Transforming teaching challenges into learning opportunities: interdisciplinary reflective collaboration

ABSTRACT

Teaching in higher education poses unique sets of challenges, especially for academics in the engineering, built sciences and information science education disciplines. This article focuses on how reflective collaboration can support academics in their quest to find unique solutions to challenges in different academic contexts. A reflective collaboration framework was applied during a three-year interpretive research process at an Engineering, Information Technology and Built Environment Faculty in a residential research intensive university in South Africa. Interdisciplinary reflective collaboration was found to bring richness and depth into investigations of complex teaching challenges. This framework provides a structure to support the transformation of teaching challenges into learning opportunities through the promotion of dialogue, critique and reflection between engineering and education academics.     

Introducing ICT into schools in Rwanda: Educational challenges and opportunities

The Rwandan government views Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a key tool for transforming the economy, with the education sector playing an important role in developing the necessary human resources. Since 2000 there has been a big push to introduce computers into schools and integrate ICT into the education curriculum through a range of initiatives. Within this paper we draw on the research of EdQual, a DFID funded project in order to examine issues related to the use of ICTs in schools in Rwanda. We argue that the potential of ICT will not be realised by the mere introduction of computers and ICT infrastructure in schools. We show that current policy initiatives appear to be disadvantaging particular groups, such as girls and those living in rural communities. Drawing on Sen's capability approach as a framework for theorising issues of education policy and social justice, we discuss how engagement with ICT can be reconceptualised as access to the capability of what Jenkins calls participatory culture. We also argue that without a shift in practices of teaching and learning with ICT in schools young people are not likely to learn how to exploit the capabilities offered by access to ICT.     

Transformational professional development: (re)claiming agency and change (in the margins)

With performativity and evidence-based teaching, the development of action research (AR) by teachers brings tensions and challenges as teachers move outside their comfort zones and question their practice. This article draws on a small-scale research study developed with teachers. It was funded as part of a professional development initiative by a Teaching School Alliance to support partner schools with university support to build teacher-led systematic research into everyday practice. The dataset combined interviews with teachers about their motivations and experiences, field notes from the sessions, the teachers’ final written reports and their evaluation surveys about the project. This article offers a unique perspective on teachers as researchers in a new age of work-based AR with the risk of research by teachers in schools being regarded as part of an uncritical ‘tick box’ performative and celebratory culture. However, the authors argue that teacher research can contribute to a transformational approach to professional development working as an antidote and a source of (re)professionalization based on the outcomes of collaboration, reflection and attention to the singularity of their ‘contexts-for action’ and specific pupils’ needs.     

The challenging academic development (CAD) collective

Nurse education is characterised by dissonance, ambiguity and uncertainty. Such a context makes demands on the educator's authenticity or sense of self. This paper reports an attempt to provide a space where dissonance, ambiguity and uncertainty could be held, tolerated and examined and where authenticity could be recovered or developed through the practice of artistry. Three art workshops were offered to eight nurse educators over a period of three months. Each of the participants and the co‐facilitator were subsequently interviewed. All welcomed the opportunity to find meaning in their practice and to be listened to in a climate of empathy, acceptance and congruence. They undertook novel activities that allowed for discovery and surprise. They explored their sense of self and coined fresh metaphors to communicate their experiences. The paper argues that there is room for approaches to academic staff development that go against the mainstream.

La formation des infirmières se caractérise par la dissonance, l'ambiguïté et l'incertitude. Un tel contexte exerce des pressions sur l'authenticité et le sens de soi d'un éducateur. Cet article rend compte d'une tentative de fournir un espace o[ugrave] l'authenticité peut être redécouverte et développée au moyen de la pratique artistique. Trois ateliers artistiques ont été offerts à huit formateurs d'infirmières sur une période de trois mois. Des entretiens ont été effectués auprès de chaque participant et du co‐facilitateur. Les répondants ont tous accueilli l'occasion de trouver un sens à leur pratique et de pouvoir être écouté dans un climat d'empathie, d'acceptation et d'harmonie. Ceux‐ci on entrepris des activités nouvelles faisant place à la découverte et à la surprise. Ils ont exploré leur sens de soi et ont trouvé de nouvelles métaphores pour communiquer leurs expériences. Cet article défend l'idée que des activités de développement pédagogique qui vont à l'encontre de la majorité ont leur place.     

