MERC Conference 07: Education Research and Practice: Futures and Possibilities
4th July 2007 – Maton Rooms, Menzies Building, Monash University, Clayton campus.
ca,[
Time
Events
8.30-9.00
Registration
9.00-9.05
Welcome from MERC – Calvin Taylor (MERC Conference Convenor)
9.10-9.55
SG01 - Annual Invitational Lecture
Susan Edwards - Education research and practice: futures and possibilities
10.00-11.30
Paper Session 1
SG01 - Professional
Learning
SG02 - Childhood Studies
SG03 - Culture, Lang &
Diversity
SG04 - Culture, Lang &
Diversity
1. Basikin
Teachers’ Efficacy beliefs
among English teachers in
Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
4. Ana Cristina Mantilla
Foreign languages in early
childhood: Designing a
comparative education
study using Rogoff’s
sociocultural perspective.
7. Ying (Barbara) Zhang
Oral fluency in the eyes of
NES and NNES raters.
10. Anita Dewi
Investigating shifts in
professional identity: case
studies of Indonesian EFL
educators.
2. Hafiz Rahman
Professional learning of
junior secondary science
teachers in Bangladesh.
5. Hilary Monk
Funds of knowledge: a
theoretical framework for
intergenerational research.
8. Ying Wen
The metacognitive
awareness ESP reading
comprehension
questionnaire: an
exploratory study.
3. Jo Rechner
Teaching and learning in a
different culture.
6. Corine M. Patricia
Rivalland
A door to cultural
understanding: a sociocultural/poststructual study.
9. Calvin Taylor
Movement and meaningmaking: considerations for
researching literacy and
mobile technologies.
12. Victoria Fritze
Classics at the
crossroads…again: Recent
history, present perceptions
and future possibilities of
senior secondary classics in
Victoria.
SG01 - Science, Maths &
Technology
SG02 - Childhood Studies
SG03 - Culture, Lang &
Diversity
SG04 - Work, Learning &
Leadership
13. Anne Suryani
How is the internet in
Indonesia?
15. Chris Peers &
Geraldine Burke
Documenting early
childhood ‘immersions’ in
visual art education.
17. Miyuki Miyachika
The implication of Japanese
English in ELT.
19. Jane Hudson
Traversing the borders
between transformative
learning and competency
based training within
industry based VET: a case
study.
18. Siautu Alefaio
Growing the heart of the
learner – A South Pacific
worldview.
20. John Haycock
Rage against the machine:
researching the role of
protest music in adult
learning for social change.
11.30-12.00
Morning Tea
12.00-1.00
Paper Session 2
14. Ernest Kofi Davis
Ghanaian basic school
teacher trainees’ conception
of addition of two unlike
fractions
16. Gloria Quiñones &
Corine M.P. Rivalland
Who am I and who do you
want us to be?: E.C.
professional’s awareness of
their “self-concept” in the
context of childcare.
11. . Isti Siti Saleha
Gandana
Exploring the third space:
negotiating identities and
cultural differences.
1.00-2.00
Lunch
2.00-3.15
Discussion Panel: Creating and sustaining research cultures. Room?
A varied panel drawn from across the Faculty’s current Research Strengths will examine how research
cultures are best created and sustained, and what might be done with them when they do exist.
Focus Questions
 What are the essential factors in creating and sustaining cultures of research?
 How effective are current frameworks within the Faculty at building the kinds of cultures and relationships that
promote and support quality research? What challenges currently exist and how might these be addressed?
 What alternative models exist and how might they work in practice? What would it take to make the necessary
changes?
 How should the relationship between academic staff and graduate students feature in such models?
 Panel members are strongly encouraged to draw on their personal experiences of different research cultures in order
to critique the current approach in the Faculty.
Chair:
Prof. Jane Kenway, Associate Dean, Research – What is Research Culture? Why is it important?
Panel members
Professor Marilyn Fleer
Dr Mary Lou Rasmussen
Dr Ian Mitchell
Professor Terri Seddon
3.15-3.30
Afternoon Tea
3.30-4.30
Paper Session 3
SG01 - Professional
Learning
SG02 - Childhood Studies
SG04 - Sport, Health &
Outdoor Recreation Studies
21. Galuh Nur Rohmah
My experience in learning
and teaching writing: as a
reflection of an ongoing
process of writing.
23. Avis Ridgway
“Santa’s buckle” Using a
cultural-historical
framework to show
societal, personal and
institutional influences on
learning in an Australian
early childhood
community.
Associate Professor
Phillip Payne
Discussant.
22. Lexie Brans
Paradoxes and the Code of
Ethics for Nurses in
Australia: implications for
teaching nurses ethics.
Culture Lang & Diversity
24. Diana Hasan
Foreign language anxiety
experienced by Indonesian
students learning English in
Australia.
4.30-5.00
Plenary and summary Room?
Susan Edwards
5.00
Drinks – Foyer
25. Ian Grinter
An ecological paradigm
and new understanding of
“interdisciplinarity”.
26. Monica Green
Food gardens: cultivating a
pedagogy of place.
MERC CONFERENCE 2007
Education Research and Practice: Futures and Possibilities
July 4, 2007
This conference will be held in the Manton Rooms, on the ground floor of the Menzies Building,
primarily rooms SG01, SG02, SG03 and SG04, as well as the Manton Rooms Foyer area.
