Kathryn Dixon

The Evaluation of an Offshore Professional-Development Programme as Part of a University's Strategic Plan: A Case Study Approach.

In response to the need for the tertiary sector to ensure the ongoing quality of teaching and learning, a Western Australian university has implemented a divisional strategic plan in order to gain quality student feedback and support staff professional development. In 2000–2002 the Business Division within the university established a systematic quality assurance mechanism called the Unit Effectiveness Project (UEP) to obtain feedback from students regarding their perceptions of their learning experiences. Based on this feedback a strategic plan to refine the units was implemented, and these planned refinements were then re-examined in the following UEP cycle. While not presenting logistical problems for onshore staff, the use of such a refinement process experienced increased problems in offshore settings and, in 2001, the Business Division proposed to initiate a professional development workshop series in order to enhance the teaching and learning skills of lecturers working in partner institutions. The professional development mirrored the service provided to the onshore campus teaching staff. This case study investigates the results of the research that was conducted with the offshore lecturers who participated in the professional development workshops. These lecturers were generally Singaporeans teaching within the Business School programme. The results of both the quantitative and qualitative data collected suggested that the participants had benefited from the workshop components that dealt with the identification of common presentation faults, planning and organisation, the establishment of optimal learning environments and appropriate teacher characteristics. The sample also agreed that there was a strong need for the on-going provision of staff development for offshore lecturers and that the experience had been of assistance in clarifying a number of issues related to teaching and learning such as the importance of interacting with students and colleagues and sharing ideas associated with good practice. The results indicated that the programme should continue; however, amendments were needed to structure and content such as an increased use of case study approaches, more opportunities to witness and discuss good practice in teaching and learning, and possible formal accreditation for achievement of programme outcomes by offshore participants.

Partners in a Learning Organization: A Student-Focused Model of Professional Development

Abstract This research report presents a student-focused model aimed at involving students, academics, and administrators in improving and enhancing learning and teaching at a university business school. The “partners in learning” model involves using student feedback to develop curriculum, teaching, and assessment; systematic, in-context professional development; and curriculum review. This longitudinal study reports that without strong educational leadership and organizational commitment, positive change is slow in showing results. The lessons learned are included for university professional developers.

Differing Student Views of Online Learning Modes across Two Programs in an Australian University.

Purpose – Aims to investigate reactions to online delivery, student perceptions of the rates and depth of participation, and levels of engagement with the learning process in a Western Australian University.Design/methodology/approach – The sample for this study comprised 108 students who were enrolled in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. An interpretative method was adopted using a case study approach, with groups of internal and external students within one education department. This method was more appropriate than a more quantitative approach.Findings – The results indicated that, while the students were technically competent overall, issues associated with equity and access varied between the groups and also between students enrolled in the same units. The sample had also re‐conceptualised the notion of “personal” which moved beyond simple physical proximity to enable the students to create their own community of learners.Originality/value – Addresses the challenge for universities and in...

Indigenous Principals' Perspectives on Leadership Development

This chapter presents a cross-cultural comparison across the Commonwealth, namely, Australia, Canada, and Kenya. The three cases explore these indigenous principals’ perceptions of leadership development and how effectively these experiences prepared them to meet the challenges within their complex school communities. The chapter presents a discussion of the historical educational legacies of imperial rule, leadership preparation opportunities that were available to aspiring and novice leaders, the challenges the principals encountered in their leadership role in the school and within their communities, and these leaders’ beliefs and attitudes toward leadership. A final synthesis is presented, which identifies a number of commonalities in leadership approaches across these very different cultural contexts: the school communities were endeavoring to rediscover their cultural history, heritage, and beliefs and were frequently developing positive relationships with elders and others who held, and were willing to pass on, the historical and cultural knowledge and expertise. The leaders themselves held strong beliefs about the importance of cultural identity in order to forge new and contemporary pathways to success for their students. They all had a heightened ethic of care ethos that extended beyond the confines of the school building and office hours. These leaders adopted entrepreneurial leadership approaches to think and act innovatively rather than simply managing schools and were dedicated to promoting educational success for all students within their care. Leadership development implications included the need for formal, informal, and experiential experiences, as well as, for the inclusion of specific knowledge and skills that would enable leaders to effectively and sensitively lead within predominantly indigenous school communities.

VET in Schools: The adoption of National Training Packages in a secondary school setting

Growing pressure is being placed on schools, as students, employers and governments look at the economic, demographic and vocational environments of the present, and expect schools to adequately prepare students for an ever widening post-school vocational future. A major factor contributing to the lack of adoption of any new innovations is the entrenched attitudes of the teaching staff and a reluctance to change. In differing forms, Vocational Education and Training programs have been circling the change process in Australian schools since 1930, yet still are in the adoption and implementation phase rather than having become institutionalised and embedded in the life of schools. It is clear that the way teachers construct meaning for innovations is a major factor in whether innovations are institutionalised in schools. However, this paper also investigates the influences of organisational culture, infrastructure, leadership and policy on the adoption of National Training Packages and their components in a West Australian case-study school.