Our visiting scholar Dr Zinnia Mevawalla, joined A/Prof Kathy Cologon and myself to meet the CSU kangaroos and enjoy the sunset over Bathurst. It was a perfect rural Australian moment during her visit.
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| There were too many kangaroos to count! |
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| We saw the rare albino kangaroo on Mt Panorama! |
Welcome to Wiebke Freese who is a PhD student at the University of Lubeck (Universität zu Lübeck), Germany who is visiting the Children's Voices Centre and The Treehouse on the Bathurst campus of Charles Sturt University. It is a joy to host her.
Wiebke's supervisor is Prof Annette Fox-Boyer - a long-term colleague who has taught me a lot about German children's speech. Interestingly, Dr Sarah Masso, my previous PhD student undertook her postdoctoral scholarship with Annette a few years ago. Last time I saw Wiebke and Annette was at the ICPLA conference in Patras Greece.
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| A/Prof Tamara Cumming, Wiebke Freese and Prof Sharynne McLeod at the Children's Voices Centre |
Weibke has been welcomed by CSU kangaroos, beautiful skies, and friendly colleagues.
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| Welcome Wiebke |
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| Kangaroos on CSU's Bathurst campus |
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| Sunset on Wiebke's first night in Bathurst |
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| Bathurst's Machattie Park |
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| Wiebke in The Beehive at The Treehouse |
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| Wiebke's bee-inspired gifts for The Treehouse |
Today Prof Lynn Williams and I walked for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation Annual 5K Walk/Run (https://www.ashfoundation.org/). Lynn registered us for the event - and we enjoyed sharing the walk with our husbands, friends, and over 80 kangaroos!
2025 ASHFoundation Virtual 5K Walk/Run - 14 September 2025
Registration is now open for the ASHFoundation’s 6th Annual Virtual 5K, taking place September 12–14, 2025. Walk, run, or roll from wherever you are—and on your own schedule—to support innovation in communication sciences and disorders. Participate as an individual or form a team. Every step you take helps fund research grants, scholarships, and new breakthroughs in speech, language, and hearing. Join a movement that’s making a difference across the country and around the world.
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| Wattle |
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| Sharynne with Prof Lynn Williams |
There have been a lot of kangaroos on campus lately. Today a very large kangaroo was outside my office window.
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| A large kangaroo outside my office window |
It was my pleasure to host Dr Olebeng Mahura in Bathurst this weekend. I first met Olebeng at the ICPLA conference in 2016 in Halifax, Canada. We have kept in touch - and Olebeng co-authored four chapters in The Oxford Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World that I edited.
It was great to show her around Charles Sturt University and Bathurst.
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| Olebeng saw 144 kangaroos at CSU and Mt Panorama including the rare albino and a wallaby |
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| Olebeng visiting the TRex in the Fossil and Mineral Museum |
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| Sharynne and Olebeng next to the replica of the largest gold nugget ever found in the world (near Bathurst) |
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| Olebeng in my office at CSU |
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| Olebeng visited The Treehouse |
SpeechOn: https://www.speechon.co/about
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| Emily Davis, Angela Roberts, Sharynne McLeod, Jon Preston, Lauren after Jon's presentation |
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| Sharynne and Jon comparing notes about electropalatography and ultrasound |
I’m really pleased you are going to experience Australia today. As you travel, think about our big country, small population, and the continuing challenges of fires, floods, drought etc. Then look at the map of the whole of Australia and notice that Bathurst actually is extremely close to Sydney - in fact on a number of measures we are not even considered to be “rural” and we definitely are not “remote”. Then overlay those thoughts with being a family with communication disorders/other issues...
In the process of constructing post-2015 development global frameworks, education is increasingly seen globally to be a powerful tool for preparing students to enter the labor market as well as to create a peaceful and sustainable society. International and comparative educational research conducted on the achievement of the EFA goals has clearly revealed that despite important efforts accomplished in many countries, there are still serious challenges in terms of the quality of education that is offered. The paper examines the extent to which a minimum Quality of Education For All (QEFA) can be reached through effective use and application of evidence-based international and comparative educational research. Global efforts to attain QEFA are examined by investigating major international surveys of learning outcomes. The case of Arab states demonstrates diverse socio economic and political contexts of each country and should be reflected in regional strategies to achieve QEFA. Evidence from data on national, regional and international assessments indicates that low achievement is globally widespread and stronger government intervention will be needed. This research demonstrates that the diversity of learning conditions and environment across and within countries should be carefully reflected into quality assurance by enhancing each individual´s learning potentials.
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| Ben Pham, Sally Lamping, Vinay Chinapah, Shukla Sikder, Sharynne McLeod |
Vinayagum Chinapah (Sweden and Mauritius) is Professor, Chair Holder and Head of the Institute of International Education (IIE), Department of Education, Stockholm University, Sweden since 2009. Professor Chinapah has been the Director of the Joint UNESCO-UNICEF International Program on Monitoring the Quality of Education and Learning Achievement which covered some 80 countries world-wide during the period (1992-2006). He also served for one year as UNESCO Regional Educational Adviser for the Arab States, UNESCO Regional Office, Beirut, Lebanon (2007-2008) before returning back to lead IIE in January 2009. Professor Chinapah is member of various research associations and research councils and author and co-author of some 70 books, chapters in books, scientific journal articles as well as some 160 reports, conference papers, training manuals and prototypes for capacity building workshops world-wide. He has done research, training, and consultancies for several UN agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF. UNDP, FAO); International agencies (The World Bank, OECD); bilateral agencies (SIDA, Finnish CIMO, CIDA, Commonwealth Secretariat) and several national governments and institutions in some 140 countries world-wide over the past 35 years.
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| Prof. Vinay Chinapah receiving a CSU boomerang |
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| Kangaroos in Bathurst |
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| Prof Chinapah saw 20+ kangaroos near the university |
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| Joeys in their mothers' pouches |
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| Pam Williams and Sharynne at Jenolan Caves |
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| Sharynne, Ben Pham and Pam Williams chatting about Pam's research |
