HDR Student Conference Abstracts

Snelgrove, Sue

Paper 1

'Reconstructing the Mosaic of Inclusion for Children with Intellectual Disabilities'

Paper presented at the business meeting of the Disability Studies in Education Special Interest Group, AERA - and - Winner of of the Emerging Scholar Award 2007.

Chicago, Illinois

Paper 2

'Normalisation and a Pedagogy of (Inter)dependence'

Paper presented in the 'Policy and Malpractice? Perspectives on the failure of inclusion' symposium at the Seventh Annual Second City Conference on Disability Studies in Education

Abstract 1

This dissertation is an interview-based case study of how meanings about inclusive education for children with intellectual disabilities enrolled in support classes are constructed and contested in a school in regional New South Wales, Australia. The perspectives of a range of research participants – children ‘with’ intellectual disabilities, mainstream students, teachers, teacher aides, parents of children with intellectual disabilities and community members – are explored and juxtaposed with recommendations and truth claims expressed in policy and discussion documents regarding inclusive education.

I argue that there are huge disjunctions between the policies and practices that purport to promote inclusive education and the lived experiences of the research participants. Thus a core promise of inclusion that social relationships will develop between children ‘with’ and ‘without’ disabilities is unlikely to be realised, and damaging constructions of the ‘other’ are likely to persist. In making a space for counter stories, particularly by devising a methodology that foregrounds the children with intellectual disabilities as authoritative contributors to the debates, I identify what I call ‘chinks of possibility’. These are points where opportunities arise to challenge and transcend existing practices and to construct new knowledge about inclusion. Acting upon these chinks of possibility constitutes what I call a pedagogy of (inter)dependence, which represents a more optimistic and effective strategy for the inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities into mainstream schools.

Abstract 2

This paper discusses particular aspects from my research in a school in New South Wales, Australia that indicated that the ways that students with intellectual disabilities are constructed by schools through, for example, departmentalisation, school vision, organisation, curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting, actually constrains any movement towards more inclusive schools for this group of students and, perhaps, students with any disabilities. I suggest that students’ perceptions based on their own agency and claim to power, the shifting and (re)constructing nature of subjectivities within the framework of children with intellectual disabilities, demands an equally fluid framework from which to launch policy and practice. My research points to the promise of a pedagogy of (inter)dependence as a way forward for schools to reinvent themselves along the lines of moral incentives that value (inter)dependency.

Boitshwarelo, Bopelo

'The draft Botswana ICT policy and its implications for quality distance education delivery'

World conference on distance education: ICDE22

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

This paper discusses the importance and implications of the draft Botswana ICT policy to the higher education sector in Botswana.

In light of limited access to higher education in Botwsana this paper analyses Thutonet, the section of the ICT policy that deals specifically with education and looks at programmes in other sectors that may have implications for education.

Gerbic, Philippa

'To post or not to post: Undergraduate student perceptions about participating in online discussions'

The 23rd Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education--Who's Learning? Whose Technology?

Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Computer mediated conferencing (CMC) is now a common feature of blended learning environments where students learn in both face to face and online settings. While many teachers recognize the value of online discussions for learning, students appear to have different perspectives. Consequently, their participation in online discussions is often sporadic and not genuinely interactive. This paper examines these issues and provides student perspectives about participation in online discussions which arose from a case study in a conceptually difficult subject. Systems data indicated low numbers of posted messages. Student interviews provide some insights into this lack of participation, and identify the influence of the curriculum design, especially the nature of the learning activity, and its connection to other aspects of the course, for example, assessment and the regular class sessions. Other influential factors include the student’s ideas about learning, managing demands on their time and their acceptance of CMC. The paper also provides recommendations for improving participation in online discussions.

Grace, Lauri

'I see nothing has changed': reshaping practitioner concerns about the institutional language

AVETRA Annual Conference

Abstract

My PhD research revealed widespread disquiet that Training Packages are typically written in a complex and abstract institutional language form that excludes all but knowledgeable readers. Many practitioners and participants struggle to understand the units of competency they are trying to work with. In a national VET system which claims that decisions making and policy development are based on consultation and research, how can this disquiet go unnoticed?

