Melanie Baak
Biographic Data
| ID | 4052604 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melanie Baak |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melanie |
| FAMILY NAME | Baak |
| SIGNATURE | BAAK M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of South Australia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0745-1352 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 75 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The Australian refugee education policyscape: Why it is so fragmented, inconsistent and problematic
Australia’s refugee education policy development occurs within a fragmented and evolving landscape, shaped by competing priorities, historical precedents, and shifting political and economic contexts. While English language acquisition has dominated policy discourse, emphasis on policies for wellbeing and inclusion have gained prominence in recent years. However, significant gaps persist, leaving educators to navigate inconsistent and often ambig…
The coloniality of employment selection processes: Black Africa-born migrants’ experiences of job-seeking in (White) Australia
Africa-born migrants in Australia, particularly those who are racialised Black, face significant challenges in securing employment that aligns with their qualifications and experience, leading to higher rates of unemployment and underemployment compared to other population groups. This study explores the employment-seeking experiences of Black Africa-born migrants in South Australia, focusing on how coloniality – understood as the enduring power …
Making sense of academic service in unpredictable times: Exploring the risks and benefits of academic activism in higher education
Despite operating in unpredictable times and rhetoric to the contrary, universities make it hard for academics to pursue transformative agendas, meaningful community engagement, and activism to inform social and policy changes. This disjuncture is acute for academics working in fraught areas, such as forced migration. The frailty of higher education, caused by decades of neoliberal governance, increasingly restricts what ‘counts’ as academic serv…
Decolonising solidarity in higher education: Navigating barriers and enablers in advocacy with people from displaced backgrounds
Decolonising solidarity in higher education: navigating barriers and enablers in advocacy with people from displaced backgrounds
Building Community Amidst the Institutional Whiteness of Graduate Study: Black Joy and Maroon Moves in an Academic Marronage
This article reflects on the construction of a supportive community of Black Afro‐diasporic graduate students and their supervisors researching issues relating to race in the field of education in Australia. It draws on the concept of marronage—a term rooted in the fugitive act of becoming a maroon, where enslaved people enacted an escape in search of refuge and autonomy within or beyond the structures of slavery. Within this framework, the stude…
“You fight your battles and you work out how you’re going to change”: The implementation, embedding and limits of restorative practices in an Australian rural community school
Research suggests that the use of Restorative Practice (RP) in schools can foster more positive and inclusive school communities, yet there remains limited research regarding how to embed such practices. As part of a wider study, we present data from school leaders who describe their perspectives on RP and their struggles with implementing it in one rural Australian community school. This school is distinctive because of how it adopted a RP appro…
Why school context matters in refugee education
Education plays an important role in the successful settlement and life outcomes of young people from refugee backgrounds. Because of this, research into young people from refugee backgrounds in education systems tends to focus on examples of “good practice” in terms of how these young people experience education. Yet, examples of good practice commonly fail to take into account that schools are engaging in particular practices from very differen…
Structure and agency in the development of education policies for refugee-background students
Social Capital and Rural Health for Refugee Communities in Australia
Refugee resettlement significantly contributes to Australia's migration programs, with recent policy directives prioritising rural resettlement. As a result, the cultural diversity of populations of several Australian rural towns has substantially expanded. Newcomers may encounter challenges becoming part of closed social networks and accessing the resources they need for a healthy life in resettlement. However, there are also benefits that stem …
What is ‘fair’ and ‘just’ in refugee education? How teachers and school leaders negotiate competing discourses of ‘equity’ and ‘equality’ in Australia
With increasing numbers of students from refugee backgrounds, many Australian schools are struggling to minimise the educational disparity between refugee students and their same age peers. Faced with diverse needs and limited resources, educators must decide whether to distribute targeted resources equally, ensuring all students are given equality of opportunity, or allocate resources to those who need it most, attaining equity of outcome. In th…
A cautionary tale: CVE policy actors managing risk in Australian schools
There exists an unsettling relationship between Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and formal schooling today that remains under-researched and largely unproblematized. This article draws on semi-structured interviews with state level policy actors as they implement a federally funded, small-scale grant to develop Restorative Practice in four Australian schools. The approach - as a form of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) - was intended to guar…
Practices for inclusion, structures of marginalisation: Experiences of refugee background students in Australian secondary schools
Ecologies of Resilience for Australian High School Students from Refugee Backgrounds: Quantitative Study
Forced displacement of refugees, currently at record levels, leads to increased cultural diversity in many countries with benefits and challenges for individuals, communities, and societies. Refugees often face significant stressors both pre- and post-migration, and hence are at increased risk of poor mental health and wellbeing. Children and adolescents make up a significant proportion of refugees globally, and hence mental health supports for t…