- General Information -
Registration
Registration begins at 8.30am on the day of the conference in the ground floor foyer of the Manton
Rooms, in the Menzies Building (Building 11, Clayton Campus). Throughout the day, last minute sessions,
time and/or venue changes, as well as other relevant announcements, will be posted on a message board by
the registration desk in the foyer.
Always display you name label please.
All participants will receive blank labels to write their names on. Everyone is strongly encouraged
to wear their label throughout the day to facilitate interaction amongst participants.
Parking
Parking will be free of charge for all conference participants in the campus blue areas for the entire
day. No permits need to be displayed. The nearest blue carparks are situated to the east of the education
building (Building 6).
Conference Lunch
A mouth-watering conference lunch has been arranged for participants. Food is also available on the
campus at various outlets and at one licensed bistro within the Campus Centre, as well as another licensed
bar/bistro below the Matheson Library.
Participant Feedback
Successive MERC conference organising sub-committees have benefited over past years from
participant feedback. Likewise, your comments and feedback this year are equally valued and appreciated.
A form appropriate for this will be made available in the conference packages or at registration desk. Please
take some time at the end of the conference to fill it in before returning it at the end of the final session in the
box provided by the registration desk.
If the fire alarm goes off…
Should the fire alarm go off, please evacuate the building using the nearest emergency exit or escape
staircase. Do NOT use any lifts or adjacent staircases. Assemble in designated between the School of Law
(12), the University Museum of Art (55) and the Menzies Building (11).
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to ask anyone at the reception desk – we
are more than willing to assist.
MERC ANNUAL INVITATIONAL LECTURE
Education research and practice: futures and possibilities
Susan Edwards
Abstract
Engaging in educational research holds the potential to raise any number of questions, from the
methodological, theoretical to practice. This presentation examines the research trajectory of an early career
researcher and canvasses how initial explorations informing a PhD thesis have evolved into the more detailed
and theoretically contextualised investigations characterising the researcher’s current work. How issues
associated with the methodologies employed, and the relationship between the theoretical and practical have
been negotiated are examined in relation to this trajectory. The process involved in developing an
educational research agenda over time and how such an agenda is related to the work conducted within a
particular educational community of practice is also explored.
Biodata
Dr Susan Edwards is a Lecturer in early childhood
education in the Centre for Childhood Studies at the
Faculty of Education, Monash University. Susan
graduated with her PhD in 2004 and has since engaged
in a number of funded research projects and published
her work in key national and international journals and
within two edited book collections. Dr Edwards is also
the recipient of a prestigious Carrick Citation from the
Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher
Education, Australia. This was awarded in 2006 for the
design and implementation of innovative and reflective
teaching practices in undergraduate teacher education
that motivate, inspire and support student learning.
Creating and Sustaining Research Cultures
Invitation to attend a Special Faculty Panel Discussion
Sponsored by MERC
MERC invites all staff and students in the Faculty to attend a special discussion panel exploring the issues
around creating and sustaining effective research cultures. This open invitation session will be held as part of
the MERC Annual Conference on July 4 in the Manton Rooms of the Menzies Building (room SG01).
A mixed panel drawn from across the Faculty’s current Research Strengths will examine how research
cultures are best created and sustained, and what might be done with them when they do exist. Panel
members will draw on their wide experience with different research cultures to reflect on current faculty
structures and to offer possible ways forward.
Focus Questions:
 What are the essential factors in creating and sustaining worthwhile research cultures?
 How effective are current structures within the Faculty at building the kinds of cultures and relationships
that promote and support quality research? What challenges currently exist and how might these be
addressed?
 What alternative models exist and how might they work in practice?
 What role do regular academic staff and graduate students play in such challenges? How can early career
researchers and graduate students be involved in meaningful ways?
Panel members:
Prof Marilyn Fleer
Prof Jane Kenway (chair)
Dr Ian Mitchell
Dr Mary Lou Rasmussen
Prof Terri Seddon
When: 2.00-3.15pm, Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Where: Rm SG01, Manton Rooms, Ground Floor, Menzies Building, Clayton Campus, Monash University.
Look forward to seeing you there,
MERC Conference Organising Committee.
MERC CONFERENCE PAPER ABSTRACTS
July 4, 2007
Each paper presented will be of 20 minutes duration, with 10 minutes question time.
Paper Session 1
SG01- Professional Leadership
10:00am
1. Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs among English Teachers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Basikin
Research suggests that teachers’ efficacy beliefs have effects on teachers’ behaviour in the classroom, attitude about teaching, the
way teachers refer to students, the way to cope with problems, and teachers’ burnout. They are also believed to be indicators of
students’ behaviour, achievement, motivation, and students’ sense of efficacy. Efficacy construct, however, remains elusive due to
adverse contexts significantly responsible to the great variations of teacher efficacy beliefs (Milner & Hoy, 2002). This paper focuses
on a part of data on self-efficacy beliefs among 152 secondary school English teachers in Yogyakarta collected using the TSE scale
(Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) and two additional subscales addressing the contextual issues on the Indonesia education system.
Reliability in the Indonesian context was high (alpha=.97 overall; alphas= .91, .92, .93, .91, and .94 respectively, for the personal
efficacy, efficacy for instructional strategy, classroom management, student engagement, and efficacy for curriculum implementation
sub-scales). Results suggest that teachers’ efficacy beliefs are generally high (overall M=4.68 on the 7-point scale; Ms=4.25, 4.76,
5.03, 4.71, and 4.51 respectively for the subscales). Findings are interesting in the context of critics on low student English
achievement in this region and implications are suggested in relation to teachers’ continuing professional development.
