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Any institutional policy will only be a paper tiger unless the intended recipients of the policy know and understand it. Student anti-bullying policies at universities in Australia have been researched to determine the quality and usability of the content, but research is lacking in how students understand and use these policies. Bullying amongst students has been identified globally as an issue at universities; however, little has been done to determine students' knowledge and experience of bullying and the related policies and services universities provide. The aim of this paper is to fill that gap in knowledge, with the hope that by understanding a student's perspective, identified blocks to reporting may be eliminated. This study surveyed 297 Australian university students about their knowledge of their university's anti-bullying policies existence and location, their personal and witnessed experienced of bullying, how they handled it, and their knowledge and thoughts on how bullying information is presented to students at their university. The results found students lacked knowledge about anti-bullying policies and practices in their university. The results also highlighted assumptions students make about what their university offers in regard to policies and services. This paper indicates that universities need to publicise their policies and better educate their students on bullying and their related anti-bullying policies.

Early childhood education and care is recognised as extremely important for the health, education and welfare of all children. As Australia is a multicultural society then the early childhood education and care workforce needs to reflect the proportion of the population who were born overseas in non-English-speaking countries, often referred to Culturally and Linguistic Diverse individuals. With the staff shortages in the sector, we propose that supporting students in initial teacher training from a CALD background is important. Several ways to accomplish this goal are discussed.

Cyberbullying is a harmful practice to which schools must respond. Australia does not have a cyberbullying-specific law, so schools navigate their responses within a range of laws not created for the online world, nor for youth. In this study, the murky legal environment of youth cyberbullying was problematised from perspectives found within two Australian secondary school communities. School leaders, key staff, teachers, students, and parents participated in interviews or focus groups held to gather their views about whether a new cyberbullying-specific law was needed to help reduce youth cyberbullying. A thematic analysis found three themes: that an educational approach was favoured over a legal one; that current laws mediated a constrained discussion about the benefit a new cyberbullying-specific law would have for schools and that there were school-identified unmet spaces where the law should be contributing better solutions to youth cyberbullying. Legal responses with implications for reducing youth cyberbullying are discussed.

This article reports on a secondary analysis of qualitative research about five African young adults with refugee backgrounds who storied through semi-structured interviews their career transition in the complex, everchanging systems of their migration journeys. Qualitative descriptors of career adaptability and the systems of the Systems Theory Framework informed data analysis. Findings revealed that the recursive interaction between the five career adaptability dimensions occurred within complex personal, social, geographic and socio-political systems of the migration journey. Findings extend theoretical understandings of career adaptability as a process deeply embedded in complex contextual systems. Suggestions inform career practitioners and future career research.

It is an expectation of Australian schools to address student cyberbullying. However, schools may struggle to be effective if other societal systems are not aligned and supportive. Within this ecological framing, this qualitative study used interview and focus group methods to gather secondary school stakeholder perspectives about the role the legal system plays in helping schools to prevent and intervene in student cyberbullying. School leaders, specialist staff, teachers, students and parents participated. A thematic analysis uncovered three themes with implications for improving school capacity with the help of society's legal system: What schools can and cannot do to reduce cyberbullying; the role of police in school-based cyberbullying management; and the need for education "and" legal inter-systemic collaborations to meet school-identified challenges in addressing student cyberbullying.

Self-report is seen as important in assessments of psychopathology but individuals with intellectual disability may have difficulty with standard questionnaires. This paper reports on the administration and subsequent modifications to several established self-report measures of mental health. Methods: The participants were 57 children with intellectual disability aged 10 to 13 years. They completed the Children's Depression Inventory, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Intellectual Disability Mood Scale, and Moods and Feelings Questionnaire. Results: Difficulties with the instruments were identified, including complex wording and item structure, ambiguity and working memory demands. Adaptations were made to the instruments and administration procedures. In a second administration there were improvements in children's ability to respond. The modified questionnaires demonstrated acceptable to good internal consistency and were strongly correlated. Conclusions: Self-report measures of mental health can be completed by children with intellectual disability but may need pilot testing and modifications to make them more appropriate for this population.