Education department policy constructions within highly political contexts: A critical policy study of multiculturalism
This article provides a critical analysis of policies from two education systems that support the education of students from migrant backgrounds. This analysis examines the highly political policy context of multiculturalism to reveal how education systems acquiesce to or resist social and political forces. In making this case, the article presents an historical analysis of the Australian federal government’s multicultural policy and the events t…
We have to be really careful’: Policy intermediaries preventing violent extremism in an era of risk
In the field of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) schools have an important role to play, but precisely how policy actors and educators should best respond to extremism within their schools remains uncertain. Reporting on data from a broader study, this article draws on semi-structured interviews with three participants. The participants were working as policy intermediaries responsible for implementing a federally funded, small…
We will start building from that”: Social capital, social networks and African migrants’ job‐seeking experiences in Australia
This article explores the job‐seeking experiences of Black African migrants in South Australia, focussing on the role played by social networks in labour market integration. While it has been long held that “who you know” matters when finding work, the quality and nature of interpersonal connections that can be put to use for job‐seeking purposes suggests that not all networks effectively leverage social capital when it comes to employment. This …
It is not an acceptable disease”: A qualitative study of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and impacts on health and wellbeing for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in Australia
Actions addressing the impacts of HSD on people from ethnically diverse backgrounds are crucial
Recognition of refugee students’ cultural wealth and social capital in resettlement
Internationally, recent population movements due to conflict, climate change and global inequality have resulted in increased cultural and linguistic diversity in many societies. As a result, education systems are increasingly grappling with how to adapt practice to provide educational access and opportunities with increasingly diverse student cohorts. Here we present the analysis of qualitative data from interviews in a mixed-methods study that …
Tensions between policy aspirations and enactment: Assessment and inclusion for refugee background students
This article considers the ways in which two senior secondary assessment policies that aim to be inclusive are enacted for students from refugee backgrounds. The final years of secondary school in Australia are shaped by high-stakes assessment requirements. Yet there have been policy moves in South Australia to be more inclusive of students by providing more flexibility for them to demonstrate their learning in diverse ways. We undertook a critic…
Restorative practices for preventing/countering violent extremism: An affective-discursive examination of extreme emotional incidents
Schools worldwide are increasingly enmeshed in discourses of securitisation. Efforts to prevent or counter violent extremism (P/CVE) are a manifestation of this. P/CVE in education takes various forms; the pilot explored here is considered super-soft in that no mention was made of violent extremism. Attention was given to schools’ capacities to enhance social cohesion through Restorative Practices (RP) – a method for building social capital. We u…
Preventing violent extremism: Resourcing, stakeholder strategies and fostering belonging and connection in Australian schools
Countering violent extremism (CVE) continues to be a topic of national and international concern as well as media interest. In the field of CVE, educational institutions have an important role to play, but precisely how educators and policymakers should best respond to extremism within schools remains unclear. This article draws on interviews with multiple stakeholders implementing a small‐scale nationally funded grant in Australian schools to gu…
Integration and social determinants of health and wellbeing for people from refugee backgrounds resettled in a rural town in South Australia: A qualitative study
Challenges experienced by refugees resettled in rural areas can affect integration, health and wellbeing and subsequent onward migration intentions. Attention to broader socioeconomic, cultural and environmental conditions, alongside tailored settlement support policies and practices for individual rural resettlement sites, is required to support integration and health and wellbeing
At night he cries from dreams”: Perceptions of children's psychological distress and wellbeing amongst parents with refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds in Australia
ObjectiveThe objective of the current study was to gain insight into the ways in which parents who had arrived in Australia with refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds understand their young children's experiences of wellbeing and psychological distress during resettlement.MethodEight parents (three male and five female) who had arrived in Australia from Iran and Afghanistan with children aged between five and eight were recruited using purposive s…
Racism and Othering for South Sudanese heritage students in Australian schools: Is inclusion possible
Since 2000, approximately 50,000 people from sub-Saharan African countries have been resettled in Australia under Australia’s Humanitarian Entrant Program for refugees. They have formed part of a visibly different minority group in a settler society that is shaped by a racialised history. For young former refugees, schools are a primary site in which they experience engagement with the wider society. While much recent research has focussed on the…
Negotiating Belongings: Stories of Forced Migration of Dinka Women from South Sudan
