ISSUE 2, 2011
The RIPPLE Effect
FROM THE DIRECTOR
CONTENTS
From the Director
1
Opinion Piece:
National standards
2
Researcher Profile:
Dr Jane McCormack
3
Research Updates
4
RIPPLE Visiting Scholars:
Prof Theodore Schatzki
Prof Tara Fenwick
Prof Linda Farr Darling
CURVE group
6
6
6
6
RIPPLE Fellowships:
Dr Frances Press
Dr Franziska Trede
7
7
Events
8
Researcher Profile:
A/Prof Jane Mitchell
9
Photo Gallery
10
New Research Grants
11
Awards and Achievements 11
Publications
12
The RIPPLE Website
12
Contact Details
12
In this issue (photos):
Prof Tom Lowrie, p.1
Prof Theodore Schatzki, p. 6
Dr Frances Press, p. 7
Position statement launch, p. 12
I am pleased to present the second edition of The
RIPPLE Effect for 2011.
One of the highlights of the last few months has been
the privilege of hosting a number of internationally
recognised scholars whose work delves into professional
practice—Prof Theodore Schatzki from the University of
Kentucky (United States), Prof Tara Fenwick from Stirling
University (Scotland), and Prof Linda Farr Darling, University
of British Columbia (Canada). Each Scholar presented a
Public Lecture focused on professional practice, and
engaged with RIPPLE and Charles Sturt University
researchers. I am also pleased to announce that Prof
Schatzki has joined RIPPLE in an Adjunct Professor
capacity, and we look forward to continuing our
collaboration with him.
The impact of the work being undertaken by RIPPLE
researchers continues to be far-reaching. A Letter of Intent
was signed between Charles Sturt University and the
University of Gothenburg on 12 September, focusing on
three education-based programs of research.
The CSU-led Excellence in Early Years Education
Collaborative Research Network was launched with a
whole-of-network meeting in Sydney during August,
attended by researchers from CSU, the Queensland
University of Technology, and Monash University.
A research paper on post-doctoral study co-authored
by RIPPLE's four Research Fellows has also been accepted
to the 2012 annual meeting of the American Educational
Research Association. This prestigious forum for
educational research is a great way of strengthening and
sharing the work being conducted by four dynamic postdoctoral researchers who contribute a great deal to
RIPPLE's research program.
During September, RIPPLE brought together twenty
research administrators and PhD students for a two-day
Symposium on research topics and support. The range of
skills and talent amongst this group is outstanding—RIPPLE
benefits greatly from such a strong team.
We once again open the newsletter with a topical
opinion piece on national standards, written by leading
educational researcher Prof Jo-Anne Reid. This issue also
profiles two of our researchers—talented Early Career
Researcher, Dr Jane McCormack, and a highly-respected
researcher in teacher education, A/Prof Jane Mitchell.
Finally, congratulations to our members who have
received grants and awards (more information on p. 11).
As we wrap up another year, I want to thank the many
people, institutions, and industry bodies who have
engaged with RIPPLE this year. We look forward to
continuing work with you on an exciting research agenda
in 2012.
Professor Tom Lowrie
I am pleased to present the second edition of The
RIPPLE Effect for 2011.
One of the highlights of the last few months has been
OPINION PIECE
National standards and teacher ranking
Professor Jo-Anne Reid
Educational Transitions and Change Research Group
From 2013, a set of National Professional Standards for
Teachers, developed by the Australian Institute for
Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) and endorsed
by the Ministerial Committee for Education, Early
Childhood Development and Youth Affairs
(MCEEDYA), will take their place as the calculus within
which all Australian teachers, from pre-service to
retirement, will be evaluated, plan their professional
development, and be judged against, in terms of their
professionalism.
The need for these Standards has been steadily
established by media and government inquiry over the
past forty years, from the time that state government
Departments of Education lost control of the „training
colleges‟ that had formerly prepared their employees,
and as university-educated teachers (especially in the
primary sector) have increasingly been targeted as
responsible for the „problems‟ that our rapidly
changing society has noted with its young people.
From time to time, these have been seen in terms of
a lack of traditional values and proper respect for their
elders; increasing reliance on technology;
„unpreparedness‟ for work, university, parenthood,
civic responsibility, and so on—and most importantly at
the present time their apparent inability to rank as
highly as Australians „should‟ on international
standardised tests of literacy and numeracy. Schools
have clearly failed the nation in this regard, it seems,
and ensuring teacher quality is seen as an answer to
the problem this has become. AITSL‟s website quotes
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), in 2005, that “(t)eacher quality
is the single most important in-school factor influencing
student achievement”.