This paper examines a sequence of five texts drawn from the review and development of the Training Package qualifications for VET practitioners. It argues that the impact of an excluding language form has been recognised and then subsumed in two separate review and development processes.

Johnson, Nicola

'Fish in Water' - the Field and Habitus of Teenage Computer Experts

18th Annual Ethnographic & Qualitative Research in Education (EQRE) Conference

Abstract

Although contemporary education literature regularly gestures towards the fact of teenagers' (and children's) ever increasing technological competency, there appears to be little research focused on the ways in which teenagers themselves conceptualize the idea of expert performance and the multiple ways they acquire expert status.

Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of field and habitus, this paper outlines research focused on a heterogeneous group of teenagers in semi-urban New Zealand settings and identifies the participants' multiple (and contradictory) understandings of expertise and the ways they have attained expertise and performed as experts in out-of-school settings. Discussion focuses on how most of the teenagers gained their expertise independently with minimal input from their schooling, which raises questions regarding the relevance of schooling.

Kamp, Annelies

'Teaching teachers: building a post-compulsory education training and employment sector'

AARE 2006,

Adelaide

Abstract

This paper captures development of the GDAL as understood by its instigators as a platform for reform. The GDAL would respond to the challenge being put before education and training providers to prepare young people to create and engage with a learning society through their capacity for lifelong learning. These teacher education students would, ideally, bring skills and knowledge already gained in a professional career. While they would gain teacher registration they were better conceptualized as professional educators for an emerging post compulsory education, training and employment sector: it was expected that graduates would not only teach in schools but would also move readily within the network of learning spaces that young people increasingly experience in their formal education. In the process, they would be a force for change, seeding reform within secondary schools. As a 'teacher' these graduates would have the credibility to challenge the entrenched practices of other teachers.

Leahy, Deana

'Governing youthful bodies and souls: curricular inquiries into 'public' and 'private' interests'

AERA

San Francisco, USA

Liou, Iris

'English as an International Language and Teacher Professional Identity '

12th International Annual Conference of the International Association for World Englishes

Abstract

English as an International Language (EIL) has been a major topic of language research and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language (TESOL) education in the last decade.  The concept of EIL emphasizes the function of English for cross cultural and international communication, rather than for communicating with the native speakers of English.  It challenges the traditional ownership of English, and therefore redefines the professional competence of non-native speaking teachers in the TESOL profession. 

Educational researchers have found that teachers’ professional identity strongly determines the way they teach, their commitment to their teaching role, and their attitude toward change in education.  Important in the construction of teachers’ professional identity is subject competence.  This recent development in EIL poses a potential realignment of teachers’ sense of competence and expertise.  Hence, a focus on teachers’ professional identity provides a powerful way of exploring responses and potential issues with the introduction of EIL. Conversely, EIL provides an opportunity to closely study the way teachers’ professional identity is linked with language teachers’ perceptions of subject knowledge and expertise. Eighty percent of worldwide TESOL teachers are non-native speaking (NNS) teachers. Scholars have noted that non-native English users are shaping the future of English. However, among existing literature, little empirical work has been done to understand NNS teachers’ perception of the spread of English as an international language.  How an understanding of the concept of EIL will affect teachers’ professional identity requires further empirical investigation.

In this study, I use the case of Taiwan to answer the research questions. Taiwan, same as many other countries where English is a foreign language, has rarely been the focus of EIL study. It has presented a perfect case to verify the EIL thesis.  Taiwan is a country that has great need for English in specific commercial and political domains, because of its dependency on the United States of America in trade, international affairs, and cultural exchanges.  If the concept of EIL is relevant to Taiwan, we should find the introduction of this concept changing the professional identity of English teachers in Taiwan. They will position themselves as a member of the larger group of non-native speakers, and the non-native teachers will not believe that English teaching should only be based on the American English norm.

