Rationale, restrictions and responses : online academic development to promote a community of practice

Casual academics play a major role in higher education in Australia today. In their roles as tutors, demonstrators and markers, casual academics need access to opportunities to develop as teachers. As such, Deakin University has developed an online academic development program designed to better equip new and inexperienced casual academics for their roles. This paper reports on the approach that has been taken to designing one module of an online academic development program for casual academics, considering the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) on this design, and discusses an analysis of the feedback on the module by the participants who completed it. A conclusion is drawn that aligning self paced online learning with induction into a community of practice via ICT presents particular challenges.

Barriers to learners' successful completion of VET flexible delivery programs

In the early 1990s, Australian policymakers began explicitly promoting increased use of flexible delivery in vocational education and training (VET). Some researchers argued that many students lack the learning skills required to deal with the unique demands of flexible delivery. Concerns were also raised about the VET sector's capacity to help students develop needed cognitive and metacognitive skills. A review of the literature revealed wide agreement that students' success in flexible delivery and open and distance education in Australia and elsewhere is generally determined by a complex interplay of factors, including the following: readiness for self-directed learning; ability to balance the time demands of study with other commitments such as family and work; level of literacy; ability to understand and deal with assessment requirements; level of motivation; and previous educational experiences. Two case studies based on the actual experiences of two of six students interviewed about their experiences in flexible VET delivery were reviewed. Both students decided to withdraw from their VET course because of several interconnected factors that built up over time. Both cases illustrated that some problems that can be addressed quickly in face-to-face learning environments are much more difficult to resolve when students are off campus.

Arts curriculum reform : social and cultural reproduction in Victorian schools

This thesis examines the implementation of the government educational policy document The Curriculum and Standards Framework. I examined the historical and political motivation behind the development of this document and how it introduced a pervasive new initiative of outcomes based education and accountability based on economic rationalism. In particular I examined the implications this new approach had for visual arts education and the subsequent changes to the arts curriculum. This has entailed the introduction of the aesthetic appreciation of the arts as an outcome of the CSF: The Arts. I applied Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction in education which draws predominantly on a Weberian view and a theory of practice. Bourdieu discusses differential educational achievement according to cultural capital stating education requires certain forms of cultural capital that are not equally distributed among the classes. This therefore impedes or enhances life chances according to social class i.e. educational qualifications become a commodity in the labour market and other social fields. I examined how aesthetic appreciation of the arts has evolved historically as a form of social distinction. This entails an abstract element of arts discourse, which demands a certain linguistic competence, and familiarisation, which Bourdieu claims, is developed in the family, as 'cultural capital' this is further perpetuated in schools. The likely outcome is that the introduction of aesthetic appreciation in arts education i.e the demand to 'write about' and 'talk about' art, will perpetuate class inequality due to social and cultural difference. The study has been to examine the practices of arts education in four schools and the extent to which aesthetic appreciation was implemented in the visual arts. Data was collected by case study methods of observation, questionnaire and interview and was interpretive in both quantitative and qualitative methods. I analysed the data based on class differentiation by socioeconomic divisions and examined the school ethos and attitude towards the Arts along with differentiation in cultural capital between student population. I also found teacher and student habitus played a vital role in the implementation of the CSF. This is because habitus can cause resistance to change due to the division between the formulation of the curriculum in the bureaucratic order and the practice of teachers in classrooms. My thesis interprets education as a form of social reproduction, perpetuating the existing social order. However, as Bourdieu asserts and I agree education is a form of symbolic power as it conceals its social function under the guise of neutrality and the technical functional premise. Therefore, this thesis aims to make transparent how the education system serves the interests of the dominant group through curriculum policy. Consequently, it becomes clear how education has far reaching social implications where the distinctions of class are perpetuated through cultural reproduction.

Narratives and landscapes : their capacity to serve indigenous knowledge interests

