The creation of learner identities as part of social inclusion: gender,ethnicity and social space

This paper reports on a project designed to increase parents' and carers' involvement in learning in a multiply deprived inner city community. The project was part of a broader evaluation of a social inclusion partnership funded under the Single Regeneration Budget. The analysis shows how learner identities are created and cannot just be assumed. Drawing on a community development model, a community worker was able to engage with women through routine encounters in their own social space. The project involved a partnership with schools. Other research has suggested that many school/parent partnerships are based on models of resourceful middle-class femininity. This study found that community education worked through engagement with the social realities of women's lives to foster learning identities. Participants were encouraged to gain accreditation based on developing their own knowledge and skills, and to develop learner identities, which allowed them to access other learning. The paper concludes with the importance of working within the ‘habitus’, and that the association of cultural and social capital with education, which policy makers assume, is not universal.     

Student empowerment in an english language enrichment programme: an action research project in Hong Kong

This paper describes how students are empowered in an action research project. The author argues that, given the opportunity, students are willing and have the ability to exercise their power to control their learning. In addition, the author contends that the more power students have in deciding what and how to learn, the harder they will work, the stronger their learning motivation will be, and the more they will gain in their learning. The experience gained in this project pointed to three important components of student empowerment efforts, i.e. empowerment through involvement, empowerment through partnership and empowerment through action research.     

Collective commitment and collective efficacy: a theoretical model for understanding the motivational dynamics of dilemma resolution in inter-professional work

This paper presents a new theoretical model which conceptualizes inter-professional and multi-agency collaborative working, at the level of the individual within a group. This arises from a review of the literature around joint working, and is based on social psychological theories which refer to shared goals. The model assumes that collective commitment, collective efficacy, and process and outcome beliefs interact and feed into the development and maintenance of collaborative processes and outcomes. This is situated within an ecological framework that summarizes the context of inter-professional and multi-agency collaboration. The model illustrates working resolutions of specific inter-professional dilemmas around identity, role and control. This paper extends the literature around theoretical approaches to collaborative work in a multi-agency or inter-professional context, with its specific social-psychological focus on the motivations of the individual within the group.     

‘Becoming and being writers’: the experiences of doctoral students in writing groups

The use of writing groups to support students undertaking post-graduate research within universities has begun to receive attention from academic supervisors and doctoral researchers. Very little has been written by doctoral students themselves on the benefits of working within such writing groups. In this article, the experiences of working within a doctoral writing group at an Australian University are presented, primarily from the perspective of students. The authors identify two main benefits they have experienced through participating in a writing group using a ‘multi-voiced’ approach. First, they discuss the kind of learning that they achieved through working in a writing group. They do this with reference to key principles of peer learning and of peer review. Second, they focus on the ways the group worked as a community of discursive social practice. An overarching message for them in participating in the group and now writing this article is the shift in their thinking and experience of writing from seeing writing as an essentially private and implicit process to writing becoming a matter of public and shared work. These two notions are bound by the concept of identity building, drawing from the literature on communities of practice.     

Integrating Farm Production and Natural Resource Management in Tasmania,Australia

Abstract

This paper reports on the social learning from a project aimed to increase the knowledge and capacity of a group of farmers in Tasmania, Australia, to reduce the impacts of intensive agriculture on soil health and waterways, and to optimise the efficient use of on-farm inputs. The plan-do-check-review cycle adopted in this project required the farmers to assess current management practices, identify where to make changes, implement changes and monitor for improvements. The success of the project was due to careful attention to social processes as well as technical input. The combination of group activities with individual mentoring and one-to-one advice was key to the success of this project in enabling farmers to undertake on-farm action.

There is value in social learning that included developing relationships, using one-to-one contact and group workshops together with expert input when working with farmers to tackle some difficult and complex interrelated natural resource management and production issues. Sufficient time must be allowed for the process of facilitating good practice in natural resource management, particularly when addressing systemic environmental impacts. Practical operational recommendations are presented on communication, feedback, focus of activities and meeting content, as these will be useful to other project officers and facilitators working with farmer groups.     

