Request a Catalog | Apply Now | 1.800.585.9658

Youth at Risk: An Australian Perspective

Sydney and other Regional Centers in New South Wales

2012 Program Dates: To be released in early 2011
2010 Program dates were: December 28, 2009 - January 22, 2010
GPA Requirement: 2.5/4.0

(Program will not be offered in 2011)
 

Highlights

• Includes guided travel in multicultural Sydney as well as other regional centers in New South Wales
• Earn academic credit from Augustana College (Sioux Falls, SD) transferable to your home degree
• Learn about working with youth at risk from an international and multicultural perspective

The Program

This is an introductory course on understanding and working with children who experience social and emotional challenges.  The opportunity to understand youth at risk and the adults who work with them in New South Wales, Australia provides an added benefit of a comparative perspective.  The content of this course will come to life when we visit first hand in Sydney, Newcastle, and Canberra, programs and agencies dedicated to serving youth at risk.  There will be opportunities to interact with children and youth in these programs and the men and women who serve them.     

Youth at risk have been referred to by a host of labels including emotionally disturbed, behaviorally disordered, youth in conflict, delinquent, deviant, wayward, maladjusted and at risk.  Most labels for these children are pejorative and fail to elicit empathy. We choose to use the label at risk with the understanding that all of us carry that label at some time in our life. In contrast to many courses in this field, this course seeks to emphasize strengths that might compensate for weaknesses, health instead of illness, normality instead of pathology, and hopefulness instead of professional cynicism.  This population is particularly threatening to untrained adults who are regularly lured in counter aggressive or avoidant behavior.  The course will emphasize the unmet needs that characterize troubled children and the powerful changes that can occur when adults are able to provide corrective human relationships. Those corrective relationships cannot happen without an understanding of self.  The troubled child presents a challenge that does not yield to simple answers.  Since no single approach holds all the answers, it is necessary to bridge various concepts of education and treatment to offer the best opportunity for positive change and growth. 

The course will be useful for those who choose to become teachers, special educators, youth workers, social workers, psychologists, youth ministry workers and parents.

Agencies and schools visited, guest presentations, mentoring experiences, reflective journaling and course assignments are designed to understand intervention and prevention from a positive, strength-based perspective.  Equally important, the work, play, and living that we do on this trip will provide insight in understanding self in relationship to others and hopefully, develop those personality traits that allow us to succeed with children who are often in pain.

The Circle of Courage™, developed by Augustana professors Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern, provides a unifying theme for understanding the needs of youth.  It will be the theoretical model that is the centerpiece of this course.  It will guide much of what we do. This model has been practiced in over 23 countries including schools and agencies we will visit in Australia.  

Winter 2009 Pictures

Number of Pictures: 1 of 13

About the Instructors

Steve Van Bockern is a professor of education and special education at Augustana College.  He directs the Augustana Institute for Reclaiming Students and he serves as President of Reclaiming Youth International, a non-profit organization that works to help adults better meet the needs of all children and youth.  He has lectured and presented worldwide including Scotland, Canada, Russia, Japan, Australia, South Africa and Thailand.  He is the co-author of the book Reclaiming Youth at Risk:  Our Hope for the Future and numerous other publications.  Dr. Van Bockern was a former public school teacher and principal. 

Sarah Drennan is a senior trainer for Circle of Courage, Inc and consults on behalf of Reclaiming Youth International, a non-profit organization that helps adults better meet the needs of all youth and the Augustana Institute for Reclaiming Students.   A licensed school psychologist and counselor, Ms. Drennan worked on the Hoopa reservation, northern California for over ten years. 

Locations and Guided Travel

The program is based primarily in and around Sydney and other regional areas in New South Wales (NSW). Described by the American Travel and Leisure Magazine as the ‘best city in the world’, Sydney (and the surrounding areas) has something exciting and captivating for everyone. Set around a magnificent harbor are such world-famous icons as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and an Opera House which has been awarded “the building of the 20th century” by the Guggenheim Institute.

Accommodations

Students will be accommodated in fully furnished apartments while in Sydney. They are ideally situated for easy access to Bondi Beach (5-10 minute bus ride) and the city center. The units also come with cable television, air-conditioning, internal laundry with washer and dryer, landline phone service, weekly cleaning service, linens, towels, on-site building management, 24-hour security access, and enclosed balconies with city or harbor views. The complex also has a lap pool, exercise room, spa, basketball courts, sauna, virtual golf center, and tennis courts.

Teaching

Course size is restricted to thirty students allowing greater student participation and a more hands-on approach to learning. The Unit coordinators are Steve Van Bockern, professor of education and special education at Augustana College, and Sarah Drennan, senior trainer for Circle of Courage. In addition, there will be other Study Australia students participating in other winter courses. Most will be following similar itineraries, thus allowing for participants to meet and interact with other students.

Program Fees

Fees for Winter 2010 are estimated to be $6,490 in total. The total program fees include: Tuition (4 credits on an Augustana College transcript), roundtrip international airfare (assuming departure on the group flight from Minneapolis), accommodation, excursion costs, airport shuttle services, orientation program, and approximately 30 Group Meals. The program fee does not include all other meals, airfares, or other personal expenses.

The breakdown of program costs are as follows: Estimated Program Fee - $3,855; Mandatory Insurance - $35; Augustana Tuition - $500; Estimated Airfare - $2,100 (roundtrip international, assuming departure on the group flight from Minneapolis).  Final program costs will be released shortly.

Email  for more information.

Visa Requirements

You may participate in the winter program without applying for a "student" visa. Instead, you may attend the program by applying for a tourist visa, provided that the combined length of any studies you undertake in Australia is not more than three months in length. Upon booking your international ticket to Australia the airline or travel agent can issue the free electronic tourist visa.

Travel

International air travel is organized through Qantas. Packages have been designed to allow students to spend time in the tropical north of Australia on the Great Barrier Reef at the completion of each program, or in a host of destinations such as New Zealand or Hawaii on their return to the US, at little or no extra cost. Upon application participants will be provided complete airfare details.

Credit

Participants in the program are able to obtain credits through universities and colleges in the United States and Europe. This program is approved by Augustana College and students will receive their grades on an Augustana College transcript. Credit transfer (4 U.S. credits total) is subject to home institution regulations so please consult your academic advisor for guidance. Study Australia and Augustana College will provide all documentation to overseas institutions to assist in credit transfer.

Admission Requirements and Application

Students should be currently enrolled at an approved degree-granting institution of higher education. This is an introductory course on understanding and working with children who experience social and emotional challenges. It assumes no, or very little previous tertiary level experience in the field. However, this course will be useful for those who choose to become teachers, special educators, youth workers, social workers, psychologists, youth ministry workers and parents. This course also has a minimum GPA requirement of 2.5/4.0. For interested students who fall below the minimum GPA requirement, please contact to determine eligibility. 

Interested students can download the Study Australia application or apply on-line.

There is a $30 application fee. In addition, after acceptance a $500 deposit is required... the deposit is no longer refundable.  Both Augustana and non-Augustana students are required to submit the Application Fee and Program Deposit directly to Study Australia.

Application Deadline: Applications are assessed on a rolling basis until all spots are filled. We suggest interested students apply by October 15, 2011 to avoid disappointment. However, all spots could fill before October 15, 2011.

A pre-departure package for the program will be sent to the applicant once accepted into the program.

© 1997-2010 Study Australia  |   Home  |   About Us  |   Contact Us  |   VAM  |   Privacy Policy  |   Site Map