While it might well seem logical to base a set of
national Standards for new teachers on what is the
(already existing) „best practice‟ of current teachers, I
argue that this may not be what is needed in the best
interests of Australia‟s young people. Looking
backwards to what is already happening in schools,
and codifying the things that teachers are currently
doing as attributes to be replicated in the name of
„meeting professional standards‟ does not seem the
most sensible way to solve this „national‟ problem.
When Standards „stand in‟ for knowledge about
teaching, and when teacher education graduates are
required to demonstrate a capacity to teach „in the
language of the standards‟, they are demonstrating
their capacity to simply „join the dots‟ of received
knowledge, rather than a capacity to innovate and
respond to the situated needs of children in classrooms
and schools of the future.
Moving across this taxonomy of Standards, passing
though each one and connecting them together, they
will be prepared in courses that take the image of a
conventionally recognisable representation of a
teacher as their goal. Like a „colour by numbers‟
approach to painting, this will often produce a
reasonable representation of the model on which it is
based, but it becomes metaphorical death for
teaching as an intellectual endeavour. How can this
process also involve teachers looking forward? How
can we resource them to creatively imagine and
invent whatever it is they might need to do for learners
in their classrooms in the (even very immediate) future?
These are important questions because teacher
education, like teaching, cannot be rendered „simple‟.
It is difficult to analyse the complexity and regularities
of teaching for ongoing reproduction in terms of a
standardised grid of specifications that at one point in
time, and for some people, might have met a sense of
what is needed for neophytes to be good teachers.
Even the capacity to successfully use „core teaching
practices‟ that produce what we might imagine could
be eternally desirable effects for student learning (such
as explaining content matter clearly, using clear
communication, forming relationships with others, and
enacting effective classroom management) cannot
carry with it the certainty that someone will be a
„good‟ teacher. This is always a matter of situated coproduction, in practice, in particular places and times,
and with particular people. As it is, the table of
Standards stands in for a graduate teacher‟s
knowledge, attitudes and skills, with all of their
complexity rendered „simple‟, and safe.
To prepare for the future requires a different form of
teacher education than what we currently offer. We
do not need courses that produce standardised, massproduced teachers, all with the same stamp of
approval from a national board of teacher
accreditation. The low status of teacher education
within the university means many institutions report
increasing difficulty in attracting high-quality
candidates (and staff) to some programs, with their
heavy teaching loads, high accountability and low
status, and there is public awareness of lower entry
requirements for teaching compared with more
prestigious professions. There is a need for teacher
educators to engage in a strong re-conceptualisation
of curriculum and pedagogy to ensure graduate
teachers can move beyond the pre-specifications of
standardised practice if we are to effectively support
the next generation of teachers to deal with
increasingly complex educational spaces.
Page 2
RIPPLE RESEARCHER PROFILE
Dr Jane McCormack
Feature piece by Kim Woodland
Jane receiving her Scopus Young Researcher Award
for 2011
Currently in Australia, one in four children is identified
as having communication difficulties. Dr Jane
McCormack, a lecturer in speech pathology at CSU's
School of Community Health, is passionate about
supporting these children and their families.
Talking with Jane, you can see how her motivation
to work with children with speech difficulties has
translated into an undergraduate Honours degree and
PhD in speech pathology from CSU, and why she was
awarded the Most Outstanding Thesis prize, and more
recently, the Scopus Young Researcher Award for 2011
in the Humanities and Social Sciences (see page 11).
It is the children she works with in her research and
teaching who remain at the centre of her attention.
Her focus is on providing them with better support, and
as early as possible. “I‟d like to see Health and
Education disciplines working collaboratively together
to ensure early identification of children with difficulties
and timely provision of support,” Jane says.
Following her first graduation from CSU in 2002, Jane
worked as a speech pathologist in Warrnambool in
south-west Victoria, before moving to the United
Kingdom to work and travel.
Not content with just working in the field, she was
driven to find additional ways she could contribute.
“As a speech pathologist, I had become aware of the
need for research to make these issues more widely
known in order that they might be addressed,” Jane
says. It was this interest in harnessing research to
address the issues challenging so many Australian
families that led her back to Australia and CSU.
Jane's initial contact was with RIPPLE researcher,
Prof Sharynne McLeod. It was Sharynne's enthusiasm
and commitment to her research—you can easily see
how the two work so well together—that encouraged
Jane to return to CSU to launch her research career.
“Sharynne talked about the Australian Research
Council Discovery grant that she had been awarded
[with A/Prof Linda Harrison and A/Prof Lindy McAllister]
a few months prior to my call, and her enthusiasm and
passion convinced me that a return to research and to
CSU would be a good decision!” Jane smiles.
