Erasure, exclusion by inclusion, and the absence of intersectionality: introducing bisexuality in education

Even though many schools and educational systems, from elementary to tertiary, state that they endorse antihomophobic policies, pedagogies, and programs, there appears to be an absence of education about, and affirmation of, bisexuality, and minimal specific attention to bi-phobia in curriculum, policy, and student welfare. Bisexuality continues to fall into the gap between the binary of heterosexuality and homosexuality across all educational sectors. These absences and erasures leave bisexual students, family members, and educators feeling silenced and invisibilized within school communities. Indeed, these absences and erasures have been considered a major factor in bisexual young people, family members, and educators in school communities experiencing worse mental, emotional, sexual, and social health than their homosexual or heterosexual counterparts. Also of interest is the persistence of bisexual erasure in adult-developed resources and programs, even though there is increasing evidence of sexual identities and practices in youth subcultures that are adopting shifting discursive and societal constructs of sexuality, characterized by notions of fluidity, ambisexuality, and a reluctance to label their sexuality according to the heterosexual/homosexual binary. The articles in this issue profoundly engage with and problematize the three impediments to education systems when those systems engage with sexual diversity instead of sexual duality, namely, erasure, exclusion by inclusion into gay and lesbian categories, and the absence of intersectionality (wherein other facets of identity and experience that interweave with sexuality are not taken into account, such as class, gender, Indigeneity/Aboriginality, ethnicity, geographical location, and religion). 

Within/against: feminist theory as praxis in higher education research

This chapter will explore how different feminist theories and theorists have informed what counts as research, what is defined as a research issue, and methodological approaches to research in higher education. It will consider the theoretical and methodological tools feminist academics have mobilized in order to develop more powerful explanations of how gender and other forms of difference work in the relation to the positioning of the individual, higher education and the nation state within globalized economies. It pays particular regard to the feminist political project of social justice.

Integrating theory and practice in the pre-service teacher education practicum

This article reports on a study into student teachers’ perceptions about their professional development during practicum. Framed within a symbolic interactionist perspective, the study examined to what extent, and how effectively, one group of student teachers was able to integrate theory and practice during a three-week practicum in the first year of their degree. The context for this mixed methods study was a Master of Teaching, graduate-level entry programme in the Faculty of Education at an urban Australian university. Although there is a strong field of literature around the practicum in pre-service teacher education, there has been a limited focus on how student teachers themselves perceive their development during this learning period. Further, despite widespread and longstanding acknowledgement of the ‘gap’ between theory and practice in teacher education, there is still more to learn about how well the practicum enables an integration of these two dimensions of teacher preparation. In presenting three major findings of the study, this paper goes some way in addressing these shortcomings in the literature. First, participants in this study largely valued both the theoretical and practical components of their programme, which stands in contrast to the commonly identified tendency of the student teacher to privilege practice over theory. Second, opportunities to integrate theory and practice were varied, with many participants reporting the detrimental impact of an apparent lack of clarity around stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities. Third, participants overwhelmingly supported the notion of linking university coursework assessment to the practicum as a means of bridging the gap between, on the one hand, the university and the school and, on the other hand, theory and practice.

A fundamental partnership: the experiences of practising teachers as lecturers in a pre-service teacher education program

This paper reports an evaluation of an innovative university-school partnership in which teacher practitioners work as university lecturers in a regional Australian pre-service teacher education programme. The philosophy of this programme encompasses authentic partnerships between universities, schools and other industry employers. The study was motivated by an interest in understanding the experiences and outcomes for the teacher practitioners and in documenting their experiences. Staff members who are currently on contract as university lecturers as well as teachers who have completed secondments and returned to school settings are surveyed. This paper focuses on suggestions to improve the partnership and discusses future directions for the partnership.

Exploration of the Australian Early Development Index for children with language backgrounds other than English

The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is a teacher-administered measure that indicates if children are starting school with the developmental capacity to take advantage of the school learning environment. A key question that arises for schools, communities, and policy makers is how valid the AEDI is for children from a Language Background Other Than English (LBOTE). This study investigated how adequately the AEDI captures the cultural variety of different behaviours and different ways of learning. The study also examined the cultural inclusivity and relevance of the AEDI materials (e.g., teacher training guidelines; administration manual). Ten focus groups (n=84) and various community consultations were conducted with early childhood education and development professionals, representing key service providers, and school personnel. The findings from these studies led to the following recommendations: For LBOTE children, the AEDI should ideally be completed in collaboration, for example, between the child’s teacher and a multicultural consultant. The teacher guidelines for the AEDI need to be enhanced with respect to issues pertaining to LBOTE children, and the AEDI should include additional domains, such as cultural competence and home based/first language skills. Finally, teacher preparation and the AEDI administration guidelines need to clarify and emphasize the intent of the AEDI.

