Dr. Georgia Carragher , "Life after diagnosis. The social experience of adolescents diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and how they manage their lives", Edith Cowan University
Supervisors: Associate Professor Glenda Campbell-Evans, Associate Professor Chris Forlin

My research presents a new picture of how adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) are able to manage their lives and demonstrates the importance of involving adolescents in decisions about themselves. AD/HD is the most frequently diagnosed developmental disorder in school-age children in Western Australia today. Notwithstanding the enormous body of research associated with the disorder very little is known about an adolescent's worldview and social experiences associated with the disorder, as research and treatment regimes are currently determined by parents, teachers and the medical profession. For those with AD/HD social condemnation relating to their diagnosis and stimulant medication treatment is the general rule so that adolescents fear labeling and marginalisation. My research demonstrates how positive, patient and constructive social interaction from parents, teachers and their peers can assist them to manage their lives. Whereas, unsupportive social interactive experience are unhelpful and negative and may increase the probability of low self-esteem, risk-taking behaviour associated with stimulant medication use and attempted suicide amongst adolescents diagnosed with AD/HD.

My research employs the grounded theory method for data collection and analysis to gain insights into the social experience of a small group of Western Australian adolescents diagnosed with AD/HD receiving stimulant medication treatment. The substantive theory Reaching for the Light that emerged from this study explains the complex basic social-psychological process by which adolescents with AD/HD endeavour to resolve the difficulties that they face so as to be able to manage their lives. The issues examined in my research focus on the adolescents' perceptions of the impact of their diagnosis and stimulant medication use on how they manage their lives; the way in which they learn to interact in their world, and how they cope in their social environment. In doing so, this research extends current research becoming the first grounded theory study with adolescents with AD/HD in Western Australia.

McGillen C W. "Jungle express : the cooperative journey to meaningful music making with adolescents." University of Melbourne

Through a process of cooperative inquiry, interpretive ethnography and narrative inquiry this thesis sets out to explore the links between original music making, cooperative learning and sociomusical relationships. At its heart is the journey of twenty-one students as they compose, interact and perform in a rural secondary college in Victoria, Australia. This thesis highlights cooperative learning strategies through a thematic analysis identifying issues such as power sharing, relationships, identity construction and musical processes. This is achieved through constructed narratives, semi-structured interviews and contextual observation. The compositional methodologies and structures present within the rehearsal environment are analysed and modelled, revealing the multiple layers of meaning and contextual relevancy expressed by the participants. This thesis examines the role that positive interdependence, the development of a sub cultural identity and original music making have in the formation of a personal musical aesthetic. The findings challenge current practice in secondary music classrooms and performing ensembles, and provide pathways for further research into cooperative group composition. Jungle Express, as the students named themselves, represents a unique insight into the possibilities of cooperative music making which honours the experiences of the individual while contributing to the development of a long-term cultural identity. The musical product is reflective of both the group membership and the environment, but ultimately it is as much about the meaning-making journey of the individual as it is about the product.

Dr Susan Leigh Whatman "Wis Wei Youpla Health?' A case study of the nature and extent of community participation in health education decision-making for Torres Strait Islander girls at Bluewater High" Queensland University of Technology

This dissertation seeks to investigate the nature and extent of community participation in health education decision making for Torres Strait Islander girls at one Queensland high school. As such, the study is concerned with identifying stakeholders in health education for girls, describing the ways in which stakeholders participate in health education decision-making, and identifying the factors that promote or inhibit community participation in health education decision-making. The question presupposes several standpoints: firstly, that Indigenous communities want to participate in education decision-making and, secondly, that community participation would be desirable in producing good outcomes for Indigenous students. Thus, the literature review is concerned with critiquing discourses of community participation in Indigenous education, the effects on educational outcomes of Indigenous students when community participation is enabled, and reviewing previous research on educational decision-making in health education in Australia. Given the necessity for emancipatory research methodology in Indigenous research contexts, a critical ethnographic case study approach was chosen to investigate the research questions at a high school in the Torres Strait; building a critical case record from field notes, interview data, and documents. Using Carspecken's (1996) stages of data analysis, primary records were reconstructed and dialogically negotiated with participants, to describe system relations. Such an approach allows for power and control relations between researchers and research participants to be explicated, giving voice to usually marginalised groups, such as Indigenous students. This approach was also congruent with specific Torres Strait Islander research protocols, informed by Ailan Kastom, which were necessary to sensitively and successfully undertake the research. Data analysis was informed by a framework of Indigenous community participation theory, derived from Soliman (1995), Heslop (1998 ), Ministerial Advisory Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education (1999) and Stewart (1999), together with curriculum theory, from Bernstein (1976; 1990; 2000). This approach constituted a unique adaptation of Bernstein's pedagogic discourse theory to a Torres Strait Islander educational setting. The findings indicated that there was strong desire by community members, including students, to participate in health education decision-making at Bluewater High. However, the ability of different stakeholder groups to participate in health education varied, with teachers exercising the most power, and students the least. An in-depth, contextual analysis, in which pedagogic decision-making occurred, enabled a number of immediate and long-term recommendations to be developed. It is envisaged that these recommendations will enable greater community participation in health education decision-making for girls at Bluewater High, and more generally in other Indigenous educational settings.