Bullying is widely accepted as a significant issue confronting schools across the globe. The potential short and long-term consequences of bullying for involved students include negative academic and mental health impacts. It is known that a whole-school approach is required to effectively manage bullying. As such, school psychologists and counsellors are well-placed to play an important role in the prevention of and response to bullying in their workplace schools. By virtue of their training and skill-set, school psychologists and counsellors could be involved in the training of other staff, educating and collaborating with stakeholders, and counselling the involved students utilising methods such as motivational interviewing. In order for these staff members to play an effective role in bullying prevention and intervention, they require professional development on bullying, a supportive leadership team and a workplace that provides a clear delineation of their role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy is an important part of prevention and intervention when it comes to peer bullying amongst university students. Therefore, the contents of these policies need to be informative and easy to find, understand and use. With the United Kingdom having a low prevalence of peer bullying at university when compared to other countries, determining whether the quality of a university student anti-bullying policy is related to the prevalence, may help universities in other countries reduce bullying prevalence. This study adds to the body of knowledge by analysing the content and usability of student anti-bullying policies of 39 universities in the UK. The results were then compared to the results of a similar study conducted with Australian universities, to determine similarities and difference, and where improvements could be made. Through this, and future studies, it is hoped that a relationship can be determined between the quality of university student anti-bullying policies, and the prevalence of bullying. It is also hoped that the results of this study will allow universities to identify where their policy may be improved and promote the importance of having a bully-free culture on campus.

The increasing tendency of immigration and forced migration practices around the world has made countries' populations culturally and linguistically diverse. Australia is considered one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Consequently, the proportion of school-aged children with different culture and language is also increasing. Thus, school psychologists and guidance counsellors face the challenge of designing fair assessment practices and sound interventions for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students who experience difficulties with their learning. Although many multicultural countries have extensive research regarding the assessment of learning difficulties in CALD students, Australia lacks this research. This study explored the most common assessment strategies that school psychologists and guidance counsellors usually implement in their assessment of CALD students. These results were then compared to a best practice model from the literature. In order to understand the current practices of school psychologists and counsellors in Australia who have assessed CALD children, a survey was administered to 34 school psychologists and counsellors. It was found that the reported strategies and protocols were very close to the ones proposed by experts, which was an unexpected outcome of this study. Implications for school psychologists and counsellors are discussed.

Little is known about the prevalence of cyberbullying among university students and less about whether they utilise anti-bullying policies. However, failure to report cyberbullying incidents to authorities would lessen the efficacy of these policies. This study investigated the prevalence of cyberbullying among university students and their reporting intentions for cyberbullying incidents. Two hundred and eighty-two students completed a survey on their intentions to report cyberbullying. Results found cyberbullying exists among university students and they would report to authorities if the policy outlined specific information. Students who had been cyber victimised were more likely to report than those students who had not been cyberbullied. Implications for universities are discussed.

The teaching of drama in Sri Lanka is presently only conducted by the traditional lecture method, which is not conducive to preparing students for the modern globalised world. To ascertain whether teaching by process drama techniques improved creativity in secondary school students, a non-randomised control group design with an intervention group, a control group and an active control group, was conducted. This article describes the perceptions of teachers in the intervention group who taught process drama. We describe the obstacles which the teachers experienced when teaching process drama and the challenge to bring changes to drama education in Sri Lanka.

Bullying has been a topic widely researched in schools and the workplace, however, comparatively there is a paucity of research into bullying among university students. This is an oversight, as bullying may also have negative consequences for university students, ranging from anxiety to suicidal ideation. Anti-bullying policies are an important part of bullying prevention and intervention, however, due to Australian Federal legislation, policies for students are not mandatory at universities. To be an effective prevention and intervention strategy, anti-bullying policies and procedures should be informative, supportive, well publicised, and student user friendly. Through analysing the anti-bullying policies and procedures from 39 Australian universities, using a 37-item analysis tool adapted from Purdy and Smith as well as thematic analysis, this study aims to determine if Australian universities are providing students with the information and support they need to be able to report bullying to their university and study in a safe environment. Both strengths and weaknesses were found in 37 individual universities' student anti-bullying policies and procedures, as well as overall trends displayed by universities Australia-wide. The overall paucity of information and consistency, as well as the poor user-friendliness of many of the documents, highlights the need for changes to be made. Without the reform of student anti-bullying policies and procedures in Australian universities, students will be unsupported and ill-equipped to identify and report bullying. Universities will also run the risk of gaining a bad reputation and not promoting a bully-free culture for students in which to learn and socialise.

