Category: Refereed article

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Using grass roots community programs as an anti-extremism strategy

Author: Robyn Broadbent, Victoria University

Edition: Volume 53, Number 2, July 2013

Summary: In recent times the Australian Government has become increasingly concerned with the challenge to the dominant culture by humanitarian immigrants entering the country.  As a part of a complex strategy, emerging from the events of 9/11 and the perceived changing face of multiculturalism in Australia, the Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced in 2011 more than $1.1 million in funding for projects to mentor and support young people to stay disengaged from intolerant and radical ideologies.The grants have been awarded under the Building Community resilience – Youth Mentoring Grants Program (2010) and are  designed to promote a tolerant, safe and inclusive society.

As a result of that funding a northern suburbs Council Youth Services in Victoria established a project to work with young people 12-17 years who have been identified by Victoria Police, the education sector, and welfare agencies as individuals who have or are exhibiting signs of fostering hatred and intolerance either through the spoken word, written messages, graffiti, the media, or the internet, that live within this local government area. This paper discusses the results of the evaluation of a multicultural leadership program that was delivered using an adult learning framework in which 16 young people attended and how such programs can continue to build the capacity of communities to build scaffolds of support that ensure the inclusion of young people and not their marginalization.

Keywords: Young people, extremism, racism, community program

 

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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The ‘double-edged sword’ of the adult learning environment

Authors: Sara Murray and Jane Mitchell: Charles Sturt University

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: The vocational education and training sector plays a critical role in the provision of educational opportunities for young adults who have left school prior to completing a qualification. Some research has found that a major factor that supports student re-engagement in formal education is the ‘adult learning environment’ that characterises institutions such as TAFE. Other studies have questioned the suitability of the adult learning environment for some students. This study explores how students and teachers in five foundation TAFE courses view the adult learning environment and how they respond to this environment. The paper argues that the adult learning environment can in some instances be a ‘double-edged sword’, in that it can both enhance and limit student engagement.

Keywords: vocational, VET, TAFE, young adult, learning, foundation

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Time, money, leisure and guilt – the gendered challenges of higher education for mature-age students

Author: Cathy Stone: Open Universities Australia and The University of Newcastle, Australia

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: Two qualitative research projects examined the impact of university study on two cohorts of mature-age students at a regional university in Australia. All the students interviewed had entered university via non-traditional pathways and had faced significant hurdles in gaining university entrance and continuing with their studies. The influence of gender on their experiences of managing home, family and work responsibilities in combination with their responsibilities as students is examined. Issues such as lack of time and money, self-sacrifice and guilt emerged strongly from the stories of these students as they struggled to manage their multiple responsibilities. The gendered nature of these struggles is explored.

Keywords: university, mature-age, regional, non-traditional, pathway, student, hurdle

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Engaging in continuing education and training: Learning preferences of worker-learners in the health and community services industry

Authors: Sarojni Choy, Stephen Billett and Ann Kelly: Griffith University, Brisbane

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: Current tertiary education and training provisions are designed mainly to meet the learning needs of those preparing for entry into employment and specific occupations. Yet, changing work, new work requirements, an ageing workforce and the ongoing need for employability across lengthening working lives make it imperative that this educational focus be broadened to include continuing education and training provisions for those already in the workforce. To address this refocusing of the education and training effort, this paper proposes that learning at work, encompassing practice-based experiences supported by both formal and informal workplace arrangements, constitute an effective continuing education and training model for worker-learners in the aged care industry. It draws on data from semi-structured interviews and written responses from 51 workers who show preferences for such a model. Not only do aged care workers like engaging in learning independently and with co-workers and workplace facilitators, they prefer a larger component of courses to be delivered at the work site. The implications of these findings are summarised in this article.

Keywords: continuing education, workforce, workplace, aged-care, worker-learner, work site

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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‘Trying to keep up’: The experience of combining full-time VET with work

Author: Michelle Morris: Student Services, TAFE SA Regency Campus

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: Maintaining a healthy work-life relationship is important for the health and wellbeing of individuals and families. This is also true for students studying in vocational education and training(VET) who face increasing pressure to combine study and work. The intersecting commitments of work, life and study create a range of demands for individuals, which, in turn, impede work-life satisfaction. Time and money have been shown to be the biggest factors affecting people who combine work and VET – particularly for workers in low-income jobs, which constitute the biggest employment source for VET students. Data from a research project at TAFESA indicates that working students experience high levels of stress, time strain and interference with activities outside work/ TAFE. The work life outcomes for full-time students are significantly worse than outcomes for workers in the general population.

