Shut up & write! Facilitating informal learning in doctoral education

Providing help for research degree writing within a formal structure is difficult because research students come into their degree with widely varying needs and levels of experience. Providing writing assistance within a less structured learning context is an approach which has been trialled in higher education with promising results (Boud, Cohen & Sampson, 2001; Stracke, 2010; Devendish et al., 2009). While semi structured approaches have been the subject of study, little attention has been paid to the processes of informal learning which exist within doctoral education. In this paper we explore a 'writing movement' which has started to be taken up at various locations in Australia through the auspices of social media (Twitter and Facebook). 'Shut up and Write' is a concept first used in the cafe scene in San Francisco, where writers converge at a specific time and place and write together, without showing each other the outcomes, temporarily transforming writing from a solitary practice to a social one. In this paper we compare the experience of facilitating shut up and write sessions in two locations: RMIT University and Queensland University of Technology. The authors describe the set up and functioning of the different groups and report on feedback from regular participants, both physical and virtual. We suggest that informal learning practices can be exploited to assist research students to orientate themselves to the university environment and share vital technical skills, with very minimal input from academic staff. This experience suggests there is untapped potential within these kinds of activities to promote learning within the research degree experience which is sustainable and builds a stronger sense of community.

Mobility of the creative class and city attractiveness : a case study of Chinese animation workers

Abstract: The paper investigates the geographical mobility of creative workers in China,focusing on the authors’ survey of workers in the animation industry. More specifically,the authors use the Reilly-Converse model and GIS tools to probe the locational choices of Chinese animation workers in Beijing and Shanghai by analyzing such factors of spatial attractiveness as home town, place of residence, and university from which the worker graduated. The paper compares the creative milieus in Beijing and Shanghai, and demonstrates that the “personal trajectory” of human capital is a key determinant of occupational location. The results of the authors’ survey highlight the limitations of Richard Florida’s 3T theory in the Chinese context.

Practice and Procedure : Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) ss 131 and 237(1)

In Jacobs v Woolworths Limited [2010] QSC 24 Jones J was required to determine whether a worker who had lodged an application for compensation for an injury outside the time prescribed under the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) (“the Act”) was precluded from seeking common law damages for that injury. This determination depended upon the proper construction of s 131 of the Act, and what was to be understood by the words “worker who has not lodged an application for compensation for the injury” for the purpose of s 237(1)(d).

Professional development using informal learning networks : an empirical study in Australia’s digital content industry

Informal learning networks play a key role in the skill and professional development of professionals working in micro-businesses within Australia’s digital content industry as they do not necessarily have access to a learning and development or a human resources section that can assist in mapping their learning pathway. Professionals working in this environment would typically adopt an informal learning approach to their skill and professional development by utilising their social and business networks. The overall aim of this PhD research project is to study how these professionals manage their skill and professional development, and to explore what role informal learning networks play in this professional learning context. This paper will describe the theme of the research project and how it fits with previous research and other relevant studies. Secondly, it will present the study’s research focus, and the research questions. It will also present relevant theories and perspectives, and the methods for empirical data collection. Data collection will be through three distinct phases using a mixed methods research design: an online survey, interviews, and case studies. It should be noted the findings presented in this paper offer some early results of the research project.

Translating vision research into policy and practice to improve visibility, and hence safety, of road workers at night

This case study report describes the stages involved in the translation of research on night-time visibility into standards for the safety clothing worn by roadworkers. Vision research demonstrates that when lights are placed on the moveable joints of the body and the person moves in a dark setting, the phenomenon known as “biological motion or biomotion” occurs, enabling rapid and accurate recognition of the human form although only the lights can be seen. QUT was successful in gaining funding from the Australian Research Council for a Linkage grant due to the support of the predecessors of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to research the biomotion effect in on-road settings using materials that feature in roadworker clothing. Although positive results were gained, the process of translating the research results into policy, practices and standards relied strongly on the supportive efforts of TMR staff engaged in the review and promulgation of national standards. The ultimate result was the incorporation of biomotion marking into AS/NZS 4602.1 2011. The experiences gained in this case provide insights into the processes involved in translating research into practice.

