Playing with reggio spaces in higher education for teacher education

In its attention to how space can be thoughtfully arranged, Reggio Emilia has “reconceptualised space as a key source of educational provocation and insight” (Strong-Wilson & Ellis, 2007, p. 40). Such an approach advocates that educators pay close attention to the myriad of ways that space can be made to speak and invite interaction. Theorists recognise eight key principles (aesthetics, transparency, active learning, flexibility, collaboration, reciprocity, bringing the outdoors in, and relationships) which are considered essential to the notion of environment as third teacher. Drawing upon a successful capital rebuilding grant, this presentation outlines the process of reconceptualising and building a space for flexible research, teaching and learning within higher education. This presentation interrogates the successes and challenges which arise when innovating within a traditional space.

Hope of a nation - experiences of social exclusion giving rise to spaces of inclusion for people living with HIV and AIDs in South Africa : a reflection

South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world. No one particular group is affected by the virus – rather, it is indiscriminate. Responses to HIV are diverse, and can be starkly contradictory. This author lived among the Xhosa people in rural Eastern Cape, working in community development. The program was a population-based youth empowerment program around HIV prevention. The work involved engaging youth in a range of civic participation activities, and networking with other community based groups and organisations, health and social services, and government departments. This reflection out a narrative of the lived experiences of social exclusion and social connectedness for people living with HIV/AIDS in rural Eastern Cape. It draws out the paradox of how the high prevalence of stigma and discrimination towards those with the illness, and their subsequent experience of social exclusion, actually creates opportunities for social connectedness through support group participation. This in turn is fashioning an emerging social movement breaking down barriers of stigma, and contributing to broader social change to support HIV action.

The reflection begins by outlining the current context and underlying determinants of the proliferation of HIV in the Eastern Cape, including a discussion of exclusion as a determinant. An exploration of how exclusion is also experienced as an outcome of positive HIV status follows. Finally, an explanation of how the experience of exclusion can be transformed into spaces of connectedness, and implications for health promotion practice in this context is also presented.

Creating collaborative spaces : the pleasures and perils of doing multi-disciplinary, multi-partner qualitative research

This paper describes our experience of managing a two-year research project that involved University staff from two different disciplines and three industry partners. It describes the benefits we gained from the involvement of multiple parties, such as the ability to call upon diverse expertise, the capacity to study a complex issue and the ability to make a direct contribution to industry practice. It also describes some of the difficulties such as managing across University structures, maintaining the collaborators' interest in the project, gaining approval from multiple ethics committees and managing the expectations of various stakeholders. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations for senior University staff and for researchers and points to ways universities could better facilitate involvement in these types of complex research projects.

Theorizing change in the educational 'field' : re-readings of 'student participation' projects

There is a burgeoning literature on educational change – how to make it and how to understand its failures in order that the causes can be remedied next time. Much of this literature implies that when free and autonomous policy agents know what they are doing, they can shift institutional structures and habituated ways of doing and being. In this article we mobilize Bourdieu, who rejected this binary of structure and agency, in favour of the notion of ‘field’, ‘habitus’ and ‘capitals’, to theorize one case of change. We describe the shifting policy-scape in Australia in the latter part of the twentieth century which created some opportunities for students to act as educational leaders and participate in making decisions about their learning and schooling. We then develop a specific and situated theorization of change in a contested and hierarchical educational ‘field’. We argue that the continued press from the political field and the wider field of power to increase levels of mass schooling produced a ‘principal opposition’ in the schooling field between democratization and hierarchization. This opposition, we propose, is now in policies, institutional changes and
the varying actions of educators, making the field not only contested but also unstable: this produces further spaces and opportunities for both hierarchic and democratic changes.

Changing spaces

Using Gidden's structuration theory to explore marginalised young people's perceptions of a six-week outdoor experiential program, this study uncovers the processes involved in increasing the agency and control the young people have over their future health and wellbeing to enable them to make significant changes in their life styles.

Spaces of empire : culture, discourse, and urban formation with particular reference to British Hong Kong, 1842-1914

Traces the ideological formations of British colonialism using the techniques of modern European cartography to examine the practices of spatial production in Hong Kong's capital city, Victoria. This examination demonstrates how notions of British cultural identity and self-representation were inscribed throughout the colonial urban environment by considering the ways in which the British colonial authorities sought to condition, control, and maintain the organisation of space.

Using virtual meeting spaces for work integrated learning

Work integrated learning activities provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have developed through their tertiary education to authentic work place problems. This paper reports on the outcome of a virtual work integrated learning activity undertaken by third year IT students. Students used a synchronous communication tool to participate in meetings with their virtual teammates. They were required to produce minutes and a report of their meeting. The majority of students completed the exercise successfully with some student groups using the meeting facility for subsequent collaboration during the remainder of the unit.

The staging of identity in other/s' spaces

Exploring the framing of identity within different modes of representation, particularly Australian art, the thesis built on poststructural discussions of inside/outside power relations, conceptualising art as a political tool for the staging of identity, not only for the subjects inside the artwork, but also the viewer, and marginalised artist/author.

The effect of planning design on thermal comfort in outdoor spaces

Urban outdoor spaces are considered essential elements of cities, where the greatest amount of human contact and interaction takes place. That is the reason why there is increasing public interest in the quality of open urban spaces as they can contribute to the quality of life within cities, or contrarily increase isolation and social exclusion. There are a lot of factors influencing the success of the outdoor spaces; one of the principal factors is the microclimatic comfort. In the hot areas, the outdoor thermal comfort conditions during the daytime are often far above acceptable comfort standards due to intense solar radiation and high solar elevations. The variation of the urban spaces' configuration can generate significant modifications of the microclimatic parameters. Design decisions such as street and sidewalk widths, shading structures, materials, landscaping, building heights, and inducing air flow have a significant impact on the pedestrian thermal comfort and subsequently on the use of the urban environment. Although it has been established that the vegetation elements should be considered as one of the main tools that can be used in improving the thermal comfort in outdoor spaces, the integration of the climate dimension in the planting design process in urban spaces is lacking because of insufficient interdisciplinary work between urban climatology, urban design and landscape architecture. The primary aim of this research is to study the influence of some of the design decision for the plantation elements in outdoor spaces on the thermal comfort of its users. This will provide landscape designers and decision makers with the appropriate tools for effectively assessing the development of urban environment while considering the microclimate of outdoor spaces. A special emphasis is put on summertime conditions in Egypt. Findings of this research will contribute to sustainable urban design of outdoor spaces.