Building capacity: challenges and opportunities in large class pedagogy (LCP) in Sub-Saharan Africa

Over the past 20 years most countries, particularly developing countries, have seen a large increase in the number of students seeking higher education. A consequence of this growth is increasing pressure on teaching staff and institutions, usually resulting in, among other effects, increased class size. Large classes of between 300 and 1,000, and even more, at the undergraduate level are not uncommon in a number of countries (Mulryan-Kyne in Teach High Educ 15(2):175–185, 2010). Large classes are often perceived as one of the major obstacles to the attainment of quality education. Despite the difficulties associated with teaching and learning in large classes, they remain a reality in many countries affecting learners across all levels of the education system and are often the only perceived option available to meet growing demand for higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mohamedbhai in The effects of massification on higher education in Africa. Report from the Working Group on Higher Education of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, 2008). We contend that the challenges of delivering large classes can be confronted, and in many ways diminished, through the use of current and emerging technologies and enhanced faculty development. In this expository paper, we present findings from project activities focused on higher education faculty development and capacity building. The findings include both formative and summative development activities, as well as data collected in faculty professional development workshops and the results of two surveys. We use these data to lay out issues, challenges (e.g., skills, resources, logistics—including poor campus infrastructure), and opportunities (e.g., mobile capacity, distance tools such as Moodle) of large class pedagogy using a design-based research framework.     

A report on the current access to academic information at the University of Pretoria for visually impaired students: challenges and opportunities

This study aimed to determine what the best practice guidelines were for making academic reading material available to visually impaired students at the University of Pretoria (UP) easily and efficiently. A basic literature review of relevant research data was done to help create further context for this study. A semi-structured interview with a staff member from the Disability Unit at the UP as well as a focus group consisting of five visually impaired students who make use of the unit were used to obtain responses to the research questions. The visually impaired students felt that local publishers and UP staff needed further insight into these students’ academic needs in order to make the acquisition process for their academic material run smoother and more efficiently.     

Argumentation-teaching as a method to introduce indigenous knowledge into science classrooms: opportunities and challenges

An innovative school science curriculum in South Africa requires the inclusion of African societal/cultural knowledge, such as indigenous knowledge (IK). The main project involves introducing argumentation to accomplish this requirement. We used a focus group plus critical incident technique to ascertain nine teachers’ understandings of argumentation and IK, their perceptions of how argumentation helps in teaching IK, examples of how argumentation-teaching had (or had not) worked in their classrooms, and their suggestions. Our results show that the teachers accepted argumentation as a viable approach to teach science and introduce IK into their classrooms.     

A sustainability education academic development framework (SEAD)

Academic development is one means of reorientating education within higher education (HE) to include sustainability principles. This paper identifies the requirements of academic development programmes that will provide educators with the skills to engage students in the ideas of sustainability and sustainable development. In order to determine what an ideal academic development programme for sustainability education might look like, a theoretical framework for sustainable education and academic development (SEAD framework) was constructed. This was based on an analysis of the literature in the areas of sustainability education, academic development and organisational change in HE. The aim of this paper was to present and analyse the theoretical SEAD framework against three international academic development programmes in sustainability education for HE, which utilised different approaches and delivery modes. From this analysis, it is possible to determine the elements of academic development that would most likely result in a change in educational development and delivery.     

The case for investing in secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): challenges and opportunities

Over the next two decades, sub-Saharan Africa will face substantial pressure to expand its secondary education system. This is driven by the current low development of secondary education compared to other world regions, continued rapid population growth, the increase in the enrolment and completion rates at the primary education level, and the upsurge in the demand for skills. This paper suggests that in order to help countries respond to these pressures, external partners should now increase their support for secondary education, in terms of academic as well as technical and vocational skills training. Given the attributes of the African economies and the continuing need for foundation skills, this paper argues that in the current situation, particularly the lower secondary level will have to be strengthened, in many cases through a longer basic education cycle for all. The necessary rapid expansion of secondary education will require substantial investments, and this paper discusses how aid allocation can be made more evidence-based and used in a more strategic way to make these investments more effective and sustainable. While aid will continue to have a role to play over the next decade especially in fragile states, in the long run it is African countries’ capacity to achieve sustained economic growth which will be the single most important factor determining their ability to meet the financing needs.     

Australasian 1 academic developers: Entry into the profession and our own professional development

Abstract

In academic/educational/teaching development circles, at least in the United Kingdom, North America and Australasia, there is increasing debate as to the credibility of professionals in the field. Coinciding with the recent discussions about the value and need to accredit university teachers and teaching, questions are being asked about the need to accredit academic developers. Academic developers themselves are asking questions such as: do we need to have studied specific disciplines?; do we need to be accredited by a national or an international body?; and in what ongoing professional development do we need to engage in order to keep up to date? To begin to collect background data relevant to these issues, I surveyed 71 developers from a wide range of Australasian institutions. From that sample I interviewed 22 developers. In this paper I report on issues of career paths, qualifications and the professional development of academic developers.

