[Refereed Articles]
Valuing Creativity in the Higher Education Sector: What Price the Creative Knowledge Economy?
Bernadette Walker-Gibbs
pp. 5-12
Contemporary economic and social contexts including the creative knowledge economy
provide competing perspectives on 'the future' of higher education and the role of the
academic within these contexts. Increasingly educators and educational leaders are
expected to act in 'futures' oriented ways whilst also remaining true to the professional
standards of their present environments. "As the twenty-first century progresses, the most
successful economies and societies will be creative ones" (State Department of Development
and Innovation, 2005, p. 4). Working in the creative industries, or as part of the
creative knowledge economy increasingly contributes to Australia's strategic
directions for the future but also has an influence on what is valued in the higher
education sector. This paper explores the impact of the creative knowledge economy on the higher education
sector and its response to the changing educational landscapes. An exploration of the
shift towards creative industries where the value of creativity and the arts is linked
to economic value will be undertaken. It will be argued that this shift requires
researchers to alter their identity from that of having 'academic' value to engaging
with the commodification of knowledge. This paper concludes with a suggested way
forward for both the creative industries and the higher education sector using Giri's
(2002) model for transdisciplinarity.
Implementing Change-Oriented Pedagogy in Higher Education: An Exploration of Instructors' Experiences and Perceptions
Cheryl Mallen and Frank Crowther
pp. 13-26
This inquiry provided university educators with an opportunity to experience a
conceptual pedagogical change model (the Change Infusion Model). The model encouraged
framing teaching and learning activities with characteristics of theories of change to
encourage learning for change. This inquiry developed understandings of educators'
realities of pedagogical change. Data collection procedures were framed with LaBoskey's Dimensions of Reflection (1993)
and involved a written and collaborative discourse method. Analysis involved 'sensitizing
concepts' (Patton, 2002) to guide the generation of meaning of the experiences of change. The findings revealed 4
paradoxes that have significant meaning in the professional lives of educators. The significance of this
inquiry is its contribution to understandings of the challenge of approaching pedagogical change from
practitioners' perspectives.
Indigenous Pedagogies and Environmental Education: Starting a Conversation
Soenke Biermann
pp. 27-38
As part of the process of developing transformative pedagogies in the 21st century,
the important question arises for us – as teachers, learners and researchers – of
how to better align education with the diverse realities of students' lives and the
places they inhabit. Conversely, we might also ask how we can value and harness this
diversity in background and locus as a pedagogical tool for facilitating experiential,
group-dynamic and student-centred learning experiences. The answers to these questions
are of great importance in terms of how we address the growing rejection of, apathy
towards and alienation from the education system felt by many students, particularly
among disadvantaged groups. In order to address these questions, it is necessary for
us to re-evaluate existing models of teaching and learning, and re-conceptualise
alternative pedagogies and their underlying epistemologies. In this paper, I will
focus on exploring the principles that underpin Indigenous pedagogies and environmental
education, and their potential to complement one another in a transformative endeavour.
Creating Discomfort in the Name of Transformative Pedagogy
Jennifer Elsden-Clifton
pp. 39-48
A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies is a third year course in a Bachelor of Education
program. This course asks pre-service teachers to create, produce and publish a
narrative text for students in the upper years of primary (VELS Level 4, school
years 5-6). This course moves away from a traditional lecture-tutorial model and
instead promotes, individualised self-directed learning, a teaching collective
instead of a set tutor, encourages reflection and transfer and intentionally creates
discomfort. For many students this alternative framework and assessment caused
discomfort, frustration and unease about their learning. This paper uses course
documents and students' on-line discussions and journals to explore the complexity of
supporting students' learning while still challenging students' thinking about young
people, teaching and learning. As a way of making meaning of the experience this
paper will examine the tension of discomfort and support; a tension which has the
potential to shift, transform, and inform the learning of pre-service teachers.
"I don't have much of an ethnic background": Exploring Changes in Dispositions towards Diversity in Pre-service Teachers
Carmen Mills
pp. 49-58
As national populations grow more diverse, the need for pre-service programs to prepare
teachers with knowledge, skills and dispositions to cater for this diversity in ways
that improve the academic outcomes of underachieving students becomes increasingly
critical. However, the literature on teacher education shows that historically, teacher
education programs have addressed diversity with add-on or piecemeal approaches, with
little success. Previous research suggests that many pre-service teachers enter and
exit stand-alone cultural diversity courses unchanged, often reinforcing their
stereotypical perceptions of self and others in the process. Through analysis of
excerpts taken from student assessment, this article explores reported changes in
dispositions towards diversity in pre-service teachers enrolled in one stand-alone
course about identity. The students undertook this course during the first semester of
their degree at a university located in an outer suburb of an Australian city.
