The design studio: fabricating a sense of architecture in drawing

The purpose of this paper is to provide a platform for investigating the relationship between the student and the tutor via the design drawing and in particular the idea that what gives grounds for architecture to embody something is what is imagined is expressed in the design drawing. It is suggested that in architectural education the sense of architecture's fabricated properties find their apparent expression from the convergence of the tutor and student toward these drawings. In an act of perceptual contortion, there is an endeavour to reconcile what they see with what they think the drawing might suggest. Part of this mental reconstruction is based on the expectation that something is in the drawing to see. The drawing is produced based on the supposition that it will be read, generating a particular conditioning of the student's attitude toward the relevance of the drawing. It is engaged as the receptacle of ideas about what architecture is. The result is that sometimes the emphasis on the drawing as something to be consumed implies a permeation of the supposed sensory qualities of architecture imagined by the student designer, the portrayal of which is indubitably a product of the medium. While this might be commonly experienced in studios, it is proposed that this may be perpetuated in architectural education not merely by the act of drawing itself and what the drawing is, but how the student/tutor exchange contributes to the consciousness of what is portrayed.

Critically interrogating classroom constructions of 'community' and 'difference' : a case study

Within educational literature, the concept of 'community' has been problematised over the last decade, particularly as regards how constructs of 'community' that aim to provide 'a sense of belonging… of collective concern for each individual' (Nodding 1996: 258) can also operate to exclude, devalue or homogenise diverse groups of students.

The tensions that exist between desirable features of a learning community that provides a sense of belonging and at the same time recognises and celebrates difference and diversity are suggested by Fines, et al (1997: 252) who argue that '(t)he process of sustaining a community must include a critical interrogation of difference as the rich substance of community life…'

This paper reports on an aspect of an empirical research project that examined relations of power between teachers and students as these operate through explicit processes used to create classroom communities. Through a case study of one composite grade primary classroom with children of diverse cultural heritage, we critically analyse constructs of 'community' in light of current literature on difference and diversity. Specifically we address the question: what pedagogical processes create a learning community where acceptance of difference is reworked to better address unequal relations of power?

Making sense of difference? Teaching identities in postmodern contexts

How do teachers make sense of ethnic and classed differences? Frequently students from non-mainstream cultures and of lower socio-economic status are constructed in the literature and through practice as ‘deficit’ and consequently become marginalised. A range of short-term, ‘quick fix’ policy and curriculum approaches have aimed to address the ‘problems’ of those ‘othered’ from the mainstream due to their perceived difference. These have had little effect on improving educational results for students of specific ethnic and/or class backgrounds whose outcomes remain below the national average.

Poststructural theories offer opportunities to think about how teachers are positioned within discourses of identity. Our research (and others’) suggests the need for teachers to interrogate their assumptions about class and culture and how these are played out in their pedagogical relationships with students.

In this paper we report on a small research project that investigates the professional practices and personal beliefs of teachers. Empirical data from this study will build knowledge about how difference is constructed and diversity is ‘taken up’ by teachers as they engage with secondary students who have Language Backgrounds Other Than English and who are economically disadvantaged.

Resisting assimilation : the mild aesthetics and wild perceptions of the migrant house

The physical adaptation, remaking and maintenance, or building of the house plays a significant role in immigrants’ sense of belonging to a community, especially in contexts of first generation elderly immigrants with minimal English language skills. Psychoanalytic theories propose that objects are integral to a subject’s identity, but that the path of effect between the subject and object is not causal or direct, rather it goes via the unconscious. This paper seeks to examine the relationship between immigrants and their houses through these theories adapting them to an analysis of the houses. It draws its data from field research of three elderly immigrant households. The iconography of the house has always been perceived as central to the analysis of dreams, here the thesis is that the house is the most significant object of the immigrant because it mediates the many worlds inherent to the migrant’s imaginary landscapes. The analysis will seek to understand this role of the house.

Secondly, while many houses in which migrants live can barely be differentiated in clear physical ways from the typology of houses built in Australia, the perception that they are different is a strong myth. At the least it has resulted in very little, if any, study of this vernacular of new Australian houses. It would be easy to argue that to build a house in Australia is the most important mode of assimilation because a way of life is intrinsically set by this suburban paradigm. But for the reason of this perception of difference I will explore an idea about ethnic aesthetics as a mode of resisting assimilation. In writing on taste in his seminal book, Distinction, the sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, has argued that taste is a way of classifying people into classes, race, culture, but it is also a way for dominant and ruling classes to resist challenges from other parties, and maintain a particular hierarchy of society. In this case those other parties are ethnic communities in Australia whose tastes are not always the same as that of the dominant Anglo-Celtic community.

