The emergence of JD in the Australian Legal Education marketplace and its impact on academic standards

Over the last decade there has been an expansion in the number of Juris Doctor (JD) courses in the Australian legal education marketplace. Across the board it is graduate-entry, but it is currently offered in undergraduate, postgraduate and ‘hybrid’ forms. In this article we will discuss recent research conducted as part of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council grant. This project included an exploration of whether JD courses in Australia were applying different and higher level academic standards to those operating in Bachelor of Laws degrees. Our research findings reveal justification for concerns about the academic standards of some JD courses, particularly where masters level students were being taught alongside their undergraduate counterparts. They also provide some insights into perceptions in the marketplace of JD graduates. Finally, we will discuss the future viability of such courses in light of recent revisions to the Australian Qualifications Framework.

‘It's the end of the university as we know it (and I feel fine)’: the Generation Y student in higher education discourse

This paper examines discussions of Generation Y within higher education discourse, arguing the sector’s use of the term to describe students is misguided for three reasons. First, portraying students as belonging to Generation Y homogenises people undertaking higher education as young, middle-class and technologically literate. Second, speaking of Generation Y students allows constructivism to be reinvented as a ‘new’ learning and teaching philosophy. Third, the Generation Y university student has become a central figure in concerns about technology’s role in learning and teaching. While the notion of the ‘Generation Y student’ creates the illusion that higher education institutions understand their constituents, ultimately, it is of little value in explaining young adults’ educational experiences.

Female genital mutilation : legal, attitudinal and practical reform

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a cultural practice common in many Islamic societies. It involves the deliberate, non-therapeutic physical modification of young girls’ genitalia. FGM can take several forms, ranging from less damaging incisions to actual removal of genitalia and narrowing or even closing of the vagina. While often thought to be required by religion, FGM both predates and has no basis in the Koran. Rather, it is a cultural tradition, motivated by a patriarchal social desire to control female bodies to ensure virginity at marriage (preserving family honour), and to prevent infidelity by limiting sexual desire. In the USA and Australia in 2010, peak medical bodies considered endorsing the medical administration of a ‘lesser’ form of FGM. The basis for this was pragmatic: it would be preferable to satisfy patients’ desire for FGM in medically-controlled conditions, rather than have these patients seek it, possibly in more severe forms, under less safe conditions. While arguments favouring medically-administered FGM were soon overcome, the prospect of endorsing FGM illuminated the issue in these two Western countries and beyond. This paper will review the nature of FGM, its physical and psychological health consequences, and Australian laws prohibiting FGM. Then, it will scan recent developments in Africa, where FGM has been made illegal by a growing number of nations and by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 2003 (the Maputo Protocol), but is still proving difficult to eradicate. Finally, based on arguments derived from theories of rights, health evidence, and the historical and religious contexts, this paper will ask whether an absolute human right against FGM can be developed.

Early childhood education

Young children are the most vulnerable and most at risk of environmental challenges, current and future. Yet, early learning around environment and sustainability issues and topics has been neglected and underrated in early childhood education even though there is an expanding body of research literature – from economics, neuroscience, sociology and health – that shows that early investments in human capital offer substantial returns for individuals and for communities and have a long reach into the future. Early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) - a synthesis of early childhood education (ECE) and education for sustainability (EfS) - builds on groundings in play, outdoor learning and nature education, but takes a stronger focus on learning about, and engagement with, environmental and sustainability issues. Child participation and agency is central to ECEfS and can relate, for example, to local environmental problem-solving such as water and energy conservation or waste reduction in a childcare centre, kindergarten or preschool, or young children’s social learning for Indigenous Reconciliation and cultural inclusivity. While the ECE field has been much slower than other educational sectors in taking up the challenges of sustainability, this situation is rapidly changing as early childhood practitioners begin to engage – it is fast moving from the margins of early childhood curriculum and pedagogic decision-making into the mainstream. This presents challenges, however, as ECEfS is somewhat misunderstood and misrepresented and, as a new field, is under-researched and under-theorised.

Unlocking black box models of leadership effectiveness: Exploring alternative research and policy metaphors

There is an intimate interconnectivity between policy guidelines defining reform and the delineation of what research methods would be subsequently applied to determine reform success. Research is guided as much by the metaphors describing it as by the ensuing empirical definition of actions of results obtained from it. In a call for different reform policy metaphors Lumby and English (2010) note, “The primary responsibility for the parlous state of education... lies with the policy makers that have racked our schools with reductive and dehumanizing processes, following the metaphors of market efficiency, and leadership models based on accounting and the characteristics of machine bureaucracy” (p. 127)

Teacher education and the targeting of disadvantage

This paper outlines the Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools (ETDS) project which began in June 2010 with the aim of developing and documenting an Australian university-based teacher education program specifically focusing on the preparation of high quality teachers for the disadvantaged school sector. ETDS constitutes a novel model of teacher education targeting disadvantaged schooling in that the selection of participating pre-service teachers has been based on their proven academic performance over the first 2 years of their 4-year Bachelor of Education degree. ETDS has established a modified curriculum that better supports the on-campus training of this cohort while also targeting the role of field experience within partner disadvantaged school settings. This paper offers a rationale for the model, unpacks its various phases and provides a justification of the model’s selection criteria based on high academic achievement.

