Inclusive pedagogy in Australian universities: A review of current policies and professional development activities

For fifteen years, Australian Higher Education has engaged with the openness agenda primarily through the lens of open-access research. Open educational practice (OEP), by contrast, has not been explicitly supported by federal government initiatives, funding, or policy. This has led to an environment that is disconnected, with isolated examples of good practice that have not been transferred beyond local contexts.This paper represents first-phase research in identifying the current state of OEP in Australian Higher Education. A structured desktop audit of all Australian universities was conducted, based on a range of indicators and criteria established by a review of the literature. The audit collected evidence of engagement with OEP using publicly accessible information via institutional websites. The criteria investigated were strategies and policies, open educational resources (OER), infrastructure tools/platforms, professional development and support, collaboration/partnerships, and funding.Initial findings suggest that the experience of OEP across the sector is diverse, but the underlying infrastructure to support the creation, (re)use, and dissemination of resources is present. Many Australian universities have experimented with, and continue to refine, massive open online course (MOOC) offerings, and there is increasing evidence that institutions now employ specialist positions to support OEP, and MOOCs. Professional development and staff initiatives require further work to build staff capacity sector-wide.This paper provides a contemporary view of sector-wide OEP engagement in Australia—a macro-view that is not well-represented in open research to date. It identifies core areas of capacity that could be further leveraged by a national OEP initiative or by national policy on OEP.

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The evolved landscape of ePortfolios: Current values and purposes of academic teachers and curriculum designers

Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability ◽

10.21153/jtlge2018vol9no1art669 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 2 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jennifer Rowley ◽

Jennifer Munday

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Current Literature ◽

Professional Standards ◽

Degree Programs ◽

Learning Tool ◽

Future Directions ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

Reflective Practitioners ◽

Academic Teachers ◽

Australian Universities

As ePortfolios are increasingly being used in universities to help develop self-reflective practitioners, academic teachers and students need to develop the skills and processes required to implement them. During 2015, a series of webinars was presented by a cross-university team to provide professional development for academic teachers, curriculum designers and other staff interested in initiating or extending ePortfolio learning in their institutions. A survey was conducted with participants to gauge the depth of understanding and use of ePortfolios in degree programs. The survey aimed to clarify participants’ perception of the value of ePortfolio tools in Australian universities, and to identify future directions for developing knowledge and learning related to ePortfolios. Through the survey questions participants were able to provide information anonymously about their knowledge and use of ePortfolios. Respondents were also invited to be interviewed. Nine interviews, conducted in 2016, explored ePortfolio-users’ opinions of the learning tool. The results indicate that teachers’ use of the ePortfolio as a learning tool has evolved beyond that reported in the current literature. Furthermore, when used for reflection, assessment and documenting professional standards, the ePortfolio tool contributes to the students’ development of skills required to transition to future careers.

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BUILDING LEADERSHIP COMPETENCE WHILE TRAINING MASTERS OF EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITIES OF AUSTRALIA

Aesthetics and Ethics of Pedagogical Action ◽

10.33989/2226-4051.2020.22.222018 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 165-179

Author(s):

N. Seminikhyna

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Professional Development ◽

Educational Policy ◽

Leadership Skills ◽

Leadership Education ◽

Leadership Programs ◽

Future Teachers ◽

Leadership Qualities ◽

Leadership Competence ◽

Australian Universities

Academic leadership plays a crucial role in promoting teaching and learning in higher education. In today's changing world future teachers should play a leading role in professional development. One of the main tasks of master's student training is innovative improvement of university education, which provides gradual and continuous development of general (universal) competencies, competitiveness in the foreign labor market, creating favorable conditions for professional development and development of leadership competence. The aim of our article is to identify and analyze the organizational and pedagogical features of leadership qualities in training masters of education at Australian universities. Leadership plays an important role in every aspect of students' lives, as they go through many stages of career development, where they need leadership skills, primarily related to employment issues and conflicts between what is desired and useful. Therefore, it is important that the teacher learns to navigate the models and styles of leadership, understand the impact of leadership on the personality development, gain the basics of leadership ethics and, as a result, create their own philosophy of leadership.Over the last four decades, Australia's higher education system has undergone significant changes. This was facilitated by social, economic and demographic changes in society and the country. It is they who have led to government reforms in Australia's education policy that promote quality and affordable higher education that builds, including leadership competence. Leadership skills help to overcome challenges, solve problems and analyze career choices. Therefore, it is important that leaders of leaders, i.e research and teaching staff, develop leadership skills in students. Higher education in Australia is responding quickly to the demands and needs of educational circles, expanding opportunities for educators to improve the quality of their training, in particular through postgraduate leadership programs, which are characterized by their flexibility and diversity. They have the opportunity to get a holistic view of pedagogical activities not only from the position of a teacher who implements educational policy, formed externally, but also from the position of the subject of educational policy of the state.It has been found that Australian universities offer teachers postgraduate leadership programs, including master's programs, leadership certification programs as an additional specialization, and leadership programs at the education specialist level. Leadership education is an integral part of leadership development and requires a structured and formal educational environment, which allows through specially organized training to form and improve the leadership qualities of future teachers. The cognitive component is an important component of leadership education.

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Strategizing Inclusivity in Teaching Diverse Learners in Higher Education

Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction ◽

10.32890/mjli2019.16.1.5 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (Number 1) ◽

pp. 105-128

Author(s):

Rosna Awang-Hashim ◽

Nena P.Valdez

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Professional Development ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Equal Opportunity ◽

Continuing Professional Development ◽

Diverse Learners ◽

Faculty Professional Development ◽

Diversity And Inclusion ◽

Inclusive Pedagogy ◽

Essential Knowledge

Purpose - As the classrooms in higher education are growing increasingly diverse, it is imperative that higher education practitioners build a responsive learning environment for diverse learners to optimize their potential. Continuing professional development programmes (CPD) are central to such strategic approaches that equip educators with essential knowledge and skills to handle diversity related issues, achieve equity and increase participation by students. Therefore, the present study aims to examine strategies used by higher education practitioners to address diversity and inclusion in teaching and learning. Methodology - Participants were nine academicians (6 males and 3 females) who emerged from natural retention along the iterative cycles on Community of Practice (CoP) participation. The present study adopted CoP as the theoretical lens and a methodological tool to understand what strategies higher education practitioners devise for their inclusive teaching and learning practices in response to the diversity related challenges. The data was collected through a series of observations and reflective journals. Initially, thematic analysis techniques were used to reduce data into two categories- strategies and challenges. Later, according to the prevalence and frequency count the strategies were analysed against the challenges reported and finally the strategies were reduced into major themes. Findings - Three major themes emerged that report the inclusive strategies conceived by the participants. The themes were - Inclusive/differentiated assessment which suggested that creating differentiated assessment that are inclusive in nature and can provide equal opportunity to every student to participate. The second theme, Motivation and Goal Strategies, revealed that students were found to be diverse in their goals for learning, hence, a variety of motivational strategies such as including students’ voice, providing them a clear rationale for studying and fostering relatedness were deemed suitable to address those differences. The final theme, inclusive pedagogy suggests a variety of accommodations to be made in pedagogy such as integrating technology, adopting culturally responsive material and initiating collaborative learning to address students’ differences. Significance -The findings have implications for faculty professional development, classroom teaching practices for inclusive pedagogy in higher education institutions and use of CoP as a framework for such developments.

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