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This paper forwards the notion that languages are an important resource for sustainable development for modern societies. Informed by theories from both sociolinguistics and language economics on the value of language skills, it is suggested that language(s) have different kinds of value in multilingual societies. Sociolinguists often emphasize the value languages have to their speakers and highlight the importance of social justice and equality between languages. Language economists argue that proficiencies in languages other than the dominant language are a form of human capital that can have a range of direct or indirect benefits. In language economics this is captured by the concepts of non-market and market value. Based on the example of the situation of languages in Australia, this paper argues that migration-induced multilingualism deserves more substantial support from both perspectives. Employing a theory-generating approach, this paper argues that multilingualism forms an important addition to Australia's human capital. For sustainable development, both on economic and social levels, it appears necessary to maintain and support languages in order to enable the country to cater for present and future linguistic needs. These linguistic needs include job market demands, but extend to other aspects of social participation and cohesion.

Purpose: This paper explores the economic and social effects of human capital investment in the 20th century. As well as drawing on census data and statistical yearbooks in Australia and Aoteoroa/New Zealand, the paper develops its argument by an intersection of scholarly work in sociology, economics and the history of education to consider the effects of increased human capital investment on economic growth but also on the experiences of childhood, work discipline and the present climate crisis. Design/methodology/approach: This paper considers the implications of what economic historian Claudia Goldin has described as the "human capital century" for the history of school and university education. By reconsidering education in the settler colonies, especially Australia and Aoteoroa/New Zealand, as "stimulus", this helps explain key aspects of contemporary human capital investment, which the paper argues should be understood as constituted by children's and young people's free labour at school, university and across the economy. Findings: This research argues that children's and young people's free labour, performed in educational institutions, constitutes a large portion of Australia and Aoteoroa/New Zealand's national investment in human capital. At key points, this investment has acted as an economic stimulus, promoting surges of profitability. The effects were not confined to young people. Systematised, educational expansion also became the foundation of environmental degradation, labour market exploitation and a relentless increase in service-sector productivity that is worn on professional bodies. Productivity increases have been associated with reduced professional autonomy as a managerial class coerced professionals into working harder, though often under the guise of working "smarter" -- a fiction that encouraged or coerced even greater personal investment in collective human capital. This investment of personal time, effort and selfhood by children and the professionals they grew into can thus be seen, in Marxian terms, as a crucial vector of capitalist exploitation in the 20th century. Practical implications: The paper concludes by suggesting that a reduction of managerial influence in educational settings would improve learner and professional autonomy with improved labour and environmental conditions. Originality/value: The paper makes a unique contribution to the history of education by exploring education as stimulus as a key component of education's role in 20th and 21st century capitalism. It interrogates exploitative aspects of human capital investment, especially in the midst of environmental catastrophe and the recent COVID crisis.

In the 1960s and 1970s, mass campaigns were the dominant model of adult literacy provision, especially in countries of the Global South. After a long absence, there is now a revival of international interest in this model. This paper looks back on the earlier history of mass campaigns and the geopolitical reasons for their rejection, to help make sense of the problems encountered by more recent attempts to mount literacy campaigns in Timor-Leste and Australia. This analysis problematizes the concept of innovation, by identifying its association with a neo-liberal ideology of economic development which continues to produce adult literacy policy and programs which are ineffective at a national or global level.

This paper speculates as to the material consequences of the ecological crisis for the current objectives of the education system in the State of Victoria. Drawing upon new materialist thought, it presents a post-qualitative inquiry into the lead author's experiences as an educator during a 2014 fire event in the Latrobe Valley region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, known as the Hazelwood Coal Mine Fire. By engaging in thinking without method it unfolds an argument that a political preference for certain theories has resulted in economic growth becoming a key objective of Victoria's education system. It explores alternative theoretical perspectives, including the theory that there are limits to growth. This theoretical shift implies that any meaningful response to the ecological crisis will require a transition to a post-growth society. The paper considers the implication of this alternative theory for the current objectives of the education system in the State of Victoria. In so doing, it considers what it might mean if we accepted our response-ability to educate for a post-growth society rather than for a society surrounded by smoke and ash.

