Just playing? using Bakhtin’s theories of ‘super genres’ and ‘carnival’ to explore pre-adolescent children’s shared knowledge of popular culture

This paper reports on findings from a study which investigated preadolescent children’s collective use of their knowledge of popular culture when they were in engaged in improvised drama in the School setting. It considers the idea of a ‘shared popular culture prop box’ to explain how children draw on and collate their creative ideas from ‘props’, such as plots from The Simpsons, to confirm their subculture. Bakhtin’s theories on language and carnival are used to explain this finding. The paper shows that for children, stories and texts learnt from films and television, work in a similar way to Bakhtin’s idea of ‘supergenres’. The shared pop cultural knowledge in the prop box are like super-genres - part of children’s shared consciousness and are drawn on collectively when they are being creative. Bakhtin’s carnival theory is used to explain how children use their shared knowledge of popular culture in devising drama sketches to perpetuate their own subversive subculture, through the use of carnival-like humour and their knowledge of popular culture. The paper reveals how, through drawing on existing knowledge (super genres) to create a carnivalesque culture, children gain moments of power in the classroom over those who hold the most power in their lives - adults. This research demonstrates how the notion of a shared pop culture prop box enables subversive ways for sub cultural groups to empower themselves within the dominant culture

Introduction: a professional journey

Why do we focus on nursing and construction management degrees in this publication? This is a reasonable question, considering the two professions are unrelated except that their practitioners are expected to be university graduates. Nonetheless, there are similarities between these disciplines. For instance, both nursing and construction management in Australia are subject to the rigorous accreditation requirements of their professional bodies which require a prescriptive profile of student attributes. These accreditation structures differ in that nursing has a single board whereas construction has a large number of national and international bodies to respond to, each body with different accreditation requirements and processes. Another significant parallel is the requirement for students to undertake a prescriptive work placement experience as a core component of their degree which is called ’clinical placement’ in nursing, and ‘industrial placement’ in construction. Another similarity is that they enrol large cohorts and require suitable placement opportunities to be available for all students. For these placement activities to be managed, monitored and assessed imposes significant pressure on universities to organise the programs as well as for industry/hospital systems to facilitate opportunities. An important consideration is that these large scale placement experiences have the potential to impact on the overall outlook of graduates

Strengthening participation of children and young people with disability in advocacy: issues paper

Participation by children and young people in advocacy and change-making can not only improve and foster positive change in their own lives, but also influence the lives of others. When young people’s participation is supported, meaningful and engaged, multiple benefits accrue. Their perspectives and experiences bring a unique contribution and can result in rights-based empowerment, enacted citizenship and improved relationships. This has the potential to shape policy, to increase the relevance and responsiveness of organisations they use, and to influence change in their communities in positive ways

Professional curricula on-line: the RAPID and 31 NURAPID progress file

This Chapter considers the logistics required when implementing an e-portfolio that aligns the multifarious requirements of universities, disciplines and accrediting professional institutions. To do this, the Chapter reviews the experiences of Built Environment and Nursing staff from University of Newcastle who piloted an innovative on-line tool for the nursing and construction management disciplines. In 2002, these disciplines adopted NURAPID (Newcastle University Recording Achievement for Professional and Individual Development) for first year students to use in both the Bachelor of Construction Management (BCM) and the Bachelor of Nursing (BN) programs. NURAPID had been developed from the existing RAPID (Recording Achievement for Professional and Individual Development) system, sourced from Loughborough University, United Kingdom (UK). The RAPID system was redesigned from the Loughborough version to align with the Australian and, more specifically, the Newcastle context. The following sections describe how this innovative e-portfolio from the UK was adapted in Australia, the rationale for the on-line tool and the challenges the implementers faced in progressing from its pilot stage to a full implementation of the system

Paving a professional pathway: work integrated learning in construction management and nursing and its implications for engineering students

Many disciplines are currently exploring ways to either initiate or improve the engagement of their students in work integrated learning (WIL). The disciplines of Construction Management (Con Mgt) and Nursing are no exception and have collaborated in an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) research grant entitled ‘Facilitating work integrated learning through skills-enabled e-Portfolios (electronic portfolio platforms were reviewed as part of the project as a potential tool to support and document WIL experiences, these platforms are not reviewed in this paper) in the Con Mgt and Nursing disciplines’ led by The University of Newcastle, Australia. In both of these disciplines, employers expect students to be ‘work ready’ on graduation. Nevertheless, students often question the relationship between the theoretical concepts they are taught at university and their experiences of the ‘real world’. This paper investigates this issue, the nature of student engagement of theory whilst on placement, and offers a possible solution through reflexive practise. To do this, the paper briefly describes the ALTC research project and discusses findings from the quantitative and qualitative data gathered from the competency statements of accreditation professional institutions, focus groups and an on-line survey. Initially, it aligns the competencies Con Mgt and Nursing students garner during their placements and then proposes a reflection framework as a means of closing the gap between theory and practise. This framework offers an example of how students could reflect on their level of competence through reflective questions. The paper then explores students’ own views on their placement experiences, such as methods of integrating practise and students’ feelings of preparedness to enter their professional placement. Engineering disciplines that align with Con Mgt may find value in this study

The potential for e-learning technologies to facilitate work based learning for construction management students: researching the nexus between theory and practice

This project originates from a recent ALTC discipline based initiative which investigated issues and opportunities currently facing Construction Education in Australia (see http://www.altc.edu.au/resource-identification-teaching-construction-uon-2009). It addresses one of the report’s recommendations, this being that university education at times does not support the professional requirements of Construction Management (CM). CM and Nursing students engage in practical placements and other Work Integrated Learning (WIL). These disciplines require “work ready” graduates who understand and can operate in “real world” contexts. Still in its initial stages, this project proposes to develop robust frameworks for the CM and Nursing disciplines that facilitate and encourage reflective learning during student industry/clinical placements. These frameworks will showcase to students how their university courses relate to each other and how the skills and competencies they acquire on campus and during their work based experiences meld together so they can graduate as CM and Nursing professionals. This paper highlights the preliminary findings and issues from this research project, including competency frameworks, student motivation and the logistics of managing and assessing students’ industry experiences within e-portfolio platforms. It also reports on the resources and curriculum management still to be developed. This paper further shows how seemingly unrelated disciplines (e.g. construction management and nursing) can engage in dialogue about their curricula and the use of e-learning technologies in managing and linking practical experiences

Balancing changes to construction education in the 21st century: exploring the challenges construction educators face in Australia

University education for construction professionals is currently facing enormous challenges. In addition to the current global financial crisis there are increased pressures from within universities as well as from industry and accrediting institutions. An Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) grant has provided an opportunity to review construction education. The project investigated issues via an online survey of full-time academic staff, and face-to-face interviews and focus groups with staff and students. This paper explores the pressures and opportunities identified in these investigations. It highlights some of the challenges construction disciplines face and identifies changes that should improve teaching and learning