Posthumanist ethical practice: agential cuts in the pedagogic assemblage

With researchers funnelled into lucrative research practices that value fast scholarship, we explore ethical practice as an ethico-onto-epistemological project. Through collective biography, diffractive choreography, and poetry, we map systems of entrapment that manifest power relations in the academy. We argue the posthumanist ethical practice is an intra-active project in higher education – involving rich material, social, political and intellectual entanglements. Posthumanist ethical practice rejects dualisms of body/mind, nature/culture and human/non-human. It evokes creativity to generate new vocabularies for challenging anthropocentric ‘exceptionalism’. Mapping relations in posthuman assemblages can involve agential cuts that evoke ethical practice as affective encounters. Agential cuts give permission for pedagogic storying where there is ontological connectedness. As academics, we are immersed in assemblages where posthumanist education research and practice is a rich, embodied, and connected process. Particular consideration is given in this article to affectivity and the value of pedagogic performance in education research.     

Establishing the Role and Impact of Academic Librarians in Supporting Open Research: A Case Study at Leeds Beckett University,UK

ABSTRACT

This practical article presents findings of a small scale study undertaken at a large U.K. University. The purpose of the study was to encourage academic engagement with Open Access (OA) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) mandate with the measurable impact being increased engagement with the Repository and dissemination of research while circulating information to the wider community. In order to promote research, a series of “Focus on” webpages were created aligned to a particular theme and were then disseminated via social media. It was anticipated that by potentially increasing access to research outputs, academic staff would be motivated to make their work available following OA models and use the institutional repository (IR) as a means to achieve this. The main drivers for the study were the Finch Report, the HEFCE Policy for open access in the post-2014 Research Excellence Framework and the institutional strategy for research. Data was collected through a statistical analysis of both the “Focus on” pages and journal article downloads via the IR, with results indicating increased engagement with the IR making research openly accessible.     

The use of genograms in educational psychology practice

This article explores the application of the genogram in educational psychology (EP) practice. It provides a brief overview of the historical and theoretical development of the genogram. It then reviews and critiques some of the current literature regarding clinical application of the genogram in casework with children and adolescents and their families. Finally, it provides a case example of the application of the genogram, as an assessment and intervention tool in EP practice, highlighting its strengths and limitations.     

Building an online academic learning community among undergraduate students

Online learning communities are frequently created for higher education students; however, these are most often designed to cater to a particular unit or subject. In an effort to strengthen the Bachelor of Arts course at the University of New England, the author sought to create an online space that would promote an interdisciplinary and collegial dialogue among their broad on- and off-campus student cohort. This paper examines the building of an academic community among a large and diverse group of undergraduate students on a Moodle platform. The paper tracks the development of the multi-layered portal from the initial stages of planning to the indicators of strong engagement taken up by students, and eventually leading to the creation of similar portals across the university. In examining this process this paper highlights the shared desire by distance education students and academics for authentic and personal higher education participation regardless of the students’ location.     

Aiding education in conflict: The role of international education providers operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Amid rising violence against civilian aid operations in insecure environments, attacks on the education sector pose a unique set of challenges for international aid actors. In recent years incidents of violence targeting the education sector in Afghanistan and the conflict-affected areas of Pakistan have increased. This article synthesizes recent research, quantitative analyses, and observations of practitioners in order to explore the key issues facing aid workers in the education sector. The findings suggest that in extremely violent and polarized environments such as Afghanistan and the conflict-affected areas of Pakistan, the international community can provide education assistance more effectively and securely through a low-profile, community-based approach that de-emphasizes the role of government, and avoids, as far as possible, any association with international political/military actors. The authors conclude that education sector coordinators could play a larger role in providing practical guidance and supporting an inter-agency dialogue to share lessons and good practice in delivering education services in these contexts.     

Supporting students with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) at secondary school: a parent and student perspective

This paper describes a small‐scale research project undertaken in July 2007, which focused on a group of students with a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) currently attending a mainstream secondary school. Three focus groups were held with students in Years 9 and 11 and with their parents in order to explore current practice on additional support at secondary school for students with ASD. Several aspects of support at school were positively evaluated by the participants. It also examines how support could be provided in the future to address perceived additional needs. It concludes with several implications for planning for support in the future.