This article discusses the importance and the implications of Australia's defense policy as described in its 2009 defense white paper, the first statement of its defense policy in nine years. The policy is important because of Australia's strategic prominence in an area that is developing rapidly and has increasing interstate conflict. The article notes that Australia and other nations in the Asia-Pacific area rely heavily on unimpeded maritime activity for their success and development. The article discusses the white paper in detail and presents information about its implications.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and determine the effectiveness of university education on the economy of various countries. Design/methodology/approach: To determine the necessity and expedience of making provision for the effectiveness of university education on the market economy, this work uses the method of regression and correlation analysis. Evaluation of effectiveness of the system of university education is performed separately for students, state, and employers by taking as example countries with specially developed formulas. Findings: The authors substantiate the necessity for provision of effectiveness of university education on the market economy, view the effective system of university education as a basis for the development of a knowledge economy, determine approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of university education on the market economy, perform evaluation of effectiveness of the system of university education by the example of various countries, determine its connection with indicators of economic growth and development, and provide recommendations for provision of effectiveness of the system of university education on modern market economies. Practical implications: The practical value of results of the conducted research consists in the possibility to use the developed formulas for determining the level of effectiveness of the system of university education on various countries of the world. Originality/value: Theoretical value of this paper consists in the possibility for the application of authors' conclusions and recommendations in the process of development of the policy of management of effectiveness of university education system.

With the renewed emphasis on higher education as an agent for development and economic growth, Australia has joined other Western countries in contributing to increasing the intellectual workforce of Africa[1]. While Australia has provided scholarships to Africans for more than three decades, since 2005, the Australian Government has dramatically increased its commitment to invest in Africa's future by providing a series of development awards scholarships for Africans to advance their learning in priority areas including agriculture, food security, water and sanitation, public health, energy and resource management. These scholarships are the largest component of Australia's total aid to Africa. However, very little empirical research has been done to determine the impact of Australia Africa Long Term scholarship awards (AALT). This paper examines this new African intellectual workforce by presenting qualitative data from alumni engaging in this new flow of knowledge mobility. Experiences of public health graduates of Australia scholarship awards from Uganda and Mozambique will be discussed. Overall, we argue that that the Australia Africa scholarships program has a positive impact on alumni and is viewed favourably by Alumnis' employers and their alumni's families. However, there are many challenges and struggles which can impede alumnis' success in bringing forth the change they might envisage. Some of these factors include: finding a job at a suitable level, implementing their new knowledge, using their new skills and, generally, reintegrating into their home country (both socially and professionally).

There are around 400,000 international students studying on Australian campuses in 2018, and the education of international students is Australia's third largest export, behind that of iron ore and coal, thereby playing a significant role in the country's economy and particularly the financial sustainability of Australian universities. Chinese international students, account for one-third in this cohort, are paradoxically both coveted as 'cash cows' and labelled as a 'security threat' to Australian society. The paper examines this particular 'Chinese Student Syndrome' through the lens of 'colonial modernity' and argues that along with the problems of Chinese firms in Australia, Chinese international students on Australian campuses, in many ways, take on the persona of China itself in Australia, and the implications associated with its global rise. At the core of this syndrome lies a deep-seated ontological framing of a historical teleology that centres the Anglo-European pathway to modernity as universal that grounds the epistemic certainty of higher education institutions in Australia and regards Chinese students as the outsider to this teleology.

This paper adds to the body of evidence demonstrating the efficacy of action learning to achieve measurable progress toward sustainability goals. It supports prior assertions that action and reflection develop the conditions of "awareness," "agency" and "association" required to develop the circular economy. The early outcomes of a Business Resource Efficiency Program delivered in Tasmania, Australia, are presented and prompt us to revisit the true place of Questioning in Revans' Learning Equation. The findings add new insights to observations on the capabilities required for radical innovation to meet the challenges of disruptive times, and compel us to question the legitimacy of higher education as the solution to the really big problems of our age.

Recent significant changes in technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data analysis have a wide impact in many areas of human societies, not least in education. Advances in efficiency of new technologies, with impacts in renewable energy and transport affected by environmental concerns and climate change mitigation, demand a reassessment and adjustment of the industrial structure of the economy. Technological advances enhancing creativity and analytical skills mean people must learn and adapt to a fast-changing economic environment. This paper presents some key changes in Australian educational areas in recent years that are important and relevant to the subject of education innovation and philosophy to achieve outcomes in training and sustainable economic development, as anticipated by the community and government. Education courses and curricula in many countries have been transformed by technological advance. It is the swift incorporation of new technologies that best prepares students for the dynamics of economic and social change. Even though technological responsiveness is not a new phenomenon, it is established that the teaching methods found to be most successful include complementary and supplemental courses producing multi-skilled and creative graduates. These courses are delivered with significant emphasis upon self-development skills and are less focused upon traditional content. A move toward horizontal focus and a student-centric balance is the current trend, displacing vertical over-specialisation of learning. Yet, the central role of educator is seen as still appropriate and necessary where the aim is to equip graduates with creative and adaptive skills.

