Positioning young refugees in Australia: media discourse and social exclusion     

Fiona MacDonald 《International Journal of Inclusive Education》2017,21(11):1182-1195

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article was to examine how media attention affects the social exclusion of young refugees negotiating their way towards settlement in Australia. Emerging stereotypes and prejudices against young male refugees require new ways of understanding the impact of global, national and local issues on their social exclusion. The article brings together the impact of (a) the global politicisation and backlash against refugees, (b) Australians negative perception of refugees and (c) the increased reporting of young African-Australian and Pasifika-Australians as the perpetrators of youth violence. The article recognises the overlapping dimensions of social exclusion for young refugees and considers their ‘spatial’, ‘relational’ and ‘socio-political’ exclusion. The examination of media reporting of a landmark legal case of discrimination and racial profiling reveals a discourse of media attention that has perpetuated the social exclusion of a group of young African-Australian refugees living on a Melbourne public housing estate. The sensationalist and prejudicial media connection of the landmark legal case, youth violence and young African-Australians living on the Flemington Estate demonstrates the challenges young male refugees face in negotiating their settlement in Australia. This article makes a contribution to understanding the multi-dimensional nature of youth exclusion in contemporary times.  相似文献   

Resistant leadership: countering dominant paradigms in school improvement     

Fiona Longmuir 《Journal of educational administration and history》2019,51(3):256-272

ABSTRACT

In Australia, school leadership is influenced by neoliberal discourses of accountability and performativity. Many schools seek to balance systemic pressures that narrow outcome expectations with a desire to deliver schooling in the broad interests of the students and communities that they serve. In this case, the principal was appointed to a school under threat of closure. To re-establish he purposefully disrupted traditional arrangements using approaches that disregarded many standard school improvement paradigms. The school improved in enrolments, reputation and student learning. This paper examines how this principal found and created spaces for disruptive change within the local context and the broader policy environment. While the value or ethics of the leadership are not the focus of the paper, it is noted that the autocratic position he assumed was problematic. Despite this, the case provides insight into leadership that resisted the confines of normative pressures to support radical school improvement.  相似文献   

More than activities: using a ‘sense of place’ to enrich student experience in adventure sport     

Mark Leather  Fiona Nicholls 《Sport, Education and Society》2016,21(3):443-464

There has been increasing interest in recent years in the significance of a sense of place in the literature of outdoor adventure education. In the UK relationships between outdoor education and the environment still appear largely focused on the science of the natural environment and the activity in question. In this paper, we present empirical evidence from an action research project to demonstrate how a combination of formal and informal pedagogy in a higher education context can lead to a sociocultural and historical understanding of place and enrich the learning experience of students when teaching the classical outdoor adventurous activity of sailing. The sport of dinghy sailing is a module within a Bachelor's undergraduate degree in outdoor education and was taught from a small fishing town in Devon, England. We adopted an integrated and experiential critical pedagogy of place that allowed theory and practice, thought and action to be a holistic experience, and this approach provided opportunities for informal, as well as formal learning. This action research project explored the impact on the student experience when sailing skills were developed along with a sense of place. It used methods including: photo-elicitation, focus group interviews and evidence from the analysis of written student assignments. Our findings show that students discover a significance of the meaningful relationship between the sociocultural history of where that activity takes place and the activity itself and that as a result their experience of the learning and research process was enriched.  相似文献   

The importance of “seed” research funds in science and technology an Australian case study     

Fiona Q. Wood  David C. Nicholls  V. Lynn Meek 《The Australian Educational Researcher》1993,20(3):83-100

The 1980s have witnessed a growing concern by governments in many western countries that the research finding agencies which they support are accountable/or what is funded and can demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness of their operations. However, despite the reports regarding the operations of for example, the National Science Foundation in the United States and the Research Councils in the United Kingdom there is very little readily available information on the operations of those agencies or Programs responsible for the allocation of “seed funds”. This article reports the results of a survey which investigated how one such Program in Australia has been meeting both its own aims as well as the needs of its grant recipients in relation to collaborative international science and technology projects. The findings show an overwhelming support for the Program and identify many tangible examples of how a little money can go a long way. Furthermore, one of the main points made by grant recipients is that the Program is complementary to, rather than a supplement for the other Australian research funding schemes.  相似文献   

The reporting of university league table employability rankings: a critical review     

Fiona Christie 《Journal of Education & Work》2017,30(4):403-418

Which are the best and worst universities in the UK for getting a job when you graduate? This question attracts readers of the employability rankings in national league tables. This study critically reviews the employability measure used in the rankings and its subsequent reporting in public news and commentary sources, such as national and local media, student and advisory websites as well as universities and the publishers themselves. A debate that is constrained by a reproduction of the content and apparent neutrality of the employability measure in the tables is revealed. Universities themselves are the most frequent commentators, and echo the content of the tables fairly uncritically. Analysis leads to a consideration that participants in higher education may not be served well by a proliferation of information that can lead to simultaneous over-simplification and obfuscation that does not result in clarity or trust. I will argue that prospective students and their advisers need to review information that is available critically, and that universities individually and collectively should facilitate the production of a more nuanced narrative about graduate career pathways that is not controlled by marketing and metrics.  相似文献   