The thesis is a culmination of my research which drew on tyangi wedi tjan Rak Mak Mak Marranunggu and Marrithiel knowledge systems. These awa mirr spiritual knowledge systems have guided our Pilu for millennium and have powerful spiritual affiliation to the land and our continued presences. The understandings of the spiritual connectedness and our practices of relatedness have drawn on Pulitj, our deep awa mirr spiritual philosophy that nourishes us on our country. This philosophy gave us our voice and our presence to act in our own ways of knowing and being on the landscapes created by the Western bureaucratic systems of higher education in Australia to bring forth our Tyikim knowledge systems to serve our own educational interests. From this spiritual ‘Puliyana kunun’ philosophical position the thesis examines colonising constructions of Tyikim peoples, Tyikim knowledge systems in education, Tyikim research and access to higher education for Tyikim students. From the research, it is argued that the paradigm, within which the enclave-derived approach to Indigenous higher education is located, is compatible with the normalising imperialistic ideology of higher education. The analysis of the Mirrwana/Wurrkama participatory action research project, central to the research, supported an argument for the Mirrwana/Wurrkama model of Indigenous higher education. Further analysis identified five key pedagogical principles embedded within this new model as metaphorically equivalent to wilan~bu of the pelangu. The thesis identifies the elements of the spirituality of the narrative exposed in the research-in-action through the “Marri kubin mi thit wa!”. This is a new paradigm for Tyikim participation in higher education within which the Mirrwana/Wurrkama model is located. Finally, the thesis identifies the scope for Tyikim knowledge use in the construction of contemporary ‘bureaucratic and institutionalised’ higher education ngun nimbil thit thit teaching and learning experiences of Tyikim for the advancement of Tyikim interests. Here the tyangi yigin tjan spiritual concepts of narrative and landscape are drawn upon both awa mirr metaphorically and in marri kubin mi thit wa Tyikim pedagogical practice.

Indigenous values informing curriculum and pedagogical praxis

As an Indigenous research study into the cultural quality of Indigenous education this thesis focuses on the proposition that mainstream education marginalises Indigenous learners because of its entrenchment in the Western worldview. The thesis opens with an analysis of the cultural dynamics of Indigenous values, the politics of Indigenous identity, and the hegemonic constraints of West-centric knowledge. This analysis is then drawn upon to critically examine the cultural predisposition of mainstream education. The arguments proffered through this critical examination support the case that Indigenous learners would prosper culturally and educationally by having access to educational programmes centred within an Indigenous cultural framework, thereby addressing the dilemma of lower Indigenous retentions rates. This research study was conducted using a qualitative Indigenous methodology specifically designed by the researcher to reflect the values and cultural priorities of Indigenous Australians. Collective partnership was sought from Indigenous Australians, whom the researcher respected as Indigenous stakeholders in the research. Collegial participation was also sought from non-Indigenous educators with significant experience in teaching Indigenous learners. The research process involved both individual and group sessions of dialogic exchange. With regard to the Indigenous sessions of dialogic exchange, these resulted in the formation of a composite narrative wherein Indigenous testimony was united to create a collective Indigenous voice. Through this research study it was revealed that there is indeed a stark and deep-seated contrast between the value systems of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. This contrast, it was found, is mirrored in the cultural dynamics of education and the polemics of knowledge legitimacy. The research also revealed that Australia’s mainstream education system is intractably an agent for the promulgation of Western cultural values, and as such is culturally disenfranchising to Indigenous peoples. This thesis then concludes with an alternative and culturally apposite education paradigm for Indigenous education premised on Indigenous values informing curriculum and pedagogical praxis. This paradigm specifically supports independent Indigenous education initiatives.

Communication and meaning : the first year experience of off-campus study

The substantive field of the thesis is the sociology of distance education. The issues investigated centre on the relationship between off-campus students and the institutions of higher education with which they enrol, in which the first year experience is construed as an encounter between the students’ personal contexts and institutional cultures. A theoretical framework is constructed which synthcsises elements of phenomenology, hermeneutics and feminist theory. The author reports research into the way a small sample of people experienced off-campus study. The students selected resided in Victoria, Australia, and were enrolled with one of two Victorian tertiary institutions: the (then) Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education and Deakin University. Using a case study approach, the subjective experiences of the students were studied by means of a series of interviews which took place at their homes or places of employment in the period January 1988 to November 1989. Methodological issues relating to the application of hermeneutic principles to the use of interviews in educational research are explored. The results of the interpretation of the interview material are presented in terms of an integrationist model of socialisation. The thesis argued is that certain theoretical and practical issues in distance education are best understood as social and cultural phenomena rather than as technical problems. The implications of the findings about the effects of gender and culture on student experience are discussed in relation to the issues of access and equity, student support, and models of teaching and learning.

