Bev Rogers | Flinders University of South Australia (original) (raw)

Papers by Bev Rogers

Educational research has been criticised by governments and practitioners. For some politicians a... more Educational research has been criticised by governments and practitioners. For some politicians and policy makers, there is a tendency to look for direct links between research and successful, effective and efficient practice. Research is needed to inform their evidence-based practice as policy makers, and to provide the kind of research teachers need to base their practice on the best available evidence for doing ‘x rather than y ’ (Hargreaves 1996) or predicting the ‘size of the effect of A on B ’ (Blunkett 2000). There is no doubt that both teachers and policy makers do make decisions on a daily basis based on some form of evidence. This paper explores Hargreaves ’ notion of evidence-based practice, providing a range of criticisms. It also examines Carr’s historical account of ‘praxis ’ and ‘poiesis ’ to suggest a notion of evidence-based praxis based partly on the historical notion of ‘phronesis ’ – practical wisdom. The basis for this is the argument that wise and practical eth...

This paper focuses on the importance of educational leadership in cultivating the conditions for ... more This paper focuses on the importance of educational leadership in cultivating the conditions for a space for dialogue with teachers, which is linked more to working with teachers, to theorise and critically examine what they do. Such a dialogic teacher ‘public space’ is linked to teachers acting ‘in concert’ as respected partners in the educational process, through the courage to exercise judgement, in a space where the views and contributions of each teacher matter. I employ the resources of Bourdieu and Arendt, to provide both conceptual lenses and thinking tools which are helpful for gaining a glimpse of ‘an elsewhere, of an otherwise’ in educational leadership, at a time when being critical is difficult and conceived of as a form of heresy. Current leadership models are dominated by business management concepts which obscure the educative character of the work of school principals. The managerial approaches of neo-liberal educational reform have brought with them an assertion of...

Headache, 2020

China’s non-government Higher Education sector has experienced 40 years of growth but has faced a... more China’s non-government Higher Education sector has experienced 40 years of growth but has faced a range of problems in recent years. There is an urgent need to think carefully about future directions and approaches that nongovernment universities might take. Internationalisation is changing the world of education and has become important strategically for Higher Education institutions across the world. This research explores what internationalisation might mean and provides an understanding of internationalisation in the context of Chinese non-government universities. Under the internationalisation framework in Western academic literature, this study investigates the practice from a case study university in China. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews along with document analysis. Participants indicated that internationalisation is learning, integrating initiatives for mutual benefit and can be an accelerator for overall development of universities. Furthermore, the...

Schools are now situated within a dominant public policy regime that is demanding compliance and ... more Schools are now situated within a dominant public policy regime that is demanding compliance and standardisation, at a time when the achievement of success for all students demands a capacity at the school level to design and deliver an approach that embeds "an ongoing process of professional learning for teachers" (Caldwell, 2014, p. 4). Such professional learning must provide opportunities for teachers to reflect on their own assumptions and beliefs, to test their assumptions and adapt and reshape strategies in light of their analyses in the context of a collective profession. The development of teacher capability matrices at a primary school in New Zealand appears to be a unique and authentic expression of dialogue between teachers about how teachers can seriously engage in their own learning and be accountable for continuously improving their instructional practice through integrating what they have learned into their classroom practice. The matrices support dialogue a...

Whilst deficit discourses in classrooms and staffrooms are pervasive and dominant, there is some ... more Whilst deficit discourses in classrooms and staffrooms are pervasive and dominant, there is some research which supports teachers disrupting deficit thinking and reconnecting with student "funds of knowledge". Processes for disrupting deficit knowledges tend to assume individual teacher construction of deficit views in conversation with other teachers, and include questioning and offering other metaphors to unsettle the familiar, in a space where new language about young people is engaged. Neoliberal thinking fosters a mechanistic, problem-based approach which positions teachers as transmitters of knowledge developed elsewhere, efficiently "delivering" enhanced student achievement. In this context, teachers are positioned as performers of Standards viewed largely through a lens of certain progression in relation to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Such certainty in the outcomes misrepresents the micro-interactions of identity and knowledge form...

