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Performance ethnography is a form of performed research that creates a theatrical representation of ethnographic inquiry. Walford (2009) proposes that frequently performance ethnographers neglect traditional ethnographic practices such as participant observation and substantial time in the field. This paper draws on research which investigated the practices of a performance ethnographer who adopted a sustained ethnographic orientation throughout the interconnecting phases of fieldwork, analysis, interpretation and representation (Wolcott, 1995). The paper considers how these practices influenced, shaped and enhanced the researcher's theatre making practices. The research revealed that the embodied and tacit knowledge generated through a performative approach to ethnographic inquiry lends itself to a layered and rich style of theatre making that involves more than a transference of verbatim text into a script. This paper documents the performance ethnographer's commitment to sustained ethnographic processes as she synthesizes detailed and complex insights into an action-based, artistic theatrical representation.

Teachers are effective agents who can introduce and support students' self-regulated learning (SRL) in classrooms. This qualitative study presents an integrative, ecological model of SRL-in-context from the teachers' perspectives. Data were obtained from in-depth interviews, participant observations and informal conversations gathered from the classrooms of six teachers working in three different state primary schools located in Queensland, Australia. The model builds on teachers' beliefs and understandings about SRL, the different ways through which they adopt SRL-supportive practices and the enactment of SRL in classrooms. It represents a complex structure of nested and mutually dependent systems with teachers having a central position, thereby forming the microsystem. However, teachers' efforts to support students' SRL are influenced by the exosystem (e.g., school, curriculum) and macrosystem (e.g., home, community) in a reciprocal fashion. The SRL-in-context model has implications for both theory and practice.

There is synergy between the investigative practices of police detectives and social scientists, including work-based researchers. They both develop lines-of-inquiry and draw on multiple sources of evidence in order to make inferences about people, trends and phenomena. However, the principles associated with lines-of-inquiry and sources of evidence have not so far been examined in relation to work-based research methods, which are often unexplored or ill-defined in the published literature. We explore this gap by examining the various direct and indirect lines-of-inquiry and the main sources of primary and secondary evidence used in work-based research, which is especially relevant because some work-based researchers are also police detectives. Clearer understanding of these intersections will be useful in emerging professional contexts where the work-based researcher, the detective, and the social scientist cohere in the one person and their research project. The case we examined was a Professional Studies programme at a university in Australia, which has many police detectives doing work-based research, and from their experience we conclude there is synergy between work-based research and lines of enquiry. Specifically, in the context of research methods, we identify seven sources of evidence: (1) creative, unstructured, and semi-structured interviews; (2) structured interviews; (3) consensus group methods; (4) surveys; (5) documentation and archives; (6) direct observations and participant observations; and (7) physical or cultural artefacts, and show their methodological features related to data and method type, reliability, validity, and types of analysis, along with their respective advantages and disadvantages. This study thereby unpacks and isolates those characteristics of work-based research which are relevant to a growing body of literature related to the messy, co-produced and wicked problems of private companies, government agencies, and non-government organisations and the research methods used to investigate them.

The importance of imagination in understanding sustainability has often been overlooked. This paper examines acts of imagining in teaching and learning that elicit and enable the emotive experience of empathy. I frame ways of thinking about imagination and empathy through theoretical perspectives of otherness. I report on research findings into the nature of imagination in environmental education contexts in Australia, explored through interviews with educators and participant observation. Analysis pays attention to how teachers and students imagine and empathize in order to more fully understand. The importance of being able to imagine other places, times, and perspectives in environmental education emerged strongly. In this paper I highlight how feeling empathy involves actively imagining the other, and how the relations between self and others can become contiguous through empathic and imaginative ways of understanding.

In an era of knowledge abundance, scholars have the capacity to distribute and share ideas and artifacts via digital networks, yet networked scholarship often remains unrecognized within institutional spheres of influence. Using ethnographic methods including participant observation, interviews, and document analysis, this study investigates networks as sites of scholarship. Its purpose is to situate networked practices within Boyer's (1990) four components of scholarship--discovery, integration, application, and teaching--and to explore them as a techno-cultural system of scholarship suited to an era of knowledge abundance. Not only does the paper find that networked engagement both aligns with and exceeds Boyer's model for scholarship, it suggests that networked scholarship may enact Boyer's initial aim of broadening scholarship itself through fostering extensive cross-disciplinary, public ties and rewarding connection, collaboration, and curation between individuals rather than roles or institutions.