An information literacy integration model and its application in higher education

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a model for curricular integration of information literacy for undergraduate programs in higher education. Design/methodology/approach - Data are drawn from individual interviews at three universities in Australia and curricular integration working experience at a New Zealand university. Sociocultural theories are adopted in the research process and in the development of the model, Findings - Key characteristics of the curriculum integration of information literacy were identified and an information literacy integration model was developed. The S2J2 key behaviours for campus-wide multi-partner collaboration in information literacy integration were also identified. Research limitations/implications - The model was developed without including the employer needs. Through the process of further research, the point of view of the employer on how to provide information literacy education needs to be explored in order to strengthen the model in curricular design. Practical implications - The information literacy integration model was developed based on practical experience in higher education and has been applied in different undergraduate curricular programs. The model could be used or adapted by both librarians and academics when they integrate information literacy into an undergraduate curriculum from a lower level to a higher level. Originality/value - The information literacy integration model was developed based on recent PhD research. The model integrates curriculum, pedagogy and learning theories, information literacy theories, information literacy guidelines, people and collaborative together. The model provides a framework of how information literacy can be integrated into multiple courses across an undergraduate academic degree in higher education.

Reflecting on the ‘Dream Circle’ : urban Indigenous education processes designed for student and community empowerment

The ‘Dream Circle’ is a space designed by and operated through Indigenous educator footprints as a safe space for the school’s deadly jarjums (Indigenous children). The ‘Dream Circle’ uses a kinnected methodology drawing on the rich vein of Murri cultural knowledges and Torres Strait Islander supports within the local community to provide a safe and supportive circle. The ‘Dream Circle’ operates on a school site in the Logan area as an after school homework and cultural studies class. The ‘Dream Circle’ embodies practices and ritualises processes which ensure cultural safety and integrity. In this way the ‘Dream Circle’ balances the measures that Sarra (2005) purports are the stronger, smarter realities needed for positive change in Indigenous education.

Special Measures in Indigenous Welfare Reform: Examining the Cape York Trial

The Cape York Welfare Reform (‘CYWR’) trial was due to expire at the end of 2011. In October 2011, the Queensland Government voted to extend the trial until the end of 2013. In November 2011, the Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs announced changes to the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (Cth) that will extend another similar welfare reform, the School Enrolment and Attendance through Welfare Reform Measure (‘SEAM’), throughout other parts of Australia. This article examines the CYWR with reference to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (‘RDA’), using the data available in the publications from the Family Responsibilities Commission (‘FRC’).It finds no clear evidence that the reforms have been effective in improving social conditions thus far and, as such, serious concerns as to whether the CYWR breaches the RDA.

Designing a capstone experience for Australian legal education

Literature suggests that universities, and law schools in particular, are not engaging final year students in a genuine capstone experience which supports the development of their professional identity and their transition out of university. Students in their final year also face significant transition issues which are just as challenging as those facing first year students entering the tertiary environment (Jervis & Hartley, 2005, 314)...

The crisis in ICT education : an academic perspective

A national Discipline-Based Initiative project for ICT, funded by the ALTC, has sought to identify the issues and challenges facing the sector. The crisis in ICT education spans high schools, universities and industry. The demand for skilled ICT graduates is increasing yet enrolments are declining. Several factors contribute to this decline including the perceived quality of teaching and a poor perception of the ICT profession amongst the general public. This paper reports on a consultation process with the academic community. Academic concerns include the capacity of the sector to survive the downturn, and improving relationships with industry which should benefit students, academics and industry. An outcome of the consultation process has been the formation of the Australian Council of Deans of ICT (ACDICT) which will have broad responsibility for addressing the issues affecting ICT higher education.

Teachers’ and children’s personal epistemologies for moral education : Case studies in early years elementary education

While there is strong interest in teaching values in Australia and internationally there is little focus on young children’s moral values learning in the classroom. Research shows that personal epistemology influences teaching and learning in a range of education contexts, including moral education. This study examines relationships between personal epistemologies (children’s and teachers’), pedagogies, and school contexts for moral learning in two early years classrooms. Interviews with teachers and children and analysis of school policy revealed clear patterns of personal epistemologies and pedagogies within each school. A whole school approach to understanding personal epistemologies and practice for moral values learning is suggested.

Teacher reporting questionnaire : Queensland Government Schools

This instrument was used in the project entitled Teachers Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: Towards Evidence-based Reform of Law, Policy and Practice (ARC DP0664847)

Teacher reporting questionnaire : Queensland Non-Government Schools

This instrument was used in the project named Teachers Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: Towards Evidence-based Reform of Law, Policy and Practice (ARC DP0664847)

Teacher reporting questionnaire : New South Wales Non-Government Schools

This instrument was used in the project named Teachers Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: Towards Evidence-based Reform of Law, Policy and Practice (ARC DP0664847)