Biodata
Mr. Basikin is a Masters by research student in Education Faculty working on teachers’ efficacy beliefs among Secondary school
English teachers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The research project is currently at the stage of data analysis and report writing.
10:30 am
2. Professional Learning of Junior Secondary Science Teachers in Bangladesh.
Hafiz Rahman
Professional learning plays a fundamental role in improving the quality of the science teacher. The quality of the science teacher is a
factor to consider when attempting to improve students’ academic achievement in science. There has not been much improvement in
science education in Bangladesh in the last three decades after Independence. Fewer than half (48.7%) of the teachers have had any
in-service training. In the classroom setting, teaching is theoretical, teacher dominated and textbook oriented. Teachers have limited
skills in helping students to see the links between theoretical discussions and real life science situations. In most cases, teachers lack
the pedagogical knowledge and skills required to facilitate meaningful learning. In this situation a learner-centred and enquiry based
teaching learning approach is essential. At this early stage of my research work I wish to identify the present status and quality of
professional learning of junior secondary science teachers in Bangladesh. Then I would like to suggest some interventions that may
be workable in our context so that teachers can find their way to develop more effective teaching-learning approaches.
Biodata
Hafiz is Assistant Professor of science education at the Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Recently he commenced his PhD on science education in the faculty of Education, Monash University. His PhD research is on
Professional Learning of secondary science teachers in Bangladesh. He is also interested is assessment in Education. He involved in a
study sponsored by UNESCO for improving learning assessment practices to ensure quality of primary education in Bangladesh.
Recently, his work on open investigation in practical work and science teachers’ belief has been accepted for publication.
11.00 am
3. Teaching and Learning in a Different Culture
Jo Rechner
My research project is based on my experiences as a new graduate teacher. In my first year of teaching I taught in a school in
Hungary for two and a half months and I found the experience to be a rich and profound part of my professional learning. This study
will investigate my personal and professional reflections and insights of that experience from drawing on journal entries,
photographs, stories, restorying (generation of original stories), collected curriculum artefacts and my own memory. Douglas
Barne’s (1976) notion of curriculum as ‘communication’ is an important frame for this study. Using this frame my project is
exploring my developing understanding of the nature of curriculum (as in this international experience), students learning (how
students learn in different curriculum’s in different countries), and professional learning (how teachers construct different notions of
curriculum and why).
Biodata
Currently, full-time Honours, Monash University. New Graduate Teacher (Secondary) 2006, worked 2 and ½ months in Hungary,
teaching English. Returned to Australia, teaching English. Completed Diploma of Education, Monash 2005, Bachelor of Arts
(Drama/Dance) Rusden, Deakin University, 2001. Worked Bialik College 3 years.
SG02 – Childhood Studies
10.00 am
4. Foreign Languages in Early Childhood: Designing a Comparative Education Study
Using Rogoff’s Sociocultural Perspective
Ana Cristina Mantilla
This presentation is based on a project that aims to identify the regularities of the teaching arrangements through which young
majority language children are learning foreign languages [hereafter FL] in Australia and Colombia. This comparative education
study will use qualitative methods for data collection and analysis, including videotaping a FL classroom in a school setting of each
community, interviewing teachers, and analysing the activities that they set up using Rogoff (1995)’s three lenses of analysis. The
author will explain Rogoff’s sociocultural transformation of participation perspective and how it frames the research project to
support the investigation of FL development in early childhood, clarifying why this perspective is different from the emerging
sociocultural theory used in SLA. The author will also summarize some of the current research gaps (e.g. prevalence of research on
children learning ESL, lack of comparative education studies in SLA and early childhood education, lack of studies on FL education
in early childhood, etc.) and highlight the importance of undertaking empirical research that acknowledges “what language teachers
themselves bring to the process of language teaching” (Cross, 2006, p. 31) and “describe[s] what exists presently in the classroom”
(Tardiff, 1994, p. 467) across diverse populations include non-western middle-class groups.
Keywords: Sociocultural theory, foreign language education, early childhood.
Biodata
Ana Cristina Mantilla is a second-year doctoral student from Colombia.
10.30 am
5. Funds of knowledge: a theoretical framework for intergenerational research
Hilary Monk
The knowledge held by families and extended households has been theorized by Moll and Greenberg (1990) in a concept they name
funds of knowledge. Within this concept the knowledge shared in and through families/households forms the basis of their
economic, political and social platforms. Originating with the work of anthropologists studying how social networks thrive and
survive, the notion of funds of knowledge has been developed and modified for use in the fields of education and educational
research particularly with Latino-Americans. This paper considers the use of the funds of knowledge concept as a framework for
intergenerational research in Australasia. The work of Moll and his colleagues is examined alongside aspects of Vygotsky’s (1987)
socio-cultural theory both of which inform the direction of the proposed intergenerational research. The focus of the study will be
the values and beliefs that families/households hold, and how they are transferred and transformed intergenerationally. Some of
implications surrounding the use of the funds of knowledge framework are identified and discussed.
Keywords: Intergenerational research, sociocultural theory.
Biodata
Hilary Monk is a PhD student from New Zealand based at Peninsula in her first year of candidature.
11.00 am
6. Reaching Cultural Understanding During Transition Time In Childcare: Sociocultural/Poststructural Analysis
Corine M Patricia Rivalland
There are countless opportunities to research the ‘multicultural’ experience during transition time in early childhood. Transitions
times are defined as: the discourses in which families and educators engage in negotiation while transferring the power of care of
their child (ren) from the family to the early childhood professional and vice versa at the beginning and end of the childcare session.
