Friday, May 1, 2015 8:30am to 4:00pm

Hunter Building

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Keynote Address

Exploring the Autobiography of the Question:

Feminist and Critical Methodologies for Social Justice

Dr Penny Jane Burke Global Innovation Chair of Equity and co-Director of the Centre of Excellence in

Equity in Higher Education, University of Newcastle

Summary: Methodological frameworks profoundly shape the questions posed by

researchers and the ways research is differently conducted, valued and legitimated.

Epistemological perspectives frame our research, and determine the forms of knowledge

production engaged in constructing ‘social justice’. Ontological questions, related to

researcher subjectivity and positioning, illuminate processes of interpretation, contestation,

analysis and meaning-making. Research for social justice must address complex relations of

power, inequality and (micro) politics, in order to challenge re/presentations of the social

world as decontextualised and disembodied sets of data and evidence to be collected,

measured and classified. The autobiography of the question helps the researcher examine

the questions, perspectives, values and experiences she brings to a particular research

focus. Practices of reflexivity are foregrounded in order to engage her in critical processes of

interrogation, placing emphasis on developing deep sensitivity to experiences of inequalities

and their effects. Such processes are constructed as both personal and social, moving

beyond individualist concepts of ‘reflection’ and ‘being critical’ to making sense of how the

‘personal is the political’. This helps the researcher to consider her sense of self as

relational, to acknowledge and pay close attention to complex power relations and to

consider questions of social justice across intersecting differences, identities and

inequalities.

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Professor Burke joined the University of Newcastle in February 2015. She is also Professor

of Education at Roehampton University, London, where she is co-Founder and co-Director of

the Paulo Freire Institute-UK (PFI-UK) and Research in Inequalities, Societies & Education.

She has held the posts of Professor of Education at the University of Sussex and Reader of

Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. Penny is passionately

dedicated to developing methodological, theoretical and pedagogical frameworks that

support critical understanding and practice of equity and social justice in higher education.

Her research expertise includes gendered formations, higher education access and

participation, pedagogical experiences and practices and student and professional identities.

Penny was recipient of the Higher Education Academy’s prestigious National Teaching

Fellowship award in 2008 and she is the Access and Widening Participation Network co-

Convenor for the Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE). She has published

extensively in the field of equity in higher education. Key publications include:

(1) Accessing Education effectively widening participation (2002). Trentham Books.

(2)The Right to Higher Education: Beyond widening participation (2012). Routledge.

(3) Reconceptualising Lifelong Learning: Feminist Interventions (with Sue Jackson) (2007).

Routledge.

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PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Session Time Room Session

8:30am – 8:50 am

Hunter Concourse

Registration

9:00am – 10:15 am

HB13 Welcome, Acknowledgement to Country and Keynote by Dr. Penny Jane Burke

10:15 - 10:45 am HB 13 SoE Three Minute Thesis Heats*

Morning Tea HB 11 Courtyard

11:00 - 11:30 am

HA96, HA158, HB11, HA 145

Session I: Concurrent individual presentations

11:30 - 12:00 pm

HA96, HA158, HB11, HA 145

Session II: Concurrent individual presentations

12:00 - 12:30 pm

HA96, HA158, HA 145

Session III: Concurrent individual presentations

Lunch by Barrio 2304 HB 11 Courtyard

12:45 - 1:20 pm HB 11 Open Forum on Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods in Education**

1:30 - 2:30 pm

HA96, HA158 Session IV: Panel presentations

2:30 - 3:00 pm

HA96, HB11, Session V: Concurrent individual presentations

3:00 - 3:30 pm

HA96, HA158,

HB11

Session VI: Concurrent individual presentations

Closing Reception HA 96 In the event of inclement weather - morning tea will be provided in HB11 and lunch in HA16

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* Three Minute Thesis Heats Participants

1. Edwin Apawan - The importance of disaggregating concept and specialist language on content learning and academic identity formation

2. Shahrina Mou - Pedagogy integration in Bangladesh school education: content adoption to native language

3. Phillipa Parsons - Ambitious pedagogies: exploring the mediating of citizenship through the teaching and learning of history

4. Raju Varanasi - Learning for the poor: alternative frameworks and models Judges Penny Jane Burke Greg Preston John Fischetti Time keeper Nisha Thapliyal **Open Forum on Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods in Education This Forum is a new event at the SSTAR Autumn Conference. It has been introduced in response to student requests for a workshop-style session which would allow participants to informally explore their questions and concerns about specific research methods. The workshop will be facilitated by two resource persons - Dr. Dave Lubans and Dr. Nisha Thapliyal. The Forum will be held during the lunch interval. It is open to all registered participants.