That conversation and decision led to Jane signing
a contract with CSU on Christmas Eve 2006, marking
the beginning of the next career phase of one of
RIPPLE's most talented Early Career Researchers. And
so it was that two of Jane's undergraduate lecturers—
Prof Sharynne McLeod and A/Prof Lindy McAllister,
along with A/Prof Linda Harrison—went on to become
her doctoral supervisors eight years later, and led to
her association with RIPPLE via the Investigating Quality
in Early Childhood Education and Care (IQECEC)
group. She is quick to praise their assistance: “Their
mentoring, encouragement and support was, and
continues to be, invaluable and a contributing factor
to any honours I‟ve been fortunate to receive.”
Over the next four years, Jane joined the ARC
research team as Project Officer, investigating the
prevalence and impact of speech impairment in
young children, and looking at the provision of services
to these families. She concurrently worked on her
doctoral thesis examining the extent and experience
of childhood speech impairment from the perspectives
of children and families, and also found time to teach
in the CSU speech pathology course.
Jane sums up the statistics from those hectic four
years, and they are staggering. The ARC project
involved “travelling over 6,000 kilometres across two
states, visiting 33 preschools, screening the
communication skills of 1,097 children, conducting
speech pathology assessments with 157 [of these
children], and interviewing 13 children and their
families.” This was alongside her PhD research, where
she undertook “a systematic review of 57 papers,
analysed data from 4,329 children in the Longitudinal
Study of Australian Children, and interviewed 2 young
adults with a history of communication difficulties.”
Jane received her doctorate in April 2011
(receiving the Most Outstanding Thesis award), and
managed to publish 12 academic papers and four
book chapters along the way.
Her commitment to making lasting change is clear
when you learn of her plans. She is keen to continue
assisting families affected by speech impairment,
especially those living in rural and remote areas. “I‟m
interested in identifying ways that early childhood
educators and speech pathologists can work together
to support children with communication difficulties in
the early years,” Jane says. Exploring alternative
models of service delivery to provide therapy to
families with limited access will be one way she can
achieve this goal. Another will be her contribution to
the Excellence in Early Years Education Collaborative
Research Network. In any case, we look forward to
hearing a lot more from Jane over the coming years.
Page 3
RESEARCH UPDATES
Early Years Education Collaborative
Research Network launched
Public seminar on qualitative
research
RIPPLE collaborated with the Education and Social
Research Institute at Manchester Metropolitan
University to present a Public Seminar on 20 July at the
2nd International Summer Institute in Qualitative
Research: Putting theory to work. Plenary Keynote
Speaker was Prof Deborah Britzman from York University
in Canada, followed by an online video panel
discussion.
Our last newsletter reported on the $5.4m in funding
received to support Charles Sturt University (New South
Wales), the Queensland University of Technology
(Queensland), and Monash University (Victoria) in
establishing an Excellence in Early Years Education
Collaborative Research Network (EYE CRN). The CSUled project will facilitate landmark research in early
childhood, and will run from mid-2011 to mid-2014.
Researchers from the group—comprising a mix of
62 early, mid, and later career researchers, along with
PhD students—attended the first whole-of-network
meeting for the CRN in Sydney during mid-August.
The EYE CRN project focuses on three programs of
research drawn from the National Early Childhood
Reform Agenda.
Program 1: Children's development, learning and
well‐being in the early years;
Program 2: Early years curriculum, pedagogy and
professional practice; and
Program 3: Social justice, access, inclusion and policy
(including provision for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children, families and communities; integrated
services; and in rural and remote communities).
Several successful Program 1 activities have already
been undertaken, including a quantitative and
longitudinal research skills development workshop in
July, and participation in the Growing Up in Australia
and Footsteps in Time: The LSAC and LSIC Research
Conference, which was held in Melbourne during
November.
A highly successful research skills development
event provided under Program 3 was held on the CSU
Albury-Wodonga campus in November, entitled: What
does social justice mean in research in early years
education? The event encouraged a strong, rigorous
and diverse focus on exploring social justice in the
content and processes of research.
Research capacity building in the
United Kingdom
RIPPLE Deputy Director Dr Brian Hemmings recently
returned from the United Kingdom. Most of his time
away was spent in Lincoln at Bishop Grosseteste
University College (BGUC) where he gathered
interview data on a project relating to research
capacity building, as well as presenting a staff seminar
entitled Sources of research confidence. BGUC is one
of approximately ten University Colleges situated in
England. This University College grants awards from
Bachelor to Doctoral level and has as its main focus
teacher preparation.
Brian was hosted and supported at BGUC by Prof
John Sharp, Head of Research and Graduate Studies.
John and Brian have been collaborating with Russell
Kay (RIPPLE Adjunct Senior Lecturer) and this trio has
produced several publications considering the notion
of lecturer self-efficacy. It is hoped that Prof Sharp will
visit RIPPLE next year.
