This paper reports on a study that explored the engagement of 17 academic staff with video confer... more This paper reports on a study that explored the engagement of 17 academic staff with video conferencing technology in four large first-year classes in higher education during 2011. While the video conferencing brought a number of benefits, its implementation was far from straightforward, raising many issues about whether it should endure, and if so, in what form. Using an insider research approach, this paper considers „grounds-eye‟ perspectives from teachers involved with the video conferencing. The findings identify three key issues that affected the sustainability of the video conferencing: a lack of synergy between individual, pedagogical, and organisational levels; the adoption of „safe‟ practices by teachers when faced with uncertain learning settings; and the endurance of the video conferencing in an altered form. The paper casts some doubt on the positioning of teachers as „future makers‟, showing how teachers can retreat into established practices when technology creates un...
Journal of educational leadership, policy and practice, 2008
With increased global mobility, the demographics of societies are changing to create diverse comm... more With increased global mobility, the demographics of societies are changing to create diverse communities. Aoteoroa/New Zealand is experiencing increasing migration which is resulting in communities becoming less homogeneous and culturally stable. The consequence of these changes is reflected at the national and local level, but also within the micro-community of the school. In this environment school leadership has become more complex. This qualitative New Zealand research study contributes to current research on leadership within multicultural populations (see Dimmock and Walker, 2005; Palmer, 2005), by addressing the question of how principals lead ethnically diverse schools. Interviews were held with the principals of secondary schools, the findings highlighting strategies employed by principals to legitimate student difference and develop school communities with an ethos of inclusivity. To date, research studies have searched for meaning within the concepts of educational leader...
A wide range of literature reveals the pervasive and directing influence that physical and virtua... more A wide range of literature reveals the pervasive and directing influence that physical and virtual spaces and the role of place have on teaching practice, and the need to better understand these influences. The experiences of teachers transitioning into new spaces, pedagogies and practices has been under-researched, particularly when learning spaces do not work as expected. This paper reports on a study that aimed to provide ground-level views of teachers’ experiences in redesigned lecture spaces that incorporated videoconferencing technology. Using an ethnographic approach, the on-going activities of the teachers using the video conferencing were obtained through video recordings, individual accounts, and interview and focus group dialogues. This paper examines how teachers were able to harness these changed lecture spaces to produce what they perceived to be effective learning places. It considers the factors that affected the transformation of the space into a place for teaching ...
Scholars who prioritise teaching and learning research over disciplinary research are faced with ... more Scholars who prioritise teaching and learning research over disciplinary research are faced with multiple challenges in the academic workplace. Although there are increasing calls within Higher Education (HE) for pedagogical research, institutions vary in their capacity and willingness to integrate and support such cross-disciplinary work (McKinney, 2006). Ambiguity and lack of shared meaning contribute to differences in the perceptions and standards of evaluation for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) work. In some institutions this type of research is not recognised within assessment criteria for promotion and/or tenure. SoTL researchers may encounter difficulty finding colleagues with similar research interests and their transitions between disciplinary research and SoTL methodologies may be complex. These contextual tensions provide a conflict for scholars, since establishing research credibility and value in the workplace is key for academics. As members of an Inte...
In the context of a dynamic New Zealand tertiary environment, this paper examines the policy that... more In the context of a dynamic New Zealand tertiary environment, this paper examines the policy that has restructured the research funding regime and the consequent impacts of these changes upon academic identity/identities. As institutions strategise to meet increased competition and changed expectations for funding (academic staff have had to modify their role (Ashcroft, 2005; Middleton, 2005). We refer to our research project (Billot & Smith, 2007, 2008; Smith & Billot, 2007) whose aim was to map the research environments in two emerging applied institutions one a relatively new university and the other a leading polytechnic in order answer the research question of how the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) has affected staff roles and responsibilities and also the academic ‘identities’ of staff. The qualitative study involved case studies of both institutions, focusing on the disciplines of Education, Design and Nursing. We outline the research methodology and methods including...
During the last two decades, there have been significant changes within the New Zealand tertiary ... more During the last two decades, there have been significant changes within the New Zealand tertiary sector due to Government, stakeholder and community demands. The result has been an altered context for learning and a need for continual reassessment of the learning environment. This paper discusses a case study that used survey and focus group data to uncover the concerns and issues faced by postgraduate research students in relation to developing and enhancing a research culture. Moreover, since a student will engage with tertiary study both cognitively and emotionally, the focus was on how the students identified their own needs within their research experience. As a university’s particular context frames and supports the development of its research culture, student voices were deemed to best represent the student experience of the research community. Our study identifies that the student research experience is shaped by the support and interactions that they encounter. Coded and th...
