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Preservice teachers undertake mandatory professional experience as part of their journey towards classroom readiness and inservice teaching. Supporting them in this process are supervisors who both guide and assess these novices. Central to this assessment are the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, which need to be rigorously applied to ensure quality teaching graduates. This article investigates the application of these Standards by the supervisors in both their formative and summative assessment. Data are derived from interviews with final year preservice teachers and supervisors in a primary teaching degree course at one Western Australian university. Findings suggest that there is scope for a more detailed and consistent application of the Standards. The paper argues for the development of a model of supervision to ensure consistent evaluations against the Standards, as recommended by the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group.

The UK government identified 'improving support within the criminal justice systems' as a priority for autistic people. There is a lack of quantitative research to enable policymakers to make evidence-based decisions on how to improve access to justice for autistic people. This study used a case-comparison design to compare the experiences of 145 autistic and 116 non-autistic adults who had been arrested at some point in their life. Autistic participants were nearly five times more likely to state that they were not given an appropriate adult even though they believed they needed one and felt less able to communicate with the police. Autistic participants felt less able to cope with stress, twice as likely to have experienced meltdowns and five times more likely to have experienced shutdowns because of their criminal justice involvement. We conclude that there are inequalities that autistic people face when navigating the criminal justice system and the degree to which they can participate effectively in the justice process. This has an impact on their mental health. Policy recommendations are discussed based on this evidence.

This paper investigates the insights that we, as parent-educators gained from our children's learning experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and how this impacted our approaches to learning and teaching. All authors are teacher education academics working at a regional Australian university. The rapid and extensive changes in our personal and professional circumstances provided an opportunity for us to critically examine the ways in which we promoted learning for our children and our students. Our reflections on these investigations form the basis of this article. To explore these issues we drew on a method involving narrative inquiry and the Indigenous concept of yarning that we call collaborative narrative inquiry and the theoretical framework of Antonovsky's salutogenic approach. Key findings of the research demonstrated tensions between the roles of parent and educator with a growing focus on the former and an increasing emphasis on health and well-being. These issues impacted the ways in which parent-educators facilitated learning for all students.

Global attention continues to focus on the quality of teaching, teacher quality, teacher education programs and the preparation of graduates who are ready to teach. This self-study research focuses on one aspect of the preparation and assessment of graduates for teaching: the marking and moderation of a Teaching Assessment Performance (TPA), a mandated assessment tool implemented in Australian universities and education institutions that is used as one key determinant to assess graduate readiness for the profession. While there is a developing field of research related to the implementation and effectiveness of TPAs, less is known about the teacher educator expertise required to mark and moderate these assessments. The purpose of this self-study, conducted at Federation University, a regional university in Australia, aimed to identify and examine teacher educator marker and moderator experience and expertise through the establishment of a professional learning community (PLC). Using audio-recorded transcripts of team meetings and teacher educator vignettes, the data were analysed using NVivo and were individually and collectively categorised and coded. Reflecting in and on our practice, we focused on critical moments, interactions, and experiences to interrogate the data. The key themes included: (1) collaboration through marking and moderation; (2) reflection through critical engagement; (3) growth as a teacher educator and (4) enactment in teacher educator practice. This self-study of practice, using a PLC, enabled us to make our often-tacit knowledge, understanding and expertise explicit, and provided frameworks and structures for enacting this new knowledge in practice.