Apart from working in the north-east of England at
BGUC, Brian gave a presentation in London to a range
of stakeholders associated with Guild Higher
Education. Most of those present were research
leaders of university colleges. The presentation was
organised by the Consortium for Research Excellence
Support and Training (CREST), which supports research
initiatives in the UK higher education sector.
The CRN project has been made possible by funding
provided by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science
and Research (DIISR) Collaborative Research Networks (CRN)
Program and the strong collaboration between the project
partner institutions, Queensland University of Technology,
Monash University and Charles Sturt University.
Page 4
RESEARCH UPDATES
Pedagogy, Education and Praxis in
Sweden
In early September, members of the international PEP
collaboration met in Gothenburg for a four-day
meeting, followed by a one-day symposium. Topics
covered at the meeting included the group's aims and
work, current and future empirical projects, as well as
upcoming meetings, conferences and publications.
RIPPLE members and adjuncts who participated in
the research meetings and symposium included Prof
Stephen Kemmis, Prof Karin Rönnerman, Dr Brian
Hemmings, Dr Jane Wilkinson, Dr Petra Ponte, Dr
Christine Edwards-Groves, Dr Ian Hardy, Dr Peter
Grootenboer, and Prof Petri Salo.
Several PEP members then travelled to Germany
to present at the 2011 European Conference on
Educational Research (ECER) at Freie Universität Berlin.
Speaking my languages
Prof Sharynne McLeod with Dr Karla Washington at
the Bloorview Research Institute in Toronto
Prof Sharynne McLeod has continued researching and
presenting her work into international speech
acquisition. During July, she travelled to Canada for a
range of events, presentations, and meetings. Her visit
incorporated stops in Montréal (where she visited
Isabelle Simard‟s multilingual speech-language
pathology clinic which provides assessments and
interventions in many languages, along with McGill
University and the University of Montréal), Ontario (to
visit the University of Western Ontario), and Toronto (to
present seminars at the Bloorview Research Institute
and the University of British Columbia, as well as visiting
a First Nations community).
Visit Sharynne at her blog: Speaking my languages.
First Australian Discourse Power
and Resistance conference
Dr Laurette Bristol, RIPPLE Research Fellow, presented a
paper to the Association of Qualitative Research
(AQR)/ Discourse Power and Resistance (DPR)
conference, the first to be held in Australia. The theme
of the conference focused on the politics of qualitative
research, Will the real evidence please stand up:
Politicising qualitative research.
Laurette travelled to Cairns to present her paper,
Narratives of being and becoming: Emerging
methodologies in Caribbean educational practice,
co-authored with University of Trinidad and Tobago
academics, A/Prof Joyanne De Four-Babb, A/Prof Talia
Esnard, and Ms Lisa Perez, along with Dr Jennifer Lavia
from the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom).
She described the conference as one of many firsts.
“It is the first Australian DPR conference, the formal
launch of the collaborative research work of the
Caribbean Educators Research Initiative [CURVE] of
which I am a founding member, and the first time I
would be meeting with one of the authors whose work
I have long admired writing in the space of
decolonising research methodologies—Linda
Tuhiwai Smith—who would be giving one of the
keynotes at the conference, ” Laurette said.
Research Fellows to present at 2012
AERA annual meeting
RIPPLE's four Research Fellows—Dr Tuija Turunen, Dr
Sandie Wong, Dr Laurette Bristol, and Dr Siew Yin Ho—
have had a paper on post-doctoral study accepted
for the 2012 annual meeting of the American
Educational Research Association (AERA). The event
will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Their paper, What's in a Post-Doctoral Research
Fellowship? Discursive framework in a Faculty of
Education, evaluates the Fellowship process they have
been undertaking at Charles Sturt University,
particularly the dynamics of constructing researchoriented academic positions.
Page 5
RIPPLE VISITING SCHOLARS
Visits from world-renowned scholars
Professor Theodore Schatzki
Her lecture addressed issues related to sociomaterial
approaches to understanding professional practice
and learning. She drew examples from the professions
of policing, teaching, and medicine.
Prof Fenwick's current research focus is on
professionals‟ work, particularly knowledge sources
and strategies in complexity, and the changing nature
of professional responsibility.
Professor Linda Farr Darling
Prof Ted Schatzki, Dean of Faculty and Professor of
Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the
University of Kentucky, visited RIPPLE during June and
July. He met with RIPPLE researchers, and gave a
Public Lecture at the conclusion of the 2011 RIPPLE
Symposium, on change in social practices.
Prof Schatzki then travelled to Sydney to present a
Public Lecture—The edge of change—at the University
of Technology Sydney, and a Colloquium on
professional practice at the Education for Practice
Institute.
