Day Four (counting the pre conference day), December 4, 2024.

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Shared Interests, Crossed Wires: China’s Imagined West and Its Impact on Sino-Australian Collaboration in Higher Education

This post is by Gloria, Guo Zhang, Monash University

He started by sharing his life journey from studying in Sydney in the 1990s, then moving across borders, in Australia, mainland China, and now in Hong Kong. He then shared how the West was perceived by Chinese academics. Since the late 19^th century, the ‘West’ has been deeply symbolic of progress, civilisation and modernity. Thus, the Chinese mind became anti-traditional with strong denial of their national and cultural traditions, though such change from rich Chinese traditions to Western system in the early 20^th century was more a matter of survival than of choice, as Lu and Hayhoe (2004) noticed. Both institutionally and ideologically, there was fundamental shift away from China’s long and rich traditions. Yet, Chinese intellectual traditions still exist, though in a more tacit way. 

Contradictions among cultures and subsequently anxieties among some scholarly are undeniably present. Professor Yang has often emphasised the idea of ‘affinity’ across cultures and values in his public talks. Speaking at the Comparative Education Society Hong Kong’s annual conference just a couple of weeks ago, he remarked that understanding difference in traditions is vital, but we also need a more empathetic grasp of our shared humanity, while appreciating our diversities. In today’s keynote, he shared why and how scholars from Australia and China can come together, fostering meaningful collaboration and scholarly engagement.

His speech showed how the West has been imagined by Chinese scholars and how such perception affects scholarly engagement and collaboration between the two countries. Australia is well placed to further build its strong connections with Chinese universities and researchers in a number of ways. 

Assessment Measurement – Breaking Free from Behaviourism: Challenging Deeply Engrained Ideologies in Mathematics Assessment

This blog is by Steven Kolber, University of Melbourne

Rebecca Burtenshaw explored the nature of mathematics assessment and the way that it tends to be tied to a range of problematic factors. Elitism, stereotypes, narrow visions of self and importantly a gatekeeping of future opportunities for many students. As we know that people behave in different ways in different environments – it’s worth considering the thinking that shapes the environment of mathematics assessment. 

As the exploration of ‘streaming’ of students by ability and skill sets is quite a contested topic, within Mathematics classrooms there seems to be, to my eyes, an assumption that classes of mathematics will be streamed. 

So we can see how the views, or rather the ingrained ideologies, that shape the mathematics classroom is important. 

A question from the previous session asked about the transfer of findings around assessment within mathematics might be to other subjects. Rebecca made it clear that this was the goal of her session.

So what is success? 

It’s used widely across research – but there’s not a lot of agreement on what it means. 

In mathematics, the impression of teachers having choices and agency is perhaps not as strong as they might imagine. As so much of the choices they make around what mathematics is, are shaped by their environment – see essential reference to ‘The Devil wears Prada’ below in the slide.

Drawing out some of the ‘social efficiency’ model, of checklists, time cards and punch cards, that inform and shape the mathematics class. We see the echoes of schooling that prepares students to be factory workers. 

Did you know, this line of thinking produced a model of A-E grading taken from the grading of wood and cattle (A-grade Wagyu beef anyone?) that has survived until the present day (I certainly didn’t!). 

Whilst we can always see our growing awareness and knowledge as being linear – the old, perhaps seminal, like the fluid, ideas tend to stick for longer than we like. 

It is important that we keep trying to unpick these dominant practices and beliefs so that we can look to the newer ideas and a clear future. 

Going forward meaningfully requires picking through our unconsidered knowledge – our ideologies – so that we can start to do better.

Rebecca’s session was a powerful reminder of why this must be the way forward. 

Capturing the voice of primary school students with autism regarding their inclusion experiences in mainstream schools: A systematic literature review

This post is by Margaret Lovell, UniSA

Budur Alamrani, a PhD candidate at UniSAs Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion, presented, a clear and succinct description of a systematic literature review undertaken by the candidate. 

