Emotion resonance and divergence: a semiotic analysis of music and sound in 'The Lost Thing', an animated short film and 'Elizabeth' a film trailer

Music and sound contributions of interpersonal meaning to film narratives may be different from or similar to meanings made by language and image, and dynamic interactions between several modalities may generate new story messages. Such interpretive potentials of music and voice sound in motion pictures are rarely considered in social semiotic investigations of intermodality. This paper therefore shares two semiotic studies of distinct and combined music, English speech and image systems in an animated short film and a promotional filmtrailer. The paper considers the impact of music and voice sound on interpretations of film narrative meanings. A music system relevant to the analysis of filmic emotion is proposed. Examples show how music and intonation contribute meaning to lexical, visual and gestural elements of the cinematic spaces. Also described are relations of divergence and resonance between emotion types in various couplings of music, intonation, words and images across story phases. The research is relevant to educational knowledge about sound, and semiotic studies of multimodality

Seeing the bigger picture: investigating tertiary arts educators' views on the Australian arts curriculum

Recent research proposes that arts based learning can offer a range of positive outcomes for all students (Bamford, 2006; Fiske, 1999). Unfortunately, the opportunities for arts based training and education for teachers, particularly in generalist Primary teacher courses are minimal, and therefore requires urgent attention (Gibson & Anderson, 2008). Garvis and Pendergast (2010) support this claim, stating that 'it is assumed pre-service teachers exit teacher training with adequate arts content knowledge and skills' (p. 4), however, contend that in reality this is often not the case. Welch (1995) argues that the way teachers' perceive themselves in regard to their own artistic abilities stems directly from the level of effectiveness they demonstrate as arts teachers. The ability however to transform disciplinary knowledge into a form of knowledge that is appropriate for students is a significant challenge for teachers (Garvis & Pendergast, 2010). The importance of teacher educator trainers in preparing pre-service teachers to see the 'bigger picture' is essential, particularly when curriculum change occurs. This paper will provide a timely national snapshot view of tertiary arts educators' perceptions of the impending national arts curriculum and the level of their preparedness. A narrative inquiry approach will be taken to investigate the deeper, lived experiences of three tertiary art educators and their preparation for the implementation. Additional information will be sought from a survey of Australian arts educators and interviews from each state and territory to provide further insights into the impact of this initiative on the tertiary education sector

Workplace experience of international students in Australia

For the past three years over 400,000 international students have enrolled annually to study in higher education contexts in Australia (Australian Government, 2019). The extensiveness of international student enrolments has been equalled to Australia’s third highest export industry after coal and iron ore (Grewal & Blakkarly, 2017). Given the significance of international students it is important that Australian universities find effective and culturally-appropriate ways to support this cohort. One such area needing support is work experience as many study programs that international students undertake include compulsory or elective courses involving assessed experiences in professional contexts. Degrees such as business, education, engineering, health including nursing and psychology all require students to successfully complete workplace experiences in order to graduate. It is critical that international students are supported before, during and after workplace components of study as the International Student Barometer indicated that international students desire quality career advice, work experience and subsequently employment as a result of their studies (Garrett, 2014)

What does reflection look and feel like for international students? An exploration of reflective thinking, reflexivity and employability

Reflection, reflective thinking and reflexivity have received significant attention in the scholarly literature on higher education yet there is limited research that explores these concepts in relation to international students. This paper consequently explores what reflection and reflective thinking might look and feel like for international students. We theorizethe importance of supporting international students in becoming reflexive practitioners in their chosen area of study; particularly in respect to graduate attributes including reflection and employability. The paper attends to this theorizationby sharing Rodgers’ (2002) four functions of reflection, a reflective thinking model –the 4Rs –as well as Archer’s (2000, 2012) notion of reflexivity. Weexplore how higher educators might consider these frameworks comprehensively when working with international students particularly in the area of workplace experience

Editors' introduction: the World Alliance for Arts Education: forging forward in and through the arts

This handbook is the result of many valuable contributions. The overarching aim of these contributions was to show how the arts continue to play a criticalrole in learning and teaching contexts. Arts educators are passionate people who work beyond the call of duty—but they do so because of this passion. This enthusiasm also draws us together as friends, even if we have never met before. The World Alliance for Arts Education (WAAE) is a case in point. Our support of, and commitment to, each other may not be found in other areas of research—the arts are indeed special. It is therefore important we draw on this strength throughout our advocacy, networking and research in continuing to strengthen the place of arts education in a range of contexts across the globe

