Raunch culture goes to school? : young women, normative femininities and elite education

Public concern about popular culture’s sexualisation of women and girls is regularly voiced in the Australian media. Young women grow up against a backdrop of ‘raunch culture’ (Levy, 2005), which for some scholars represents a ‘new’ femininity (Gill, 2007), in which ‘hyper-sexual’ forms of (hetero)sexual expression are now expected of young women and girls, despite ostensibly being about choice and personal empowerment. In this article, I explore the constructions of girlhood and femininity amongst young women attending an elite, single-sex, private school in Melbourne, Australia. Elite schooling for girls is often associated with highly classed notions of (hetero)sexual modesty and propriety, epitomised in the reality television program Ladette to Lady. Here I consider how hyper-sexualities are configured within students’ constructions of themselves and others, and I explore their relationship to classed expectations of identity for privileged girls. I examine the role that classed norms of identity play in mediating these girls’ negotiations of hyper-sexualities.

Cosmo girls : new configurations of class and femininity in elite educational settings

In this paper we offer a unique contribution to understandings of schooling as a site for the production of social class difference, by bringing together recent work on middle-class educational identities in neoliberal times (O’Flynn and Petersen 2007, Reay et al 2007, 2008) with explorations of classed femininity from the field of critical girlhood studies (Harris 2004, Ringrose and Walkerdine 2008). Drawing on data generated in two recent research projects in Australia and the UK our aim will be to explore how class mediates the construction of young femininities in the private girls’ school. Our particular focus will be on exploring how articulations of identity within such schools are configured through discourses of mobility and global social responsibility. In line with the broader ‘cultural turn’ in the social sciences (Devine 2005) we discuss class and femininity in this paper in cultural and symbolic terms. We draw on Butler’s (1993) notions of performativity to understand the multiple and processual nature of identity constitution and Bourdieu’s (1987) understandings of class (based on symbolic struggles for capital in social space) to enable us to explore the ‘subjective micro distinctions’ through which class is expressed, embodied and lived; viewing class as a set of fictional discourses that inscribe and produce identities (Walkerdine et al 2001). This understanding of class, as something that is ‘done’ rather than something that ‘we are’, was deemed particularly important in these studies of elite education, for the research was undertaken in schools where class was apparently ‘everywhere and nowhere’, never named or ‘directly known as class’ (Lawler 2005, Skeggs 2004). This underplaying of class identity is often linked to neo-liberalism, and in this paper we would like to link these constructions of ‘the private school girl’ with neoliberal subjectivity by focusing on two main characteristics. First we will consider the notion of mobility, where we will discuss the ways in which these girls constructed themselves as ‘cosmo’ girls (global citizens at ease with traversing national borders) and the ways in which the schools supported this through educational practices which enabled the students and their families ‘to exploit and strategically pursue economic and cultural capital’ (Doherty et al 2009). We will also focus on the struggles that the schools and students encountered as they attempted to juggle these discourses of global mobility with more traditional discourses of privilege (often associated with national boundaries and based within a predominantly British model of schooling steeped in colonial history). Second, we will look at discourses of responsibility, to explore how these girls were incited to take responsibility for themselves and their futures but also to embrace diversity and to commit themselves to social service. We will also examine the competing discourses of instrumentalism and social justice that were at play in these schools.

Cosmo girls: configurations of class and femininity in elite educational settings

In this paper we offer a unique contribution to understandings of schooling as a site for the production of social class difference. We bring together the rich body of work that has been conducted on middle-class educational identities, with explorations of the centrality of the feminine in representations of class difference from the field of critical girlhood studies. This is done in order to explore how young femininities mediate the representation of class difference in the environment of the private girls’ school. Drawing from our two research studies, located in private girls’ schools in Australia and the United Kingdom, we argue that the notion of ‘disgust’, commonly used in recent engagements around class, has only limited purchase in understanding the representation of class difference in these schools. It is the inconsistencies and complexities in how class and class relations are produced that we wish to illuminate.

