Alisa Percy | University of Technology Sydney (original) (raw)

Papers by Alisa Percy

Encyclopedia of Educational Innovation, 2019

Across the Disciplines: A Journal of Language, Learning and Academic Writing, 2019

This paper engages with the central theme of this special issue, “From the Margins to the Centre,... more This paper engages with the central theme of this special issue, “From the Margins to the Centre,” as a particular kind of narrative that occupies the imagination of literacy educators in the academy, particularly those who are located in the “centre,” but whose experience ironically finds them “pinned to the margins” (Stevenson & Kokkin, 2007) of mainstream teaching and learning. Writing primarily from an Australian perspective as an educator experienced in attempting to embed authentic literacy education into the curriculum (from the centre) (Skillen, Merten, Trivett, & Percy, 1999), as a researcher attempting to make sense of the nature of change agency this requires (Percy, 2011a, 2011b), and as an academic leader developing policy at the institutional level in an attempt to legislate embedded practices into existence (Percy & Taylor, 2015), in this paper I briefly explore the seduction and frustration of the “margins to centre” narrative and provide an overview of a selection of literature that illustrates the ways in which we have imagined this trajectory. I then discuss how these narratives can be seen to be bracketed within an era where the discourses of standards and skills became privileged over other ways of thinking about education, and on the one hand created a space for the literacy educator to emerge, but on the other hand tended to derail our more progressive desires by their capacity to invoke their twin discourses of decline and transparency. The paper ends by providing one brief and new example of how we are attempting to put the discourses of standards and skills to work through policy and course review procedures at one Australian university.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT, 2019

This paper introduces the context and design of an institutional educational development grants p... more This paper introduces the context and design of an institutional
educational development grants program, Jindaola, which reflects
an Aboriginal way towards reconciling Indigenous and nonIndigenous Knowledges in the Australian higher education curriculum. The program is unique in two ways: it foregrounds the
voice of Aboriginal local Knowledge Holders in the design and
implementation of the program; and, rather than focussing on
embedding predefined ‘packages’ of Indigenous Knowledges and
pedagogies into curricula, the approach adheres to Aboriginal
methods for conducting business and maintaining knowledge
integrity, by taking interdisciplinary teams of academics on
a journey towards what we are calling ‘curriculum reconciliation’.

Paper presentation at the ISSOTL Conference, RMIT, Melbourne, 2015

Presentation at the 39th HERDSA Conference, Fremantle, 2016

When considering what needs to be known, changed and developed at the institutional level to impr... more When considering what needs to be known, changed and developed at the institutional level to improve provision of LAS to ANESB students, or any student "group" layers of incongruent agendas complicate the task. The student population of the modern university is becoming increasingly diverse to the extent that there is often no easily identifiable "mainstream", but rather a number of heterogenous and overlapping "groups", with diverse learning needs within the academic context. {Item deactivated 22 June 2010}

This special edition of the Journal of Academic Language and Learning arose out of a Forum titled... more This special edition of the Journal of Academic Language and Learning arose out of a Forum titled Critical Discussions about Social Inclusion held at the University of Wollongong, Australia in June 2011. It was organised by academic language and learning educators from five different universities: Ingrid Wijeyewardene from the University of New England, Helen Drury from the University of Sydney, Caroline San Miguel from the University of Technology Sydney, Stephen Milnes from the Australian National University, and ourselves from the University of Wollongong. Initially funded by a grant from the Association for Academic Language and Learning, this funding was later supplemented by the University of Wollongong and the Forum became designated as a strategic priority. As practitioners and academics interested in the new Social Inclusion agenda currently propelling institutions of higher education into action, we devised the Forum as a way of providing the space for those charged with r...

The Unilearning project has developed a website that provides students with academic writing and ... more The Unilearning project has developed a website that provides students with academic writing and study skills instruction. The development of the website has involved partnerships in three key areas. These are: a partnership between teaching and technology, a partnership between teaching and learning, and a partnership between theory and practice.

herdsa.org.au

The commercialisation of higher education, an increasingly diverse student population, the emphas... more The commercialisation of higher education, an increasingly diverse student population, the emphasis on educational technology and flexible delivery, the need to be internationally competitive and the increased regulation on quality standards, just to name a few factors, has seen a rapid transformation of the university system and the demands placed on the staff therein. Assisting staff to cope with such changes and providing them with the necessary skills to effectively contribute to the needs or goals of the institution requires sophisticated methods of professional development.

Proceedings of the 2001 Annual HERDSA Conference, Newcastle, NSW, Australia, Jul 1, 2001

The main focus of this paper is the creation of partnerships between learning development academi... more The main focus of this paper is the creation of partnerships between learning development academics and curricula, faculty staff and the institution that seek to ensure students achieve at their potential. These partnerships are part of a paradigm shift in learning support that has replaced a remedial philosophy with a developmental philosophy. The paper also focuses on the value of these partnerships to curricula, discipline academics, faculties and the institution as well as to students. It highlights three issues: the creation of ...

