Examining representations of women\u27s leadership in the media and Australian universities

Examines how diverse academic women educational leaders experienced and negotiated media representations of leadership in their work. The thesis argues that feminist leadership analyses assume a commonality of women\u27s interests, ignoring the diversity, which exists between different groups of women and the material impact of diversity upon female leaders\u27 work

Sudanese young people building capital in rural Australia: the role of mothers and community

This article draws on an ethnographic study that consisted of in-depth case studies of eight Sudanese young people of refugee background living in rural Australia. Prompted by concern over deficit views of young refugees that pervade educational literature, we aimed to understand what facilitates their successful resettlement into Australian rural communities. We were particularly interested in understanding the strengths, resources and capital they draw upon and generate through their participation in out-of-school social and learning contexts, as well as within family and community networks. Here, we focus on one of the study's participants, Samir. We highlight how his mother was instrumental in providing a safe and secure home environment where significant bonding capital was generated, as well as how she facilitated her son's participation in community and ethnic networks, thus enabling him to acquire bridging and linking social capital. We conclude by discussing the implications for schools and for research

Re-presenting women and leadership : a methodological journey

Research on women\u27s leadership has tended to focus upon detailed micro studies of individual women\u27s identity formation or, alternatively, to conduct macro studies of its broader discursive constructions within society. Both approaches, although providing helpful understandings of the issues surrounding constructions of women\u27s leadership, are inadequate. They fail to deal with the ongoing dilemma raised in both Cultural Studies and studies of discourse and identity, in relation to the negotiation of subjectivity and representation, that is, how broader societal discourses and media representations of women\u27s leadership both inform, and are informed by, the lived experiences of individual women. In this article, a range of methodological approaches are outlined that were drawn upon in a study of a small group of senior women academics from ethnically and socioeconomically diverse origins. The authors examine how the women negotiated the frequent mismatch that arose between, on the one hand, societal discourses and media representations which often reproduced narrow and highly stereotypical accounts of women\u27s leadership, and on the other hand, the individual women\u27s subjective experiences of leadership which challenged such representations. It is contended that it is necessary to draw on a number of methodological perspectives in ways which trouble and unsettle homogenized versions of women\u27s leadership in order to fully explicate more nuanced and complex ways of understanding how women\u27s leadership identity is formed.<br /

“A whole new language and a new world”: Seconded Teachers’ Experiences in a Faculty of Education

It is common practice in university faculties of education to second teachers for limited periods. However, few recent studies have examined how secondees perceive themselves in this role, particularly in relation to the increased demands to assume research as well as teaching duties. Three seconded school personnel were interviewed to explore their experiences of secondment in a faculty of education in Canada. One had previously been a teacher, one an educational consultant, and the third a principal. Qualitative data analysis revealed (a) the differences between schools and faculty; (b) the benefits of secondment for secondees and the institution; (c) secondees’ identity as teachers; (d) secondees’ mixed feelings about research; and finally (e) the drawbacks and issues in being seconded. Recommendations for future secondments and research directions conclude the article.Dans les facultés d'éducation à l'université, le détachement de personnel pour une période limitée constitue une pratique courante. Quelques études récentes portent sur la perception qu'ont les employés détachés de leur rôle, notamment en fonction de la hausse de demandes exigeant qu'ils accomplissent des tâches liées à la recherche en plus de celles relatives à l'enseignement. Nous avons interviewé trois membres du personnel scolaire détaché par rapport à leurs expériences de détachement dans une faculté de formation des enseignants au Canada. Parmi ces membres, il avait un ancien enseignant, un conseiller pédagogique et un directeur d'école. Une analyse qualitative des données a révélé: (a) les différences entre les écoles et le personnel; (b) les avantages du détachement pour les employés détachés et les institutions; (c) l'identité d'enseignant des employés détachés; (d) les sentiments ambivalents des employés détachés par rapport à la recherche; et finalement (e) les inconvénients et les enjeux liés au détachement. L'article conclut en présentant des recommandations qui visent les détachements et les orientations en recherche à l'avenir

‘Guid times wi the bad times’:The meanings and experiences of befriending for people living alone with dementia

Befriending is a service in which volunteers provide companionship and support usually to people who are lonely or isolated. Such services are promoted in Scotland’s national strategy to improve the lives of people with dementia, around a third of whom live alone. However, little is known about the perspectives of recipients. Taking a holistic qualitative case study approach, the aim of this research was to explore how people living alone with dementia experienced befriending and the contexts in which their befriending relationships were meaningful. Three people were visited on five separate occasions. Largely unstructured conversations allowed individuals to prioritise areas of importance to them within the broad topics of befriending, everyday life, social networks and biography. Participants also had the option of ‘showing’ how they spent their time with their befriender. Data were analysed using the voice-centred relational method. Three key messages emerged: befriending satisfied unmet needs and wishes for particular kinds of relationship; befriending was a facilitated friendship; and befriending was a human response to contingent and existential limitations

Refugee young people (re)forming identities: The role of social networks

Educational contexts around the world are increasingly characterized by diversity, including a rise in students from refugee backgrounds. Much research has focused on the educational needs of these students and the particular struggles they experience in educational contexts. The increasing number of refugee and asylum-seeking children in Australia calls for rethinking approaches to enhance the acculturation process in ways that build on individuals’ prior knowledge and understanding of self.This paper draws on data from a larger case study that focused on Sudanese young people in regional Australia and investigated their out-of-school activities, networks, and practices and how these contributed to their success across a range of contexts. Drawing on perspectives of identity and theories of social capital, we discuss the role of social networks in generating social capital and what this means in terms of the (re)formation of students’ identities in regional locations, and we consider how this can contribute to educational success. We suggest that the resources in regional areas present both a challenge and an opportunity for young former-refugee people in terms of repositioning themselves in new social, cultural, and educational contexts. The paper examines how the young people developed their own momentum, rationality, and legitimacy in their identity (re)formation, and suggests that educational settings need to connect with and understand young people’s out-of-school resources to avoid deficit narratives that lead to poor educational outcomes

Dialogicity, monologicity and the crisis of hospitality in Elfriede Jelinek's Die Schutzbefohlenen.

This article argues that the combination of dialogicity, monologicity and polyphony in Jelinek’s play Die Schutzbefohlenen [Charges] serves to present Austria and the EU’s so-called ‘refugee crisis’ as a crisis of hospitality. Specifically, it analyses moments in the play text where dialogue is attempted but fails or where voices talk past each other to suggest that the monologic aspects of the text highlight both the inhospitality experienced by many seeking refuge in Austria and the EU as well as the sense of crisis among host-society politicians and citizens, stemming from their perception that they can neither control the arrival of refugees nor the discourse surrounding them

Dialogicity, monologicity and the crisis of hospitality in Elfriede Jelinek's Die Schutzbefohlenen.

This article argues that the combination of dialogicity, monologicity and polyphony in Jelinek’s play Die Schutzbefohlenen [Charges] serves to present Austria and the EU’s so-called ‘refugee crisis’ as a crisis of hospitality. Specifically, it analyses moments in the play text where dialogue is attempted but fails or where voices talk past each other to suggest that the monologic aspects of the text highlight both the inhospitality experienced by many seeking refuge in Austria and the EU as well as the sense of crisis among host-society politicians and citizens, stemming from their perception that they can neither control the arrival of refugees nor the discourse surrounding them