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Academic Patronage
No full textPatronage, expansively conceived as covering all forms of bias and discrimination, is pervasive in organisations and professions, including academia. Four key types of academic patronage operate through decisions made, processes used, assistance given to individuals and personal interactions. Some forms of patronage, especially discrimination on the basis of gender and ethnicity, have come under sustained criticism and are officially stigmatised. However, policies for equal opportunity and against conflicts of interest have only begun to address more personal forms of patronage. Some forms of patronage, such as supporting one's research students, are common and treated as normal; systems without such patronage would seem strange. Looking at patronage in a broad sense can be useful in highlighting abuses that escape the usual lenses of anti-discrimination
Foucault, truth telling and technologies of the self in schools
No full textThe paper highlights how Foucauldian philosophical notions of care for the
self are relevant to the moral education of young people yet care of the self is
seldom an explicit goal of education, apart from sometimes appearing in such
curricula as health or personal and social education. This paper considers
Foucault’s changing understandings about the self; truth-telling and
technologies of the self; and his genealogy of confession
The Discourses of Educational Management
No full textThis paper attempts to apply the techniques of discourse analysis to some of
the key concepts in educational management. It employs a conceptual
framework which is informed by management theory and policy studies as
well as by the literature on discourse. The central part of the paper considers
examples of discursive forms which serve to disguise or conceal the power
dimension in educational institutions: these include appeals to ‘learning
communities’, ‘transformational leadership’ and ‘participation’. It also
examines the significance of discursive shifts from ‘rational’ to ‘emotional’
language in education, drawing on the work of James (2000) and Hartley
(1999). The dominant vocabulary of educational management is then related
to wider issues of political power. Finally, the paper summarises the value of
discourse analysis at three levels of critical interpretation - text, voice and
narrative - and suggests that, despite the pervasiveness of managerial
discourse, there remains scope for interrogation and challenge
Making VET in Schools work: a review of policy and practice in the implementation of vocational education and training in Australian schools
No full textPressure for schools to adopt a more vocationally oriented approach to the education
of young people is by no means new, especially in times of economic dislocation.
White has demonstrated considerable similarities in public policy responses to
periods of youth unemployment in the 1890s, 1930s and 1990s (White 1995). In
each case, demands for increasing vocational relevance were placed on education
systems, at least until the peak of the crisis was perceived to have passed.
Australian education systems at the beginning of the twenty-first century are
once more in a period in which great hope is placed on an expanded vocational
dimension to school students' learning. Some of these initiatives are purely schoolbased
and rely on school-oriented certification and recognition, such as the various
State Higher School Certificates (HSC), School Certificates (SC) and Senior
Certificates. Others attempt to utilise recognition arrangements under the Australian
Qualifications Framework (AQF), which is intended to apply to programs in the
national vocational education and training (VET) sector, primarily oriented to
vocational preparation of adults.
My work in this paper builds on recent research on the Australian and
overseas experience of VET in Schools and Work Based Education. I argue that not
all innovations under the VET in Schools rubric are equally valuable. I suggest that
programs and policies which depart from the traditional educative role of schools in
favour of an unduly narrow concept of ‘training’ or work-relevance are likely to be
self-defeating; that work itself may be a rich source of student learning and
development; and that VET in Schools initiatives too frequently represent an
evasion of a pressing need for more deep-seated reform of schools and schooling
The ‘third way’ and vocational education and training in New Zealand
No full textThis article is an analysis of recent reform of vocational education and
training in New Zealand. I argue that the 1999 election of a ‘third way’
government led by the New Zealand Labour Party raised the possibility of
the previous administrations’ neo-liberal or market-led vocational education
and training strategy being overturned. Evidence suggests little progress has
been made towards realising this goal, and the basic thrust of the previous
administrations’ vocational education and training policies have been
retained. Moreover, the Labour Government has introduced new policies
which are likely to increase competition within the vocational education and
training sector. The implications for policy that emerge from this are
discussed
The ‘Third Way’ to widening participation and maintaining quality in higher education: lessons from the United Kingdom
No full textThis paper analyses higher education reform in relation to the ‘knowledge’
society and recent political frameworks developed by governments in
response to sociopolitical and economic change. It argues that a wide range
of countries have responded to forces associated with globalisation by
adopting a ‘third way’ political approach, which lies mid-way between state
collectivism and an unregulated market economy. On the one hand, this
political approach promotes policies to support marketisation as the basis for
a successful economy. On the other hand, the most corrosive effects of
market forces are contained through state regulation and state support for
disadvantaged groups. This ‘dual’ approach is reflected in government
reform in higher education, particularly around issues of quality and
participation. Presenting the reform of higher education in Britain as a case
study, the paper outlines the important financial and other support measures
devised by the New Labour government to distribute opportunities for study
more evenly across society. The quality assurance measures, which have
restructured the higher education terrain within a quasi-marketised
framework, at the same time compel universities to compete against other
universities for funding and status. This paper illustrates how the
institutionalisation of the quality assurance mechanisms inhibits the workings
of measures aimed at widening participation in the system as a whole. It
concludes that the implementation of the ‘third way’ approach to higher
education reform, which implements policy mechanisms to temper some of
the consequences of the marketisation of higher education within a quasimarket
framework, serves to penalise the very institutions which recruit
students with the greatest social and educational need. Interaction of the
measures for widening participation and quality assurance is therefore likely to lead to a higher education system that is heavily stratified along the lines
of prior educational and social disadvantage
Editorial, Volume 5(2)
No full textIntegrity is fundamental to everyone involved in education – students, parents, teachers, lecturers, administrators and future employers, as well as the general public. It is hardly surprising therefore, that research on educational integrity continues to gather momentum, as evidenced by the growing number of conferences and seminars on this subject around the world. I am very pleased to report that while student cheating and plagiarism continue to be topics of interest, practitioners and researchers are also exploring the broader, social context and the changing, globalised and increasingly commercialised nature of education itself.