An examination of what metaphor construction reveals about the evolution of preservice teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Aisling M. Leavy  Fiona A. McSorley  Lisa A. Boté 《Teaching and Teacher Education》2007

Examination of prospective teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning on entry to teacher education programs, and tracking the development of these beliefs in light of academic and field-based experiences, is a critical task for teacher educators. The study examines metaphor construction as a tool to gain access to, and promote the development of, prospective teachers’ beliefs through the incorporation of reflective activities that integrate academic and field-based experiences. Specifically, this research examines how metaphorical representations of preservice elementary teachers’ in the United States and Europe changed and examines the factors influencing the development of beliefs and the modification of metaphors.  相似文献   

Using interactive nonfiction narrative to enhance competence in the informed consent process with 3-year-old children     

Fiona Mayne  Christine Howitt  Léonie J. Rennie 《International Journal of Inclusive Education》2017,21(3):299-315

ABSTRACT

Ensuring young children’s competence to participate meaningfully in the informed consent process is a troublesome ethical issue. Evolving recognition of the influence of context and relationship, researcher perspective, and researcher responsibility to provide adequate support has advanced understanding of how this might be achieved. Here, we report the findings of the pilot trial of a new approach that used an ‘interactive nonfiction narrative’ to enhance young children’s capacity to provide meaningful informed consent. This innovative approach employs (re)telling strategies and technology (interactive) to convey factual information about the research (nonfiction) via a story (narrative) to promote participant understanding. Case studies of two 3-year-old boys and their mothers captured participants’ understanding of the informing and consent process. Data collection in the child’s home took place over 11 weeks and included conversations with children and semi-structured interviews with parents on three occasions, together with videos of children interacting with the informing story. We found that children understood many of the key concepts, including the research problem and how they could ‘help’ (participate). Children also understood that they could cease their participation, with one boy exercising his right to opt out towards the end of the study.  相似文献   

Blindness,Art and Exclusion in Museums and Galleries     

Fiona Candlin 《The International Journal of Art & Design Education》2003,22(1):100-110

Drawing on interviews with blind people, this paper examines both their exclusion from museums and galleries and their responses to the art educational provision that is specifically designed to remedy that marginalisation. Blind visitors’ responses to these educational projects were polarised; respondents were either highly critical or very enthusiastic. This paper begins by outlining the interviewees’ criticisms which included; education officers’ misconception of how touch facilitates learning and aesthetic response, a lack of educational progression and blind people's exclusion from mainstream events. I then ask why, given these problems, did other respondents reply so favourably, suggest that these high levels of satisfaction had little to do with museum provision but were in fact the result of social interaction and of rare inclusion within the sighted community. I argue that, ironically, this sense of inclusion is premised on blind visitors’ structural exclusion from art institutions. Finally, the article examines those visitors who, illicitly or otherwise, already experience some aspects of the museum in multisensory terms, but maintain that until museums’ and galleries’ ocularcentric orientation is reconfigured, there will be little possibility for these rogue visitors to develop their knowledge of art. Likewise, without institutional change, educational events for the blind will continue to be an inadequate supplement to a structure that is and remains inequitable.  相似文献   

An evaluation of Wordshark in the classroom     

Chris Singleton  & Fiona Simmons 《British journal of educational technology : journal of the Council for Educational Technology》2001,32(3):317-330

The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of Wordshark , a multisensory drill-and-practice computer program designed to improve children's spelling and word recognition skills. A 20-item questionnaire on the use and effectiveness of the program was sent to 1312 schools in the UK that had purchased the program, and 403 replies were received (31% response rate). The results indicated that the program was being used in both primary schools and secondary schools. In the majority of schools the program was being used with SEN pupils, and very frequently it was incorporated within Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Wordshark was principally used to practice words, to introduce new words, to find out whether children can read and spell particular words, to reinforce teaching points, and as a reward for effort and/or good work. The children were reported to enjoy using the program and almost all (96%) of respondents stated that children were better motivated when using the program than when doing other classroom work. In the vast majority of cases, significant improvements in children's reading and spelling were reported. The findings are discussed in relation to the theory and practice of computer-assisted learning.  相似文献   

Electing to speak: professional dialogue in the context of Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy     

Fiona Smart  Mandy Asghar  Laurie-Ann Campbell  Mark Huxham 《International Journal for Academic Development》2019,24(3):232-245

Written submissions are traditionally used in the assessment of applications for Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, with dialogue offering an alternative approach. Quite why individuals elect for dialogue has received little attention. Using a mixed methods approach, data were gathered from two Universities offering dialogic and written routes in their Fellowship schemes. Most individuals elected for dialogue, although this decision varied between Fellowship categories. Reasons for the choice were highly individual. This study demonstrates that dialogic approaches are popular with staff. However, we argue the importance of choice in Fellowship assessment options and recommend this to other academic developers.  相似文献