Background: Cyberbullying is a significant problem for young people and secondary schools are the main institutions expected to address it. School anti-bullying measures have only modestly reduced the problem to date. Purpose: This study aimed to examine the perspectives of members within the school community regarding their actions to reduce cyberbullying. Method: School stakeholders were recruited from two large independent high schools in Australia. Overall, four school leaders, two key personnel with roles in cyberbullying prevention, and two parents participated in semi-structured interviews, while two groups of Year 9 teachers, and four groups of Year 9 students (aged 13-15 years) participated in focus groups. Interview and focus group protocols were developed to gather views about prevention and intervention measures for cyberbullying in the stakeholders' schools. Copies of anti-cyberbullying policies and documents were also collected for review. Analysis: A thematic content analysis was conducted on 14 stakeholder transcripts from interviews and focus groups, and school policy documents were reviewed for anti-bullying components. The distal systems of a social-ecological framework were used to frame a wider view of school efforts to prevent and intervene in cyberbullying. Findings: The content analysis and review showed that school actions were reflective of evidence-based best practice. However, despite actions towards making students safe from cyberbullying, stakeholders were left questioning why these incidents were still observed. The analysis revealed that the continued presence of cyberbullying was not simply attributable to ineffective school practices, but rather from societal influences. Three macrosystem themes were identified from the data: the culture of technology; the legal framework; and the media portrayal of cyberbullying. These macrosystem influences could be seen impacting four school exosystems (i.e. communities of school practice): the parent community, the organisational community, the support and advice community, and commercial communities of schools. Conclusion: The macrosystems and exosystems of schools are influencing school actions, with implications for the reduction of student cyberbullying.

Adolescents experiencing excessive anxiety are often under-identified in the school context, and consequently under-referred for in-school counselling or other mental health support. This is despite anxiety being the most prevalent mental health condition currently experienced by adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore secondary teachers' ability to recognise the need to refer adolescents with excessive anxiety symptoms. One hundred and fourteen secondary school teachers completed a questionnaire with five vignettes describing students experiencing various degrees of anxiety. Statistical analysis of the data involved use of the one-sample Wilcoxon test and Spearman's rank non-parametric correlation coefficients. Results indicated that teachers recognised the need to refer adolescents with very severe anxiety symptoms. However, they were less likely to correctly identify and refer students with severe, moderate or mild anxiety symptoms. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female teachers' decision to refer students for school counselling. These findings are an important step forward in understanding how teachers decide whether or not to refer anxious children for support, and in identifying areas for further training and professional development. Implications are discussed for future professional development for secondary school teachers.

Beyond the basic information provided in foundation texts and test manuals, there is a notable scarcity of professional literature addressing complex issues and dilemmas in assessment. At times, psychologists need to make decisions based on their professional experience or personal preferences, and it is possible that some of these decisions are made without adequate justification or reflection. Intern psychologists may be confused by the differing advice they are given by university staff, supervisors and experienced practitioners. Our aim in this project was to identify specific issues in psychoeducational assessment that need clarity, guidance and reflection, not only during postgraduate training, but also across the professional lifespan. Focus groups with educational and developmental psychology interns revealed confusion about aspects of test administration and interpretation, as well as a number of challenging professional issues. The findings have implications for trainers and supervisors, as well as for experienced practitioners.

Public opinions are divided on the relative benefits versus harms of allowing mobile phones in schools. When debating the consequences of mobile phones in schools, politicians often argue that students' use of mobile phones distract from their learning, increase cyberbullying and lead to poor mental health outcomes. We conducted a scoping review of the global literature, followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and pre-registered our protocol with the Open Science Framework (OSF). Our search and screening process identified 22 studies that met our inclusion criteria and shed light on our research questions: whether mobile phone use in schools impacts academic outcomes, mental health and wellbeing and cyberbullying. We found an absence of randomized controlled trials with evidence resting on a small number of studies with different designs, samples, operational definitions of mobile phone bans (i.e. partial, or complete bans) and outcome measures, making reconciliation of findings challenging. Nonetheless, we provide a synthesis of the latest evidence for decision-makers tasked with deciding for or against mobile phone bans in schools. Directions for future research are provided and practical implications for schools are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined primary school teachers' knowledge of anxiety and excessive anxiety symptoms in children. Three hundred and fifteen primary school teachers completed a questionnaire exploring their definitions of anxiety and the indications they associated with excessive anxiety in primary school children. Results showed that teachers had an understanding of what anxiety was in general but did not consistently distinguish normal anxiety from excessive anxiety, often defining all anxiety as a negative experience. Teachers were able to identify symptoms of excessive anxiety in children by recognizing anxiety-specific and general problem indications. The results provided preliminary evidence that teachers' knowledge of anxiety and anxiety disorders does not appear to be a barrier in preventing children's referrals for mental health treatment. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an approach to developing word lists centred on etymological roots would improve the spelling performance of older primary school students. Participants were 46 students in the last year of primary school in south-east Queensland (31 girls and 15 boys) across three classes, with two classes being assigned to control conditions. Students were evaluated pre- and post-intervention on three dependent measures: British Spelling Test Series spelling, spelling in writing and writing. The results of this intervention revealed improvements in spelling for girls but not for boys. The implications for improved teaching methods are discussed. (Contains 2 figures.)