This paper examines the promises made in education policy regarding people's future education, employment and social mobility. Specifically, the paper analyses how the term "potential" functions in education policy texts and discourses to make tacit promises at an affective level. Contemporary education policies often invoke the need to realise personal and national economic potential, and speak of the risk of "wasted potential," when justifying reform agendas directed at both increasing human capital investment and reducing educational inequity. Drawing on the work of Gilles Deleuze, the paper develops a philosophical concept of potential that provides a theoretical framework for the analysis. The aim of the paper is to analyse how the term "potential" functions in policy to: (a) couple economic and equity purposes for education; and (b) imply a relationship between talent, opportunity and aspiration, and particular a distribution of responsibility between governments and citizens for "realising potential." While primarily theoretical, the paper is informed by analyses of interview data and documents in two research projects: (1) a small pilot study of higher education equity policy in England and Australia since the mid-1990s and (2) a study of the expansion of human capital theory and large-scale educational assessments to include non-cognitive skills. The paper diagnoses the potential of "potential" as a key word in policy and raises questions about the risks of becoming invested in the promises of education to "realise potential."

This paper examines the impact of the minerals boom to date on the demand for higher education in Central Queensland, and the sustainability of higher education providers in high economic growth environments. Several datasets were used to examine changes in the demand for higher education among specific student groups within the region, the impacts upon currently enrolled students, and some of the potential consequences for regional employers and long-term regional competitiveness. It identifies challenges facing higher education providers operating in such environments and the policy implications of these challenges for government.

Global progress has arisen from scientific advances and we currently live in the age of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); science as a way of increasing the knowledge base, technology as a means of manifesting the science, engineering as a way of building and creating with it, and mathematics to devise the language we use for science to explore new realities. Strengthening science-related economies requires more students to pursue STEM subjects which means that we need to retain them early in the education pipeline in order to strengthen knowledge-based communities and nations' economic growth. In Australia, however, there is a trend of more occupations requiring STEM skills while there is a declining interest in studying STEM subjects at secondary school. The disengagement of students from STEM subjects is most notable amongst girls towards the physical sciences such as physics and mathematics. When girls are considering life pathways at high school they generally view STEM subjects as difficult, leading to career pathways that are not aligned to their interests. With the exception of biology girls do not deem STEM subjects as relevant to improving the human condition. Moreover, the STEM subjects are not viewed as interconnected and contributing to areas of knowledge that impact our lives. To increase the accessibility of STEM subjects and STEM careers to enable students and unblock the pipeline into the work sector we need to rationalise how the STEM areas work together and impacts the fabric of life beyond the knowledge silos. In addition, as educators we need to show young people how STEM skills and learnings are integrated into areas such as psychology, economics, computing, and data science. In this paper we describe how a pilot of the "Growing Tall Poppies STEM" program (GTP) has enabled female high school students and (largely) female scientists at the University of the Sunshine Coast to explore the interdigitated nature of STEM subjects and psychology to support the understanding of how STEM skills are important, relevant, and life changing. By way of background, the GTP program framework was developed to encourage secondary students, particularly girls, to choose to study STEM subjects in their final years of secondary school by demonstrating (a) the relevance of these subjects to their everyday lives, (b) that girls are capable of STEM-related academic success, (c) that STEM subjects are career-empowering, by (d) providing examples that debunk the stereotypic expectations of female students and employees. This pilot project highlighted how the STEM skills of critical thinking, problem solving, and innovation can be used "beyond" traditional STEM disciplines such as psychology. In this regard, a group of four Year 10 girls were immersed in an applied social psychology laboratory in 2016 to participate in a genuine research investigation, and students were given autonomy to contribute and take charge of their own project question. Thus the girls experienced firsthand the interdisciplinary nature of STEM disciplines, and in this way STEM learnings were related to a broader range of applications and career paths for these students. While this pilot was the first university-high school GTP collaboration, pleasingly this group of students advised that they felt inspired to continue in their study of STEM subjects on their return to school, and indicated that they were more inclined to choose STEM subjects beyond Year 10.

This paper provides an account and a critique of the rise of the contemporary policy as numbers phenomenon and considers its effects on policy and for educational research. Policy as numbers is located within the literatures on numbers in politics and the statistics/state relationship and, while recognising the longevity of the latter relationship, it is argued that the governance turn and neo-liberalism have strengthened the role of numbers in contemporary education policy. This phenomenon is situated in the contemporary "structure of feeling," which sees politics reduced to managing the everyday and the evisceration of a progressive imaginary. The paper then documents the impact within education, focusing both on the emergent global education policy field and on the national agenda in Australian schooling and the related rise of "gap talk," both globally and nationally. The paper concludes by drawing out some implications for educational research, suggesting that we as educational researchers are also being positioned by policy as numbers.