Belonging is an issue that affects us all, but for those who have been displaced, unsettled or made â homelessâ by the increased movements associated with the contemporary globalising era, belonging is under constant challenge. Migration throws into question not only the belongings of those who physically migrate, but also, particularly in a postcolonial context, the belongings of those who are indigenous to and â settlersâ in countries of migrat…
Racism and Othering for South Sudanese heritage students in Australian schools: Is inclusion possible
Since 2000, approximately 50,000 people from sub-Saharan African countries have been resettled in Australia under Australia’s Humanitarian Entrant Program for refugees. They have formed part of a visibly different minority group in a settler society that is shaped by a racialised history. For young former refugees, schools are a primary site in which they experience engagement with the wider society. While much recent research has focussed on the…
Recognition of refugee students’ cultural wealth and social capital in resettlement
Internationally, recent population movements due to conflict, climate change and global inequality have resulted in increased cultural and linguistic diversity in many societies. As a result, education systems are increasingly grappling with how to adapt practice to provide educational access and opportunities with increasingly diverse student cohorts. Here we present the analysis of qualitative data from interviews in a mixed-methods study that …
Murder, community talk and belonging: An exploration of Sudanese community responses to murder in Australia
On 26 October 2009 Alex Ngong Akok Akol, a young man originally from Sudan, was murdered by a group of Australian youths. This paper will explore the responses of members of the Mading Aweil community of Dinka from Southern Sudan following Alex's murder. Through analysing conversations and experiences in the community in the days following Alex's death, I will consider how his murder impacted on senses of belonging for members of the Sudanese com…
We have to be really careful’: Policy intermediaries preventing violent extremism in an era of risk
In the field of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) schools have an important role to play, but precisely how policy actors and educators should best respond to extremism within their schools remains uncertain. Reporting on data from a broader study, this article draws on semi-structured interviews with three participants. The participants were working as policy intermediaries responsible for implementing a federally funded, small…
Tensions between policy aspirations and enactment: Assessment and inclusion for refugee background students
This article considers the ways in which two senior secondary assessment policies that aim to be inclusive are enacted for students from refugee backgrounds. The final years of secondary school in Australia are shaped by high-stakes assessment requirements. Yet there have been policy moves in South Australia to be more inclusive of students by providing more flexibility for them to demonstrate their learning in diverse ways. We undertook a critic…
Negotiating Belongings: Stories of Forced Migration of Dinka Women from South Sudan
Belonging is an issue that affects us all, but for those who have been displaced, unsettled or made â homelessâ by the increased movements associated with the contemporary globalising era, belonging is under constant challenge. Migration throws into question not only the belongings of those who physically migrate, but also, particularly in a postcolonial context, the belongings of those who are indigenous to and â settlersâ in countries of migrat…
Preventing violent extremism: Resourcing, stakeholder strategies and fostering belonging and connection in Australian schools
Countering violent extremism (CVE) continues to be a topic of national and international concern as well as media interest. In the field of CVE, educational institutions have an important role to play, but precisely how educators and policymakers should best respond to extremism within schools remains unclear. This article draws on interviews with multiple stakeholders implementing a small‐scale nationally funded grant in Australian schools to gu…
We will start building from that”: Social capital, social networks and African migrants’ job‐seeking experiences in Australia
This article explores the job‐seeking experiences of Black African migrants in South Australia, focussing on the role played by social networks in labour market integration. While it has been long held that “who you know” matters when finding work, the quality and nature of interpersonal connections that can be put to use for job‐seeking purposes suggests that not all networks effectively leverage social capital when it comes to employment. This …
Decolonising solidarity in higher education: Navigating barriers and enablers in advocacy with people from displaced backgrounds
Decolonising solidarity in higher education: navigating barriers and enablers in advocacy with people from displaced backgrounds
A cautionary tale: CVE policy actors managing risk in Australian schools
There exists an unsettling relationship between Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and formal schooling today that remains under-researched and largely unproblematized. This article draws on semi-structured interviews with state level policy actors as they implement a federally funded, small-scale grant to develop Restorative Practice in four Australian schools. The approach - as a form of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) - was intended to guar…
Education department policy constructions within highly political contexts: A critical policy study of multiculturalism
This article provides a critical analysis of policies from two education systems that support the education of students from migrant backgrounds. This analysis examines the highly political policy context of multiculturalism to reveal how education systems acquiesce to or resist social and political forces. In making this case, the article presents an historical analysis of the Australian federal government’s multicultural policy and the events t…
Murder, community talk and belonging: An exploration of Sudanese community responses to murder in Australia
