This thesis presents an interrogation of curriculum practices and positionings, over time, of a feminist educator and curriculum worker seeking to centre gender and subjugated knowledges in a curriculum framework with the potential for transformative outcomes. The interrogation offers an opportunity to consider discourses in operation, to frame curriculum and pedagogy as sites of discursive struggle around knowledges, gender and power. The thesis, presented as a critical narrative, interweaves theories and theoretical ideas from four key areas: post modernism and post structuralism; feminism/s; education and curriculum, and critical social sciences, including critical theory. Interpretative feminist praxis is employed as the methodological approach. Central to the investigation is a curriculum project undertaken in Papua New Guinea (the Goroka Curriculum Project). This Project which is positioned as a case study, provides text for conceptual and contextual interrogation of a specific site of curriculum work, and a corrective moment in which the limitations of the writer's endeavours and position/s of advantage are acknowledged. Curriculum positionings described as oppositional are challenged as a result of the lack of attention to gender by radical and critical theorists. Further, the disjuncture between such theorising, and the development of curriculum models to inform oppositional work is made overt and problematic. Curriculum models and practices associated with the work of traditional empiricist approaches found to be dominant in Papua New Guinea, reify western intellectual endeavours to the disadvantage of indigenous and women's knowledges and knowledge practices. This naturalisation is framed as an example of a meta narrative in education, whereby the discursive practices associated with traditional / rational curriculum models both colonise the endeavours of curriculum workers, and position learners as colonised subjects. A central outcome of the traditional/rational model is the inherent positioning of such individuals and groups as marginalised, devalued Other. Such curriculum work is framed as a technology of governance, privileging attempts to establish order and homogeneity in an increasingly disorderly and fragmented world. The investigation by the curriculum writer of her theory/practice leads to recognition of oppositional work as a site of power, that also has the potential to 'oppress', extending the colonial project. Following this, the thesis investigates transformative curriculum work as problematic potentiality, questioning what the work of a feminist curriculum writer in a post modern world is to do and to be. While acknowledging there are no innocent discourses of liberation, the potential of the 'courage to know', to attend to pedagogical ethics and ethics of self, and acknowledge the messy, contradictory and deeply political work of curriculum design are posited. An emergent notion of curriculum work as textual practice, within a multi-dimensional framework that conceptualises curriculum as representation is advanced.

This is an evaluation study of a Metal Fabrication curriculum developed for Bougainville Copper Mine in Papua New Guinea. The curriculum is part of the Apprentice training program that is implemented in the mines own training College under the authority of the Papua New Guinea Apprenticeship Board. Several evaluation models were researched and the model which formed the basis of this study was selected because of its compatibility with the training environment that existed at Bougainville Copper Limited. The evaluation model was applied using a questionnaire and interviews to review the existing curriculum and make recommendations regarding changes. These changes included the rationalization of content associated with motor skills and the inclusion of cognitive based content related to problem solving and decision making.

This thesis reports on a study which made an analysis of the new Grade 7 social science syllabus textbooks that are currently being implemented in the high schools of Papua New Guinea. Data relating to these textbooks has been gathered from the teachers who are teaching the course and their Regional Secondary Inspectors. The data was basically obtained through postal questionnaires. The basic aim of the study was to find out how the syllabus materials are received and used in the implementation process. The study also attempted to identify the problems and difficulties the teachers encountered and the concerns they had about the new course. The study revealed some interesting results. For example, there are some teachers of social sciences in the high schools who do not have secondary teaching qualifications, the level of English language used, which was one of the major problems identified with the old syllabus, has not been completely overcome, the problems, difficulties and concerns identified by this study differ from school to school and between rural and urban schools. In addition, the study also identified many practical problems, difficulties and concerns which affect the effective and successful implementation of the syllabus. These include the need for additional support such as reference materials both for teachers and students and a need for more short in-service courses to resocialise teachers in order to change their classroom culture and thus facilitate change.