His research interests lie in the philosophy of social
life, in particular social ontology, theory of action, and
the philosophy of social sciences. He received degrees
from Harvard University, Oxford University, and UC
Berkeley, and his appointments have included Visiting
Professor at the University of Exeter, The Max Planck
Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the KarlFranzens University in Graz, and the Institute of
Advanced Studies in Vienna.
Prof Linda Farr Darling
visited CSU during early
November. Prof Farr
Darling holds a Chair in
Rural Teaching at the
University of British
Columbia, Canada.
On 9 November, she
presented a Public Lecture
on Canadian rural
teaching and teacher
education, titled Rural
school landscapes in British
Columbia: Mapping the
terrain for teachers and teacher educators. The event
was held on the Bathurst campus with video
conference connections to Dubbo, Albury, Orange,
and Wagga Wagga.
A Caribbean connection
Prof Schatzki has accepted an Adjunct Professor
appointment with RIPPLE until 2016, allowing him to
continue his collaboration with us on practice
philosophy and theory.
Professor Tara Fenwick
In mid-October, RIPPLE
hosted Prof Tara
Fenwick, Professor at
the School of
Education (Stirling
University, Scotland),
and Director of the
Professional Practice,
Education and
Learning (ProPEL), an
international research
network based at SU.
During her visit, Prof
Fenwick presented a
Public Lecture.
RIPPLE Director, Prof Tom Lowrie with CURVE members, Dr
Laurette Bristol, A/Prof Joyanne De Four-Babb, and Ms
Lisa Perez
Researchers from the University of Trinidad and Tobago
visited CSU during July and August to collaborate with
the Pedagogy, Education and Praxis group. The Visiting
Scholars—A/Prof Joyanne De Four-Babb and Ms Lisa
Perez—belong to the Caribbean Educators Research
Initiative (CURVE), a group of five academics from
international universities with a focus on the practice of
education in the Caribbean. RIPPLE Research Fellow,
Dr Laurette Bristol, is also a member of the group.
Joyanne and Lisa met with RIPPLE researchers, and
presented a seminar on Teacher education in Trinidad
and Tobago: An issue of quality imperatives.
Page 6
RIPPLE FELLOWSHIPS
Dr Frances Press
What were
your aims in
undertaking
your recent
RIPPLE
Fellowship?
I had many
hopes for the
Fellowship! I
was
anticipating
that it would allow time for me to reflect upon and
write up data gathered through a number of previous
research projects, as well as pursue opportunities for
collaborative work with colleagues inside and outside
CSU. I am very grateful for the time it gave me.
What were your major achievements during this time?
I was able to make substantial contributions to:
completing a major report identifying research
gaps in Australian early childhood policy for the
Department of Education, Employment and
Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (with colleagues
A/Prof Linda Harrison, Prof Jennifer Sumsion, Dr
Sandie Wong, Dr Loraine Fordham, and Dr Joy
Goodfellow);
a CSU-led research project (Dr Sandie Wong, Dr
Frances Press, and Prof Jennifer Sumsion) on early
years' collaborative professional practice for the
Victorian Department of Education and Early
Childhood Development (DEECD);
four co-authored articles/chapters which have
been accepted for publication; and
I commenced work on a number of journal articles.
Because of the time made available through the
Fellowship I was able to accept invitations to speak at
a number of conferences and forums, including:
The future for children: National policy forum 2011
(New Zealand, March) [Invited Keynote];
The National Practitioner Seminar (New Zealand,
June) [Invited Keynote]; and
The National investment for the Early Years (NIFTeY)
conference (Sydney, July).
I also had conference papers accepted for:
the Victorian Kindergarten Parents Victoria (KPV)
Together we grow conference (with Dr Sandie
Wong) (June); and
the European Early Childhood Education Research
Association (on a panel with RIPPLE colleagues,
Sheena Elwick and A/Prof Linda Harrison) (Sep).
Please tell us about your future research plans.
The Fellowship enabled me to meet with colleagues
from other institutions (in particular, A/Prof Linda
Mitchell and A/Prof Christine Woodrow, both from the
University of Waikato) to conceptualise further work
pertaining to policy frameworks for early childhood
education.
Excitingly, I was able to commence work on a
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
application aimed at investigating and
conceptualising processes for policy development in
complex political environments.
Dr Franziska Trede
What were your aims in
undertaking your Fellowship?
My recent RIPPLE Fellowship
focused on education for future
practice from an emancipatory
perspective. My aims were to
immerse myself in the relevant
literature, write journal papers,
advance my research and
grants program, as well as
establish and maintain research
networks at local, national and
international levels.
What were your major achievements?
