Changing pre-service teachers' purposes of education through existential crises

This article considers changing the purposes of education held by pre-service teachers. It argues that purposes of education are inextricably linked to life meanings and purposes. Employing an existential perspective, mainly through Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Morris, the fundamental beliefs that one has regarding the meaning and purpose of life are understood to serve as the basis for formulating purposes of education. An attempt to change these purposes is recommended by drawing upon the existential crisis and Kierkegaard's doctrine of 'how'. Importance is placed not so much on the object or what of purposes and understandings, but on how the individual relates to them.

Developing teacher-researchers: a practice-based Masters of Education

Teachers’ work can increasingly be described as knowledge work conducted in a rapidly changing globalised, digital environment. In order to support contemporary teachers’ work, professional learning needs to be grounded in the contexts and identities of teachers, while engaging them in theoretical discourse. Such an approach challenges traditional approaches to the offering of a Masters in Education by distance learning. This presentation reports on a university-educational authority partnership designed to enable practising teachers to gain Masters qualifications through practice-based ethnographic data collection and research. The context of this partnership is a new professional learning program being offered by Deakin University, Australia and the Catholic Education Office Melbourne. Teachers plan and conduct projects in which they identify an issue to be addressed at their school; research the issue identified; develop and implement an intervention to address the issue; and report on the intervention. Teachers have the option of gaining credit towards a Masters of Education by submitting their work for formal assessment. The participants in this mixed methods study are teachers who are undertaking the post-graduate units embedded in a professional learning program. Teachers are invited to undertake anonymous online pre- and post- surveys with both qualitative and quantitative data collected. Data is also collected through teacher interviews and collection of classroom artefacts including planning documents and work samples. Initial findings illustrate that a practice-based approach to Masters studies engages teachers as creators rather than reproducers of knowledge. The use of a range of print and new digital media both within the design and operation of an online learning environment and pedagogies for effective adult professional learning enable flexible and creative pedagogical responses and knowledge creation by teachers.

The Victorian Certificate of Education - a gendered affair?

Drawing on data from the Victorian Certificate of Education (1994- 1999), this paper examines whether gender differences in Mathematics still exist. The discussion is developed in the context of ongoing debates about girls' and boys' comparative performance, and about modification in Year 11 and 12 curriculum and assessment. The paper identifies some of the subtle issues that lie behind the statistics, and school to work inequalities that continue to exist.

Expanding criminal sanctions for corporate crimes-deprivation of right to work and cancellation of education qualifications

Fines are the standard sanctions employed by most Western countries when a corporation has been convicted of a crime. However, some offences committed by corporations are too serious to be dealt with by way of a fine. There is a need to consider other sanctions that can be invoked in order to deter corporate crime. In this article, it is suggested that the focus should be on criminal sanctions against the natural persons who can potentially commit crimes on behalf of a corporation. New sentencing options against those who can potentially commit crimes on behalf of a corporation should include the annulment or suspension of an offender's academic  qualifications and the making of orders preventing an offender from working or being enrolled in an educational or vocational pursuit.

Optimising the impact of education for community pharmacy in Australia

Aims & rationale/Objectives : This paper examines the extent to which different models of community pharmacist continuing education (CE) are evidence-based. It also describes the impact of varying education models on attendance and attitudes within the profession.

Methods : A literature review was conducted to establish principles that should be applied to health professional education, and pharmacy in particular. Interviews were conducted with representatives from four organisations involved in the education of pharmacists to understand their current models. Four focus groups were held with community pharmacists to understand their educational experiences and attitudes.

Principal findings : The purpose of CE is to improve the clinical performance of health practitioners. Literature examining outcomes from CE underlines the importance of adult learning principles. Focus groups supported the view that consideration of these principles is beneficial. These principles, including problem-based learning, clinical applicability, relevance, and active involvement in the learning process, are currently incorporated into educational models to varying extents. Access problems such as cost, distance, insufficient flexibility in delivery, and poor promotion of educational opportunities prevent many pharmacists from taking responsibility for their own learning. A lack of appropriate assessment by some registering authorities is counterproductive to achieving CE outcomes in clinical practice. Participants already engaged in continuing professional development (CPD) agreed with the principles of its introduction.

Discussion : Optimising outcomes from CE requires considerable input from numerous stakeholders. The recent introduction of mandatory pharmacist CPD across Australia should encourage an individual focus on learning outcomes. Focus group participants are likely to be education enthusiasts and may not represent the views of the entire profession.

Implications : This study identifies the need for a system-wide approach for achieving outcomes from CE. It is therefore advisable that a coordinated strategy be developed by all stakeholders for education delivery so as to optimise the impact of CE.

Identifying the barriers to implementing the Victorian Department of Education and Training guidelines regarding the provisions of nutrient dense food options in school canteens

Aims & rationale/Objectives : To identify barriers to the full implementation of new guidelines regarding school canteen menus launched by The Victorian Education Department in May 2004.
Methods : A self-administered questionnaire was sent to principals, business mangers and canteen managers of 13 secondary schools in South West Victoria covered by The Greater Green Triangle area (response rate 59%). The questions explored the canteen's role, operation, staffing and profits; existence and content of canteen policy; enablers and barriers to the sale of healthier foods; introduction and promotion of healthier foods; and perceived implications of banning less healthy foods.
Principal findings : The study identified several barriers to implementing healthy menus in school canteens, these being largely consistent with those found in other studies. The majority of schools reported they were making attempts to follow the guidelines for school food services, but were experiencing difficulty in proceeding to full implementation. The barriers identified through the study were student preference for less healthy options, concerns about profitability, lack of policy or its active communication and promotion at the school level and competition from other food outlets.
Discussion : There was evidence that healthy foods had not been actively promoted, suggesting that identification of student preferences as a barrier was based on perception rather than observation. The Victorian guidelines are effectively voluntary, with no accountability measures in place.
Implications : Research needs to be conducted to provide reliable and tested information about factors which impact on student choice. Schools would benefit from specialised assistance to formulate business plans for contemporary canteens selling healthy food and a clarification of government policy.
Presentation type : Poster