Design and Ethics: Reflections on Practice

This book is an multi disciplinary approach to design thinking across the fields of Architecture, Communication Design, Fashion, Graphic Design, Urban Design and Philosophy.

Good Practice Report : Curriculum Renewal

This good practice report, commissioned by the ALTC, provides a summative evaluation of useful outcomes and good practices from ALTC projects and fellowships on curriculum renewal. The report contains: -a summative evaluation of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from completed ALTC projects and fellowships -a literature review of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from national and international research -the proposed outcomes and resources for teaching and learning which will be produced by current incomplete ALTC projects and fellowships -identifies areas in which further work or development are appropriate.

Risky business : managing creative practice postgraduates through HDR programs

In Australia, as elsewhere, universities are being encouraged to grow their postgraduate research candidature base while at the same time there is increasing pressure on resources with which to manage the burgeoning groups. In this environment HDR supervision strategies are seen as increasingly important as research managers seek the best possible ‘fit’ for an applicant: the candidate who will provide a sound return on investment and demonstrate endurance in the pursuit of a timely completion. As research managers know, the admissions process can be a risky business. The process may be tested further in the context of the new models of doctoral cohort supervision that are being discussed in the higher degree research management sector. The focus of this paper is an examination of the results of investigations of two models of postgraduate cohort supervision in the creative arts Master of Arts research program at QUT with a view to identifying attributes that may be useful for the formation of cohort models of supervision in the doctoral area.

Creating successful cultural Brokers : the pros and cons of a community of practice approach in arts management education

Arts managers play a critical role in creating a strong, sustainable arts and cultural sector. They operate as brokers, creating programs, and, more critically, coordinating the relationships between artists, audiences, communities, governments and sponsors required to make these programs a success. Based on study of model developed for a subject in the Master of Creative Industries (Creative Production & Arts Management) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), this paper examines the pros and cons of a “community of practice” approach in training arts management students to act as cultural brokers. It provides data on the effectiveness of a range of activities – including Position Papers, Case Studies, Masterclasses, and offline and online conversations – that can be used facilitate the peer-to-peer engagement by which students work together to build their cultural brokering skills in a community of practice. The data demonstrates that, whilst students appreciate this approach, educators must provide enough access to voices of authority – that is, to arts professionals – to establish a well-functioning community of practice, and ensure that more expert students do not become frustrated when they are unwittingly and unwillingly thrust into this role by less expert classmates. This is especially important in arts management, where classes are always diverse, due to the fact that most dedicated programs in Australia, as in the US, UK and Europe, are taught via small-scale programs at graduate level which accept applicants from a wide variety of arts and non-arts backgrounds.

Autonomy versus futility? Barriers to good clinical practice in end-of-life care : a Queensland case

Findings from a Queensland coronial inquest highlight the complex clinical, ethical and legal issues that arise in end-of-life care when clinicians and family members disagree about a diagnosis of clinical futility. The tension between the law and best medical practice is highlighted in this case, as doctors are compelled to seek family consent to not commence a futile intervention. Good communication between doctors and families, as well as community and professional education, is essential to resolve tensions that can arise when there is disagreement about treatment at the end of life.

Health Workforce Governance: Improved Access, Good Regulatory Practice, Safer Patients

With increasing recognition of the international market in health professionals and the impact of globalism on regulation, the governance of the health workforce is moving towards greater public engagement and increased transparency. This book discusses the challenges posed by these processes, such as improved access to health services and how structures can be reformed so that good practice is upheld and quality of service and patient safety are ensured.

Fundraising and philanthropy : engaging research and practice

The social and corporate trends over five years (1996 - 2000) in Australia clearly demonstrate the need for the nonprofit sector to engage in predictability forecasting to build viable philanthropic partnerships. As business and private enterprise practices have become more common in the management of fundraising effectiveness, nonprofits are in danger of reducing the value of their cause and likewise the cause or need of corporate and individual donors. Shortterm partnerships with short-term objectives do not achieve an outcome of sustainability. This paper analyses the theories of fundraising and philanthropy in the context of the changing Australian environment, and proposes a value measurement approach to the inputs and outputs of nonprofit organisations. By engaging in research, nonprofits are more likely to achieve productivity in fundraising and philanthropic practice.