During my Fellowship, I collaborated on, developed
and submitted a number of manuscripts. I also started
a new project with Italian physiotherapy colleagues
that builds and extends on an existing CSU competitive
funded project—assessment practices of
physiotherapy educators. This international
collaboration emerged from an invitation to present at
the Research and Practice Development Congress at
the Faculty of Health Sciences in Bozen, Italy, in May
2011. I presented two plenary papers: Philosophical
underpinnings for collaborative decision making and
Transformational practice development research in the
health care professions: A critical-creative dialogue. I
also participated in the closing panel session and
subsequently was invited to contribute ideas for
research capacity building at a research committee
meeting. As a result, I have been approached to
supervise PhD students.
I was invited to present at the international
congress for physiotherapy in Amsterdam in June. My
paper was part of the research symposium, The
contribution of qualitative research evidence to
evidence-based practice, and was titled Foundational
concepts of qualitative research. I was also invited to
present at the Klagenfurt University, Austria, where I led
a workshop for doctoral students in cultural studies on
critical and creative research methodologies. Finally, I
planned and hosted a one-day colloquium with
Professor Ted Schatzki in Sydney in July.
What are your future research plans?
During my Fellowship, I submitted two ALTC grants, one
of which was successful. I am leading the CSU
partnership team for this project: Assessing the impact
of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) on student work
readiness. I am also progressing a research idea for an
ARC linkage grant, but find developing committed
partnerships a slow and challenging process.
Page 7
EVENTS
Letter of Intent signed
RIPPLE VISITING SCHOLARS
On 12 September, a Letter
of Intent between RIPPLE
at Charles Sturt University
and the Faculty of
Education at the University
of Gothenburg was signed.
The two universities already
collaborate extensively
under a Memorandum of
Understanding. The Letter
of Intent focuses on three
particular programs of
research: the international
Pedagogy, Education and
Praxis (PEP) research
program; the Vocational
Education and Training
(VET) research program;
and the Early Childhood
Education (ECE) research
program.
Photo: Torsten Arpi
Inaugural Research Administrator and PhD Student Symposium
A Symposium for research administrators and PhD students working within RIPPLE was held in mid-September
2011. Twenty motivated and talented research support staff attended the event held on the Wagga Wagga
campus, where they interacted on a range of research topics and support services. The event will become a
regular feature on the RIPPLE calendar, and an online forum will see research staff continue their collaboration.
L to R: Symposium attendees Emma Kearney, Barbara Conlan, and Andreia Schineau
Page 8
RIPPLE RESEARCHER PROFILE
A/Professor Jane Mitchell
Feature piece by Kim Woodland
A/Prof Jane Mitchell has a
lifelong passion for
teaching. She began her
teaching career in
Canberra, specialising in
English and History. “I was
fortunate to have great
teachers who inspired
interest in particular
subjects as well as in
teaching,” Jane enthuses.
A secondment to the
University of Canberra,
and subsequent study,
broadened Jane‟s options
and got her thinking
about how an academic career might allow her to
further her contribution to the field of education.
In the mid-nineties, Jane took an academic job as
an associate lecturer in the School of Education at
Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, before
moving to Canada to enrol in a PhD at the University of
British Columbia (UBC) in 1997.
Her doctorate was a case study of an innovative
teacher education program in Canada. “It was a
wonderful opportunity to be able to live and study in
Vancouver,” Jane says. “While in Vancouver I studied
full-time and was fortunate to have part-time research
assistant work and a UBC Fellowship.”
Upon completion of her PhD in 2001, Jane returned
to Australia to take a position at the University of
Queensland, then Monash University in Victoria, before
returning full circle to CSU, this time settling in the
scenic regional city of Bathurst in the NSW Central
Tablelands.
Jane has now been with CSU for the past four years.
She teaches one of the introductory subjects in the
secondary teacher education program (both distance
and on-campus). She has also taught the qualitative
methods subject in the Masters in Education program,
and next year will be teaching a Masters in Education
subject focused on professional learning.
Jane works with the RIPPLE Teacher Education and
Professional Learning (TEPL) group. The themes of
teacher education and professional learning run
strongly through her research career, and allow her to
make a unique and welcome contribution to the
group. She also has an interest in curriculum and
pedagogy.
A number of research projects with her colleague,
Dr Sara Murray, are currently keeping Jane busy. “The
projects are concerned with teaching practices that
encourage student effort,” she explains. “We have
projects on the go related to this area with TAFE
Western, the New South Wales Department of
Education and Communities and the Bathurst Catholic
Education Office.”
In the first of their collaborative research projects, TAFE
classrooms that work: Teaching practices that
encourage student effort, Jane, Sara, and Bob Hill
investigated not only the link between teaching
practices and student effort, but the impact this can
have on course completion. The project report was
published in February 2011, and the research links
neatly into their next investigation into student effort
and retention in three TAFE foundation courses.
The outcomes of both projects will help TAFE
Western to identify the factors related to course design
and teaching practice that help improve course
retention rates for students. The pair also hope the
research provides a foundation for a joint CSU/TAFE
Western application for NCVER funding in 2012.
