The future of a concept : the case for sustaining 'innovation' in education

Innovation is a prominent feature of current governmental discourse, and in whose name large amounts of public money is spent. Innovation in this context is valued because of its perceived potential to do things in new or better ways that creates desirable outcomes. In recent years, innovation in an educational context, has been identified among policy-makers as one of the key mechanisms by which significant and effective change is meant to be introduced and sustained. Yet based on research conducted over the last three years by the author and others, innovation’s potential to transform schooling in particular, is not being realised. The key issue impeding innovation’s potential in transforming educational practices lies in the basic but fundamental problem that the dominate ways of conceptualising innovation are largely inadequate. They neither accurately describe or capture the experience of innovative practices on the ground. Nor do they offer an adequate framework in which innovation as a process could be better managed. What is needed is a more rigorous and useful understanding of innovation that can pragmatically used by schools and others attempting to undertake innovation. Such an understanding would also assist policymakers in setting policy frameworks that actually encouraged and sustained innovative practices in education. This paper is a first step toward developing such a concept.

The future of the United Nations

TOPICS
The purpose of the UN
The methods the UN uses to promote international security
The problems with UN efforts to promote peace
UN reform
Future dynamics of the UN

Sustainable property - the future of the New Zealand market

The New Zealand property industry has recently been introduced to the concept of sustainability. Even though targeted measures have been taken by the New Zealand Green Building Council and government, there is considerable hesitation and scepticism existing in the property market from both an investor’s and a building owner’s perspective. This paper discusses the results of an investigation into market perception of sustainable buildings from the investment community in New Zealand. Property investors from New Zealand were surveyed about their perception of sustainable buildings in New Zealand and their actions with regards to their own commercial portfolios, as well as the relationship between sustainability and property investment decisions.

The future of football is female : a case of fan-tastic imaginings?

Consistent with FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s proclamation that the future of football is female, the Australian Football League (AFL) has instituted a range of initiatives in an attempt to present a ‘female friendly’ face and garner women’s support for the national game. Given the large number of women who follow the AFL, especially in comparison to other football codes nationally, it’s worth considering the motivations behind the AFL’s tactics. To what extent does what the AFL think women want correlate with women supporters’ experiences and realities of being a football fan? This paper presents findings from semi-structured and focus group interviews with female AFL fans to gauge their perceptions of being an Australian rules football supporter and its impact on their lived experiences and sense of self. The responses of women supporters are critically assessed in order to contemplate how women negotiate gender identity through their support of a male dominated sport. As well as offering insights into the role gender plays in leisure pursuits such as sport spectatorship, this paper considers how femininity and masculinity might be contested and/or remade through the practice of following football in the Australian context. By demonstrating the range and diversity of women’s experiences, this research has the capacity to generate alternative imaginings of fanship and sporting community beyond gender stereotypes.

The role, objective and future of local government in Victoria

Discusses the performance of the Australian local government system in the 1980s with reference to the future of local government, particularly in the Geelong region. Suggests that if reform (amalgamation) does not occur the future of local government will be under threat.

Future of building surveying in Australia

Building surveying is fragmenting into specialist areas that will in time displace the profession and contribute to its demise. For the profession to survive it must change and embrace these new areas as part of the building surveying family. The research identified 18 ingredients of successful professional bodies that the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors can use to position the organisation to accommodate these new areas and assist it to prosper and grow into an effective professional body.