This paper presents interview data from a case study of "Lemontyne College"; a large government school situated in a "master planned community" (MPC) in Australia. The paper draws on Ball's (2003) theorising of performativity and fabrication to analyse this school's take up of the status-oriented corporate discourses of performance, competition and accountability. This theorising brings to light the ways in which the managerial processes at the school, driven by the administration's embracing of these discourses, shape Lemontyne into an auditable commodity and fabricate an identity around being "number 1". The paper highlights the lack of authenticity of this fabrication by drawing attention to its careful and deliberate construction. Our focus here is on the surveillance and accountability measures required to discipline teachers into this performative sociality and on the alternative reality articulated by teachers in terms of their resistance to this sociality. To these ends, the paper highlights how Lemontyne's embracing of performative discourses results in a de-socialisation of schooling relations. We propose that such de-socialisation compromises efforts in schools to respond productively to social change and in particular to the new equity challenges arising in contexts such as Lemontyne situated in a MPC.

Australian youth income support and educational policies have focused on increasing participation and retention in schools. The assumptions and rationales underpinning these policies assert a positive relationship between educational engagement, employment and social inclusion. This paper examines these assumptions and rationales and, drawing upon Australian and international research (particularly the UK) over the past decade, questions the efficacy of these policies in achieving their stated goals. Furthermore, the paper argues that the neo-liberal philosophical underpinnings of these policies, particularly the emphasis on responsibilisation, can undermine disadvantaged young people's engagement with school and does little to create positive pathways to employment. Moreover, it is clear that disadvantaged young people are not assisted by these policies to make empowered social transitions. (Contains 10 notes.)

Over the past four years a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners in learning research across Northern Australia have identified many of the issues that underpin the implementation of training and investment through enterprise development to improve economic and community outcomes of Indigenous partners. This paper provides an overview of a series of recent projects developed around enterprise development and training. The issues that the project teams have explored include developing industry, community and training institutional partnerships in the recognition of diverse knowledge systems within the recognition of prior learning process, the role of digital literacy's in sharing knowledge, the co-production of knowledge and work-based learning. The paper then foreshadows the future directions of this work; addressing a range of issues such as infrastructure, funding, technology and identifying relevant skills sets. Approaches to sustainable enterprise learning and production, professional development and support of successful Indigenous and non-Indigenous teachers are also discussed. Essentially the paper focuses on the ways partnerships and relationships, rather than systems, can effect change in the implementation of Vocational Education and Training (VET) system in ways that accord with the aims and realities of Indigenous people for their futures.

[ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines discourses and developments of the knowledge economy and learning society in Australia and New Zealand. It outlines the international context of the rise of the knowledge-based economy and sets the New Zealand and Australian debates against this backdrop. A current heightened emphasis on education and learning in both countries is closely aligned with the key imperatives of economic development and competitiveness. Older models of the learning society based more on cultural and humanistic aspirations remain evident and competitive with economic models. Prospects for further innovative development in education and learning across the life course, and across a broader population in democratic societies are considered. The paper concludes that notwithstanding the current influence of singularly economic discourses shaping conceptions of the learning economy and society there is no definitive or triumphant model of the learning society prevailing in Australia and New Zealand.

This paper explores the social and educational implications of the "Secondary Schools Scholarship Project" (SSSP) in which Australia gave over 1,000 adolescents from Papua New Guinea three-year scholarships to study in Australian high schools. Drawing from postcolonial theory, the paper uses concepts of ambivalence, hybridity, hegemony, contradiction, and national discourse to analyse an array of issues which would not be in the purview of dependency theory. These issues include not only the cultural "border-crossings" and tensions experienced by the Papua New Guinean scholarship winners during their Australian sojourn and return to Papua New Guinea, but also the complex ambiguities in the outcomes and implications of a foreign aid project for a decolonising country. The scholarship programme illustrates the politics of foreign aid in education, including the contradictions of receiving aid from a donor country which is garnering substantial benefits from the recipient country, and the complexity of the postcolonial challenge of utilising this aid in a way that meets national educational goals in a globalising world.

Arguing that globalization has been conceived of largely in economic terms this article examines the possibility of a global curriculum in the light of Touraine's assertion that the major global problem is not economic but social: can we live together? I argue that a global curriculum conceived in social terms is possible and that it will involve: (a) the inclusion of currently "subjugated knowledges"; (b) the ability to cross cultural boundaries within and between societies; and (c) a commitment to development as freedom. Such a curriculum would be a recognition of the need to rescue society and personality from the ravages of global markets through education.

The aim of this paper is to propose information literacy as a soft applied discipline, of key importance in the information society. This is contrasted with the characterization of information literacy as a personal attribute in the U.S. and Australian Information Literacy standards. Vannevar Bush's vision of the technologically connected and enabled scientist is used to introduce a discussion of citizen's information needs and responsibilities in an age of "cheap complex devices." The authors emphasize the key role of information literacy in this information society. Information literacy is identified as a soft applied discipline, with reference to disciplinary indicators that have been identified in the literature. Building on this concept of an information literacy discipline, the authors propose a mission for information literacy education focused around three elements: information literacy for citizenship, information literacy for economic growth, and information literacy for employability. The paper concludes by identifying that in terms of preparing citizens for managing and taking action in society, information literacy has much to contribute, and that it is vital to nurture this emergent discipline.