This article reports on the evaluation of one topic in an enrichment program designed for children in their early years of learning. The program is responsive to an increased understanding of the benefits for very young children of programs that not only take advantage of the sensitive periods for learning but that also assist parents to a take a proactive approach to their children's early learning (Australian Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, 2009). The program being evaluated was delivered to a group of pre-preparatory students in five sessions over a period of two weeks. Data were collected using questionnaires, photographic and film recordings and field notes to ascertain the effectiveness of the program with regard to students demonstrating increased interest in the topic, in this case flowers, as well as to provide basic concepts of the topic. The term "brain file" is introduced to encompass evidence of both interest and a basic concept or understanding. The findings reveal that participation in the enrichment program had a positive impact on students' interest in flowers. The instruction received through the enrichment program curriculum increased students' basic concept of flowers. In addition, the enrichment program had a positive impact on parental involvement in the learning process as measured by parent feedback. This research points to the potential of young children to develop brain files, which incorporate the notion of increased interest in and greater understanding of the topic. An enrichment program based on the principle of providing young children with starting points for learning has the potential to make a unique and valuable contribution to early learning.

While incarcerated students have always faced many obstacles to full and effective participation in university study, the global shift toward paperless e-learning environments has created new challenges for prisoners without direct internet access. Based on prison focus groups with Australian incarcerated students and direct participant observation while tutoring tertiary students within four Queensland correctional centres, this paper explores the obstacles and constraints faced by incarcerated students in light of the increasing digitisation of materials and methods in higher education. This paper also reviews the outcomes, limitations and challenges of recent Australian projects trialling new internet-independent technologies developed to improve access for incarcerated tertiary students. This paper argues that technology-centred approaches alone will not adequately address the challenges of access for incarcerated students unless such interventions are also informed by an understanding of the sociocultural nature of learning and teaching within correctional centres.

Many higher education institutions have embraced e-Learning and urge, or make compulsory, engagement by academics. Despite this, it is often the educators themselves who take the initiative to engage with innovative e-learning approaches. These approaches, in turn, can influence both peer-and institution-wide thinking about e-Learning. This paper focuses on the introduction or extension of ePortfolios within the creative arts at four Australian universities. Each educator adopted the ePortfolio for a different purpose, and in doing so has influenced, or is at least being monitored by, their university. All four studies have resulted in the growth, development and enrichment of teaching and learning because of the ePortfolio's facility to engage students in such activities as reflection, ongoing student-teacher dialogue, collaborative essay writing, peer evaluation, identity formation, and the documentation of skills, competencies and graduate attributes for career awareness and employability. In sharing this knowledge the studies have also influenced curriculum design and e-learning policy. The academic literature notes institutional interest in ePortfolios in relation to career preparation, demonstrating and assessing student learning, academic advising, and addressing public accountability concerns by facilitating internal and external departmental review and accreditation. Within this paper we discuss the bi-directional impact and sharing of knowledge about ePortfolio use as it occurs between institution and educator. The study findings inform future development of curriculum, policy and practice for creative arts students and academics in a variety of higher education settings. Further, the findings suggest that ePortfolios provide an efficient and transparent means to archive and access student work, and that they facilitate internal and external departmental review and broader institutional assessment.

This article explores the process of determining an approach to the analysis of qualitative data collected as part of a case study research project involving children and teenagers from a community of musical practice--an all ages community-based fiddle group in central Scotland. The researcher's overarching goal is to find ways to increase ongoing participation in playing a musical instrument by people of all ages. The article does not present the findings of the study, but instead explores the notion of the reciprocal "leap of trust" that occurs between researcher and case study group, and the effects the arising mutual obligations and responsibilities have on research decisions regarding data analysis. The author describes her experience of data collection in the field and suggests that decisions regarding data analysis are influenced equally by the research participants and herself, as researcher. Theirs is a shared narrative. The research itself a reciprocal "leap of trust".

The exploration of relationships between the physical characteristics of place and the activities that occur there is a fundamental question for geography (Patton 2002). This report is part of a larger case study documenting how the places, objects and practices in a naturalized primary school playground influenced a newly enrolled student's participation in creative play, social interaction and learning. Using natural and non-prescriptive schoolyard objects is shown to have helped the student negotiate and maintain satisfying relationships with people and places and to have been supportive of identity development. A three-phase model is proposed that conceptualises constructing and playing in cubby houses--also known as forts, tree houses, bush houses, houses and dens (Kylin 2003)--as foundational to the student's social relations and positive disposition.

