To be, or not to be, that is the question : stuttering into academia
- Authors: Meredith, Grant
- Date: 2024
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Research partners with lived experience : stories from patients and survivors Chapter 4 p. 43-56
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- Description: In this chapter Grant Meredith, the discipline leader of Information Technology for the Global Professional School at Federation University (Australia) outlines his journey as a person who stutters from his rural Australian upbringing through to being an Information Technology academic. This passage to academia is a reflection on an unconventional odyssey that has meandered from blue collar careers to a university education and beyond. The author discusses what it means to him to have vocal difference and how it may have influenced his research path. Along the way he questions his identity as a person who stutters and find his own “community” to engage within.
Early childhood education and care in Aotearoa/New Zealand: History and features
- Authors: Tyler-Merrick, Gaye , Phillips, Joanna , McLachlan, Claire , McLaughlin, Tara , Aspden, Karyn , Cherrington, Sue
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Care: Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century Chapter 12 p. 127-142
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- Description: Since the 1990s, New Zealand/Aotearoa has been a leader in providing quality early childhood education (ECE) for children/tamariki and their families/whānau. ECE represents a diverse set of services for children under the age of five. A unique feature of the New Zealand system is the integration of education and care for young children, under the Ministry of Education. Services are licensed as teacher-, whānau- or parent-led, and may be located in centre, community or home settings. A diversity of philosophical approaches to ECE are evident, including services specifically focused on promoting Māori and Pasifika languages and cultures. Recent trends towards increased private, including corporate, ownership and reductions in services offering half-day programmes are also evident. The system is nationally regulated and is monitored and publicly reported by the Education Review Office. The early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki: He Whariki Matauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa (Ministry of Education, 1996), is holistic, culturally responsive and inclusive of all children and their families. However, there has been no formal evaluation of this curriculum, but recent critique of this document in relation to how equipped teachers and centres are to implement this holistic, competence-based curriculum has been undertaken. Very recently, the Ministry of Education called for an update of Te Whāriki. This chapter will critique the ‘old’ and ‘new’ curriculum in light of the framework, curriculum goals and the cultural gains and restraints the curriculum places on New Zealand parents, teachers and children. Implications for practice and for future research will be explored.
- Description: Since the 1990s, New Zealand/Aotearoa has been a leader in providing quality early childhood education (ECE) for children/tamariki and their families/wh
Education and social class : How did we get to this and what needs to change?
- Authors: Simmons, Robin , Smyth, John
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Education and Working-Class Youth: Reshaping the Politics of Inclusion Chapter 10 p. 233-259
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- Description: This chapter locates the classed nature of education within a critical socio-historical framework, and considers how questions of social class are played out not only in the classroom but also at the institutional and the systemic level. Historical and contemporary debates about the nature and purpose of education are used to challenge the status quo, and present an agenda for change. The chapter argues that re-engaging with social class as a key organising concept is necessary in order to understand the nature of contemporary schooling in western neoliberal societies such as the UK, and to re-imagine young people’s relationship with education. This, it is argued, is necessary to re-engage working-class youth in ways that are not only meaningful but also socially and economically just.
'Moral panic" internet use and risk perspectives in educational organisations
- Authors: Hope, Andrew
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Risk, Education and culture Chapter 5 p.63-77
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- Description: Media coverage of Internet risks in wider society has been labelled as exaggerated, sensationalistic, and inciting 'moral panic'. In considering 'moral panic' and risk perspectives in educational organisations, several issues need to be addressed. These are the nature of risk perspectives, the validity of 'moral panic' as an analytical concept and the impact of 'moral panic' upon risk perspectives. Before focusing upon the concept of 'moral panic', the writings of Ulrich Beck draw upon to consider the nature of risk perceptions in late modernity, and explore their connection to the mass media. Media coverage of risks arising from chat-line use has been singularly focused on the activities of paedophiles, portraying both children and youths as simply being in danger. Staffs were concerned about risks posed by the activities of paedophiles in chat rooms as well as the adult nature of some of the language use.
Conceptualising literacy in the early childhood setting
- Authors: McLachlan, Claire , Arrow, Alison
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Literacy in the early years: reflections on international research and practice Chapter 1 p. 1-19
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- Description: This chapter will provide a brief introduction to literacy research with children in the early years (birth to 8 years) and will identify some of the pressing issues and concerns in research on early literacy. The theoretical framework which underpins many of the studies is explored, identifying that much research into early literacy has employed socio-pyscho-linguistic, social practice and cultural historical explanations of how children learn. The unifying theme of early multi literacies is explored. An overview of the chapters in the book is provided, along with comment on how each chapter contributes to the growing body of early childhood literacy research.
