Communications

This paper elaborates on a number of key criticisms of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory as well as providing arguments that validate it. Our paper exemplifies how Mezirow’s theory can help adult educators and prospective school teachers understand that social structures and belief systems can influence student learning, that learners make meaning of their experiences in various ways which influence the sort of value systems they develop and that disorienting dilemmas often challenge the validity of one’s values and the assumptions that underpin them. It exemplifies how Mezirow’s theory can be put into practice in Adult and Higher Education via three case studies undertaken by the authors in different places, at different times and with different sets of learners. These include mature aged women returning to study, PhDs at a Swedish Engineering University, and domestic and international students studying at an Australian regional university. The case studies make use of a val...

The paper reports on a teacher professional development program conducted over two years in five different regions within the province of Papua, Indonesia. The goal of the program was to assist Papuan teachers to become more aware of and skilled in the use of interactive classroom pedagogies using local resources. The paper reviews the research around successful professional development programs in developing countries, and outlines the specific cultural, pedagogical, linguistic and resourcing issues encountered in this program. An effective response within the unique context of teacher professional development in Papua necessitated a process of ongoing collaborative inquiry between Australian academics, Papuan academic advisors, local Papuan master coaches and local classroom teacher participants. The paper evaluates the perceptions of participating classroom teachers on what was of importance in the program, gathered through the use of open-ended questions, researcher field notes ...

The paper reports on a teacher professional development program conducted over two years in five different regions within the province of Papua, Indonesia. The goal of the program was to assist Papuan teachers to become more aware of and skilled in the use of interactive classroom pedagogies using local resources. The paper reviews the research around successful professional development programs in developing countries, and outlines the specific cultural, pedagogical, linguistic and resourcing issues encountered in this program. An effective response within the unique context of teacher professional development in Papua necessitated a process of ongoing collaborative inquiry between Australian academics, Papuan academic advisors, local Papuan master coaches and local classroom teacher participants. The paper evaluates the perceptions of participating classroom teachers on what was of importance in the program, gathered through the use of open-ended questions, researcher field notes and participant reflective responses.

This study explores the impact of a government-funded program which sought to retrain in-service teachers in regional Queensland as Indonesian language teachers through an Australian university-led program with on-campus and in-country components. The study first examines how the Indonesian for Teachers Initiative (InTI) program's diverse social learning approach to intercultural language learning cultivated the development of the teacher participants' Indonesian language skills and intercultural capability. It then identifies how participants incorporated aspects of Indonesian language and culture into their teaching post-program, contributing to the Australian Curriculum's goal of developing students' intercultural capability. Makalah ini membahas tentang dampak dari sebuah program yang dibiayai oleh pemerintah Australia untuk melatih guru-guru sekolah di sebuah wilayah di negara bagian Queensland mengajarkan bahasa dan budaya Indonesia. Program ini dilaksanakan oleh sebuah universitas Australia dengan kuliah di kampus dan kemudian dilanjutkan belajar di negara bahasa asli di Indonesia. Program ini diberi nama InTI (Inisiatip Guru-guru bahasa Indonesia). Kajian ini mulai dengan membahas caranya program InTI melibatkan pendekatan pembelajaran sosial yang beragam dalam pembelajaran bahasa sebagai sarana pengajaran lintas budaya untuk mengembangkan ketrampilan berbahasa Indonesia dan pengertian lintas budaya para peserta. Kemudian, makalah ini menjelaskan tentang usaha para peserta dalam program InTI ini melibatkan unsur-unsur budaya dan bahasa Indonesia dalam pengajaran mereka pascaprogram ini, sesuai dengan tujuan Kurikulum Australia untuk memperkaya kemampuan lintas budaya siswa-siswa.

Recent discourse about engaging first year students calls for more collaboration in terms of adopting a holistic approach to course delivery. This paper discusses a model visualised at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) that seeks opportunities and ways to provide skill support in a more collaborative way than has been historically practiced. Therefore, a threeway collaborative model, involving the Faculty Teacher, the Skills Advisor and the Librarian, has been developed to improve students' skill levels and promote student interaction with staff. By illuminating the link between the writing and research process and the course content, the model promotes student and faculty accessibility to the Library and Academic Skills services and fosters better collegial relationships. Literature around first year engagement indicates that this three-way collaborative model provides the framework for facilitating first year awareness about individual skill development.

Recent discussion about engaging first year student s calls for more collaboration in terms of adopting a holistic appro ach to course delivery. This paper reports on an intervention that explores the impact of collaboratively teaching information literacy and a cademic skills in the first year Business program at the University of the Suns hine Coast (USC). The intervention has emerged from a three-way collaborative model, involving the Faculty Teacher, the Skills Advisor and the Lib rarian, which was developed to improve students’ skill levels. Blende d skills sessions were integrated into lectures and delivered in conjuncti on with assessment tasks to contextualise the relevant skills being demonstrate d. Students’ perceptions about their academic and information literacy skill s were surveyed before and after the intervention presentation to help rai se individual awareness about skill levels, and to measure changes in these perceptions. Survey analysis demonstrated an improveme...

Recent discourse about engaging first year students calls for more collaboration in terms of adopting a holistic approach to course delivery. This paper discusses a model visualised at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) that seeks opportunities and ways to provide skill support in a more collaborative way than has been historically practiced. Therefore, a threeway collaborative model, involving the Faculty Teacher, the Skills Advisor and the Librarian, has been developed to improve students’ skill levels and promote student interaction with staff. By illuminating the link between the writing and research process and the course content, the model promotes student and faculty accessibility to the Library and Academic Skills services and fosters better collegial relationships. Literature around first year engagement indicates that this three-way collaborative model provides the framework for facilitating first year awareness about individual skill development.

Recent discourse about engaging first year students calls for more collaboration in terms of adopting a holistic approach to course delivery and support. This paper discusses a collaborative support model operating at a regional Australian university since 2008. In particular, it describes a collaborative support initiative emerging from this model that is based on providing an informal consultative space where students can drop-in and gain assessment support for research, writing and content. A focus group, online surveys and interviews with coordinators were conducted to evaluate the impact of this initiative. Findings suggest that this collaborative support model impacts on the first year student experience by: raising awareness about academic skills and the processes for researching and writing; promoting peer learning opportunities; building confidence and providing suitable support for a diverse range of students.