Keywords: full-time, work-life, balance, VET, research, TAFESA

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Meeting diverse expectations: Department of Tutorial Classes, Sydney University, 1919 to 1963

Authors: Darryl Dymock and Ann Kelly; Griffith University

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: The University of Sydney has offered some form of organised adult education since the late 19th century. In 1914, that provision was formalised through the establishment of a Department of Tutorial Classes, the appointment of a Director, and a partnership with the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA). Right from that time, however, there was ambivalence and sometimes direct opposition to the role and sometimes to the existence of the department. As a result, successive directors of the department had to tread a fine line in balancing the expectations of the university with their passion for extending the academy into the adult community, while also satisfying the demands of the WEA. This paper reviews the period of three directorships of the Department of Tutorial Classes, between 1919 and 1963, and argues that the liberal adult education approach adopted by the university from its earliest days was sustained over those 45 years mainly because ongoing disagreement within the university about the purpose of the department and the status of the director, as well as continuing external pressure from Meeting diverse expectations 27 the WEA, ensured that the status quo prevailed, even when there were innovative adult education developments elsewhere, and opportunities for change presented themselves.

 

Keywords: tutorial WEA adult education Sydney

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Recruiting and retaining learners in workplace literacy programs in New Zealand

Author: John Benseman: Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: Successful workplace literacy and numeracy programs are dependent on effective strategies to recruit and then retain course participants. This article reports on the recruitment strategies used in a large workplace literacy and numeracy project involving 535 workers in 18 courses. It provides an analysis of the strategies used, their rates of success in the companies, the overall retention rates of success in the companies, the overall retention rates and identifies effective ways to implement these strategies 

Keywords: workplace programs, literacy, retention, recruitment

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Recruiting and retaining learners in workplace literacy programs in New Zealand

Author/s: John Benseman

Edition: Volume 53, Number 1, April 2013

Summary: Successful workplace literacy and numeracy programs are dependent on effective strategies to recruit and then retain course participants. This article reports on the recruitment strategies used in a large workplace literacy and numeracy project involving 535 workers in 18 courses. It provides an analysis of the strategies used, their rates of success in the companies, the overall retention rates and identified effective ways to implement these strategies.

Keywords: workplace programs, literacy, retention, recruitment

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 53_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Moving towards a model of professional identity formation in midwifery through conversations and positioning theory

Author/s: Diane J. Phillips and Barbara Hayes

Edition: Volume 46, Number 2, April 2006

Summary: The disciplines of nursing and midwifery both uphold a powerful oral tradition that can impact upon student learning. Students enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Midwifery are supervised and assessed by midwives during their placements in midwifery practice settings by a program of ‘preceptorship’ support and where conversations are innate. Positioning theory, developed by Harré and others, is a metaphorical concept in which an individual ‘positions’ herself/himself within entities of encompassing people, institutions and societies where conversations are conducted either privately or publicly. As construction sites of professional learning, conversations are underpinned by reflective practices. In unravelling conversations, positioning may be applied as an analytical tool by educators to interpret the emerging meanings and themes in their discussions with students, reflective journals by students and in meetings with preceptors/midwives.

Keywords: nursing, midwifery, oral tradition, student learning, preceptorship support, conversation

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An evaluation of a formal professional examination in adult continuing education

Author/s: James A. Athanasou

Edition: Volume 46, Number 2, April 2006

Summary: This study provides a framework for the evaluation of assessments that may be used in adult continuing education. It provides an example of the analysis of an examination for 33 solicitors seeking specialist accreditation. Resampling was used to generate a group of 1000 results, and responses were analysed using a Rasch model. Results indicated a select and capable group of candidates for whom many items in the assessment were redundant. A fi ve-step general model for evaluating formal assessments in adult education is outlined.

Keywords: adult education, continuing, specialist accreditation, formal assessment

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