Understanding carbon emissions through the lens of population mobility is crucial for addressing sustainability challenges and fostering economic development. This study aims to investigate the influence of population mobility on carbon emissions in Australia, providing insights for targeted policy interventions. Utilizing panel datasets spanning from 2007 to 2020, encompassing both international and domestic migration in Australia, empirical analyses were conducted. The focus was on assessing the relationship between population mobility and regional carbon emissions. The study reveals distinct effects of domestic and international population mobility on carbon emissions. Domestic mobility demonstrates a negative correlation, whereas international mobility shows a positive association with carbon emissions. Moreover, significant regional heterogeneity in carbon emissions is observed, influenced by economic development and population size variations between eastern and western regions. These findings underscore the importance of tailored emission reduction strategies based on the nature of population mobility. By elucidating the intricate dynamics between mobility patterns and carbon emissions, this study contributes to a nuanced understanding of CO2 emission trends, informing policy decisions amidst the challenges posed by global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the lead-up to the 2007 Australian federal election, Labor candidate Kevin Rudd described climate change as the "great moral challenge of our generation". In the years since then, the heat in Australia has been rising--in terms of both temperature and climate politics--, but government action has slowed down. Endorsement of economic growth is prioritised, with only intermittent recognition of environmental costs. At grassroots level, citizens' attitudes are influenced by social norms. This kind of social learning is a major constraint on sustainability. Therefore, it seems useful to consider how educators might help build sustainable futures. To understand how historical context entangles social learning in ways that complicate policies associated with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and practices of Education for Sustainability (EfS), the author of this paper draws on the concept of "space of orientation". Focusing on adult education, she traces the contradiction between "globalisation" and "sustainability" through policy logics, relational practices in Australian adult education and the "necessary utopia" which provides a point of reference for making futures. She argues that spaces of orientation are a critical resource in this era of intensifying conflicts of interest between economic priorities of globalisation and environmental priorities intended to slow global warming, because they mediate context and orient learning in ways that clear a path towards sustainability through the entangled histories of this present.

