scholarly journals Negotiating conflicting discourses of quality teaching in Fiji: Initial teacher education and practicum at the University of the South Pacific

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Burnett ◽  
Kusum Prakash ◽  
Vinata Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Quality Teaching ◽  
Education Reforms ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
The South ◽  
The University ◽  
Conflicting Discourses

This article identifies a number of conflicting discourses informing education in Fiji and their impact on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students. The socially constructivist progressivism of the Ministry of Education and the ITE provider is being eroded by a set of socially conservative discourses symptomatic of neoliberal education reforms elsewhere. It is the Practicum where the conflict is most acutely evidenced. To highlight the conflict 90 ITE students, as ethno-graphic fieldworkers, have used an accepted quality teaching checklist to record the teaching they witnessed while on practicum. The resulting misalignments between discourses of quality teaching identified in this article and highlighted by ITE students contributes to debates about what constitutes effective teaching in Fiji. Additionally, despite the multi-discursive reality of Fijian education the article suggests ITE based on a learning-centred rather than learner-centred approach where teachers make critical choices for teaching based on links between pedagogy, context and consequence.

Book Review of Teaching and Learning with Technology: Pushing boundaries and breaking down walls

Open Praxis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 569
Author(s):  
Ramesh Chander Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
The South ◽  
The University ◽  
Learning With Technology

Book review of Teaching and Learning with Technology: Pushing boundaries and breaking down walls, edited by Som Naidu and Sharishna Narayan and published in 2020 by The University of the South Pacific Press.

Developing Education and Business Links

1997 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 176-181
Author(s):  
Ian Abbott ◽  
Caron Coldicott ◽  
Moss Foley ◽  
Prue Huddleston ◽  
Peter Stagg
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
British Industry ◽  
Development Of Competencies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Graduate Certificate ◽  
The University ◽  
Theoretical Issues

The Economics and Business Studies Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at the University of Warwick has been at the forefront of developing links between initial teacher education and business. The latest stage in this process occurred in January 1996 when 22 PGCE students undertook a three-day residential course established in a partnership between the University of Warwick, Understanding British Industry (UBI) and the UK Post Office. This course was the first of its kind in the UK to be sponsored by an individual company and has been designed to provide a model which can be used in all areas of initial teacher education links between business and initial teacher education. The authors address practical and theoretical issues relating to the development of links between business and initial teacher education. The broader theoretical issues considered include the significance of this type of activity in relation to the changes taking place in initial teacher education in England and Wales, such as the development of competencies, the role of continuing professional development and the appropriateness of the model. The authors also address the practical implications of working with business, and the development of a residential programme in a crowded timetable, and assess some of the curriculum materials produced by students.

scholarly journals EDITORIAL: Pacific media advocacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-10
Author(s):  
David Robie
Keyword(s):  
Solomon Islands ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Journalism Education ◽  
The South ◽  
Educational Training ◽  
Media Advocacy ◽  
Regional University ◽  
National University ◽  
The Media ◽  
The University

IN SAMOA during July 2015, a new Pacific journalism education and training advocacy era was born with the establishment of the Media Educators Pacific (MEP) after a talkfest had gone on for years about the need for such a body. A draft constitution had even been floated at a journalism education conference hosted at the University of the South Pacific in 2012. The initiative created unity of sorts between the Technical, Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) media institutes from Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the regional University of the South Pacific journalism programme. Founding president Misa Vicky Lepou of the National University of Samoa pledged at the time to produce a vision with a difference:

scholarly journals Developing Communities of Praxis: Bridging the theory practice divide in teacher education

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael James Anderson ◽  
Kelly Freebody
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teach For America ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
The University ◽  
New Education

Teacher education in universities is under pressure. In many new education policies there is a renewed focus on teacher quality, and therefore quality initial teacher education. In some countries this renewed focus has led to a resurgence of “alternative approaches” to teacher education such as Teach for America / Australia. One of the most persistent complaints about pre-service teacher education is that educational theory presented in these programs does not relate sufficiently to the real work of teachers. In an attempt to overcome these real or perceived divides, tertiary drama educators at the University of Sydney constructed a professional experience program based on both the community of practice model (Lave and Wenger, 1991) and Frierean notions of praxis (1972). The community of praxis approach emphasises the importance of integrating theory and practice to support the development of beginning teachers. This article outlines the development, implementation, and evaluation of this approach, including the reasoning behind its foundation and the theoretical and practical significance of such an approach for teacher-educators.

Developing Culturally Inclusive Educational Multimedia in the South Pacific

2008 ◽  
pp. 1031-1041
Author(s):  
C. Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Interaction Design ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
The South ◽  
Educational Multimedia ◽  
The University

This chapter explores how educational technology can be developed according to indigenous learning approaches of the South Pacific. It is based on an expansive research and development project conducted 2003-2004 at The University of the South Pacific (USP). After an introduction to several aspects of indigenous South Pacific learning approaches and their usage in the formal learning sector, I make several recommendations for instructional technology design based on these principles, illustrated with examples of educational technology projects that apply these recommendations. Specifically, we follow educational multimedia efforts at USP that enable learning in wholes, encourage observation and imitation and utilize vernacular metaphors and languages. This includes recommendations for interface design, interaction design and decentralized content localization.

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