It began with an important overview of the terminology debate and critique of language within autism communities,and) outlined the “dilemma between inclusive education policies and practice”. Exclusion occurs at much higher rates for students living with “disability”, with students on the autism spectrum especially vulnerable. Budur spoke of the importance of critique of the literature requiring a systematic approach to analysis of the field – clearly driven by the need for amplifying the voices of primary students on the autism spectrum and the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the literature review adhered to this essential tenet.

Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis was utilised to uncover key findings which Budur has begun to group into “overarching themes” of “enablers and challenges in inclusive mainstream schools”:

·       Peer interactions and relationships

·       Schools’ physical and sensory spaces

·       Learning and academic experiences

·       The interplay of inclusion experiences, students’ self-concepts, belonging, and emotional wellbeing

Budur utilised direct quotes from students on the autism spectrum from the limited literature meeting the SLR inclusion criteria of students’ voices in the article.  

The presentation highlighted the need for research centring lived experiences of students on the autism spectrum with a significant gap in the literature that focuses on first person perspectives from students. It was clear that, although lived experiences are shaped by complex interplay of factors, mainstream exclusionary practices can limit sense of belonging and social participation particularly for students on the autism spectrum.

Intentional teaching outdoors: Exploring early childhood teacher’s decision-making in outdoor learning environments

This post is by Rasnaam Kaur, National Institute of Education, Singapore

As educators, researchers and policymakers, we understand the importance of intentionality, but how do we operationalise or ensure to engage in it truly and ongoingly? Are teachers engaging in intentional actions or are they able to connect them to intentional teaching?

Intentional teaching pedagogies may not always be visible or observable. For instance, two educators may both step back from children’s play and give them the time and space to engage without interruption. One educator’s rationale might be to observe their actions, learning, what they are trying to figure out, and plan for ways to extend, reflect on or revisit this learning. The other educator may have simply decided to leverage on children being engaged to complete other tasks at hand such as preparing for the next activity. 

Mia proposes an active decision-making process model adapted from the human intentional action model of goal, action and perceptual monitoring.

Findings revealed that educators were able to express their intentionality clearly, including their reasoning behind their actions and decisions. However, these were not always directly connected to children’s holistic learning and development (knowledge, skills, dispositions).  

Teachers placed an emphasis on i) providing resources and creating learning environments to provide opportunities for children to lead play and observe learning and development that would emerge organically, ii) children’s interest to foster exploration, iii) prioritisation of safety and supervision and iv) observation, evaluation and reflection was focused on documentation or evidence for families.

One teacher shared, ‘Planning for intentional teaching is rare, we make intentional decisions but don’t always know what will come of it’. So how do we foster ongoing intentionality? How can we support teachers in connecting their definitions and efforts at intentionality, to effective intentional pedagogies?

We need to equip educators with understanding the underpinning rationales and make the intentional decision making process visible for them.

Return to teaching: back on my own terms without the bullshit* 

The freshly minted Dr Ren Perkins (having just completed his PhD) co-presented with Professor Jo Lampert, and to put it plainly, they were back on their bullshit (*as per the title). Exploring teachers who have returned to the profession and taking a strength-based approach to why this might be the case. 

Built out of conversations between Jo and Ren wondering what happened to teachers ‘on a break’ or looking to return to teaching. 

Set against the common theme of the teacher shortage, that had been present across the conference, they discussed the Victorian Governments ‘Teacher re-engagement’ program. This is just one of many programs that take the same approach, in short of throwing money at the problem. 

In a time where teachers out of the classroom are getting cold calls to return to teaching. They looked at discussions of agency, renewal and transformation. 

Or bluntly, teachers were happy to return to teaching if they could do so ‘without the bullshit’ (BS for short from here on out) . Open conversations with teachers who have returned to teaching, who were loving it. 

There was mention of ‘flipping the system’ to better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers, and rethinking the broader system. Also approaching teaching perhaps with a different emphasis as a means of survival and thriving upon returning. 

A novel and open-minded approach to hearing from teachers not currently teaching and what we might learn from them in an ongoing way. 

