Exploring the value of values: Does higher education need to abandon a ‘skills transferability’ focus in favour of ‘values transferability’?

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Australia have responded to their environment – driven by government and industry - and cultivated a skills focus when it comes to employability of its graduates. However, this has led to criticisms of a ‘job factory’ with minimal thought given to longer-term lifelong learning orientations and at the core, the students themselves and their values. With a quasi-field experiment design, using both phenomenology and surveys, 15 undergraduate and postgraduate students were exposed to a range of experiences exploring the role of values in career choice and career development. Findings reveal that students appreciate the focus on values as a currency of the employability equation. Five core themes arose out of the research: amplified career awareness; entrepreneurial thinking; anxiety; educational purpose; and understanding personal values. These findings pose questions for HEIs: whether to incorporate a discussion on values as part of employability; how to achieve this in a manner which reaches all students; and when is best to do so. Participants unanimously felt that the penultimate year of study is the ideal time to have a conversation with students not based on skills transferability into the workplace, but values transferability

Book Review of Lee (2025) Social Media and Language Learning. Using TikTok and Instagram.

Yeong-Ju Lee’s “Social Media and Language Learning Using TikTok and Instagram” investigates how informal language learning takes place within mobile social media spaces, focusing on multimodal content and learner agency. Using comparative content analysis of Instagram and TikTok language-learning posts and case studies of international students, Lee demonstrates that both platforms foster creative, autonomous, and multimodal language development, while offering distinct affordances for pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar learning. The book translates empirical findings into ready-to-use classroom strategies, bridging formal and informal learning, and provides directions for further research in mobile-assisted and multimodal language education

Graduate perspectives of workplace preparation and skill development in undergraduate human nutrition programs

Earlier work has explored perspectives of undergraduate nutrition students, academics and employers regarding career-development initiatives. This study aimed to identify nutrition graduates’ degree expectations and understanding of career outcomes, explore perspectives of skills and attributes important in developing career readiness, and assess the emphasis placed on development of these skills during the degree. Graduates (2015 – 2020) from one on-campus and one online undergraduate human nutrition degree at an Australian university were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey and optional follow up interview in July 2021. The survey collected quantitative and qualitative (short form) responses that were analysed descriptively, with open-ended responses subject to inductive content analysis. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically. Fifty participants completed the online survey and seven participated in interviews. The university-defined graduate attributes considered the most important in developing career readiness were oral communication, creative problem solving, application of skills and adaptability, autonomy and initiative, and planning and organisation. Forty-four per cent of graduates felt career-readiness was developed during their undergraduate nutrition studies, with critical inquiry and research skills developed the most. Industry experience, food skills, education resource development, clinical skills, knowledge of software, and dietary data collection and analysis were considered essential for a nutrition professional. Placements, work experience, authentic case studies, simulation and problem-solving activities were strategies seen as fostering career-readiness. These views echo those of students, academics and employers. Universities should incorporate authentic, industry-based learning activities within explicit career development curricula to support the development of work-ready nutrition graduates

Opening Doors: African Fan Personas and the Growth of Fan Studies Perspectives

Traditionally, political affiliation has proven to be one of the most fruitful mechanisms to create division and derision amongst the voting masses. So polarising is the topic of politics that it has coined its own phrase – political divide. Drawing from insights in fan studies, this article explores toxic fan practices within political fandom, as highlighted by Petersen et al. (2023) and Le Clue (2024). It examines the participation and practices of online users/fans within South African politics by focusing on the use of #voestsekanc via X (formerly Twitter) as a case study.In the constantly evolving landscapes of online communities, fan studies provides a lens to comprehend the complexity of participation and engagement, which can both empower and disempower individuals (Pearson 2010, p. 84). Despite this level of agency, the representation of African voices in fan studies is severely limited, which excludes the possibility of a comprehensive understanding of online dynamics within the African context. Therefore, this paper expands the scope of fan studies beyond Western perspectives and contributes to a more diverse scholarly discourse within this field of study

The role of gamification in fostering inclusivity for Vietnamese adult EFL learners in continued education

As adult learners may encounter various challenges and constraints in continued education, it is important to maintain their engagement and resilience in their academic pursuit. This article explores the role of gamification in fostering inclusivity for Vietnamese adult learners undertaking a second degree program in English linguistics. Drawing on a narrative frame and semi-structured interviews with nine professionals aged 22-47, the present study examined the impacts of incorporating gamified elements into an English grammar course. The findings highlighted that gamification effectively catered to the diverse learning needs and styles of adult learners, enhancing their confidence, engagement, and motivation while reducing anxiety. The collaborative nature of gamified activities promoted social connections and a community of practice. However, some learners experienced certain challenges in gamified environments concerning technical issues and their unfamiliarity with platform functionality. This study presents important implications for teachers and curriculum developers in employing gamification to provide a more inclusive and engaging environment for adult learners

