Review of: Helping doctoral students write: pedagogies for supervisio

Review of Helping doctoral students write: Pedagogies for supervision by Barbara Kamler and Pat Thomson, Routledge, London and New York, 2006, 173 pages, ISBN 0 415 34684 3, AUD74.00 (paperback)

Looking at literacy learners: making sense of observations

Teachers' observations of students in literacy classrooms have long been regarded as important components of 'good' literacy teaching. Nevertheless, recent research has argued that the 'lens' that is used to view students as literacy learners can make a considerable difference to what is seen. Drawing on data from a study that investigated the literacy learning of itinerant farm workers' children, this paper considers narratives told by two teachers about a middle-years student in a North Queensland primary school. In showing the contrasting meanings assigned by the two teachers to the one student, this paper highlights the importance of thinking beyond what has been seen and considering the meanings that are given to teachers' observations, as these may have important consequences for students’ literacy learning

Student mobility: moving beyond deficit views

This paper discusses issues that relate to student mobility and implications for teachers and guidance officers. Whilst there has been a tendency to locate problems associated with mobility in the children themselves or in their families, it is argued that this is not a particularly productive approach. Taking lessons from recent literacy understandings and using data from a study about the children of itinerant fruit pickers, this paper takes a broader perspective, recommending that school personnel widen their focus to include an examination of school practices and to consider equity implications for mobile students

A Faircloughian approach to CDA: principled eclecticism or a method searching for a theory?

[Abstract]: For researchers wanting to take up critical discourse analysis as an analytical tool, Norman Fairclough’s (1989) early work provided a step-by-step approach that he called ‘a guide not a blueprint.’ In response to calls for a more explicit theoretical justification, Chouliaraki and Fairclough (1999) attempted to theoretically ‘ground’ CDA and to spell out its underpinning theories ‘explicitly and systematically’. Their recommendation for a ‘shifting synthesis’ of theoretical sources, however, has been criticised, raising significant questions about the extent to which this work is method-driven and theoretically-framed. This paper explores some of the issues, considerations and advantages that surfaced as the author drew on a Faircloughian approach to CDA, its theory and method in researching literacy learning

Reading and the digital revolution

Response to Maryanne Wolf's article in which she pondered the digital revolution’s potential to ‘unravel 5000 years of learning’ in relation to reading ('Will kids lose skill to think?', HSun, 20/10/07)

Pre-service teachers developing literacy identities

This paper highlights how individual literacy narratives influence pre‐service teacher literacy identities. Working with a diverse group of future literacy educators provides a challenge in negotiating and making sense of their personal literacy narratives and considering the impact this has on their literacy learning. Going beyond outcome measures and development of creative individuals (Stables, 2003) in their futures as literacy educators, we consider how to develop shared understandings of literacies within a university course context and how 'classroom' interactions and opportunities for dialogue not only develop literacy competencies, but allow for the meta-awareness of the personal literacy narratives that pre-service teachers bring to the teaching/learning context. Further to this, we consider how literacy identities can be developed through dialogue to help pre-service teachers make connections between authoritative pedagogies, pedagogy in the field and their personal literacy narratives to begin creating personal literacy pedagogies for the future

Presence as a dimension of first year in higher education: Measuring the value of strong affective relationships

For many university students, the commencement of university study is often fraught with difficulties. Whilst family and paid employment commitments sometimes compete with study time, some students worry that they do not have the wherewithal for tertiary study or that they may not be successful in their new venture. This paper sets out to investigate some of the concerns experienced by a group of first year students participating in a weekly context-specific support program. In contrast to the traditional approach of offering academic support to students, this program emphasises social support and the development of a learning community as essential to academic success. The notion of presence as a key indicator of quality of learning is applied to the critical reflections of students as they engage with tertiary study. In providing a time and a place for students to meet with a group of academics on a weekly basis, the program operates with no fixed academic agenda and positions students and academics as life-long learners. Through the adoption of an enabling pedagogy, authentic presence is achievable for academics and students

Productive partnerships: cross-departmental connections in a tertiary context

This chapter describes the development of productive and collegial relationships in a cross-departmental capacity-building project. The MMTP built on a first year experience program-the FYI Program (using the acronym that could stand for First Year Infusion or For Your Information)that we had designed, and had been conducting within our Faculty of Education for 1 year. Even though the program had involved a fairly small number of students, we were convinced that it had the potential to assist the 1 st year students in their transition into university study. It also provided a positive faculty response to student retention and progression issues (for further details, see Noble & Henderson, 2008). We used the Associate Fellowship to extend this first year program, and to promote the approach we used through the development of a professional development toolkit

Engaging with images: understanding identity of beginning pre-service teachers and the impacts of pastoral care in a community of practice

[Abstract]: At a regional Australian university, a Learning Circle approach was implemented with a small group of first year education students who identified themselves as “at risk” of failure in the tertiary context. As part of their participation in weekly meetings, the students engaged in discussion, reflection and problem-solving related to their transition to university study. They also participated in a visual research inquiry which included the construction of photographic images and research conversations about being university students and dealing with study demands. Through the privileging of interactions and relationships, the students were able to make connections to other Discourses from their lives outside university and began to develop a sense of agency and a growing capacity to move within and between their multiple identities. This article argues that, in order to address transition and retention issues within teacher education, effective social integration and support should accompany academic preparednes

Opening Pandora's Box: ethical dilemmas in literacy research

In recognising literacy as a social practice, some educational research has investigated the nexus between school and home or community literacy practices. In doing this, however, researchers sometimes find themselves opening a Pandora's Box, where the expected jewels of wisdom have been replaced by unexpected ethical dilemmas. This paper presents some of the dilemmas experienced by one researcher in interviewing teachers, students and parents from one school site over a two-year period. Whilst some of the ethical dilemmas were to do with confidentiality and the wellbeing of participants, others revealed quite complex issues that needed consideration. In particular, the paper focuses on the issue of researcher responsibility to participants, schools and academic audiences, as well as how to best balance deconstructive and reconstructive notions of critique