(Re) imagining the boundary: A case of contemporary fire and emergency services education and training

The Australian Fire and Emergency Services (FES) industry environment is becoming increasingly complex, with recent research suggesting this trend is expected to continue. At the heart of this complexity is an increase in the incidence and intricacy of operational activity, advances in technology and practice plus increasing scrutiny by all levels of government and the public FES serves. The changing industry environment has been attributed to a range of factors and importantly here, manifesting in the changing of many of ‘the ways’, that is, the ways of being, knowing and doing of FES, as they have historically been known. The contemporary industry narrative is calling for collective responses to the business of FES, and as such, calling for FES to work closely with its multiple intersecting jurisdictions and constituents. This qualitative investigation aimed to better understand one such intersection, that of FES and Higher Education (HE). FES has a long and proud history with Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. While this continues today, the industry is increasingly looking toward HE and its potential for preparing FES workers for the increasing complexity. The FES industry and VET have a well-established working relationship, and systems and processes in place to support this relationship. However, arrangements of this kind do not currently exist in regard to HE. As such, current FES HE efforts vary considerably and lack the mechanisms needed to support one another to come together and work in a fulsome way. The FES education and training environment and its enactments, such as training products, present as highly particular, and these particularities come to the fore when education and training is conceptualised as encompassing VET and HE, and as a continuum of these. Against this backdrop, there is a pressing need for an approach which sees FES, VET and HE working in unison. Located within the constructivist perspective, and conducted using an instrumental case study design, this research explores the current FES education and training environment in order to better understand the challenges faced by FES and HE, and thereby, their working together. This research is conducted within the Queensland FES context and in relation to one particular HE provider, CQUniversity Australia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, documents, observations of the QFES education and training environment, and a participatory workshop. As a result of the data analysis process, five themes emerged, that of 1) culture, history and tradition, 2) identity and identification, 3) boundaries, 4) accountability, and 5) imaginings. Emerging from the interpretation of these five themes is the need for a specific type of working relationship, postulated here as a collaboration. In support of the collaboration, the FES-HE Model of Collaboration was constructed. This model and its guiding principles speak to FES and HE, and the structure and function of the collaboration argued here as occurring at and within the boundary point between FES and HE, as it is currently known. Through considerations of the FES-HE boundary, and the conceiving of a FES-HE connected future, new understandings of the nature of boundary points emerged. In addition, a mechanism emerged by which boundary points can be navigated and negotiated, here called imaginings. The notion of imaginings, the boundary insights, theorised model and FES contextual understandings represent the contribution to knowledge of this thesis.</p

Moving beyond the individual: Addressing the social determinants of risk taking in mining communities

Increases in risk-taking behaviour, including alcohol, drugs and violence, are often associated with the cyclical nature of the mining sector in Australia. To date, such behaviour has been portrayed by mining companies and governments as an individual problem; little attention has been paid to the social contexts of such behaviour. This research uses a case study approach to explore the social determinants of risk taking in three mining communities in the Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia. Interviews with a cross-section of health and social service providers highlight a number of social determinants underpinning risk taking and reveal a complex interplay of structural risk factors including shift work, income inequality and workplace culture. If we are serious about tackling risk taking in mining communities, governments, policy makers and mining companies need to recognise the influence of contextual factors, and shift attention to the physical, social and economic environments that impact on health outcomes

Learning and leadership : evaluation of an Australian rural leadership program

Leadership programs have been extensively promoted in rural communities in Australia. However, few have been evaluated. The results of the evaluation of a rural leadership program provided in this paper highlight the need for adult learning theories to be more overtly identified and utilised as the basis of planning and implementing leadership programs. Transformative learning theory and social learning theory were used to explain the impact the program had for participants and to provide insight into how similar programs could be enhanced