Background: Professional development (PD) in a range of occupations has become increasingly digitised. Numerous digital courses are available, with evidence that social media, blogs and apps are increasingly being used for PD. Yet despite clear benefits, there is little robust evidence on the characteristics of digital PD that impact positively on learning and practice, particularly for physical education (PE) teachers and youth sport coaches. This paper provides new insights into the characteristics of effective PD in the context of a complex digital landscape. Purpose: While advocated as an innovative genre from which to optimise learners' proclivity for sharing, curiosity and discovery, little is known about how professional learners respond to massive open online courses (MOOCs) courses to inform their practice. The purpose of this study was to understand how participants responded to the learning design of two MOOCs (n = 13,104 from 155 countries) in the fields of physical education and youth sport coaching. Methods: Drawing from a mixed methodology, data were generated from semi-structured interviews (n = 27) and online survey methods (n = 66) with participants across both MOOCs. Findings: New data offer insights into the features of course design that practitioners found positive in promoting engagement. It was apparent in the data, for example, that four features were influential: establishing relevance, facilitating bridging, designing for personalisation, and building community. Constructed themes reflect how participants organised and negotiated MOOC experiences, and illuminate the ways in which they navigated and used course content. Evidence from this study provides insights into the ways in which digital genre for PD might be structured to facilitate engagement and presents broader challenges to the ways in which pedagogy is conceptualised and practiced online. Conclusions: The refined focus on digital genre as a form of social action in this study seeks to ensure that learners needs can be met in a complex and ever-changing PD digital landscape. In this regard, a more nuanced approach is required that helps explicate the cognitive tools that participants engage as they organise their learning experiences on digital platforms, and how this aligns with their expectations and needs of online PD.

Supervision in initial teacher education is a pivotal component of professional experience, widely considered to be the most valued aspect of preservice teacher learning. Key to these experiences is the work of the university appointed supervisors who mentor the novices during their in-classroom learning. This is a dichotomous and often under-rated role, fraught with challenges, yet remains under-theorised and under-researched. Situated in a framework of readiness for teaching, this literature review provides a synopsis of the challenges facing the provision of quality teacher education programs and the supervision of preservice teachers and details the myriad of tasks undertaken by these supervisors. The importance of research into the contribution of these experienced teachers to preservice teacher learning will be clarified, as will the need for development of a model for supervision to guide future work in this space.

The infants of women with histories of problematic alcohol and other drug use are among the most vulnerable children known to statutory child protection services, which they enter at a younger age, and in which they remain longer. The net results include overwhelmed child protection systems and the birth of subsequent children conceived to ease women's grief at the loss their infants. Without adequate and appropriate support to the mother and her family, the pattern repeats. Obstetric services have an important role to play in the assessment of risk and protective factors in the perinatal period and in determining pathways to service provision. A comprehensive assessment considers the availability and quality of informal support prior to activation of formal systems of support, both statutory, where engagement is mandated, and non‐statutory, where support is offered on a voluntary basis. This paper uses quantitative methods to explore the social networks of women with problematic substance use in the transition to motherhood and the relationship between formal and informal support systems and infant outcomes. Surveys were held with two counsellors from the Women's Alcohol and Drug Service (WADS), a specialist obstetric clinic in Melbourne, Australia, and with 18 child protection workers. In addition, the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (Norbeck, 1984; Norbeck et al., 1983) was administered with 20 participating mothers to measure levels of formal and informal support, as well as the type and quality of support available to mothers over a 12‐month period, and to consider the provision of social support against known outcomes for infants. The findings demonstrate that WADS counsellors made several referrals for most women but that there was little in the way of long‐term follow‐up by non‐statutory service providers, with most women experiencing a dramatic drop in support over the 12‐month period. Women whose main informal support was from a domestically violent partner, and those who had been in out‐of‐home care in their own childhood, were particularly vulnerable to losing the care of their infant. The role of child protection varied markedly across the 12‐month period, particularly in relation to the extent that a relationship between formal and informal systems of support for mothers and their infants could be established. Overall, the study findings demonstrate that mothers experienced diminishing formal and informal support over time and that the quality of social support available to the mother was more important in terms of outcomes for women and their infants than the quantity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Electrotherapies are commonly used to treat adult musculoskeletal pathologies. However, there is insufficient evidence supporting the use of electrotherapies for lower limb conditions in children. Currently, it is unknown how electrotherapies are used in paediatric clinical practice. This study aimed to investigate if practitioners use electrotherapy to treat children's lower limb conditions, frequency and why. Materials and methods: A custom-built online survey was disseminated via social media targeting international medical and healthcare practitioners who treat children with lower limb conditions using electrotherapy. Practitioners were asked if they did or did not use electrotherapies, and their reasons. Responses were described in frequencies and with thematic analysis. Results: There were 445 practitioners who responded. From these, 301(68%) indicated they used electrotherapy, with the most frequently used being Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (n = 110). The most common reason cited for using electrotherapy was practitioner preference due to the alleged effectiveness of the chosen modality. The remaining 144 (32%) practitioners reported not using electrotherapy, the most common reason being lack of evidence. Conclusions: We found that a majority of practitioners used electrotherapies on children. The reasons for using or not using electrotherapy were practitioner centred. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: Electrotherapy modalities are commonly used to treat musculoskeletal injuries in adults The management of children differs from adults due to physiological and psychological differences. The use of electrotherapy to treat musculoskeletal lower limb pathologies children is currently not supported by evidence, and the frequency of use of these modalities in children is not known. This study found that despite that, a majority of medical and health practitioners surveyed in this study routinely use electrotherapy to treat paediatric musculoskeletal injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the lived experiences of 20 Australian early childhood preservice teachers while on practical experience placement and examined the factors that informed their pedagogical experiences when working across both prior-to-school and school settings. Transcripts from interviews were analysed using grounded theory-informed methodology. Findings highlighted that preservice teachers' prior experiences, and their experiences during placement, shaped their perspectives and pedagogical decisions when working across the two education contexts. Findings showed a disparity between preservice teachers' practical experiences on placement in prior-to-school and school settings. Understanding the discontinuities for early childhood preservice teachers between the two education environments is instructive for theoretical knowledge, content design of tertiary degrees and the support needed for successful transference of skills and induction into early childhood teaching contexts. Close work with industry partners is needed on mentorship and explicit application of early childhood technical knowledge in differing curricula environments.

