This paper reports the findings of a study that involved 236 primary and secondary school counsellors employed by the Queensland Department of Education. The study was undertaken as a formative evaluation process prior to the redevelopment of the counsellor education program offered by the Department of Education at The University of Queensland. The survey questionnaire asked informants to evaluate the importance of various practices and skills and the degree to which these were developed during training. Another section of the questionnaire asked counsellors to identify the relevance of several conceptual or knowledge bases to their day-to-day counselling practice and, again, how well these were covered during counsellor training. The results have provided an understanding of the identity of counsellors in primary and secondary settings based upon their perceptions, and indicated areas in which counsellor education can be augmented.

A picture is emerging of how Australian young people cope with matters which concern them. This paper draws comparisons between how a group of young people who have been identified by their teachers as ‘able’, and those in the general community, deal with their problems. The picture that emerges is one where ‘able’ young people are more focused on working hard and dealing directly with problems rather than engaging in wishful fantasy or giving up in resignation. However they are less likely to engage in intimate relationships with their peers which may be a reflection of their more restricted social development.

Confusion exists with regard to the substantive difference between self-concept and self-esteem. In an endeavour to cast some light on this confusion two studies were conducted with 1193 preadolescents using modified versions of two commonly used instruments designed to measure self-concept and self-esteem. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that both these instruments measure specific facets of the same construct, namely self-concept. General or global self-concept proved to be a difficult construct to measure in preadolescent students.

Parents have the right to participate in the educational planning for their child with a disability, however they often need assistance when interacting with professionals to ensure the best programs for their children. Professionals also require guidelines and opportunities to develop appropriate communication skills when interacting with other professionals and parents. This paper investigates the level of participatory decision-making which exists between parents and professionals, and professionals amongst themselves. The present thrust for including children with a disability in mainstream schools is used as the contextual setting for this investigation. Furthermore, the author presents an intervention plan based on the Collaborative Consultation Model to enhance the participatory decision-making skills of parents and professionals at the local school level.

Schein (1991) has argued that it is of critical importance to understand and facilitate the process of adaptation in career choice among older teenagers. This study has investigated career choice adaptation among Australian high school students in regard to the tourism and hospitality industry, a context which offers growing potential for employment and careers for many Australian school leavers. Five hundred and ninety-four students enrolled in Years 11 and 12 in five State high schools from the Far North Queensland region were sampled so as to examine work motivation, success perception, job attainment strategies and further education preferences in respect of employment in the tourism and hospitality industry. Many students demonstrated high levels of motivation to attain tourism and hospitality industry employment on leaving school, but were somewhat less confident of attaining such employment. Technical and Further Education (TAFE) training was most highly ranked as the preferred mode of post-secondary school education. It was also found that those students who demonstrated no preparedness to consider post-secondary school education were more likely to opt for a job attainment strategy involving present skill requirements of employers, whereas male students were more likely to opt for a job attainment strategy which focused on good health alone. Further analyses revealed high vocational motivation and high success perception to be associated with a job attainment strategy involving the anticipation of future requirements of employers. Universities were regarded as suitable for providing high academic qualifications, whereas TAFE institutions were regarded as suitable for providing qualifications appropriate to present employer requirements. Finally In-house training was regarded as highly suitable forequippingstudents with skills and training appropriate to anticipated future requirements of employers. This study has delineated clear patterns of adaptation in regard to tourism and hospitality industry career choice perceptions, and has thus provided some basic understanding of the adaptation process in career choice regarding the Australian tourism and hospitality industry, together with some directions for further research in this area. The implications of these findings for students, careers counsellors and for the tourism and hospitality industry are examined.

Achenbach and Edelbrock (1983) classify childhood problems into two very broad categories identified as either externalising or internalising disorders. Most school counsellors, school psychologists or guidance officers working with children and adolescents are familiar with the category of externalising disorders as these children exhibit problems in self-management and self control. These children are often noisy, aggressive, impulsive and non-compliant and fit into such categories as oppositional disorders, conduct disorders and attention deficit hyperactive disorders. In comparison to externalising problems such as attention deficit-hyperactive behaviours or oppositional and conduct disorders, the internalising disorder category may fail to receive the kind of attention they warrant. Internalising disorders of childhood may include such problems as excessive quietness and shyness, separation anxiety, over-anxious and avoidance problems. Normal, healthy and well cared-for children may experience rejection.

This paper explores resistance and contextual variables which impinge on the successful implementation, adoption and management of critical incidents. Time constraints and uncertainty are two constant and overriding forces within the critical incident framework. These implicit pressures interact within different levels of the culture of the organisation, school or community. Two distinct yet interactive levels are discussed. They are the idiographic or personal domain, and the nomothetic or social system domain. The idiographic dimension includes personality variables as well as the role of the key stakeholders in critical incident management. The nomothetic dimension involves the organisation's social system, which has process variables and linkage mechanisms which need to be understood so that successful critical incident management can be ensured.

Resistance, or refusal to comply, has been a common pervading and often intangible force in schools in relation to the management of critical incidents. My perception of this opposition to the design and implementation of critical incident management plans has been the driving force for me to think about reasons why this is so, to collect research and to write this paper.

On a continuum, resistance and its opposite, acceptance, represent the endpoints of a critical incident management perspective. Opposition or resistance to a new idea, in this case, critical incident management, can be counteracted by guidance, knowledge and involvement. These are the principles of two well known models of problem solving: the Discount Hierarchy used in the NSW Child Protection Program (1988) and the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM, Loucks etal., 1975).

The measure of mathematics anxiety most widely used in screening and as a before and after measure to evaluate the impact of interventions is the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) devised by Suinn, Edie, Nicoletti, and Spinelli (1972). Alexander and Cobb (1987), Hunsley (1987), Richardson and Suinn (1972), Trent and Fournet (1987), Hadfield and Maddux (1988), Ferguson (1986), and Dew, Galassi and Galassi (1984), have used it; Wigfield and Meece (1988) refer to it as the most frequently used measure of mathematics anxiety; and Englehard (1990) recommends its use by future researchers. It was given qualified approval in a review by Hannafin (1985), and though Knapp's review (1985) was rather negative, he does concede that it has little or no competition.

Suinn and Edwards (1982) produced a version of the scale for adolescents (MARS-A). As noted by Hannafin (1985), it is virtually indistinguishable from the original, the differences involving minor and infrequent word substitutions.

The Monkland Integration Program (MIP) was designed to provide appropriate education for students of primary school age with various disabilities through a regular class program (Penn, Stephens & Quadrio, 1992). The group would progress through the school with their peers thus affording parents with a possible seven year placement at one school. The specialist teacher would be chiefly responsible for monitoring each placement, recommending modifications as necessary. Commonwealth funding would support the program both financially and through the allocation of an aide primarily for the group. Monkland's School Development Plan would incorporate the needs of this group also.

The paper by Penn et al. (1992) looked at the planning and implementation of the project from the organisational perspective, while this paper provides a report from the classroom teacher's perspective.

A ceiling for the total group was set at eight members with an option to use those places as full or part-time positions. This opened the program at Monkland to parents with children in other settings as an opportunity for social involvement with age-peers.

Four children arrived to begin school initially in Term one of 1991. They were enrolled to join a Year One/Two class with a population reflecting any other class yet containing some children particularly particularly recognised as good role models and some with learning difficulties. (Class total was 25 full-time pupils.) The class was staffed at this time by two teachers (one regular teacher and one specialist teacher), and fifteen hours/ week aide time.