Another project with Sara Murray has involved a
large scale survey of teachers in Catholic schools in the
Bathurst Diocese. The questionnaire sought to ascertain
teachers‟ beliefs and practice related to student effort
and ability in classrooms. Sara and Jane are in the
middle of analysing data and will be reporting their
findings to schools in the latter part of this year and
early next year. Jane believes that this work with
schools represents an innovative approach to
professional learning. “We are working with data that
has come from the teachers and will use this data as
the basis for building a professional learning
partnership program with individual schools,” she said.
Developing links between research and practice
through partnership initiatives with local education
providers is important to Jane. She has been fortunate
since being in Bathurst to develop some productive
and rewarding links with education providers. It is these
partnerships that she finds one of the most rewarding
aspects of her work.
The past presidency of the Australian Teacher
Education Association is also on Jane‟s resume, and
she has been a member for a number of years. The
Association supports teacher education research and
practice through its annual conference and its journal,
the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. “I
presented my first conference paper at an ATEA
conference in Lismore in the early 1990s and this
helped me understand the process of academic
research and how it is disseminated,” Jane explains.
“ATEA provides great support for early career
researchers. When I became President I felt that I was
able to give back to an organisation that had
provided so much for me”.
Jane‟s commitment to supporting teachers and
improving teaching practices, as well as building
partnerships that allow her to deliver highly relevant
research outcomes directly into education workplaces
is clearly apparent, and also why her contribution to
education is making an impact where it matters most.
Jane is the co-author of two books concerned with teacher
education (Secondary schooling in a changing world, and
The Middle Years: More than a transition), and she has a
number of other publications on professional learning.
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PHOTO GALLERY
Photos, clockwise from bottom left:
Participants in a July workshop on quantitative and
longitudinal research skills on the CSU Bathurst campus
Participants meet and mingle at the first whole-of-network
meeting for the Early Years Education Collaborative
Research Network (two photos)
Sharyn Ahern, Jane Greenlees, and Tracy Logan at the
RIPPLE Research Administrator and PhD Student
Symposium in September
CURVE visit: Dr Laurette Bristol, Prof Tom Lowrie, A/Prof
Joyanne De Four-Babb, Ms Lisa Perez, A/Prof Ros
Brennan Kemmis, and Prof Stephen Kemmis
Dr Noella MacKenzie, Prof Bob Perry and Prof Sue Dockett
at the Transition to School Position Statement launch
Dr Tuija Turunen and A/Prof Kay Margetts talk at the
Transition to School Position Statement launch
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NEW RESEARCH GRANTS
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
ARC Discovery grants awarded to
three RIPPLE researchers
RIPPLE researchers have been highly successful in
receiving awards and accolades for their work.
The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and
Research, Senator the Hon. Kim Carr recently
announced the recipients of highly-sought after
Australian Research Council Major Grants funding for
research projects commencing in 2012. The funding
aims to build Australia's research capacity and
facilitates high-quality projects to be undertaken by
promising Australian researchers.
Three RIPPLE researchers were awarded funding
under the scheme, with their education-based
research projects to commence in early 2012. Only 12
grants in total were awarded in the field of education.
An ecological study of school transition and the early
years of school for Aboriginal children in an urban
community
Researchers: Kemp, A/Prof Lynn A; Dockett, Prof
Susan B; Grace, Dr Rebekah L; Perry, Prof Robert W;
Comino, A/Prof Elizabeth J; Jackson Pulver, Prof Lisa R;
Haswell-Elkins, A/Prof Melissa R
Administering organisation: The University of New South
Wales
Funding: $357, 535
Social and geographical location and its impact on
mathematics teaching and learning
Researchers: Jorgensen, Prof Robyn L; Lowrie, Prof
Thomas J
Administering organisation: Griffith University
Funding: $280,000
Two new ALTC grants
Congratulations to RIPPLE researchers on their recent
success in receiving funding from the Australian
Learning and Teaching Council.
RIPPLE researcher A/Prof Barney Dalgarno will be
working with Mark Lee (also from CSU), and colleagues
from Macquarie University and the University of
Melbourne, to explore technology-enhanced methods
of bringing together on-campus and geographically
dispersed students in collaborative learning
experiences. Three technologies will be focused on:
desktop video-conferencing, web-conferencing, and
3D virtual worlds. [Project title—Blended synchronicity:
Uniting on-campus and distributed learners through
media-rich real-time collaboration tools].
Another RIPPLE researcher, Dr Donna MathewsonMitchell, will be part of a project team (along with
colleagues from Victoria University, Deakin University
and the Queensland University of Technology) funded
to conduct research into collaborative learning
exchanges, with the aim of creating a national
resource to encourage higher education collaboration
with partner museums. [Project title—Collaborative
learning exchanges with museums as public learning
spaces to engage Humanities, Arts and Education
students in experiential learning and citizenship].