This article examines how key components of holistic tone production can help flutists form a resonant tone. This is framed in an exploration of tone pedagogy and includes a model of tone evaluation and education. This research is also applicable to other instrumentalists, especially wind players. In this case study information was collected by participant observation and interviews with various musicians. The ideas of expert flute educator Thomas Pinschof have been fundamental to this research, particularly those concerning the various elements of mature tone pedagogy that is acquired through a state of equilibrium and awareness in all physical and non-physical aspects of flute performance. Holistically, the entire process of tone production is a combination of different attributes that contribute to the ultimate goal in tone pedagogy--mastering the art of "letting the tone happen". (Contains 2 figures and 15 footnotes.)

This study documents and analyses the environment where music education happens in a regional Conservatorium in New South Wales, Australia. The study aimed to gain insight into the structure, nature and professional practice of a regional conservatorium, and identify innovative pedagogical possibilities. An ethnographic case study was undertaken over one year, with intensity ranging from weeklong immersion schedules to occasional short-term observation of activities. Schwab's (1969) commonplaces of schooling (milieu, subject matter, students and teachers) were applied as a priori themes, providing a scaffold for preliminary classification and exploration of the data. Empirical themes were identified as they emerged through data analysis, and subsequently applied. A dominant finding of the study is the areas of intersection between the commonplaces of schooling: the triangulation of expertise (teacher, performer and musician); a curriculum design that is student centred; mechanisms to enhance the sustainability of a regional Conservatorium; adaptation of pre-established curricula; students need to be prepared for a musical life beyond the Conservatorium; and parental involvement is central for success.

Assessment in aesthetic fields presents a myriad of challenges in the higher education environment. This paper uses a metaphorical representation to explore the role of assessors within aesthetic assessment settings in higher education. It begins with a discussion of aesthetic fields and an exploration of the role of assessment in this area. Following this, the relationship between teachers and learners in aesthetic assessment settings is explored, as are some of the tensions that accompany assessment in aesthetic fields. This paper reports on a narrative and ethnographic study that explores the role of assessors in the context of aesthetically rich assessment tasks. The study, which uses five participants teaching in higher education settings, arrives at a metaphor which likens the assessors' role to that of an artistic curator or art critic. The students' place within that metaphor is also explored. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the nature of assessment in aesthetic fields and areas for further investigation identified.

In this study, I address contemporary ways of looking after children and care giving roles women play in today's Aboriginal community in Brisbane, Australia. Data were collected through participant observation and interviews during field work in a family care centre managed by Indigenous women with the staff and their clients. My main contribution is in describing how various activities of the centre, such as parental programmes, women's gatherings, and rites of passage reflect the traditional models of child care and women's position in the family environment and how these models are perpetuated again in the modern urban environment. Furthermore, I present the implications for the contemporary Aboriginal community's understanding of their current culture as dynamic and open to change. (Contains 4 footnotes.)

Student learning about legal skills in legal education is increasingly seen as important. These legal skills include advocacy and negotiation. These skills are often taught through role-play. This article discusses the combination of role-plays with online tools, including wikis and blogs, to assist students to master legal skills. The article describes and discusses two case studies of the teaching of legal skills in a blended learning design. Additionally, through participant observation and selected data from student evaluation of one of the case studies the authors suggest implementation concerns for law teachers to consider when introducing this type of learning design. (Contains 1 figure.)

This article explores the lived and sometimes clandestine professional experiences of early childhood teachers who exist within contexts where dominant discourses of professional are competing with teacher's own understandings of their professional identities. Cultural models theory is used to shed light on the secrete and undercover work of public preschool teachers as they resist the prevailing managerial discourse and assert their understandings of their professional identities behind the closed doors of their classrooms.

Engaging with children as research informants and supporting their participation in research is increasingly recognised as valuing children's views on matters that affect them. Less attention, however, is given to the ways in which children co-construct and manage their participation in child-researcher interactions. Drawing on sociology of childhood understandings, such as the social competence of young children, this ethnographic study investigated the co-production of child-researcher interactions with children aged five years in their first year of primary schooling in Australia. Findings show how child participants oriented to and managed the researcher's disruption of the everyday generational order of child-adult relations. In so doing, interactional space was created for the co-production of children as expert informants who then oriented to a social order of membership inclusion produced in child-researcher interactions. Creating interactional spaces provides enhanced opportunities for children's participation as informants in research, and in child-adult interactions across social structures.