There is growing recognition of the importance of addressing the mental health needs of young people attending university. Anonymous, scalable, and evidence-based online interventions can help to reduce burden on university services and increase access to care for marginalised or disconnected students. This paper reports the participatory design methods used to develop the Uni Virtual Clinic (UVC), a comprehensive online programme that was designed to prevent and treat mental health problems and related issues in university students. Data evaluating the participatory design process is also presented. The potential for the implementation of the UVC within university-based counselling services is strong, and has potential to reduce the prevalence of mental disorders in a high-risk group of young people.

Despite high rates of mental disorders in university students, very few seek professional help. University teaching staff are well placed to connect students with mental health care. However, little is known about university staff attitudes to and knowledge about mental health problems, or whether these factors influence their experience with and assistance of students with these problems. A total of 224 teaching staff members at the Australian National University, Canberra completed an anonymous online survey via an email link (16.4% response rate from N ~ 1370). Measures included demographic and professional information, experiences with student mental health, knowledge of depression (literacy) and attitudes to depression (stigma). Strength of stigmatising attitude did not predict whether a teaching staff member would approach a student to assist with mental health problems. Teaching staff with higher levels of depression literacy (OR = 1.14, p = 0.007) were more likely to feel sufficiently informed to help students with mental health problems. Ensuring staff complete mental health literacy training and have adequate skills to respond appropriately to students with mental health problems may help in connecting young people to appropriate care in a university context.