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PURPOSE. This study is entitled, 'An Analysis of some Significant Issues and Problems as Identified by Practical Skills teachers in the provincial high schools in Papua New Guinea'. It is hoped that the importance of this study lies in its contribution in helping provincial school administrators, Practical Skills teachers, curriculum advisory committee members, inspectors, staff and students at the Design and Technology Department to gain an insight into the current problems and issues faced by Practical Skills teachers with the end view of effecting changes in the present set-up to attain the objectives of the Practical Skills programs in the provincial high schools in Papua New Guinea. METHODS USED: The methods employed in this study to collect the data were:- A. Questionnaires, B. Interviews and C. Review of literature. A proposed set of questions for the questionnaires was sent to the Division of Research and Evaluation Unit, Department of Education in Port Moresby, who made some encouraging comments and suggestions which were then used in the formulation of the final questionnaires consisting of 32 questions.

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Tourism as an industry in the 20th and 21st Century has primarily been an international money-making industry which has attracted many governments of less developed countries as a fast mechanism for development. This has often involved a trade-off between the pursuit of economic wealth and support for the social, cultural and natural environments. The negative impacts of mass tourism in these economies are countless and well documented, especially as many of these countries are still trying to deal with impacts caused during colonial occupancy. Consequently, alternative tourism has been presented as a way to manage tourism development which is economically, social and ecologically sustainable. One manifestation of this trend is community-based tourism, which aims to be inclusive of the host communities as they plan for tourism and considers the socio cultural and natural resources and desires of tourists in a more equitable manner. The aim of this thesis is to determine how ecotrekking as a form of community-based tourism can provide a foundation for development for remote rural communities in developing countries. It was conceptually determined that if the needs of the community matched those of the tourists, then a sustainable ecotrekking industry can evolve. To explore this issue contextually, a case study of the Kokoda Track (KT) in Papua New Guinea is presented based around three research questions: 1. What role can market segmentation play in sustainable tourism development in remote rural communities? 2. What outcomes do the Kokoda Track communities envisage for the future of tourism on the Kokoda Track? 3. Do Kokoda tourists meet the outcomes envisaged by the community? A review of the literature found that market segmentation is a tool used in destination planning to assess visitor characteristics and match these to resource capabilities. It was employed in this study to determine the characteristics and needs of Kokoda tourists through a questionnaire survey distributed to trekkers via the tour operators. It was found that the Kokoda tourist is a university educated, middle-aged man who visits the KT for adventure and historical reasons. They have higher-order needs of personal development and knowledge and value the authenticity of the experience. The second research question was approached using secondary data analysis. Notes from Participatory Rural Appraisal workshops with community leaders in 2004 and 2005 were reinterpreted. The key themes to emerge were that the communities have a great need for basic facilities (education, transportation, telecommunications, medical infrastructure and water supplies) and they see tourism as an economic means to develop those facilities. They would like to build more guesthouses and provide food for tourists to increase revenue however, they are unsure of the extent to which this will be supported by trekkers. A comparative analysis of the findings from research questions 1 and 2 was employed to address the third research question. The quantitative needs of the tourist market segment were matched to the qualitative expectations of the communities. It was found that the current Kokoda tourist is in favour of many of the outcomes that the Kokoda communities envisage. These include the provision of locally made food and guesthouses. Further to this, the empirical results from the questionnaire found that ecotourists and cultural tourists are the tourist types that need to be targeted by operators. They indicated a strong match with the desires and needs of the Kokoda communities. For example, they indicated that the KT can cater for a much smaller number of trekkers than the other three pre-determined tourist types (adventure, organised and historic tourists). Additionally, the natural and cultural environments are more important to these tourist types inferring that the protection of these resources is of primary importance. Consequently, it was established that ecotrekking can play an important role in development in less developed countries, if the right market segment is targeted to meet the needs of the community. Generally this can then ensure a slower rate of development, which allows the communities to adjust to the changes that occur at both a socio-cultural level and also in the infrastructure within their communities. In the longer term it also allows them to see how tourism can provide long term benefits not offered in extractive industries such as forestry and mining.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) dominates global interannual climate variability. However, the imprint of anthropogenic climate change hinders understanding of natural ENSO variability. Model predictions of the response of future ENSO variability to anthropogenic forcing are highly uncertain. A better understanding of how ENSO operates during different mean climate states may improve predictions of its future behavior. This study develops a technique to quantify the response of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature and salinity to ENSO variations. This analysis defines expected regional relationships between ENSO forcing and the tropical Pacific climate response. For example, the western tropical Pacific records El Niño events with greater skill than La Niña events; whereas the oceans near the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) preferentially record La Niña events. This baseline understanding of regional skill calibrates interpretations of both modern and pre-instrumental coral geochemical climate proxy records. A suite of monthly resolved 18O variations in a fossil corals (Porites spp.) from the tropical western Pacific (Papua New Guinea) and the SPCZ (Vanuatu) are used to develop case studies of ENSO variability under external forcing conditions that differ from the modern climate. A record from Misima, Papua New Guinea (1411-1644 CE) spans a period of reduced solar forcing that coincides with the initiation of the Little Ice Age. This record indicates that the surface ocean in this region experienced a small change in hydrologic balance with no change in temperature, extended periods of quiescence in El Niño activity, reduced mean El Niño event amplitudes, and fewer large amplitude El Niño events relative to signals captured in regional modern records. Several multidecadal (~30-50 year) coral records from Tasmaloum, Vanuatu during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (~900-1300 CE), a period of increased solar forcing, depict ENSO variability that is generally lower than modern times. However, these records often cannot be distinguished from 20th century ENSO variability due to ENSO variability uncertainty associated with record lengths. Neither record can be tied to concurrent changes in solar or volcanic forcing, calling into question the paradigm of ENSO variability being predominantly mediated by external forcing changes on multidecadal time scales. / text

