Online professional communities : understanding the effects of membership on teacher practice

Online communities offer teachers a forum to discuss ideas, seek support, engage in professional discussions and network with a wider peer group. The popularity of online communities for teachers is self-evident by the quantity that has emerged in recent years and they present as opportunities to engage in continued pedagogical growth. The study presented in this paper has focused on the electronic discussions of three online communities for teachers, two Australian-based communities and one UK-based community. The aim was to analyse the content of the messages, via content analysis using the Practical Inquiry Model (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2001) in an attempt to determine if membership had an impact pedagogy. This study will present findings that support the conclusion that membership to online communities provides genuine opportunities for continued pedagogical growth for teachers. It will also show that they are being used as a problem solving resource, provide opportunities for professional discourse and professional support.

Professional education in built environment and design

Early and rich conversations with a range of stakeholders – academics, professionals and graduates in their early years of practice – quickly clarified that the singular challenge for most parties centres on the ways in which courses prepare graduates for the pace, diversity and flux of contemporary professional practice.---------In pursuing understanding of this central challenge this study has focused on new graduates in BED disciplines by canvassing their views and those of two other major stakeholder groups (academic staff and professional practitioners in the disciplines studied). The first crucial years of a young graduate’s life in the workforce are shaped by a number of factors including the quality of the transition-to-work experience. The quality of this life-shaping transition is dependent on a range of factors including the ways in which graduates are educated in universities, their personal developmental characteristics and those of the professional people around them and the preparedness of workplaces and other professional groups to guide new recruits through the transition experience. This study makes recommendations about how the variations in transition experience, resulting from the vagaries of all these factors across a range of worksites, may be better understood, perhaps normalised, and, at least, supported. . Early and rich conversations with a range of stakeholders – academics, professionals and graduates in their early years of practice – quickly clarified that the singular challenge for most parties centres on the ways in which courses prepare graduates for the pace, diversity and flux of contemporary professional practice. The study proceeded through literature review, focus group interviews, national online survey and workshops. Through all these methods a number of challenges and factors essential to the transition experience, and the quality of education which precedes it, were identified. Firstly the study found further evidence of the importance of higher-order graduate capabilities, namely, the development of judgment, critical enquiry and strategic thinking. Alongside these capabilities the importance of the development of emotional intelligence, particularly interpersonal and social skills, was stressed by all stakeholders. At the time of writing the global economic crisis was providing challenges to the sector and its young graduates. This phenomenon proved the value of the development of resilience and persistence in graduates, the education system was called upon by all stakeholders as a place where the future-proofing of neophytes would ensure that the unknown challenges of the future could also be confronted. The study found that the challenges of transition to work are best supported by authentic undergraduate experiences both on and off campus, inside and outside classrooms, and that commencing professional life is made easier for new graduates when university courses and workplace settings develop, sustain and support high standards and high expectations of students. All these findings indicate the importance of stakeholder expectations, roles and responsibilities in respect of the transition-to-work experience. Whilst full agreement about how these things should occur is not necessary, a process (amongst stakeholders) which seeks value alignment around transition through discussion, debate and agenda-setting would probably assist to address what is seen as a major challenge in built environment and design education.

Professional Responsibility and Legal Ethics in Queensland

With the commencement of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) and the establishment of the Legal Services Commission, the legal profession and legal services market in Queensland has experienced significant changes to its regulatory environment. Professional Responsibility and Legal Ethics in Queensland provides a detailed explanation and analysis of these changes. The book will assist lawyers to plan for successful practice within this new environment by examining such topics as: • The scope and application of key provisions within the Legal Profession Act; • The role, functions and policies of the Legal Services Commission; • The ethical and regulatory implications of operating as an Incorporated Legal Practice or as a Multi-Disciplinary Partnership; • Developments affecting trust accounts and client money dealings more generally; • Recent case law, Tribunal decisions and Legal Services Commission guidelines in relation to the new conduct standards of Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct and Professional Misconduct; and • The impact of the new legislation and regulatory environment on a range of traditional ethical duty categories such as the duty to communicate, costs and billing practices, as well as the paramount duties to the court and to the administration of justice. An invaluable reference for legal professionals, this book is also an important resource for law students grappling with questions raised by legal ethics and their application to the workplace.