The research population focuses on English teachers of tertiary vocational institutes, as the teaching goal of teaching English in the institutes is to teach English for the purpose of practical communication in student’s future careers. Teachers enjoy a larger range of autonomy, and that makes a larger space for teachers to consider EIL pedagogy. Based on 126 responded questionnaires and 26 extensive interviews with NNS tertiary teachers, this study presents data of individual and collective reflections on the interaction of EIL and NNS teachers’ professional identity. The effectiveness of EIL upon teachers’ professional identity was reviewed among the competing forces of teacher professional identity formation.

Loughlin, Jill

'Beyond the Sea:  A Critical Narrative Approach to Identity Construction for Jazz Educators in New Zealand'

Narrative Inquiry in Music Education (NIME)

Arizona, USA

Abstract

This study has emerged from my interest in jazz education coupled with an observation that there is very little literature on jazz or arts education in New Zealand (Grierson and Mansfield, 2003), despite the inclusion of  jazz in university contexts over last decade.  Given this apparent lack of interest in the history of New Zealand jazz the construction of a jazz musical identity within this geographical context might be difficult.  Yet there is an active jazz scene and a wealth of talent emerging from university courses.  As role models who help to define the nature of jazz musicians’ identities in New Zealand, jazz educators are an appropriate starting point for research of this nature.

By making use of life history methodology, I examine how jazz educators construct their educational and musical identities, and how the notion of being in a space defined as ‘the edge’ limits or enables this construction.  However, more importantly, the various ‘edges’ from which I operate have (re)defined my role in this project. By including what Ruth Behar (1996) has called a ‘vulnerable’ reflexive narrative, this paper examines my ongoing journey to continually explore methodological and contextual ‘edges’ as contributing factors in my life history project.

Mooney, Amanda

'How did I get here?' The experiences of female physical education teachers in all-boy schools'

1st ICHPER-SD Oceania Congress 2006

Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

Historically, physical education and sport were constructed as curriculum practices for boys to explore, channel and hone their masculinity. While much has changed since their induction into the curriculum, there is a prevailing view that sport and physical education continue to operate as powerful conduits to the dominant masculinity.

In a climate where the underachievement of boys in social and emotionnal contexts is becoming increasingly concerning, mcch of the literature attributes factors such as lack of male role models, the feminism of education and the lack of 'boy friendly' curriculum and pedagogy as key contributors to the current dilemma.

The role of physical education and sport in the gender socialisation process poses some important questions about the place of female physical education educators in this 'male component' of the curriculum. Foremost here are questions about the capacity of female physcial education educators to provide effective learning and socialising opportunities to young males. This paper draws on research into experiences of female physcial education teachers in all-boy schools to discuss issues of gender, power and pedagogy.

Patrick, Rachael

'Reconceptualising teacher professional knowledge: Rhetoric AND reality AND ...'

Biennial Conference of the Teacher Education Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand (TEFANZ)

Abstract

This paper presents a reconceptualization of teacher professional knowledge, from a poststructural feminist perspective. By reading new secondary teachers' narratives as text, I look beyond the stories themselves to the discourses within the between. I illustrate, with data from a recent study, that teacher professional knowledge is not simply rhetoric or even a reality. Rather I see it as being multidimensional, complex and contested. Teachers, then, are in a position of negotiating competing discourses of ideology, policy and practice. In New Zealand, this involves balancing teaching and schooling practices with policies of equity and accountability, based on changing social, cultural and economic ideologies.

Salim, Herli

'Implementation of the Early Years Literacy program in Victoria: What can we learn? '

Fogarty Foundation Postgraduate Research Forum

University of Western Australia

Abstract

What are the driving influences that makes this literacy program run successfully and of what benefit can they be to enhancing the process of literacy learning and teaching in Indonesia?

My ethnographic study will strengthen my understanding of the implementation of the program in Victorian schools and provide me with a valuable experiencial basis for further research into Early Years Literacy programs in Indonesia. It will investigate the nature and impact of the EYLP in selected primary schools in Victoria to gain first hand knowledge of the current teaching and learning practices and key challenges in implementing the program within a 'whole school' approach.