This study is framed within a qualitative case study approach with an emphasis on social constructivism and proposes a hybridised
methodological perspective, which draws on socioculturalism and poststructuralism to investigate the negotiation of cultural
meaning during transition times in childcare. While this study explores, as a broad question, the negotiation of cultural meaning
through active participation between educators and ‘multicultural’ parents during transition times, it also looks at the struggles,
strategies and the discursive power relationships at play during these encounters. And as a result, conveys a more holistic
understanding of the complex phenomenon of negotiating cultural meaning in childcare.
Keywords: Early Childhood Education, Foucault, Poststructuralism, Sociocultural and Activity Theory, Multiculturalism
Biodata
Corine M P. Rivalland is a second-year PhD student at the Faculty of Education (Peninsula).
SG03 – Culture Language & Diversity
10.00 am
7. Oral Fluency in the Eyes of NES and NNES Raters
Ying (Barbara) Zhang
This paper tries to provide empirical evidence to the vague interpretation of oral fluency in language assessment by exploring the oral
fluency features perceived by both native English speaking (NES) raters and Non-native English speaking (NNES) raters when they
evaluate the candidates’ performance in CET-SET, a national oral English test to university students in China. Both NES and NNES
raters will be investigated as native-like fluency is a key term in defining and assessing oral fluency and oral fluency is assessed by
the listener’s perception of it. The theoretical and operational definitions of oral fluency and its component features explored by
various researchers based on their research of fluency to L1 and L2 learners and language assessment will also be discussed. The
tentative results may help teachers in the diagnostic analysis of individual learner weaknesses and strengths in oral performance,
prompt some reflection as to whether such features can be built into the teaching of oral proficiency in L2, and provide small
evidence of the debate on native norms in the L2 learning and assessing.
Keywords: oral fluency, oral performance, oral proficiency, Spoken English Test of College
English Test (CET-SET), NES rater, NNES rater
Biodata
Ying Zhang (Barbara) has been teaching at Tianjin Normal University, China since 1991. She is now the PhD candidate in TESOL at
the Faculty of Education, Monash University. Her research interests include language teaching, teacher education and language
testing.
10.30 am
8. The Metacognitive Awareness ESP Reading Comprehension Questionnaire: An Exploratory Study
Yin Wen
This paper describes the development of an ESP (English for Specific Purposes) reading comprehension questionnaire designed to
assess second language (L2) readers’ metacognitive awareness and self-perceived problems while reading ESP texts. The process of
questionnaire item construction, data collection, and the results of data analysis will be reported, along with a review of the relevant
literature related to L2 readers’ ESP reading comprehension. An exploratory factor analysis of the responses from 270 Taiwanese
nursing undergraduates was conducted. The results revealed that the reading problems perceived by the students in reading ESP texts
could be collapsed into four factors, labelled subject content, complex sentence and vocabulary, specialist terminology, and simple
sentence, ranking from the most difficult to the least in order. Moreover, through the analysis of variance, the students’ attitude and
motivation, self-perceived English proficiency, and learning styles were also found to have an impact on their evaluation of the selfperceived reading problems.
Keywords: ESP (English for Specific Purposes) reading comprehension, reading problems
Biodata
Ying Wen has been working as an English teacher at the National Taipei College of Nursing (NTCN) since 1992. Presently, she is a
PhD student in TESOL at Monash University, Australia.
11.00 am
9. Movement & Meaning-Making: considerations for researching literacy and mobile technologies
Calvin Taylor
Mobile technologies are becoming an increasingly important part in the everyday lives, not just of youth, but of many people in postindustrial societies, changing the social practices of individuals and groups. As young people, particularly adolescents, are one of the
largest consumer groups for these devices, mobile phones, iPods and PSPs, have already made their way into schools and classrooms.
However, at the same time, research into how to use these technologies for learning purposes is still in its infancy. This research
seeks to investigate the potential of these technologies for learning, through an examination of current adolescent literacy practice
where mobile devices are concerned. However, research in this area is complicated by a concept of ‘movement’ that pervades the
field. This concept of ‘movement’ relates to mobile technologies on a number of levels: physical, social, virtual, theoretical and
methodological movements affect research into how these devices are used in everyday social practice. This paper seeks to unpack
and examine some of these complications in the light of on-going ethnographic research into how young people use mobile
technologies as part of their social practice, and how we can understand this in terms of the literacy practices they engage in. A
research design will be outlined which aims to account for the complexities raised by movement, as it tries to understand the lived
experiences of secondary students with regard to mobile technologies. Still, questions and complexities continue to emerge from this
research, which is itself moving, searching for answers.
Biodata
After completing a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) and Bachelor of Teaching (with Honours) at the University of Tasmania, I
taught at rural secondary schools in Victoria for a number of years. I developed a fascination with technology and related literacy
practices, which form the focus of my current PhD work.
SG04- Culture language & Diversity
10.00am
10. Investigating shifts in professional identity: case studies of Indonesian EFL educators
Anita Dewi
There have been studies on topics related to teacher identity (Beijaard et al., 2004; Bauer & McAdams, 2004; Varghese et al., 2005),
however, these researchers do not examine the shift in professional identity of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (NNESTs).