Scopus Young Researcher of the Year for Humanities
and Social Sciences
Congratulations to Dr Jane McCormack, who has
been awarded the prestigious Scopus Young
Researcher Award for 2011 in the Humanities and
Social Sciences. The award is presented by Elsevier
Australia and the New Zealand and Australasian
Research Management Society (ARMS), and was
established to honour leading Australasian researchers.
MERGA Early Career Award 2011
Dr Amy MacDonald was presented with the Early
Career Award at the recent Mathematics Education
Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) conference in
Alice Springs. RIPPLE Director, Prof Tom Lowrie, and
Adjunct, Dr Tracey Smith, have been previous
recipients of the award.
2011 ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contributions to
Student Learning
A/Prof Barney Dalgarno recently received a 2011 ALTC
Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student
Learning. The award recognises Barney‟s contribution
to academic leadership, staff development, and the
scholarship of learning and teaching in higher
education, particularly the impact of his research into
learning technologies.
Vice Chancellor’s Awards 2011
Congratulations to the following RIPPLE members who
were recipients of Vice Chancellor‟s Awards for 2011:
Award for Excellence in Sustainability: Team Award for
the Inland Living Experience Project Team, including
RIPPLE member Dr John Rafferty.
Award for Research Excellence: Team Award to the
Educational Transitions, Continuity and Change team,
including RIPPLE members Prof Sue Dockett, Prof Bob
Perry, Ms Emma Kearney, and Dr Tuija Turunen.
Faculty of Education Staff Excellence Awards 2011
Well done to RIPPLE members who recently received
Staff Excellence Awards:
Academic Excellence Award: Dr Donna MathewsonMitchell, and Dr Noella Mackenzie.
Research Excellence Award: Dr Annemaree Lloyd.
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PUBLICATIONS
Position Statement launch
Prof Alan Hayes (AIFS), along with Prof Sue Dockett and Prof Bob
Perry (CSU), and A/Prof Kay Margetts (University of Melbourne)
On 8 August, Prof Alan Hayes, Director of the Australian
Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), launched the Transition
to School Position Statement at the CSU AlburyWodonga Campus. The Statement was produced by
RIPPLE researchers Prof Sue Dockett and Prof Bob Perry,
in conjunction with a group of leading national and
international transition to school researchers and
research students. The Statement will be valuable for
policy makers, practitioners, and researchers as they
support children and families with making a successful
transition to school. The Statement was also launched
in an international forum—the European Early
Childhood Education Research Association Annual
conference held in Geneva during September. Prof
Dockett and Prof Perry recently presented a webinar
on the Statement for the Australian Research Alliance
for Children and Youth (ARACY).
A successful transition to school
A project report was launched in Sydney on 14 June
for a completed Australian Research Council Linkagefunded project conducted by RIPPLE researchers, Prof
Sue Dockett, Prof Bob Perry, and Emma Kearney (CSU),
along with colleagues from the University of Western
Sydney, the Department of Community Services, and
Mission Australia‟s Research and Social Policy Unit. The
research concentrated on families facing multiple
challenges, and with complex support needs. These
families are often described as vulnerable,
disadvantaged, or at risk, however the research took a
strengths-based approach. The project identified how
positive transitions to school can be facilitated for
children, culminating in a range of implications for
practice, process, and policy. The June launch was
accompanied by a seminar outlining the experiences
of families as they transition their children to school, the
support that can facilitate this process, and
implications for setting future policy and directions.
The RIPPLE website: Follow our
research
We invite you to browse the RIPPLE website for
information on our researchers, projects, and
collaborations. We have an active and energetic
research program involving about 35 researchers.
Our researchers are undertaking a diverse range of
projects focused on professional practice in a range of
settings including family day care, childcare,
preschools, primary and secondary schools, the
vocational education and training sector, business and
management, and nursing and allied health
professions including physiotherapy and occupational
therapy.
Research projects range from small communitylinked studies to large grants funded by groups
including the Australian Research Council.
We also collaborate internationally and work with a
range of external partners including local, state, and
federal government, community groups, industry,
education providers at all levels, and migrant
organisations.
Here are a few website highlights:
Latest news
Upcoming events
Downloadable project factsheets
Information on research groups
Links to our members
Information on our Visiting Scholars
International affiliations and alliances
Downloadable past issues of The RIPPLE Effect
Find us at www.csu.edu.au/research/ripple
Locked Bag 588, Boorooma Street
Wagga Wagga NSW 2678
ph +61 2 6933 2966
email [email protected]
web www.csu.edu.au/research/ripple
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