Snelgrove, Sue

'Constructing shifting subjectivities: reconstructing the mosaic of inclusive education towrads a pedagog of [inter]dependence'

AARE 2006,

Adelaide

Abstract

This paper challenges the foundational assumptions underpinning inclusion of children with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. It attempts to shift theorising/practice beyond the social model of disability towards an understanding of disability and inclusive education reconstructed as a more positive pedagogy of [inter]dependence.

Thies, Linda

'What role for social capital in establishing a Warrnambool community education program for disengaged students?'

Society for Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA's) 22nd National Conference

Abstract

Although social capital is frequently understood differently, there is general agreement that it is a resource based on social relationships, characterised by norms of trust and reciprocity.

This paper will outline a study which explores the potential of social capital both from the perspective of the formulation of education policy by networks, and for the evaluation of a specific vocational education and training program. The case study is a Community Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) program being established with support from the Local Learning and Employment Network, schools and a range of different community agencies.

Wells, Muriel & Lyons, Damien

'Do What We Do: A multimodal approach to planning and teaching'

ATEA - Australian Teacher Educators Conference

Abstract

Quality teaching and learning in teacher education can be enriched across campuses for both the academics and the student bodies when focus is given to the development of dynamic ICT rich learning experiences.

This paper focuses on the learning journey of two academics and their pre-service teacher education students located on two regional campuses, 200km apart, and how planning, communicating, implementing, presenting, evaluating and reflecting took place within a framework of collegiality.

Specifically this paper discusses how a multimodal teaching and learning environment using a range of new communication technologies enhanced both the teaching and the learning experience for our pre-service teacher education students.

Michael Wylie

'Internationalising Secondary School Curriculum'

Australian Teacher Education Association Conference

Abstract

This paper examines how aspects of international education such as curriculum, teachers, pedagogy, assessment and ICT are defined in a theoretical shift from post colonialism to globalisation. International education can be dissected by exploring these relationships in light of western and non western epistemology, post colonialism, the emergence of global economic imperialism and the hope for a global civil society. By exemplifying a number of case studies that have undergone or are undergoing dramatic changes in structure and organisation in the name of internationalisation a theory defining the complexities and dynamics of this shifting field emerges.

The paper contends that international education is a complex field that is contextually defined and redefined. International education has ideological and pragmatic intentions that are often in tension. Ideologically international education espouses global civil society yet in national and international context the hegemonic interests of an elite class are served. Throughout the discussion it becomes clear that internationalising the curriculum is essential in response to the rapidly changing contexts which shape teaching and learning in the 21st century.

Wu, Chicheng (Roy)

Ideology, researcch and educational practice: a journey of self-reflection

Fogarty Foundation Postgraduate Research Forum

University of Western Australia

Abstract

Postmodernism has greatly influenced and reshaped the social science research over the past decades, in terms of increasing the awareness of researcher values and ideologies, emphasising differences across educational contexts andd recognising the multiple-facets of knowledge.

Based on PhD study, the author unravels the reciprocal relationship between ideology and research questions; explores the gap between the educational practices and research; and delineates the limitations of different methods of data collection.

Accordingly, a school-wide approach is encouraged to shed light on future inclusive programs and research enquiries.

Culican, Sarah

'Troubling Teacher Talk: The challange of changing classroom discourse patterns'

AARE Conference

Parramatta, NSW

Abstract

The middle years are a crucial stage of schooling where the range in student achievement widens, and progress for some students slows significantly (Cairney et al. 1998; Hill &Russell 1999). Despite moves towards middle school reform and improved literacy standards, there remains a gap in literacy provision for young adolescent learners, particularly those defined as 'educationally disadvantaged' or 'at risk' (Masters & Forster 1997; DEETYA 1998). Many literacy intervention programs offered to underachieving adolescents fail to articulate to mainstream curriculum and assessment practices, or to scaffold students adequately in meeting the literacy demands on an increasingly abstract and specialised curriculum (Christie 1990; Unsworth 2001). Often attributing literacy failure to individual deficit, many intervention programs, albeit well-intentioned, lead to a differentiated curriculum which potentially compounds disadvantage and maintains stratified outcomes.

