Who is the newer researcher into higher education? Locating ourselves in shifting terrains

This article aims to deconstruct the underpinning tenets of the term ‘newer researcher into higher education’. In recognition of the ambiguities of the term, we begin by questioning the nature of the field(s) of research into higher education (HE). Secondly, we critique the policy discourses associated with the term ‘newer researcher’. Then, with a view to illustrating the over-linear assumptions of such discourses, the article articulates the biographies of practising researchers in this field through narrative reconstructions of the five authors’ own routes as researchers into HE, openly acknowledging their temporalities and serendipitous conditionalities. Finally, we consider the nature of a career in the context of the professionalisation of routes into HE research. Our concluding remarks return us to the question of the status of HE research and to suggestions of positive ways to embrace the dilemmas we face.     

The invisibility of academic reading as social practice and its implications for equity in higher education: a scoping study

ABSTRACT

While the importance of academic language and literacies in students’ meaningful participation in higher education has been well-explored, studies have focused on writing rather than reading. There has been a significant silence in the literature around what constitutes reading in higher education, the sociocultural complexities of reader engagement with text, and contemporary understandings of situated experiences regarding reading practices in the disciplines, especially for traditionally under-represented student groups. Scholarly interest in academic literacies, and reading in particular, has significant implications for the equity and widening participation agenda. To this end this article critically engages with research examining reading in tertiary education and describes a scoping study of scholarly work at the intersection of three domains: academic literacies, reading studies, and widening participation and equity in higher education. In asking questions of these three overlapping fields of inquiry, we map trends in existing academic literature, and argue for a research agenda that examines the experiences, perceptions and enactments of academic reading in the context of South African and Australian efforts to widen participation to higher education.     

A Longitudinal Study of Intralimb Coordination in the First Year of Independent Walking: A Dynamical Systems Analysis

Using a dynamical systems approach, we examined the development of intralimb coordination over the first year of independent walking. The segmental motion of the thigh and shank and their intralimb coordinative relationship were modeled dynamically as a system of coupled limit cycles. To test the predictions of such a dynamic model in the development of intralimb coordination, 3 infants were filmed from the onset of their first upright independent walking steps, and weekly for the next month and then every month thereafter until they had been walking for 1 year. 3 adults also were included for comparison. Analysis of the kinematics data derived from the film revealed that at the emergence of walking, the limit cycle system displayed instability in several aspects. With walking experience, however, the limit cycle regime became more attractive, such that by 3 months of walking the infants appeared to have found an adult-like stable coordinative relationship between the 2 segments. This pattern of instability followed by stability is consisted with the transitional behaviors of dynamical systems. Several potential control parameters are discussed that might contribute to the stabilization of the walking behavior. The utility of employing a dynamical systems approach for understanding developing behavioral systems is discussed.     

Experimental science: Joseph Priestley’s influence in the infrastructure of the seventeenth-century science education

This paper discusses the emergence of science education in the seventeenth century with the influences of Joseph Priestley on the Dissenting Academies. Primarily, this paper analyses Priestley’s ideas from some of his letters to scientists during his time and his ideas from his books Miscellaneous Observations Relating to Education (1778) and the Essay on a Course of Liberal Education for Civil and Active Life (1765). As an expository essay, analysis shows that the inclusion of experimental science education dates back from the Dissenting Academies when they explicitly aligned science education for practical life. With Priestley’s advocacy on experimental learning in science, his idea of hands-on science education encouraged other dissenters to seek and understand the changing natural world. His advocacy states that knowledge and understanding of the natural world builds the foundation for rationally evaluating the developments derived from permissible scientific theories. Not setting aside religious studies, Priestley promoted a radical education which ended the restrictions to the privileged and powerful few so that it opened up the access of learning for everyone whose capacity may range from scientific, religious, political, or educational propensities.     