Global movements of people are resulting in increasingly diverse societies and principals are enc... more Global movements of people are resulting in increasingly diverse societies and principals are encountering more complex and challenging school communities. This paper presents the results of a tri-national study that sought to identify how principals manage ethnocultural diversity in schools in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. The research context of the three cities is provided by describing their ethnocultural diversity, relevant literature is examined and the research methodology discussed. Two major themes of the study findings are identified. Firstly, there appear to be similarities in the ethnocultural diversity evident in contemporary high schools in all three locations and how principals identified the effect of such diversity on their school. The second identifies similarities in how principals perceived and managed the resultant challenges in the three ethnoculturally diverse locations. Implications and conclusions from the findings are discussed, with suggestions for fu...
ABSTRACT A growing expectation that academic staff in higher education institutions (HEIs) will b... more ABSTRACT A growing expectation that academic staff in higher education institutions (HEIs) will be qualified to doctoral level can mean that doctoral study must be juggled alongside administration, teaching, and academic duties. Many academics study in their own institutions. We wished to explore their perspectives on (i) how the two roles, of being an academic as well as a doctoral candidate, interact or not and (ii) the influences and resources at play in navigating the processes. The qualitative study explored staff experiences in two HEIs in the United Kingdom and one in New Zealand. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a theoretical framework, we identified the contradictions within and between academic life and doctoral candidature activity systems. However, we focus on the tools and rules that frame daily academic life and doctoral study, and suggest remodelling systems to be kinder to academic staff brave enough to engage in doctoral study.
Focus on health professional education : a multi-disciplinary journal, 2005
Background: Research methods courses often focus on discipline-specific understandings or one par... more Background: Research methods courses often focus on discipline-specific understandings or one particular type of research typically identified as appropriate for that field. According to Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003), research methodology needs to adapt to the ever-increasing complexity of questions being asked and applied researchers need to work across research approaches. With a non-homogeneous postgraduate student community and an increasing demand for students to access programs from a distance, a course that is accessible through on-campus sessions and complemented or substituted by online direction and support enables competency in qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Method: This paper outlines a course developed for health professionals that incorporates generic elements of research with discipline-specific content and context-appropriate methods and which effectively caters for a diverse student population.
This paper reports on a study that explored the engagement of 17 academic staff with video confer... more This paper reports on a study that explored the engagement of 17 academic staff with video conferencing technology in four large first-year classes in higher education during 2011. While the video conferencing brought a number of benefits, its implementation was far from straightforward, raising many issues about whether it should endure, and if so, in what form. Using an insider research approach, this paper considers „grounds-eye‟ perspectives from teachers involved with the video conferencing. The findings identify three key issues that affected the sustainability of the video conferencing: a lack of synergy between individual, pedagogical, and organisational levels; the adoption of „safe‟ practices by teachers when faced with uncertain learning settings; and the endurance of the video conferencing in an altered form. The paper casts some doubt on the positioning of teachers as „future makers‟, showing how teachers can retreat into established practices when technology creates un...
Journal of educational leadership, policy and practice, 2008
With increased global mobility, the demographics of societies are changing to create diverse comm... more With increased global mobility, the demographics of societies are changing to create diverse communities. Aoteoroa/New Zealand is experiencing increasing migration which is resulting in communities becoming less homogeneous and culturally stable. The consequence of these changes is reflected at the national and local level, but also within the micro-community of the school. In this environment school leadership has become more complex. This qualitative New Zealand research study contributes to current research on leadership within multicultural populations (see Dimmock and Walker, 2005; Palmer, 2005), by addressing the question of how principals lead ethnically diverse schools. Interviews were held with the principals of secondary schools, the findings highlighting strategies employed by principals to legitimate student difference and develop school communities with an ethos of inclusivity. To date, research studies have searched for meaning within the concepts of educational leader...
A wide range of literature reveals the pervasive and directing influence that physical and virtua... more A wide range of literature reveals the pervasive and directing influence that physical and virtual spaces and the role of place have on teaching practice, and the need to better understand these influences. The experiences of teachers transitioning into new spaces, pedagogies and practices has been under-researched, particularly when learning spaces do not work as expected. This paper reports on a study that aimed to provide ground-level views of teachers’ experiences in redesigned lecture spaces that incorporated videoconferencing technology. Using an ethnographic approach, the on-going activities of the teachers using the video conferencing were obtained through video recordings, individual accounts, and interview and focus group dialogues. This paper examines how teachers were able to harness these changed lecture spaces to produce what they perceived to be effective learning places. It considers the factors that affected the transformation of the space into a place for teaching ...
