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In this paper we seek to understand how structural, contextual and institutional conditions influence the construction of individual agency in career development policy. We focus on responsibilisation, the process by which responsibility for outcomes is transferred from the state to the individual, through a combination of policy actions and the framing of public discourse. We use Australia as a case study to examine how the state has recast its role in the creation and regulation of employment. We outline how the role of the state now involves guiding the citizen towards the "right choice", with individuals responsible for and active managers of risk in the labour market. To determine the complex narratives around agency, we examine the assumptions embedded in some current Australian government career guidance websites, to highlight how jobseeker autonomy, self-direction, agency, and self-management are framed. The implications for socially just career development provision are discussed.

In Australia and elsewhere, aged care and disability services are being transformed by the introduction of person-centred approaches. This radical reform to prioritise the dignity and needs of the people receiving care or support is an urgent matter of justice. Person-centred approaches are also transforming the organisation and conditions of employment for direct care workers, which has implications for the vocational education and training (VET) qualifications designed as preparation for their jobs. COVID-19 has highlighted problems with casualised employment and inadequate training, revealing the terrible impact on the elderly and people with disabilities. The broader context is a shift to market-based approaches to service delivery, with the increasing commodification of care, support services and VET. Drawing on a study of Australian VET qualifications for aged care and disability services, this article identifies limitations with dominant transactional forms of VET and the foundational ideas that underpin them. It argues that the introduction of transactional qualifications to prepare workers for poorly designed transactional jobs has a severe human cost.

This article maps current senior secondary certification arrangements in Australia, drawing on data on school completion rates, certificate attainment and post-school destinations, as well as policy documents within and across jurisdictions. It argues that irrespective of the jurisdiction, numerous changes over nearly 50 years to the rules governing the senior certificates have been principally responses to the original and continuing need to prepare young people for university and the more recent need to cater for near universal participation in the senior secondary years. It argues there is no consistent and shared view of the purpose of the senior secondary certificates, no consistent approaches to dealing with disadvantage, and continuing difficulties in meeting the needs of the full range of young people in the senior years, particularly those from regional and remote areas, Indigenous communities and low socio-economic status students. There is also considerable variability in retention rates and rates of attainment of the senior secondary certificates as well as the calculation of the Australian Admissions Tertiary Rank (ATAR) score which was primarily designed for university selection purposes. The certificates also have limited emphasis on capabilities in their design and considerable variation in the manner in which literacy and numeracy minimum standards are defined, set and assessed. Furthermore, there is no consistent approach regarding compulsory subjects or a core curriculum, the design and implementation of VET courses and the evolving role of the ATAR.

The links between tracked secondary schooling and social selection form part of a complex narrative regarding educational inequality in European schools. The relative contribution of family and school to unequal educational outcomes has dominated educational debates across the continent for more than 50 years. This article contributes to this debate by focusing on a sample of students in the final year of schooling in three schools in northern Italy. It asks whether there are social differences in enrolments and aspirations across the three different types of schools. It also considers whether aspirations can be linked to differences in levels of family support or to school-related factors. To examine these links, we consider four main ways of conceptualising aspirations and propose an approach that draws on theories explaining preference formation and choice.

This paper is based on research into the destinations and aspirations of school leavers in Australia. It investigates the relationship between the transition to university for different groups of students and their own and their parents' and teachers' expectations. It draws on Bourdieu, Boudon, Nussbaum and others to investigate the way young people construct their aspirations. It examines the limits of young people's agency, which is bound by their understanding of the hidden and informal rules that govern access to different spaces within the curriculum as well as access to post-school destinations. Navigating these transitions is becoming more important and more complex with the increasing emphasis on higher level qualifications in an education market.

Abstract Background Image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) increases the accuracy of treatment delivery through daily target localisation. We report on toxicity symptoms experienced during radiotherapy treatment, with and without IGRT in prostate cancer patients treated radically. Methods Between 2006 and 2009, acute toxicity data for ten symptoms were collected prospectively onto standardized assessment forms. Toxicity was scored during radiotherapy, according to the Common Terminology Criteria Adverse Events V3.0, for 275 prostate cancer patients before and after the implementation of a fiducial marker IGRT program and dose escalation from 74Gy in 37 fractions, to 78Gy in 39 fractions. Margins and planning constraints were maintained the same during the study period. The symptoms scored were urinary frequency, cystitis, bladder spasm, urinary incontinence, urinary retention, diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, proctitis, anal skin discomfort and fatigue. Analysis was conducted for the maximum grade of toxicity and the median number of days from the onset of that toxicity to the end of treatment. Results In the IGRT group, 14228 toxicity scores were analysed from 249 patients. In the non-IGRT group, 1893 toxicity scores were analysed from 26 patients. Urinary frequency ≥G3 affected 23% and 7% in the non-IGRT and IGRT group respectively (p = 0.0188). Diarrhoea ≥G2 affected 15% and 3% of patients in the non-IGRT and IGRT groups (p = 0.0174). Fatigue ≥G2 affected 23% and 8% of patients in the non-IGRT and IGRT groups (p = 0.0271). The median number of days with a toxicity was higher for ≥G2 (p = 0.0179) and ≥G3 frequency (p = 0.0027), ≥G2 diarrhoea (p = 0.0033) and ≥G2 fatigue (p = 0.0088) in the non-IGRT group compared to the IGRT group. Other toxicities were not of significant statistical difference. Conclusions In this study, prostate cancer patients treated radically with IGRT had less severe urinary frequency, diarrhoea and fatigue during treatment compared to patients treated with non-IGRT. Onset of these symptoms was earlier in the non-IGRT group. IGRT results in less acute toxicity during radiotherapy in prostate cancer.

Argues that public relations and resource development, including long-range planning and marketing, have become integral functions in advancing the goals of Catholic elementary and secondary schools. Considers alumni giving, foundations, and other components of development programs. (DMM)

The links between tracked secondary schooling and social selection form part of a complex narrative regarding educational inequality in European schools. The relative contribution of family and school to unequal educational outcomes has dominated educational debates across the continent for more than 50 years. This article contributes to this debate by focusing on a sample of students in the final year of schooling in three schools in northern Italy. It asks whether there are social differences in enrolments and aspirations across the three different types of schools. It also considers whether aspirations can be linked to differences in levels of family support or to school-related factors. To examine these links, we consider four main ways of conceptualising aspirations and propose an approach that draws on theories explaining preference formation and choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a position paper on the assessment of the Selective Service Registration requirement particularly on the inclusion of women on counter insurgency (COIN) operation in reference on the changes to the Combat Exclusion Policy.

Examines the number of type of questions asked by the teachers of six high school social studies classes. Accounts on the levels of learning problems questions; Number of children identified as perceptually handicapped.