This paper explores migrant Black African youths' experiences of looking for and finding work in Newcastle, a deindustrializing Australian city. Data for this paper were drawn from interviews conducted with young people who migrated to Australia as temporary and permanent residents. Drawing on concepts of coloniality, racialization, bodywork, and hidden labor, this paper demonstrates how, when looking for work, participants' names get attached to their racialized bodies—a situation which deems them as suitable or not for specific kinds of work. Their strategies of finding work differ according to their migration status; that is, temporary residents draw on their personal networks, whereas some permanent residents with full citizenship rights rely on social welfare support services to find work. However, irrespective of the different strategies used to find work, they all end up doing jobs that they described as "work which others do not wish to do." I argue that these experiences re‐articulate the coloniality of labor because, as workers in these jobs, they play a crucial role in the economic transformation taking place in the city due to deindustrialization. This is not merely because they form part of the workforce responsible for working in unwanted jobs, but because they are also consumers of Newcastle's emerging welfare support and educational services sectors. The paper contributes to an understanding of how race shapes the labor market experiences of racialized youth in deindustrializing labor markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the Australian government (Commonwealth of Australia) produced a White Paper on the need to realise the full potential of northern Australia and for that region to become an economic powerhouse within Australia. The White Paper explicitly states that the government is not declaring the north a Special Economic Zone where tax concessions are provided to businesses to reside and operate in the region. This paper will examine the current government's approach to developing the north and in particular the approach to attracting economic activity and foreign investment. This paper will focus on the current tax benefits for those living and working in the north, such as zone rebates, and in particular on what more that could be done by the Australian, state and territory governments to encourage economic activity. The paper will also examine the tax concessions that existed in the past such as an exemption for income tax pursuant to the now repealed s 23(m) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) for companies resident in the Northern Territory prior to 1947, and the Darwin Trade Development Zone that was abolished in 2003. The paper will then assess the merits of offering tax benefits in the form of tax credits for businesses operating in the north and greater tax deductions. The paper will explore the merits of a Special Economic Zone for the north as well as tax benefits that could be offered by the states of Queensland and Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The paper will also provide recommendations for a range of tax benefits that could be offered by the various governments to businesses and individuals in order to assist in developing the north. If not, the north may fail to fulfil its true potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the approaches to poverty elimination adopted by the UK government White Paper on international development and the Australian government's review of its overseas aid programme (Ausaid Review). Both documents adopt sustainable poverty reduction/elimination as the key policy leitmotiv of overseas aid policy. However, a difference of approach is in evidence. The UK White Paper ventriloquizes the DAC and World Summit social policy targets and ambitiously elevates its own departmental policy and values to that of government policy overall--though without specifying the instruments by which this consistency can be assured. The silence on the resource implications of the overriding objective of poverty elimination, in terms of budgetary provision, could create a credibility gap between intentions and programme implementation. The Ausaid Review, on the other hand, hones its cutting edge on the complex, often self-serving array of development programmes that are often lacking in focus and harboured from external scrutiny by an overprotective bureaucracy. The Review suggests the adoption of a single value statement of 'poverty reduction through sustainable development' by which all programmes should be judged. The predominantly Australian-based tertiary education scholarship programme is criticized for pandering to domestic educational constituencies and reflecting a weak linkage to poverty reduction. However, in the final analysis the narrow geographical focus of the programme, the privileged status of PNG and the level of tied aid remain substantially intact--despite serious question marks over their poverty content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indo-Pacific region is believed to be of immense strategic significance given the dynamism of the region in propelling economic growth and cooperation between nations. However, the region has attracted significant attention from major powers and is being reimagined as a contested geo-political space. The emergence of the term has led to a restructuring of the popular perception in which the world has traditionally and strategically perceived this geographical area. This paper delves into the manner in which the India and Australia as important actors in the region conceptualize the 'Indo-Pacific' and how it has shaped India-Australia relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Temporary labour mobility programmes (TLMPs) are initiated by high-income nations to fill their labour demands by offering temporary work opportunities to migrants from low-income nations. TLMPs also seek to contribute to economic development in workers' home countries. This paper aims to assess the accountability of New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme and Australia's Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) in reaching their economic development objectives in one sending nation, Samoa. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative study with RSE and SWP workers and key informants (collectively stakeholders) in Samoa was undertaken to assess the contributions of these schemes to economic development. An interdisciplinary research approach was taken using the Pacific methodology of talanoa. Talanoa was used to "operationalise engagement" and empower local stakeholder accounts. Findings: Talanoa supported the elicitation of accounts that contributed nuanced insights into the accountability of TLMPs. Specifically, stakeholder accounts revealed limitations in the ability of the RSE Scheme and SWP to meet their economic development objectives for Samoan communities and workers. Adjustments are necessary to meet Pacific nations' economic development objectives. Practical implications: This study responds to calls for on-the-ground accounts of stakeholders involved in TLMPs. It provides insights that may contribute to the development of more effective TLMPs, particularly regarding economic development in workers' home countries. Originality/value: Drawing on dialogic accounting literature, which calls for engagement with the marginalised, a talanoa approach has been engaged to assess TLMPs via on-the-ground participant accounts in a specific context. This paper introduces talanoa to the critical and social accounting literature, to move beyond a typical accounting qualitative interview process and encourage greater engagement and collaboration with Pacific scholars and partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Government's White Paper ' Australia in the Asian Century' is the first large-scale official look in the twenty-first century at economic change in Asia and how it affects Australian opportunities and challenges. This paper comments on the analysis embodied in and the objectives defined by the White Paper, especially as it relates to Australian resources. This paper generally endorses the aspirations of the White Paper and notes that their achievement is going to require efforts and changes beyond those that are currently contemplated. It comments briefly on six things: the development context of twenty-first century Asian growth; growth and structural change in Asia and Australia's terms of trade; macroeconomic management of a resource-intensive Australian economy; restoring productivity growth; excellence in education; and linking Australia to Asian opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvey Graff in his 1979 study of literacy taught in common schools in mid-nineteenth century Canada, demonstrated that beliefs in the acquisition of literacy for upward mobility and economic success were a myth. Moreover, literacy instruction was promoted by educational reformers and manufacturers as a means of controlling the working class masses and instilling in them the traits, including thrift, order, and punctuality required for employment in factories. In this paper, we consider how this thesis can be adapted to describe contemporary national adult literacy policy discourse in Australia. The main drivers of Australia's national policy are peak industry associations and skills agencies, and the human capital rationale for their promotion of literacy is derived largely from the powerful influence of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). We critique this discourse on literacy through reference to studies which conceptualise literacy as social practices, including one recent Australian study of three manufacturing companies. We reinforce the claim that the literacy myth in relation to economic development continues in contemporary adult literacy policy, and we explain how the social control function of adult literacy education continues in the interests of industry elites and the capitalist relations of production.

Data show that educated workers earn higher wages and are unemployed less often. Some researchers believe that education improves a worker's productivity (or "human capital"), making them more desirable on the job market, while others believe that it improves a worker's network (or "social capital"), giving them more information about lucrative openings and more resources to secure a job (such as references from peers). Much of the research on human and social capital focuses on quantifying the various impacts of schooling on workers and often overlooks how economic systems actually manage to produce those outcomes. This paper develops an agent-based complex adaptive system featuring formal schooling and on-the-job training, social networks, labour market search and durable employment contracts to explain the process linking education to labour market outcomes and economic performance in New Zealand (and similar economies). Sample simulations show that human capital accumulation explains many of the novel facts seen in the data, while social capital alone is not enough.