The delivery of teacher education programmes in regional Victoria, Australia: Opportunities and challenges

A significant number of Australian universities have multiple campuses (Winchester and Sterk 2006). To manage successful student learning outcomes, Winchester and Sterk (2006) argue that universities may experience challenging teaching and learning issues such as fragmentation, duplication, inconsistency and lack of equitable opportunities for students across the various sites. In recent years, online educational technology has enabled Australian universities to rethink the ways in which they deliver programmes (Smith, Ling and Hill 2006). Such a paradigm and technological shift provide a ‘window of opportunity’ to meet the challenging demands of serving multiple campuses (Bottomley 2000), especially those in regional areas. In Victoria, at June 2012, the regional population was 1.38 million (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013). However, Polesel’s (2009) report found that students from regional areas defer university at twice the rate of metropolitan students. There is also evidence that students in regional areas, on the one hand, consider such areas as a learning environment with many advantages (e.g. small classes and a compact campus)(Ellis et al. 2005). On the other hand, students’ different interests can often be overlooked in educational settings (Semke and Sheridan 2012).
This paper will report on the results of a baseline study using survey methodology, which examined the challenges and opportunities of delivering elements of two undergraduate programmes in regional areas in Victoria, Australia. In particular, the research focused on two selected undergraduate teacher education programmes: (1) primary education; and (2) early childhood education. Focused discussion data, gathered from academics involved in delivering the programmes in the regional campuses will be presented as an analysis of issues and practices of teaching and learning in the 21st century. Implications for the provision of a quality learning experience and environment for students and for the course marketing strategies will be discussed.

Creativity and education :teaching the unfamiliar

The development of capacities of creativity has long been important in creative arts education (Morgan, 2012) and is increasingly becoming important to other fields in higher education (McWilliam and Haukka, 2008, Csikszentmihalyi, 2006, Edward, McGoldrick & Oliver, 2006). To develop such capabilities at least two factors need to be addressed: defining 'creativity' and thinking about how to teach it. This paper has two aims; firstly to consider the idea that creativity is a process (Morgan, 2012) of changing habits (Koestler, 1964, McWilliam and Sandra Haukka, 2008) that is inherently traumatic (Peirce, 1940) because it involves taking risks with habits which have previously proven useful and comforting. The centrality of trauma and risk raises concerns if creativity is to become a standard graduate attribute; concerns for students asked to take risk and the concern that the university is traditionally adverse to risk-taking. Secondly, a technique for teaching how to be creative derived from Russian Formalism is considered. Ostranenie, or making strange might be deployed with the aim of teaching students a technique for habit breaking

School practitioners’ perceptions of the pre-service teacher education practicum: a comparative study

The importance of strong school-university partnerships in bridging the so-called theory- practice gap in pre-service teacher education has been well established in the literature. The experiences of pre-service teachers during practicum have in particular been shown to be enhanced where there are strong links between the two educational sectors. This paper draws from research conducted in two diverse Australian pre-service teacher education programs to evaluate factors that are perceived to profoundly impact on the professional experiences of pre-service teachers during practicum. The particular focus of this paper is the beliefs and experiences of school practitioners and university staff members regarding the efficacy of the practicum in enabling students to enact theory in practice. A mixed methods approach was adopted for both studies, one of which was located in an urban university in Tasmania, the other in a regional university in Queensland. Findings generated from the comparative study of both programs revealed some differences but predominantly a number of similarities between the perceptions of the two samples of school practitioners and university staff members towards practicum. Three key findings are presented and discussed in this paper.

Factors influencing students’ decisions about post-year 10 education

This paper reports pilot data from an instrument devised as part of a large ARC funded project that aims, among other things, to investigate factors that influence the decisions of students in rural and/or disadvantaged areas to continue their schooling beyond Year 10. One section of the pilot student questionnaire comprised 42 items designed to reflect dimensions believed to influence these decisions. Participants responded on 5-point Likert scales indicating the extent of their agreement from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree with each of the items. We were interested in the extent to which the data supported the theoretical structure that underpinned the structure of the questionnaire and in testing the appropriateness of the language used. The large scale data collection will survey students from Years 5 to 11 with as few adaptations for differences in literacy levels across that range as possible. To this end, the pilot questionnaire was administered to Year 5 (n = 44) and Year 9/10 students (n = 50) with identical wording for both grade levels. A factor analysis of the complete data set (n = 94) provided initial evidence that being happy at school; having family support to continue with education, and appropriate curriculum options and extra-curricular activities, perceiving oneself as a high achiever both in general and in relation to mathematics, having teacher and peer support to continue, being positive about English, planning to be an apprentice, and having a job type in mind are dimensions worthy of further exploration in the larger study.