     

Promoting academic development: a history of the International Consortium for Educational Development (ICED)

This essay traces the history of the International Consortium for Educational Development (ICED) through document analysis and email interviews with founding and prominent ICED members. It also provides a summary of the themes and locations of all the ICED conferences.     

Facilitating democratic professional development: exploring the double role of being an academic action researcher

Abstract

This article focuses on the double role of the academic action researcher working as facilitator and researcher in democratic professional development projects. The inquiry is based on three partnership projects: ‘research circles’ in Sweden, ‘dialogue conferences’ in Norway and ‘tailored professional development’ in Finland. In a self-study and through the lens of practice architectures, we, as action researchers, explore how our practices are enabled and constrained in, as well as are enabling and constraining, professional development partnerships with teachers and educational leaders. A critical perspective is provided on how and what democratic practices evolve. The inquiry opens up understandings about how the academic action researcher’s practices entails multi-faceted ways of working to be able to accomplish different and somehow contradictory objectives, yet at the same time enacting democratic working methods. Furthermore, the act of recognition as a connecting aspect between prefiguring arrangements and evolving practices will be elaborated on to supplement perspectives offered by the theory of practice architectures.     

Narrative inquiry into (re)imagining alternative schools: a case study of Kevin Gonzales

Although there are many alternative schools that strive for the successful education of their students, negative images of alternative schools persist. While some alternative schools are viewed as ‘idealistic havens’, many are viewed as ‘dumping grounds’ or ‘juvenile detention centers’. Employing narrative inquiry, this article interrogates how a student, Kevin Gonzales, experiences his alternative education and raises questions about the role of alternative schools. Kevin Gonzales’s story is presented in a literary form of biographical journal to provide a ‘metaphoric loft’ that helps us imagine other students like Kevin. This, in turn, provokes us to examine our current educational practice and (re)imagines ways in which alternative education can provide the best possible educational experiences for disenfranchised students who are increasingly underserved by the public education system.     

关于中国电子商务发展的机遇、问题及对策

本文就中国目前的状况浅析了中国电子商务发展的机遇与问题,并在此基础上提出了促进我国电子商务发展的对策。     

The new spatial politics of (re)bordering and (re)ordering the state-education-citizen relation

One outcome of more than three decades of social and political transformation around the world, the result of processes broadly referred to as globalisation, has been the emergence of a complex (and at first glance, contradictory) conceptual language in the social sciences that has sought to grasp hold of these developments. Throughout the 1990s, theorists began to emphasise a world in motion, deploying concepts like ??liquid modernity?? (Zygmunt Bauman) to signal rapid and profound changes at work in the social structures, relations, and spatialities of societies (Neil Brenner) that were reconfiguring state-citizen relations (Saskia Sassen). Recently, however, researchers have concentrated on the study of borders and containers as a corrective to the preoccupation with mobility, arguing it is not possible to imagine a world which is only borderless and de-territorialised, because the basic ordering of social groups and societies requires categories and compartments. This paper focuses attention on processes of bordering and ordering in contemporary education systems, suggesting that comparative educators ?C whose main intellectual project is to understand how (different) education processes are re/produced within and across time, space and societies ?C would get much greater purchase on transformations currently under way.     

论加入WTO与中国政治文化的发展机遇

加入WTO为中国经济发展注入了新鲜血液。进步的WTO经济化规范也会促进中国传统政治化的自我改造，使封闭的小生产意识向开放、竞争、自强意识转变，人治政治化向法治政治化转变，并升华民主、人权、竞争、参与、社会契约等西方“舶来”化，完善和发展社会主义的政治化，从而为中国的政治化发展带来良好机遇。     

Inter-agency cooperation in the quality assurance of transnational education: challenges and opportunities

This paper presents the findings of a study undertaken by the United Kingdom Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), with support from the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), aimed at investigating the challenges and limits to cross-border cooperation in the quality assurance of transnational education. The study builds on the outcomes of the recently concluded Erasmus Mundus project Quality Assurance of Cross-Border Higher Education (QACHE) and in particular the QACHE Toolkit developed as part of the project to foster cooperation between quality assurance agencies in quality assuring transnational education. Based on the responses to a survey sent to QAA’s partner agencies in key sending and receiving countries of transnational education, the study extract recommendations to agencies to help them developing viable strategies for inter-agency cooperation, identifying concrete ways in which they might or might not cooperate across borders.