An informal community of practice : the case of the DEHub Virtual Worlds Working Group

The DEHub Virtual Worlds Working Group has an informal membership of nearly 200 members with an interest in education and virtual worlds within the Australian and New Zealand context. Members come from a variety of academic disciplines and may be teaching or research academics, Research Higher Degree candidates, project managers, virtual world builders and developers. The group acts as an informal Community of Practice, facilitating learning and the transfer of skills through social contact, opportunities to collaborate on projects and publications, and through the sharing of knowledge and experience. This poster provides a snapshot of the activity of this highly active group.

Perceptions and expectations for learning and development for older workers within Queensland local government councils : a case study

Current literature warns organisations about a global ageing phenomenon. Workplace ageing is causing a diminishing work pool which has consequences for a sustainable workforce in the future. This phenomenon continues to impact on local government councils in Australia. Australia has one of the world’s most rapidly ageing populations, and there is evidence that Australian local government councils are already resulting in an unsustainable workforce. Consequently, this research program investigated the role of older workers in the Queensland local government workplace in enabling them to extend their working lives towards transitional employment and a sustainable workforce in the future. Transitional Employment is intended as a strategy for enabling individuals to have greater control over their employment options and their employability during the period leading to their final exit from the workforce. There was no evidence of corporate support for older workers in Queensland local government councils other than tokenistic government campaigns encouraging organisations to "better value their older workers". (Queensland Government, 2007d, p.6). TE is investigated as a possible intervention for older workers in the future. The international and national literature review reflected a range of matters impacting on current older workers in the workforce and barriers preventing them from accessing services towards extending their employment beyond the traditional retirement age (60 years) as defined by the Australian Government; an age when individuals can access their superannuation. Learning and development services were identified as one of those barriers. There was little evidence of investment in or consistent approaches to supporting older workers by organisations. Learning and development services appeared at best to be ad hoc, reactive to corporate productivity and outputs with little recognition of the ageing phenomenon (OECD, 2006, p.23) and looming skills and labour shortages (ALGA, 2006, p. 19). Themes from the literature review led to the establishment of three key research questions: 1. What are the current local government workforce issues impacting on skills and labour retention? 2. What are perceptions about the current workplace environment? And, 3. What are the expectations about learning and development towards extending employability of older workers within the local government sector? The research questions were explored by utilising three qualitative empirical studies, using some numerical data for reporting and comparative analysis. Empirical Study One investigated common themes for accessing transitional employment and comprised two phases. A literature review and Study One data analysis enabled the construction of an initial Transitional Employment Model which includes most frequent themes. Empirical Study Two comprised focus groups to further consider those themes. This led to identification of issues impacting the most on access to learning and development by older workers and towards a revised TEM. Findings presented majority support for transitional employment as a strategy for supporting older workers to work beyond their traditional retirement age. Those findings are presented as significant issues impacting on access to transitional employment within the final 3-dimensionsal TEM. The model is intended as a guide for responding to an ageing workforce by local government councils in the future. This study argued for increased and improved corporate support, particularly for learning and development services for older workers. Such support will enable older workers to maintain their employability and extend their working lives; a sustainable workforce in the future.

Constructions of children's needs in informal kinship care in rural China

Kinship care is the oldest form of alternative child care in the world. Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the number of children being placed in kinship care across Western countries. However, in contrast to rapid knowledge advances about formal kinship care, far less is known about the needs of children in informal kinship care, especially in Asian contexts. This thesis and the study upon which it is formed sought to redress this knowledge gap. Qualitative approach was adopted to explore social constructions of children in informal kinship care in rural China. Parents in China seeking work in cities have left behind around 58 million rural children, mostly with relatives and without the involvement of the state. The present study examined caregivers’ and school personnel’s understandings of these school-age children’s needs through semi-structured interviews with 23 kin caregivers and five school personnel in Shijiapu Town, Jilin Province, China. The central question that guided the whole study is: What are the needs of children in informal kinship care in rural Jilin Province, China? Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to categorise and interpret the qualitative data. Based on participants’ constructions, this study developed a need model with eight themes. They are: (1) emotional needs and mental health, (2) relationships, (3) empowerment and agency, (4) safety, (5) education, (6) basic care, (7) physical health, and (8) personal development. These needs are grounded in the Chinese context, and therefore a good understanding of Chinese culture is essential to address them. The first four needs particularly capture children’s separations from their parents, and the rest are more general, and can be applied to most Chinese children. To meet the most important need for children left behind, namely education, these caregivers determined that others needs sometimes have to be compromised. Children left behind are a vulnerable group in contemporary rural China, and their diverse needs are attended to by several groups. This study found that as children’s closest kin while their parents are away, caregivers play a vital role in salving the children’s emotional loss. Caregivers’ love and familial obligations strongly motivate them to care for these children, and sensitivity to social stigma makes them strive to show their love and care to compensate for perceived differences between these children and their peers. Caregivers’ efforts to make children happy, however, were sometimes criticised by some school personnel, who see this as spoiling. The conflicting viewpoint between caregivers and school personnel indicate their different roles and perceptions in children’s lives, and the latter influence these children in a more authoritative way. Informal kinship care has several advantages of addressing children’s needs, especially their needs for emotional bonds with family. Community-based kin networks provide children with both emotional and material support. However, these advantages sometimes are restricted by caregivers’ child rearing capacity. Having developed a model of the needs of children left behind in China, this study suggests that caregivers, school personnel and government social services work in harmony to be child-centred and meet these children’s diverse needs. The unmet needs of children left behind mainly result from unbalanced development between urban and rural China, therefore, it is imperative to enhance state policies and programs that improve wellbeing for this growing part of China’s people.