Telephone-mediated academic discourse

This study investigates the role of spoken language in tertiary teaching and learning as mediated by the telephone. There is recognition also of the mediating role of the tape-recorder and computer in this research. The discourse analysis has avoided the inherent difficulties of restructuring spoken language as written text as, by the use of CD-ROM, the spoken voice has been retained and it has been possible to connect the utterance and the reader. For a thesis that is concerned with the privileging of the written over the spoken in the academy, and the role of communication technologies, the use of CD-ROM is apposite and timely. The study has been conceptualised as the bringing together of three potentially discrete elements (audioteleconferencing, academic discourse and technological mediation) which are framed by distance education/open learning. Set within an interpretive (hermeneutic) paradigm, the research examines tape-recorded ‘teletutorial’ sessions to move towards an understanding of teacher-learner and learner-learner interaction, and to what extent the mediation of the communication technology has impacted on the pedagogy. It draws on data from two minor and two major case studies, using a range of methods. Conceptually, the discussion develops and elaborates the concept of ‘tele’ (as restricted to the telephone) as it engages with the notion of 'telepedagogy’. It articulates the areas of congruence and distinctiveness between teaching and learning by audioteleconference and teaching and learning by correspondence and face-to-face. It examines the relationship between language and technology, with specific reference to distance education/open learning. Empirically, the data support an in-depth discussion of selected excerpts to inform analysis of perceived advantages and restrictions of audioteleconferencing. The study reveals that there are demonstrable occasions when the perceptions of the participants are seen to be at variance from those of the researcher and from other data. This conclusion has relevance to theorists concerned with the validation of qualitative data and to researchers who accept student and tutor feedback as representing an accurate recollection of what eventuated.

Women, words, and work : a study of change and reconstruction in adult TESOL

My dissertation asserts that the discourses which at the present time construct the world of work for teachers in adult TESOL, are no longer adequate to represent the field in these new and rapidly changing times. For the last forty years the discourses that have constructed the field present a totalising, gender free, liberal humanist view of TESOL, rendering women's experience invisible, no longer speaking to or for women teachers who make up more than ninety percent of the teachers in Victorian adult TESOL programs (Cope & Kalantzis 1993, Brodkey 1991, Fine 1992, Peirce 1995). I begin by exploring the work of women teachers in adult TESOL, focusing on women teaching in the fast growing de-institutionalised settings of adult TESOL programs, which remain marginalised from the central programs in terms of administrative policy and practice. I report the findings of a series of projects undertaken by the teachers and the researcher by which new insights and understandings of teachers beliefs about their work and the changes which are currently reconstructing the field of adult language and literacy education in Australia, have been gained. I questions the discourses of applied linguistics which have for the past forty years constructed the field of adult TESOL in Australia and suggests that these lack a social theory (Candlin 1989). From the research findings I questions the possibility of continuing to work in the ways of the past, in the current climate of reconstruction of the field, rapid policy change and continued erosion of resources. I suggest that the previously loose system which held this field of work together, the ways of working, the understandings of practice, have in the light of these new times, been stretched to the limit and are in real danger of collapse. For the women working in TESOL this continued incursion of the systems into their work and the changes that have taken place, the denial of their ways of working, their local knowledge and gendered experiences, can be read against Habermas' concept of the colonisation of the lifeworld of language teaching (Habermas 1987).

Use and cost effectiveness of computer based training in the insurance industry

Training is essential to the growth and economic well-being of a nation. This need for training pervades all levels of industry, from a national level where a country’s well being is enhanced by training, to each company where productivity is improved, down to the individual whose skills are enhanced and as a result improve their position in the employment marketplace. The Australian Bureau of Statistics report ‘Training and Education Experience –Australia’ (ABS 1993) indicates that training in Australia is undertaken at a significant level with some 86% of employers undertaking some form of training. This is slightly higher in the Finance industry at a little over 89%. On the job training is undertaken by 82% of employers and off the job training is used by 47% of employers. In 80% of the off the job cases these courses were conducted in a conventional manner using an instructor. The remaining 20% of cases were either self paced (14%) or instructor based (6%). These latter cases could involve Computer Based Training (CBT). The report, referred to in the last paragraph, also indicates that a significant aspect of business in Australia is that 95% of businesses have less than 20 staff. This poses significant problems in that the ability to deliver effective training is limited. With businesses as small as these their size does not permit them to carry specialist training personnel so this role falls to the senior staff. These people already have a full workload and their ability to be able to take on training duties is limited. In addition these people were employed for their technical skills, not training. It may be that their ability to fill the role of a trainer is not good and as a result the training may not be very effective. In addition, small business has difficulty in releasing staff for training, The difficulties faced by small business were recognised by the Australian National Training Authority in their 1995 report which indicated that there was a need to develop a ‘training culture’ among small business employers. The authority made a commitment to provide flexible delivery strategies. This includes Computer Based Training (CBT). CBT has existed since the 1970’s. It came on to the scene with a flourish and tended to provide ‘page turning’ programs or ‘drill and practice programs’. In limited areas this form of training became popular but its popularity waned in the 80’s. With the advent of better graphical displays, larger and faster memory, and improved programs in the 1990’s the quality of CBT today is superior to those offered in the 70’s and has greater appeal. Today, still photographs and video clips can be displayed and made interactive. Because of this CBT is making a comeback and starting to have a greater impact. The insurance industry covers a wide range of companies in Australia, these companies vary in size from companies with employees in the thousands to companies with less than five staff. While the needs of the employees of each are similar the ability of these companies to deliver the training varies significantly. Any training can be divided into two parts. Internal or on the job training and external. External training deals with those aspects that concern the industry as a whole whereas internal training affects the individual company. Internal training would deal with matters like company procedures, company products and the like. External training deals with matters such as legislation, products generally, and the like. In the insurance industry the major problem arises with the small companies. Insurance companies would tend to be large in size and able to cover their training costs but the insurance brokers who would make up, numerically, the major number of companies would have a significant number of companies that fall into the 20 staffer less category. In fact many would have a staff of less than 5. While CBT can benefit all companies it is these small companies that could benefit from it the most. This thesis examines: • The place of CBT in training, its cost and effectiveness. • The incidence of CBT in the insurance industry and how the industry determines its effectiveness. • If a program that meets an industry need is able to be produced at a realistic price?