Learning intercultural communication through group work oriented to the world beyond the classroom

Competence in intercultural communication has become a necessity for functioning effectively in our increasingly globalised and multicultural society. This study reports the use of a group project to enhance students’ learning of intercultural communication. Participants were from a large undergraduate class in an Australian university. The aim of the course is to encourage students to develop knowledge of intercultural communication by orienting themselves to the world beyond the classroom, and by learning from each other’s experiences and perspectives. In a group project assignment, students used the knowledge and skills gained in class to resolve practical problems that they encountered in intercultural interactions outside the classroom. This paper focused on students’ experience of working in groups, and links between this experience and performance on the group project. Our study confirms previous research that demonstrates active engagement in group work can enhance learning outcomes. It also goes further in showing that groups that more highly rated their learning of intercultural communication through the group work experience obtained higher grades on the project.     

Staff student partnership in assessment: enhancing assessment literacy through democratic practices

In recent years, research and practice focused on staff and students working in partnership to co-design learning and teaching in higher education has increased. However, within staff–student partnerships a focus on assessment is relatively uncommon, with fewer examples evident in the literature. In this paper, we take the stance that all assessment can be oriented for learning, and that students’ learning is enhanced by improving their level of assessment literacy. A small study in a Scottish university was undertaken that involved a range of different adaptations to assessment and feedback, in which students were invited to become partners in assessment. We argue that a partnership approach, designed to democratise the assessment process, not only offered students greater agency in their own and their peers’ learning, but also helped students to enhance their assessment literacy. Although staff and students reported experiencing a sense of risk, there was immense compensation through increased motivation, and a sense of being part of an engaged learning community. Implications for partnership in assessment are discussed and explored further. We assert that adopting staff–student partnership in assessment and more democratic classroom practices can have a wide range of positive benefits.     

Strides Toward Equity in an Urban Center: Temple University's Professional Development Schools Partnership

Many educators believe that the goal of equity is far from being achieved given the dilemmas faced by today's inner city public schools. The authors examine the potential of Temple University's Professional Development School Partnership, a collaborative project with the School District of Philadelphia, to facilitate educational equity within an urban center. Current understandings of the construct of equity are identified and used to explore the possibilities and challenges of striving for equity in the urban center. The development of this partnership documents growth into a more inclusive, expansive, and collaborative style of working together. A closer look into this process is provided by an in-depth discussion of two essential components of the partnership, namely, its culturally responsive process and its objective of transforming the teaching and learning conditions of schools. It is argued that school systems need to look critically at their own educational resources as well as policies and practices to guarantee that they genuinely promote participation and achievement of all students. In essence we contend that there cannot be equity without the assurance that students will achieve to their fullest potential.     

Health literacy and social capital: what role for adult literacy partnerships and pedagogy?

This paper makes the case for adult literacy (including numeracy) practitioners to play a greater role in health literacy initiatives in Australia. The paper draws on data from a national research project that investigated adult literacy partnerships and pedagogy viewed from a social capital perspective. The primary purpose of the project was to produce guidelines on how to deliver integrated adult literacy and numeracy programmes using a social capital approach. Prior experience of partnerships was explored through a review of the literature and an environmental scan of adult literacy providers using an email survey and follow-up interviews. An in-depth case study of a health literacy partnership was trialled using action research. Partnerships between adult literacy and health organisations in Australia were found to be largely ad hoc and rarely documented. To enable sustainable health literacy programmes, partnerships are needed across the three interlinked organisational levels – micro, meso and macro, and in particular the latter, which is currently almost completely absent. The conceptual frameworks outlined for health literacy partnerships and social capital pedagogy in this paper are new and potentially of value to policy makers, researchers and practitioners in the fields of health and literacy.     

Unspoken social dynamics in an online discussion group: the disconnect between attitudes and overt behavior of English language teaching graduate students

Course instructors across a wide range of disciplines have implemented computer-based learning resources such as online discussion boards. While the benefits of implementing an online discussion board in teaching have been well-documented, investigation into the social aspects of online learning environments is still needed in order to develop a deeper understanding of how group dynamics affect the overall learning experience. Accordingly, this action research project was designed to explore the perceptions of graduate students concerning the use of an online discussion board, focusing on whether the character of the interactions evidenced in the content of the discussion was reflected in the participants’ views of their experiences. The messages posted to the discussion forum were examined via discourse analysis, while the perceptions of the participants were interrogated through self-administered interviews. The results revealed that while positive group dynamics appeared to be prevalent in the discussion, the perceptions of the individual class members did not always agree with this view. In light of the findings, the researcher outlines some possible solutions for creating an online environment that is conducive to learning for members of a discussion forum with disparate levels of experience, as well as some suggestions for further research.     

