Description:
PurposeThis research is situated at a metropolitan university in Melbourne (Australia) where the authors work in initial teacher education programs within the same faculty. The purpose of this study is to raise awareness that collegial, collaborative and “co-caring” environments can foster an improved sense of belonging, acceptance and inclusion in the academy. They also argue that communities of practice may foster an improved sense of belonging that enhances empowerment and harmony among all staff in academia in pandemic times and beyond.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on case study methodology as a qualitative approach to understand and illuminate the phenomena under study. Case study methodology provides an in-depth understanding of their trifocal voices, as it allows them to voice their stories through collaborative autoethnography. The authors use self-narratives to unpack their sense of belonging in academic spaces. Collaborative autoethnography (CAE) enabled them to work together as a team of women and as a community of researchers.FindingsThe findings foreground the responsibilities of casual staff while concomitantly articulating the challenges faced by both permanent and casual staff to create a “sense of belonging” in the academy. The authors found that social connection engenders a sense of belonging and inclusion within a space that is often beset by neoliberal ideologies of competitiveness and individual achievement. They articulate their stress, pressure and uncertainty as permanent and as casual academics working supportively to develop and maintain identity in very difficult circumstances. They share how they developed professional relationships which bring unforeseen benefits and personal friendship at a time of especially restrictive practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper includes three voices, a limitation in itself, thus generalisations cannot be made to other academics or institutions. Employing CAE offers the possibility of delving more deeply into the emotional complexities inherent within this method for further research. They recommend a sense of “co-caring” as a form of pastoral care in the “induction program” for all academics including casual staff. While this may not “strategically” fit in with many because of power imbalances, the journey of co-caring and sharing and building friendships within the academy has a limited presence in the literature and calls for further investigation.Practical implicationsThe authors draw attention to the need for higher education institutes to recognise the role permanent staff play when working with casual academics.Social implicationsThe authors draw attention to the need to be inclusive and collaborative as a way to improve the divide and strengthen connections between permanent and casual academics at university worksites. This is imperative given the shifting demographics within Australia and its workforce. They also highlight issues of race in the academy.Originality/valueThis is an original work carried out by the authors. It raises concerns about a sense of belonging in the academy, job certainty and the place of people of colour as these issues may also be experienced by other full-time and casual academics.
Description:
The supervision and mentoring of pre-service teachers during professional experience is complex work that requires a range of skills and capacities. Professional development for this work has traditionally been limited, however, and mentor teachers report experiencing tensions in their work stemming from their roles as both supporter and assessor of pre-service teachers. Despite the central role that mentors play in professional experience, their voices are underrepresented in the literature. In this paper, I draw on interview data to examine teachers' experiences as mentors and the tensions they experience. I use poetic representation to illuminate the tensions and emotions of mentoring and present seven poems that provide insight into these tensions. I argue that poetic representation of interview data provides an opportunity to connect with the experience of being a mentor and offer suggestions for teacher educators to work collaboratively with mentor teachers to explore the dimensions of their role.
Description:
The supervision and mentoring of pre-service teachers during professional experience is complex work that requires a range of skills and capacities. Professional development for this work has traditionally been limited, however, and mentor teachers report experiencing tensions in their work stemming from their roles as both supporter and assessor of pre-service teachers. Despite the central role that mentors play in professional experience, their voices are underrepresented in the literature. In this paper, I draw on interview data to examine teachers' experiences as mentors and the tensions they experience. I use poetic representation to illuminate the tensions and emotions of mentoring and present seven poems that provide insight into these tensions. I argue that poetic representation of interview data provides an opportunity to connect with the experience of being a mentor and offer suggestions for teacher educators to work collaboratively with mentor teachers to explore the dimensions of their role.
Description:
Supporting pre-service teachers as they develop their understandings of teaching, learning and their identities as teachers is complex and multi-faceted work. I draw on self-study to explore my work in a new partnership model between a school in Victoria, Australia and a regional university. During 2013, I worked in both contexts and carried out the dual roles of teacher educator and secondary teacher. In this partnership, I set out to create a third space for mentoring and supporting pre-service teachers, making connections between their on-campus work and their developing practice in schools. Throughout the self-study, I kept field notes and a reflective journal. In analysing these, I identified the tensions and challenges of working in this space and in articulating my pedagogy as a university mentor. I experienced uncomfortable moments of learning, where I faced tensions related to issues of obligation, loyalty and advocacy. I argue that engaging in processes of translation and mediation enables university mentors to articulate a pedagogy of mentoring and, in so doing, to rewrite the script of mentoring for pre-service and supervising teachers.
