Bicycles, ‘informality’ and the alternative learning space as a site for re-engagement: a risky (pedagogical) proposition?

The great possibility of alternative education programs rests in the affront to established conventions that these present for what counts as learning, engagement and the experience of schooling. This paper takes as its point of focus one specific, in-school alternative learning program, and considers the possibilities for student re-engagement that emerged via the repair and restoration of old bicycles. The discussion focusses particularly on the 'informality' that presented within the day-to-day dynamics of the program and how the space provided in the program’s workshop sessions offered the opportunity for students to re-configure their relationships with each other, their teachers and the larger practice of schooling. A discussion of both the potential and risk of a 'pedagogy of informality' is posited in light of current discussions in the literature of alternative education in Australia

Post-modernising the museum: the ration shed

The application of postmodern critical theory to the essentially modernist construct of the museum has significantly impacted the role of the contemporary museum within society. This article briefly describes the movement toward a ‘new museology’ and the subsequent emergence of the ‘post-museum’. It then presents a case study of the Ration Shed Museum in the historical precinct of Cherbourg, Queensland, as an example of this new ‘post-museum’. Through its application of postmodern critical theory, the Ration Shed Museum has détourned the construct of the modernist museum and applied its cultural logics in order to meet the specific needs of its local community. This museum presents a history previously overlooked by western grand narratives and offers insight into a contemporary local indigenous community on its own terms. It presents a public pedagogy where the agency of both the viewer and the museum itself is embraced, and promotes active engagement – a form of dialogue – between the viewer, the community and the museum’s curators

Investigation of transient interactions in centrifugal pumps

The quest for greater pump efficiency and improved reliability has focused research topics in the understanding of pump hydraulic and dynamic behaviours. On-Design pump performance has been optimised utilising modern design strategies incorporating Computational Fluid Dynamics technology to predict and simulate the fluid flow in a pump. The fluid conditions within the arrangement of an impeller and collector present a complex unsteady flow phenomenon, which give rise to fluid structure interaction. Periodic hydraulic excitation forces are generated as a consequence. The interaction forces increase as the flow recirculation grows; the flow becomes less uniform at the impeller periphery. Thus, the highest magnitude of forces is observed at low flow and high flow operating conditions. They are impacted onto the rotor and transmitted to the bearing housing, although the forces are not quantitatively known. Lateral analysis of a pump rotor can demonstrate the rotor will not traverse or operate within a region of a critical speed, however, bearing housing vibration can be excessive and outside acceptable limits when operating at part load. The rationale of the project was therefore to employ a numerical modelling technique to capture hydraulically induced vibration caused by the interaction of the rotor and stator. A series of transient numerical analyses were carried out to investigate the unsteady fluctuating pressure field within a single stage pump for five operating conditions. The hydraulic excitation forces were captured and incorporated into a rotordynamic model where the corresponding displacement vibration were evaluated. It was shown that the highest estimated displacement vibration was at the low flow operating condition and at the cutwater region. An experimental campaign of the single stage pump validated the unsteady pressure fluctuations within an acceptable margin of two percent for nominal flow and five percent for low flow operating point. Greater variations were found when comparing the numerical and experimental approximations to the displacement vibration

The Position of Mali, Beaye, and Ba’aje in Land Dayak (Austronesian) and What It Means for Proto-Land-Dayak Vowel Reconstruction

The internal subgrouping of Land Dayak languages (Sarawak, Malaysia and West Kalimantan, Indonesia) as well as the reconstructability of length distinctions in the vowel system of Proto-Land Dayak, have received recent attention that has resulted in changes to the internal subgrouping and a restriction of the full/reduced distinction in Proto-Land Dayak vowels. Earlier work on the reconstructability of the full/reduced distinction relied on assumptions about the subgrouping of certain languages that needed to be confirmed pending future research. In this paper, documentation of some previously unstudied Land Dayak languages is presented. The data from these languages, which was originally collected for syntactic analysis and description, supports a restriction in full/reduced to Proto-Land Dayak *a but not other vowels, lending support to earlier proposals based on more limited datasets. The documentation of these languages also allows for a more accurate internal subgrouping of Land Dayak and shows the utility of language data beyond initial collection as well as the importance of archiving

Working the aporia: ethnography, embodiment and the ethnographic self

A more considered sense of the embodied nature of encounter is called for in the scholarship of ethnography. This paper argues for an ethnographic practice that accordingly moves beyond simplistic recounts of ‘highly personalised styles and their self-absorbed mandates’ (Van Maanen, 2011: 73), to more fully position an understanding of the ethnographer’s Self as an also encountered ‘site’. Taking cues from Heideggar’s (2008/1927) formulation of Dasein and the realisation of the Self through the encountered Other, this paper argues that attempts to make sense of the Other in ethnography – ultimately the raison d’etre of ethnographic practice – concomitantly require an accounting-for of the Self. This paper takes aim at the nature of embodiment as central to the experience of encounter, but will argue that this encounter of the Self functions as an aporia: a site of unknowing, but equally, of generative possibility. It is with the effects that embodiment has and the inflections it provides for the ethnography that particular attention is given

Women’s attitudes towards children and motherhood: a predictor of future childlessness?

