standardized assessments.Academic progress of children in the same context is similar whether using netbooks or not. Implication of study findings for practitioners: Introduction of netbook schemes should enable all students to have dedicated access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the impact and cost associated with mental illness. Methods: A rapid review of the literature from Australia, New Zealand, UK and Canada was undertaken. The review included literature pertaining to the cost-of-illness and impact of mental illness as well as any modelling studies. Included studies were categorised according to impact on education, labour force engagement, earlier retirement or welfare dependency. The well-accepted Drummond 10-point economic appraisal checklist was used to assess the quality of the studies. Results: A total of 45 methodologically diverse studies were included. The studies highlight the significant burden mental illness places on all facets of society, including individuals, families, workplaces and the wider economy. Mental illness results in a greater chance of leaving school early, a lower probability of gaining full-time employment and a reduced quality of life. Research from Canada suggests that the total economic costs associated with mental illness will increase six-fold over the next 30 years with costs likely to exceed A$2.8 trillion (based on 2015 Australian dollars). Conclusions: Mental illness is associated with a high economic burden. Further research is required to develop a better understanding of the trajectory and burden of mental illness so that resources can be directed towards cost-effective interventions. What is known about the topic?: Although mental illness continues to be one of the leading contributors to the burden of disease, there is limited information on the economic impact that mental illness imposes on individuals, families, workplaces and the wider economy. What does this paper add?: This review provides a summary of the economic impact and cost of mental illness. The included literature highlights the significant burden mental illness places on individuals, families, workplaces, society and the economy in general. The review identified several areas for improvement. For example, only limited information is available on the impact of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, cognitive function, conduct disorder, eating disorder and psychological distress. There was also a dearth of evidence on the intangible elements of pain and suffering of people and their families with depressive disorders. More research is required to better understand the full extent of the impact of mental illness and strategies that may be implemented to minimise this harm. What are the implications for practitioners?: Knowing the current and future impact of mental illness highlights the imperative to develop an effective policy response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents small-scale research undertaken in New Zealand, through a range of formal and informal research approaches, to explore educational partnerships and the features of successful collaboration for educational leaders. It explores the perspectives of leaders across the sectors on the extent and value of their networks and collaborations, both within their own schools and centres, and between educational settings. It identifies the range of networks in which the respondents were engaged, the drivers and barriers to collaborative working, and the skills and dispositions that collaborative system leaders felt that they possessed. The research was carried out as the New Zealand government launched a policy of Communities of Learning, aimed at engaging schools to work together in ways that would improve student learning outcomes. The paper therefore offers timely insight into strategies that would support contexts for purposeful collaboration by leaders in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International debates persist about what constitutes desirable outcomes from early childhood education experiences. The New Zealand early childhood curriculum brings together academic and social-pedagogic outcomes as interdependent holistic constructs named ‘dispositions’ and ‘working theories’. These constructs are complex notions that require interpretation by researchers and teachers in order to be recognised as outcomes by those with a vested interest in children's education: parents and policy-makers. This paper engages with the construct of working theories. It explains its genesis and outlines research activity thus far. The paper draws on findings from a two-year qualitative research project exploring children's interests, inquiries and working theories. The paper analyses two vignettes of working theories into mutually constitutive components of knowledge, skills and strategies, and attitudes and expectations. It argues that deconstructing working theories into elements able to be recognised by those outside early childhood education provides a way to demystify these innovative outcomes. Such scrutiny may assist parents and policy-makers to understand ways that the learning they value is present in the early years. Further, holistic outcomes are responsive to research and scholarship on appropriate pedagogy that encourages children to develop identities as learners, identities critical to living in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aim: The Royal Australasian College of Physicians is renewing its specialty training programs and shifting towards competency- based medical education. Our aim is to improve the quality and rigor of training and graduate outcomes, and promote high standards of physician practice to serve the health of patients, families, and communities in a changing healthcare environment. Methods: We are progressing holistic change and multiple educational innovations in a complex environment. Numerous stakeholders, a disparate training landscape and a largely volunteer supervisor workforce pose challenges in supporting effective implementation. This paper describes our progress and experience with three key components of our education renewal program: curricular renewal, a new selection process and faculty development. It offers reflections on the practical challenges, lessons learned and factors critical for success. Conclusions: Our experience highlights opportunities for training organizations to maximize their influence over workplace training experiences and outcomes by taking a systems approach to the design, delivery and evaluation of the components of education renewal. We found that design, development and delivery of our multiple educational innovations have benefited from co-design approaches, progressive and concurrent development, continual exploration of new strategies, and implementation as soon as viable with a commitment to iterative improvements over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Alcohol misuse is a prevalent problem in New Zealand society, and one that exacts a considerable cost in terms of health, social cohesion, and economic productivity. Despite the burden of alcohol misuse, screening, brief assessment, and interventions for alcohol problems are frequently poorly performed within general health services. In this paper we explore the response to alcohol problems in a New Zealand emergency department and discuss difficulties encountered in improving rates of detection by emergency department personnel. We report the results of a clinical audit of alcohol screening and brief assessment and a staff education programme designed to improve practice in this area, but which met with limited success. The potential role for an advanced practice nurse providing a clinical consultation and liaison service to the emergency department staff is explored. We argue that such a role has potential to reduce the health and social costs of alcohol misuse, and to meet the national policy objective of providing a treatment response to people with alcohol-related problems in contact with health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]