The introduction of an Inter-professional learning unit: staff and student perspectives

Background The School of Clinical Sciences comprises a number of health disciplines including podiatry, paramedic science, pharmacy, medical imaging and radiation therapy. A new inter-professional unit was introduced in 2014, which covered key introductory learnings applicable for future health practitioners. This study examined teaching staff and student perspectives about their experience with the new unit for first year students. Methods Qualitative interviews with teaching staff (n=9) and focus group interviews with students (5 groups which ranged in size from 4-30) were conducted. Extensive notes were taken during the interviews Issues emerging from the interviews were identified and organised according to themes and subthemes. Results Four major themes were identified namely: Something new; To be or not to be that is the question; Advantages of the new unit; and Areas for improvement. Previous staff experience with inter-professional learning (IPL) had been ad-hoc, whereas the new unit brought together several disciplines in a planned and deliberate way. There was strong philosophical agreement about the value of IPL but some debate about the extent to which the unit provided IPL experience. The unit was seen as assisting students’ social and academic adjustment to university and provided opportunity for professional socialisation, exposure to macro and micro aspects of the Australian health care system and various types of communication. For podiatry students it was their first opportunity to formally meet and work with other podiatry students and moved their identity from ‘university student’ to ‘podiatry student’. Other positives included providing the opportunity for staff and students to interact at an early stage with the perceived benefit of reducing attrition. Areas for unit improvement included institutional arrangements, unit administration aspects and assessment. Conclusion The unit was seen as beneficial by staff and students however, students were more polarised in their views than staff. There was a tension between feeling apart of and learning about one's own profession and feeling apart of and learning about the roles of other health professionals in relation to patient care and the health care system.

Improving the outcomes of foot and ankle surgery. Professional impact of the Australasian College of Podiatric Surgeons' audit tool

Background Surgery is an example of expanded practice scope that enhances podiatry and incorporates inter-professional collaboration. By 2050 demand for foot and ankle procedures is predicted to rise nationally by 61.9%. Performance management of this increase motivated the development of an online audit tool. Developed in collaboration with the Australasian College of Podiatric Surgeons (ACPS), the ACPS audit tool provides real-time data capture and reporting. It is the first audit tool designed in Australia to support and improve the outcomes of foot and ankle surgery. Methods Audit activity in general, orthopaedic, plastic and podiatric surgery was examined using a case study design. Audit participation enablers and barriers were explored. Case study results guided a Delphi survey of international experts experienced or associated with foot and ankle surgery. Delphi survey-derived consensus informed modification of a generic data set from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS). Based on the Delphi survey findings the ACPS online audit tool was developed and piloted. Reliability and validity of data entry and usability of this new tool was then assessed with an online survey. Results The case study found surgeon attitudes and behaviours positively impacted audit participation, and also indicated that audit data should be: (1) available in real time, (2) identify practice change, (3) applicable for safety and quality management, and; (4) useful for peer review discussion. The Delphi process established consensus on audit variables to be captured, including the modified RACS generic data set. 382 cases of foot and ankle surgery were captured across 3 months using the new tool. Data entry was found to be valid and reliable. Real-time outcome reporting and practice change identification impacted positively on safety and quality management and assisted peer review discussion. An online survey showed high levels of usability. Conclusions Surgeon contribution to audit tool development resulted in 100% audit participation. The data from the ACPS audit tool supported the ACPS submission to the Medical Services Advisory Committee to list podiatric surgery under Medicare, an outcome noted by the Federal Minister of Health.

The Statutory Defence(s) of 'peer professional opinion'

In the wake of the GFC and with ever increasing consumer-protection-related laws, clients are more aware of their rights and your obligations as a professional valuer. They also are more likely to take legal action if, as a result of their reliance on a valuation, they suffer a financial loss. In some Australian jurisdictions, in response to a claim of negligence, the professional valuer may be able to raise a professional practice defence under civil liability legislation. This article considers the nature of this statutory defence, what is required to rely upon it and in which jurisdictions it applies.