Outdoor worker sun protection project : a comprehensive applied research project to demonstrate the effectiveness of sun protection measures which influence high risk outdoor workers in Queensland to adopt sun safe behaviour practices 2010 – 2013

The QUT Outdoor Worker Sun Protection (OWSP) project undertook a comprehensive applied health promotion project to demonstrate the effectiveness of sun protection measures which influence high risk outdoor workers in Queensland to adopt sun safe behaviours. The three year project (2010-2013) was driven by two key concepts: 1) The hierarchy of control, which is used to address risks in the workplace, advocates for six control measures that need to be considered in order of priority (refer to Section 3.4.2); and 2) the Ottawa Charter which recommends five action means to achieve health promotion (refer to Section 2.1). The project framework was underpinned by a participatory action research approach that valued peoples’ input, took advantage of existing skills and resources, and stimulated innovation (refer to Section 4.2). Fourteen workplaces (small and large) with a majority outdoor workforce were recruited across regional Queensland (Darling Downs, Northwest, Mackay and Cairns) from four industries types: 1) building and construction, 2) rural and farming, 3) local government, and 4) public sector. A workplace champion was identified at each workplace and was supported (through resource provision, regular contact and site visits) over a 14 to 18 month intervention period to make sun safety a priority in their workplace. Employees and employers were independently assessed for pre- and postintervention sun protection behaviours. As part of the intervention, an individualised sun safety action plan was developed in conjunction with each workplace to guide changes across six key strategy areas including: 1) Policy (e.g., adopt sun safety practices during all company events); 2) Structural and environmental (e.g., shade on worksites; eliminate or minimise reflective surfaces); 3) Personal protective equipment (PPE) (e.g., trial different types of sunscreens, or wide-brimmed hats); 4) Education and awareness (e.g., include sun safety in inductions and toolbox talks; send reminder emails or text messages to workers);5) Role modelling (e.g., by managers, supervisors, workplace champions and mentors); and 6) Skin examinations (e.g., allow time off work for skin checks). The participatory action process revealed that there was no “one size fits all” approach to sun safety in the workplace; a comprehensive, tailored approach was fundamental. This included providing workplaces with information, resources, skills, know how, incentives and practical help. For example, workplaces engaged in farming complete differing seasonal tasks across the year and needed to prepare for optimal sun safety of their workers during less labour intensive times. In some construction workplaces, long pants were considered a trip hazard and could not be used as part of a PPE strategy. Culture change was difficult to achieve and workplace champions needed guidance on the steps to facilitate this (e.g., influencing leaders through peer support, mentoring and role modelling). With the assistance of the project team the majority of workplaces were able to successfully implement the sun safety strategies contained within their action plans, up skilling them in the evidence for sun safety, how to overcome barriers, how to negotiate with all relevant parties and assess success. The most important enablers to the implementation of a successful action plan were a pro-active workplace champion, strong employee engagement, supportive management, the use of highly visual educational resources, and external support (provided by the project team through regular contact either directly through phone calls or indirectly through emails and e-newsletters). Identified barriers included a lack of time, the multiple roles of workplace champions, (especially among smaller workplaces), competing issues leading to a lack of priority for sun safety, the culture of outdoor workers, and costs or budgeting constraints. The level of sun safety awareness, knowledge, and sun protective behaviours reported by the workers increased between pre-and post-intervention. Of the nine sun protective behaviours that were assessed, the largest changes reported included a 26% increase in workers who “usually or always” wore a broad-brimmed hat, a 20% increase in the use of natural shade, a 19% increase in workers wearing long-sleeved collared shirts, and a 16% increase in workers wearing long trousers.