‘It’s not like a normal 9 to 5!’: the learning journeys of media production apprentices in distributed working conditions

An apprenticeship in media production in England is at the centre of this case study exploration. The context is exemplified by the organisation of the process of production around project teams and the development of project-based working cultures. Given these developments, the working conditions and learning opportunities presented to apprentices can be characterised as de-centred and distributed. This contrasts with the characterisation of apprentices’ learning as novices who develop expertise in stable, well-bounded vocational communities. Through an analysis of young apprentices’ journeys, we argue that despite the challenges presented, the case study exemplifies the extent to which the apprenticeship is capable of innovation in project working as opposed to full employment conditions. Through its focus on media apprentices’ journeys, this paper makes visible the specific experience of learning in project working, distributed and de-centred working conditions. We conclude by referring to an ideal typical conception of the model of learning underpinning the apprenticeship which may be useful as an heuristic tool for others involved in designing and/or researching apprenticeships in project working conditions.     

Examining the Connections between the Work We Do and Our Mental Health

ABSTRACT

Solving the issues brought forward in previous Hanna lectures and current discussion requires serious amounts of energy. This energy comes from individuals, working together, while also simultaneously working through internal struggles and challenges. Although small group and individual discussion can focus on mental health and burnout, these discussions have not been presented in public. There is little that kinesiology professionals do to discuss how self-care is approached, how to maintain or improve emotional well-being, and what happens when professionals burnout. A combination of personal experiences, research literature, and recommendations are discussed as a way to highlight the internal struggles that kinesiology professionals face while pursuing their work.     

Pre-service teachers undertaking classroom research: developing reflection and enquiry skills

This paper reports on the development of reflectiveness and research skills in eight pre-service teachers, through their participation in a funded research project to develop the handwriting of children with literacy problems. The project aimed to analyse the reflections of the trainee teachers participating in an authentic research study and to consider what this reflection on practice might offer to the education of teachers in the current UK training context. The context for the paper was a project which engaged pre-service trainee teachers in researching the proposition that automaticity in handwriting plays a role in facilitating composing processes and that the automaticity of early writers can be trained. Some outcomes of the project for pupils are reported. The focus in the present paper is, however, on the participating trainee teachers and the paper suggests that conducting research was a significant learning event for these pre-service teachers and that, through working together, they were able to analyse their development as researchers and their learning during the research process. At a time when the English government views teacher training as a method of school improvement and the effectiveness of training is measured through its immediate impact on pupil outcomes, this study offers an example of how shared research can offer positive learning outcomes for pupils, develop the reflective thinking of pre-service teachers through researching a real problem, and develop links across a range of school and university settings.     

Looking to the future: producing transdisciplinary professionals for leadership in early childhood settings

This paper reports on an Australian initiative Developing and Sustaining Pedagogical Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care Professionals, where academics and professionals shared knowledge, experience and research about transdisciplinary practice. The project aimed to develop an understanding of the strategies and skills early childhood professionals and practitioners required to strengthen pedagogical leadership when working in multi-agency organisations. The conceptual framework underpinning the design, analysis and evaluation of the project was bricolage. Bricolage enabled the researchers, professionals and practitioners and other organisational members to consider the principles of multiplicity, complexity, relationality and criticality. The use of bricolage created an opportunity for a more comprehensive level of analysis to occur. A model of professional development emerged from the analysis of the data and was subsequently used to develop an open source learning website.     