Embedding sustainability in a real-world context: Developing a world class early learning centre

This symposium describes what is possible when early childhood professionals work with designers to develop a vision for an exemplary early childhood centre with a focus on Education for Sustainability (EfS). The symposium provides insights into cross-disciplinary initiatives between QUT Early childhood and Design staff and students, who have worked together with the iconic Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, to explore imperatives around EfS, including leadership and professionalism. This practical, real world project has seen all stakeholders engage in a focus on sustainability which has opened new ways of thinking about early childhood centre design. Cross-disciplinarity has created space to re-think the potential of the disciplines to interweave, and in so doing opened different ways for thinking about early childhood centres – their operation and their function. For the first time in Queensland, this project creates strategic alliances between EfS, childcare, business and sustainable design. EfS is essential for addressing local and global environmental issues and early childhood EfS research has been gaining international momentum, with governments nominating this area as having significant capacity to empower communities and promote change. While models for collaboration exist in the early childhood programs in Reggio Emilia, we offer sustainability as a unique and contemporary focus with immense potential to generate international and national interest. To date Early Childhood degree students enrolled in a leadership and management unit/subject have worked collaboratively with Design students to explore the sustainable design of the proposed Lone Pine early childhood centre. Providing students with a ‘real world’ project sees them re-positioned from ‘novice’ to ‘professional’, where their knowledge, expertise and perspectives are simultaneously validated and challenged. These learning experiences are enabling students to practice a new model of early childhood leadership, one that is vital for leading in an increasingly complex world. The symposium will be comprised of three discrete, though interconnected presentations, that work together to tell the story of this project. Three key facets of the project will be explored during the 90 minute session, as the perspectives of key stakeholders are shared. The first presentation (A/Prof Julie Davis, Dr Lyndal O’Gorman& Dr Megan Gibson) will outline the role of QUT School of Early Childhood staff and students, with attention to the ways in which the project was embedded in students’ work in the final year of their degree program of study. The second presentation (Ms Lindy Osborne) will provide insights into the Design students’ collaborative work in the project. Finally, the key role of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and their commitment for EfS (Ms Peta Wilson & Dr Sue Elliott) will map out the philosophy that underpins the project. Together, the authors will conclude key project outcomes that have been achieved through this real-world, cross-disciplinary work.

Preservice early childhood teachers and designers partnering for change at The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: An interdisciplinary education and design for sustainability project

This presentation discusses and critiques a current case study of a project in which Early Childhood preservice teachers are working in partnership with Design students to develop principles and concepts for the design and construction of an early childhood centre. This centre, to be built on the grounds of the iconic Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane , focuses on Education for Sustainability (EfS), sustainable design and sustainable business. Interdisciplinary initiatives between QUT staff and students from two Faculties (Education and Creative Industries) have been situated in the real –world context of this project. This practical, authentic project has seen stakeholders take an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, opening up new ways of thinking about early childhood centre design, particularly with respect to operation and function. Interdisciplinarity and a commitment to genuine partnerships have created intellectual spaces to re-think the potential of the disciplines to be interwoven so that future professionals from different fields might come together to learn from each other and to address the sustainability imperative. The case study documents and explores the possibilities that the Lone Pine project offers for academics and students from Early Childhood and Design to collaboratively inform the Sanctuary’s vision for the Centre. The research examines how students benefit from practical, real world, community-integrated learning; how academic staff across two disciplines are able to work collaboratively within a real-world context; and how external stakeholders experience and benefit from the partnership with university staff and students. Data were collected via a series of focus group and individual interviews designed to explore how the various stakeholders (staff, students, business partners) experienced their involvement in the interdisciplinary project. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis of these data suggest many benefits for participants as well as a number of challenges. Findings suggest that the project has provided students with ‘real world’ partnerships that reposition early childhood students’ identities from ‘novice’ to ‘professional’, where their knowledge, expertise and perspectives are simultaneously validated and challenged in their work with designers. These partnerships are enabling preservice teachers to practice a new model of early childhood leadership in sustainability, one that is vital for leading for change in an increasingly complex world. This presentation celebrates, critiques and problematises this project, exploring wider implications for other contexts in which university staff and students may seek to work across traditional boundaries, thus building partnerships for change.

