Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and practice: Balancing expectations of the ‘old’ academy with the future model of universities as ‘problem solvers’

Academics are increasingly required to balance the expectations of the ‘old’ academy with a future model of universities as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ‘problem solvers’. This paper highlights changing expectations of academics in producing alternative research outcomes in collaborative, practice‐based research. Through a series of workshops with 20 researchers, preferred research outcomes and tensions in achieving these outcomes were identified. The tensions identified are presented as three dichotomies comprising the tension between: (a) ‘I versus We’ ‐ individual versus team expectations & outcomes. (b) Disciplinary outcomes versus inter‐/transdisciplinary outcomes. (c) Learning versus research objectives for the students and academics involved. These tensions reflect the authors' experiences of working in three international sustainability projects, drawing on lessons learned from these projects, with recommendations for universities seeking to implement interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary doctoral and postdoctoral programmes. Recommendations include the need for formal and informal leadership models, strong communication skills, empathy and willingness to learn from each other. A need for more systemic changes within university administration to better reward and value the breadth and depth of collaborative work, while facilitating open learning cultures and practice‐oriented learning opportunities and curricula across faculties was also identified.     

Evaluative reviews in universities: The influence of public policies

This article addresses issues raised by the conduct of evaluative review processes in the context of public policies. Some examples and outcomes of evaluative reviewing are discussed. The first sections deal with: the necessity for evaluative reviews, their parameters (including their scope and initiation, the levels at which they are conducted, the composition of review committees, information for evaluative reviews, completion of the review process) and the implementation of review recommendations. The significance is examined of evaluative reviews in universities for public policy, inter-institutional and intra-institutional arrangements and for the activities of individual staff members. It is concluded that if universities are to avoid having dramatic change imposed on them by governments through control of finances, they should initiate a continuous review of their role, structure and function designed to maintain access to and the quality of university education.     

Writing it down—writing it out—writing it up: researching our practice through action learning

We dedicate this article to the late Professor John Morris, an appreciative inquirer into and true enabler of the writing of practice for each of us.

What value is added for writer and reader by intentionally keeping personal learning part of public researching? When a practitioner attends conscientiously to ‘the relationship with their research,’ does it make a difference to their learning and researching? If it does, can this difference also make a difference to the reader …? This paper addresses these kinds of queries from the standpoint of ‘scholarly practice,’ the research undertaken by mature managers and professionals who account in text for initiating and sustaining change within their complex contexts of work. Through exploring a variety of learning frames, the authors identify the distinctive opportunities and challenges in practice-led enquiry, and raise implications critically for the researching professional as well as for their ‘enablers’—the academic supervisors or fellow action-learning set members—who support and challenge the efforts of scholarly practitioners to make sense of and explicate their action. Revans's praxeology of action-based learning (systems alpha, beta and gamma) is extended as a research analogue for practice-led knowing. Ontological, methodological and epistemological perspectives are progressively deployed to examine critically the essentially reflexive nature of scholarly practice. The authors depict challenges in scholarly practice of establishing focus, incorporating others' thinking alongside one's own and asserting one's own voice. The paper concludes by warning of two ways in which enablers can unwittingly hijack the purpose of practice-led research.     

The concept of ‘originality’ in the Ph.D.: how is it interpreted by examiners?

This paper explores ways in which examiners, supervisors and others interpret the concept of ‘originality’ when evaluating candidates’ achievements in the final Ph.D. examination. It is based on institutional responses to a question in a 2006 discussion paper on doctoral assessment about how universities define originality for the purpose of Ph.D. assessment and what other criteria are used to guide examiners in making judgements in the final examination. The paper also includes emerging findings from the first stages of data generation for a Ph.D. study about how examiners assess the Ph.D. This study involves viva observations and interviews with candidates, examiners, supervisors and independent chairs of vivas. Most participants, irrespective of role, discipline or field, confirmed that ‘originality’ or ‘a contribution to knowledge’ is required for a candidate to pass the Ph.D. examination, and that this criterion is interpreted in a subject-specific context by examiners. The studies suggest that the discipline or field in which the candidate’s topic is situated influences the examiners’ interpretation of ‘originality’ and their expectations of the candidate. However, ‘originality’ is not the only criterion for the Ph.D., and students are also required to demonstrate other achievements to pass the doctorate. The studies show that there is some degree of consistency among examiners in the general criteria used to evaluate the candidate’s thesis and performance in the viva. These findings are discussed in the light of the literature.     