Scholars who prioritise teaching and learning research over disciplinary research are faced with ... more Scholars who prioritise teaching and learning research over disciplinary research are faced with multiple challenges in the academic workplace. Although there are increasing calls within Higher Education (HE) for pedagogical research, institutions vary in their capacity and willingness to integrate and support such cross-disciplinary work (McKinney, 2006). Ambiguity and lack of shared meaning contribute to differences in the perceptions and standards of evaluation for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) work. In some institutions this type of research is not recognised within assessment criteria for promotion and/or tenure. SoTL researchers may encounter difficulty finding colleagues with similar research interests and their transitions between disciplinary research and SoTL methodologies may be complex. These contextual tensions provide a conflict for scholars, since establishing research credibility and value in the workplace is key for academics. As members of an Inte...
In the context of a dynamic New Zealand tertiary environment, this paper examines the policy that... more In the context of a dynamic New Zealand tertiary environment, this paper examines the policy that has restructured the research funding regime and the consequent impacts of these changes upon academic identity/identities. As institutions strategise to meet increased competition and changed expectations for funding (academic staff have had to modify their role (Ashcroft, 2005; Middleton, 2005). We refer to our research project (Billot & Smith, 2007, 2008; Smith & Billot, 2007) whose aim was to map the research environments in two emerging applied institutions one a relatively new university and the other a leading polytechnic in order answer the research question of how the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) has affected staff roles and responsibilities and also the academic ‘identities’ of staff. The qualitative study involved case studies of both institutions, focusing on the disciplines of Education, Design and Nursing. We outline the research methodology and methods including...
During the last two decades, there have been significant changes within the New Zealand tertiary ... more During the last two decades, there have been significant changes within the New Zealand tertiary sector due to Government, stakeholder and community demands. The result has been an altered context for learning and a need for continual reassessment of the learning environment. This paper discusses a case study that used survey and focus group data to uncover the concerns and issues faced by postgraduate research students in relation to developing and enhancing a research culture. Moreover, since a student will engage with tertiary study both cognitively and emotionally, the focus was on how the students identified their own needs within their research experience. As a university’s particular context frames and supports the development of its research culture, student voices were deemed to best represent the student experience of the research community. Our study identifies that the student research experience is shaped by the support and interactions that they encounter. Coded and th...
Global movements of people are resulting in increasingly diverse societies and principals are enc... more Global movements of people are resulting in increasingly diverse societies and principals are encountering more complex and challenging school communities. This paper presents the results of a tri-national study that sought to identify how principals manage ethnocultural diversity in schools in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. The research context of the three cities is provided by describing their ethnocultural diversity, relevant literature is examined and the research methodology discussed. Two major themes of the study findings are identified. Firstly, there appear to be similarities in the ethnocultural diversity evident in contemporary high schools in all three locations and how principals identified the effect of such diversity on their school. The second identifies similarities in how principals perceived and managed the resultant challenges in the three ethnoculturally diverse locations. Implications and conclusions from the findings are discussed, with suggestions for fu...
ABSTRACT A growing expectation that academic staff in higher education institutions (HEIs) will b... more ABSTRACT A growing expectation that academic staff in higher education institutions (HEIs) will be qualified to doctoral level can mean that doctoral study must be juggled alongside administration, teaching, and academic duties. Many academics study in their own institutions. We wished to explore their perspectives on (i) how the two roles, of being an academic as well as a doctoral candidate, interact or not and (ii) the influences and resources at play in navigating the processes. The qualitative study explored staff experiences in two HEIs in the United Kingdom and one in New Zealand. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a theoretical framework, we identified the contradictions within and between academic life and doctoral candidature activity systems. However, we focus on the tools and rules that frame daily academic life and doctoral study, and suggest remodelling systems to be kinder to academic staff brave enough to engage in doctoral study.
Focus on health professional education : a multi-disciplinary journal, 2005
Background: Research methods courses often focus on discipline-specific understandings or one par... more Background: Research methods courses often focus on discipline-specific understandings or one particular type of research typically identified as appropriate for that field. According to Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003), research methodology needs to adapt to the ever-increasing complexity of questions being asked and applied researchers need to work across research approaches. With a non-homogeneous postgraduate student community and an increasing demand for students to access programs from a distance, a course that is accessible through on-campus sessions and complemented or substituted by online direction and support enables competency in qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Method: This paper outlines a course developed for health professionals that incorporates generic elements of research with discipline-specific content and context-appropriate methods and which effectively caters for a diverse student population.
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