Teacher professional conversations – the oz- Teachers story

The oz-Teachers listserv, an email list for teachers, ran continuously for 20 years, from 1995 to 2015. It provided the technical infrastructure for professional communication with the majority of its members being Australian teachers based in classrooms across the country. An analysis of the list archives provides us with interesting insights as to how teachers learn from and within communities of their peers and how such communities offer social and educational affordances to allow teachers to generate and enhance their own learning. This paper begins with a brief review of the response to the announcement of the list’s closure. It then moves to a report of the types of communication which emerged from the list over time with comparisons drawn from extant research, namely, an early analysis of email lists and a more contemporary study of teacher communication through microblogging. We identified 14 categories with eight of these being paired, namely, as asking/seeking and responding/giving. The key finding of this analysis was that the list, and its professional discussions, were sustained through reciprocity and collective intelligence, that is, sharing of information and resources and that this was evident through the life of the listserv.

Shaping (reflexive) professional identities across an undergraduate degree programme: A longitudinal case study

In our complex and incongruous professional worlds, where there is no blueprint for dealing with unpredictable people and events, it is imperative that individuals develop reflexive approaches to professional identity building. Notwithstanding the importance of disciplinary knowledge and skills, higher education has a crucial role to play in guiding students to examine and mediate self in relation to context for effective decision-making and action. This paper reports on a small-scale longitudinal project that investigated the ways in which ten undergraduate students over the course of a three-year Radiation Therapy degree shaped their professional identities. Theories of reflexivity and methods of discourse analysis are utilised to understand the ways in which individuals accounted for their professional identity projects at university. The findings suggest that, across time, the participants negotiated professional ‘becoming’ through four distinct kinds of reflexive modalities. These findings have implications for teaching strategies and curriculum design in undergraduate programs.

The role of professional identity & self-interest in career choices in the emerging ICT workforce

The influence of professional identity and self-interest on the educational and career choices of the emerging Information and Communications Technology (ICT) workforce is considered in this thesis. Interviews were conducted with 52 ICT students from four Australian tertiary education institutions and the findings indicated that professional identity and self-interest should be considered together, rather than separately, to understand career decisions in relation to the ICT industry. Professional identity is associated with the accrual of symbolic resources including status and esteem, mastery, sense of belonging and attachment. By contrast, self-interest is associated with the perceived likelihood of the accrual of material (economic and social) resources.

Pre-service early childhood teachers and designers partnering for change at The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: An interdisciplinary education and design for sustainability project

This presentation discusses and critiques a current case study of a project in which Early Childhood preservice teachers are working in partnership with Design students to develop principles and concepts for the design and construction of an early childhood centre. This centre, to be built on the grounds of the iconic Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane , focuses on Education for Sustainability (EfS), sustainable design and sustainable business. Interdisciplinary initiatives between QUT staff and students from two Faculties (Education and Creative Industries) have been situated in the real –world context of this project. This practical, authentic project has seen stakeholders take an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, opening up new ways of thinking about early childhood centre design, particularly with respect to operation and function. Interdisciplinarity and a commitment to genuine partnerships have created intellectual spaces to re-think the potential of the disciplines to be interwoven so that future professionals from different fields might come together to learn from each other and to address the sustainability imperative. The case study documents and explores the possibilities that the Lone Pine project offers for academics and students from Early Childhood and Design to collaboratively inform the Sanctuary’s vision for the Centre. The research examines how students benefit from practical, real world, community-integrated learning; how academic staff across two disciplines are able to work collaboratively within a real-world context; and how external stakeholders experience and benefit from the partnership with university staff and students. Data were collected via a series of focus group and individual interviews designed to explore how the various stakeholders (staff, students, business partners) experienced their involvement in the interdisciplinary project. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis of these data suggest many benefits for participants as well as a number of challenges. Findings suggest that the project has provided students with ‘real world’ partnerships that reposition early childhood students’ identities from ‘novice’ to ‘professional’, where their knowledge, expertise and perspectives are simultaneously validated and challenged in their work with designers. These partnerships are enabling preservice teachers to practice a new model of early childhood leadership in sustainability, one that is vital for leading for change in an increasingly complex world. This presentation celebrates, critiques and problematises this project, exploring wider implications for other contexts in which university staff and students may seek to work across traditional boundaries, thus building partnerships for change.