Pronatalism expects and presumes that all women will be mothers, and stereotypes, stigmatises and excludes those who fail to conform. Yet, within the context of pronatalism, little is known about women without children’s attitudes towards motherhood, and their subsequent childbearing. This study aimed to determine if women’s attitudes towards children and motherhood predicted future motherhood status, using data from the Negotiating the Life Course Study. Women 18 years and over at Wave 1, who did not have children, were included in the analysis (n = 122). Logistic regression was used to predict motherhood status at Wave 4 based on attitudes at Wave 1. A positive attitude toward the importance of children in one’s life increased the likelihood of future motherhood, while believing children negatively impact on freedom increased the likelihood of not future childlessness. Findings also suggested that attitudes relating to the burden of children, or the impact of children on a woman’s career, are similar for those who do and do not become mothers. Women’s attitudes towards children and motherhood may be a poor predictor of future childlessness. This study counters some of the negative attitudinal stereotypes towards childless women in a pronatalist society

The Importance of Background Information When Reading Informational Text in the Primary Classroom

The goal of this study was to examine the impact background knowledge has on the reading and comprehension of informational text. I believe that background knowledge on the content and genre related to informational text is essential in order to comprehend this genre of text. This study examines how kindergarten students interacted with informational text and the impact background knowledge had on their understanding of informational text. Data was collected through assessments, field notes, and surveys. This study found that kindergarten students are not only capable of learning from informational text, but that they also enjoy reading this genre. It also found that students require background knowledge not just on the content topic, but on the genre of informational text as well. This study emphasizes the importance of using informational text in today’s primary classrooms

Informal learning in the secondary school: behaviour remediation programs and the informal learning environment as a space for re-engagement

How is it that a group of young people, encountered in a program designed to remedy behaviour issues and disengagement from schooling, can be found to be engaged (and engaging) learners? What does it mean for these young people when the ‘regular’ classroom becomes a site within which they cannot effectively engage in learning? More intrinsically, what might it mean for these young people, and the communities within which they live, when the prospects for those who leave formal education early will likely include extended periods of unemployment, increased probability of reliance on government assistance and a greater likelihood of social exclusion (The Longitudinal Study of Australian Youth, 2000; Flint, 2011; Deloitte Access Economics, 2012)? Informal Learning in the Secondary School: Behaviour Remediation Programs and the Informal Learning Environment as a Space for Re-engagement (hereon Informal Learning in the Secondary School), sought to respond to these questions. Drawn from empirical evidence gathered as part of a long-term ethnography of an alternative learning program delivered in a secondary school setting, this project outlined how informality functioned as a central component of a ‘relational pedagogy’ within the alternative learning space. As a defining feature of the alternative learning program investigated here, informality was expressed as an ‘irreverence’ for the structures and modes of conduct otherwise enacted within the school. A ‘looseness’ pervaded the interactions and practice of the program and it was with this that a range of inter-relationships different to those typically experienced elsewhere in the school emerged. The case site became a ‘disorienting’ space because of this looseness and accordingly provoked new possibilities for learning. The findings offered in this report suggest that informality, expressed as a core aspect of a ‘relational pedagogy’ and witnessed variously within the modes of instruction, sites of learning and practices of interpersonal interaction that were foundational to the alternative learning space provided a powerful means for extending student learning, enhancing positive inter-relationality and furthering engagement. From this, the conceptual tripartite ‘relationships-behaviour-pathways’ was used to position understandings of the ways students came to, and experienced, the alternative learning program. In particular, this report highlights that the informality of the program enabled different forms of relationality to prosper. By emphasising this connection between informality and the relationality between students and students and teachers, this report outlines how meaningful re-engagement in school might be made more fully possible through a relational pedagogy of informality

“So we can’t bring a volcano into the classroom…” Communicating geosciences through digital media

There are many fascinating, exciting and important aspects of geoscience that we just cannot physically bringinto classrooms and public engagement events in all their glory. Volcanic eruptions, using drones to combatenvironmental crime, museum exhibits of dinosaur remains. . . and so we must find other ways in which to capturethe imagination and attention of the scientists of the future, and make science and scientists accessible andrelatable to them.How best to do this? What do we need to consider? What do audiences want? Do our approaches actuallywork? Research and practice from three different projects, at varying stages of development, which use computerbased applications to engage public audiences with geosciences give us some insight into effective use of novelcommunication methods in this area.Science Hunters (1) is a successful and well-established outreach project which uses the widely popularcomputer game Minecraft to engage children with science. Run by environmental scientists, there is a heavy focuson geosciences (2). Minecraft is akin to Lego on a computer, but with many more building possibilities. Featuresand processes are relatable to those in the real world, which, along with the widespread appeal of the game, makeit an ideal tool for communicating scientific topics. The Science Hunters approach is highly effective in engagingchildren, as shown by project evaluation data.Science for Environment Policy (3) communicates environmental research findings in easy-to-understandformats to policymakers and citizens across Europe, strengthening the connection between scientific evidence andpolicy, and is evaluated annually, charting the impact of an element of its digital media. Recent project videoshave showcased a variety of geoscience issues in a variety of formats as part of the public service. An evaluationundertaken with students of relevant environmental sciences gives insights into which of these most formats aremost appealing, and likely to be used more widely.The Virtual Natural History Museum (4) is a novel engagement project that places digitised museum resources back on public display. The website takes the form of a giant computer game museum which visitors canexplore, viewing palaeontological multimedia. This grants any community with an internet connection immediateaccess to world-class natural history collections, providing everyone with the opportunity to learn about fossilsand past environments. The project is currently in development for use in schools, presenting an opportunity tofind out more about how teachers respond to such tools. Research into teachers’ views and ideas about how such aresource might be used in schools is widely applicable to other sciences.1 www.lancaster.ac.uk/sciencehunters2 Hobbs et al., 2018. Digging Deep into Geosciences with Minecraft. Eos, 99(11), 24-293 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/index_en.htm4 http:///www.vnhm.or