Multiple temporalities

Outgoing AARE president Julie McLeod – an excerpt from her keynote: “Time and time again: history, memory and the temporalities of education research”

One notion that has been influential and stayed with me is that of ‘multiple temporalities’
– I find its straightforwardness valuable for understanding the interlocking and contingent
layers of time – of ecological time, of historical time and biographical time. It stands in
contrast to formulations of particular eras as characterised by a particular or single
‘temporal regime’ or ‘temporal ontology’. Helge Jordheim writes that ‘‘it might be more
useful to imagine different temporalities existing in a plane, as parallel lines, paths, tracks,
or courses, zigzagging, sometimes touching or even crossing one another, but all equally
visible, tangible, and with direct consequences for our lives’.

From imperatives to build stronger education futures to laments about a lost era of more
socially critical schooling or tougher standards and better spelling, the field of education
research is characterised by intersecting and mobile ‘multiple temporalities’.

These criss-cross and shape not only subjective and collective experiences of education, but also how
the field of education itself is defined and marked by these movements.

Themes of change and continuity, disruption and stability, and old and new times are part
and parcel of educational discourse; the conference theme itself speaks to the coupling of
education and change- and the full collection of Presidential lectures gives a good sense of
the longstanding extent to which this dynamic is central to the project of education.

One example of how these dynamics are being rearticulated/re-oriented in the present is
important recent work addressing questions of ‘repair’ of the past, of re-imagining the
future in terms of taking care of past wrongs, such as Arathi Sriprakash’s work on
reparative futures of education, that asks how might collective recognition of past and
present injustices help us imagine ‘reparative futures’ of education? What does reparation
in education look like? or Matthew Keynes’ work on on truth commissions and transitional
justice, the ways in which education and colonialist endeavours are interconnected.

It is not simply that these legacies live on – and that we just observe, note and regret past
wrongs – but to take responsibility, to take actions of redress and repair, now and into the
future.

These examples alone, along with considerable work on education and the climate
emergency, – among others – show how reckoning with the past in the present is no mere
conceptual conceit but an urgent task – future generations are inheriting the knowing
carelessness and injuries of collective past actions/inactions. Mike Savage on temporal ontologies – where to place: in terms of how it is remembered, the histories and stories we tell about it, the
periodisations, as well as the ‘temporal ontologies’ as Savage writes.

There’s a type of future scenario with which we are familiar, where the present is more or
less repeated, just a better model, in which we become our best selves; fine-tuned and
improved, where there are better outcomes for all, economic prosperity reigns, and
governments and institutions become ever more inclusive and fairer; a happy progressivist
daydream, but the future now is entering a space of unpredictable predictions and a sense
of rupture (while a standard trope) has taken on a visceral, life threatening urgency.

Since 2021, the journal History and Theory has been running a series of papers on the
theme of Historical Futures. Historical Futures refers to ‘the plurality of transitional relations between apprehensions of the past and anticipated futures’. ‘History connects past and future in various ways, making apparent a basic dialectical relation between the two categories. In modern historical understanding, the future is typically fashioned by the conditions and constraints of the past,
though the past is also continuously shaped by the future.’

Put differently, our concept of the past derives from our ideas about the future;
without a concept of the future, history as we know it is not possible.

Symposium: Design as method & pedagogy: Exploring ways of knowing, being and becoming

This post is by Lauren Knussen, University of Wollongong

This symposium presented research focused on the notion of design as method and pedagogy for developing critical thought through action (and agency) in education spaces. The session included presentations from a collective of social science researchers working in the Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage CABAH).

The symposium began with an introduction to the work of CABAH and how the researchers began to conceptualise the development of education research in a science-focused centre. Shirley Agostinho and Lauren Knussen spoke about their previous work on teachers as designers and how their research shows that teachers engage in design thinking, demonstrating design expertise, when they develop learning experiences for their students.

Martin Potter from Deakin University presented his work in creating a multi-media planetarium show depicting four key research stories from CABAH, which place Country and local indigenous communities at their centre. This award-winning show has been used as a stimulus for education design research conducted by Martin’s fellow presenters.

Peter Andersen and Lauren Knussen then presented their research focused on student-teacher co-design of action-oriented learning experiences which integrate current scientific research on climate change for Year 10 Geography. They showed the impact on students and teachers collaborating on the design of the unit of work, and on the students who were taught the learning experiences, demonstrating that the process supported students to feel they had the capacity to take action locally to care for the environment around them.