How ready are you? A preliminary investigation into the workplace readiness of final-year education students at a regional university

One criticism of teacher-training programs is that they do not sufficiently prepare graduating teachers for the transition between higher education and the demands and practicalities of classroom teaching. This lack of workplace readiness or 'teacher ready' status of graduates has been attributed to insufficient pre-service practical experience and the failure of training programs to adequately coach pre-service teachers in the delivery of quality pedagogy (Nelson, 2005). On the other hand, the Australian Council of Deans of Education (2005, p. 3) argues that teacher-training programs should provide foundational knowledge and skills with the onus on the profession to build on these foundations and elevate the teacher 'to the point of full and complete practitioner-readiness'. Central Queensland University has tried to respond to these concerns through the introduction of the Bachelor of Learning Management. This paper reports on a preliminary investigation into the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the program in preparing graduates and enabling workplace readiness. Towards the end of 2005 a cohort of final year students was asked to identify their levels of confidence in the transition from university to work; and how the cohort could have been better prepared. It is intended that the issues identified will be translated into recommendations for future program improvements.

A fundamental partnership : the experiences of practising teachers as lecturers in a pre-service teacher education program

This paper reports an evaluation of an innovative university-school partnership in which teacher practitioners work as university lecturers in a regional Australian pre-service teacher education programme. The philosophy of this programme encompasses authentic partnerships between universities, schools and other industry employers. The study was motivated by an interest inunderstanding the experiences and outcomes for the teacher practitioners and in documenting their experiences. Staff members who are currently on contract as university lecturers as well as teachers who have completed secondments and returned to school settings are surveyed. This paper focuses on suggestions to improve the partnership and discusses future directions for the partnership.

Ways in which theory and practice are integrated in the pre-service teacher education practicum

This paper reports on a study into pre-service teachers’ perceptions about their professional development during practicum. The study examined to what extent, and how effectively, one group of pre-service teachers was able to integrate theory and practice during a three-week practicum in the first year of their degree. Data for this mixed methods study were drawn from one cohort of first-year students undertaking the Master of Teaching (MTeach), a graduate-level entry program in the Faculty of Education at an urban Australian university. Although there is a strong field of literature around the practicum in pre-service teacher education, there has been a limited focus on how pre-service teachers themselves perceive their development during this learning period. Further, despite widespread and longstanding acknowledgement of the “gap” between theory and practice in teacher education, there is still more to learn about how well the practicum enables an integration of these two dimensions of teacher preparation. In presenting three major findings of the study, this paper goes some way in addressing these shortcomings in the literature. First, opportunities to integrate theory and practice were varied, with many participants reporting supervision and scheduling issues as impacting on their capacity to effectively enact theory in practice. Second, participants’ privileging of theory over practice, identified previously in the literature as commonly characteristic of the pre-service teacher, was found in this study to be particularly prevalent during practicum. Third, participants overwhelmingly supported the notion of linking university coursework assessment to the practicum as a means of bridging the gap between, on the one hand, the university and the school and, on the other hand, theory and practice. The discussion and consideration of findings such as those reported in this paper are pertinent and timely, given the ratification of both the National Professional Standards for Teachers and the Initial Teacher Education Program Standards by the Australian Federal Government earlier this year. Within a number of the seven Professional Standards, graduate teachers are required to demonstrate knowledge and skills associated with both the theory and practice of teaching and with their effective integration in the classroom. To be nationally accredited, pre-service teacher education programs must provide evidence of enabling pre-service teachers to acquire such knowledge and skills.

Higher education mediating institutions and habit

The aim of this paper is to focus discussion on some philosophical issues that informs discussion of the stabilising dimension of higher education as a mediating institution. Backgrounded habits provide the deep context for developing moral practice and other regarding sentiment in higher education. Understanding higher educational institutions as mediating institutions, as forms of associational life which inculcate habit and the development of mores is an important corrective to the discourse of marketization and neo-liberal reform which otherwise crowds out consideration of the role higher educational institutions play in cultural stabilization and social cohesion. This argument we intend to make in this paper is that the stabilizing and associational function of higher educational institutions is critically important to developing habits and mores which are the key support for a society that can still retain a sense of concern and regard for others. 

Australian pre-service secondary teacher education courses : challenges and Dilemmas