An Aboriginal way towards curriculum reconciliation

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces the context and design of an institutional educational development grants program, Jindaola, which reflects an Aboriginal way towards reconciling Indigenous and non-Indigenous Knowledges in the Australian higher education curriculum. The program is unique in two ways: it foregrounds the voice of Aboriginal local Knowledge Holders in the design and implementation of the program; and, rather than focussing on embedding predefined ‘packages’ of Indigenous Knowledges and pedagogies into curricula, the approach adheres to Aboriginal methods for conducting business and maintaining knowledge integrity, by taking interdisciplinary teams of academics on a journey towards what we are calling ‘curriculum reconciliation’.     

Higher Education Governance as a Key Policy Issue in the 21st Century

Governance is currently a key issue not only for higher education institutions but for society as a whole. The way organizations are managed, the directions they take and the values they hold send clear signals about their role and functions in society. For this reason, the governance structures of universities were unquestioned for most of the twentieth century. Yet in the final decades of that century significant changes were starting to be felt. The most important of these changes related to the way universities were viewed by governments. In particular, the role of universities in contributing to national economies was being recognized. Greater accountability and more intense scrutiny from the outside meant that the traditional values of universities were being challenged. The task of universities, and for society as a whole, is to develop strategies that will retain the best of what universities have traditionally stood for while responding positively to new pressures and priorities. This paper advances the concept of `deliberative partnerships' as one way to reconstruct university governance in a positive way for the future. Key Words: accountability, education policy, higher education, management, organizational efficiency, public sector, university governance     

Preparing Young Australians for an Uncertain Future: New thinking about citizenship education

Civics and citizenship education enjoyed a revival in Australia from the mid-1990s onwards. It had bipartisan support from political parties, enjoyed funding for both curriculum materials development and teacher development, and has been given a high profile in all States and Territories. School level practice has been challenged by civics and citizenship education. There has been the need to seek both a place in the school curriculum and a pedagogy that is both engaging and meaningful for students. In themselves, these are significant challenges, but they pale into insignificance when compared with the geo-political realties that have shaken nation-states since 11 September 2001. The education and preparation of citizens must now take center stage if the world is to remain a compassionate and tolerant place in which to live. This paper addresses this issue by examining the threats to democracy that have emerged in the twenty-first century. In the light of these threats, classified as external to the nation-state as well as internal, the nature and purpose of citizenship education programs are discussed with a view to developing outcomes that will help young Australians face an uncertain future. In particular, the issue of developing civic capacity in young people is canvassed.     

The effects of gender‐role expectations upon perceptions of communicative competence

Several researchers have proposed that power, rather than gender, accounts for women using more powerless language than men. The present study examined the specific interaction context of bargaining and compared power with gender as potential predictors of the use of threats, one particular form of powerful language. Grounded in an interactional/social exchange view of power as dependence in social transactions, this study represented a marked departure from past studies of gender‐based language. The results largely supported power rather than gender as the best predictor of the use of powerful language in an interactional context involving bargaining.     

Print Media/Journalism

Charles A. Goodrum's The Library of Congress (New York: Praeger, 1974—$10.00)

Richard E. Huss' The Development of Printer's Mechanical Typesetting Methods: 1822-1925 (Charlottesville, University Press of Virginia, 1973—price not known)

Bruce M. Kennedy's Community Journalism: A Way of Life (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1974—price not known)

Louis E. Ingelhart's The College and University Campus Student Press: An Examination of its Status and Aspirations and Some of the Myths Surrounding It (send to Dr. John A. Boyd, National Council of College Publications Advisors, TMU 300, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana 47809—$2.00, paper)

Dan D. Nimmo and Charles M. Bonjean's Political Attitudes and Public Opinion (New York: McKay, 1972—$6.95, paper)     

Can't We All Just Get Along? Pan-Domain Collaboration Through an Innovative Collections Review Project at the Royal College of Surgeons of England

ABSTRACT

Although libraries, archives and museums were historically linked as ‘cabinets of curiosity,’ professionalization within the domains in the 19th century seems to have divided these collections. The creation of different working practices and standards built up barriers between these cultural or ‘information’ objects. However, in recent years there has been a well-developed trend towards pan-domain collaborative work which is slowly re-uniting collections and re-establishing links between the specialists that care for them. This article outlines how a project in the Royal College of Surgeons of England brought the library, archive and museum staff together to create a more collaborative environment which has served to benefit the collections, their users, and the staff themselves.     

Conceptualising and measuring student engagement through the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE): a critique

Student engagement has rapidly developed a central place in the quality agenda of Australian universities since the introduction of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE). The AUSSE is based on one developed in the USA. The main arguments given for adopting this survey in Australia are that it provides a valid instrument for measuring engagement and that it enables international comparisons. However, the survey instrument and scales have been adopted with little scrutiny of these arguments. This paper examines these arguments by considering different perspectives of engagement, examining the importance of contextual differences and evaluating the AUSSE engagement scales in the light of both. The paper concludes that the AUSSE results should be used by universities and policy‐makers with caution.     

The Aims of Science Laboratory Courses: a Survey of Students,Graduates and Practising Scientists

Summaries

English

This paper describes the results of a survey of practising scientists, recent graduates and undergraduates about their perceptions of undergraduate laboratory programmes in biology, chemistry and physics. The two groups in employment were requested to rate, in terms of degree of importance, each of 22 aims. The undergraduates were also requested to rate each aim, but in terms of their observed importance in their course as well as their preferred importance. The aims were then arranged in rank order. A high degree of concordance was found between practising scientists (which included staff in academic institutions) and recent graduates, who regard laboratory experiences in pragmatic terms which stress the acquisition of practical skills, equipment familiarity, observational skills, interpretation of data and a critical approach to experimentation. Undergraduate students, however, have some different perceptions of laboratory aims, and rate highly those activities associated with educational processes, for example the links which they observe to exist between theoretical material and laboratory work.

The implications of these results to the course designer are discussed.     

Tertiary teachers and student evaluations: never the twain shall meet?

Internationally, centralised systems of student evaluation have become normative practice in higher education institutions, providing data for monitoring teaching quality and for teacher professional development. While extensive research has been done on student evaluations, there is less research-based evidence about teachers’ perceptions of and engagement with student evaluations, the focus of the research reported in this paper. An interpretive approach framed the study in which data were gathered through questionnaire and interview responses from teaching staff at three New Zealand tertiary institutions. Results highlighted the general acceptance of the notion of student evaluations, recurring ideas about the limitations of evaluations and significant gaps in the way academics engage with student evaluation feedback. Recommendations for enhancing teacher engagement with student evaluation are made to optimise the potential for student evaluations to inform teaching development and to improve students’ learning experiences.