Outdoor Worker Sun Protection Project : a mixed methods intervention to improve sun safety among outdoor workers

Queensland, Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. Outdoor workers are regularly exposed to high doses of ultraviolet radiation, and are at increased risk to develop non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers. In 2010, a health promotion intervention to improve sun protection among outdoor workers in Queensland commenced. The intervention employed a mixed methods approach and a participatory action research framework. Fourteen workplaces were recruited from building and construction, rural and farming, local government, and public sector organisations. Management and workers were engaged in cycles of assessment, reflection and discussion, planning, implementation and reassessing, over a 14-month intervention period. Overall, at least one workplace representative from each workplace (range 1-3) and in depth focus groups were held with a subset of workers (range 3-16) to assess sun safe behaviours pre and post intervention. Workers’ attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and willingness to engage in sun protection differed depending on workplace characteristics and support. A familiar theme among workers spoke of sun safety as being “common sense” and the “workers individual responsibility”. Often there was a discrepancy in the perceptions of the workers, compared to the view of workplace representatives and the workplaces position or policy on sun safety. In larger workplaces, especially Government Departments, workers were more aware and followed sun safe practices compared to smaller workplaces where sun safety was not a high priority. These results indicate that a workplace culture which places high values on safety and polices more broadly may also have a positive effect on sun safety among outdoor workers as well. In addition, the specific characteristics of the workplace and the outdoor work tasks influence workers willingness to engage in sun safety measures.

Implementation and removal of an affirmative-action quota : the impact on task assignment and workers’ skill acquisition

Both the United States and Canada have federal legislation that attempts to address employment inequities across specific target groups. The US has a long tradition of affirmative action, dating back to President Kennedy’s 1961 Executive Order; Canada enacted its Employment Equity Act in 1986. Employment Equity/Affirmative Action policy has attracted significant controversy, with high profile court cases and the repeal of state/provincial legislation. Coate and Loury (1993) examine the theoretical impact of introducing affirmative action. Unfortunately the theoretical impact of affirmative action is ambiguous. The current paper employs a laboratory experiment to shed empirical light on this theoretical ambiguity.

Stitching at the boundaries : Vietnamese garment industry workers in transnational spaces

This paper explores the interfaces between the transnational politics of labour and the experiences of Vietnamese women garment workers both in Vietnam and as migrants to other countries. As the global industries have come to organise much of the contemporary economic system, so too have they crossed national boundaries in search of cheap labour. At the same time enclaves of migrant disadvantage within the multi-ethnic nation-states of the developed world have also provided workers for the manufacture of clothing. In the case of Australia, these workers are mostly home-based and not in factories. In this paper I explore Vietnamese women's different incorporations into the garment industry in various locations – in Australia, in Vietnam, and in American Samoa. In so doing, I provide an analysis of the links between gender, global power relations and the contradictory space of transnational exchange.

Residential care workers and residents : the New Zealand story

Aims To describe the nature and size of long-term residential care homes in New Zealand; funding of facilities; and the ethnic and gender composition of residents and residential care workers nationwide. Methods A postal, fax, and email survey of all long-term residential care homes in New Zealand. Results Completed surveys were received from an eligible 845 facilities (response rate: 55%). The majority of these (54%) facilities housed less than 30 residents. Of the 438 (94%) facilities completing the questions about residents’ ethnicity, 432 (99%) housed residents from New Zealand European (Pakeha) descent, 156 (33%) housed at least 1 Maori resident, 71 (15%) at least 1 Pacific (Islands) resident, and 61 (13%) housed at least 1 Asian resident. Facilities employed a range of ethnically diverse staff, with 66% reporting Maori staff. Less than half of all facilities employed Pacific staff (43%) and Asian staff (33%). Registered nursing staff were mainly between 46 and 60 years (47%), and healthcare assistant staff were mostly between 25 and 45 years old (52%). Wide regional variation in the ethnic make up of staff was reported. About half of all staff were reported to have moved within the previous 2 years. Conclusions The age and turnover of the residential care workforce suggests the industry continues to be under threat from staffing shortages. While few ethnic minority residents live in long-term care facilities, staff come from diverse backgrounds, especially in certain regions.