Join My Mailing List. Alisa Percy. University of Wollongong. Academic Language and Learning Lectu... more Join My Mailing List. Alisa Percy. University of Wollongong. Academic Language and Learning Lecturer, Learning Development; Contact Information. Honors & Awards. ... Search the Selected Works of Alisa Percy. Search All Sites. RSS Feed. Print this page. Bookmark. ...

As practitioners and academics interested in the new Social Inclusion agenda currently propelling... more As practitioners and academics interested in the new Social Inclusion agenda currently propelling institutions of higher education into action, we devised the Forum as a way of providing the space for those charged with responsibility for enacting the Social Inclusion agenda to talk about what we are doing, have done and want to do. Equally importantly, we wanted the Forum to shift this story telling into a more critical spacea space in which we were not simply repeating or retelling, but thinking, re-thinking and questioning. The critical questions that drove this Forum related to issues of identity and difference and the ways in which policy and practice are grounded in the production and representation of the student as subject of higher education.

This paper argues for the re-integration of academic development (AD) and a academic language and... more This paper argues for the re-integration of academic development (AD) and a academic language and learning (ALL) practitioners in Australian higher education. This argument is made as universities aim to develop internationally recognised, inter-disciplinary and standards-based curricula against the backdrop of international comparative education (e.g., Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), the Australian Qualifications Framework and a quality emphasis on English language standards (e.g., Tertiary Education Quality and Assessment Agency). Drawing on Rowland's argument that professional life in the academy has become fragmented across five fault lines ([2002]. Overcoming fragmentation in professional life: The challenge for academic development. Higher Education Quarterly, 56(1), 52–64), I propose a sixth: the pedagogical fault line between language and learning which I argue is institutionally manifest in the historical bifurcation of AD and ALL practitioners in the academy. This paper traces the historical separation of these two fields of practice in Australian higher education in order to disturb the present distinction and show how it is more an accident of history than the result of sound pedagogical decision-making. The paper argues that in the current educational context, it is timely to consider a re-integration of these two aspects of the academic field. It is suggested that such a move will create research and teaching connections that develop synergies in educational development that are able to work with language and learning simultaneously.

Studies in Continuing Education, Jan 1, 2008

Rosemary: The casualisation of teaching and the subject at risk, Studies in Continuing Education:... more Rosemary: The casualisation of teaching and the subject at risk, Studies in Continuing Education: 30(2) 2008, 145-157.

Open Learning, Jan 1, 2009

The need to engage students studying at a distance in order to reduce isolation, foster a sense o... more The need to engage students studying at a distance in order to reduce isolation, foster a sense of belonging, and enhance learning has received significant attention over the past few years. Conversely, very little research has focused on teachers working in this type of environment. In fact, we argue, they appear to be the forgotten dimension in "communities" of distance learning. In this paper we identify some of the problems generated by teaching university subjects simultaneously across a network of campuses: a practice known as multilocation teaching. We examine strategies for engaging multi-location teachers as key contributors to a quality learning experience for students and provide an analysis of how identified teaching needs and professional development are addressed within one particular teaching team by a small but powerful micro-practice called the "Tutors" Forum". Drawing on data collected through a survey and interviews conducted over 2006 / 07, we discuss the benefits and critical success factors of the Tutors" Forum in facilitating engagement and professional development for teachers working at a distance from the subject coordinator and other members of the teaching team. These factors include a specific style of leadership which fosters an inclusive, dialogic space where the patterns of interaction are characterized by reciprocity, collegiality and professional care. We discuss the implications of this practice for the further engagement of university teachers in an increasingly casualised and fragmented higher education sector.

This large-scale study into the recognition, enhancement and development of sessional teaching in... more This large-scale study into the recognition, enhancement and development of sessional teaching in higher education builds on the Australian Universities Teaching Committee Report (2003a) Training, Support and Management of Sessional Teaching Staff. The aim of the current Project was to identify and analyse current national practice and refocus attention on the issues surrounding sessional teachers in the university sector. The Project had three objectives: to establish the full extent of the contribution that sessional teachers make to teaching and learning in higher education; to identify and analyse good practice examples for dissemination; and to consider the possible developments for institutional and sector-wide improvements to the quality enhancement of sessional teaching. Sixteen Australian universities were involved in the Project, representing the 'Group of 8' (Go8), regional, Australian Technology Network (ATN), transnational and multicampus institutions in all states and territories. At each of the participating universities, the number and typology of sessional teachers was audited across the institution and sixty interviews were conducted with the full range of participants, from sessional teachers to university executive staff.

Journal of Academic Language and Learning, Jan 1, 2011