Doctor of Education / With the heightened profile of language learning in a global community, language education is exploring a new model of intercultural language learning. The goal of intercultural language learning is to produce language users equipped with explicit skills in understanding connections and differences between their own culture and the culture of the target language. The research literature suggests that language learners’ resulting intercultural competence will encompass a range of characteristics. There have been few empirical studies, however, to provide illustration of intercultural competence, in order to assist teachers’ understanding of desired outcomes and student development. This case study investigates the characteristics of intercultural competence in young language learners in one Australian primary school. The learners have been engaged in an immersion language program for up to eight years, in one of three languages: French, German or Japanese. The study also investigates the behaviours and understandings in their language teachers which may facilitate the development of learners’ intercultural competence. It explores in summary what may be the nature of intercultural competence in the case study language learners. The study is relevant to research of both intercultural language learning and of immersion language classrooms. Using a case study design, the study incorporates qualitative data in the form of student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. Data were collected at the case study school, in Sydney, Australia, over a school semester, and involved 49 Year 6 students and four teachers. Results of the study suggest a number of indicators of the case study students’ development in intercultural competence – that is, through understanding of language culture and identity. The student is and sees him or herself as a purposeful interactive communicator. The student understands the target language itself to be the vehicle of the target culture, and often displays metalinguistic curiosity and skills. Some students are able to critically reflect on their (multiple) linguistic and cultural memberships, and to negotiate their identity as a non-native language user. The study found that teachers provide a model of interculturality to their students. The teachers’ interculturality is enacted in their relationships and pedagogical choices, in their design of experiential learning tasks, and their facilitation of linguistic and cultural connections for their students. The study also found that the nature of the immersion language classroom itself facilitates intercultural competence in students. The study provides a case study illustration of intercultural competence in language learners which is relevant to research in intercultural language learning, immersion pedagogy and the emerging related pedagogy of content-based language learning.

The daily patterns of life, for example, food, physical activity and inactivity and sleep as well as physical fitness are associated with the accumulation of excess body fat in children. A positive energy balance between food (energy intake) and metabolism, particularly physical activity (energy output) is the accepted explanation. The reality of daily life for children is excessive calorie consumption, imbalances in macronutrient intake and missed opportunities for activity are being driven by the physical and social environment. Excess body fat tracks into adulthood and is associated with decreased insulin sensitivity, which may lead to increased risk of insulin resistance and chronic disease. Resting metabolic rate and substrate utilisation (measured by respiratory exchange ratio) are implicated in the prediction of weight gain in adults, but these relationships have been rarely explored in children. Both insulin and respiratory exchange provide insights into the pathways of accumulation of body fat. The purpose of this body of work presented here was to explore and explain how lifestyle patterns, substrate metabolism, physical fitness attributes and insulin resistance are related to excess body fat accumulation in children. “Project Energize” is a Waikato District Health Board-initiated through-school nutrition and physical activity intervention, operated in a growing number of primary schools throughout the Waikato. Data was collected from Project Energize control and programme schools between 2004 and 2006. The children that participated in this body of work were aged between 5 and 12 years of age (20% Māori). Fat mass (FM) change in Hamilton and Waikato primary school age children over a two year period is reported in study one (n=618). Study two (n=69) and three (n=169) are cross-sectional sub-studies of low decile schools (<3) that employ two methods of metabolic assessment; indirect calorimetry and glucose homeostasis; to investigate the relationships between food, activity, fitness with body composition and metabolic risk. More than 70% of the increase in body mass index (BMI) and percentage body fat (PBF) could be explained by the same measures two years earlier and more than 10% of the reported food, activity and sleep behaviours were able to be predicted from the responses two years earlier. There were no clear associations found with resting respiratory exchange ratio (RER), but resting metabolic rate (RMR) was best explained (45%) by fat free mass with a further 3% explained by cardiorespiratory fitness. Children with longer legs (as represented by height) travelled further, but FM attenuated final speed. Children with more fat had higher insulin resistance. Physical fitness was not associated with insulin resistance. Overall, a pattern of increased FM was linked to: 1. FM two years previously 2. a lesser speed attained in the 20m Shuttle Run Test and 3. higher insulin resistance. A focus on weight gain rather than change in FM and FFM, fitness and metabolic markers as the outcome of interventions is unlikely to show short or medium term changes. Therefore it is recommended that when instigating school-based nutrition and physical activity programmes, there must also be a focus on the daily patterns of life alongside community, family and culture-based partnerships to support sustainable behavioural change.

The thesis investigated the notion of ego depletion in children, on classroom-based, 'academic' type tasks. Two major studies conducted with primary school students, aged between 10 and 14 years explored how an act of effortful self-control can impact adversely on performance and volition on a second, seemingly unrelated task. A third study investigated teacher perceptions of ego depletion effects.

The current study attempted to identify conditions that affect the manner in which Western Australian primary school teachers perceive recent curriculum changes; the types of support they access; and the relative usefulness of this support. Based on preliminary findings in the first phase of this study and the research literature it was expected that teacher self-efficacy, teacher characteristics such as age and years of teaching, and school context such as the level of 'innovativeness' would prove to be influential in the process of implementing new initiatives. A model expressing the relationships between these concepts was developed and evaluated in the second phase of this study. This study is important for two reasons. It focused on Western Australian primary school teachers, whereas most previous research focused on high school teachers, and it explored ways to help teachers deal with future changes instead of simply identifying their responses to changes. It is therefore hoped that the education system will be more informed and better able to provide appropriate support for teachers when faced with future reforms. The study was conducted in two parts. The purpose of phase one was to become familiar with the current circumstances of teachers in relation to curriculum change. By focusing on the attitudes and behaviours of teachers from 'innovative' schools it was thought more could be learned than in schools that maintain the status quo. Qualitative methods of semi-structured interviews, informal observations and the analysis of websites and school documents were utilised throughout this phase. The second phase of the study employed a quantitative approach, based on the findings of the first phase, specifically a process of questionnaire construction and distribution throughout the defined population. A number of cautious conclusions have been made within the limits of this study. Firstly, the most useful type of professional development for teachers involves teachers interacting with each other. Teachers need time to discuss issues and share their successes. However, Action Research as a means of professional development is currently under utilised. It was discovered that most teachers were positive towards curriculum change, yet an overwhelming workload has proved a formidable barrier to new initiatives. In addition, most teachers will modify initiatives to meet the needs of their students and to fit in with their existing orientations. Consequently, school structures need to become more flexible to encourage teachers to engage in innovative practices. Interestingly, the self-efficacy of a teacher influences the way they perceive and cope with curriculum change, however teacher characteristics, such as age and the number of years teaching, did not yield substantially different results when teachers were categorised along these dimensions. School context, as defined by the level of 'innovativeness', did produce differential results in terms of teacher attitudes and responses to curriculum change, and the type of professional development accessed. Finally, schools may need to involve parents and the wider school community in the school level decision-making processes if they truly are to become ' learning communities'.

Thesis (D.Ed.)--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1997. / Vol. 1: The function of leadership teams in the facilitation of organizational change in primary schools - journal articles, conference papers and reports. Bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003. / "A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Bibliography : leaves 198-218.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Faculty of Education, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-254).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 298-315). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-119).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references.