The current issue of the International Journal for Educational Integrity is introduced by William Astore's Plenary Address from the Annual International Center for Academic Integrity Conference, held at Washington University in St Louis, Illinois in October this year. Astore spoke boldly to conference delegates of the 'wider dimensions of academic integrity', using anecdotes from his own experience as a military instructor at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and as a history professor at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. He convincingly argued that systemic breaches of integrity are far more harmful than individual lapses such as student cheating because they compromise the institution as a whole. In his Address, Astore was
openly critical of the marketisation of higher education, a topic which was also explored at the 4th Asia-Pacific Conference on Educational Integrity: Creating an Inclusive Approach, held in September at the University of Wollongong in NSW, Australia.
The four best refereed papers from the Asia-Pacific Conference are included in this issue of the IJEI. Kim awyer from the University of Melbourne, and Jackie Johnson and Mark Holub from the University of Western ustralia, provide a candid analysis of the decline in academic standards and integrity in Australian higher education. This paper provides a thorough overview of recent changes in Australian higher education.
As Richard Davis commented in his review, "Critics of the modern university face an uphill task. Accused of advocating old, inefficient ways and lamenting a decadent past, they are easily silenced by self-satisfied colleagues enjoying their large research grants and consultancies. Some critics can do little more than condemn local personalities. All would be well if the vice-chancellor was less authoritarian or the university council less mean in its refusal of salary increases. The strength of the current paper lies in its remorseless analysis of the system which developed inexorably from the government's determination to educate more students while cutting its higher education costs. The 'new' corporate market-based university replaced the 'old' university dedicated to the ideals of free enquiry and education as an end in itself".
Moving from the broad educational context to specific practices, the next four papers in this issue investigate issues of learning, teaching, assessment and adjudication. Clair Hughes from the University of Queensland addresses an apparent shortfall in Australian universities' implementation of 'Graduate Attributes' (GA), including the GA relating to ethical conduct. Hughes maintains that to authentically operationalise GAs, much more is needed than simply mapping specific attributes against existing programs and courses. Hughes argues for a whole of programme approach, the explicit inclusion of ethics in course teaching and assessment plans, and provides specific examples of how this may be achieved.
Jon Yorke, Kathryn Lawson and Graham McMahon from Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia, ask how those who adjudicate breaches of academic integrity can reliably determine 'intent' in cases of plagiarism. The authors draw on a desktop study of institutional policies and procedures in 20 universities from Australia, US, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and the UK to analyse the way that 'intent' is defined and determined. Their findings indicate that despite the espoused significance of 'intent' in determining outcomes for alleged academic misconduct in many policies, there is inconsistency in the way that it is treated. The authors provide a preliminary series of 'probability factors' which might be used to determine 'intent' and call for further research in this little explored aspect of academic integrity.
Grace McCarthy and Ann Rogerson from the University of Wollongong in NSW, Australia, share the results of a trial at the Sydney Business School where 61 international students were encouraged to use 'originality reports' provided by the software program Turnitin to assess the originality of their own work and thus avoid inadvertent plagiarism. In conjunction with hands-on support from teaching staff, students were permitted to submit as many drafts as necessary to Turnitin, with the result that all final submissions had a text match of 5% or less. As a consequence of the positive results of the trial, the use of Turnitin as a drafting mechanism, coupled with an extensive program of embedded support and supplementary workshops, has now been mandated for all subjects. The authors share further qualitative and quantitative data to support their thesis that "the use of text-matching software can be a powerful aid to help students improve their writing and to help academic staff identify potential plagiarism".
The final paper in this issue is the only one not previously presented at one of the international conferences on academic integrity held during 2009. Mary Davis and Jude Carroll from Oxford Brookes University, using data collected over three years from cohorts of international students in the UK, also explore the role of text-matching software in plagiarism education, with a focus on the importance of formative feedback through tutorial intervention. As one part of an overall educative approach, students worked hand in hand with their tutors to read and interpret the Originality Reports of ungraded drafts of assignments prior to final submission. Students were also surveyed at the end of the module to ascertain their perceptions of the value of using Turnitin in this way. The data indicated that the approach taken at Oxford Brookes University resulted in reductions in the amount of plagiarism, over-reliance on sources, citations errors and insufficient paraphrasing. This study provides an example of best practice in the educational use of text-matching software and provides a potential counter to those who are concerned that the sole function of such software is to police and punish students.