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PRESENTATION SESSIONS SCHEDULE

Session Time Room Presenter and Abstract Title Session I 11:00am – 11:30am

HA96 HA158 HB11 HA145

Susan Grimes Learning disabilities = hidden disabilities: Identifying the participants Justin Francis Leon V. Nicolas Breaking new ground in practice through social work education: Re-educating students, teachers and practitioners to work creatively and responsibly. Neil Tucker Two research journeys – ‘Whole child and Walker Learning’ Gerard Kerry Price Unsuited to teach: Teacher professionalism and the intersection of gender and sexual identities

Session II 11:30am – 12:00pm

HA96 HA158 HB11 HA145

Phillipa Parsons Ambitious pedagogies: Exploring the mediating of citizenship through the teaching and learning of history. Oki Rahadianto Sutopo Young Indonesian musicians in transition: Education, family and insecure work Ting Liu Urban teachers’ perceptions of inclusion of migrant children in the Chinese educational institution: A comparative study. Delma Yuarata Why we are quiet: Pre-service teachers speak

Session III 12:00pm – 12:30pm

HA96 HA158 HA145

Hywel Ellis Who chooses VET and why: Initial analysis of student survey response from the Aspirations Longitudinal Study Judith Conway “No good at making tea”: The impact of second-wave feminism on International Women’s Day in Newcastle Ken Thornton The rise of centralised coordination of electricity generation and transmission in NSW 1888-2003

Session IV 1:30pm – 2:30pm

HA96 HA158

Panel Discussion J Fischetti, M Smith, R Varanasi, J McGrath, J Hingston Getting your arms around change R Parkes, D Donnelly, P Hill, E Shaw, M Innes History education in the borderlands

Session V 2:30pm - 3:00pm

HA96 HB11

Simon Watts Timebanking: Coproducing positive futures through social innovation Sabha Allehyani Investigating the roles of home and Kindergarten Literacy environments in assisting Saudi Children’s emergent literacy learning

Session VI 3:00pm - 3:30 pm

HA96 HA158 HB11

Machi Raju Varanasi Learning for the poor - Frameworks for those at the base of the pyramid Steven Grose Differences between European, US, British and Australian Secularism: Believing without belonging; belonging without believing. Alan Byrne Implementation of the AQF in the VET sector

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ABSTRACTS

Sabha Allehyani Session V, Room HB11 Investigating the roles of home and Kindergarten literacy environments in assisting Saudi Children’s emergent literacy learning The current research was conducted in the city of Mecca in KSA in order to investigate Saudi children’s emergent literacy practices and social interaction at home and kindergarten environments. This study adopted mixed methods design through using parental questionnaires, interviews with early childhood teachers and maids, and the observations of children and teachers’ literacy practices in the classroom. These methods investigated the influence of adult (including parents, maids and teachers) literacy attitudes, beliefs, demographic information such as educational levels, household income on children’s emergent literacy learning. This study reflected the challenge of being a female researcher in KSA particularly in relation to access to fathers. This referred to the complexity of gender segregation laws in KSA- a significant challenge which influenced the methodological design of this study. The main results of the study indicated that mothers were more involved than fathers in their children’s literacy practices at home. Another result showed that fathers were limited in their ability to communicate with teachers. In addition, maids played a significant part in influencing children’s literacy learning at home. Alan Byrne Session VI, Room HB11 Implementation of the AQF in the VET sector In 2013-14 the total export income from the education sector in Australia was $16.3B. But as recent developments in the VET sector attest there are no definitive ways to measure delivery, resulting in some highly publicised abuses. In response the Assistant Minister for Education announced, “Training providers will be banned from offering miraculously short Diploma courses”. In 2014 a Senate Enquiry was set up to make recommendations on VET reform. The author has just recently enrolled in an M.Phil to investigate the area of qualifications and standards in the sector. This paper provides information on the implementation of the AQF in Australia that will be part of an introductory chapter that sets the scene for discussion of standards. ASQA regulates the VET Industry and the AQF defines qualifications and levels of qualification. AQF uses 3 descriptors to define the level of a qualification. They are: Level of Knowledge, Volume of Knowledge and Qualification Descriptor (application). Using recent reports the author will outline how these levels come into play in the context of VET training delivery in Australia and provide some reference to similar developments in Europe.