Anthony McKnight and Tiffani Apps then presented their work with primary students on taking care of Country. They reported on a process of taking students to observe what is happening on Country and supporting them to talk about their interpretations of Country and how they can take care of the world around them. They explained that the young participants were very much present when learning on Country and were not constrained by ideas of identity and difference.

The symposium concluded with a yarning circle led by Anthony McKnight, as all presenters and audience members gathered in a circle formation to talk about their ideas of respect and how that can relate to learning from and taking care of Country.

Working within, through and in between affective intensities: An ARC PhD exploration of one teacher’s practice

This blog is by Stef Rozitis, UniSA

King has used critical ethnography and action research with teachers in a school in a low-socioeconomic community to explore the potential of schools to become culturally responsive, allowing their affective environments to move to respond better to the needs of students. Her project draws heavily on Massumi’s notion of “affect”.

For this conference paper, King narrows in to focus on “Paris”, one of the participants, a non-Aboriginal teacher working in Creative Disciplines at King’s research site. Paris’ work with a year 8-9 class of culturally diverse students, about half of whom were Aboriginal was followed by Paris and King reflecting together on her capacity to engage a class she initially viewed as very challenging. This involved Paris drawing on Critically Responsive Pedagogy and engaging in a pedagogical redesign which would put in place a CRP key idea, making her teaching strongly connected to students life worlds, while enabling each student to find their own voice.

King uses a vignette of Paris’ reflective work, as well as a vignette of a pedagogical encounter between Paris and one of her students, an Aboriginal boy King names, Jake. Even though at first sight this pedagogical encounter could be read as a failure to engage a difficult student, King shows how humanising trust can be enacted by a teacher with a strengths-based focus: to respond, remove the need for resistance, and work on building a better affective environment that would allow the student to engage with agency. Paris is portrayed as using a range of pedagogical strategies such as “nudging” and both verbal and non-verbal communication as well as patience. This work has significant potential to speak back against narrowing and intensifying ways of working that are leaving many students behind.

King’s scholarship as part of the larger ARC research project on Culturally Responsive Schooling is exciting in focussing on the real everyday work of teachers and seeks to build their confidence and capacity to respond to Aboriginal students and anyone else who requires a more welcoming affective environment in the classroom.

Vox pops*

‘Little things’: Evidence for-and-with culturally responsive pedagogical activism 

This blog is by Stef Rozitis, UniSA

In her presentation, Samantha Schulz considered  how a primary school teacher, “Sarah” generated classroom-level activism using Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP). This work happened in the context of Evidence Based Learning (EBL) and The Australian Government’s (2023) Strong Beginnings report which attempts to address the crisis of teacher attrition and supposed drop in the performance of students. Schulz was critical of the capacity for Strong Beginnings and EBL to respond to the complex engagement and learning needs in schools.

At this point Schulz turned to her case study: Sarah, a “nice, white teacher”. Schulz used this term in recognition of stereotypes around who teaches and how they are often positioned. Sarah was teaching year 5s and 6s in the context of the “voice referendum”.  She voiced some misgivings over the political nature of teaching about current events. In response Schulz made the point that the teacher is not “making” the students political but is engaging in an experiment that allows lively thinking.

Sarah used a song,  Ziggy Ramo’s – Little Things.  She talked with the students about the song, its history, lyrics, the events to which it refers and a letter-writing portal for students to share their feelings about this learning. This allowed both positive and resistant engagement by students. The students next investigated what their parents knew about history, politics, and the Voice referendum. They discussed the gaps in their parents’ knowledge and effectively students developed their own teacher identities toward their parents and then also other classes and the whole school community. This became self-sustaining with teachers allowing students to lead their own continued learning.

A lively discussion with everyone in the room followed where the audience noticed the agency of students as activists, teachers of their parents and social agents who do not need spoon-feeding but are able to engage with ‘discomforting’ knowledge and  become public intellectuals in ‘little publics’ (Hickey-Moody, 2016). Schulz concluded her presentation with a reminder not to underestimate teachers as well as students.