Experiential Learning in Action: a program for preparing educators for health professionals

Education is centre stage in current UK government initiatives to promote multi-agency team work. This paper draws on a research project which explored the way in which multi-disciplinary teams work and learn together in their practice with children, to consider the implications of ‘joined-up’ practice for theorizing dilemmas of knowledge creation and identity transformation for professionals in multi-agency teams. The paper focuses primarily on the experiences of education professionals. We exemplify some dilemmas of ‘joined-up’ team participation in specific workplace activities involving knowledge exchange. We then explore the impact of belonging to multi-agency teams on professional roles, identities and learning. The paper then summarizes strategies which professionals used for resolving dilemmas around learning and knowledge creation, and considers how participating in shared workplace activities might enable or constrain professionals to consoli date their professional identities and learning. Drawing on theoretical research into workplace participation and professional learning, the paper examines implications for theorizing the professional identity of teachers in multi-agency team work, within a systemic model that takes account of: creating new knowledge and practice; enhancing professional identity; and building inter-professional communities.     

Evaluating STAR – a transformative learning framework: interdisciplinary action research in health training

Transformative learning aims to awaken students to issues of injustice, and to promote their critical analysis of assumptions, beliefs and values that lead to and sustain social inequities, so that they may become agents of social change. This paper introduces the Sensitise Take Action and Reflection (STAR) framework, which encapsulates transformative learning principles, as a tool for educators to enhance student health professionals’ capacity and preparedness to address health inequities they are likely to encounter in their future practice. Using an action research methodology within a three-cycle process, STAR was trialled and evaluated by an interdisciplinary team of health educators (n = 25) in an Australian university. Disciplines included: nursing, nutrition and dietetics, public health, occupational therapy and paramedic science. Data were gathered via individual interviews, focus group discussions and field notes, and were analysed inductively, with member-checking of emerging themes to ensure interpretive rigour. The results of this research suggest that STAR is easily understood by users, has relevance for health professional education, and holds promise for producing desired educational outcomes within and across health disciplines. Furthermore, this project could be considered a model for fostering inter-professional collaboration in health education, research and practice.     

Is This a Meaningful Learning Experience? Interactive Critical Self-inquiry as Investigation

What conditions enable educators to engage in meaningful learning experiences with peers and beginning practitioners? This article documents a self-study on our actions-in-practice in a peer mentoring project. The investigation involved an iterative process to improve our knowledge as teacher educators, reflective practitioners, and researchers. Data sets included: video-stimulated reflections; audiotaped reflexive dialogue; individual and shared reflective writings. Data analyzed through the iterative process revealed competing tensions that were not addressed by the triad, leading to a less than meaningful learning experience. We sought to name the dilemmas and document how they impeded meaningful learning; identifying tensions proved useful in data interpretation. The research led us to focus on the tension between collegiality and criticality. Managing this tension requires being authentic with and accepting of the other and working with cognitive dissonances. Collegiality and criticality together promote reflexivity and increase growth, leading to new professional knowledge.     

“You have to do something beyond containing”: developing inclusive systems in a partnership of primary schools

Reducing fixed term exclusions (FTE) in primary schools is a difficult proposition. This research discusses how a partnership of primary schools developed more inclusive systems to support students previously given FTEs for disciplinary purposes. Longitudinal data from interviews and documentary sources trace the development of an approach amongst primary schools with previously high levels of FTE. The process of developing a model of transferred inclusion (TI) within the partnership led to schools changing practices around behaviour management, thus developing more inclusive systems. The paper elaborates on partnership work around the TI project that opened up discussion and questioning of practice around behaviour, leading to schools thinking about their systemic practice. The benefits of TI, therefore, were a prompt for development, rather than just an intervention to reduce exclusions. Changes in practice supported through the TI process lead to claims that substantive change would not have happened without the TI project.     

Teaching collaborative skills with a group leader computer tutor

This paper discusses how a group leader computer tutor may aid students in learning collaborative skills in a co-operative learning environment. However, students need to learn collaborative skills and practice using them. The group leader computer tutor discussed in this paper is designed on the principles of co-operative learning, intelligent tutoring systems and computer-supported collaborative work within an intelligent collaborative learning system (ICLS). The group leader aims to facilitate group work on the task level and to teach students how to use collaborative skills in the discussion level as students work on networked computers in the Jigsaw method of co-operative learning. The ICLS and its group leader were used by two classes at a liberal arts university. Qualitative research shows that the students' co-operative attitudes changed and academic achievement improved from pre- to post-treatment. Students, especially, used the communication skill of openness in comment type discussions. The students enjoyed working collaboratively through the ICLS and their teachers thought that the experience was valuable for them.