Changing Research Contexts in Teacher Education in Australia: Charting new directions

This paper examines research into initial teacher education in light of current Australian policy initiatives concerned with both the quality of research conducted in higher education and the quality of teacher education programs. The purpose of the paper is to explore some ways in which the research is, and can be, positioned in the current policy context. The paper begins with a brief overview of some of the main characteristics of the research concerned with initial (pre‐service) teacher education in Australia over the last decade. In terms of scope, scale and methodology, the research can be characterised in the following way: typically small‐scale; many one‐off studies; localised in nature; and a growing application of qualitative research methods. An obvious strength of this type of research is that it is closely tied to practice and to the day‐to‐day workings of initial teacher education programs. An equally obvious weakness is that the research does not necessarily have so called ‘impact’ in relation to policy debates and/or other measures of success in the wider research community. The paper charts some possible new directions for teacher education research in ways that build on the strengths and address the weaknesses. The directions can be characterised as follows: a ‘big funding’ approach; an ‘institutional aggregation’ approach; and a ‘platforms and protocols’ approach.     

Children in relation: Rethinking early childhood education

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 1986; Bredekamp, 1987) has published guidelines which define “developmentally appropriate” practice for all children birth through eight. These guidelines have now come under criticism, however, for a variety of reasons. Researchers have argued that they present a false impression of consensus (Walsh, 1991), that they are premised on a developmental theory characterized by ethnocentric bias (Bowman & Stott, 1994), and that they represent cultural values that are not universally shared (Jipson, 1991; Wiliiams, 1994; Phillips, 1994). This article holds likewise that the promulgation of guidelines based on universalist assumptions places racial, ethnic, and linguistic “minority” children and parents at a disadvantage and contributes to the very processes that early childhood educators seek to remedy. After reviewing an extensive research literature which shows children from traditionally disadvantaged groupsin relation, the article concludes that the poor scholastic performance of disproportionate numbers of children should be attributed to interactional and relational factors rather than to innate capabilities or to parental “inadequacy.” An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, August 14, 1993, Miami, FL.     

Genetic and environmental influences on prereading skills and early reading and spelling development in the United States, Australia, and Scandinavia

Genetic and environmental influences on prereading skills in preschool and on early reading and spelling development at the end of kindergarten were compared among samples of identical and fraternal twins from the U.S. (Colorado), Australia, and Scandinavia. Mean comparisons revealed significantly lower preschool print knowledge in Scandinavia, consistent with the relatively lower amount of shared book reading and letter-based activities with parents, and lack of emphasis on print knowledge in Scandinavian preschools. The patterns of correlations between all preschool environment measures and prereading skills within the samples were remarkably similar, as were the patterns of genetic, shared environment, and non-shared environment estimates: in all samples, genetic influence was substantial and shared environment influence was relatively weak for phonological awareness, rapid naming, and verbal memory; genetic influence was weak, and shared environment influence was relatively strong for vocabulary and print knowledge. In contrast, for reading and spelling assessed at the end of kindergarten in the Australian and U.S. samples, there was some preliminary evidence for country differences in the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences. We argue that the apparently higher genetic and lower shared environment influence in the Australian sample was related to a greater emphasis on formal reading instruction, resulting in more advanced reading and spelling skills at the end of kindergarten, and thus there was greater opportunity to observe genetic influences on response to systematic reading instruction among the Australian twins.     

Building Better Communities for Children: Community Implementation and Evaluation of the Australian Early Development Index

Since 2004 the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) has been completed in 54 Australian communities over seven states and territories on more than 30,000 children. A concurrent systematic evaluation of community implementation and use of the AEDI was undertaken that included both a process and impact component. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evaluation findings between 2004 and 2006. Results have shown there are a number of barriers and facilitators for communities in implementing the AEDI, disseminating results, and planning for community actions. The evaluation findings indicate AEDI implementation helps raise awareness of the importance of early childhood development, assists communities to work more collaboratively and to strategically plan actions to work towards improving outcomes for children.