GCE performance of FE and sixth‐form college students

This study set out to examine and identify differences in GCE O/A‐level performance of a sample of further education and sixth‐form college students, employing selected biographical, intellectual and dispositional measures. The sample comprised 356 two‐year, full‐time students who entered further education and sixth‐form colleges immediately after completing their fifth‐form work in schools. The results show that taking account of students’ dispositional characteristics significantly increases the explained variation in attainment beyond that accounted for by intellectual ability and previous examination performance. Also indicated are significant differences in the factors associated with examination success; these are shown to be related to students who attend different types of institution. The findings would appear to have implications for current policies concerned with the educational provision for students in the 16‐19 age range.     

Chinese students’ groupwork practices and experiences in China

Chinese students constitute the most rapidly growing international cohort of students enrolled in many Western tertiary settings, and it is important to understand more about their preparation for engaging with commonly used teaching approaches such as groupwork. This study investigated their attitudes and experience of groupwork while enrolled at a large Chinese university. Semi-structured and video-stimulated recall interview data were collected from 16 third-year Finance students over a 5-week field study. Results showed that this group of Chinese students experienced more out-of-class than in-class groupwork activities. These out-of-class groupwork sessions fell into three categories: (1) student initiated, (2) student league initiated and (3) teacher initiated. Students identified both individual and collective benefits from groupwork, highlighting that Chinese students value groupwork and actively seek to engage with it in the Chinese tertiary context. This study contributes to the understanding of Chinese students’ group practices in Chinese tertiary settings.     

Sustainable leadership in small rural schools: Selected Australian vignettes

According to Hargreaves and Fink (The seven principles of sustainable leadership, 2003; Sustainable leadership, 2006), sustainable leadership matters, spreads and lasts, and is fundamental to enduring and widespread school improvement. This observation is especially germane to the context of leading small primary schools in rural locations, where challenges encountered by principals in engaging with the complexities of continuous improvement are often accentuated. This article looks at the applicability of certain aspects of sustainable leadership to the circumstances surrounding small rural schools. First, reasons are given for devoting attention to the specific context of leadership in small rural primary schools, especially in Australia. The article then examines the distinctive challenges encountered by principals of small rural schools that appear to compound the difficulties of pursuing sustainable leadership. The next section draws from a Queensland study (Clarke and Stevens, Small schools leadership study. Leading and teaching in small schools: confronting contextual complexity in work practices, 2004) that has generated vignettes depicting the complexity of novice teaching principals’ work in rural environments. Taking cognizance of Hargreaves and Fink’s analysis of sustainable leadership, selections from these vignettes are used to sharpen understandings of ways in which sustainable leadership plays out in this context and the factors that either promote or impede its development.     

Life skills-based HIV education: some virtues and errors

Since the early 1990s, life skills education has benefitted substantially from international agency advocacy and support, linked to its implementation in several countries as a key component of the education sector response to sexual health and HIV. The concept of life skills was first promoted by the World Health Organization through its programme on mental health as a means of promoting psychosocial competence. Since then, it has been extended to address a wider range of issues. Life skills-based HIV and sex education has proved to be a durable concept in education sector policy discourse on HIV and AIDS, despite a growing literature on the shortcomings in terms of its effectiveness in implementation in schools and delivering intended learning outcomes. Using a literature review, this paper aims to re-examine the adequacy of the life skills-based HIV education approach including empirical evidence for its effectiveness in educating about and preventing HIV infection among young people. Findings suggest that bureaucratic acceptance and advocacy for life skills-based HIV education has outstripped the theoretical adequacy and empirical evidence base for its effectiveness. Its current position among core indicators for the education sector response to HIV can be considered indicative of frozen thinking or inter-agency group-think.     

Education and Welfare: Issues in Co-ordination and Co-operation

Allison and Von Wald (2010) highlight the substantial opportunities presented by expeditions to address the crucial topic of personal and social development. The present paper wishes to address the apparent oversight of transfer within such learning experiences. Issues that need to be addressed if the impact of transfer is to be optimised are exemplified using four categories, relating to both outcome and process considerations. Furthermore, it is argued that transfer should not be assumed, but rather carefully planned for and attended to as part of any curriculum or development activity. Consequently, facilitation of transfer outcomes by a leader may need to involve both transactional and transformational direction, in addition to consideration of environmental factors and the participants themselves.