Objective: To describe the trends in remission rates among RA patients in the OPAL dataset, spanning from 2009 to 2022, and provide insights into the effectiveness of evolving RA management approaches in real-world clinical settings. Methods: Patients with a physician diagnosis of RA and at least 3 visits between 1 January 2009 and December 2022 were identified in the OPAL dataset, an aggregated collection of data extracted from the electronic medical records of patients managed by 117 Australian rheumatologists. Demographics, disease history, prescribed medications and proportions of patients in Disease Activity Score 28-joint count C-reactive protein (DAS28CRP)) categories (remission, low disease activity (LDA), moderate disease activity (MDA) and high disease activity (HDA)) were described. Results: A large population (n = 48,388) of eligible patients with RA were identified in the OPAL dataset. A consistent and substantial improvement in DAS28CRP remission rates were found in (i) all patients, (ii) patients managed on conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARD) and (iii) patients treated with biological or targeted synthetic (b/ts)DMARD therapy, increasing from approximately 50% in 2009 to over 70% by 2022. The increase in DAS28CRP remission was accompanied by reduced proportions of patients in MDA and HDA states. Conclusion: This study highlights a consistent improvement in disease activity and rising remission rates among Australian RA patients within the OPAL dataset, offering the potential for enhanced patient outcomes and reduced disease burden. Key Points • The treat-to-target (T2T) approach, with the treatment goal of remission or, as an alternative, a state of LDA, has been widely adopted for the management of RA in Australia. • This study demonstrates an encouraging trend of improved disease activity over time, with remission rates of Australian patients with RA steadily increasing year on year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valuable social and economic contribution of financial counselors receives little public attention, as discourse related to consumer credit and debt invariably focuses on the impacts of consumer defaults for consumers and the broader community. Policy makers and organizations sustaining the work of financial counselors must ensure they care for the wellbeing of the counselors who assist consumers facing financial over commitment. The study was undertaken in New South Wales (NSW), the most populous Australian state. Questionnaires were mailed to 260 financial counselors. A response rate of over 46% (N = 120) enabled detailed statistical analysis which included analysis of variance and multiple regression. The findings highlighted a number of issues relevant to continuing education and planning for financial counseling services including increasing workload, difficulties liaising with external organizations, rural counselors' isolation from support mechanisms and an aging workforce. (Contains 6 tables.)

The ancient literary form of commonplace books offers rich possibilities to students and teachers of English in Australian schools in the 21st century. By briefly tracing early uses of commonplace books and examining contemporary approaches to the teaching of writing, this paper re-imagines the 15th century commonplace book as a personal learning tool capable of revitalising the writing-thinking-learning connection for English students in Australian schools.

Background and Aims: This study aimed to assess the comparative effectiveness of the etanercept (ETN) originator (Enbrel) and ETN biosimilar SB4 (Brenzys) as first‐line treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), while also exploring the potential cost‐savings associated with this approach in Australia. Methods: Clinical data were obtained from the Optimising Patient outcomes in rheumatoLogy Australian real‐world data set. Adult patients with RA who had initiated treatment with the ETN originator or biosimilar as their first‐recorded biologic or targeted synthetic disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug between 1 April 2017 and 31 December 2020 were included. Treatment persistence was analysed using survival analysis. Cost‐savings were estimated based on data reported by the Australian National Prescribing Service MedicineWise. Results: Propensity score matching followed by inverse probability of treatment weighting selected patients taking originator (n = 209) or biosimilar (n = 141) with similar baseline characteristics and eliminated small differences in baseline disease activity. The median time for 50% of the patients to stop treatment was 19.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.7–36.4 months) for the originator and 22.4 months (95% CI, 15.0–33.1 months) for the biosimilar (P = 0.95). As a result of pricing policies established by the Australian Government, introduction of the ETN biosimilar would have resulted in a cost‐savings of over AU$9.5 million for 1 year of treatment for the patients reported in this study. Conclusion: Treatment persistence using either ETN originator or biosimilar was similar. The cost of all brands of ETN markedly reduced upon listing of the ETN biosimilar, resulting in significant savings for the Australian Government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, the Society for Reproductive Biology came together in Christchurch New Zealand (NZ), for its first face-to-face meeting since the global COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting showcased recent advancements in reproductive research across a diverse range of themes relevant to human health and fertility, exotic species conservation, and agricultural breeding practices. Here, we highlight the key advances presented across the main themes of the meeting, including advances in addressing opportunities and challenges in reproductive health related to First Nations people in Australia and NZ; increasing conservation success of exotic species, including ethical management of invasive species; improvements in our understanding of developmental biology, specifically seminal fluid signalling, ovarian development and effects of environmental impacts such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals; and leveraging scientific breakthroughs in reproductive engineering to drive solutions for fertility, including in assisted reproductive technologies in humans and agricultural industries, and for regenerative medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curriculum design, teaching methods, assessments and range of academic support need to be inclusive in Open Access Enabling courses. The findings of this study confirm a correlation between student access to online learning materials and a positive impact on grades in science courses. More specifically, students who frequently use the online learning system to access materials have better assessment and exam results.