Darby, Linda

'Having stories to tell: Negotiating subject boundaries in mathematics and science'

Australasian Science Education Research Association

Hamilton, New Zealand

Abstract

It is generally assumed that there are common elements inherent in the teaching and learning of mathematics and science, such that teachers trained in mathematics and science are often expected to teach in both subjects. The question arises as to whether this view is consistent with the ways teachers construct for themselves these two subjects.

This research explores such constructions, as well as factors that influence how teachers negotiate subject boundaries. Working closely with four secondary mathematics and/or science teachers through classroom observation, videoing and interviews has given rise to rich stories that provide insight into teachers' perspectives and personal commitments to the subjects; and how this relates to their classroom practice and their construction of subject meta-narratives.

This paper explores how these stories give clues to the demands place on teachers by the nature of teaching and learning in mathematics and science.

Gerbic, Philippa

'Chinese learners and computer mediated communication: Balancing culture, technology and pedagogy'

ASCILITE Conference

Brisbane

Abstract

The modern Chinese diaspora has raised new issues for learning. A recurrent theme within the literature is that technology by itself is insufficient to promote cross cultural learning, and a new balance must be found between culture, technology and pedagogy.

This paper takes a student perspective and reports some research findings about the ways in which Chinese students learn in online discussions, including the influence of the computer mediated communication (CMC) medium and the curriculum. It also makes some comparisons with the local students. A major benefit for Chinese students was their increased participation, which they considered was due to the virtual and text based nature of the medium. Unlike local students, Chinese students did not find the debate with its controversy and argument motivational.

Surprisingly, communication anxiety was more problematic for local students. Chinese and local students found that reading and writing messages helped them develop their thinking and understanding, and assessment was a significant influence for them. The important of integrating the online discussions with the weekly face-to-face classes were identified by both groups.

Grace, Lauri - PhD by thesis

'Training Packages and the AQTF: freedom to move or components of a compliance-driven straitjacket?'

AVETRA Conference

Abstract

This paper reports on a PhD research project being undertaken through the Faculty of Education, Deakin University. Training Packages and the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) form part of the ruling relations of VET, but how do they operate in practice? Do they provide frameworks within which training professionals are free to use judgement and respond in innovative ways to local learning and assessment contexts? Do they impose rigid 'guidelines' within which the decision-making authority or practitioners over appropriate practices is displaced by that of auditors, constraining creativity and creating pressures towards conformity? Or does their impact vary, depending on how they are interpreted and who is doing the interpreting?

My PhD research explores issues relating to the use of Training Packages in workbased learning. Interview data suggests that, in practice, different training organisations respond very differently to a regulatory framework that aims to achieve national consistency. Some practitioners describe working in a compliance-driven environment, in which their ability to meet the needs of learners is stifled by standardised training and assessment practices imposed by Training Packages and the AQTF. This view is reflected in phrases such as 'you're not allowed to ...', and 'you always feel uneasy because you've got AQTF compliance, inspections, auditors'. In contrast, ohter practitioners talk about having freedom to design learning and assessment programs for their particular target group and context, providing they stay within broad guidelines and that guarantee national recognition of qualifications they issue. This view is reflected in comments such as 'it just leaves it open ... to be as creative and flexible as you like,' and 'It just gives us freedom'.

This paper explores the proposition that the impact of these abstract and generalised texts is influenced by local interpretations, and it considers the role that organisational culture plays in determining these interpretations.

Kamp, Annelies

'Creative Dissent - Teaching Teachers for the Future'

AARE Conference

Parramatta, NSW

Abstract

This paper explores the development of the Graduate Diploma of Education (Applied Learning) that has been offered for the first time in 2005 by the Faculty of Education, Deakin University, Geelong. The Graduate Diploma (Applied Learning) is the result of he collaboration between Deakin University and the Smart Geelong Region LLEN; its implementation is a key component of the strategic agenda of SGR LLEN in contributing to the formation and operation of a seamless post-compulsory sector.

The paper will explore some of the challenges confronting schools and educators in preparing young people for the postmodern context that resulted in a commitment to explore a new form of teacher education. It will detail the form of the Graduate Diploma before articulating the challenges of its development and implementation. The paper will use a Deleuzian lens to theorise this effort to train teachers who will work in a new post-compulsory sector and will forge an ability to 'think different' in institutional settings including schools.