Teaching EBP : part 2 – making sense of clinical practice guidelines

Previously, we indicated that we wanted to address the dialogue pertaining to education and teaching approaches to increase the use of specific types of evidence that exist to guide and inform practice, and began this by focusing on Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG). This column builds on that knowledge to highlight how educators can use CPGs in practice and change situations whilst also raising awareness of the limitations of these tools in terms of their impact on practice.

Machismo and the construction of immigrant latin American masculinities

While a growing number of North American authors have researched Latin American men and masculinities within Latin America as well as the experiences of Latin American men migrating to the United States, there has been little research on the specific issues facing Latin American men in Australia. In this chapter we explore the experiences in Australia of a variety of male migrants from Latin America through three key elements which emerged through our research: the importance of men as 'providers' for the family and the place in men's sense of self; the changing nature of men's and women's roles and statuses in Australian society and their difference from Latin America; and the shifting nature of what constitutes 'home' and a sense of belonging for Latin American men. In addressing the issues that the men face, we also examine the nature of the discourses on machismo and the almost fetishised nature of its oversimplified usage in relation to Latin American men generally and in defining their identities in Australia.

Birds and beaches, dogs and leashes : dog owners' sense of obligation to leash dogs on beaches in Victoria, Australia

Domesticated dogs threaten the conservation of beach-nesting birds in Australia through disturbance, and destruction of eggs and chicks. Leashing of dogs can improve conservation outcomes, but few dogs are leashed on beaches. We surveyed dog owners to explore their sense of obligation to leash dogs on beaches. Dog owners were more likely to feel obliged to leash their dog when they believed other people expected dogs to be leashed, and when they believed their dog was a threat to wildlife or people. Dog owners were less likely to feel obliged to leash their dog if they considered unleashed dog recreation to be important. Improved compliance may be achieved through community-based approaches to foster social norms for dog control, tailoring information products to emphasize the risk that all unleashed dogs may pose to beach-nesting birds and raising awareness of designated off-leash exercise dog recreation areas.

Making sense of law and disorder

This article tells the story of a cross-cultural encounter on a beach at King George's Sound in the south west of Australia in 1826, when Major Edmund Lockyer arrived to establish a British military garrison. The account we have of those early encounters come from the pen of Lockyer, and by taking a close reading of his journal this article attempts to reveal the meanings and context of Aboriginal actions. It also analyses how the Aborigines and the British made sense and subsequently responded to the encounter. Whilst this story is not given iconic status in Australian historiography, it is valuable in opening up a porthole into this contact zone at the moment when precarious relationships were being formed.

Stadium architecture and a sense of 'place'

Stadiums are unique places, a building form that in modern times is perhaps unrivalled in reflecting an intense identification of 'place' for people and for cities. This research investigates the role that architecture plays in the development of such a sense of 'place', as compared to the influence of cultural factors such as history and a tradition of events.

Public policy and USM : an approach to fit a renewed sense of public purpose

Malaysian Higher educational reform is an important and central aspect of the broader Malaysian public policy focus on excellence, development and national growth. This proposed paper intends to discuss analyze and critique the APEX program for Malaysian Universities. In particular the paper will investigate and discuss the way Universiti Sains Malaysia has interpreted and developed its strategic goals in light of its award of APEX status. Specifically I intend to discuss the strengths and limitations of the Universiti Sains Malaysia agenda, and contextualize it within a broader discussion about the directions of Malaysian Higher Education, in conditions of globalization, network society, and the knowledge economy. The challenges faced by the reform agenda at USM are significant and it is important that any understanding of the USM agenda be informed by deep reflection on the underlying philosophical aims and justifications for its direction. In this way my paper will attempt to show how the USM project is both an important part of Malaysian national development and a critical response to contemporary globalization, while at the same time an innovative and challenging intervention into public policy debate in Higher Education. The values and objectives of USM in regards to its strategic reorientation have implications far beyond the Higher Education sector and these implications will also be discussed.