Paramedicine as a profession: Proposition of a signature pedagogy

Introduction: The education of paramedics within Australian and New Zealand have previously sat within the crossroads of reputable disciplines such as nursing and medicine that provided the underpinning knowledge perceived as related to prehospital care. The role of a paramedic has changed considerably over the past 40 years from drivers and bearers who simply taxied the sick and injured to hospital, to specialised paramedics who perform a significant number of interventions before a patient arrived at the emergency department. As a result of this increase in the scope of practice and the change in the status of professionalism of paramedics, the role of education must also evolve. Purpose: The importance of paramedics undertaking undergraduate baccalaureate degrees and following a vertical career path, not only supports paramedics becoming a profession but is on parity with other health professions. It is seen that for an increase in professionalism, higher levels of educational qualifications such as undergraduate and postgraduate studies are required. Higher education institutions should not have a curriculum independent of actual and future practices. The paramedic curriculum grounded by a theoretical framework allows for a deeper philosophical foundation. This will ensure paramedic programs are seen as equally valid and necessary to educate a richer and more comprehensive paramedic of the future. An important next step in the conjugate to professionalism and curriculum development is a signature pedagogy that underpins paramedic practice that can then be a discourse in curricular decision making. Relevance to Paramedic Education: A signature pedagogy has been used to teach those in health professions, where simple learning is not sufficient. Usually defined within a specific discipline, a signature pedagogy is characterised by content and a teaching framework (Shulman, 2005). This surface structure learning process is supported by the deep configuration of the discipline’s education requirements such as authentic learning; teaching and assessment strategies including work-integrated learning; and underpinned by an implicit structure of essential skills such as professionalism (Shulman, 2005). Currently, no signature pedagogy exists for paramedicine. Implications for paramedic education: With the changing scope of practice for paramedics to a more primary health care model of practice and with advancements in diagnostic procedures and clinical skills, the need for paramedicine to have a signature pedagogy is paramount. As the paramedic profession continues to cultivate and break down barriers from the traditional model of paramedical care the signature pedagogy introduced in this paper not only supports the current practice of paramedicine but will inform the delivery model of paramedicine into the future. The contribution of a signature pedagogy not only addresses the education model of the future but also addresses a new model of healthcare delivery implemented into ambulance services. An educational curriculum adaptable to the changing practices of paramedics is pivotal in shaping the profession

Developing a clear and shared vision: An industry-research-higher education partnership approach

The Fire and Emergency Service (FES) industry continue to invest heavily in research, and in efforts to enhance the utilisation of relevant research in ways that inform policy and practice. As part of the research utilisation agenda, the industry has identified a need for the integration of research into educational offerings and to ensure those educational offerings meet the needs of industry. Some progress has been made in this regard, however, more needs to be done. Simultaneous to the interest in research utilisation, the industry is considering the issue of professionalisation. An important part of the professionalisation agenda for FES is the education and training underpinning the various aspects of the industry, and the nexus between research, higher education and industry. While the industry has a solid research agenda and a good grasp of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, the industry has identified that it would benefit from a clearer understanding of the potential role of higher education and, how best to achieve a nexus between research, higher education and the industry.Led by the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC), the FES industry identified an opportunity to foster a culture of professionalisation supported by a strong nexus between research, higher education and industry. This presentation reports on the joint CQUniversity Australia-AFAC exploratory project, which looked at industry workforce capability needs, current education offerings, the gap between needs and offerings, and from the resulting analysis, opportunities for industry, vocational education, higher education and research to come together. Using a case study approach (Creswell, 2013; Merriam & Tisdale, 2016) and an interpretivist lens (Creswell, 2013) three themes emerged from the thematic analysis (Bernard & Ryan, 2010). The three themes of a) translation, b) capacity building, and c) collaboration emerged as central to understanding a potential FES research-higher education–industry partnership and to areas that would require the attention of both industry and higher education moving forward. The nexus project represented a significant step, and one that set the scene for future industry-education research opportunities that have the potential to transform the Australian FES landscape. As a result of the nexus project, the next steps, in the form of a CQUniversity Australia-Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) research partnership are already being realised. In combination, the nexus project and subsequent CQUniversity-QFES project are paving the way for a first of its kind national research project.Bernard, H. R., & Ryan, G. W. (2010). Analyzing qualitative data: systematic approaches California: Sage Publications.Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: SageMerriam, S. B., & Tisdale, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). San Francisco Jossey-Bass