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Judith Conway Session III, Room HA158 "No good at making tea”: the impact of second-wave feminism on International Women’s Day in Newcastle International Women’s Day (IWD) was first celebrated in Newcastle in 1931 and held in the majority of years afterwards. The organising committee consisted of mainly ‘old left’ women, who thought of ‘feminists’ as too middle-class focussed. The so-called second-wave of the women’s movement began reaching Newcastle in the late 1960s and resulted in increased interest in the celebration of IWD. This paper examines the changes that were effected by ‘feminists’ in celebration of the event. Hywel Ellis Session III, Room HA96 Who chooses VET and why: initial analysis of student survey response from the Aspirations Longitudinal Study With the Australian tertiary education sector churning and TAFE enrolments decreasing, understanding who is choosing VET pathways and why is increasingly important. The traditional distinction between VET for hands-on jobs and university for more theory-based jobs, a heuristic that many school students will hear when seeking advice on tertiary education, is changing. The current move away from VET courses as 50:50 theory and practical toward 80:20 in favour of theory parallels the transition from the Industrial to the Information Age (Maclean & Lai, 2011) and challenges the existing role of VET in contemporary Australia. In this shifting context, we examine survey responses and other linked data for students (n=1,250) who indicate an intention to take a vocational pathway after completing their schooling. These NSW students are from Years 3 to 11 as part of a larger study of educational and career aspirations in the middle years of schooling (ARC LP12000130). The analysis focuses on the characteristics of these students exploring such variables as: prior achievement, socioeconomic status, gender, and parent’s/carer’s occupation. We also analyse the reasons students give for their chosen educational and career pathway. John Fischetti, Max Smith, Raju Varanasi, Jason McGrath, June Hingston Session IV, Room HA96 Getting your arms around change This panel presentation will take the form of a Fishbowl discussion where participants will take turns discussing key current issues in school reform. This panel will provide an overview of cutting-edge issues in the fields of education leadership and school reform. Each panelist has extensive experience as a leader in the field of education in Australia and global contexts. This will be a highly interactive session where audience members will have multiple opportunities to share and engage in the conversation.

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Susan Grimes Session I, Room HA96 Learning disabilities = hidden disabilities: identifying the participants Higher education institutions have increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities within their student populations. Such students bring diversity, but also special needs, that HEI are not always able to identify and meet. Not all students with learning disabilities choose to “disclose” to their institutions, nor do they request or expect accommodations. Learning disabilities can be “hidden” in that there are no outward signs of the cognitive challenges faced by these students, making it easier for student to be treated “normally” without appropriate support for their difficulties. What do we mean by learning disabilities and what proportion of the higher education population would this include? Why would the non-disclosing group of students be of interest to our higher education institutions? This presentation will examine the increasing interest in the equity group “student with disabilities” by higher education institutions with focus on that group dealing with learning disabilities and the problems of identifying their number and nature. Steven Grose Session VI, Room HA158 Differences between European, US, British and Australian Secularism: believing without belonging, belonging without believing There are significant differences between European, US, British and Australian secularism. Those differences affect the way that religion is understood in each of these countries. These differences when overlooked create friction and dissonance in the educational communities associated with chaplaincy in NSW government schools. Curriculum designed to integrate values and belief can adjust this dissonance. Ting Liu Session II, Room HB11 Urban teachers’ perceptions of inclusion of migrant children in the Chinese educational institution: a comparative study Recently China has been undergoing an unprecedented urbanization process which has resulted in millions of rural families living in urban areas. As part of a study of Chinese migrant children’s educational experiences, surveys and interviews were conducted with primary school teachers in a metropolitan city in East China. The objectives of this study were to describe teachers’ perceptions of migrant children’s education in both migrant schools and in public schools, and to investigate differences in their beliefs between school types. Results found that urban teachers’ perceptions of educational inclusion of migrant students were slightly negative in general. However, teachers in public schools showed significantly more positive attitudes to inclusion of migrant students than migrant school teachers. In the light of these findings the paper concludes with implications for practice and policy for education of migrant children in China.

