Imagining a future: changing the landscape for third space professionals in Australian higher education institutions

In the last decade there has been a shift in the discourses around professional staff in higher education that has been influenced by neoliberal agenda that focused on driving education reforms. Earlier discussions centring around nomenclature variations have progressed to those about creating and developing borderless professionals operating in the third space – a notional space where professional staff and academic staff with diverse and valuable skills work as equal professional partners on complex and multifaceted projects. This article looks at the evolution of the debates around professional staff. It considers how the notions of professionalism and professionalisation are being reconceptualised in the third space. Discussion progresses towards capability building and developmental opportunities of aspiring third space professional staff in higher education settings. Possible pathways of engaging with and empowering professional staff in designing their future careers and professional identities are considered. Building a community of research practices under the auspices of the Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM) and engaging postgraduate students in the university third space project work are proposed as potential areas for further research in the field of professional staff capability building.     

The effect of interdian and diurnal variation on oxygen uptake kinetics during treadmill running

The aim of this study was to examine the variability of the oxygen uptake (VO2) kinetic response during moderate- and high-intensity treadmill exercise within the same day (at 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00 h) and across days (on five occasions). Nine participants (age 25 +/- 8 years, mass 70.2 +/- 4.7 kg, VO2max 4137 +/- 697 ml x min(-1); mean +/- s) took part in the study. Six of the participants performed replicate 'square-wave' rest-to-exercise transitions of 6 min duration at running speeds calculated to require 80% VO2 at the ventilatory threshold (moderate-intensity exercise) and 50% of the difference between VO2 at the ventilatory threshold and VO2max (50% delta; high-intensity exercise) on 5 different days. Although the amplitudes of the VO2 response were relatively constant (coefficient of variation approximately 6%) from day to day, the time-based parameters were more variable (coefficient of variation approximately 15 to 30%). All nine participants performed replicate square-waves for each time of day. There was no diurnal effect on the time-based parameters of VO2 kinetics during either moderate- or high-intensity exercise. However, for high-intensity exercise, the amplitude of the primary component was significantly lower during the 12:00 h trial (2859 +/- 142 ml x min(-1) vs 2955 +/- 135 ml x min(-1) at 06:00 h and 2937 +/- 137 ml x min(-1) at 18:00 h; P < 0.05), but this effect was eliminated when expressed relative to body mass. The results of this study indicate that the amplitudes of the VO2 kinetic responses to moderate- and high-intensity treadmill exercise are similar within and across test days. The time-based parameters, however, are more variable from day to day and multiple transitions are, therefore, recommended to increase confidence in the data.     

Communicative Spontaneity in Individuals with High Support Needs: An exploratory consideration of causation

Spontaneity of communication has frequently been identified as a problem for individuals with high support needs. This paper considers several possible explanations that might account for this observation. These include (a) the possibility that limited spontaneity is an inherent characteristic of individuals with high support needs, (b) that it is a product of aspects of highly structured teaching programs, (c) that it is a form of learned helplessness, and finally, (d) that deficits are a product of a failure to systematically and actively program for spontaneity. Each of these possible explanations is critically evaluated with consideration of relevant research evidence. At this point, discussion of causative factors remains speculative and further research may be regarded as of significant importance. A greater understanding of processes involved in low communicative spontaneity may eventually assist in the development of more effective approaches to intervention.     

What can be learned from action learning coaching? Learnings of novice action learners and their coach

Action learning coaching (ALC), a form of action learning that integrates leadership coaching, is suggested as a method and ethos to build future capacity, specifically in novice HRD practitioners. The purpose of this article is to offer an account of learning from the perspectives of novice action learners, who were new to the field of human resource development (HRD) and to the concept of ALC, as well as their similarly noviced coach. Data from budding practitioners and their coach, participants in an action learning action research (ALAR) study, are analyzed to show how they used action and generative learning through ambiguity to apply learning to their new roles. Action learning coaching elevated participants’ skills, self-concept, efficaciousness, professionalism, commitment to action, and capacity for learning and growth. Participants changed themselves, their practice, and ultimately the way they approached human resource development as novices.     

The pirate in the pump: children's views of objects as imaginary friends at the start of school

The main aim of this paper is to use a phenomenological approach (Merleau-Ponty, 1962. Phenomenology of Perception. Evanston: Northwestern University Press; Merleau-Ponty. 1968. The Visible and the Invisible: Followed by Working Notes. Evanston: Northern University Press) to contribute a new theoretical understanding of what imaginary friends mean for children in the context of starting school. The paper addresses the specific area of ‘object-friends’ and draws on examples from an empirical and consultative study of a small sample of five and six-year-old children’s everyday experiences of friendship in school. The paper argues that if practitioners consider embodiment approaches and listen attentively to the knowledge and information that children share about their imaginary friends, this could be used to nurture children’s early learning.     

Ritual, Habit, and Perfectionism: The Prevalence and Development of Compulsive-like Behavior in Normal Young Children

Young children engage in a significant amount of rutualitic, repetitive, and compulsive-like activity that appears to be part of their Normal behavioral repertoire. Empirically, little is known about the onset, prevalence, and developmental trajectory of these phenomena. A parent-report questionnaire, the Childhood Routines Inventory (CRI), was developed to assess compulsive-like behavior in young children, and was administered to 1,492 parents with children between the ages of 8 and 72 months. The CRI has strong overall internal consistency and a distinct two-factor structure. The frequency of compulsive-like behaviors changes with age: Two-, 3- and 4-year-olds engaged in more compulsive behavior than children younger than 1 year of age and older than 4 years of age. Results are discussed from a development psychopathology framework and for their implications for future research in this area.     

The Restructuring of Teaching and the Restructuring of Class

Growing pressure on educational resources and the intensification of the work of teachers has strengthened claims that teaching is a labour process and that teachers are being proletarianised. At the same time, the education system is being subjected to concerted attempts to subordinate it to the interests of capital and national competitiveness, appearing to reinforce those perspectives viewing education as part of the capitalist state apparatus and teachers as agents of capital. This article examines these claims and attempts to resolve the contradictory emphases through an analysis of class relations which stresses the significance of teaching as state employment, the growth of hierarchies within schools and the contradictory functions of education.