Research over the last 15 years has reported that for professional development to be effective, in terms of changing teachers' knowledge and/or instructional strategies, it needs to be conducted taking into consideration the following factors: teachers' existing knowledge, experience and attitudes towards the professional development, school administrative factors, opportunities for classroom-based follow-up and gathering data concerning student achievement to measure the impact or effectiveness of the professional development. These factors were all carefully considered when creating, planning and implementing the professional development model for this study. The results indicate that an evidence-based professional development model which included a workshop, classroom observations and coaching significantly improved participants' instructional practice over the course of one year while implementing "Let's Decode," a semi-scripted, explicit and direct approach to teaching phonological awareness and systematic decoding instruction when teaching beginning reading.

If children are to be heard in research and pedagogy, we need to find ways to listen to them. But how do we listen to young children when words are not their primary means of communication? Drawing on research investigating children's perspectives of outdoor spaces in pedagogical settings, this article discusses the use of pedagogical documentation as a way of listening to young children. This listening involves children and adults working together in a relationship of co-experimentation which requires suspension of judgment, openness and preparedness to be affected by the 'other' [Davies, Bronwyn. (2014). "Listening to Children: Being and Becoming." London: Routledge; Rinaldi, Carla. (2006). "In Dialogue with Reggio Emilia: Listening, Researching and Learning." London: Routledge]. The article explores ways in which pedagogical documentation can not only lead to insights into children's thinking, but also to questioning of taken-for-granted assumptions about children, learning and the wider world. Furthermore, the article highlights the way in which the materiality of pedagogical documentation strategies also actively contributes to the research. The study's findings suggest that in thinking with pedagogical documentation, children, adults and nonhuman elements all work together in an interconnected and ever-changing assemblage which does not result in definitive conclusions but instead leads to more questions.

This study investigates innovative ways that outdoor educators can actively promote young participants' authentic voice in educational research and, in turn, increase our understanding of their worldview through accurately recording what children are seeing, hearing, doing, and touching when they are beyond our researcher's gaze. The study was conducted with an Australian primary school class who completed a 1-year place-based outdoor learning program. It employed a novel research design wherein video footage was obtained from body-worn cameras mounted on the chests of the children. The footage depicts first-person visual and audio data from children's viewpoints and deepens our understanding of children's learning experiences. Additional data included observations, curriculum work samples, academic results, interviews, and student-generated photographs. Results highlight that footage provides unique insights regarding triangulating findings on student learning experiences. Body-worn cameras may be used to enhance young people's participation in research when integrated into a broader child-friendly approach.

Introduction: The paper describes an interim model for understanding the influences on information use in relation to plagiarism, with a focus on secondary school students. Available literature mostly focuses on the tertiary level and on quantifying the extent of plagiarism, with limited availability of theory or empirical research focussing on information use, learning and plagiarism. Theoretical context: Possible theoretical bases for the model are considered, and the reasons for choosing Williamson's (2005) modified ecological model, as the basis, are outlined. Empirical Research: The data from a pilot study, using ethnographic techniques in a constructivist framework, contributed to the development of the interim model. The study was undertaken with Year 11 students in an Australian country high school. The data analysis from this study was influenced by constructivist grounded theory. Themes and categories were developed from this analysis. Model Development: The themes and categories, together with the gaps in understanding as revealed by the pilot research experience, were used to modify Williamson's ecological model to provide a diagrammatic representation suited to the topic of information use and plagiarism. The themes, encompassing a number of categories which might provide understanding about influences on information use in relation to plagiarism, are people, practices, attitudes and technology. Conclusion: Developing the model gave the researchers new insights at a crucial stage when they were about to embark on a major study, building on their pilot project. Although the target group for the research is secondary school students, the model is applicable to any group of information users.

Given the current emphasis on the benefits of communication and information technologies (C&IT) for sustainable rural community development, effective evaluations of C&IT initiatives are increasingly important. This paper presents outcomes of a project that aimed to build capacities of people in two Australian rural communities to evaluate C&IT initiatives. The project's participatory action research and participatory evaluation methods were effective in increasing skills and knowledge, and facilitating various forms of empowerment. However, some limitations and disempowering effects and barriers to participation were identified. Based on our critical reflections, we present strategies for successful community capacity building projects and sustainable C&IT initiatives in rural areas.