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Justin Francis Leon V Nicolas Session I, Room HA158 Breaking new ground in practice through social work education: re-educating students, teachers and practitioners to work creatively and responsibly Social work education plays a vital role in promoting and re-emphasizing creativity and innovation in social work practice. The need for creativity is emphasized in the re-design of the social work curriculum and in social work supervision as well. Studies have identified innovative pedagogical practices such as collaboration with other disciplines, the use of improvisation techniques, the use of visual and literary arts and music, visits to the museum, and other creative styles of learning. There are also factors found in the social work educational system that undermine enhancement of creativity in social work include the way theory is taught in the classroom, over-conceptualization, over-integration, reconciling competency-based and reflective practice, incongruence of the knowledge and skills required in practice and the actual competence in the field, standardized knowledge development and transfer, and the lack of time. Therefore, students of social work and practitioners need to be re-ushered in to the practice of working creatively and responsibly and be ready to break new ground through intuitive and experiential learning. Robert Parkes, Debra Donnelly, Peter Hill, Emma Shaw, Melanie Innes Session IV, Room HA158 History education in the borderlands HERMES is a multi-institutional, interdisciplinary research network concentrated within the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia, but with a growing profile of international members and collaborators. This panel presentation will share some of the scholarship being generated by the HERMES Research Network. The research foci of HERMES scholars include explorations of historical cultures (including historical media), historical consciousness, and History education. After a broad introduction to the HERMES research agenda, panelists completing a research degree will share their explorations in the borderlands between formalised history education and public history. Phillipa Parsons Session II, Room HA96 Ambitious pedagogies: Exploring the mediating of citizenship through the teaching and learning of history. My project rests on the theory that school history is a crucial site for the formation of the citizenry; a notion attested to in the ideological struggles over ‘what kind of history for what kind of citizen?’ Contributing to the epistemological foundations of nation-centric citizenship through consensualised historical metanarratives that incorporate mythologised stories and valourised heroes, history classrooms become spaces to construct the national collective memory. This study seeks to explore the role of the history teacher in that space, and aims to identify classroom practices that foster students’ knowledge, values, attitudes and skills for broader notions of citizenship. It is based on the premise that in a globalised world with global challenges, broader notions of civic consciousness are necessary. Moreover, this study aims to be transformative in that it may contribute to professional

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development programs that may assist teachers’ self-efficacy towards teaching ambitiously. This research will focus on the role that teachers’ values and beliefs play as implicit as well as explicit mediators of citizenship. As a hermeneutic phenomenological study this project is intended to be a ‘bottom-up’, democratic approach, offering a voice to teachers in a field that often dictates theory ‘down’ to them. As a ‘missing link’ between theory and practice, this study aims to build a bridge between the political rhetoric and academic theory around teaching for citizenship, and the day-to-day pedagogical realities for teachers in the classroom. Gerard Price Session I, Room HA145 Unsuited to teach: teacher professionalism and the intersection of gender and sexual identities The role of schools as discursively constructed microcosms that perpetuate the hetero-masculine and homophobic discourses of broader society are well documented, researched and discussed within NSW and internationally. This broad international dialogue suggests queer educators’ experiences of oppression and violence are not isolated to New South Wales but transcend nations. As a queer theorist, engaging with and contributing to this broad international dialogue, I seek to challenge the normative discourses that so often position queer teachers as ‘unsuited to teach’. To do so, I take up methodological anarchist literary theory which resists both dominating and being dominated by text. In so doing, I question the aforementioned normative discourses that constitute, in part, the unrecognisability of queer teachers’ professionalism, demonstrating the constructedness of ‘the norm’ and its ability to be deconstructed, resisted, and reconstructed. The dissertation offers a self-transformative teacher professionality project as a means of preservice and continuous teacher development, promoting the understanding and valuing of difference in self and other. This is complemented by camp discourse, offered as a queer project that occupies transgressive spaces as well as the often pathologizing ‘flaunting’ discourse, to demonstrate performances of realness through subversion of normalcy. Oki Rahadianto Sutopo Session II, Room HA158 Young Indonesian musicians in transition: education, family and insecure work Youth transitions process can be described as the journey to becoming an adult that consist of three core domains of successful transition: education, work and marriage. Besides getting a job, marriage and parenthood are also still important indicators that define a person as an adult in Indonesia as well as other Global South countries. However, youth in the present day experience a different reality to previous generations, because life pathways are no longer as fixed as before. The current trend shows that the younger generation is typically better educated than their parents, but young Indonesians suffer most from the unemployment problem. Some young people who are artistically inclined develop their entrepreneurial skills and become musicians in various music fields as an alternative option in the insecure labour markets of contemporary Indonesia as well as to