Lessons to be learnt from two professional development programs

The involvement of teachers in any process which seeks to enhance classroom pedagogy is vital. In this area, professional development (PD) for teachers can be effective in developing and broadening classroom practices, but the process takes time. Teachers need time to reflect on their practice and be confident in implementing new programs and strategies by taking risks and employing different approaches in their pedagogy. There are various ways of initiating professional development which also take into account time for reflection. One is by the use of professional development to improve knowledge and skills. Another way is by teachers observing the practice of their colleagues before reflecting and modifying their own practice. This study discusses the findings of a case study where two different PD programs in a single secondary school were implemented with the assistance of two University Lecturers. The study revealed that although there were positive reflections on the development of knowledge and skills from the PD, factors such as collegiality and time and infrastructure constraints impacted the teachers involved in both the Reflective Practice and the technology PD programs. The school was part of the Brisbane Catholic Education Office (BCE) in Queensland, Australia and the researchers were both Senior Lecturers at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.

The health professional behind the syringe: Benefits of a pharmacist vaccination program

Background: The Queensland Pharmacist Immunisation Pilot (QPIP) which ran in 2014 was Australia’s first to allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations. An aim of QPIP was to investigate the benefits of trained pharmacists administering vaccinations in a community pharmacy setting. Methods: Participant demographics and previous influenza vaccination experiences were recorded using GuildCare software. Participants also completed a ‘post-vaccination satisfaction survey’ following their influenza vaccination. Results: A total of 10,889 participant records and 8,737 satisfaction surveys were analysed. Overall, 1.9% of the participants reported living with a chronic illness, and 22.5% were taking concomitant medications. As part of the consultation before receiving the vaccine, participants acknowledged the opportunity to discuss other aspects of their health with the pharmacist, including concerns about their general health, allergies, and other medications they were taking. It was worth noting that 17.5% of people would not have received an influenza vaccination if the QPIP service was unavailable. Additionally, approximately 10% of all participants were eligible to receive a free vaccination from the National Immunisation Program, but still opted to receive their vaccine from a pharmacist. Conclusion: The findings from this pilot demonstrate the benefit of a pharmacist vaccination program in increasing vaccination rates, and have helped pave the way for expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists.

Taking an evaluative stance to decision-making about professional development options in early childhood education and care

This article builds on our ongoing work in conceptualising an ‘evaluative stance’ framework to assist in understanding how leaders in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) make decisions about the selection of professional development options for themselves and their staff. It introduces the notion that evaluative mindsets can be considered in terms of attitudes towards decision-making that are based on personal epistemologies. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews, it explores the mindsets of six experienced leaders in two long-established ECEC organisations in Australia with respect to their decision-making about professional development. The article concludes with a consideration of the potential utility of the framework and the coding template used in this exploratory study.

A lifespan perspective on psychological contracts and their relations with organizational commitment

The current study investigated the influence of age-related constructs on the psychological contract and its relationships with continuance and normative commitment. It was proposed that as people age, their future time perspective (FTP) decreases. Consequently, it was expected that contract fulfilment would be positively related to continuance commitment for workers with short FTP, while it would be positively related to normative commitment for workers with long FTP. Conversely, it was argued that, with age, workers’ perceived work-related expertise increases, resulting in stronger reactions to obligation fulfilment on normative commitment. A study among 334 employees showed that FTP and work-related expertise indeed moderated the relationships between contract fulfilment and organizational commitment. The results showed that the influence of age on the relations between contract fulfilment with outcomes is dependent upon FTP and occupational expertise. The study shows the value of a lifespan perspective on psychological contracts and their relations with organizational commitment.

Openness to experience as a predictor and outcome of upward job changes into managerial and professional positions

In industrial and organizational psychology, there is a long tradition of studying personality as an antecedent of work outcomes. Recently, however, scholars have suggested that personality characteristics may not only predict, but also change due to certain work experiences, a notion that is depicted in the dynamic developmental model (DDM) of personality and work. Upward job changes are an important part of employees’ careers and career success in particular, and we argue that these career transitions can shape personality over time. In this study, we investigate the Big Five personality characteristics as both predictors and outcomes of upward job changes into managerial and professional positions. We tested our hypotheses by applying event history analyses and propensity score matching to a longitudinal dataset collected over five years from employees in Australia. Results indicated that participants’ openness to experience not only predicted, but that changes in openness to experience also followed from upward job changes into managerial and professional positions. Our findings thus provide support for a dynamic perspective on personality characteristics in the context of work and careers.