People of different ages, skills, and interests enjoy Zentangle as a visual arts practice. It is adopted as a hobby with the intention of creating an abstract art form comprised of drawn images and using repetitive and structured patterns. Zentangle has an associative language and a method that is easy to learn. Participants of Zentangle report feelings of wellbeing when engaged in the meditative drawing activities. In the field of education, research on the potential of Zentangle to support student learning is limited; in early childhood education, the benefits are unreported in the academic literature. This research project aims to fill this gap. The project examined the educational benefits of Zentangle for young children. The project was conducted over a ten-month period in two kindergarten classrooms (with children aged 3-5 years) at a Western Australian independent community school inspired by the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy. Two case study findings showed that Zentangle supported the development of children's fine motor skills and enriched their language experience through the accommodation of cultural and linguistic diversity. Zentangle also provided opportunities for children to demonstrate the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia outcomes.

Background: Friendships between people with and without intellectual disability remain elusive. Little is known about factors that support the development of such friendships and what services can do to promote the likelihood that contact will develop into friendship. Method: A case study approach was used to explore the qualities and development of a long-term friendship between 2 women, 1 of whom has severe intellectual disability. Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used including interviews and field notes from participant observation. Findings: The relationship progressed through 3 stages of introduction, consolidation, and autonomy supported by the working practices and culture of the disability support organisation. Individualised activity, the role of a connector, and a culture of positive expectations underpinned the growth of the friendship. Conclusions: Friendships do not happen by chance but require thought, attention, dedicated resources, and commitment to long-term outcomes to be achieved.

Growing interest in mixed method approaches to social research, alongside calls to expand methodological toolboxes to include the use of visual, mobile, sensory and observational methods, are generating diverse forms of research data that represent a range of ways of knowing. We discuss a study that used multiple methods to explore the circumstances of 'early school leavers' and show how we utilised the metaphor of pinboard logic and techniques of montage to guide the analysis, synthesis and interpretation of hetergeneous data. Pinboard logic enabled us to frame, assemble and contextualise data for analysis and interpretation, while montage suggests how these various 'bits' of data can be linked to develop insights into complex social scenarios. These analytic strategies accommodated the diverse expressive practices that young people used to describe their experiences, and allowed us to explore the varied circumstances associated with young people disengaging from educational opportunities.

Background: Laws and legislation have prompted movement from special education towards inclusive education, whereby students with disabilities are included in mainstream physical education (PE) classes. It is widely acknowledged that including students with disabilities in PE presents significant challenges in relation to meeting the diverse needs of all students. Significantly, little is known about how teachers include junior primary students with a disability in PE. Aims: This paper aims to explore pedagogical practices for the inclusion of junior primary students with disabilities in PE as well as environmental accommodations teachers make. In order to address these aims, the research undertaking was guided by the question: "What pedagogies do teachers draw upon to include junior primary students with disabilities in PE"? Methods: This qualitative research undertaking incorporated a critical case study approach, which utilised semi-structured interviews and field observations as data collection tools. Three teachers of PE in primary schools located in Adelaide, South Australia, participated in the research undertaking. Given this small sample group we make no claims for generalisability, but seek to provide connections for others teaching in PE. Results: Findings are presented in three general themes of: "Relationships for inclusion, Practices of Inclusion and Complexity and inclusion. Participants' statements are used to illuminate discussions about discourses drawn on and to make links between previous research and theoretical perspectives. In general terms, findings revealed that despite barriers, such as catering for multiple forms of disabilities with minimal assistance from support staff and negotiating school environments, participants embraced inclusion and made pedagogical modifications to ensure meaningful involvement in PE lessons for all students. This research also identified the important role teachers play in terms of relationships, adaptations and safe learning environments, which collectively enable the inclusion of junior primary students with disabilities. Conclusion: Students with disabilities warrant specific recognition and access to educational resources including within the field of PE.

In this paper, we discuss how a university lecturer (pseudonym: James) drew on his technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) when planning to integrate technology in teaching. The main purpose of the study was to use real-life planning observations to understand James's TPACK. The data were obtained through think-aloud sessions in which James planned a course that is offered to undergraduate initial teacher education (ITE) students in a research-intensive Australian university. Chi's (1997) verbal analysis method was used to analyse verbal qualitative data. The results indicate that a different set of knowledge domains underpinned James's decisions in each different episode of his planning sessions giving his TPACK a dynamic and context-sensitive nature. We suggest observations of teachers when making actual planning decisions as one of the preferred methods to understand the nature of their TPACK. The study introduces a new approach in understanding how this teacher's TPACK looks when he drew on various domains of knowledge, by visually presenting the combinations made among knowledge domains.