On 26 October 2009 Alex Ngong Akok Akol, a young man originally from Sudan, was murdered by a group of Australian youths. This paper will explore the responses of members of the Mading Aweil community of Dinka from Southern Sudan following Alex's murder. Through analysing conversations and experiences in the community in the days following Alex's death, I will consider how his murder impacted on senses of belonging for members of the Sudanese com…
Negotiating Belongings: Stories of Forced Migration of Dinka Women from South Sudan
Belonging is an issue that affects us all, but for those who have been displaced, unsettled or made â homelessâ by the increased movements associated with the contemporary globalising era, belonging is under constant challenge. Migration throws into question not only the belongings of those who physically migrate, but also, particularly in a postcolonial context, the belongings of those who are indigenous to and â settlersâ in countries of migrat…
Racism and Othering for South Sudanese heritage students in Australian schools: Is inclusion possible
Since 2000, approximately 50,000 people from sub-Saharan African countries have been resettled in Australia under Australia’s Humanitarian Entrant Program for refugees. They have formed part of a visibly different minority group in a settler society that is shaped by a racialised history. For young former refugees, schools are a primary site in which they experience engagement with the wider society. While much recent research has focussed on the…
At night he cries from dreams”: Perceptions of children's psychological distress and wellbeing amongst parents with refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds in Australia
ObjectiveThe objective of the current study was to gain insight into the ways in which parents who had arrived in Australia with refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds understand their young children's experiences of wellbeing and psychological distress during resettlement.MethodEight parents (three male and five female) who had arrived in Australia from Iran and Afghanistan with children aged between five and eight were recruited using purposive s…
Integration and social determinants of health and wellbeing for people from refugee backgrounds resettled in a rural town in South Australia: A qualitative study
Challenges experienced by refugees resettled in rural areas can affect integration, health and wellbeing and subsequent onward migration intentions. Attention to broader socioeconomic, cultural and environmental conditions, alongside tailored settlement support policies and practices for individual rural resettlement sites, is required to support integration and health and wellbeing
It is not an acceptable disease”: A qualitative study of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and impacts on health and wellbeing for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in Australia
Actions addressing the impacts of HSD on people from ethnically diverse backgrounds are crucial
Recognition of refugee students’ cultural wealth and social capital in resettlement
Internationally, recent population movements due to conflict, climate change and global inequality have resulted in increased cultural and linguistic diversity in many societies. As a result, education systems are increasingly grappling with how to adapt practice to provide educational access and opportunities with increasingly diverse student cohorts. Here we present the analysis of qualitative data from interviews in a mixed-methods study that …
Tensions between policy aspirations and enactment: Assessment and inclusion for refugee background students
This article considers the ways in which two senior secondary assessment policies that aim to be inclusive are enacted for students from refugee backgrounds. The final years of secondary school in Australia are shaped by high-stakes assessment requirements. Yet there have been policy moves in South Australia to be more inclusive of students by providing more flexibility for them to demonstrate their learning in diverse ways. We undertook a critic…
Restorative practices for preventing/countering violent extremism: An affective-discursive examination of extreme emotional incidents
Schools worldwide are increasingly enmeshed in discourses of securitisation. Efforts to prevent or counter violent extremism (P/CVE) are a manifestation of this. P/CVE in education takes various forms; the pilot explored here is considered super-soft in that no mention was made of violent extremism. Attention was given to schools’ capacities to enhance social cohesion through Restorative Practices (RP) – a method for building social capital. We u…
Preventing violent extremism: Resourcing, stakeholder strategies and fostering belonging and connection in Australian schools
Countering violent extremism (CVE) continues to be a topic of national and international concern as well as media interest. In the field of CVE, educational institutions have an important role to play, but precisely how educators and policymakers should best respond to extremism within schools remains unclear. This article draws on interviews with multiple stakeholders implementing a small‐scale nationally funded grant in Australian schools to gu…
Practices for inclusion, structures of marginalisation: Experiences of refugee background students in Australian secondary schools
Ecologies of Resilience for Australian High School Students from Refugee Backgrounds: Quantitative Study
Forced displacement of refugees, currently at record levels, leads to increased cultural diversity in many countries with benefits and challenges for individuals, communities, and societies. Refugees often face significant stressors both pre- and post-migration, and hence are at increased risk of poor mental health and wellbeing. Children and adolescents make up a significant proportion of refugees globally, and hence mental health supports for t…
Education department policy constructions within highly political contexts: A critical policy study of multiculturalism
This article provides a critical analysis of policies from two education systems that support the education of students from migrant backgrounds. This analysis examines the highly political policy context of multiculturalism to reveal how education systems acquiesce to or resist social and political forces. In making this case, the article presents an historical analysis of the Australian federal government’s multicultural policy and the events t…