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face the transition to adulthood. This paper offers some data analysis from a youth transition study of young male musicians in Indonesia. Specifically, it explores how young male musicians actively negotiate between domains of education, family and insecure work. Ken Thornton Session III, Room HA145 The rise of centralised coordination of electricity generation and transmission in NSW 1888-2003 From a historical perspective, the NSW electricity generation and transmission industry in 2015 has come near full circle. From a number of authorities each with their own power stations and transmission grids and little or no internetwork coordination of operations and planning, to an interstate system with many generating authorities some operating large, remote thermal power stations, or smaller renewable enegry facilities each feeding into a single, multi-owner high voltage transmission grid and in turn connected to consumers through lower voltage distribution. Today, nearly all discussion on the electricity generation and transmission industry centres on ‘poles and wires’, fossil fuels vs renewables, public or private ownership, asset realisation, costs and process efficiencies. However, these discussions are predicated on the physical interconnection of high voltage networks, the coordinated control of the industry and an excess of generation capacity. Accordingly, the primary focus of this presentation is the transformation of the pre-1940 fragmented New South Wales electricity generation and transmission industry into the current interconnected and coordinated industry in which reliability of supply is paramount. This transformation is examined in terms of the transition from small isolated power stations; through large uncoordinated systems; a state-wide interconnected but uncoordinated system; a coordinated state-wide system and finally the interconnection of adjacent coordinated interstate systems. Neil Tucker Session I, Room HB11 Two research journeys – ‘Whole child and Walker Learning’ The presentation will summatively rehearse two interconnected research journeys – a conceptual, theoretical study of ‘whole child’ and ‘holistic learning’ which will become the thesis, and a parallel field study of a ‘whole child’, whole school (PK-6) pedagogy being practised in some 200 diverse Australian primary schools, the Walker Learning Approach. The Field Study was initially proposed as the potential Doctoral Study. It has now been pursued as a Consultant Study, largely in the terms of the original proposal. It will not be offered for thesis examination. The presentation will review some of the key questions raised by each journey. The theoretical study begs both ontological and utilitarian questions of Why? What for? Does it matter? To whom? What might be proposed? The Field Study asks questions about qualitative and quantitative evidence (of/for/from what?), and suggests an underlying

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different even apposite ‘ontology’ in these two approaches to research evidence establishing linkage between school practice and learning outcomes. Machi Raju Varanasi Session VI, Room HA96 Learning for the poor: frameworks for those at the base of the pyramid In this research proposal, I would like consider the theoretical frameworks emerging from the current literature in four domains of interest to generate cross disciplinary thinking and intersectional innovation for alternate frameworks and models in learning. The first three offer new thinking and the last one is the application domain – learning or education. They are

o disruptive innovation threatening established firms and institutions, at the same time offering opportunities to society at large;

o business models for their applicability to the social sector, especially education. o digital platforms for their potential to be the open, global and virtual school systems; o base of the pyramid (BoP) children who are either deprived or under-served with no

prospect of getting any education. My thesis proposal is that while innovative theoretical frameworks are emerging through research and practice in each of the four domains, little attention is given by educational researchers to examine the new possibilities. It is the intersection of these domains of knowledge and a systemic integration of new knowledge that has a stronger possibility of providing sustainable solutions to Education. This thesis will be delivered as a Thesis by Publication, structured cohesively across five or six papers. Simon Watts Session V, Room HA96 Timebanking: coproducing positive futures through social innovation Timebanking is an alternate exchange system and a community currency that is based on reciprocal giving of time among volunteer members. In Australian Timebanking, the volunteer earns time credits which may be used later for securing valued support from other people. The article identifies and explores features of social innovation, and the coproduction and reciprocity that are key features of Timebanking in Australia. The design led approach used for developing and growing Timebanking as a 21st Century volunteering innovation is described, along with the authors own policy entrepreneurship, and together these frame this social innovation method. The analysis demonstrates how local people giving time to one another creates transformative impact in their lives, and in local communities. I argue that growing public, political and academic interest in social innovation makes this Timebanking innovation method of critical importance.

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Delma Yurata Session II, Room HA145 Why we are quiet: pre-service teachers speak Oral communication competence in the English language is essential among teachers in the Philippines where English is used as the medium of instruction in all levels of education. Pre-service teacher training is supposed to be the culmination in the development of oral communication competence in English among future Filipino teachers. In the final years, they hone their English speaking skills before they become full-pledged teachers. However, pre-service teachers and teacher educators reveal that atmosphere in English medium classes are generally quiet and only few students participate in classroom discussion. This appears to be an unlikely scenario to support the development of oral communication competence in English among pre-service teachers. Considering the Filipino high-context culture communication style, underlying reasons for the seeming silence in English medium classes is examined. Focus group interview transcripts from three teacher education institutions in Mindanao, the Philippines were analysed to obtain an in-depth understanding of pre-service teachers’ reasons for their restrained participation in activities that promote oral communication in English medium classes. Insights on the link between high-context culture communication style and classroom communication will be presented.

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Thank you for your attendance