Thus, this research-based paper is aimed at filling this gap. This study, which is my M.Ed. thesis at Monash University, explores the
shift of professional identity of Indonesian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educators currently studying at Monash University,
particularly the influence of English language and cultural immersion on how these people perceive themselves prior to returning to
Indonesia. Specifically, this study examines the identity formation of NNESTs; what professional identities Indonesian EFL
educators bring with them, the identity changes during the period of their studies at Monash University whether there is a
professional identity shift happening for these people within the time range of arriving in, staying in, and leaving Australia, and
influences on identity transformation.
Keywords: Professional identity
Biodata
Born as a Javanese, Anita spent her life in Yogyakarta, except for 1 year as an exchange student in the USA. She gained bachelor
degrees and a master degree, and ran a profitable business before deciding to become an English teacher. She is now a staff of
CILACS Universitas Islam Indonesia, taking M.Ed. TESOL International under Ausaid scholarship.
10.30
11. Exploring the Third Space: Negotiating Identities and Cultural Differences
Isti Siti Saleha Gandana
This paper is based on a qualitative study that investigated processes of identities formation and negotiation in the third space and
how they influence the participants' sense of self. Specifically, the study traces, through narrative inquiry, the experiences of border
crossing of two people from different cultural backgrounds, examines the challenges they encountered, the ways in which they
negotiated cultural differences and how they enacted their identities in the new space. Through an interpretative approach the
participants' stories identified patterns that can be seen as indicating re-conceptualization of identity. These individual cases are
expected to provide a basis for entering into and understanding larger social structures.
Biodata
I am a lecturer at the English Department of Indonesia University of Education, specializing in the subjects of cultural studies and
literature. I am currently pursuing a masters degree at the Faculty of Education at Monash University in Australia through the
sponsorship of Australian Development Scholarship, conducting research on identity and culture.
11.00am
12. Classics at the crossroads…again: Recent history, present perceptions and future possibilities of senior
secondary Classics in Victoria
Victoria Fritze
Since the late C19 Classics has gone from mainstream to niche status within the curriculum. Currently under VCAA review it is at a
crossroads again. Focussed on VCE Classical Societies and Cultures my research is located within a changing educational landscape
encompassing the state of Classics education at home and abroad, current education policy and contemporary discourse surrounding
curriculum. As a small discipline, Classics has been largely shielded from public debate but the review provides a catalyst for
reflection on the variety of educational possibilities within the contemporary Classics. As a participant researcher, I bring a
transformative lens developed by social construction and critical pedagogy as well as my own ‘insider’ experience, to the study.
Working as a ‘meso level actor’ my aim is to facilitate debate about the nature, purpose and sustainable future of Classics education
more broadly by: exploring the micro- processes of the construction of senior secondary Classics in Victoria over the past 30 years;
interpreting the experience of teaching and learning Classics from the perspectives of teachers and students; and introducing, in an
iterative design, insights from the research into the review process and a variety of public fora.
Biodata
For the past 15 years I have worked in the VCE department at the CAE teaching Classical Societies and Cultures. I also work for the
VCAA as assessor, study writer and professional development provider. Apart from Classics my other interests include Urban
studies, sustainable living, reading, food, cats and yoga.
Paper Session 2
SG01- Science Maths & Technology
12.00 pm
13. How is the Internet in Indonesia?
Anne Suryani
This paper is a part of a larger research study investigating new media ownership and Internet usage among Indonesian students
before and while studying in Australia. This paper discusses the complexity of mapping Internet usage in Indonesia, describes
findings from previous new media research, and explores new media usage following a transition into a new cultural and educational
context. The study is particularly focused on Indonesian students who are currently study in Australian universities a situation that
places them in new social, cultural and educational contexts which is very different. For instance, 70.2% of the population in
Australia are Internet users while that figure is just 8% in Indonesia. Even though some researchers find that most students access
the Internet for communication and entertainment purposes, I use questionnaires and in-depth interviews with selected participants to
examine how Indonesian students use the new media and the Internet in relation to their academic activities in Australia.
Biodata
Anne Suryani is a lecturer at Communication Department, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia. Her
research interests focus on interpersonal communication, cross cultural communication, new media and education.
12.30am
14. Ghanaian Basic School Teacher Trainees' Conception of Addition of Two unlike Fractions
Ernest Kofi Davis
This presentation reports on a study which sought to identify some of the sources of the problems associated with the teaching and
learning of fractions in Ghana. In particular, it investigated pre-service teacher trainees’ conception about addition of two unlike
fractions. The study made use of documentary evidence, in which stratified random sampling procedure was used to select 116
scripts of pre-service teacher trainees (from three out of 42 teachers’ colleges) who attempted a question on addition of two unlike
fractions. Data collected has been analysed qualitatively by looking at trainees’ explanations of the process involved in such
additions. Results from the study revealed that quite a number of the prospective teachers had weak conception about the addition of
two unlike fractions. The implication here therefore is that it seems some basic school teachers in Ghana start teaching with weak
knowledge of addition of two unlike fractions.
Biodata
I am a first year full time PhD student studying under the supervision of Dr. Wee Tiong Seah and EM Prof. Alan Bishop. I come
from Ghana, in West Africa. Mathematics education is my area. I have research interest in issues relating to Mathematics teaching
and learning.