Description:
Some experts say a mental state of relaxed concentration - when the brain produces alpha waves - is the most conducive to learning. Perhaps this is why the friendly atmosphere and ambience in men's sheds supports the process of informal learning. This paper discusses aspects of men's learning derived from the authors' study of mostly older men who are coming together, talking, working and socialising in community sheds across Australia. The paper looks at the social, informal and autonomous learning and considers the significance of the community work-like settings. Mentoring, coaching, 'sitting next to George' and 'hanging out on the periphery' are common forms of social pedagogical interaction in these contexts as are group discussion, conversations and low-key questioning. In this paper the mostly older men's learning is analysed as a subset of lifelong learning. The participants in the study are mostly older men: some retired, some recovering from illness or injury, others unable to find full-time paid work. However all share a social space and an undefined but common purpose that due to ageing bodies and faculties is sometimes illusionary as much as real, but that is loosely focused around regular, hands-on participation in traditional, male-orientated, goal-directed activities. Considered highly significant to participation in the learning and group activities is the development of male friendships referred to as 'mateship' amongst men in Australia. These friendships develop through participation and inclusion in activity that occurs in social and community spaces. The authors' research shows that access to, and inclusion in, these male-orientated group spaces provides an avenue for the development of friendships, trust, support and reciprocity. Through the research the authors found that the associated learning and life- stage development that occurs in these environments leads to self- reported improvements in happiness, health and wellbeing, and feelings of social connection. The participants in this study are generally considered to be a missing group or cohort in adult education. It also picks up on the trend in Australia about 'a remarkable explosion in individualised, self-directed and autonomous forms of learning that have occurred without involving adult educators'. Considered central to this study were the places, spaces and faces. [Author abstract, ed]
Description:
An age characterised by the sort of 'manufactured uncertainty' identified by Giddens (1994) throws up for scrutiny any number of taken-for-granted assumptions regarding professional practice experience in the Education field. This paper explores the suggestive possibilities of discourses of pre-service teacher practica in terms of naming, positioning and examination of taken-for-granted aspects of teacher education as they present at a regional university in Victoria, Australia. The University of Ballarat has introduced a new P-10 teacher education course. In the second year of its progress, traditional aspects of paid supervisory and assessment roles of practising teachers in relation to student teachers have been the focus of attention and activity based on reconfigured foci on the roles of both practising teachers and undergraduate students. One such focus is on what Schön (1987) describes as 'indeterminate zones of practice', and the result has been a research program exploring those zones in terms of mentorship in relation to mandated supervision and assessment requirements for graduate registration. The project is action-research based, with teacher, student, academic and semi-academic/teacher roles considered in the light of suggestive possibilities of mentorship and reflective practices as transformative possibilities in relation to roles associated with these.
Description:
In 2001 the School of Education introduced a new P-10 Education course, and a major aspect in this was the introduction of practicum for First Year students within three weeks of starting their course. Evaluations of this have suggested that this is a move that has been enthusiastically embraced by students and in 2002 we have worked on what has been established to extend and develop the experience for First Years by means of systematic construction of a community of practice to support their development as emergent professionals. To build the sort of community of practice that we envisaged, we turned to Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP), action research models, and reflective practice to inform our work to make the practicum as meaningful as possible to First Years as emergent professionals.
Description:
In 2001 the School of Education introduced a new P-10 Education course, and a major aspect in this was the introduction of practicum for First Year students within three weeks of starting their course. Evaluations of this have suggested that this is a move that has been enthusiastically embraced by students and in 2002 we have worked on what has been established to extend and develop the experience for First Years by means of systematic construction of a community of practice to support their development as emergent professionals. To build the sort of community of practice that we envisaged, we turned to Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP), action research models, and reflective practice to inform our work to make the practicum as meaningful as possible to First Years as emergent professionals.
Description:
Due to changes to Australia's economic landscape (e.g., falling productivity and the end of the mining boom) and the emergence of disruptive digital technologies, the shape of the Australian workforce is rapidly changing and the development of STEM skills is an imperative. There has been a decline, however, in the number of students studying STEM subjects in senior secondary school, and the underrepresentation of females in many STEM disciplines further compounds the problem. The University of New England is a regional Australian university where a large proportion of students are from rural and regional areas, are mature-aged, and come from low SES backgrounds. Many commence their tertiary studies in STEM with diverse backgrounds, often without the necessary assumed knowledge. A mentoring program was designed to assist female students develop STEM-related study and career goals. Important components of the program included: face-to-face and online training and professional development for participants, two mentors (one academic and one industry-based) per student, accessibility for students studying at a distance, guest speakers, and outreach activities promoting STEM to the wider community. This program could be readily adapted for other cohorts of students (e.g., indigenous students) and expanded (e.g., for all students embarking on STEM studies). The program helped students recognise and address potential roadblocks to a sustained and successful STEM-based career, build confidence in pursuing study and career goals, and develop sound decision-making skills in career planning. For mentors, the program offered STEM-related professional development opportunities. Furthermore, academic mentors reported a positive impact on their approach to STEM teaching as a result of participation in the program.