Migrating professional knowledge: progressions, regressions, and dislocations

Drawing on practice-based learning theory, this chapter examines issues pertaining to the deskilling of immigrant professionals in Canada. It argues that adult educators need to have an awareness of transnational migration dynamics and work in meaningful ways to keep immigrant professionals connected to professional knowledge practices

The threat of the thief: who has normative influence in Georgian society?

This piece gives an account of the Georgian government's recent attempts to crackdown on the institution of thieves-in-law [vory-v-zakone] within Georgian society. The events surrounding the problematisation of the thieves-in-law are examined and different answers are offered to the underlying question of the article: what threat does this subversive group pose to the government? It is argued that the vory do not represent a potential criminal revolution but are victims of a resurgent state producing a politics of law that seeks to stamp out subverting influences within society. The thieves' world represents an alternative moral order which is attractive in a country which suffers from acute alienated statehood. Thus the fight against the vory should be understood as a battle to win back the hearts of the Georgian people for the state and for the law

(De)constructing 'refugeeness' : exploring mediated discourses of solidarity, welcome and refugee (self)representation in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

Listed in 2019 Dean's List of Exceptional ThesesThe tragic photo of Alan Kurdi ignited protests of solidarity and compassion across the Western world in support of refugees. In New Zealand, refugee advocates and media commentators urged the government to increase the refugee quota and welcome in more refugees. Although discourses of solidarity and welcome stem from humanitarian concern, they also risk encouraging a regime of compassion and charity that speaks more about ourselves and how we feel. Refugees are framed as objects of ‘our’ moral responsibility, stereotyped as helpless vulnerable victims without agency. These discourses consequently produce a generic type of refugee – an imagining of ‘refugeeness’ – that consigns individuals to an anonymous presence, silenced and marginalised by the very act of solidarity and protest that is performed on their behalf. Situated within a post-development and post-humanitarianism paradigm, and an actor-oriented approach to discourse and agency, this research aims to explore refugee representation and discourses of solidarity and welcome in the New Zealand mainstream media, and how people from refugee backgrounds experience and contest dominant discourses of ‘refugeeness’. Using critical discourse analysis, this research critically examines the discursive constructions of refugees and solidarity in the New Zealand mainstream news media, and the power dynamics involved in the production of discourse. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with refugee advocates and former refugees are employed to create spaces for participants to share their stories and experiences, enabling voices to be heard, misconceptions to be challenged, and new meanings to be constructed. The emergence of themes in this research highlight the relationship between discourses of solidarity, humanitarianism, and imaginings of New Zealand national identity. Within these discourses, refugees are stereotyped in a particular way that calls on the New Zealand public to respond. However, as the title of this thesis suggest, meaning is not infinitely fixed. Refugees may be labelled by discursive structures, but they will also use their agency to deconstruct and redefine the refugee label for their own ends, creating space for the construction of their own identities in the process

"Please Sir, can we play a game?" : transforming games teaching and coaching: a practitioner's perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Over the last 30 years, traditional skill-based game teaching models have gradually been supplemented by instruction under an inclusive banner of Game Centred Learning (GCL) but more specifically, Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). This thesis uniquely examines from a practitioner’s perspective how the development of GCL and its dissemination occurred in New Zealand (NZ) 1945- 2015. The multi-method approach establishes through a triangulation of data sources utilising a bricolage approach that the development was not mandated by educational policy but evolved through various combinations of insights from early luminaries in the field and visits to NZ by a key figure in the field (Rod Thorpe). Additionally, a new guard of Physical Educators in pre-service teacher education colleges in NZ were also significantly influential in the dissemination of GCL strategies as was a new socio-ecological perspective in PE syllabi (1999; 2007). An emergent autoethnographic documentation of the author’s role further informs this evolution of GCL and TGfU practices in NZ. Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, practice and field are used as markers to signal change and record tensions that ultimately led to adoption of GCL practice in PE teaching and sport coaching in NZ. The thesis findings present implications for PE practitioners through innovative GCL approaches, associated with play, mastery learning and TGfU, that involves transforming play. It is concluded that at a practical and theoretical level, TGfU should be seen in a holistic experiential sense and integrated into PE programmes acknowledging its potential to contribute to and enhance citizenship. The final contribution to knowledge of this research is the presentation of a model of GCL designed to transform play

Retention and progression of online global students: a pilot approach

Higher education institutions are making increasing use of online course delivery as part of their standard offering. E-learning can support the move toward global student bodies and the possibility of more responsive teaching and learning environments. The Open University Business School has offered online distance learning courses for over 10 years and supports thousands of students each year. As student numbers have grown, the capacity to provide truly personalised academic, pastoral and administrative student support is clearly affected. This case study describes a pilot approach to delivering more intelligent and proactive intervention to students registered on an online, open entry, level 3 undergraduate programme. We briefly outline the programme and existing comparative data on known differences between the retention and final achievements of students receiving support solely online compared to those receiving a more traditional blended means of course delivery and tuition support. The study goes on to describe the developing work of the pilot team in setting in place a number of key interventions thought most likely to support the student through their study journey and optimise their chances of completion. The Open University in the UK, like other HE institutions, knows a great deal about its students before they start to study, and, perhaps like others, has not always fully exploited this information. The pilot team is now using profiling data to identify key student characteristics which suggest that additional pre-course contact would be helpful. This may be a discussion of how we might best support the student whilst on course, or may include advice about transferring to another course more suited to their experience or circumstances given the open entry nature of the courses.Systems have been developed and refined which allow the team to track student behaviour once the course has begun, and since the courses within the pilot make heavy use of a Moodle-based Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), there is much that is transparent to us. Each course has a number of defined milestones which have been agreed to be key or at least facilitative to the students' eventual completion and success. Our systems help us to work closely with course tutors and students to trigger additional contacts from the support team. Other support activities are designed to complement this ongoing work and will be described more fully in the paper. It is crucial that all of the work has the potential for automation and scalability – currently the pilot team is working with over 800 students in around 30 countries. This paper aims to demonstrate that the piloted levels of intervention are both achievable in the long term and cost-effective. Results from the first 2 pilot presentations will be shared alongside results from a comparator cohort

Stemming the flow: improving retention for distance learning students

Though concern about student attrition and failure is not a new phenomenon, higher education institutions (HEIs) have struggled to significantly reduce the revolving door syndrome. Open distance learning higher education is particularly susceptible to high student attrition. Despite a great deal of research into the student journey and factors impacting on likely success, we are not necessarily closer to understanding and being able to mitigate against student attrition. Learning analytics as emerging discipline and practice promises to help penetrate the fog… This case study describes work undertaken at the Open University in the UK to investigate how a learning analytics approach allows the University to provide timely and appropriate student support in a cost-effective manner. It includes a summary of the establishment of curriculum-based student support teams and a framework which defines more standardised student support informed by both student data and an enhanced knowledge of the curriculum. The primary aim of student support teams is to proactively support students through their study journey and to optimise their chances of reaching their declared study goals. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are making increasing use of learning analytics to support delivery of timely and relevant student support. The Open University in the UK, like other HEIs, knows a great deal about its students before they start to study and is able to track student behaviours once study has begun. Until recently, the university has not taken full advantage of the additional insight offered by such information. This paper describes the framework of support interventions established for all student support teams and describes the learning analytics approach used to support that framework