SG02 - Childhood Studies
12.00 pm
15. Documenting early childhood ‘immersions’ in visual art education
Chris Peers & Geraldine Burke
Documentary cinema has made rare but valuable incursions in the domain of visual art education over the past few decades in
Australia. Peers (2002) has documented one of the oldest such cinematographic artefacts, known as Approach to Art Teaching, which
was produced by the Commonwealth government in 1960. Other similar documentary productions are currently under examination
for use in specialist pre-service teacher education courses offered within the Faculty of Education at Monash. The present proposal
broadens the parameters of Peers’ research through collaboration with Burke (2007a; 2007b) whose ongoing study of ‘immersion’
based visual art education for early childhood students is the basis for a proposed documentary. The collaboration seeks to identify
the conceptual and strategic boundaries of Burke’s approach for the purpose of developing new pedagogies for visual art education as
it is offered within the Early Childhood program at Monash. It additionally contributes to other studies of the application of
documentary film-making to research about pre-service teacher education.
Biodata
Chris Peers is a lecturer in Visual Arts Education at Monash, whose research examines the historical and conceptual underpinnings
for art pedagogy. Geraldine Burke is a lecturer in Visual Arts Education at Monash whose doctoral research is an investigation of
‘immersive’ art pedagogy and practice.
12.30 pm
16. Who am I and who do you want us to be?: Early childhood professional’s awareness
of their “self-concept” in the context of childcare
Gloria Quiñones & Corine Rivalland
In this paper we will be exploring the role of ‘self concept’ and its impact on early childhood professional's work. Hinde and Aughen
(1997) suggest that one holds an image of oneself and an image of how others perceive one self. Furthermore, Hinde, Finkenauer and
Auhagen (2001) argue how “the self exists both in the person’s own head and in the intersubjective world in which one person is
immersed” (p.189) We conducted two qualitative research projects and interviewed six early childhood professionals from two long
day care centres. These interviews allowed us to explore how these professionals perceived and articulated their understanding of
“self-concept” within the childcare centre and within society. The findings suggest that differences exist between how these
professionals view themselves, and how they believe they are viewed by society. As a result of our analysis, we believe the notion of
“self-concept” is an important factor to consider in rebuilding the image of the profession.
Keywords: Self-concept, early childhood professional
Biodata
Gloria Quiñones is from Monterrey, Mexico. She is working as a Researcher in the Centre of Childhood Studies in the Faculty of
Education, Monash University.
Corine M Patricia Rivalland is PhD student from Mauritius.
SG03 – Culture, Language & Diversity
12.00 pm
17. The Implication of Japanese English in ELT
Miyuki Miyachika
In the current era of globalisation, English language has been widely recognised as an international language. With its global spread,
even though the Japanese version of English has not yet achieved the status of a distinct English variety, the Japanese have also
established their unique way of using English words and phrases, and this plays an important role in social communication between
the Japanese. In this presentation, it is argued that ‘Japanese English’ is an important marker of new times in contemporary Japan.
The analysis of the views of four Japanese international teacher-students in Australia reveals how the use of Japanese English relates
to their construction of professional and personal identities. ‘Japanese English’ relates to Japanese identity in several aspects,
therefore taking into account the position of JE in ELT is an important step. Nevertheless, how English teachers cope with JE in the
future depends on the direction of English education itself and Japanese language itself.
Biodata
I learned my Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Literature and Letters from Kansai University, in 2003 and my M Ed TESOL International
degree from the Faculty of Education, Monash University in 2005. Currently I am pursuing my doctoral studies in the Faculty. I also
work as a volunteer teacher in the Japanese Bilingual primary school in Huntingdale.
12.30 pm
18. Growing the Heart of the Leaner – A South Pacific Worldview
Siautu Alefaio
“World views are best understood as we see them incarnated, fleshed out in actual ways of life. They are not systems or thought, like
theologies or philosophies. Rather, world views are perceptual frameworks. They are ways of seeing. If we want to
understand what people see, or how well people see, we need to watch how they walk”. (Walsh and Middleton, 1984). The
world-view of Pacific nations which lie within the vast ocean of the South Pacific is yet to be uncovered in the world of psychology.
It is vital that their unique perspectives are sought and their voices heard. The unearthing of this raw material will contribute and
enrich our understanding of diversity, and help to unite our region with an identity uniquely our own. Policy development in New
Zealand and Australia with regards to the vast population growth of Pacific people in these countries will be better informed. The
proposed research aims to:
 Begin the journey of understanding the heart of Pacific people.
 Identify key values and beliefs that inform the current way of life in the home-lands.
 What these values and beliefs look like in the context of human-development.
Biodata
As a registered psychologist I have been trained and worked across both clinical and educational psychology settings. My heart and
experiences have always been rooted and grounded within the community; it is with this passion that I endeavour to work to the best
of my ability in achieving a way forward in Psychology that encompasses values and beliefs of the South Pacific community.
SG04 Work Learning & Leadership
19. Traversing the borders between transformative learning and competency based
training within industry based VET: a case study
Jane Hudson
Since the Training Reform Agenda in the 1990's there has been criticism and concern that vocational education and training (VET)
policy is overly informed by industry needs, taking a narrow, technicist pathway with the learning process becoming the 'poor cousin'
in a system that emphasises learning outcomes in the form of pre-determined competency standards. There have also been positive
outcomes with the move from a provider-led to an industry-led VET system eg VET providers have become more responsive to
employers needs and qualification pathways have opened up to workers who previously had little access to structured training. In this
case study I share my experiences in trying to develop a transformative learning and development program within the constraints of a
competency-based qualification: the Diploma of Government (Investigation). I will examine some key challenges facing VET
providers. How can training providers use training packages to address current (and potentially future) organisational and individual
learning needs? Is it possible to traverse the borders between competency-based training and transformative learning?
