An existential framework of spirituality

A holistic approach to spirituality indicates a spiritual development that is relevant for all students and not just for those who have a religious background. However, debates in England surrounding spirituality in education often generally locate it within the religious domain (Blake, 1996;Carr, 1995, 1999;Isherwood, 1999). Conceptualizing spirituality in such a way tends to deny access to this development for non-religious students or students in non-religious contexts. Alternatively the other approaches to spirituality have adopted non-religious viewpoints (see Erricker, 2003, p. 7). Such either/or approaches work against the notion that spirituality should be conceived as intrinsic to the enterprise of education. This paper offers a brief view of a more elaborate existential framework of spirituality which has been developed in order to transcend the religious/secular divide. A short account of Existentialist philosophy is provided before an outline of the framework is discussed.

Mislabeling marine protected areas and why it matters : a case study of Australia

As part of international obligations and national policies, most nations are working toward establishing comprehensive, adequate, and representative systems of terrestrial and marine protected areas (MPAs). Assigning internationally recognized International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) protected area categories to these MPAs is an important part of this process. The most recent guidance from the IUCN clearly states that commercial or recreational fishing is inappropriate in MPAs designated as category II (National Park). However, in at least two developed countries with long histories of protected area development (e.g., Canada and Australia), category II is being assigned to a number of MPAs that allow some form of commercial or recreational fishing. Using Australia as a case study, this article explores the legal and policy implications of applying protected area categories to MPAs and the consequences for misapplying them. As the Australian Government is about to embark on potentially one of the largest expansions of MPA networks in the world, ensuring the application of IUCN categories is both transparent and consistent with international practice will be important, both for the sake of international conventions and to accurately track conservation progress.

Good teaching matters

Equity is not an add-on to good teaching, it is part of it. It contributes to the part of teaching that makes it good, says Trevor Gale.

As if the future matters : teaching design for sustainable communities

Between 2007 and 2010 a series of intensive annual field trips took around 100 predominantly city-based Australian and international students from The University of Adelaide into rural communities (numbers ranged from 82 in 2007 to 105 in 2009). Country areas/towns (rather than the city) were chosen because in them issues of sustainability are ‘in your face’ and much clearer for students to comprehend than in the city. The trips required co-operation between the respective communities, the School and the students. The organization required for this number of students was time-consuming and prone to disruption, and the series ended when the principal organisers moved on to new positions and the School reverted to less time-costly modes of teaching. This paper provides a retrospective insight into the series of field trips and examines their educational and professional value for the participants – students, staff and communities. We begin by describing the aims of the course and argument for an immersive educational approach, then present the logistics and process for the field trips, discuss the outcomes for the stakeholders, and finally present some conclusions.

Sexuality education matters : preparing pre-service teachers to teach sexuality education

Given the challenges to successful teacher-led, whole-school sexuality education there is an overall awareness that teacher education is crucial to the success of any sexuality education program undertaken within the school context. There is evidence that such teacher education, when provided, can address two of the most commonly identified barriers to successful teacher-led implementation of these programs; familiarity with the subject and curriculum content and increased levels of personal comfort and confidence regarding the topic of students’ sexual health. Sexuality Education Matters is designed to support pre-service teacher education programs to prepare students to teach sexuality education in primary and secondary schools. It builds on the research and teaching experience of Debbie Ollis and Lyn Harrison at Deakin University. It assumes that sexuality education in Australian schools is part of a comprehensive health and physical education curriculum. Even so, many of the readings and teaching and learning experiences could be adapted or used in other contexts that focus on school-based sexuality education. Sexuality Education Matters aims to equip teachers with the knowledge, skills and confidence to teach sexuality education. In light of the lack of resources for primary school based programs there is a deliberate focus on preparing both primary and secondary school pre-service teachers to teach sexuality education.
The resource is designed to:
– provide a theoretical understanding of the area
– explore the current debates
– increase knowledge
– give pre-service teachers access to a range of pedagogical approaches relevant to sexuality education
– increase students’ confidence and comfort level
– explore personal values, attitudes and ethical considerations.

Cultural studies and matters of faith: the case of dhammawheel.com

 This article begins with the premise that cultural studies has neglected questions about religion and faith. Through an analysis of a discussion in an online Buddhist forum whereby the participants debate the issue of faith vis-a-vis knowledge, the paper explicates how Buddhism negotiates dominant cultural formations and evolves against various contexts of social struggles. The analysis also reveals how the participants articulate a vernacular theory of faith to rethink the relationships between reason, religion, faith, knowledge, and ethics. The article demonstrates how an engagement with a religious discourse elucidates themes that are of interest to cultural studies’ critical project, and argues that cultural studies has an ethical responsibility to engage with religion and address matters of faith.

Context matters: SETE mapping of teacher education in diverse contexts

The Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education (SETE) project (2010- ) investigates, as a priority, how well equipped teacher education graduates are to meet the requirements of diverse school settings. This paper outlines notions of diversity as reflected in large-scale longitudinal data sets including quantitative teacher and principal surveys (n=5,000+), national audit of teacher education programs (n=500+), and analysis of data from intensive case studies which track 170 graduate teachers through the first three years of their teaching career.