Embedded in These Walls

Embedded In These Walls uses photographic imagery, archival ephemera, and written text to examine a specific history of generational trauma through the lens of a singular family of a southern tradition to point to a larger systemic breakdown of accountability and truthfulness regarding abus

Educating for sustainability: a case study in effectiveness

Educating Australians on sustainable living is becoming increasingly important and is the primary discussion topic in this article. Clothes will often automatically be washed without too much consideration because it involves little effort and because the environmental effects of that washing process remain unseen and consequently unconsidered. Reducing paper consumption in the College has been identified as a sustainability challenge because of the associated economic and environmental costs related to the depletion of natural resources. However it is in examining the various social dimensions embedded in the attitudes, systems and structures within the school that we find the barriers to, and opportunities for, a reduction in paper consumption as part of a range of sustainability gains. The College is a non-government high school in Canberra, with students from year 7 to 12. A study conducted by The Australia Institute in 2005 revealed that there is a correlation between a higher level of disposable income and levels of waste in Canberra, with its young people being the most wasteful in the country (Hamilton, Denniss & Baker 2005, p.viii). Drawing on this contextual study, we can assume that the students at the College are generally from a demographic that has a high level of consumption and waste. In addition, the school can be regarded as an institution that perpetuates what Illich described as “the Myth of Unending Consumption. This modern myth is grounded in the belief that process inevitably produces something of value and, therefore, production necessarily produces demand” (1970, p.38). This phenomenon is reflected in the amount of paper consumption and waste at the College

Discursive Conflicts in Communities and Classrooms

Communitarianism and compositionists' use of the concept of 'communities of discourse', while intended to promote inclusive discourse, can easily fall prey to the myth of progressivism, ignoring the relative costs of discursive conflict or the pressures of consensus and conformity.Writin

Looked after children : observations of teacher education students on placement in secondary students

This collection of accounts is the work of students of the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education Secondary(PGDE) -a one-year teacher education programme for graduates intending to become teachers in secondary schools. These students were taking an elective module on the education of looked after children. The module was presented on either side of a full-time period of placement in secondary schools during February and March 2008. The placement provided an ideal opportunity for the students to find out more about looked after children from the school perspective. There is a series of 22 accounts representing students' observations while on placement in different schools

Why the student voice? The case for investigating the distance learners' experience of ICT in distance education

In recent years the student experience of higher education in general and distance education in particular has been strongly influenced by wide scale uptake of internet based learning approaches, internationalisation and an expanding distance education market, amongst many other trends. As competition within the sector increases because of access to the WWW and other in-country socio-political influences, the push to attract and retain students is becoming a key issue for institutions. Understanding the distance student’s voice in relation to these trends and developing appropriate responses to ensure a satisfactory learning experience is becoming of critical importance. This paper reports on a work in progress. It discusses some of the trends influencing students’ learning in our increasingly borderless world and outlines a rationale for investigating the student voice to meet the unique needs of the distance learner. It describes approaches that will be adopted by a consortium of Australian and New Zealand distance education providers to undertake this work

Distance learners: connected, mobile and resourceful individuals

In recent years the student experience of higher education in general and distance education in particular has been strongly influenced by the wide scale uptake of Internet based learning approaches and an expanding distance education market, amongst many other trends. As competition within the sector increases because of access to the WWW and other in-country socio-political influences, the push to attract and retain students is becoming a key issue for institutions. Understanding the distance student's voice in relation to these trends and developing appropriate responses to ensure a satisfactory learning experience is of critical importance. This paper reports on a recently completed study that explored the distance learners' experience at one dual-mode Australian institution. The paper outlines a rationale for investigating the student voice to meet the unique needs of the distance learner. It describes the approaches that were adopted to undertake the research and discusses some of the main themes that emerged from the study - individualness, connectedness, quality, mobility, and resourcefulness. The paper concludes with considerations for policy and practice in relation to utilising the distance learners' voice in enhancing distance learners' experiences

Responding to imposed job redesign : the evolving dynamics of work and identity in restructuring professional identity

Professionals are increasingly prevalent in organizations and are required to change their professional practice in response to requirements from employers. It is therefore important to understand how professionals respond when they are required to conduct work that does not match with their identity. We investigated this situation in an English public services organisation where a major work redesign initiative required professionals to engage in new tasks that they did not want to do. Based on our findings, we develop a process model of professional identity restructuring that includes the following four stages: (1) resisting identity change and mourning loss of previous work, (2) conserving professional identity and avoiding the new work, (3) parking professional identity and learning the new work, and (4) retrieving and modifying professional identity and affirming the new work. We contribute to the literature by showing how parking one’s professional identity facilitates the creation of liminal space, which enables the restructuring of one’s professional identity. Our model also explicates the dynamics between professional work and professional identity, showing how requirements for new professional work can lead to a new professional identity

Interventions for Helping Students at Risk of Dropping Out of School

Dimmitt and Hatch present a brief overview and analysis of the article, A tutorial and counseling program: Helping students at risk of dropping out of school, originally published in Professional School Counseling. The authors present a summary of the key components of the article including the introduction, method and results of the study. They offer an additional analysis of implications for future practice, including a discussion of the benefits of combining both a drop out prevention program with group counseling to improve student self esteem and academic achievement