Activating teaching dispositions in carefully constructed contexts : Examining the impact of classroom intensives
- Authors: McGraw, Amanda , McDonough, Sharon , Wines, Chris , O’Loughlan, Courtney
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Teacher Education : Innovation, Intervention and Impact Chapter 12 p. 193-209
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- Description: The current policy stance in Australia which seeks to produce ‘classroom ready’ teachers requires that pre-service teachers (PSTs) be assessed against national professional standards that articulate minimum skills and knowledge required of beginning teachers. There is no mention within these standards of affective qualities (e.g. humour, passion, inspiration) or thinking dispositions (e.g. curiosity, reflection, creativity) that enable good teaching and professional learning and which capture the complexity that is inherent within good teaching. This study focuses on the research of a team of teacher educators in a regional Australian university who believe that a focus on dispositions is central to effective teacher education. They have embedded a ‘Dispositions for Teaching Framework’ within a Master of Teaching (Secondary) program to allow PSTs’ various thinking dispositions to be activated within carefully constructed professional learning contexts. The context in this study was a Classroom Intensive experience at a P-12 School in regional Victoria where PSTs participated in structured classroom observations over a two day period. The key research questions were: Did the Classroom Intensive experience activate the dispositions in the PSTs? Were some dispositions activated more than others? How could evidence be collected of these dispositions in action? A variety of research methods enabled a complex data-set to be collected. It was identified that the Classroom Intensive experience provided a rich professional learning context which activated all five of the thinking dispositions in the framework, and that these dispositions are not discrete but interconnect and rely upon each other. © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016.
An Approach to improving teaching in higher education: A case study informed by the neo-positivist research paradigm
- Authors: Devlin, Marcia
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Methods and Paradigms in Education Research Chapter 5 p.68-87
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- Description: This chapter outlines a case study of the application of the neo-positivist paradigm in the higher education research field. A small scale evaluative study of an attempt to improve teaching and learning provides the case study. The neo-positivist paradigm involves the objective investigation of an aspect of reality, providing provisional, contemporary understanding of patterns and entities. The ways in which this paradigm informed the research desgin, methodology, and the interpretation of results in a small-scale evaulative study are discussed. The study represents an attempt to conduct a rigorous empirical research project that incorporated random allocation to intervention and control groups; pre- and post-intervention measures of teaching and learning and the use of psychometrically sound measurement tools and qualitative data. The ways in which the ontology. axiology and epistemology of the neo-positivist paradigm impacted on the study and its findings are outlined.
Australia
- Authors: Golding, Barry , Kimberley, Helen
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: International perspectives on older adult education Chapter 3 p. 25-34
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- Description: In the later years of life in Australia, after commitment to paid work or family responsibilities declines as life’s primary motivating factors, learning occupies a different life space and purpose from learning in previous life stages. While learning to cope with the expected and unexpected events in later life is known from research elsewhere to be increasingly important (Cooper et al. 2010; Schuller and Watson 2009), the opportunities and places in Australia to learn formally and informally have been decreasing (Golding and Foley 2011). Our chapter argues that spaces for and purposes of older adult learning are less reflected upon, both by older adults themselves, by the wider Australian society and particularly by policy makers and governments in Australia. The prevailing discourse is more about costs of caring than opportunities during ageing. "From chapter"
English as a foreign language curriculum reform in China : A Study in reconstructionism
- Authors: Zeegers, Margaret , Zhang, Xiaohong
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Spotlight on China changes in education under China's market economy Chapter 4 p. 53-66
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- Description: China has experienced a number of reforms in EFL teaching and learning since 1949, when The People’s Republic of China was established after years of struggle between the losing Chiang Kai Shek Nationalists and the winning Mao Zedong Communist forces. Given the association of the English language with the western imperialism that China had just fought so hard against, competence in English was regarded as unpatriotic. A number of English-speaking countries, notably the United States of America (USA) insisting on a strong support of the Nationalist Party which had fled to Taiwan in 1949, did not recognise China. Indeed, the new Chinese government had its own concerns with illiteracy in mother tongues, at the time around 80% (Dietrich, 1986; Ministry of Education, 2002; Yang, 2010). English was hardly a priority for government then, although it had been in schools since the 19th century, the result of China’s encounters with the west at that time (Wang & Gao, 2008). Having eschewed all things western in 1949, the authorities took up Soviet models to inform their activities, receiving economic aid from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Yang, 2010). After the enormous upheavals of the revolution itself, China was in a period of reconstruction. The strong political influence of the relationship with the USSR on China’s foreign language education meant that Russian became the dominant foreign language taught throughout the country, with English removed from the secondary curriculum (Hu, 2002). Turning its attention to education, China found itself faced with problems that could be addressed through reconstructionism.