Biodata
Jane has worked in adult education since 1994 in a variety of community, business and public sector contexts. Her qualifications
include the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Diploma of Assessment and Training Systems and a Bachelor of Adult
Learning and Development. Jane is currently undertaking a Master of Education by research at Monash University.
12.30 pm
20. Rage against the machine: Researching the role of protest music in adult learning for social change
John Haycock
Protest music, a genre of popular music, is a prominent cultural form in contemporary mass culture, and a distinctive component of
the social and cultural history of the last half century. But has protest music “changed the world” and can it in future? The popular
mass media propagated myth, or what Everyman and Jamison (1998, p.2) describe as the “’sixties’ of popular consciousness”, seems
to suggest it can and has. Yet for all its assumed power as a medium for political protest and social change, its educative role and
potential as a counter-hegemonic text for learning about and for processes of social change remains under-researched and poorly
understood. Given the overtly political nature of protest music and its putative influence in and on social movements, this lacuna is
rather surprising. This paper, accompanied by a multimedia presentation of sound and vision, is based on a review of research for
my postgraduate thesis. It seeks to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the role of protest music in learning for social
change, through an analysis of political and socio-cultural theory and research on the transformative potential of protest music in
radical pedagogy and adult learning.
Biodata
John Haycock is a postgraduate research student at Monash University, and teaches information technology and multimedia studies
in TAFE. His research interests focus on cultural diversity, marginalised young adult learners, VET pedagogy, and education for
social change. He is currently researching the use of popular music to develop learners’ skills in critical literacy for social change.
Paper Session 3
SG01- Professional Learning
3.30 pm
21. My experience in learning and teaching writing: as a reflection of an ongoing process of writing.
Galuh Nur Rohmah
The complexities of English writing skill have challenged my professional identity as a teacher to be able to facilitate the students
with effective teaching approach. Regarding with this, during my teaching career, I have experienced of teaching using different
approaches. Firstly, as a novice teacher of English writing, I mostly teach like what I had been taught (using product approach), then,
as my professional development grows I begin to learn that writing is not just simply oriented to the product, but it should involve
drafting, writing, and revising. Therefore, I shift my teaching strategy into process approach in which writing is seen as a recursive
process. Feel that there is another effective way to improve students’ writing skill, I transform into autonomous writing instruction.
In my research I use narrative inquiry, autobiographical writing, to explore my experience of how I learn to write and then how I
teach others (students) to write in English. By writing my autobiography about my learning and teaching experiences, I believe that it
makes contribution to me and other EFL teachers in conjunction with being awareness of the importance of our pasts as a part of selfreflection and self-critic. Moreover, the exploration on my day-to-day experiences will be used as an ‘intellectual resource’ (Kooy,
2006) for me and other EFL practitioners to make better teaching performance.
Biodata
Galuh Nur Rohmah is currently a lecturer at Department of English Letters and Language-Islamic State University of Malang. She is
pursuing Master degree at TESOL-International. Her areas of interest are Bilingual education and EFL teaching and learning.
4.00 pm
22. Paradoxes and the Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia: implications for teaching nurses ethics
Lexie Brans
The framework for professional nursing practice in Australia includes the Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia (the Code) and the
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council’s National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse (the competencies). In order
to obtain and retain a license to practice, a Registered Nurse must demonstrate that she is competent in all 10 competencies. Number
2.1 states that a Registered Nurse 'Practices in accordance with the nursing profession's code of ethics and conduct.' The Code then
becomes de-facto teaching policy. Within the Australian higher education and health care systems, the Code functions at the
strategic, operational (also regulatory) and clinical levels of policy making. Paradoxically, the literature indicates that the Code
succeeds at the regulatory level, but is dysfunctional at the clinical level. I will argue that this has far reaching and profound
implications for teaching ethics to nurses. Using the Value Statements in the Code itself I will analyse some of the reasons for this
paradox and then suggest some necessary changes to the teaching of nursing ethics. My analysis will emphasise workplace learning,
making my comments relevant to the purposes of Codes of ethics in many professions, not only the nursing profession.
Biodata
Ms Lexie Anne Brans FRCNA. Lexie is a registered nurse and midwife with an extensive background in nursing education and
clinical nursing practice. She has a Master’s degree in Bioethics and she is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, Australia
(FRCNA). She has an adjunct position at the School of Human and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Canberra, and is a
consultant to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of the Australian Capital Territory.
SG02- Childhood Studies
3.30 pm
23. ‘Santa’s Buckle’ Using A Cultural-Historical Framework to Show Societal, Personal
and Institutional Influences On Learning in an Australian Early Childhood Community
Avis Ridgway
Vygotsky’s (1978) cultural-historical theory provides a theoretical framework for the idea that learning and understanding are social
in origin. Cultural-historical psychology suggests human activity takes place in local cultural systems mediated through language,
materials and artifacts (Wertsch 1985, Hedegaard 2005). Hedegaard’s model of learning and development (2005) builds on
Vygotsky’s theorizing, bringing into a dialectical relationship societal, biological and institutional influences and practices with
motives and values. How can we gain understanding of the cultural-historical influences of institutional practice in early childhood?