Doing justice' : stories of everyday life in disadvantaged schools and neighbourhoods

I worked as a school administrator in 'disadvantaged schools' for many years. In this study I asked colleagues from sixteen schools in the northern and western suburbs of Adelaide to co - theorise about changes in their neighbourhood, school populations and programs, now that their schools are no longer recognised by policy as 'disadvantaged1. I explore the use of narrative method and arts based approaches by constructing a 'literary' research text that uses conventional sociological forms together with images, poetry and personal stories. I use anthropological and geographical theoretical constructs to look at the changing material, economic, cultural and social landscapes and the mosaic of inequalities in the city of Adelaide. I suggest that this is not a simple binary polarisation, although large numbers of people are similarly positioned by de-industrialisation and the diminishing social wage. After examining the literature on poverty in Australia, I am eventually prepared to call this space class, understanding that this is a sociological metaphor. Through a theorisation of each school as a 'place' within a specific neighbourhood, I look at the similarities and differences across sites. I suggest that 'disadvantaged schools' are similarly positioned as sites for the mediation of social inequalities, and that this can be readily seen in the time consuming 'housework' of discipline and welfare. I indicate how each school is differently able to 'do more with less', because of their unique neighbourhood and its narratives, knowledges, histories, teleologies and people. I show that the common coercive regimes of market devolution, new public management and the 'distributive curriculum' frame the work of teachers, students and administrators in ways that are not conducive to 'doing justice', despite the policy rhetoric of equity and community. I provide evidence that the neoliberal imaginary of context free schooling enshrined in effective schools literatures is Utopian and irrational. I argue that the capacity of the school to 'generate context' is always paradoxically dependent on 'context derived'. I discuss the notion of 'doing justice' and the benefits of 'disadvantaged schools' having a local set of principles that guide their decisions and actions and provide evidence that the school administrator's understandings of 'doing justice' are important. I also suggest that, despite being increasingly isolated and hindered by policy directions, the majority of the sixteen schools continue to work for and with principles of justice and equity, drawing on a range of emotional and intellectual resources and deep, longstanding commitments. I conclude by speculating on the kinds of policy and research agendas that might take account of both the commonalities and differences amongst 'disadvantaged schools', and what might be included in a comprehensive and systematic approach to 'doing justice'.

Students' experiences of e-learning at school

The dissertation describes the experiences of senior secondary students taking an online course for the first time to further their language education. The experiences are presented from the perspective of students, of supervising teachers and the 'virtual' teacher. Issues of importance with younger learners are identified and discussed and guidelines for the conduct of online courses at school level developed. It is proposed that online courses may have a worthwhile place in school education if specific learning needs can be met using this medium.

Optimal redistribution when educational background matters

Higher education plays an important role in determining individuals lifetime
earnings. In turn, the decision to become educated depends to a large extent on innate ability and on family characteristics, including both family
wealth and educational background. In this paper, we abstract from family
income differences to concentrate on the effects of fiscal policies on the
decision to undertake higher education when the educational background
matters. In a dynamic framework, where successive generations are linked by educational background, we consider a government that uses both linear income taxation and a lump-sum subsidy to education. Conditions for
optimality of each policy are derived. The factors that determine the sign
and magnitude of the tax rate and the subsidy are identified and include
concerns for redistribution, efficiency and the educational externality on
future generations

Study mode and student university choice : an empirical investigation

The thesis investigated the importance of study mode in university choice relative to other considerations. Study mode was found to be more important than either university or tuition fees. However, differences existed across segments. Also identified were segments based on students' preferences for combinations of face-to-face and distance study modes.