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Through the looking glass: Coloniality and mirroring in localisation
Get PDFWhat assumptions underpin the concept of ‘localisation’ as employed by the mainstream, international humanitarian sector? This paper offers a partial answer to this multi-faceted question. It first considers the meaning(s), or lack thereof, of localisation. It presents coloniality and ‘mirroring’ as two concepts important to understanding the limitations of localisation. It then considers locally led aid in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea), using the example of the Eugene Bell Foundation (EBF). The paper argues that assumptions around the actors involved in local response, as well as assumptions around the existence of NGOs and the normative belief that non-state actors could and should play major roles in response, demonstrate the limits of localisation
Humanitarianism at home: Exploring practitioners’ perspectives on the relevance of humanitarianism in Australia
Get PDFAustralia has faced various unprecedented challenges in recent years: the extended bushfire season of 2019–20, wide-spread and increasingly severe storms and flooding, and the grave health and socio-economic impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Such events have prompted greater awareness of our shared vulnerability to disasters. They have also exacerbated food insecurity, homelessness, poverty, family violence, and increased the vulnerability of refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia. Where disasters and similar issues are identified in low-income countries, they are typically framed in terms of humanitarian need and may even be the subject of international humanitarian action. Why is it then, that the language and practices of humanitarianism are not ordinarily applied in Australian settings? What indeed is humanitarianism when it is not international? What, if anything, do international experiences of humanitarianism have to offer in Australian contexts? This paper describes a research program that has been prompted by these questions and shares some preliminary findings concerning the perspectives of Australian practitioners on the relevance of humanitarian values, knowledge, and practices in Australia
Humanitarian practice fit for the digital age
Get PDFThis essay seeks to examine some of the implications of advanced digital technologies on the humanitarian sector. It first situates data and technology-driven transformations in the broader context of humanitarian innovation and reform. It outlines how the increasing scale and complexity of humanitarian needs and operating environments has led to experimentation with new tools and approaches, business models and organisational roles in the sector. These innovations are occurring against the background of the localisation agenda, competition from the private sector, collapsing trust in institutions, and increased scrutiny of charities. The essay then highlights how technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, biometrics, and blockchain are increasing the capacity of the sector to improve humanitarian outcomes for people in crisis through new functionalities and services, greater insights into emerging vulnerabilities and risks, and enhanced organisational performance. Conversely, the essay then explores how these tools and systems are introducing a host of potential harms by exposing vulnerable people and communities to new forms of intrusion, insecurity, and inequality. This includes issues of data protection, cyber security, inherent biases in technological tools, and the reality of the digital divide and exclusion. Lastly, the essay outlines an emerging critical research agenda and active policy debates about responsible, ethical and inclusive design, use and regulation of technology in humanitarian contexts
Salaberry, M. R., & Burch, A. R. (Eds.) (2021). Assessing speaking in context: Expanding the construct and its applications
No full textAssessing speaking in context: Expanding the construct and its applications
Salaberry, M. R., & Burch, A. R. (Eds.)
Multilingual Matters, 202
Empire of the Self: Life Writing and the Professional Persona of the Lifestyle Blogger
Get PDFThis article explores how lifestyle blogs use life writing to establish a professional persona and an aura of authenticity that is necessary for maintaining a community of readers. Utilizing close readings of lifestyle blogs across a spectrum of personas, I argue that these two purposes often come into conflict, creating a precarious dynamic for lifestyle bloggers that they attempt to manage through their use of the diary, which is deployed in two key ways. The first is through the use of the diaristic mode, a reflexive and revelatory discourse that disrupts the façade of the self-brand and underscores the blogger’s authenticity. The diary is also used as a prescriptive disciplinary practice in order to create didactic and formulaic narratives that can be readily consumed and replicated but that often result in a sense of inauthenticity
Development and Evaluation of a Tailored Pre-Professional Identity Workshop: A Case Study in Exercise Science
No full textPre-professional identity (PPI) aims to provide an understanding of, and connection to, the skills and knowledge contained in a degree and the intended profession of the student. Investigation into PPI is of importance to higher-education institutions as it provides a means of understanding a student’s orientation and motivation behind degree and career selection. Developing learning activities that capitalise on these motivations is proposed to increase student engagement, reduce attrition, and enhance employability. Using the growing, but relatively new profession of Exercise Science as an example, this study describes a workshop based on
theoretical models relating to the concept of PPI,
adult learning and self-reflective practices that can be integrated into programs to enhance students’ understanding of their professional identity. One hundred and seventy-three final year Exercise Science students participated in and evaluated the workshop. The workshop was evaluated using a theoretical framework specifically designed for the evaluation of training activities. The combination of the evaluation and feedback from students were synthesised to develop a model for the application of PPI activities across a three-year undergraduate degree
“Dog boy, media whore. It’s who the hell you take me for”: Brian Molko’s curated music magazine persona in the fan archive.
