Multi-linear strategies for (re)presenting the complexity of young people in research

Within the current climate of unpredictability and constant change, young people at school are faced with a multitude of choices and contradictory influences. In this article, I argue that (re)presentations of young people in youth research need to reflect the complexity and multiplicity of their lives and changing priorities, and I attempt to (re)present a small group of young people in this particular milieu. I illustrate some of the competing influences in their lives, and I outline some specific strategies that are useful for (re)presenting these contextual worlds. The strategies I advocate disrupt the homogenous representations of ‘youth’ as a developmental phase and instead reflect the diverse spheres of influence which shape their subjectivities and practices.

Enhancing security and continuity management at international airports

Operators of busy contemporary airports have to balance tensions between the timely flow of passengers, flight operations, the conduct of commercial business activities and the effective application of security processes. In addition to specific onsite issues airport operators liaise with a range of organisations which set and enforce aviation-related policies and regulations as well as border security agencies responsible for customs, quarantine and immigration, in addition to first response security services. The challenging demands of coordinating and planning in such complex socio-technical contexts place considerable pressure on airport management to facilitate coordination of what are often conflicting goals and expectations among groups that have standing in respect to safe and secure air travel. What are, as yet, significantly unexplored issues in large airports are options for the optimal coordination of efforts from the range of public and private sector participants active in airport security and crisis management. A further aspect of this issue is how airport management systems operate when there is a transition from business-as-usual into an emergency/crisis situation and then, on recovery, back to ‘normal’ functioning. Business Continuity Planning (BCP), incorporating sub-plans for emergency response, continuation of output and recovery of degraded operating capacity, would fit such a context. The implementation of BCP practices in such a significant high security setting offers considerable potential benefit yet entails considerable challenges. This paper presents early results of a 4 year nationally funded industry-based research project examining the merger of Business Continuity Planning and Transport Security Planning as a means of generating capability for improved security and reliability and, ultimately, enhanced resilience in major airports. The project is part of a larger research program on the Design of Secure Airports that includes most of the gazetted ‘first response’ international airports in Australia, key Aviation industry groups and all aviation-related border and security regulators as collaborative partners. The paper examines a number of initial themes in the research, including: ? Approaches to integrating Business Continuity & Aviation Security Planning within airport operations; ? Assessment of gaps in management protocols and operational capacities for identifying and responding to crises within and across critical aviation infrastructure; ? Identification of convergent and divergent approaches to crisis management used across Austral-Asia and their alignment to planned and possible infrastructure evolution.

Re-generating the praxis of academic staff development

Effective academic workforce staff development remains a challenge in higher education. This thesis-by-publication examined the importance of alternative paradigms for academic staff development, focusing specifically on arts-based learning as a non-traditional approach to transformative learning for management and self-development within the business of higher education. The research question asked was whether or not the facilitation of staff development through the practice of arts-based transformational learning supported academic aims in higher education, based on data obtained with the participants of the academic staff development program at one Australian university over a three year period. Over that three year period, eighty academics participated in one large metropolitan Australian university’s arts-based academic development program. The research approach required analysis of the transcribed one-on-one hermeneutic-based conversations with fifteen self-selected academics, five from each year, and with a focus group of twenty other self-selected academics from all three years. The study’s findings provided evidence that supported the need for academic staff development that prepared academics to be engaged and creative and therefore more likely to be responsive to emerging issues and to be innovative in the presence of constraints, including organisational constraints. The qualitative participative conversation transcription data found that arts-based lifelong learning processes provided participant perception of enhanced capabilities for self-creation and clarity of transformational action in academic career management. The study presented a new and innovative Artful Learning Wave Trajectory learning model to engender academic professional artistry. The findings provided developers with support for using a non-traditional strategy of transformational learning.

Engaging the practice of yarning in Action Research

This paper discusses the technique of ‘yarning’ as an action research process relevant for policy development work with Aboriginal peoples. Through a case study of an Aboriginal community-based smoking project in the Australian State of Victoria, the paper demonstrates how the Aboriginal concept of ‘yarning’ can be used to empower people to create policy change that not only impacts on their own health, but also impacts on the health of others and the Aboriginal organisation for which they work. The paper presents yarning within the context of models of empowerment and a methodological approach of participatory action research. The method is based on respect and inclusivity, with the final policy developed by staff for staff. Yarning is likely to be successful for action researchers working within a variety of Indigenous contexts.

The crisis in ICT education : an academic perspective

A national Discipline-Based Initiative project for ICT, funded by the ALTC, has sought to identify the issues and challenges facing the sector. The crisis in ICT education spans high schools, universities and industry. The demand for skilled ICT graduates is increasing yet enrolments are declining. Several factors contribute to this decline including the perceived quality of teaching and a poor perception of the ICT profession amongst the general public. This paper reports on a consultation process with the academic community. Academic concerns include the capacity of the sector to survive the downturn, and improving relationships with industry which should benefit students, academics and industry. An outcome of the consultation process has been the formation of the Australian Council of Deans of ICT (ACDICT) which will have broad responsibility for addressing the issues affecting ICT higher education.