The transition from schoolboy to elite sportsman: education and training and early career players in the AFL

IIn this paper we discuss some of the findings of a research project funded by the Australian Football League (AFL) titled: Getting the Balance Right: Professionalism, Performance, Prudentialism and Playstations in the Life of AFL Footballers. The research explored the following issues: the emergence and evolution of a 'professional identity' for AFL footballers an identity that has many facets including the emerging ideas that a professional leads a balanced life, and has a prudent orientation to the future, to life after football. This 'professional identity' isn't natural, and must be developed through a range of 'professional development' activities (a common link to all other 'professions'). In the AFL at this time professional development has a focus on engaging players in a variety of education and training activities TAFE & University courses, and workshops and seminars that the industry has put in place to educate players about issues that the industry sees as important.

The paper focuses on our research with players we classified as Early Career. For many of these 17 to 21 year old young men the later years of secondary schooling were compromised in their pursuit of an AFL career. Their subsequent drafting is followed by intense efforts to physically prepare for football. In this context our research indicates that many Early Career players put football first, second and third. Education and training, and professional development come further down their list of priorities.

Fair contest or elite sponsorship? Entry settlements in Australian higher education

Significant change to Australian higher education occurred between March, 1987 and March, 1996, under the direction of a Federal Labor Government. At one level, the period witnessed an increase in the provision of higher education and variation in the criteria used to grant student entry. Such change represented a crisis in higher education's traditional or 'qualified-entry' settlement which led to its resettling around a more 'diversified-entry' arrangement. The organising logic of this diversified-entry was characterised by the discourses of 'contest' (fairness in competition) rather than 'sponsorship' (selection by association), although the latter appears to have been just better 'hidden'.

Preparing to not to be a footballer : higher education and professional sport

In the commercialised and professionalised world of elite sport, issues associated with career pathways and post sporting career options have a particular resonance. In various football codes, an unexpected knock, twist, bend or break can profoundly impact a player's career. In this high risk and high consequence environment, a number of sports entertainment industries have instituted player development and education programmes to educate and prepare elite level performers for life after football. Drawing on Foucault's later work on governmentality and the care of the self, this paper will discuss findings from a research project funded by the Australian Football League (AFL). The paper presents data that suggests that, elite performers are so focused on establishing and prolonging a career as an elite performer, that other aspects of identity are seen as something to be complied with as a consequence of industry expectations. An industry emphasis on higher education raises issues for the sports industries that promote player enrolment in higher education and for the higher education institutions that must manage this lack of engagement.

Education or regulation : managing behaviour change in the AFL

Amid the increasing commodification of sports, the off-field practices of elite performers are the source of considerable public scrutiny. Barely a week goes by when we do not hear about elite male sports stars behaving badly. Of course, when elite sportsman behave badly they not only tarnish their own reputations, they bring disrepute to their club and sport. To this end, there is a growing industry awareness of the need to manage and develop professional sporting identities via a variety of education and training processes.

This paper reports on research undertaken into the professional development activities of AFL footballers, and how they are organised, supported and practiced. Drawing on extensive interview data, the research reveals a number of tensions and contradictions between the aspirations of different players, their coaches and mentors, and a range of competing industry practices and processes. In the paper we explore the possibilities for modifying behaviours and attitudes via risk management practices that centre on the provision of compulsory educational seminars and workshops. Drawing on Foucault's later work on the care of the Self we focus on the ways in which new expectations of a professional footballing identity are being constructed and managed.