Potency in professional development for teachers

There has been significant research into the impact of professional development (PD) on professional organisation and behaviour. PD has emerged in a diversity of forms in schools. Programs range form one hit seminars provided by an external consultant, through to a broad range of programmed development plans that integrate seminars; school based planning groups, action research, collaborative projects across schools, clusters and with critical friends, and mentoring. PD has been delivered to prompt school and teacher professional transformation or to support an ongoing development plan. PD is not uni-lateral and exists to support a very wide range of school and teacher development needs. The relevance and effectiveness of PD design and delivery is tied to the nature of the PD need and the context of provision. This paper reports an investigation into efficacy of various approaches to PD in Queensland schools. The research drew on responses to an online survey tool, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with PD coordinators, teachers, and school and district administrators to develop a model for effective PD planning that considers strategies for addressing current and future PD need and amelioration of barriers to PD effectiveness.

Modelling sustainable and optimal solutions for building services integration in early architectural design : confronting the software and professional interoperability deficit

Decisions made in the earliest stage of architectural design have the greatest impact on the construction, lifecycle cost and environmental footprint of buildings. Yet the building services, one of the largest contributors to cost, complexity, and environmental impact, are rarely considered as an influence on the design at this crucial stage. In order for efficient and environmentally sensitive built environment outcomes to be achieved, a closer collaboration between architects and services engineers is required at the outset of projects. However, in practice, there are a variety of obstacles impeding this transition towards an integrated design approach. This paper firstly presents a critical review of the existing barriers to multidisciplinary design. It then examines current examples of best practice in the building industry to highlight the collaborative strategies being employed and their benefits to the design process. Finally, it discusses a case study project to identify directions for further research.

Narrative on the "Compliance and Regulatory Journal" : past, present and future

A conversation over a cup of coffee in late 2005 between Australasian Compliance Institute members Bill Dee and Dr Len Gainsford quickly turned to previously unsuccessful attempts to start a professional journal about compliance. There were two main issue - the difficultly in getting a professional journal off the ground and then sustaining a continuous flow of quality contributions. As practitioners, Bill and Len knew there was a considerable amount of 'thought and practice leadership' compliance material out there but they also knew that such material had not been presented in a relevant and interesting way. A foolish thought arose - could we start a professional journal that practitioners might actually read and use?

Teachers' attitudes towards the gifted : the importance of professional development and school culture

Given that teachers have one of the most significant influences on the educational development of gifted students, reports of negative attitudes and beliefs in popular myths about giftedness are cause for concern. It is important to understand teachers’ attitudes and beliefs to implement effective training and educational practices to improve education for gifted students. This study explored the attitudes of Australian primary school teachers (N = 126) towards intellectually gifted children and their education at eight schools. These schools could be categorised into four different classifications in regards to their involvement in gifted education. Key findings include significant associations between teachers’ attitudes and their school classifications (p < .001), and their participation in gifted and talented education inservice training (p < .001). Findings from this study suggest that further teacher training and school-wide involvement in gifted education may assist in improving attitudes towards intellectually gifted children and their education.

Graduate research capabilities : a new agenda for research supervisors

There has been a conversation about university graduate employability within the Higher Education literature for some time (Cryer, 1997; Barrie, 2004, 2006, 2007; Murray, 2000; McAlpine, 2005). Within this, and often under the banner of questioning the relevance of the PhD (Murray, 2000), there have been discussions about the employability of research postgraduates. Both the broad discussion of graduate employment and the specific discussion of research degree graduate employment have produced an agenda of graduate research capabilities. Traditionally, assisting research higher degree (RHD) students with their career development has not been an articulated part of the research supervision process. However, the graduate research capabilities agenda has added a new element to the practices of research supervision, in that it brings with it a mandate for research graduates to be aware of the range of capabilities they have acquired through their research degree candidature and how these apply in the workforce. Additionally, there is an emphasis on preparing students for varied career paths rather than a traditional academic route (e.g., in industry or government). Supervisors have a vital role to play in assisting students with these important career development tasks. In this practice application brief we report on a strategy recently used at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to assist supervisors understand their role in a student’s career development.