The purpose of this study is to reflect on my experience of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in an inland Chinese university when I returned from Australia: I re-entered the space of EFL teaching, and experimented with a new model of teaching. In my experiment, I applied the concepts of third space and hybrid identity as a theoretical framework for teaching EFL. A personal narrative form is chosen to report and reflect on the experiment, as this is the form that directly expresses experience, allows for reflection on it, and is appropriate for studies of identity. Using anecdotes and reflection, I relate the observed responses of a cohort of Chinese EFL learners to this new EFL teaching model. From this account, reflections are drawn on the challenges that reform of traditional teacher-centred EFL methods in the Chinese cultural context brings to the learners, and by implication, the teacher, from the perspective of an insider (teacher) returning home from an outsider's third space as a learner in another culture.

This ethnographic small-scale interpretive study investigates four international Study Abroad (SA) students' mobile experiences of local coastal/beach sites, as part of a semester-long undergraduate outdoor environmental education unit "Experiencing the Australian Landscape" (EAL) offered at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Their individual and collective experiences of the coast in EAL highlighted the problematic status of uncritically assuming and accepting place pedagogy in education practices. With a specific focus on the lived time experience of the four SA students, this study examined how the participants negotiated their meanings of the Australian landscape over the limited duration of the EAL unit. Three temporal themes related to non-place experience were identified: transitory; creative; and re-normalising. In discussing these findings, we recommend that any (eco)pedagogical conceptualisation, practice, and research of "place" needs to attend empirically and theoretically to the non-placeness of the body-time-space-relation and their increasing abstraction within globalising processes.

Indigenous Australian underrepresentation in higher education remains a topical issue for social scientists, educationalists and policymakers alike, with the concept of indigenous academic success highly contested. This article is based on findings of a doctoral study investigating the drivers of indigenous Australian academic success in a large, public, research-intensive and metropolitan Australian university. It draws on the concept of transformational resistance to illuminate the forms that indigenous resistance takes and how identities of resistance performed by indigenous students complicate and speak to the students' notions of academic success. By drawing on ethnographic data, this article demonstrates how indigenous academic success is fuelled by the idea of resistance to the Western dominance, where resistance becomes the very cornerstone of indigenous achievement.

Using data from an international, comparative study of civic action in preschools in New Zealand, Australia and the US, we consider some of the types of civic action that are possible when time and space are offered for children to use their agency to initiate, work together and collectively pursue ideas and things that are important to the group. We use an example from each country and apply the work of Rancière and Arendt to think about collectivity as civic action in young children's schooling lives. Play, rather than an act itself, is positioned here as political time and space that make such civic action possible in the everyday lives of children. We argue here that play is the most common (and endangered) time and space in which children act for the collective.

This paper presents a reflection on the methodology used for a qualitative longitudinal study of the teaching of Modern Greek (Greek) in Western Australia under the Seconded Teachers from Greece Scheme (STGS). The study, a first of its kind, addressed an area of need in the teaching of Greek, investigating the perspectives of the key stakeholders in teaching Greek as a second language in WA under this particular scheme. The study was located within the interpretivist paradigm, with the theoretical position being that of symbolic interactionism. The methodology used was that of grounded theory and the research methods included document study, semi-structured interviewing, and participant and non-participant observation. The data analysis methods included coding, specifically open-coding and related methods. The reflection reported in this paper sheds light on the positive aspects of the methodology used for this study, as well as the issues that arose along the way, drawing conclusions that will hopefully assist other researchers undertaking this type of study.

A problem-based learning (PBL) assumption is that silence is incompatible with collaborative learning. Although sociocultural studies have reinterpreted silence as collaborative, we must understand how silence occurs in PBL groups. This essay presents students' explanations of dominance, leadership, and silence as PBL group roles. An ethnographic investigation of PBL groups, informed by social constructionism, was conducted at two dental schools (in Australia and Ireland). The methods used were observation, interviews, and focus groups. The participants were volunteer first-year undergraduates. Students attributed dominance, silence, and members' group roles to personal attributes. Consequently, they assumed that groups divided naturally into dominant leaders and silent followers. Sometimes silence had a collaborative learning function, but it was also due to social exclusion. This assumption enabled social practices that privileged some group members and marginalized others. Power and participation in decision making in PBL groups was restricted to dominant group members.