This study investigated the ability of primary school teachers to recognise and refer children with anxiety symptoms. Two hundred and ninety-nine primary school teachers completed a questionnaire exploring their recognition and referral responses to five hypothetical vignettes that described boys and girls with varying severity of anxiety symptoms. Results revealed that teachers were generally able to recognise and make the decision to refer children with severe levels of anxiety. However, they had difficulty distinguishing between children with moderate anxiety symptoms and a severe anxiety disorder. Female teachers were more likely to refer children than were male teachers. The implications and future research are discussed. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

Bullying has serious consequences for students, parents, teachers, and the wider community. This study assessed teachers' and parents' ability to accurately identify traditional bullying and cyberbullying scenarios. Perceived seriousness of scenarios was explored and gender differences were examined. Analyses revealed teachers were more accurate in identifying traditional bullying scenarios than parents, with no differences found for cyberbullying scenarios or perceptions of severity. Males were more accurate in identifying noncyberbullying scenarios. Females perceived the majority of traditional and cyberbullying scenarios as more serious. Results suggest understanding teachers' and parents' knowledge of traditional and cyberbullying is crucial to bullying research and intervention efforts, as their recognition of bullying and perceived severity impacts the likelihood they would intervene. Implications for the prevention and intervention of bullying are discussed.

Previous research has focused on the prevalence of bullying of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with little attention given to its emotional effect. This mixed methods study examined levels of worry about bullying and bullying experiences reported by students and parents. To determine whether some students with ASD are differentially affected, we explored associations between students' characteristics (understanding of bullying, age and co-morbid conditions) and their bullying experiences and worries. Surveys exploring bullying experiences and levels of worry about bullying were completed by 89 students with ASD without intellectual disability aged 11-16 years and their parents. We also qualitatively explored parents' perceptions of how bullying affects their children, through semi-structured interviews of nine parents. Students with comorbid anxiety disorders were more likely to report face-to-face victimization and were more troubled by both face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying, while students with depression were more likely to report cyber victimization. Parental concerns included the impact of victimization on school attendance, self-esteem, mental health, social participation, academic performance, and behaviour. The significantly higher levels of worry about bullying and higher victimization rates reported by students with internalizing symptoms suggest that these students may be disproportionately at risk of psychological harm.

Today's young people have integrated the online world into their everyday reality and schools have generally accepted the importance of technology in the education process. However, there has been limited use in schools of technology to counsel young people, although early indications suggest that school counsellors may be prepared to offer synchronous online counselling if they were supported by school principals. The aim of this study was to investigate Australian secondary school principals' views about using an online format for counselling in schools. There were 33 principals who participated and they indicated technological competency and acknowledged the benefits of using technology in the counselling process. The principals were generally supportive of the provision of online school counselling, although their major concern was the need for more counsellors and the impact on the workload of current counselling staff. A few principals, however, were unconvinced about offering online counselling and had a fundamental preference for face-to-face communication experiences for students. Strategies for facilitating the acceptance of online counselling by principals and guiding implementation in schools are proposed.

Bullying, once considered a "rite of passage" among school children, is increasingly recognized as a serious public health issue. Schools are tasked to both prevent and intervene effectively in bullying; however, the problem does not appear to be decreasing. We know that if teachers see bullying among students and do nothing, then bullying is likely to increase. Teachers are influenced by a number of factors to intervene or not. We discuss these factors, such as teachers' ability to recognize bullying, judgments about how serious a bullying incident is, normative beliefs about bullying, the gender and popularity of the students involved, their own self-efficacy, their empathy, their own stress, the lack of time to effectively intervene and the support of the school leadership. We argue that teacher professional development, including pre-service education, needs to be more nuanced for teachers to take into account these factors to reduce bullying in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]