Affordances and limitations of 'the digital' for adult migrants with limited or interrupted formal education

Digital technology has become essential for daily life, creating a complex challenge for adult migrants with limited or interrupted formal education who must simultaneously develop digital literacy, additional language, and basic literacy skills. This study examines how different groups of Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) engage with digital tools, revealing a critical disconnect between digital access and genuine language acquisition. Through video-recorded classroom observations and interviews, three learner groups were identified: pre-literacy learners who rely heavily on speech-to-text features but struggle to develop independent skills; learners with some first language literacy who show more sophisticated tool use but often engage in what we term “translation without transformation”, and extended literacy learners who demonstrate strategic tool use but lack opportunities for authentic language production. Using van Lier’s (1996) concepts of awareness, autonomy, and authenticity, we analyse how the affordances of digital tools vary across these groups. While digital tools provide immediate solutions to communication challenges, their current use often bypasses rather than supports genuine language learning processes. Our findings point to the need for differentiated pedagogical approaches that build on learners’ existing digital practices, integrate linguistic and digital knowledge development, and create opportunities for authentic language use through principled teacher-learner interaction

To what extent do Australian universities offer dedicated units to prepare pre-service teachers to support EAL/D learners?

Framed by social justice perspectives, in this article, we present our findings from an audit of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) degrees offered by Australian universities. The purpose is to establish which degrees (and universities) offered dedicated English as an Additional Language and/or Dialect (EAL/D) units that explicitly and solely focus on EAL/D learning and teaching, as core units or elective units, or as a specialisation for secondary ITE courses. To do this, we analysed the publicly available unit titles and descriptions on university websites for 37 Australian universities, representing 215 undergraduate and postgraduate ITE degrees in early childhood, primary and secondary education offered in 2024 and the beginning of 2025. The data were categorised using an EAL/D unit identification tool that we developed. Our findings show that while some universities are preparing teachers to support the EAL/D learners in their classrooms, many are not. This is tied to the accreditation process for ITE degrees and the role that the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) teacher standards play. Given the clear need, this lack of recognition and failure to adequately allocate resources towards meeting the needs of EAL/D learners is a social justice issue, and we end with a plea for change in this area

Languages and cultures in the regions: A tribute to Ruth Nicholls (1947-2024)

Multilingual and multicultural Australia is typically represented in urban settings. This representation is challenged by half a century of languages and multicultural teaching and research originating in Armidale in the New England region of NSW. From the 1970s to the present, educational institutions in Armidale have been leaders in the multicultural, TESOL and languages education fields, a tradition recorded in a manuscript prepared by Ruth Nicholls (1947-2024), a lecturer in TESOL and Languages at the Armidale College of Advanced Education (ACAE) and at the University of New England (UNE) from the early 1970s until her retirement in 2013. This manuscript, which accompanies a carefully documented archive, records innovation in applied linguistics, TESOL, languages and cultures education over decades, as well as productive collaboration between Armidale-based specialists working in these fields. This paper draws on Ruth’s manuscript (Nicholls, ca. 2014) to trace TESOL, languages and cultures education and research in the New England region, extending the account up to the present and into regions beyond the New England.

Developing countries don’t need saving: They may need support

This article challenges the paternalistic mindset often embedded in international development discourse, arguing that developing countries require respectful support rather than saving. Drawing on the author’s personal experiences in Eswatini and other contexts, alongside scholarly insights, it explores the complex realities faced by local communities and highlights the transformative role of education in fostering sustainable development that goes beyond the saving mentality. Central to this argument is the cultivation of intercultural competence and critical thinking in both developing and developed contexts. Education can bridge cultural divides, promote empathy, and empower communities to pursue change while maintaining autonomy. The paper contends that English language teaching, beyond its linguistic goals, holds significant potential to advance these aims by facilitating dialogue, reshaping attitudes, and encouraging context-sensitive perspectives. To enable such transformative practice, educators must engage with authentic voices both inside and outside the classroom and be supported with appropriate resources and training

Microcredential learners need quality careers and employability support: Provocation

Providers, industry, and governments have embraced microcredentialing as a solution to the volatility and velocity of changes in labour markets, workplace competencies, and the needs of the 21st century lifelong learner (Oliver, 2019). However, microcredentials do not, in and of themselves, guarantee career or employment success. Seeking a microcredential is one adaptive career behaviour that people might enact in pursuit of their career goals (Lent & Brown, 2013). Similarly, holding a microcredential is one form of employability capital that people might highlight when seeking employment (Tomlinson & Anderson, 2020)