Best practice business community partnerships

In the last two years or so, the Prime Minister has made the development of a social coalition, involving business partnerships with the community, central to his Government’s vision of a fair and just Australian society. This is clearly a new and exciting era in thinking for government, business and community partnerships. However, there has been a tendency, particularly in the media reporting of these initiatives, especially the Prime Minister's Business Community Partnership awards held in 1999 and in July this year, to concentrate the agenda more on philanthropy and corporate donations, than on some of the many other ways that partnerships can develop...

Streets apart genres of editorial photographs and patterns of photographic practice

My doctoral research contributes to visual scholarship by investigating and defining representational strategies of three photographic genres – press photography, photojournalism, and documentary photography – using an ‘action genre’ approach (Lemke, 1995: 32). That is, rather than taking final photographic forms as being definitive of genre, I identify patterns of ‘activity types’ involved in the production of editorial photography to define genre (1995: 32). While much has been written on editorial photography, there is no organised body of scholarship that distinguishes between these three very different modes of photographic practice. I use a major documentary project to exemplify and analyse the impact of these genres on my own photographic practice, and to explore the production of meaning within the framework of these professional genres. I triangulate the theoretical framework through the use of interviews with established Australian professionals.

Evidence based practice

An integral part of teaching and a principle underpinning professional practice in the early years is the importance of reflecting on and researching our own practice. For example, in Australia, the Early Years Learning Framework: Belonging, Being and Becoming identifies “ongoing learning and reflective practice” (DEEWR, 2009, p. 13) as one of the five principles distilled from theories and research evidence that underpin professional practice in the early years. Recognising teaching as encompassing the role of researching pedagogical practice highlights that teaching is not simply practical or procedural but requires intellectual work. This chapter details evidence based practice (EBP) in early years education and highlights four questions: 1. What is evidence based practice?; 2. What evidence do I draw on?; 3. How might I discern relevant evidence?; and 4. What is my part in generating research evidence?

Environmental reporting in the Australian mining industry : complying with regulation or meeting international best practice?

It is nearly 10 years since the introduction of s 299(1)(f) Corporations Act , which requires the disclosure of information regarding a company's environmental performance within its annual report. This provision has generated considerable debate in the years since its introduction, fundamentally between proponents of either a voluntary or mandatory environmental reporting framework. This study examines the adequacy of the current regulatory framework. The environmental reporting practices of 24 listed companies in the resources industries are assessed relative to a standard set by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. These Guidelines are argued to represent "international best practice" in environmental reporting and a "scorecard" approach is used to score the quality of disclosure according to this voluntary benchmark. Larger companies in the sample tend to report environmental information over and above the level required by legislation. Some, but not all companies present a stand-alone environmental/sustainability report. However, smaller companies provide minimal information in compliance with s 299(1)(f) . The findings indicate that "international best practice" environmental reporting is unlikely to be achieved by Australian companies under the current regulatory framework. In the current regulatory environment that scrutinises s 299(1)(f) , this article provides some preliminary evidence of the quality of disclosures generated in the Australian market.

Artful interviewing: Conducting oral history interviews for practice-led research

Recently, there has been an increased use of oral history as source material and inspiration for creative products, such as new media productions; visual art; theatre and fiction. The rise of the digital story in museum and library settings reflects a new emphasis on publishing oral histories in forms that are accessible and speak to diverse audiences. Visual artists are embracing oral history as a source of emotional, experiential and thematic authenticity (Anderson 2009 and Brown 2009). Rosemary Neill (2010) observes the rise of documentary and verbatim theatre — where the words of real people are reproduced on-stage — in Australia. Authors such as Dave Eggers (2006), M. J. Hyland (2009), Padma Viswanathan (2008) and Terry Whitebeach (2002) all acknowledge that interviews heavily inform their works of fiction. In such contexts, oral histories are not valued so much for their factual content but as sources that are at once dynamic, evolving, emotionally authentic and ambiguous. How can practice-led researchers design interviews that reflect this emphasis? In this paper, I will discuss how I developed an interview methodology for my own practice-led research project, The Artful Life Story: Oral History and Fiction. In my practice, I draw on oral histories to inform a work of fiction. I developed a methodology for eliciting sensory details and stories around place and the urban environment. I will also read an extract from ‘Evelyn on the Verandah,’ a short story based on an oral history interview with a 21 year-old woman who grew up in New Farm, which will be published in the One Book Many Brisbanes short story anthology in June this year (2010).