Muddling upwards : The unexpected, unpredictable and strange on the path from care to high achievement in Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Wilson, Jacqueline , Golding, Frank
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Young People Transitioning from Out-of-Home Care: International Research, Policy and Practice Chapter 7 p. 135-154
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- Description: Education is a key avenue to personal, social and economic success; and its lack can lead to lifelong deprivation and social exclusion. The chapter focuses on the specific educational challenges that confront children in out-of-home care (OHC), and those who have been discharged from Care as young adults. A very small percentage of care leavers complete education, and some of the core reasons for this are discussed. The two authors, themselves care leavers, provide emblematic case studies by recounting their own experiences. They conclude that many of the obstacles they had to surmount were, and are, common to care leavers of their generations and also those currently in OHC. The chapter closes with a brief summary of policy reforms necessary to ensure educational equity for care leavers. © The Author(s) 2016.
Language, ideology and identity : education implications for Afghanistan
- Authors: Terry, Daniel , Yeoh, Joanne , Terry, Melissa
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Linguistics and Language Education in New Horizons: The Link between Theory, Research and Pedagogy 9 p. 101-111
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- Description: War and conflict have been widespread in Afghanistan for more than three decades, with insurmountable atrocities, human suffering and population displacement. Over one and half million Afghans have died and eight million have become refugees or internally displaced people because of conflict. Afghans continue to be the world's largest refugee population, the majority being women, children and the elderly. The political and sociocultural background to the conflict and how it has influenced population displacement throughout the region will be outlined in detail. The psychosocial and psychological effects of trauma will be discussed, including how these situations impact both male and female Afghanis. The examination will discuss young male refugees, a vulnerable population who are recruited and trained as resistance fighters to further expand Jihad and maintain control of Afghanistan. The examination will also identify an increase in post war antagonism, domestic violence and domination of women within Afghan communities. Overall, the chapter will discuss how lingering and new world ideologies are impacted by education, language and identity. The discussion will conclude with recommendations for policy, practice and interventions to effectively respond to the educational needs of those who remain physically and psychologically displaced by conflict and those who now live in post war Afghanistan. © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Conclusions and future directions: A socio-ecological renewal
- Authors: Wattchow, Brian , Jeanes, Ruth , Alfrey, Laura , Brown Trent , O’Connor, Justen , Cutter-Mackenzie, Amy
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The Socioecological Educator: A 21st Century Renewal of Physical, Health, Environment and Outdoor Education p. 205-227
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- Description: At the heart of this book has been the acknowledgment that there exist different ways of seeing and, consequently, different ways of knowing the world. The rich and diverse case studies that make up Part II of the book have seen respected authors from the varied disciplines of physical, sport and health education, outdoor and environmental education and early childhood education come together, utilising the multi-disciplinary framework of socio-ecological education. They have done so because of their belief that a socio-ecological theory and requisite methodological approaches offer the opportunity for renewal for researchers and practitioners in their fields. A significant part of this renewal involves reaching beyond disciplinary boundaries, or silos as we called them in the introduction chapter, to forge new connections. Overcoming these ‘invisible’ structures that can govern how we see, think and act is central to the work of the socio-ecological educator and is evident in many of the case studies. To that end we want to spend a little time here, in the conclusion, discussing this issue.