Lack of equitable access at the higher levels of university is detrimental to individuals and more broadly to economic productivity and social cohesion. This paper considers the nature and extent of under-representation in postgraduate and higher degree study and proposes responses at both the institutional and policy levels. Particular focus is given to low socio-economic and regional students within the Australian context. Major causes of postgraduate inequity include the pipeline effect, which is fuelled by institutional stratification and low levels of institutional mobility. Moreover, the influence of financial barriers and limited cultural capital does not "wash out" during undergraduate study. Proposed institutional strategies include redirecting a proportion of equity scholarships to postgraduates, giving consideration to need in the allocation of postgraduate scholarships, and offering funded postgraduate places to selected disadvantaged students. At a policy level, suggestions include government targets for postgraduate participation, undergraduate debt remission, and increased postgraduate Commonwealth-supported places.

Governments in advanced liberal democracies have assigned Vocational Education and Training (VET) a critical role in preparing a productive workforce for the broader economy. This linkage opens the way to use economic theories to expand the understanding of VET. Noted economic theorists have described the use of one economic reductionist technique as "dualism". Dualism identifies two mutually exclusive categories and is commonly used to reduce complex economic realities into scenarios more amenable to theorisation and computation. This paper examines the continued relevance of this work for the second decade of the 21st century by examining how VET is problematised. The use of dualism to control and limit the discourses in VET, expressed in dichotomies such as competent vs. not competent, skilled vs. unskilled and advantaged vs. disadvantaged, will be linked to how the apparatus for government intervention in training demonstrates remarkable longevity and thrives upon reductionist conceptions of groups of individuals. It is proposed that the limited range of government responses facilitates dualistic problematisation in VET by creating sub-populations, in this case trainees, who are viewed as other than normal and require intervention. This Australian case study will also demonstrate the adaptability and enduring nature of a governmental training apparatus in the face of varying problem populations that are defined by dualistic thinking.

Many developed countries have issues with the movement of populations away from rural areas. There has been an active move towards "value adding" in rural areas, and in particular, the development of tourism activities, to counter this trend. The purpose of this paper is to document the curriculum development process that was engaged in, in the design, delivery and outcomes of a programme designed to encourage and equip rural entrepreneurs to extend into the tourism and hospitality industries. These entrepreneurs operate in Hedmark Region of Norway and the training took place in Brisbane, Australia. The development and delivery of the training programme took place in Norway and Australia. The methodology is qualitative and it is hoped the research will lead to a longitudinal study of the impact of lifestyle entrepreneurs on local economic development in rural areas. The action research process that was engaged in means that the entrepreneurs are active participants in the research, and the quality of their feedback and willingness to discuss their changed behaviour are critical to both evaluating the impact of the programme and the potential for further study on the economic impact of their activities. The development process and the nature of the curriculum used for these entrepreneurs may well provide insights into effective training for lifestyle entrepreneurs in other contexts. The participants were asked to evaluate the programme immediately on its conclusion and six months after the programme when they were interviewed in their place of operation.

This paper provides a contextualised and critical policy analysis of the Rudd government's national schooling agenda in Australia. The specific focus is on the introduction of national literacy and numeracy testing and the recent creation by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority of the website "My School", which lists the results of these tests for all Australian schools, including school performance against averages and against the performance of 60 other socio-economically "like-schools" across the nation. It is argued that we are seeing the emergence of a national system of schooling (including national curriculum) as part of the reconstitution of the nation in the face of globalization and related economisation of education policy. This is the case despite Australia's federal political structure with the States holding the ostensible Constitutional responsibility for schooling. The analysis locates these and associated developments (a national schooling policy ensemble) within considerations of new accountabilities, the restructured state, neo-liberalism, globalized education policy discourses and policy borrowing and learning. The analysis also suggests that, despite the Prime Minister's swingeing critique of neo-liberalism in the context of the global financial crisis and enhanced state intervention in the economy, this national schooling agenda (the government's so-called "education revolution"), is a hybrid mix of the neo-liberal with social democratic aspirations to do with social justice and schooling. (Contains 5 notes.)

Our paper contributes to explore differences in high-education systems, and to highlight the role of competition among tertiary education providers and more generally of tertiary education systems viewed from a general equilibrium perspective to explain changes in returns to skill, wage inequalities and output. An objective function is introduced for universities who seek to maximize their reputations and face a trade-off between research and teaching activities. We propose an explanation to the stratification of higher education providers engaged in a competition process, which preserves the positive competitive effect of admission requirement, both on the size of the students' body and on the quality of the research. We show that competition among higher education providers may have strong benefits on economic activities and output in particular. (Contains 2 tables, 3 figures and 18 notes.)