This presentation relates to the beginnings of doctoral research into an early childhood site.In seeking answers to the question of
‘how does the early childhood institution shape what is possible for children?’ the study of a local cultural system has begun by
examining in detail, the mediation affordances of a cultural- historical artifact and its relative significance for institutional tradition,
motivations and values of staff, children and families. Through a methodology involving the use of historic documentation, images,
and audio and video interview analysis, the author draws upon the chance discovery of a historically situated artifact, (Santa’s
buckle) to show how and why cultural-historical influences can shape learning in an institutional setting.
Biodata
Avis Ridgway is an associate of the Faculty of Education Monash University, currently involved in field research for the ARC Science
and Play research project (2005-2007), an honorary life member
of the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange) and a PhD student in the Centre for Childhood Studies, Peninsula Campus.
Culture, Language & Diversity
4.00 pm
24. Foreign Language Anxiety Experienced by Indonesian Students Learning English in Australia
Diana Hasan
This study investigated the phenomenon of foreign language anxiety experienced by Indonesian students studying English in
Australia prior to their university studies. This research identified factors that may cause anxiety, described the manifestation of
anxiety and found out anxiety coping strategies used by the students. The research utilized Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety
Scale developed by Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) and in-depth interview to collect data. Findings suggested that there were five
sources of foreign language anxiety: restricted belief about language learning, personal- interpersonal issues, classroom procedures,
instructor-learner interaction, and test. The feeling of anxiety was manifested physiologically and behaviourally. The anxiety coping
strategies employed by the students fell into 5 categories, namely preparation, relaxation, positive thinking, peer seeking and
avoidance. No significant relationship was found between language anxiety and frequencies of strategies by the students. This study
suggested the need for further research to investigate the effectiveness of anxiety coping strategies in relation to sources of anxiety.
Biodata
Lecturer of Bung Hatta University, Padang West Sumatera Indonesia since 2000. Completing Master of Lingustics, (2000) from
University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
SG04 – Sport, Health & Outdoor Recreation Studies
3.30pm
Discussant for the session -Associate Professor Phillip Payne
25. An Ecological Paradigm and New Understandings of ‘Interdisciplinarity’
Ian Grinter
In the 1960s and 1970s the international scientific community called for education to be a significant part of a global response to an
impending, alleged, environmental crisis. It also insisted that such education, to be an effective part of this response, needed to be
interdisciplinary. This referred to developing strong links between different disciplines of knowledge, or educational subject areas.
Theorists within the ‘critical’ and ‘socially critical’ discourses of environmental education have continued the call for
interdisciplinarity. They have also identified a so-called ‘Scientific Paradigm’ as the predominant working assumption of Western
society, and at the root of the environmental crisis. Consequently they have called for the development of an alternative ‘ecological’
paradigm. The Researcher is now developing new understandings of ‘interdisciplinarity’ more appropriate to an Ecological Paradigm
of education and society.
These new, possibly ‘transdisciplinary’ understandings incorporate ‘disciplines of identity and
relationship’, identified as Body, Gender, Culture, and Narrative. The development of new understandings of ‘interdisciplinarity’ is
in response to a recognition, in the ‘critical’ and ‘socially critical’ discourses, of a tendency towards fragmentation of knowledge,
relationship, and human identity within the Scientific Paradigm, contributing to the ‘environmentally problematic human condition’
and the consequent environmental crisis.
Biodata
My academic background is in Mathematics, Physics, History and Philosophy of Science, and Education. I have taught in the
secondary education system and currently I am teaching in the TAFE system, in the fields of Engineering and Electronics. I am also
currently doing doctoral research in environmental education and religious studies.
4.00pm
26. Food gardens: Cultivating a pedagogy of place
Monica Green
Place-based education provides a creative alternative to the nationalised school curriculum agenda particularly through food gardens
and ecological restoration projects in schools. Many of these places are located in and around the immediate environment of a school
ground and become educational portals through which children explore their world. In this paper I will report on the literature
reviewed for a study on how pedagogies of place are cultivated within garden experiences. There is little research about the use of
school gardens as an educational tool and the pedagogies that support learning in this context. There are a number of themes that
emerge from various bodies of literature that provide a conceptual framework for the study of school garden pedagogies. These
themes include ecological literary, nature as teacher and garden as place. It is useful to think about primary school gardens in the
light of this literature because it helps frame a research question for a study into how pedagogies of place can be cultivated within
food gardens.
Biodata
Monica is currently enrolled as a part-time PhD student at Monash Gippsland. She also teaches part-time in Education and in the
Bachelor of Sport and Recreation program.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Monash University
The MERC conference subcommittee wishes to thank the following people:
Susan Edwards for her invitational lecture and for chairing the plenary concluding the conference.
The members of the Discussion Panel, Marilyn Fleer, Mary Lou Rasmussen, Ian Mitchell and ___________, and the chair, Jane
Kenway.
Rosemary Viete for organising the catering and assisting with the registration packages
Mayur Katariya for his support with the conference logistics and publicity
Tania Bull for her work keeping the MERC Website up to date
Marie-Ange Malherbe for her assistance with conference stationery
All faculty staff and students who have presented papers, or encouraged their students to present papers, which makes this event
possible
All other faculty staff and students who have helped in any way at all to make this event possible, or who have shown interest in
the event by attending a meeting
MERC CONFERECE SUBCOMITTEE 2007
Calvin Taylor (Conference Convenor)
[In alphabetical order]
Scott Bulfin
Renee Chong
Hongming Ma
Ana Cristina Mantilla
Hilary Monk
Gloria Quiñones
Jo-Anne Rechner
Corine M. Patricia Rivalland
Jessamin Mison Smith
Ying Wen
Ying Zhang