New Perspectives on Education for Democracy

Internationalisation of Educational Administration and Leadership Curriculum

Teachers' Work

This article presents case study research into a New Zealand Primary School enacting a very sophi... more This article presents case study research into a New Zealand Primary School enacting a very sophisticated whole school inquiry approach to grow teacher classroom professionalism and practice. In this school community, a culture of inquiry manifests as an ontological ‘way of being’, presenting in the daily professional interactions between the teachers and leaders. This ‘way of being’ is evident in the way teachers and leaders work together in espousing professional expertise, trust, care and support to enable teacher inquiry for improved classroom practice to flourish. In this article we present evidence in relation to three questions: (1) What does inquiry look like within this school community? (2) How was collaboration and support implicated in teacher inquiry? (3) How was teacher and leader engagement in inquiry related to meaningful shifts in teachers’ practice and learning? The research contributes to new understandings about the ontological nature of teacher inquiry by uncov...

Teachers and Curriculum

• Share-copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format • Adapt-remix, transform, and ... more • Share-copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format • Adapt-remix, transform, and build upon the material The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. • Attribution-You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use • NonCommercial-You may not use the material for commercial purposes. • ShareAlike-If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

Studies in Continuing Education

International Studies in Sociology of Education

The Australian Educational Researcher

The experiences of academics caught up in the rise of teaching academic (TA) (teaching-only) role... more The experiences of academics caught up in the rise of teaching academic (TA) (teaching-only) roles in Australia, the UK, the USA, and Canada, are not well documented in the literature. This paper describes a recent university restructure that resulted in a significant increase in teaching-only positions being created. Despite the claims by the university that teaching-only roles demonstrate excellence and innovation in teaching, the actual experiences of TA in the last few years have highlighted a common finding of "the perceived low value of the TA role and confusion about what the role entails" (Bennett et al., 75:271-286, 2018, p. 271). We use a more local conception of regime of truth as a tool (Gore, 1993) for reflecting on possibilities for resistance and re-imagining how we might think about ourselves beyond 'second tier'. By understanding that a reconceptualisation of ourselves is simultaneously within a given regime but also outside of it, allowing for reading the regime and thinking about the production of that regime in ways that open up possibilities for creating a space for talking and sharing both research and teaching, which is also within the 'cultural web' of the university.

Australian Educational Researcher, 2003

Research is needed to inform their evidence-based practice as policy makers, and to provide the k... more Research is needed to inform their evidence-based practice as policy makers, and to provide the kind of research teachers need to base their practice on the best available evidence for doing 'x rather than y' or predicting the 'size of the effect of A on B' . There is no doubt that both teachers and policy makers do make decisions on a daily basis based on some form of evidence. This paper explores Hargreaves' notion of evidence-based practice, providing a range of criticisms. It also examines Carr's historical account of 'praxis' and 'poiesis' to suggest a notion of evidence-based praxis based partly on the historical notion of 'phronesis' -practical wisdom. The basis for this is the argument that wise and practical ethical and moral judgements are central to an understanding of teachers' daily work. What to do in a specific educational situation cannot be determined solely by theoretical beliefs or by 'techne'. However the ethical dimension is not the only consideration. The paper suggests that evidencebased praxis use Stenhouse's notion of 'actionable evidence', which includes the ethical dimension, but also Thomson's concept of 'thisness', which describes the unique contextual characteristics of a school. If disadvantaged schools can make some sort of difference to learning opportunities for students, it is argued that teachers might engage in evidence-based praxis which involves them in reflecting on, and theorising what is happening in classrooms, schools and neighbourhoods. This 'praxis' also involves them in modifying their theories, critically analysing 'what works', questioning how they know and developing ideas about how things might be done differently. There will be an element of developing knowledge about teaching and •65 learning strategies (Hargreaves' 'body of knowledge'), but it will be in the context of the ethical and moral dilemmas associated with education. It will take up the question of local differences as well as a realistic approach to what constitutes actual school improvement. Evidence-based praxis is also essentially a collective activity not an individual approach. Future development of the notion of evidence-based praxis might also include involving students in a more reciprocal and open learning process like that highlighted by researchers who focus on student participation linked to school reform.