Get PDFThis article investigates how the persona enacted at the end of the 1990s by Brian Molko - British band Placebo’s lead singer and guitarist - resonates with contemporary approaches of persona performance. Amplified by presentational media along the lines of Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, persona increasingly proliferates as enmeshed in everyday practices and identities. This is no different in the domain of (popular) music. Yet, contemporary music personas whose image approximates ordinariness rather than extravaganza do sometimes reject the connotation of artificiality attached to the term persona, resulting in a type of ‘reluctant persona’.
Practicing a form of anecdotal theory (Gallop 2002), I tap into how I experienced Molko’s persona through fan archives, and link his historical negotiation of an ‘ordinary extraordinariness’ with this present-day reluctant persona. A close re-reading of a selection of 1997-1999 music magazine articles in the Placebo Russia archive not only shows how Molko’s music magazine persona curates identity markers of extraordinariness as ordinary, but also demonstrates how the media texts that go into a persona continually perform these anew. Through the lens of performance studies, online fan archives shed light on the intensified correlation between (new) media and music artists’ engagement with performing the ordinary, subsequently entangling the discourses of theatricality and performativity
Work ready graduates for Australian small and medium Accounting firms
Get PDFApproximately 40% of graduate recruitment in Australia is by small and medium accounting (SMA) firms, firms which can face different constraints compared to their larger counterparts. Given the attributes of SMA firms it is important to appreciate what they consider makes a work ready graduate. This article reports the findings of a study that explores what makes a graduate work ready when commencing employment within an Australian SMA firm. The findings suggest that a work ready graduate for an SMA firm has a working knowledge and understanding of business accounting software programs, taxation knowledge and tax software skills. Additionally, there is a high emphasis on communication and interpersonal skills. This raises the question as to whether current university degrees are providing adequate technical and generic skill development for those graduates seeking employment with SMA firms
Student teamwork in professional programmes in higher education: a comparative study of Spain and South Africa
Get PDFTeamwork is a fundamental employability skill and, as such, is fostered in professional programmes. This study presents a comparative analysis of higher education students' perceptions, development, and experiences of teamwork at two universities: one in South Africa and the other in Spain. These study sites provided a fruitful opportunity for comparison, given their contextual similarities. Through a survey of 395 3rd and 4th-year students of professional degrees, the authors explored how these students developed the teamwork skills required within their curricula. The findings showed that respondents from both institutions perceive teamwork similarly, but there are significant differences in how these skills are developed. While most South African respondents had participated in courses focused on team functioning, the Spanish had learnt to function in teams during project work. Furthermore, the South African sample was more aware of the impact of socio-cultural factors on team functioning than the Spanish one. The former reported feeling marginalised due to their race, gender and language to a greater extent than the Spanish. The paper outlines the potential benefits of successful teamwork, such as improving social cohesion. The results could be useful to policymakers and lecturers designing context-specific interventions to develop students' teamwork skills
Career development learning in the curriculum: What is an academic’s role?
Get PDFCareer development learning (CDL) is an approach to developing student employability that enables students to reflect on and plan their future careers through engaging in activities outside or within their degree. Building on literature arguing for the benefits of integrating CDL within curriculum, this study examines academics’ perceived roles facilitating CDL. Informed by the principles and processes of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), 55 academics were interviewed from one institution, enabling responses to be examined through a common lens of teaching, policy and governance structures. Findings demonstrate that while some participants broadly understood the value of CDL, the term CDL is not well known. Further, while CDL strategies within teaching contexts occur, they are mostly unplanned or dialogic. This paper presents a taxonomy of current practice, featuring 11 diverse roles for facilitating CDL within curriculum grouped as absent, implicit and explicit approaches. The paper offers recommendations for a university-wide agenda for employability that features CDL strategies embedded across core curricula