Research points to sections of the middle-class repopulating the "ordinary" urban public school and whilst there are key differences in how they are navigating public school choices, from "seeking a critical mass" to resisting traditional methods of choice and going "against-the-grain", or collectively campaigning for a brand new public school, the urban middle-class are developing contemporary methods to challenge the existing ways of thinking about middle-class choice. Drawing on this literature, this paper explores the symbolism of public schooling for relatively affluent choosers in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The positioning of public schooling as essentially secular and liberal indicates how the public school is valorised within the contemporary market place. Within a market that tends to undersell the public school, the perceived lack of organised religion and progressivism may be the unique selling point for the cosmopolitan, globalised consumer.

Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) is a form of public pedagogy that seeks to intervene into the reproduction of meaning in public spaces. In this article, we explore the Bush Babies and Elders portrait project that sought to contribute to the empowerment of Aboriginal participants through counter-storytelling. Drawing on interview and survey data collected as part of a larger qualitative study, we examine Aboriginal participant's reflections on their participation and the meanings of the project. Anchored in a critical interpretive approach, thematic analysis of data resulted in the construction of two themes, cultural continuity and recognition and acknowledgement. These themes reflect the everyday politics of survival within a longer history of oppression and ongoing misrecognition. We discuss this project as an example of public pedagogy that expands spaces and resources for contesting exclusionary narratives that inform public memory, understood as a subject of debate, dialogue and critical engagement. As a form of counter-storytelling, CACD thus creates possibilities for transforming social identities, subjectivities and relationships in local and national contexts.

Research on the socially-situated nature of learning shows how practices and identities are affected by participation in communities, but very little is known about how mature-age students experience the relational dynamics of university. Based on data from a qualitative study of first-year students, we consider written accounts by older learners to examine how they negotiate the culture of higher education. We found that mature-age students encounter a university culture dominated by younger students, who draw separating boundaries between the social and the academic and stigmatise older students because of their academic practices. Drawing on Lave and Wenger's learning theory, we examine the way mature-age students negotiate the process of becoming legitimate members of the learning community, and the resistance they face in doing so. Knowing how mature-age students learn, and how to support them, depends on examining their negotiation of university culture, as well as their differing aspirations and needs.

Purpose: The health promoting school model is rarely implemented in relation to sexuality education. This paper reports on data collected as part of a five-year project designed to implement a health promoting and whole school approach to sexuality education in a five campus year 1-12 college in regional Victoria, Australia. Using a community engagement focus involving local and regional stakeholders and with a strong research into practice component, the project is primarily concerned with questions of capacity building, impact and sustainability as part of whole school change. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: Using an action research design, data were collected from parents, students, teachers and key community stakeholders using a mixed methods approach involving surveys, interviews, document analysis and participant observation. Findings: Sexuality education has become a key school policy and has been implemented from years 1 to 9. Teachers and key support staff have engaged in professional learning, a mentor program has been set up, a community engagement/parent liaison position has been created, and parent forums have been conducted on all five campuses. Research limitations/implications: The translation of research into practice can be judged by the impact it has on teacher capacity and the students' experience. Classroom observation and more longitudinal research would shed light on whether the espoused changes are happening in reality. Originality/value: This paper reports on lessons learned and the key enabling factors that have built capacity to ensure that sexuality education within a health promoting, whole school approach will remain sustainable into the future. These findings will be relevant to others interested in building capacity in sexuality education and health promotion more generally.

The use of evidence has become a foundational part of health promotion practice. Although there is a general consensus that adopting an evidence-based approach is necessary for practice, disagreement remains about what types of evidence practitioners should use to guide their work. An empirical understanding of how practitioners conceptualize and use evidence has been lacking in the literature. In this article, we explore (i) practitioners' purposes for using evidence, (ii) types of evidence they valued, and (iii) qualities that made evidence useful for practice. 58 semi-structured interviews and 250 h of participant and non-participant observation were conducted with 54 health promotion practitioners working across New South Wales, Australia. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and field notes were written during the observations; these were analysed using Grounded Theory methods. Practitioners used evidence for practical and strategic purposes, and valued four different types of evidence according to their relevance and usefulness for these purposes. Practitioners' ideal evidence was generated within their practice settings, and met both substantive and procedural evaluation criteria. We argue that due to the complex nature of their work, practitioners rely on a diverse range of evidence and require organizational structures that will support them in doing so.