Papua New Guinea has the highest infant and maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the Western Pacific Regions and 50% of hospital admissions are from vaccine preventable diseases. About 85% of 6 million inhabitants live in rural PNG where basic services are lacking or non-existent. Difficulties such as lack of infrastructures like road network and communication, geographical barriers like big mountain ranges, large rivers and swamps, shortage of skilled health professionals and higher concentration of health workers in cities pose great challenges in delivering health services effectively across the country. Telehealth may play an important role in reaching health services to the underserved population in PNG. As part of this study, it is essential to assess the potential of telehealth to enhance the delivery of health services. Specifically, this research aims to report the knowledge, attitudes and skills towards information and communication technology of health care providers in PNG. The study used a cross sectional method of health professionals working at the time of the survey. It collected 174 questionnaires from four hospitals and used SPSS (version17.0) to analyse the data. The results showed that younger male physicians, paramedics, those with gadgets, higher educational qualifications and exposed to ICT resources possess better knowledge and skills than female, older age group and those without gadgets or under exposed to ICT. Currently, the health care professionals in general have leap frogged the technology by focusing on handheld devices such as cell phones rather than landlines. This represents scope for growth and willingness by health workers to adopt and expand telehealth in PNG.

Mining and mineral exploration have been a source of considerable tension in the developing world and specifically where they take place on indigenous lands. This thesis investigates the nature of the relationships between different stakeholders to a mineral exploration project in Fiji. It is an examination of the obstacles to community participation, a key component of even-handed development, in the planning and policy-making process. It is argued that the Namosi exploration project has been the locus for emergent social disruption. It is also argued, that the causes of this conflict are anchored in a flawed process of policy-making between the state and exploration companies and the contest for authority between key actors, which has led to the disempowerment of some villagers from both within and outside the community. Equally, the political ideology of the state and the contentious history of mining in Fiji, have played a part in the tendency towards social conflict in association with minerals exploration. / The starting point for analysis has been a comparison with the social conflict literature as it applies to Papua New Guinea. The purpose has been first, to confirm the relevance of that work to situations encountered in Fiji, and second, to provide a broader critique of the literature than previously available; one that further develops understanding of social conflict related to natural resource development. Given the circumstances of state and village politics in Melanesia, the question is asked, whether the normative 'fully realised communities' anticipated by Selznick in his communitarian idyll can be achieved. The thesis concludes that the nature of community involvement in development planning for mineral exploitation, creates a very different type of participation than that outlined in the literature of mining corporations and states. Although some actors have recourse to other means of empowering themselves, this is not a prelude to development for the wider community.