New strategies of managing waste in office building retrofit projects

Retrofit projects are different from newly-built projects in many respects. A retrofit project involves an existing building, which imposes constraints on the owners, designers, operators and constructors throughout the project process. Retrofit projects are risky, complex, less predictable and difficult to be well planned, which need greater coordination. For office building retrofit project, further restrictions will apply as these buildings often locate in CBD areas and most have to remain operational during the progression of project work. Issues such as site space, material storage and handling, noise and dust, need to be considered and well addressed. In this context, waste management is even more challenging with small spaces for waste handling, uncertainties in waste control, and impact of waste management activities on project delivery and building occupants. Current literatures on waste management in office building retrofit projects focus on increasing waste recovery rate based on project planning, monitoring and stakeholders’ collaboration. However, previous research has not produced knowledge of understanding the particular retrofit processes and their impact on waste generation and management. This paper discusses the interim results of a continuing research on new strategies for waste management in office building retrofit projects. Firstly based on the literature review, it summarizes the unique characteristics of office building retrofit projects and their influence on waste management. An assumption on waste management strategies is formed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted towards industry practitioners and findings are then presented in the paper. The assumption of the research was validated in the interviews from the opinions and experiences of the respondents. Finally the research develops a process model for waste management in office building retrofit projects. It introduces two different waste management strategies. For the dismantling phase, waste is generated fast along with the work progress, so integrated planning for project delivery and waste generation is needed in order to organize prompt handling and treatment. For the fit-out phase, the work is similar as new construction. Factors which are particularly linked to generating waste on site need to be controlled and monitored. Continuing research in this space will help improve the practice of waste management in office building retrofit projects. The new strategies will help promote the practicality of project waste planning and management and stakeholders’ capability of coordinating waste management and project delivery.

After the testing : talking and reading and writing the world

This critical essay discusses the challenges and prospects for the reform of school-based literacy programs. It begins with an overview of the effects of a decade of test-driven accountability policy on research and teachers’ work, noting the continuing challenges of new demographics, cultures and technologies for literacy education. The case is made that whole school literacy programs can make a difference in improving the overall education of students and youth from low socioeconomic and cultural minority backgrounds. But this requires a strong emphasis on engagement with substantive readings of cultural, social and scientific worlds through talk, reading and writing. The key questions facing teachers, then, are not simply around basic skills instruction and acquisition, but about sustained, intellectually demanding and scaffolded talk around texts, print and multimodal.

Writing about risky relatives and what might have been : the craft of historiographic metafiction

This practice-based research project consists of a 33,000-word novella, "Folly", and a 50,000-word exegesis that examines the principles of historiographic metafiction (HMF), the recontextualisation of historical figures and scenarios, and other narratological concepts that inform my creative practice. As an emerging sub-genre of historical fiction, HMF is one aspect of a national and international discourse about historical fiction in the fields of literature, history, and politics. Leading theorists discussed below include Linda Hutcheon and Ansgar Nünning, along with the recent critically-acclaimed work of contemporary Australian writers, Richard Flanagan, Kate Grenville, and Louis Nowra. "Folly" traces a number of periods in the lives of fictional versions of the researcher and his eighteenthcentury Irish relative, and experiments with concepts of historiographic metafiction, the recontextualisation of historical figures and scenarios, and the act of narratorial manipulation, specifically focalisation, voice, and point of view. The key findings of this research include: identifying the principles and ideas that support writing work of historiographic metafiction; a determination as to the value of recontextualisation of historical figures and scenarios, and narratorial manipulation, in the writing of historiographic metafiction; an account of the challenges facing an emerging writer of historiographic metafiction, and their resulting solutions (where these could be established); and, finally, some possible directions for future research.

The International Film and Television School in Cuba : for a stronger media culture in the global south

A little-known facet of Cuban internationalism is the Cuba shares in the education of young people who want to help build a stronger media culture that represents voices from the global South. Cuba was instrumental in the establishment and operation of the International Film and Television School at San Antonio de los Baños. The Cuban government provided the location and buildings for the school, and among the range of international media professionals who teach the students are selected Cuban professors from the Institute of the Arts, based n Havana. The International Film and Television School is supported by funding from Spain and other countries, and by the willingness of international media professionals to teach short courses for little more than an honorarium. Cuba used to provide full scholarships for student from the South to study a two-year course in film or television, but now charges fees for its three-year diploma course.