Men learning through life
- Authors: Golding, Barry , Mark, Rob , Foley, Annette
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Men learning through life Chapter 1 p. 3-17
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- Description: This introductory chapter seeks, through a broad-brush analysis of a wide range of international research and data, to provide context for our book. It consists of four sections. The first sets the broad intentions and the main source of information for the two parts of our book that follow, including some limitations. The second section seeks to make explicit our interest in focusing mainly on men, particularly those men beyond paid work. The third section teases out some of our theoretical presuppositions about the process, purposes and value of learning that men experience. The fourth explains our reasons for overtly including and emphasising the seldom-theorised link between men’s learning and wellbeing. In its totality, this introductory chapter provides an outline of our equity and evidence-based case for acknowledging worldwide changes and trends that have made this book timely, particularly for men not in paid work, including a ‘big picture’ view of men learning through life in international settings. It begins to delineate a range of social and economic factors, including the global financial crisis and population ageing, that have led to an increase in the proportion of men not in paid work in most developed nations. This increase has been accompanied by a decrease in many nations in the proportion of young men completing post-school qualifications
Men's Health and wellbeing: Learning through the lifecourse
- Authors: McDonald, John
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Men Learning Through Life Chapter 3 p. 34-48
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- Description: Men’s health and wellbeing: Learning through the lifecourseJohn MacdonaldIntroductionThis chapter draws on new data and insights from international research to provide a background to the question of why men’s health and well-being is a matter that deserves looking at in more depth. It also aims to offer some insights into men and learning in the context of their health and the ways in which a social determinants approach to health can enrich an understanding of men’s health and learning.For some time, thinking about men’s health, both in academic writ-ing and in policy and programmes, has been carried out within two main frameworks: a bio-medical one and what might be called a social-psychological one, based on notions of ‘masculinity’. While both of these approaches may have useful insights, they are increasingly being shown to be an inadequate basis for a comprehensive approach to men’s health, including the structuring of men’s health policies and of programmes aimed at ‘educating’ men about their health. The emergence on the world public health scene of the enormous amount of evidence concerning the social determinants of health (SDOH) presents a fresh way of thinking about men’s health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has led the field (WHO 2003, 2008) and many scholars throughout the world are adding to the available evidence of the impact of social and political environments on people’s health (Marmot, 2005; Macdonald, 2010). The systematic study of social determinants, Men’s health and wellbeing: Learning through the lifecourse 35social epidemiology (Berkman and Kawachi, 2000), is described as looking for the ‘causes of causes’, not just of disease but also of health. This approach calls for consideration of diverse local contexts, societies and populations. There is a considerable body of research on the social determinants of women’s health (Wuest et al., 2002; Anderson, 2006) as well as the inspirational Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH, 2013), which has spent two decades looking at wom-en’s physical and psychosocial health over the lifespan.
Men's turn to learn? Discussion and Conclusion
- Authors: Golding, Barry , Mark, Rob , Foley, Annette
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Men Learning through life Chapter Sixteen p. 244-259
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- Description: Our intention in this final chapter is to argue a case for repositioning men’s learning at any age as a significant benefit not only for the men involved, but also for their families and the community, aside from the narrowly defined vocational benefits which lifelong learning policies often focus on. We seek to identify some generalisable conclusions based on the data and literature examined in the first part of this book and the national research policies and practices identified in the second part. The chapter consists of a discussion, comprising a number of important acknowledgments about the extensive theoretical and practical ground our book has covered. This is followed by a number of broad and over-arching conclusions
Educational Dissonance: Reconciling a radical upbringing
- Authors: Wilson, Jacqueline
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Pedagogies for the future: Leading quality learning and teaching in higher education p. 125-139
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Learning to think like a teacher educator
- Authors: McDonough, Sharon
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Pedagogies for the future p. 61-72
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- Description: The rapid pace of change and reform in education requires teachers to be both the subjects and implementers of change (Main, 2012). For those working in higher education the challenge can be twofold as they attempt to develop their own teaching and learning, while also preparing students for the future world of work beyond university. This dual challenge is present for teacher-educators who seek to provide students with opportunities to think pedagogically and to discover ways in which experience, theory and practice come together (Hedges, 2012).
Students' attitudes, engagement and confidence in mathematics and statistics learning: ICT, gender, and equity dimensions
- Authors: Barkatsas, Anastasios
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Towards Equity in Mathematics Education. Gender, Culture, and Diversity p. 151-179
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- Description: Abstract In this chapter the findings of five studies are reported. Two research instruments were used: the Mathematics and Technology Attitudes Scale (MTAS), and the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics Scale (SATS). The aims, methods, data analyses, selected findings and conclusions are presented, as well as implications for the teaching and learning of mathematics and statistics. The studies involved samples from Australia and Greece. Findings from the three MTAS studies revealed that there is a complex nexus of relationships between secondary mathematics students’ mathematics confidence, confidence with technology, attitude to learning mathematics with technology, affective engagement and behavioural engagement, achievement, and gender. Findings from the SATS studies indicated that male Greek tertiary students had more positive attitudes toward statistics than female students; there was no gender gap for the Australian tertiary students. Secondary students’ attitudes towards ICT use for mathematics learning require further scrutiny in order to bring about gender equity and to facilitate improved outcomes for all students. Gender and cultural sensitivity are paramount in the instructional planning, decision making, and implementation of secondary mathematics and tertiary statistics.
A dialogic encounter with Joe Kincheloe's "Meet me behind the curtain" Catalyst for an evolving contemporary critical theory of teachers' work
- Authors: Smyth, John
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Key works in critical pedagogy p. 101-106
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Critical civic engagement from inside an Australian School and its community put at a disadvantage
- Authors: Smyth, John
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Critical Civic Literacy: A reader p. 141-154
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- Description: 2003009322