scholarly journals What do young people think of development?: An exploration into the meanings young people make from NGO media

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rachel Alexa Margaret Tallon

<p>Young people are not passive, homogenous audiences of media that is produced by international humanitarian and development organisations (NGOs). They actively read and engage with the messages cognitively and emotionally and in the process create new meanings. This thesis is an investigation into what interpretations young people make from NGO media. The twin goals of education and fundraising present certain difficulties for NGOs who view developed world schools as a key site for awareness-raising for both their brand and global issues of injustice. Critics are concerned that when representation is aligned directly and simplistically with charity, powerful messages are signalled to the viewers. The nature and impact of these messages are yet to be fully understood as there is little empirical evidence of how young people receive and interpret NGO media.  This research directly addresses this gap. The research identifies and maps various interpretations that young people have on encountering images and messages produced by NGOs. Year 10 social studies classrooms were chosen as the context for data collection and 118 young people and seven teachers from five diverse secondary schools in New Zealand participated. They were canvassed using qualitative methods that included focus groups. The approach for this research was informed by postdevelopment critique which examines the power of the discourse of development in constructing ideas about people and development.  The findings show young people to be astute and critical interpreters of NGO media. Teachers reported that NGO media is very influential and could be problematic in forming a solely negative view of the global South. Most of the young people approved of the sector’s charitable work but many expressed doubts about NGO expenditure and the accuracy of the imagery. A key finding is that many said they knew the images were designed to make them feel guilty in order to elicit action which was usually a donation. The findings support other research among adults and show the early development of attitudes towards NGOs and ideas about the developing world. The significance of a conflicting emotional response towards NGO marketing is a central finding for this thesis. This conflict of wanting to help and yet not being able to do so created a tangible tension within the young people and affected how they viewed people in the global South. Young people in New Zealand are emerging actors in the global development industry and their ideas will shape North-South interactions in the future. This research directly contributes to understanding the power of the NGO sector to mediate global relations across difference, a process of which there are moral and political implications.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rachel Alexa Margaret Tallon

<p>Young people are not passive, homogenous audiences of media that is produced by international humanitarian and development organisations (NGOs). They actively read and engage with the messages cognitively and emotionally and in the process create new meanings. This thesis is an investigation into what interpretations young people make from NGO media. The twin goals of education and fundraising present certain difficulties for NGOs who view developed world schools as a key site for awareness-raising for both their brand and global issues of injustice. Critics are concerned that when representation is aligned directly and simplistically with charity, powerful messages are signalled to the viewers. The nature and impact of these messages are yet to be fully understood as there is little empirical evidence of how young people receive and interpret NGO media.  This research directly addresses this gap. The research identifies and maps various interpretations that young people have on encountering images and messages produced by NGOs. Year 10 social studies classrooms were chosen as the context for data collection and 118 young people and seven teachers from five diverse secondary schools in New Zealand participated. They were canvassed using qualitative methods that included focus groups. The approach for this research was informed by postdevelopment critique which examines the power of the discourse of development in constructing ideas about people and development.  The findings show young people to be astute and critical interpreters of NGO media. Teachers reported that NGO media is very influential and could be problematic in forming a solely negative view of the global South. Most of the young people approved of the sector’s charitable work but many expressed doubts about NGO expenditure and the accuracy of the imagery. A key finding is that many said they knew the images were designed to make them feel guilty in order to elicit action which was usually a donation. The findings support other research among adults and show the early development of attitudes towards NGOs and ideas about the developing world. The significance of a conflicting emotional response towards NGO marketing is a central finding for this thesis. This conflict of wanting to help and yet not being able to do so created a tangible tension within the young people and affected how they viewed people in the global South. Young people in New Zealand are emerging actors in the global development industry and their ideas will shape North-South interactions in the future. This research directly contributes to understanding the power of the NGO sector to mediate global relations across difference, a process of which there are moral and political implications.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 686-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjay Asthana

Through the study of two UNICEF-supported youth media initiatives from Palestine, this article theorizes and generates new empirical knowledge about the encounter between constructions of youth in rights-based discourses of UNICEF and young people’s digital media narratives. The research encountered instances where the universal discourse of children’s rights did not connect with the local realities of youth (constraints) but found that young people translate children’s rights to construct new meanings to suit their local contexts and experiences (possibilities).


