Editorial
| Author | Rosalind Hurworth |
| DOI | 10.1177/1035719X1101100101 |
| Published date | 01 March 2011 |
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Evaluation Journal of Australasia, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2011
2
Editorial
By the time you receive this issue of EJA, the
AES conference in Sydney will have come and
gone. So, I hope this will inspire some of you
to turn your papers into articles for the next
edition!
But turning to this issue, we bring you a mixed
bag in every sense of the word. First, we have
material that has emanated from right across
Australasia with authors from New Zealand,
South Australia, Victoria and Queensland. As
two pieces refer to international development
work and evaluations involving indigenous
groups, the cultural and geographic spread
feels even broader.
Second, the articles this time cover a variety
of contexts in which evaluations have taken
place, such as healthy eating programs, Work
for the Dole activities, organisational change,
international aid efforts, and early childhood
services.
Nevertheless, the articles fall into groups. The
first two deal with setting up evaluations and
dealing with issues that arise at that stage.
Thus, we start with an interesting paper by
Amohia Boulton and Te Kani Kingi who reflect
on the use of a Māori conceptual framework
to evaluate a complex ‘Healthy Eating, Health
Action’ strategy that is trying to combat obesity
in New Zealand. It demonstrates quite clearly
how valuable it is to work from a local and
culturally appropriate position.
The next article is also concerned with setting
up an evaluation, but this time emphasises the
importance of negotiation and planning right
from the outset. For those of you who are
novices or require a refresher on what needs to
be considered when drawing up an evaluation
plan, Theresa Scott and Yvonne Darlington
discuss planning elements and associated issues
while setting their discussion in a Work for
the Dole program activity. A proposed plan is
presented and this can be used for reference.
Still related to how to approach an evaluation,
the following article by Ruth Friedman is
labelled as a ‘methods’ piece. Ruth, like Amohia
and Te Kana, is writing about participatory work
but this time is looking at a particular approach
in some detail. The essay presents the key features
of Appreciative Inquiry but places a particular
emphasis on organisational change.
We then move to pieces that deal with two
significant issues that can pervade many evaluations:
gender issues and stakeholder conflict. The first of
these is written by Karen Newton who reviews the
policy and practices of NZAID, in order to help
illustrate the difficulty of keeping gender at the
forefront of international development evaluations.
This is followed by a discussion of evaluation
as a ‘circuit-breaker’ when there are problems
with hidden stakeholder conflict. The article by
Catherine Hurley et al explores the experiences of
an evaluation team when using evaluation to reveal
and confront conflicts among program and policy
staff involved in several community-based early
childhood heath services.
But before you begin reading, it is with great
pleasure that I am able to announce that a new
co-editor is joining me to help produce EJA:
Graeme Harvey. Many of you will already know of
Graeme’s past work for the Victorian Region and
others will have met him as organiser of the 2007
AES conference in Melbourne. Currently, Graeme
is working for the Department of Education and
Early Childhood Development, Victoria supporting
the school review process. I look forward to
working with Graeme who I know has a keen eye
for detail.
This now makes for a very strong team, as we
should also acknowledge the wonderful work of
Helen Andersen (Copy Editor), Ingrid Ciotti (cover/
page design and layout) and Darrell Caulley (Book
Review Editor). Without them and the watchful eye
of the Publications Committee, there would be no
journal!
Rosalind Hurworth
Editor
EJA_11_1.indb 2 6/11/11 5:37:04 PM
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting