Patrick Danaher | University of Southern Queensland (original) (raw)

Papers by Patrick Danaher

Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 2022

Currently, an almost exclusively female workforce provides the government mandated adult supervis... more Currently, an almost exclusively female workforce provides the government mandated adult supervision of Australian primary and secondary school students enrolled in distance education, including geographically isolated learners. These Remote Education Tutors (RETs) include unpaid family support providers and externally employed governesses and home tutors who are paid by the children's families. This crucial position has no prerequisite qualifications, which in turn generates occupational invisibility and an absence of recognised career pathways for the individuals fulfilling the responsibilities of this role. In response, we propose innovative partnerships for credentialling the experiences and effectiveness of Australian RETs, in order to recognise their professional status and to contribute to a sustainable rural education workforce. Such credentialling will entail dynamic and mutually responsive collaborations among the distance education stakeholders, including the tutors, ...

Supporting postgraduate students in their efforts to soar through the rings is a crucial endeavou... more Supporting postgraduate students in their efforts to soar through the rings is a crucial endeavour of contemporary universities. A variation on this approach is ringing the changes for such students-that is, identifying the distinct stages in their learning journeys and seeking ways to maximise opportunities to facilitate their movement through each stage and in the transition from one stage to the next. This approach recognises the many common issues faced by postgraduate students, yet also values the diversity of context and experience framing their engagements with those issues. This paper rings the changes in the learning journeys of two doctoral students, both in faculties of education in Australian regional universities, yet with different topics, research questions, theorists and findings. The account explores another incarnation of the ring metaphor: as a network of support. The authors map and compare their respective networks and link them with broader literature about con...

Uisge Beatha as a metaphor: the water of life 2-2 Extract from original birth certificate 2-3 Ext... more Uisge Beatha as a metaphor: the water of life 2-2 Extract from original birth certificate 2-3 Extract from the front page of 'Bulletin' 2-4 Labels used in Auschwitz 2-5 Tattoos used to label prisoners, Auschwitz 2-6 Writing as research: A reflective process 5-1 Indigenous research and teaching approach 5-2 Dinawan Dreaming by Donna Moodie 10-1 First layout (A4 canvas size on Photoshop CS5) 10-2 Simplified layout 10-3 Diagonal panel creates a more dynamic feel 10-4 The map 10-5 The character ageing 10-6 Reversing stereotypes-8 year old student's writing 10-7 Year 2 student's poem FOREWORD At the heart of all imaginative writingand all writing makes demands on the imagination to a certain extentis a mystery: whatever it is that the writer is trying to reach or touch in herself/himself in the process of writing. One way of naming this mystery is to call it 'voice'the voice of the writer that is making itself heard in the world, or is already a powerful presence, or whose small utterances are all but stifled, or are audible mostly as the echoes of other voices; but nonetheless possessing the idiosyncratic rhythms and timbre of its owner-maker, what the poet and novelist Helen Dunmore calls each writer's 'linguistic register', more vital in establishing his or her distinctiveness than content (Dunmore 2012).Think how a baby's cry, devoid of any words, is instantly recognisable to the baby's mother. Writers, unlike other artists, Dunmore reminds us, use the common or garden medium of language, a doughty work-horse of an instrument, pressed into service by everybody for everything from shopping lists to car manuals, news bulletins, protestations of love, of rage. Despite the instantaneousness of digital communication, ours remains a text-based, in the old sense, societyin our education systems, credentials are still awarded on the basis of discursive text in forms like the one-hour essay composed under examination conditions or a doctoral thesis painstakingly put together over several years. For those employed in higher education, in the civil service and in most professions, the authored textjournal article, ministerial speech, application for grant-funding, end-of-project report, edited book, counsel's brief, detailed lesson plancontinues to serve as a principal marker of status attained or credibility sought. Because such discourses are by and large instrumental, people may experience writing within them as imposed, performative, straitening, even as they become adept at (re)producing the desired texts, and even as they undoubtedly take pleasure in doing so. They are joining a club, learning to speak the language; they are becoming authors, acquiring authority. Perhaps inevitably, then, people often assume that it is only in 'personal' or 'creative' writing that one's own voice can be truly, authentically expressedthe still small voice above the thunder of the crowd, the chatter of the club. Myself, I've comeover many years of writing for academic and policy audiences, as well writing poetry,

Journal of Learning Design, 2015

One significant manifestation of the proposition of a "classroom without walls" is the online lea... more One significant manifestation of the proposition of a "classroom without walls" is the online learning environments evident in most contemporary Australian universities. A key element of the effectiveness of those environments is the quality of the interactions that they foster. Planning and implementing rigorous research into that quality is crucial if these particular "classrooms without walls" are to deliver enhanced and sustained learning outcomes. This article explores selected aspects of a cross-institutional collaboration linking two Australian universities researching the quality of learning interactions in their online courses. In particular, the authors analyse the utility of the social software and Web 2.0 technologies that have been deployed to facilitate their collaborative research. Despite the constraints and tensions attendant on withinand cross-organisational learning, teaching and research activities, the article records evidence of a developing innovation in investigating both the online learning designs and the research project developed to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of those designs.

Innovative Mobile Learning

This chapter deploys Denning’s (2004) powerful assertion that “an innovation is a transformation ... more This chapter deploys Denning’s (2004) powerful assertion that “an innovation is a transformation of practice in a community” (p. 1) through the elaboration of three key educational principles: engagement; presence; and flexibility. Each principle is accompanied by an elicitation of practical strategies that have proved effective in implementing the principles sustainably within particular courses and programs of study, as well as factors that inhibit that implementation. The authors use these principles and strategies that work as an evaluative lens for examining the pedagogical innovativeness of mobile learning and teaching environments. The application of that lens highlights a set of challenges and opportunities facing those technologies and their proponents, specifically in the authors’ host institution and in higher education more broadly. Provided that those technologies can be used to engage with those challenges and opportunities, mobile learning can indeed contribute simult...

International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 2007

The growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the emerging needs of higher ... more The growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the emerging needs of higher education students have emphasised the need to incorporate digital developments into learning and teaching activities. ICTs afford innovative and active engagement of the learner, recognise good teaching and promote lifelong learning. On the other hand, there are considerable challenges associated with implementing and integrating ICTs in course environments as academics and institutions struggle to keep abreast of rapidly evolving technologies and pedagogies, thereby wrestling with these emerging technologies and often wrangling to ensure that they support learning and teaching strategies directly and effectively. This paper reports on the incorporation of a comprehensive peer review system into a course within a Faculty of Business and Law at an Australian university, and the experiences, challenges and issues faced by academics with regard to integrating technologies with teaching, le...

The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 2013

One key manifestation of educational diversity is low socioeconomic status students and those who... more One key manifestation of educational diversity is low socioeconomic status students and those who are otherwise marginalised from accessing higher education. This exploratory case study outlines and evaluates a long-running Australian pre-undergraduate preparatory program directed at providing maximum life and learning support to students by means that engage with and build on their diversities. Data are drawn from semi-structured focus groups with successive cohorts of students and theoretically-informed reflections by program staff members. The analysis of these data is framed by the conceptual blending of current theorising about transformative learning and capacity-building, which in combination constitute a powerful lens for illuminating student diversity in higher education. Based on that analysis, despite some inevitable limitations, the program is largely successful in its strategies to maximise life and learning support in order to mobilise the students' diversities in ways that enhance their current and prospective learning outcomes.

Central Queensland University (CQU) encapsulates many of the recent changes to Australian univers... more Central Queensland University (CQU) encapsulates many of the recent changes to Australian universities. These changes include the imperative to diversify funding sources, the expansion of international education, the blurring of modes of study and the proliferation of online and other technologically based teaching and learning. This paper canvasses several of the issues framing current and potential strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of Central Queensland University's open and distance education provision. These issues include the institution's ongoing search for its identity; historically grounded practices and assumptions around open and distance education; changing demographics; expectations of contemporary university students and teachers; and evident tensions around the commercialization of some elements of the University's operations. The associated strategies are designed to respond to these issues at the same time as promoting diversity, equity and sustainability in the institution's open and distance education offerings. In combination, these issues and strategies derive from implicit-and too often unexamined-assumptions about which kinds of evaluation are viewed as 'legitimate' and about who gets to make those judgments. The paper concludes by considering some of the key implications of current evaluation practices and the conceptual framework for understanding what is seen as 'legitimate' evaluation (and by whom) in contemporary Australian universities' open and distance education offerings, and the potential role of evidence-based practice in reinvigorating that debate. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF CQU CQU is an Australian multi-campus regional university with an increasing focus on internationalizing its student population. Founded in 1967, it became a university in its own right in 1991 (Cryle,1992). Currently CQU has thirteen (13) campuses including five in regional Queensland, four in major Australian metropolitan centres and four campuses in other countries. In 2003 at CQU, 7 261 students (34%) were designated as 'distance education' or 'external students', while 1187 students (5.5%) were designated as "multimodal" or "internal and external" students (Luck, Jones, McConachie & Danaher, 2004, p. 5). The remaining 12 903 students (60.5%) were deemed to be 'face-to-face' or 'internal' students. Total student numbers more than tripled between 1990 and 2003, rising from 6000 to 21000 approximately. This increase was accompanied by an increasing diversity of the student profile. Up until the early 1990s, CQU's student population was approximately 50% internal and 50% external enrolments, and the majority of students were Australian. With the creation of the international campuses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast during the 1990s, international students now form nearly 40% of CQU's student population and they originate from 121 countries (UniNews Weekly, 9 January 2004; cited in Luck et al., 2004, pp. 4-5). Moreover, the proportion of school leavers and mature age students has shifted dramatically, so that in 2003 only one-fifth of new students are recent school leavers (p. 5).

International Journal of Lifelong Education, 2008

Discussions between new postgraduate students and potential supervisors prior to the formalisatio... more Discussions between new postgraduate students and potential supervisors prior to the formalisation of supervisor-student partnerships serve several useful purposes. One purpose is to explore the expectations that each partner has of the other and of themselves and the anticipated nature of the partnership. This article employs Freire's perspective on dialogical pedagogy as a framework to identify and interrogate opportunities and challenges in postgraduate supervision. Theorising and clarifying the postgraduate supervisory process in these terms at the outset of candidature and at strategic points along the way can save time and effort that might otherwise be devoted to misunderstandings and less than optimum progress. It also has implications for lifelong education for both supervisors and students that can be realised beyond the period of candidature and the substantive and methodological gains normally associated with successful completion of a thesis.

… in Teaching and …, 2011

... that changes to doctoral supervision, designed to address these kinds of dilemmas have been o... more ... that changes to doctoral supervision, designed to address these kinds of dilemmas have been occurring for some time (Green & Usher, 2003 ... attending the production of this book, as well as for the editors' ongoing encouragement and support, particularly by Ms Lindy Abawi, the ...

Melbourne Studies in Education, 2004

Questions concerning the education of mobile groups help to highlight the lived experiences of pe... more Questions concerning the education of mobile groups help to highlight the lived experiences of people otherwise rendered invisible by policy actors. This includes the diverse communities of occupational Travellers-those people who regularly move in order to earn their livelihood. While the category 'occupational Travellers' encompasses groups as varied as defence force personnel, specialist teachers and seasonal fruit pickers, the focus here is on the people who travel the agricultural show circuits of Australia to provide the entertainment of 'sideshow alley'. Drawing on qualitative research with the Australian show people since 1992, this paper deploys the concept of 'sedentarism' to highlight the ambivalently valorised lived experiences and educational opportunities of the show people. In particular, the paper explores the pedagogical and policy implications of efforts to disrupt and transform the marginalising impact of sedentarism, which constructs mobility as the other in relation to fixed residence. Specifically, it is argued that anti-sedentarism makes possible the identification and interrogation of three distinct pedagogies of mobility pertaining to the show people, revealing differing stances on intersections of mobility and education. The first is teaching about anti-sedentarism, which involves demonstrating the value of the informal learning that takes place on the show circuits so that the show people's mobility does not throw a negative light on their learning on the run. The second is teaching through anti-4 sedentarism, which centres on informing non-show people about the lives of show people and their contributions to cultural, economic and social life in Australia. The third is teaching towards anti-sedentarism, entailing the mapping and valuing of multiple forms of mobility. The paper considers implications for policy actions of these three pedagogies of mobility about and for the Australian show people. These implications are identified through the lens of assumptions underpinning the current Commonwealth Government policy statement on student mobility. The argument is that the evidence from the show people's experiences suggests that pedagogies of mobility represent one among several possible ways forward in pursuing anti-sedentarism and in imagining anew traditional education for contemporary mobile learners.

University of Southern …, 2005

… Outcomes: Issues and …, 2005

This paper provides one model for reflecting holistically on the practice and outcomes of evaluat... more This paper provides one model for reflecting holistically on the practice and outcomes of evaluation in higher education institutions. It identifies three discrete but related areas of activity, each of which has distinctive interests which determine appropriate and ...

13th Pacific Rim First …, 2010

Despite some criticisms, Bourdieu's (1977) notion of the habitus remains a powerful conceptual to... more Despite some criticisms, Bourdieu's (1977) notion of the habitus remains a powerful conceptual tool for analysing how individuals perceive and engage with different worlds. It certainly constitutes a generative explanatory framework for examining how first year undergraduate students navigate their ways through the often competing pressures of university study, paid work and home life. In particular, the habitus is helpful to students and university personnel alike in managing the common mismatch between the expectations and reality of the first year experience. This paper explores selected aspects of the first named author's habitus as a first year mechanical engineering student in an Australian regional university. An audiotaped semi-structured interview clustered around the themes of aspirations, access and achievement is used to identify how the student engineers his habitus and also to posit implications for future practice by the student, his family, his friends and the relevant university personnel.

Mobile Learning Technologies and …, 2007

Several constraints and opportunities underpin the future possibilities for mobile learning techn... more Several constraints and opportunities underpin the future possibilities for mobile learning technologies and applications at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Drawing on the work of Virilio (1986; Virilio & Lotringer, 1983), the authors analyse a focus group with five Faculty ...

… of Pedagogies and …, 2007

Special theme issue of International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2007, pp.... more Special theme issue of International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2007, pp. 1-113. This issue publishes the third and final set of refereed papers from the first wave proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Pedagogies and Learning, held at the ...