Background: Siponimod is approved for use in people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (pwSPMS). An integrated digital platform, MSGo, was developed for pwSPMS and clinicians to help navigate the multiple steps of the pre-siponimod work-up. Objective: To explore real-world onboarding experiences of siponimod amongst pwSPMS in Australia. Methods: Retrospective, non-interventional, longitudinal, secondary analysis of data extracted from MSGo (20 April 2022). The primary endpoint was the average time for siponimod onboarding; secondary endpoints were adherence and sub-group analyses of variables influencing onboarding. Results: Mixed-cure modelling estimated that 58% of participants (N = 368, females 71%, median age of 59 years) registered in MSGo would ever initiate siponimod. The median time to initiation was 56 days (95% CI [47–59] days). Half of the participants cited 'waiting for vaccination' as the reason for initiation delay. Cox regression analyses found participants with a nominated care partner had faster onboarding (HR 2.1, 95% CI [1.5–3.0]) and were more likely to continue self-reporting daily siponimod dosing than were those without a care partner (HR 2.2, 95% CI [1.3–3.7]). Conclusions: Despite the limitations of self-reported data and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study provides insights into siponimod onboarding in Australia and demonstrates the positive impact of care partner support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This structured survey sought to identify barriers to recognising and reporting potential child abuse by medical officers and nursing staff in the EDs of three Western Sydney hospitals. These include a large metropolitan teaching hospital, a small metropolitan hospital and a rural hospital. Methods: A mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative study methodology was used to survey potential participants. The electronic survey was distributed to participants to assess knowledge and experiences with identifying child abuse presenting to the ED over a 6‐month period. A descriptive analysis of the data was performed. Results: A total of 121 responses were received from 340 potential participants, giving a participation rate of 35%. The majority of the respondents were senior medical officers (38/110, 34%) or registered nurses (35/110, 32%). The study participants perceived the lack of time as the most significant barrier to reporting child abuse (85/101, 84%). This was followed by a lack of education (35/101, 34%), resources (33/101, 32%) and support (30/101, 29%). Conclusion: The combination of hospital, departmental and individual staff issues such as time limitations, lack of resources, education and support are potential barriers to reporting suspected child abuse. We recommend tailored teaching sessions, improved reporting procedures and increased support from senior staff to overcome these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standards-based reforms of education favour narrow forms of teacher professional learning tied to generic standards and pre-determined, measurable outcomes. In high-stakes accountability-driven environments, in schools and initial teacher education programs, educators are rarely encouraged to inquire into their work and professional identities through narrative writing. This article describes and analyses an assessment task in a pre-service teacher education course wherein students explore dialogic forms of critical autobiographical writing as part of an ongoing process of examining and clarifying their views and values about English teaching. Drawing on Cavarero, we argue that the writing these preservice teachers do provides a space for them to negotiate "what" and "who" narratives as they journey to become English teachers. Their writing productively grapples with generic "what" stories such as what standards documents attempt to tell about English teaching, and the "unrepeatable uniqueness" of "who" stories developed out of their individual cultural, educational and linguistic difference.

With expectations of academic staff to achieve high quality teaching and research outputs as performance measures it is timely to explore how staff perceive they are being supported to meet these ends. This article presents findings of a multi-method study that explored influences impacting on the quality and quantity of scholarly activity being undertaken by A- and B-level academic staff within a regional Australian university context. Findings suggest that barriers to achieving scholarly outputs appeared to centre on support from senior academics, intrapersonal and demographic characteristics of staff and academics' perceptions of their roles as teachers and scholars. Tensions between the multi-faceted components of being an academic were generated by both the university and individual members of staff.