Come in Spinner! Opportunities and Meanings Emerging through Distance Study for Professional Educators
Henriette M. Janse van Rensburg and Kaye Cleary
pp. 59-71
This paper reports on emergent meanings, professional dilemmas and the students'
need to negotiate workplace commitments while balancing off-campus study with family
and personal responsibilities. By examining data from a participant-orientated study,
we explore the burning issue of student retention within their complex and evolving
contexts. Our research investigates the reasons why students take a break from their
study and then resume. As one student explains, "I actually find this break experience
rejuvenating because I am savouring the learning journey. I don't feel obliged to race
through the MET [Master of Education Technology]. I want the time to learn in a course
and then take the time to apply what I have learned on the job." Through the data we observe 'in practice'
opportunities and meanings that emerge from these students' contexts, cognisant of the complementary
imperatives of retention and progression - typical concerns of educational providers. Three relevant themes
were identified from survey data to be elucidated through focus groups: students' jobs, university
administration processes, and personal or life dilemmas. The demands of the job appear to be an
important factor why people take a break. University protocols may contribute to, or compromise
retention. Personal circumstances, related to family and health issues, might influence students' ability
to continue studying. Our students, postgraduates, face the challenge of fine-tuning competing demands.
Thrust into novel situations and sometimes unexpectedly caught off balance, students pool their 'war time'
stories and share pragmatics - playing the game.
Variation of Language Learning Strategies among Iranian English Students: The Effect of Gender
Mohammad Aliakbari and Abolfazl Hayatzadeh
pp. 72-87
Research on language learning strategies (LLS) has received much attention in SLA
as an obvious consequence of the paradigm shift of emphasis from teacher to learner.
Within this area of study the contradictions observed in the literature on gender
and LLS provided reasonable justification for further research on the subject in
general and the examination of the case with Iranian L2 learners in particular.
This paper reports the findings of a study performed with the aim of investigating
the variation and frequency of language learning strategies (LLS) used by Iranian
English students and exploring the possible relationship between the use of LLS and
gender. The results of quantitative data analyses of a statistical research showed
that Iranian English students employed learning strategies at high and medium frequency
level, with metacognitive strategies at the highest (78.8%) and memory strategies at
the lowest rank (64%). The data also specified the governing role of cognitive strategy
due to its strongest correlation with other strategies. Although male students reported
higher frequency of strategy use than female students, statistical analysis of t-test
revealed that gender performed no significant role in the use of the strategies.
Understanding International Postgraduate Research Students' Challenges and Pedagogical Needs in Thesis Writing
Ting Wang and Linda Li
pp. 88-96
The number of postgraduate research students from non-English speaking backgrounds
(NESB) is growing rapidly in Australian universities. Previous research has indicated
that these students encounter different and greater challenges in their postgraduate
research experience than the domestic research students. Because there is much to be
gained when international research students have a positive educational experience in
the host country, every attempt needs to be made to ensure that these students have
satisfactory research experiences. This study explores the thesis writing experiences
of a small group of international postgraduate research students at one Australian
university. It seeks to identify the challenges these students face in their thesis
writing process, which might arise from the different cultural backgrounds and academic
traditions these students bring to their postgraduate research. The study reveals the
cultural impact on their thesis writing, their efforts in developing competence and
confidence in academic writing, and their pedagogical needs in thesis writing. We
argue that in order to assist international research students to triumph over the
culturally embedded challenges in thesis writing, it is important for the supervisors
to understand international research students' unique pedagogical needs and develop
intercultural sensitivity in their pedagogical practice in postgraduate research
supervision.
Transnational Pedagogy from Policy to Practice: Beginnings of the Journey
Ann Dashwood, Jill Lawrence, Alice Brown and Lorelle Burton
pp. 97-110
In 2005, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) announced
that USQ was a transnational university. There are a number of interpretations and
applications of the term 'transnational'. To define and develop USQ's 'transnational
pedagogy', then Pro Vice-Chancellor, Regional Engagement and Social Justice, initiated
a consultative project team from across the university community, consisting of
Excellence in Teaching Award winners and noted teachers nominated by their Faculties.
This paper will describe an attempt by USQ to operationalise the transnational agenda
'glocally' by considering the 'global' within 'local' contexts. The paper uses a
genealogical approach in describing our journey. This approach involves consultation,
collaboration and change, from the early stages of conceptualising transnational
pedagogy to developing the USQ transnational framework of principles and strategies
for teaching and learning. The paper also reports on the dissemination of the
framework's concepts throughout the USQ community. The final step of change in this
study involves critical reflection. A pilot study of USQ students and academics
provides the catalyst for assessing the framework. This evaluative tool aims to assess
how teachers recognise in their practice the principles of transnational teaching and
learning and the extent to which students perceive that it benefits their learning.