Critical reflections on professional education for the environment

Evidence exists to suggest that in Australia many environmental issues remain unresolved even though the community has apparently become more environmentally aware. Although universities have undertaken responsibility to educate future environmental professionals to address this concern, there are numerous tensions underpinning professional environmental education. This folio explores my perceptions of these tensions and their effect on my professional practice as an academic. I refer to this as the relationships among theories and practices experienced in my work. Four perspectives are taken in this research as I appraise professional environmental education. This Dissertation (Vol. 1) focuses on views informing my professional environmental education, inclusive of my own reflexivity. From interviews with students, academics, professionals and environmentalists, and other sources of information, I consider various tensions arising from what I regard as dehumanising social and political forces. The conventional elite and authoritative roles for universities and professionals dominate most participants' understanding of professional activities. Professional practices often endorse these conventions. Juxtaposed to this authoritative view of professional education, and prescribing a different interpretation for professional practice, is my theoretical position informed by criticality and a need to challenge the status quo. I suggest that Leopold's The Land Ethic is an exemplar of criticality and a suitable basis for examining professional environmental education. The Land Ethic is used as a foundation to my thesis because it encapsulates suitable arguments to examine ideologies supportive of my understanding of professional environmental education. My thesis investigates the nature of participants' (including my own) understanding of their land ethic or land ethics suggesting that interpretations of 'place' provide an emotional and ethical appreciation of the land. I suggest that 'place', as a culturally derived construct, is central to the concept of a land ethic or land ethics, and a characteristic of an environmental ethic or ethics. To incorporate these different perspectives into professional environmental education perhaps land could be viewed, not just as a 'client' as in Schön's (1983) reflective contract, but expanded so that professionals form ethical partnerships with the land, which implies a greater equity between roles and responsibilities. This perspective challenges elite interpretations of the roles for environmental professionals by asking them to be advocates for their land, and to work with the land. Searching for my own land ethic or land ethics has promoted a discourse that encompasses a language of possibility and opportunity. This language of possibility and opportunity stands in contrast to the constraining language of reproduction that has promoted stasis. My reflexivity, a holistic and ecological view that in this thesis is an expression of my searching for a land ethic or land ethics, has encouraged me to develop critical and ethical questions to challenge my professional environmental education practice. As such the process of theorising about my theory and practice has been personally transformative as it encourages my development as a 'critical person'. Elective 1 (Vol. 2 ) reviews public information promoting a selected range of Australian environmental courses. Analysis demonstrates environmental courses are mainly technocratic, promoting technical-scientific and vocational perspectives. This orientation, I consider, is aligned to an emerging corporate agenda as universities attempt to be more accountable to the government within a competitive market dominated by economic interests. Elective 2 (Vol. 2 ) considers the providers of professional environmental education where I explore a diversity of tensions undermining current academic life found in many Australian universities. I suggest that corporatisation and vocationalisation dominate university culture to such an extent that any examination of professional environmental education is prejudiced. Professional environmental education appears to be biased toward maintaining the status quo. My conclusion is that professional environmental education does not promote graduates as 'critical persons' (Barnett 1997), and this may affect graduates' understandings of the purpose and aspirations of environmental professionalism. I suggest that elite and technical understandings of professionalism may affect the professionals' ability to implement environmental policy. Australia has an admirable record of developing environmental policy. However, public concern about a lack of resolution for many environmental issues suggests that professionals may be struggling to successfully implement policy in any meaningful way. Such challenges for environmental professionals may be a result of a professional environmental education that does not engage graduates within ideas that professional practice may require community participation and collaboration as key themes. Elective 3 (Vol. 2) is a case study investigating the development of conservation policies by the Ballarat community. The case demonstrates how the dominant social paradigm informs community views about environmental issues emphasising a technical emphasis and hierarchical arrangements of power and authority between local government and the community. The community view appears to be that environmental action should be mainly individualistic and behaviourist, which I suggest may have resulted from a technical framework for environmental knowledge. The community view of environmental issues resonates with the dominant view promoted by professional environmental education in most universities. In conclusion, my thesis is a representation of my challenges to critically engage in possible relationships among theories, practices and circumstances in my workplace, with a view to addressing what I perceive as a 'gap' between my own theory and practice. The motivation for this critical examination is to question the purpose of my professional environmental education practice in relation to the challenges of my emergent environmental ideology. The difficulty of promoting my critical theorising in a traditional small science faculty, within a corporate university, with my scientific background, is acknowledged. Nevertheless, based on my own experiences, I recommend that academics involved in professional environmental education should be encouraged to explore relationships between their own theories and practices in their own professional settings. I suggest that the search for a land ethic or land ethics, and one's 'place' in the 'land', can be an effective platform for this process.

