1997 QUT Handbook

of young children. The overriding goal of the Centre
is to sustain a nucleus of expertise and research
activity which is at the forefront of progress in areas
concerning the development, education, and welfare
of young children and to bring the benefits of this
knowledge to QUT and the community at large.
The Centre for Applied Studies in Early Childhood
has three main objectives:
to conduct high quality research which is at the
leading edge of current theory and practice in
relation to the development, education and wellbeing
of young children
to provide postgraduate training to meet the needs
and demands of early childhood professionals
to make available both to professional groups and
the community at large expertise, advice and
consultancy aimed at enhancing the well-being of
young children, their families, teachers and other
care providers.
Research and Teaching
The research activities of the Centre fall within the
four areas outlined below. At least one of the
principal researchers in the Centre is actively
involved in research and teaching in each of these
areas. Expertise in both quantitative and qualitative
research exists within the Centre.
Reconceptualising early childhood programs:
This includes critically examining current knowledge
underpinning the work of teachers in the early
childhood programs emerging in the 1990s. Theories
that will more effectively inform teachers’ work with
young children and their parents are expected
outcomes of this research.
The management and provision of quality child
care: This includes examination of the training and
roles of child care providers and investigation of the
child care accreditation process, as well as the impact
of child care on children and parents.
Factors influencing normal patterns of child
development: This includes the Centre’s
longitudinal study, which encompasses a number of
different aspects of development. Some research in
this area focuses on the process of development and
some examines the effects of environmental factors
on development.
Children and families with special needs: This
research area is concerned with the influence of
disability or atypical family environments on
children’s development.
The Centre has the expertise, resources and facilities
to support research, training, postgraduate
supervision and service commitments in these areas
of specialisation. Its achievements are highly
regarded at state and national level and it is
continuing to enhance its reputation in the
international arena.
Director: Associate Professor Heather Mohay,
BSc(Hons) Leicester, DippAppPsych (Clinical)
Liverpool, PhD Qld, C.Psychol, ABPsS MAPsS.
CENTRE FOR COMMUNITY AND
CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES
Both the staff and postgraduate students in the
Schools of Humanities and Social Science are
involved in research, consultancies and community
service with the Centre for Community and Cross
Cultural Studies. The Centre focuses on social,
cultural, creative, political, psychological, emotional
and moral dimensions of community life in plural
societies.
The Centre comprises five programs:
1) Community Studies and Counselling
Program
Individual/group/family counselling
Psychology (including organisational, social,
cognitive, experimental, neuropsychology)
Human Services (welfare and counselling services
delivered in government/community/residential/
Federal/State/Church/commercial settings for the
disabled/youth/children and families/ the aged/
migrants and refugees/ offenders in prison, home
detention or in community corrections facilities
or on probation or parole
2)Community Health and Well-being Program
including:
drug and alcohol abuse /rehabilitation/ education
occupational health and safety
rural health issues
measuring the quality of life of cancer patients
drugs in sport
quantitative and qualitative data analysis
3)Colonialism and Culture in Asia Program
Asian opium trade
ethnic issues in Malaysia and Singapore
ethnic politics in Asia
politics and violence in South-East Asia
4)Four Worlds Program
ethnographic research into indigenous peoples, race,
ethnicity, multiculturalism, cross-cultural studies
under two main fields:
(a) Sociological, political, criminological research
(b) Community recovery research
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