Objective. Joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) is characterized by an association between joint hypermobility and musculoskeletal pains, the latter occurring in the absence of any objective indicator of rheumatic disease. The lack of a recognizable disease marker makes this condition difficult to identify and manage. We previously observed that patients with JHS have impaired proprioception compared with that of a matched control group. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a home-based exercise program could produce objective enhancement of proprioception as well as alleviate symptoms in JHS.Methods. A threshold detection paradigm was used to assess knee joint proprioception, balance was assessed using a balance board, and quadriceps and hamstring strength were measured by an isokinetic dynamometer. A visual analog scale was used to assess musculoskeletal pain, and quality of life was evaluated by a Short Form 36 questionnaire. Assessments were performed before and after an 8-week program of progressive closed kinetic chain exercises.Results. Following the exercise program, proprioceptive acuity increased in 16 of 18 subjects and was very significantly improved overall (P < 0.001). There was a comparable improvement in performance on the balance board (P < 0.001), and quadriceps and hamstring strength also increased significantly. Symptomatic improvement also occurred, in terms of both pain (P ‫؍‬ 0.003) and quality-of-life (P ‫؍‬ 0.029 for physical functioning; P ‫؍‬ 0.008 for mental health) scores.Conclusion. Appropriate exercises lead not only to symptomatic improvement, but also to demonstrable enhancement of objective parameters such as proprioception.

The 'Other' side of the easel: questioning art education through a postcolonial frameThe familiar practice of sending young children to the painting easel (usually unassisted) to create artwork, a masterpiece, epitomizes resilient, modernist preconceptions about artistic ability. ABSTRACTIn this article I combine a researcher voice (reflective practitioner, Schon 1983) with the neo-narrative reporting strategy of Stewart (1996) to blend and blur a researchteaching nexus. I elaborate on a four-pronged strategy that encourages my preservice primary teachers to recognize and challenge some of the western art world's longstanding exclusive discourses. The teaching approaches are informed directly by my post-structuralist doctoral research and postmodern art education alignment (Ashton 1999a(Ashton , 2008.

Racism has often been expressed in the form of physical violations of human rights, soul destroying emotional taunts and deliberate policies of social exclusion. Many educators who oppose such an approach would be horrified to find racist origins embedded in the aesthetic discourses which they have taken up as their own. In this paper I trace racist imagery and ideology in my own childhood, early schooling and adult art learning, and connect this with the persistent silencing of the black 'other' in the story of modernist art.As an educator of future art teachers the deconstruction of racist discourses is as essential as it is for pre-service students in their own emergent art pedagogy. Abstract JADE 20.1

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As part of art education studies, pre-service teachers at JCU have been active in public and community art projects 1999-2009. These works for and with diverse regional communities have been varied, challenging and on a number of levels, highly successful. A consistent theme in the works is the wet and dry tropical imagery of North Queensland. A visual overview will be presented of major projects to illustrate highlights, lowlights and issues. The presentation will celebrate imagination, diversity and how the process of making large scale artworks can be a catalyst for collaboration, education, research, lateral thinking, commitment to active citizenship and facilitation of strong, inclusive community partnerships.