More towards the centre : searching for field position for student equity in Australian higher education

The field of Australian higher education has changed, is changing and is about to change, as it is repositioned in relation to other ‘fields of power’. It is a sector now well defined by its institutional groupings – the Go8, the IRUs, the ATN and the rest – and by their relative claims to selectivity and exclusivity, with every suggestion of their differentiation growing. Even within these groupings there are distinctions and variations. Moreover, Australian universities now compete within an international higher education marketplace, ranked by THES and Shanghai Jiao Tiong league tables. ‘Catchment areas’ and knowledge production have become global. And the potential of a ‘joined‐up’ tertiary education system, of VET and universities, will rework relations within Australian higher education, as will lifting the volume caps on university student numbers. In sum, Australian universities (and agents within them) are positioned differently in the field, although not in the stable relations imagined by Pierre Bourdieu in the France of the 1960s. And being so variously and variably placed, institutions and agents have different stances available to them, including the positions they can take on student equity. In this paper I begin from the premise that our current shared stance on this has been out‐positioned. Nation‐bound proportional representation loses its equity meaning when the Australian elite send their children to Harvard, Yale, Oxford and Cambridge. The same could also be said, and has been, about equity representations by region, institution, discipline and degree. What then, also, for a new national research centre with a focus on student equity and higher education, for its research agenda and positioning in the field? What stance can it take on student equity that will resonate on a national and even international scale? And, given a global field of higher education, what definitions of equity and propositions for policy and practice can it offer? What will work in the pursuit of equity?

Tertiary literacy on the cusp

This paper outlines some of the recent concerns regarding a perceived decline in literacy standards in Australia, with reference to changing literacy abilities and standards in tertiary education. It presents a summary and critique of the current discussions on changes in literacy expectations and contemporary notions of literacy. It concludes with a summary of three important 'agents of change': economic rationalism, multiculturalism and computerisation.

Deepening the mathematical knowledge of secondary mathematics teachers who lack tertiary mathematics qualifications

A professional learning program for unqualified practising secondary mathematics teachers regarding senior secondary mathematics teaching is described in this paper. The VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) mathematics professional learning program for senior secondary mathematics was designed for practising secondary teachers of mathematics who had no experience of teaching advanced senior secondary mathematics and who had not completed the recommended qualifications. Professional learning episodes, artefacts and reflections of three teachers who participated in the program are analysed to identify the development of these teachers' mathematical and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The PCK framework developed by Chick et al. was used to analyse teachers' knowledge, and the cases of teachers' knowledge presented in the paper illustrate the entwining of knowledge of mathematics and knowledge of teaching and learning The findings indicate that a program designed for senior secondary mathematics can enable practising teachers to deepen and broaden their understanding of junior secondary mathematical pedagogy.

Programs to raise tertiary education aspiration, 2011-2012 data

Data is a collation of local and global programs that address tertiary education attainment. It is in the form of a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet and is purely text.

Book review : The making of the European Union : foundations, institutions and future trends

Whilst there are many books on the European Union (EU), this recently published book by four scholars is a comprehensive and important addition to the research on Europe. As the title of the book suggests, the EU is impacted by historical events and is shaped by future trends. The authors of this book include eight chapters on the EU that range from an analysis of the EU's development from a free trading area to having a common currency to how the EU is changing in terms of diversity and consumer trends. The book contains the most recent figures that are available on the EU and these figures are presented in useful tables to explain developments in the EU. This book stands out from the existing books on the EU by combining a cultural and historical analysis together with current discourse on the EU. The book is easy to read and is very suitable for both scholars, public policy practitioners and general readers who want a holistic book that incorporates a diverse range of topics on the EU.

The development of Australian tertiary education to 1939

Some accounts of Australian education have suggested that the growth of mass public education has been the result of two factors. First, mass public demand, in the wake of the development of an industrial society which gave the working man more leisure, a rising standard of living, and an appreciation of the benefits of education. Second, the concern of more enlightened sections of the upper class for the welfare of the working class. The development of education is seen as linked with the development of the liberal democratic state. Other accounts have linked educational development with the development of capitalism in a more direct way. They suggest that schools developed with factories, wage labour and work dependence as agents of socialization, and for basic skill transmission, in the face of the declining influence of the church, family and artisan.

Recession-oscopy : can universities be the light at the end?

This paper paints the philosophical and ethical backdrop to some of the issues raised in Australian Universities’ Review vol. 53, no. 2. It links academic performance pay; the measurement of research output; and the astonishing pay levels of vice chancellors to the present global financial crisis. These are explained as part of a general malaise of institutions, which has its roots in the early Enlightenment. Drawing from semioticians Charles Sanders Peirce and John Deely it uses the terms ideoscopy and cenoscopy to characterise the hijacking of unwarranted scientific status for much of the way our world is managed. But crisis can lead to opportunity. Consequently, the paper points to the glaring opportunity for thinkers who can articulate the present situation in a way which could avert disaster.

Research mentoring on the edge : early career researchers and academic fringe-dwelling

Discourses of research leadership define not only what quality research leadership can and should be, but also identify those who speak and act with authority. Similarly, these discourses construct particular professional identities and idealised ‘ways of being’. They provide possibilities for research leaders as well as those categorised as 'Early Career Researchers' (ECRs) to create alternative identities and representations of themselves. This study reports the views of 32 academics across 16 Australian universities in four States about research mentoring and leadership for ECRs. The primary interest was to explore how research leadership is conceptualised, implemented and negotiated in the disciplinary fields of business, nursing and education. Whilst a number of ECRs viewed formal research mentoring as taking a ‘tick the box’ approach that they believed of limited value, a number of research leaders had different views. Most senior research leaders viewed the systemic provision of assistance their universities offered in a positive light. The dissonance in views centred on the subject positioning of academics in research. The dissatisfaction expressed by ECRs, a number of whom positioned themselves as fringe-dwellers ‘on the edge’ of their institutional research culture, raises questions about research sustainability and succession planning in Australian tertiary
institutions.

Adoption vs. usage of interactive white board technology by teachers in higher education institutions

This research investigates teaching faculty’s adoption and usage of Interactive White Board Technology (IWBT) in teaching in UAE University (UAEU). The research extended the technological innovation theories and proposed a model made of different contexts. The research model was partially supported and highlighted interesting insights pertaining to adoption and usage of IWBT in teaching. Contrasting findings pertaining to the same factors across adoption and usage proved to be both insightful as well as challenging at the same time. Implications arising from significant and insignificant factors lead to a conclusion that IWBT is evolving in UAEU. The research discusses theoretical as well as professional contributions and implications emerging and portrays different research areas in this field.