While collaborative learning and collaborative writing can be of great value to student learning, the implementation of a technology-supported collaborative learning environment is a challenge. With their built-in features for supporting collaborative writing and social communication, wikis are a promising platform for collaborative learning; however, wiki-supported collaborative learning cannot function without an effective learning design. This article highlights theory and prior research on wiki use in education and uses a design-based approach to develop strategies for using wikis to support collaborative learning in a classroom environment. In order to explore and refine these strategies, an iterative, design-based research method is used to create wiki-supported collaborative classroom activities. The authors discuss the design approach as it relates to wikis and consider the strategies that develop over four design iterations, including suggestions for learning community management, inquiry-based topic selection, teacher scaffolding, student evaluation and supporting wiki technology with other social media. This study demonstrates that while wikis can be a tool for post-secondary collaborative learning, appropriate pedagogical supports are required for successful implementation.

There is growing discussion on the use of local outdoor environments to enhance a person's sense of belonging. Sense of belonging and sense of place are components that can promote positive learning identities and attachments to community and, in turn, address issues of cycles of disadvantage. This article researched the impact of an interpretation of the forest school approach to learning in a primary school in regional Western Australia. Using a case-study approach, the research aimed to develop understandings of experiences with regard to self-esteem, sense of belonging and engagement and how these factors supported learning. Results indicated that strategies such as those suggested by the forest school approach can promote a sense of self, belonging and relational connections. These in turn can help to develop dimensions of place, identified as place attachment and place meaning. This has implications for future planning by providing greater depth in understanding the impact of the forest school approach to teaching and learning within the context of the single case primary school. It also raises questions as to how place-shaped identity nurtured in this approach to learning can be positively transferred back into the school and classroom setting.

With increasing numbers of families arriving in Australia for humanitarian reasons or through migration, childcare centres may often be the first point of contact with dominant cultural practices for these families. This period of transition into childcare can be a fraught with anxiety. This article reports on findings from a case study conducted in a childcare centre in South Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. A small group of mothers and educators participated in interviews to discuss their experiences during transition into the centre. Findings show supports and challenges faced by immigrant and refugee families during this transition time and identify processes educators can employ to ease this transition.

Theorists of multiliteracies, social semiotics, and the New Literacy Studies have drawn attention to the potential changing nature of writing and literacy in the context of networked communications. This article reports findings from a design-based research project in Year 4 classrooms (students aged 8.5-10 years) in a low socioeconomic status school. A new writing program taught students how to design multimodal and digital texts across a range of genres and text types, such as web pages, online comics, video documentaries, and blogs. The authors use Bernstein's theory of the pedagogic device to theorize the pedagogic struggles and resolutions in remaking English through the specialization of time, space, and text. The changes created an ideological struggle as new writing practices were adapted from broader societal fields to meet the instructional and regulative discourses of a conventional writing curriculum.

Ethnography is a prominent research methodology in the recent times. It is popular not only in the field of Anthropology but also in many other social sciences. My doctorate thesis was also conducted through an ethnographic study examining the ways in which young Muslims of Indonesian background living in Australia construct their identity. In this article, however, I would present a small part of the thesis, in which the methodology will be examined thoroughly. I scrutinise complexities in conducting my ethnographic study and their solutions. In this article, I raise a debate on my research positioning and describe rigorous data interpretation. I also triangulate methods of data collections as a way to improve research quality. In the article, I justify that reflexivity is a strategy to minimise research subjectivities. The challenges and advantages of being a "halfie" researcher will be also explored in this article.

This article explores how ethnography allows for an understanding of the way children are empowered through the use of popular culture during sociodramatic play. The study discussed was conducted in an inner-city Primary school in regional New South Wales, Australia. The participants were a composite fifth-to-sixth grade class, and the research focused on dramaturgical sessions. The methods were diverse, employing an ethnographic framework, including participant observations, performance and focus groups. The findings reveal that children have a shared knowledge of popular culture that is used during drama to create and perpetuate their own subversive subculture. This process is carried out through children's bricolage of popular texts and use of carnival-like humour. Overall, the article enriches understandings of how children collectively create cultures with their peers through the use of popular culture during improvised drama sessions in the classroom. The article further discusses the associated implications of these cultural processes for pedagogy.

This paper explores the metonymic slippage surrounding the discourse of public education, through observations and interviews with Lawson High School active campaigners in the state of Victoria, Australia. The notion of campaigning for public education has become an ever-present issue on an international scale, and this article aims to contribute qualitative knowledge regarding the key concepts that lobbyists produce and articulate within their meetings concerning public education. Data have been obtained through direct participatory observation within a contextually specific campaigning site, lobbyists' publications and one-on-one interviews with active campaigners. Findings indicate that campaigners present distinct conceptualisations of public education as a discourse and a well-defined model of their school-of-choice.