Literacy teachers as reflexive agents? Enablers and constraints

The recasting of education as an economic rather than a social good means that governments around the world will continue to pursue agendas to show that schooling systems are effective in raising standards. Literacy is a key area of comparison on the world stage, placing literacy educators under enormous pressure to perform in this culture of accountability and visibility. We use Archer’s theory of reflexivity and morphogenesis to identify the work of nine literacy teachers and leaders in Australia as both enabling and constraining with personal, structural and cultural emergent properties needing to be constantly negotiated. Our findings show that mediation of these emergent properties occurred in different ways. Mostly teachers acted in ways that accepted ‘the way things are’ rather than mobilising as corporate agents or social actors to enact change. We argue that literacy educators can find ways to harness enablements to reclaim their professional autonomy

Enhancing Phonological Awareness and Orthographic Knowledge of Preservice Teachers: An Intervention through Online Coursework

The teaching of reading is a core priority across the education sector. In an attempt to better prepare our next generation of professional teachers of reading, academic staff at an Australian university implemented coursework changes that were designed to enhance the phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge of first-year preservice teacher education students. All students were asked to complete written surveys measuring phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge during class-time at the start and end of their first semester of study. During the semester, students were expected to complete two online modules on phonological awareness and orthographic conventions and pass an online quiz (worth 10% of their grade) as part of their course on the Teaching of Reading and Writing. Education students’ performance in phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge improved significantly over the course of the semester. However, a significant percentage of students failed to achieve mastery level in phoneme-level awareness. Implications and future directions for current higher education practices are presente

International students and work experience: mapping of key research themes - executive summary and recommendations

International students contribute greatly to the higher education sector in Australia. In 2016 alone, it was reported that approximately 440 000 international students enrolled in programs in Australian universities (Australian Government, 2016; DEEWR, 2009-2016), making the number of international students in Australia the third highest export beside iron ore and coal (Blakkarly, 2017). Moreover, the number of international students across the globe is consistently growing. For this reason it is critical that international students’ needs are met through effective and ongoing support. Many international students have the desire to undertake work experience when living in another country (Ammigan & Jones, 2018). In fact, the international student barometer indicated the desire for international students to receive relevant career advice, work experience, leading to successful employment in their chosen fields (Garrett, 2014). Consequently, many programs international students study include a key work experience1 component. Such work experience has been referred to as work integrated learning (WIL), practicum, workplacement, field experience, clinical placement and/or internship in the literature (Barton, Hartwig, Bennett, Cain, Campbell, Ferns, Jones, Joseph, Kavanagh, Kelly, Larkin, O’Connor, Podorova, Tangen, & Westerveld, 2017). Experience in the workplace can present differently for international students compared to their domestic counterparts (Bilsland, Nagy, & Smith, 2014). Not only do international students need to socialise into a new work environment they are often still adapting to the new university and cultural context in which they have been placed. Barton et al. (2017) describe this as a ‘multisocialisation’ process. Evidence in the literature shows that international students need more time to understand the local requirements and expectations in different workplaces (Rienties, Bart and Nolan, Eimear-Marie, 2014). This executive summary therefore presents major themes encountered in a comprehensive search of the literature. It will firstly, share some insight into general areas related to international student experience and then secondly, relevant themes related to work experience. Finally, a number of recommendations will be presented to support international students during workplace-based experiences during study programs within Australia

Recollage as a tool for self-care: reflecting multimodally on first five years in the academy through Schwab’s lines of flight

Working in the academy can be both challenging and exciting as it can be trying and difficult to negotiate if one is unprepared. Past research has acknowledged the importance of reflective practice in order to face such trials positively. This study utilised arts-based/multimodal reflection to contemplate the lived experience of one early career researcher in her first five years of employment. Adopting an autoethnographic approach, the researcher regularly reflected via the medium of collage. This paper reports on recollaged artefacts. These were analysed in relation to meta-semiotic meanings as well as how they corresponded to Schwab’s ‘lines of flight’ taking both positive and negative acuities. Findings showed that taking the time to delineate feelings via arts-based reflection can reveal silent thoughts and deliberations and support an early career academic in appreciating and improving awareness of higher education regularities. Implications highlight how authoethnographic recollage can be effective for early career academics

The arts and literacy: what does it mean to be arts literate?

The arts have often been recognised as unique areas of investigative inquiry, however artists often find it difficult to articulate this meaning through words. This difficulty has impacted on discourse about the arts and literacy despite growth of research on literacy in specific content areas. This paper will explore the interconnection between artistic inquiry, literacy and multimodality via a literature review and by drawing on interview data from higher and secondary education arts teachers. It notes that teachers of the arts view literacy in two interrelating ways: a. reading and writing in their particular subject area and b. a deeper disciplinary approach where students use these learnt skills and enter into the journey to becoming an artist themselves. This paper therefore aims to determine the answers to: What is the relationship between the arts and literacy? and What does it mean to be arts literate