Digital media and girling at an elite girls' school

In this article, I draw on Judith Butler's notion of performativity to investigate the role of digital technologies in processes of gendered subjectification (or ‘girling’) in elite girls' education. Elite girls' schooling is a site where the potential of digital technologies in mediating student‐led constructions and explorations of ‘femininity’ sits alongside school‐produced digital media in the form of promotional texts, in which young femininity is regulated by discourses of ‘girl power’. Whilst such schools are well equipped with digital resources that might be utilised towards students' interrogation of how ‘femininity’ is understood, thus politicising the girling process, school‐produced digital media inscribe a more prescriptive picture of ‘who’ an elite school‐girl can ‘be’. Lyla Girls' Grammar School (LGGS) is an elite secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. I report on research undertaken at two institutional levels of LGGS: the ‘school’ level in which digital media representations of young women are produced by the school and the ‘classroom’ level, in which media education pedagogy includes interactive web conferencing software. The use of digital technologies in media education appeared to support student‐led construction and interrogation of femininities to some extent. I argue that this kind of student‐led girling is important in the context of more prescriptive school‐level girling practices.

Exploring girl power : gender, literacy and the textual practices of young women attending an elite school

Popular discourses concerning the relationship between gender and academic literacies have suggested that boys are lacking in particular, school-based literacy competencies compared with girls. Such discourses construct “gender” according to a binary framework and they obscure the way in which literacy and textual practices operate as a site in which gendered identities are constituted and negotiated by young people in multiple sites including schooling, which academic inquiry has often emphasized. In this paper I consider the school-based textual practices of young women attending an elite school, in order to explore how these practices construct “femininities”. Feminist education researchers have shown how young women negotiate discourses of feminine passivity and heterosexuality through their reading and writing practices. Yet discourses of girlhood and femininity have undergone important transformations in times of ‘girl power’ in which young women are increasingly constructed as successful, autonomous and sexually agentic. Thus young women’s reading and writing practices may well operate as a space in which new discourses around girlhood and femininity are constituted. Throughout the paper, I utilize the notion of “performativity”, understood through the work of Judith Butler, to show how textual practices variously inscribe and negotiate discourses of gender. Thus the importance of textual work in inscribing and challenging notions of gender is asserted. I argue that critical literacy is just as important, but perhaps no more guaranteed, within elite girls’ education as it is within boys’ education.

'Go Grrrl!' : constructions of femininity in the textual practices of elite girls' schooling

In this paper I consider the utility of discourses of ‘girl power’ for understanding, and complicating, the way youthful femininities are produced in schooling. The paper is concerned with expanding the possibilities for how queer theoretical resources might be utilized within studies of girls and schooling. Existing studies have drawn upon Judith Butler’s notion of a ‘heterosexual matrix’ for understanding, and attending to, the way normative discourses of heterosexuality underpin the school-based production of youthful femininities. The term ‘heterofemininities’ has been used in order to label these school-produced intersections of sex/gender/sexuality. Drawing on discourses of ‘girl power’ that gather around ‘voice’ and responsibility, I propose that the production of ‘hetero-femininities’ within educational contexts might be further explored, and thus complicated, when the significance of discourses of ‘girl power’ is considered. I analyse young women’s discussions of key ‘girl power’ icons in popular culture, generated through fieldwork in an elite girls’ school in Australia. In this analysis I explore the intersections of gender/sexuality/girl power that are produced in the young women’s textual practices.

(Dis)ordering teacher education : from problem students to problem-based learning

This paper takes issue with the 'disabling' of students enrolled in teacher education courses, perpetrated by definitions of students' learning disorders and by the structures and pedagogies engaged by teacher educators. Focusing on one case, but with relevance for similarly affected systems, the paper begins by outlining the changed student entry credentials of Australian universities and their faculties of education. These are seen as induced by a shift from elite to mass provision of higher education and the particular effect on teacher education providers (especially those located in regional institutions) of the politics of government funding and the continuing demand for teachers by education systems. While these changed conditions are often used to argue an increased university population of students with learning disorders, the paper suggests that such arguments often have more to do with how student problems are defined by institutions and how these definitions serve to secure additional government funding. More pertinently, the paper argues that such definition tends to locate the problem in individual students, deferring considerations of teacher educators' pedagogy and the learning arrangements of their institutions. The paper concludes that the place to begin addressing these issues of difficulty would seem to be with a different conception of knowledge production.

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?