Lifelong learning and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Probing the implications and the effects

International Review of Education -     

Fostering Spirituality in a Pastoral Care Context

This article addresses the issue of promoting spirituality as a dimension of pastoral care in schools. The everyday practice of caring and giving may leave carers tired, depleted of spiritual sustenance, and without practices that nurture their spirituality. This article proposes that spirituality is an essential element of pastoral care, and that it can be promoted through examination of one's sense of vocation, bodywork, journal writing and nurturing soul friends.     

Understanding the graphical challenges faced by vision-impaired students in Australian universities

Information graphics such as plots, maps, plans, charts, tables and diagrams form an integral part of the student learning experience in many disciplines. However, for a vision impaired student accessing such graphical materials can be problematic. This research seeks to understand the current state of accessible graphics provision in Australian higher education. We conducted an online survey of 71 vision-impaired university students and semi-structured interviews with 44 key stakeholders (students, academics, disability liaison officers and accessible graphics providers). We found that difficulty in accessing graphical materials was a barrier to many vision-impaired students and that there were systemic problems with current processes for accessible graphics provision. Recommendations are made on ways to address these concerns in order to provide a more equitable higher education experience.     

Lifelong learning challenges: Responding to migration and the Sustainable Development Goals

International Review of Education - The 21st century, not yet two decades old, has already seen massive migration of peoples escaping the degradation of the environment, effects of war, threats to...     

Links between research and schools: The role of postgraduate students

In Australia a desire to increase the return of investment in educational research has led to interest in different aspects of research impact, including the nature of links between research and schooling. One significant group in such links is postgraduate students who are also teachers or educational administrators. Responses were obtained from 1267 postgraduate students to questions about their perceptions of new developments in schools and of research, including their own studies. Differences between postgraduate students who were involved in school-level education and those who were not involved at this level were also investigated. Colleagues within their school were named as the major source of new developments, but two-thirds also saw the universities as important sources. The most common type of new development described was in the area of curriculum. Research was the most frequently cited basis for new ideas and development in schools, with a large majority stating that research had at least some impact on their work and on education generally in their region, the research frequently being introduced or mediated by colleagues. Areas being addressed by these students in their own research and projects were, in the main, of relevance to schools, most commonly in the areas of curriculum and educational processes and structures. Finally, the importance of postgraduate students as linkage agents between research and schools is stressed.