There is increasing pressure for university researchers to secure "end-user" support for their research projects. Yet the ways in which this imperative affects humanities researchers, operating in a science-centric funding environment, have not yet been fully explored. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study into the experiences of humanities researchers in securing competitive national funding for research involving collaborations with the private and public sector. It also provides quantitative data as to the funding behaviour of one of Australia's peak research funding bodies, the Australian Research Council (ARC). The findings clearly show that humanities researchers struggle to secure support for their research. There is also evidence to suggest that, despite rhetorical support from the ARC that it values research which provides cultural benefit, it too particularly prioritises research that promises economic advantages for both the project's partners and wider community.

While higher education is regarded a high priority for economic development in many countries, public budgets often fall short to support desired levels of expansion in higher education. This leads to cost-sharing: students and their families are required to contribute more to the costs of higher education. This paper explores worldwide trends to cope with this issue based on the following questions: Is it fair to ask for larger contributions from students? What are the global patterns and forms of higher private shares in the costs of higher education? And what is the impact of cost-sharing on higher education access and equity? (Contains 4 tables and 2 footnotes.)

Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton have both used the terms "co-dependency" and "rescuing" as part of their challenge to the rights-based focus informing Indigenous policies in Australia since the 1960s. Their premise is that the liberal/Left welfare-based agenda, for decades, has largely overlooked Indigenous responsibility. At the same time, they recognise that policy frameworks strongly influence agency and individual responsibility. I examine the implications of this argument within the tertiary education environment, using systems theory to foreground the complexity of individual change within well-established social patterns. This paper reflects on how my thinking and pedagogy have generally been based on a "moral vanity" that, at times, has sanctioned shallow and passive learning experiences that have failed to challenge student achievement.

Dr Fritz Duras was the first director of a department of physical education in an Australian university. He had a significant influence on the development of the field of physical education in Australia and his legacy is honoured at each biennial ACHPER conference with the Fritz Duras memorial lecture. Recently, the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne also decided to honour his contribution to physical education and introduced a Fritz Duras Lecture as part of the Dean's lecture series. This paper is a version of the inaugural lecture delivered in September, 2008. (Contains 1 footnote.)

In recent years, the debate over reform to national vocational education and training systems has shifted from a focus on the supply-side of VET--qualifications structures, national training schemes and institutional structures--to demand for training by industry and the role of employers in increasing the skills levels of the workforce. Yet, enhancing employer demands for training has proved to be a perennial problem for governments of all political complexions in the developed world. Approaches to securing enterprise investment in training by governments form a continuum from low-level intervention to compulsion and regulation, and range from approaches which attempt to secure voluntary commitment through to legislating enterprise expenditure on training. Voluntary commitment is often seen as the most desirable and self-sustaining approach, but is difficult to secure from enterprises. As a result, governments have often experimented with policies of compulsion to make employers invest in training such as training levies. However, decisions about expenditure on training ultimately depend on individual employer's interests, values and commitments. Improving and enhancing employers' perceptions of the value of training are vital to increasing the levels of expenditure. This paper discusses the range of government approaches to encouraging employers to invest in training and development that are to be found in the developed world. It argues that compulsory employer levies are rarely successful and that increasing the level of investment in training by employers is more likely to be achieved through more subtle policy mechanisms. (Contains 1 table.)

In the first half of this paper we develop a perspective on the role of "boldness" in explaining gender differences in thinking and attitudes. We apply this analysis to evidence from Australia, the USA and the UK in relation to economics at school and university levels. In the second half we present the results of a study of over 1000 15-17-year-olds in UK secondary schools. On the basis of the gender differences revealed in these data and our preceding analysis we offer some implications for learning and teaching.

Late in 1996, Kalgoorlie College and the Western Australian School of Mines in Western Australia were merged to form an expanded campus of Curtin University, based in the state capital city of Perth. This paper uses a frame analytical approach to examining how differing and competing interpretations and commitments affected how the merger was played out. Three important frames, each of which had a major influence on the merger for periods of time are identified: one that emphasised regional social and economic development, another centred on education for industry and a third based on economic rationalism. This analysis connects changes in the direction of the merger to shifts in the way the merger was framed.

Maintains that economic geography is alive and well. Describes some of the challenges facing research in economic geography and highlights the changing approaches being applied to economic geography. Includes sections on structural change, economic reorganization, and internationalization of manufacturing and finances. (JDH)

Outlines and analyzes reforms in Australian education over the past two decades. Argues that these institutional reorganizations and social movements reflect the New Right's political and economic ideology of economic rationalism as reflected in a new corporate hegemony. (FMW)