Flinders experts are contributing valuable input to a new kids’ body image documentary, road safety innovation for sleepy drivers, UK reading and literacy instruction, and examining the narratives of Japanese war art from WWII.
New grant for study into Japanese war art
Dr Tets Kimura from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences has been awarded the 2021 David Philips Travel fellowship for his project into “Japanese war art from the Second World War: Discovering the art, individual emotions and historical records in Japan”.
Dr Kimura’s work looks into how Japanese war art produced in Australian camps can educate about various individuals’ lived experiences of the war.
The funds from the Australian Academy of the Humanities fellowship will allow Dr Kimura to travel to Japan to study additional Japanese war art and craft works to investigate complicating narratives of fear, violence, and misunderstanding, and enrich the history of WWII from individual viewpoints expressed through art.
Documentary on body image in children
Associate Professor Ivanka Prichard from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences will guide a new documentary that will look into why 70% of Australian school kids consider body image to be their number one concern, and what can be done about this situation.
The South Australian Film Corporation and Screen Australia have announced investment for Embrace Kids, a follow-up to Taryn Brumfit’s 2016 break-out documentary Embrace, which was released in Australia and New Zealand by Transmission Films and subsequently screened in over 190 countries.
Associate Professor Prichard and Dr Zali Yager from Body Confident Mums are both body image experts and will be providing guidance to the new documentary on what the research says helps to promote positive body image in young people.
“Often the media is painted in a negative light for its impact on body image concern. Countering this, and following in the footsteps of the original Embrace film, I’m hoping Embrace Kids will positively impact the way kids feel about themselves and their bodies,” says Associate Professor Prichard.
Funding for road safety innovation
A Flinders University study into “Determining the effectiveness of vestibular and ocular motor function screening assessments for identifying sleepy drivers” has recently been awarded federal funding in an effort to reduce road fatalities around Australia.
The study by Dr David Stevens, Associate Professor Andrew Vakulin and Professor Robert Adams will receive $375,000 worth of funding from Round 2 of the Australian Government’s Road Safety Innovation Fund.
Excessive sleepiness and falling asleep while driving is a major cause of motor vehicle accidents in Australia. The study will look into using ocular and vestibular reflex testing systems to identify drivers who are excessively sleepy before they get behind the wheel, to reduce motor vehicle accidents around the country.
Key UK education policy paper includes input from Flinders
A paper from Caring Futures Institute researchers Professor Joanne Arciuli and Dr Benjamin Bailey is among a handful of expert Australian references made in a major new policy paper for schools released by the UK Government.
Their 2021 discussion paper on literacy instruction for autistic children is cited in a major UK gov report which covers the science of reading and literacy instruction.
The influential policy to all schools in the UK recommends evidence-based education policy and includes the dos and don’ts of literacy – such as children with developmental disabilities should be given the same sorts of literacy training in classrooms as all other children.
‘The Promise of Comprehensive Early Reading Instruction for Children With Autism and Recommendations for Future Directions’ review article was published in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (19 Jan 2021) DOI: 10.1044/2020_LSHSS-20-00019.
Professor Arciuli is Dean (Research), College of Nursing and Health Sciences and theme lead of Methodological Innovations at the Caring Futures Institute.