I hope that you enjoy this issue of the International Journal for Educational Integrity, and invite you to submit a paper for review directly to me at [email protected] or respond to the Call for Papers for Volume 6(2) below.
Tracey Bretag, IJEI Editor
December 2009
Call for papers, Volume 6(2) 2010
Special issue of IJEI on 'digital technologies and educational integrity'
Edited by Chris Moore and Ruth Walker
This special issue seeks articles that address the impact of digital technologies on educational integrity. Many different terms have emerged in an attempt to capture the shifting terrain of media and users in various networked environments: 'social', 'participatory', 'user-generated' or simply 'new' media. Common to the online and interactive spaces of Web2.0 is the challenge of technologies and practices that are capable of changing the way we teach, learn, and share knowledge. How can we best engage and support students and colleagues coming to terms with the dynamics of these technologies and the development of new literacies?
We are particularly interested in innovative research from scholars in cultural and media studies and/or the scholarship of teaching and learning, and welcome interest from the other disciplinary researchers, who might consider a broad range of questions about digital technologies that critically unpack the conversation about education integrity that goes beyond preoccupation with plagiarism and research ethics. Critical voices of concern, examples of best practice and consideration of the perceived impact of digital technology on institutional boundaries are keenly sought as is research exploring the collaborative approaches to social and participatory media that challenge conceptions about authorial identity and scholarly writing practices. Research examining the development of new literacies that celebrate the appropriation, adaptation and transformation of source material would fit well within the scope of this special issue.
Abstract due date: 31 March 2010
Full paper deadline: 1 July 2010
Special issue release date: December 2010
Send all enquiries and 500 word abstract to the guest editors at
[email protected]
With thanks to our reviewers in 2009:
Kate Andre, University of South Australia
Peter Bowden, University of Sydney
Kylie Brass, University of Western Sydney
Deborah Churchman, University of South Australia
Geoffrey Crisp, University of Adelaide
Richard Davis, University of Tasmania
John Dearn, Australian National University
Fiona Duggan
Lawrence B. Ebert
Teddi Fishman, Clemson University
Neera Handa, University of Western Sydney
Beverley Kokkin, University of South Australia
Margaret Lightbody, University of Adelaide
Nancy Matchett, University of Colorado
Paul Moore, University of Wollongong
Gerry Mullins, University of Adelaide
Nicholas Proctor, University of South Australia
Wendy Sutherland-Smith, Monash University
Daniel Wueste, Clemson Universit
Foucauldian Influences in Narrative Therapy: an Approach for Schools
No full textIt may be that one of the defining characteristics of European approaches to the
development of narrative-informed counselling and psychotherapy is that being
philosophically grounded represents an alternative to the pragmatic, empiricist,
instrumental therapies and health-care systems that have come to dominate the
global psychotherapy scene in recent years (McLeod, 2000a p 333).
In this paper I explore the impact of the work of Michel Foucault on
‘narrative therapy’ as initially developed in Australasia by Michael White and David
Epston1 (1989, 1990). European strands of narrative-informed therapy are by no
means alone in being informed by philosophy. Narrative therapy is part of the
‘narrative’ turn that occurred as part of a broader movement within philosophy, the
humanities and the social sciences – the linguistic turn (Rorty 1967) – which
promised agreement among philosophers by shifting discussion to the meta-level to
study the language of representation rather than the referents or objects themselves.
The turn to narrative, while part of the wider linguistic turn, can also be seen as a
response to the formalism and scientific pretensions of structuralism by what we
might loosely term ‘poststructuralist’ thinkers (Onega & Landa 1996). The
importance of language and meaning to counselling, as exemplified by structuralist
and poststructuralist modes of thought, is profound and had been largely unexplored
by counsellors until narrative therapy emerged. On this account, it is held that
language not only affects how we frame our notions of the ‘self’ and ‘identity’, but
also how counsellors deal with people and their sense of meaning of the world they
live in. Since the late 1980s, various strands of narrative-informed therapy have
developed in Australasia, USA and Europe, along with a burgeoning literature (see
for example White & Epston 1989 1990; Parry & Doan 1994; Freedman & Combs
1996; Smith & Nylund 1997; Monk et al 1997; McLeod 1997; Winslade & Monk
1999; Payne 2000; Speedy 2000). The pioneering form of narrative therapy as
formulated by White and Epston owes much to several poststructuralist theorists and
to earlier Foucauldian themes. These are briefly examined in first section of this
paper
Online mentoring for the induction of beginning teachers
No full textSolutions to the enduring problem of teacher retention increasingly focus on
the need for quality induction programs for beginning teachers. One response
of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training is to
nominate school mentors for all beginning teachers. This article reports on
research that investigates the extent to which e-learning networks can support
school mentoring to enhance induction programs. Beginning teachers from
five NSW schools were monitored as they accessed a mentoring online
program provided by the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) over a
three-month period