Communicating personal amnesty : a model for health promotion in an Australian disability context

Currently pathological and illness-centric policy surrounds the evaluation of the health status of a person experiencing disability. In this research partnerships were built between disability service providers, community development organizations and disability arts organizations to build a translational evaluative methodology prior to implementation of an arts-based workshop that was embedded in a strengths-based approach to health and well-being. The model consisted of three foci: participation in a pre-designed drama-based workshop program; individualized assessment and evaluation of changing health status; and longitudinal analysis of participants changing health status in their public lives following the culmination of the workshop series. Participants (n = 15) were recruited through disability service providers and disability arts organizations to complete a 13-week workshop series and public performance. The study developed accumulative qualitative analysis tools and member-checking methods specific to the communication systems used by individual participants. Principle findings included increased confidence for verbal and non-verbal communicators; increased personal drive, ambition and goal-setting; increased arts-based skills including professional engagements as artists; demonstrated skills in communicating perceptions of health status to private and public spheres. Tangential positive observations were evident in the changing recreational, vocational and educational activities participants engaged with pre- and post- the workshop series; participants advocating for autonomous accommodation and health provision and changes in the disability service staff's culture. The research is an example of translational health methodologies in disability studies.

Research capacity and culture in podiatry : early observations within Queensland Health

Background Research is a major driver of health care improvement and evidence-based practice is becoming the foundation of health care delivery. For health professions to develop within emerging models of health care delivery, it would seem imperative to develop and monitor the research capacity and evidence-based literacy of the health care workforce. This observational paper aims to report the research capacity levels of statewide populations of public-sector podiatrists at two different time points twelve-months apart. Methods The Research Capacity & Culture (RCC) survey was electronically distributed to all Queensland Health (Australia) employed podiatrists in January 2011 (n = 58) and January 2012 (n = 60). The RCC is a validated tool designed to measure indicators of research skill in health professionals. Participants rate skill levels against each individual, team and organisation statement on a 10-point scale (one = lowest, ten = highest). Chi-squared and Mann Whitney U tests were used to determine any differences between the results of the two survey samples. A minimum significance of p < 0.05 was used throughout. Results Thirty-seven (64%) podiatrists responded to the 2011 survey and 33 (55%) the 2012 survey. The 2011 survey respondents reported low skill levels (Median < 4) on most aspects of individual research aspects, except for their ability to locate and critically review research literature (Median > 6). Whereas, most reported their organisation’s skills to perform and support research at much higher levels (Median > 6). The 2012 survey respondents reported significantly higher skill ratings compared to the 2011 survey in individuals’ ability to secure research funding, submit ethics applications, and provide research advice, plus, in their organisation’s skills to support, fund, monitor, mentor and engage universities to partner their research (p < 0.05). Conclusions This study appears to report the research capacity levels of the largest populations of podiatrists published. The 2011 survey findings indicate podiatrists have similarly low research capacity skill levels to those reported in the allied health literature. The 2012 survey, compared to the 2011 survey, suggests podiatrists perceived higher skills and support to initiate research in 2012. This improvement coincided with the implementation of research capacity building strategies.

Imagining social justice

This paper examines how creativity and the arts can assist teachers who teach from a social justice perspective, and how knowledge built through meaningful experiences of difference can make a difference. Just as imagining is central to visual arts practice, so too the capacity to imagine is a necessity for social justice. The authors ask what art can do, and how art can work, to bring about greater understandings and practices around social justice and the early years. A ‘recognitive justice’ (Fraser, 1997, 2000; Cazden, 2012) requires the capacity to be sensitive to the multiple voices that need to be heard, and the ability to imagine how lives might be lived differently. The arts can provide powerful means for thinking social justice, and the experiences described in this paper can have application in addressing social justice in the professional preparation of prospective teachers. Three teacher educators who teach from a social justice perspective apply a collective biography methodology to their stories of art activity. Data were collected from three sites: transcripts, notes and digital images from a salon evening; ethnographic observations, field notes and artefacts from a school classroom; and a/r/tographic data generated in a university art classroom. Data were analysed using Foucault and the conceptual work of other post-structuralist philosophies, to explore how aesthetic and creative artistic activity could excite imaginations and open up multiple possibilities for richer forms of educational outcomes – for teacher educators, their students, and ultimately for young children.

Knitted images : corporeal theorising

Feeling the wool and needles and constructing the knitting is very different to looking at knitting or thinking about knitting. Creating with the material slows everything down enough to enable significant connection with the process. Knitting as a mode for researching involves corporeal activity/philosophy that foregrounds a physical rationality, and this offers critical investigation of knowledge conventions that hierarchize intellectual activity as something that seeks to justify or clarify via a cerebral mode of presenting reasonable and rational arguments...

Knitted images : interception

Feeling the wool and needles and constructing the knitting is very different to looking at knitting or thinking about knitting. Creating with the material slows everything down enough to enable significant connection with the process. Knitting as a mode for researching involves corporeal activity/philosophy that foregrounds a physical rationality, and this offers critical investigation of knowledge conventions that hierarchize intellectual activity as something that seeks to justify or clarify via a cerebral mode of presenting reasonable and rational arguments...

Knitted images : drawing patterns

This Arts Based Education Research (Eisner 2008) work provides potent opportunity to consider different problems and challenges that impact on the progress of research (art as data making) and the theories being explored. It provides opportunity to transport ideas across between research activity, and teaching practices...