Kosbab, Derek

'Maturational Development of Jobseekers through VET and Lifetime Goalsetting'

14th National VET Research Conference

Abstract

In 1990, Feather, a noted researcher on unemployment in Australia wrote:

We urgently need solutions to the problems raised by high unemployment rates so that all members of society are able to realize their potential and to develop a sense of structure and purpose, providing meaning to their existence (Feather 1990, p. 254)

More recently, Lawy and Bloomer (2003) concluded that in the UK the technical-rational basis of education was ensuring its failure to articulate with the needs of learners. Their recommendation was that curricula be reconstructed 'to allow ... [them] ... to be conceived as a practice in which the agency of the learner is a central driving force, rather than as something which is given' (Lawy & Bloomer 2003, p.24)

This paper directly addresses both of these issues. Firstly, through a pre-vocational training intervention labeled Lifetime Goal-setting (LTGS) which empowers unemployed adults to move towards realisation of their potential through the development of a sense of direction and purpose. Secondly, through using the agency of the individual jobseeker as the central driving force.

Patrick, Rachel

Paper One

'Writing as data analysis: Exploring new teachers' narratives'

ISATT pre-conference for postgraduate students

Paper Two

'Challenging changing qualifications: New Zealand secondary teachers negotiate assessment reforms'

ISATT pre-conference for postgraduate students

Abstract One

This presentation will explore aspects of a doctoral study, which used a narrative approach to investigate how a group of New Zealand beginning secondary teachers shape their professional knowledge and practice. The teachers participating in the study were interviewed, in groups, during their first and second years of teaching. The aim of this approach was to encourage conversations between the teachers about their professional lives, and to provide some insights into how they negotiate current social, cultural, political issues in education. The methodology was informed by post structural concerns for making visible the experiences of the research participants, feminist concerns with identity, development, ways of knowing and voice, and critical theorists' concerns to engage in dialogue and develop an understanding of social, political and cultural issues. The focus of the discussion, here, will be on how a narrative methodology has led to the use of writing as a form of data analysis.

Abstract Two

This paper discussed the challenge presented to eachers by the introduction of a standards-based senior secondary school qualification in New Zealand - the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). It explores, from the perspectives of a group of recently graduated teachers, the extent to which the aims of the NCEA have been achieved so far, and the role the teachers have had in its implementation. The teachers' views are diverse and the findings suggest that the issues of equity, curriculum and quality are, as yet, unresolved by this change of assessment system. However, it is also apparent that the teachers are committed to their students' success, and that schools are taking advantage of the flexibility of the new system to design their own courses.

Tang, Pan Hang (Benny)

'Teaching Musical Creativity in Hong Kong Primary Schools: A Review of the Immediate Past and the Current Situation of Teaching and Learning through Technology'

Asian-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research Conference

Abstract

Until the reforms of the late 1990s, the music curriculum for Hong Kong primary schools focused largely on singing, instrumental playing and listening. Musical creativity, on the other hand, had been largely neglected. In 1997, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China announced that Hong Kong would be transformed to become a 'knowledge-based' society. The old school curriculum deemed to be deficient in terms of the intended policy initiatives. A reform of the education system took place with nine generic skills, in which creativity is regarded as one of the main foci, being introduced.

Undoubtedly influenced by a large body of research findings that support the contention that Information Technology is a powerful tool for assisting students to learn to compose music, fourteen primary schools in Hong Kong have been set up with computer-based music rooms with the financial support of the Quality Education Fund (QEF). Of these fourteen schools, twelve have focused on the application of technology on music creativity and teachers in these schools employ various forms of information technology to promote learning through creative music activities. Some methods have proven successful while others have been less so.

This paper discussed the implementation of technology-based teaching of music creativity and analyses the teaching strategies used by the twelve QEF-supported schools. The paper concludes by proposing alternative technology-based strategies - derived from the experience of other countries - that may have the potential to increase the effectiveness of teaching for musical creativity in Hong Kong schools.