We have to be really careful’: Policy intermediaries preventing violent extremism in an era of risk
In the field of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) schools have an important role to play, but precisely how policy actors and educators should best respond to extremism within their schools remains uncertain. Reporting on data from a broader study, this article draws on semi-structured interviews with three participants. The participants were working as policy intermediaries responsible for implementing a federally funded, small…
We will start building from that”: Social capital, social networks and African migrants’ job‐seeking experiences in Australia
This article explores the job‐seeking experiences of Black African migrants in South Australia, focussing on the role played by social networks in labour market integration. While it has been long held that “who you know” matters when finding work, the quality and nature of interpersonal connections that can be put to use for job‐seeking purposes suggests that not all networks effectively leverage social capital when it comes to employment. This …
Why school context matters in refugee education
Education plays an important role in the successful settlement and life outcomes of young people from refugee backgrounds. Because of this, research into young people from refugee backgrounds in education systems tends to focus on examples of “good practice” in terms of how these young people experience education. Yet, examples of good practice commonly fail to take into account that schools are engaging in particular practices from very differen…
Structure and agency in the development of education policies for refugee-background students
Social Capital and Rural Health for Refugee Communities in Australia
Refugee resettlement significantly contributes to Australia's migration programs, with recent policy directives prioritising rural resettlement. As a result, the cultural diversity of populations of several Australian rural towns has substantially expanded. Newcomers may encounter challenges becoming part of closed social networks and accessing the resources they need for a healthy life in resettlement. However, there are also benefits that stem …
What is ‘fair’ and ‘just’ in refugee education? How teachers and school leaders negotiate competing discourses of ‘equity’ and ‘equality’ in Australia
With increasing numbers of students from refugee backgrounds, many Australian schools are struggling to minimise the educational disparity between refugee students and their same age peers. Faced with diverse needs and limited resources, educators must decide whether to distribute targeted resources equally, ensuring all students are given equality of opportunity, or allocate resources to those who need it most, attaining equity of outcome. In th…
A cautionary tale: CVE policy actors managing risk in Australian schools
There exists an unsettling relationship between Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and formal schooling today that remains under-researched and largely unproblematized. This article draws on semi-structured interviews with state level policy actors as they implement a federally funded, small-scale grant to develop Restorative Practice in four Australian schools. The approach - as a form of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) - was intended to guar…
“You fight your battles and you work out how you’re going to change”: The implementation, embedding and limits of restorative practices in an Australian rural community school
Research suggests that the use of Restorative Practice (RP) in schools can foster more positive and inclusive school communities, yet there remains limited research regarding how to embed such practices. As part of a wider study, we present data from school leaders who describe their perspectives on RP and their struggles with implementing it in one rural Australian community school. This school is distinctive because of how it adopted a RP appro…
Making sense of academic service in unpredictable times: Exploring the risks and benefits of academic activism in higher education
Despite operating in unpredictable times and rhetoric to the contrary, universities make it hard for academics to pursue transformative agendas, meaningful community engagement, and activism to inform social and policy changes. This disjuncture is acute for academics working in fraught areas, such as forced migration. The frailty of higher education, caused by decades of neoliberal governance, increasingly restricts what ‘counts’ as academic serv…
Decolonising solidarity in higher education: Navigating barriers and enablers in advocacy with people from displaced backgrounds
Decolonising solidarity in higher education: navigating barriers and enablers in advocacy with people from displaced backgrounds
Building Community Amidst the Institutional Whiteness of Graduate Study: Black Joy and Maroon Moves in an Academic Marronage
This article reflects on the construction of a supportive community of Black Afro‐diasporic graduate students and their supervisors researching issues relating to race in the field of education in Australia. It draws on the concept of marronage—a term rooted in the fugitive act of becoming a maroon, where enslaved people enacted an escape in search of refuge and autonomy within or beyond the structures of slavery. Within this framework, the stude…
The Australian refugee education policyscape: Why it is so fragmented, inconsistent and problematic
Australia’s refugee education policy development occurs within a fragmented and evolving landscape, shaped by competing priorities, historical precedents, and shifting political and economic contexts. While English language acquisition has dominated policy discourse, emphasis on policies for wellbeing and inclusion have gained prominence in recent years. However, significant gaps persist, leaving educators to navigate inconsistent and often ambig…
Sociology (25 works) · Political science (23 works) · Migration, Health and Trauma (13 works) · Refugee (13 works) · Social science (13 works) · Public relations (12 works) · Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Pedagogy (9 works) · Psychology (7 works)