Author(s):  
Mark Sheehan ◽  
Martyn Davison

This article examines the extent to which young people in New Zealand share the dominant beliefs and assumptions that inform contemporary notions of war remembrance concerning the First World War. In particular, it considers how they make meaning of the ANZAC/Gallipoli narrative. Informed by two empirical studies, it questions whether young people uncritically accept the dominant cultural memory messages about the First World War that shape commemorative activities or whether they share a wider range of perspectives on war remembrance. While the purpose of commemorative activities is to convey particular memory messages about appropriate ways to remember the First World War, young people are not passive in this process. Although they typically do not demonstrate a firm grasp of all the relevant historical details about the First World War, when given the opportunity to do so they appear to be engaging critically with the production of cultural memory messages about war remembrance.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiran Thabrew ◽  
Karolina Stasiak ◽  
Harshali Kumar ◽  
Tarique Naseem ◽  
Christopher Frampton ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Approximately 10% to 12% of New Zealand children and young people have long-term physical conditions (also known as chronic illnesses) and are more likely to develop psychological problems, particularly anxiety and depression. Delayed treatment leads to worse physical and mental healthcare, school absence, and poorer long-term outcomes. Recently, electronic health (eHealth) interventions, especially those based on the principles of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), have been shown to be as good as face-to-face therapy. Biofeedback techniques have also been shown to enhance relaxation during the treatment of anxiety. However, these modalities have rarely been combined. Young people with long-term physical conditions have expressed a preference for well-designed and technologically-based support to deal with psychological issues, especially anxiety. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to co-design and evaluate the (i) acceptability and (ii) usability of a CBT and biofeedback-based, 5-module eHealth game called ‘Starship Rescue’ and (iii) to provide preliminary evidence regarding its effectiveness in addressing anxiety and quality of life in young people with long-term physical conditions. METHODS Starship Rescue was co-designed with children and young people from a tertiary hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Following this, 24 young people aged 10 to 17 years were enrolled in an open trial, during which they were asked to use the game for an 8-week period. Acceptability of the game to all participants was assessed using a brief, open-ended questionnaire, and more detailed feedback was obtained from a subset of 10 participants via semi-structured interviews. Usability was evaluated via the System Usability Scale (SUS) and device-recorded frequency and duration of access on completion of the game. Anxiety levels were measured prior to commencement, on completion of the game, and 3 months later using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) and Spence Child Anxiety Scales (SCAS), and at the start of each module and at the end of the game using an embedded Likert/visual analog scale. Quality of life was measured prior to commencement and on completion of the game using the Pediatric Quality of Life Scale (PEDS-QL). RESULTS Users gave Starship Rescue an overall rating of 5.9 out of 10 (range 3-10 and a mean score of 71 out of 100 (SD 11.7; min 47.5; max 90) on the System Usability Scale (SUS). The mean time period for use of the game was just over 11-weeks (78.8 days, 13.5 hours, 40 minutes). Significant reductions in anxiety were noted between the start and end of the game on the GAD-7 (-4.6 (p=0.000)), SCAS (-9.6 (p=0.005)), and the Likert/visual analogue scales (-2.4 (p=0.001)). Quality of life also improved on the PedsQL scale (+4.3 (p=0.042)). All changes were sustained at 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS This study provides preliminary evidence for Starship Rescue being an acceptable, usable and effective eHealth intervention for addressing anxiety in young people with long-term physical conditions. Further evaluation is planned via a more formal randomized controlled trial. CLINICALTRIAL Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Network Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12616001253493p;https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=371443 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6sYB716lf)


Author(s):  
Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen ◽  
Alessandra Severino da Silva Manchinery

This essay looks at the construction of personhood in Brazilian Amazonia from the perspective of Indigenous youth. In Amazonian sociocosmology, personhood is constructed relationally, a process in which the body is a distinctive factor. Consequently, during schooling and university studies, young people have responded to and resisted representations and policies that have often silenced Indigenous voices and limited their fabrication of bodies. The contemporary social responsibilities of Indigenous youth and the challenges faced in undertaking them shape how their subjectivity, agency, and recognized social belonging are being constantly increased, removed, or even denied. The essay draws from anthropological theories of relational personhood, as well as ideas of geo- and body-politics present in theorizing on the Global South.


2020 ◽  
pp. 089202062096985
Author(s):  
Karen Starr

Fundamental widespread changes affecting education’s purposes, policies and practices have had transformational repercussions for school business across the developed world. Subsequently, school business demands and accountabilities continue to escalate in scope and complexity and governments, education authorities and school communities are acknowledging the primacy and imperative of proficient school business leadership. International research chronicling the subsequent rapid professionalisation of school business leaders demonstrates pervasive policy moves that have re-focused school business priorities. Drawing on research conducted in Australia, USA, UK, Canada and New Zealand this article describes recent widespread changes before discussing issues and trends portending future professional adaptation for school business leaders whose work lies at the cross hairs of macro pressures and micro necessities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaaliny Jaufar

Abstract Background Engagement of young people is essential for achieving sustainable outcomes both locally and in the global context. Democratic processes appear to be the most facilitative mechanism to hold governments to account with governments becoming more receptive to pro-environmental policies when there is input from citizens to do so. While there is concern about a general lack of participation in traditional forms of political processes, particularly among young people, there are those who are carving a space for themselves as active citizens within a system that is often times contradictory to their lives. In this context, this paper looks at the lived experiences of a small sample of active young people in Kulhudhuffushi island of Maldives and Hamilton, New Zealand to examine the contexts and conditions that lead to and sustain these forms of sustainable citizenship. Results In-depth interviews conducted with young people in both locations found similarities within both groups in terms of motivating factors, knowledge and support networks, lifestyle practices, and conceptualisations of citizenship. Early exposure to natural environments, role models and participation in actions and networks helped to create active citizenship, while lack of conducive spaces and cultural attitudes impeded activism. Conclusion The results show that providing opportunities for early interactions with nature, and participation in actions and activist networks is vital for fostering and sustaining active citizenship. Additionally local and national groups and institutions need to facilitate spaces conducive for organising and alternative narratives, as well as promoting a counter culture to the current carbon heavy system. The findings contribute to literature on listening to youth voices in environmental and climate activism.


1973 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Tyler ◽  
J. Peter Wogart

One of the more recent and interesting contributions in the field of development has been the theory of dependence. This theory seeks to explain the most pressing problems of the less-developed world in terms of the relations between the developing and developed areas. Stagnation, unemployment, income inequality, and regional disequilibria are all seen as directly related to a less-developed country's position vis-à-vis the developed and capitalist world. Unfortunately, the theory of dependence has become something of a cause célèbre. It is either eagerly accepted or scornfully rejected as a matter of faith—primarily because of its political implications and overtones. Those who accept it embrace it willfully and rally to defend it against any possible detractors. Those who reject it generally choose to ignore it as either not serious or unworthy of careful attention and consideration.


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