AARE Annual National Conference 2013 - Adelaide, Australia

Photo from the AARE 2013 Annual International Conference http://aare2013.com.au

The 2013 Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Annual International Conference kicks off today with pre-conference workshops and the President's reception. The conference is being held in Adelaide this year, and there will be a strong attendance from the School of Education at Flinders, including a symposium involving myself and four other colleagues chaired by our Deputy Dean Kay Whitehead.

Our symposium is entitled Repositioning student teachers in teacher education, and focuses on some of the teacher education research happening at Flinders in the area of Arts integration, Health education and equity.

The occupation of teaching is transformative intellectual work. At Flinders University we recognise education as a public good and teachers’ fundamental roles as citizens in constructing democratic societies. To these ends, we understand that student teachers need to participate in a wide range of reflective and reflexive practices that foster their creativity, stimulate personal growth, contribute to current knowledge and enhance their understanding of the world and their place in it. Sponsored by Flinders Research in Early Childhood Education and the Social Inquiry Network, this symposium focuses on the ways in which we are repositioning student teachers in the learning process in three topics from our teacher education program. Jennifer Fane and Grant Banfield problematize first year primary and secondary student teachers’ understandings of health and introduce them to the practice of thinking socially about health and Health Education. Susan Krieg, Jess Jovanovic and Helen Bernstone work with local Adelaide artists and student teachers to reconceptualise the Arts in early childhood education. Amy Hamilton’s research documents an innovative partnership with an Australian Zoo to prepare student teachers for teaching and integrating the arts through the use of 'big ideas' of Cross Curricular Priorities, and General Capabilities (The Australian Curriculum) in primary schools. All of these presentations position student teachers as active learners and citizens, challenge them to engage reflexively with their studies, and work towards a more equitable education in a rapidly changing world.

The research project I am working on is a collaborative project between myself and fellow lecturer in Health Education Grant Banfield, alongside two colleagues from the Student Learning Centre at Flinders, Kathy Brady and Samantha Schulz. The following abstract is a part of our research that I will be presenting at AARE

Pre service teacher beliefs and knowledge of health are largely constructed by widely held societal views of health as the unproblematic outcome of ‘healthy’ lifestyle decisions and the responsibility of individuals. While Health Education literature is clear about societal views of health, these views run counter to sociological and epidemiological evidence. This individualistic view of health, which dominate Western liberal societies like Australia, is in direct contrast to a social view of Health which seeks to offer a deeper understanding of the power-relational aspects of health at play in Australian and global society. This mandatory first year Health Education topic introduces students to the idea and practice of thinking socially about health, aiming to develop a sociological imagination for students who, generally, intend to be Health and Physical Education teachers in primary or secondary schools. This research seeks to investigate the extent to which a first year undergraduate teaching topic is successful in shifting student thinking from an individualistic to social view of health, thus supporting their future Health Education practices. The research uses the analysis of student written work and individual student interviews to identify pedagogical and organizational features of the topic that contribute to student academic engagement, and the growth of learner understanding of the social nature of health. Discussed are findings from the data which seek to evaluate the success of the topic in shifting student thinking; and considerations for effective practices in pre service teacher Health Education.

I'm very much looking forward to the conference and sharing our ongoing research project, as well as connecting with others working in educational research. A warm welcome to Adelaide, my adopted home, for all visiting delegates and looking forward to meeting colleagues in the field at the reception tonight and throughout the week.

Is food this confusing?

I came across an article today where a Manitoba mother was fined by her child's daycare for providing an 'incomplete' lunch. Casting aside the obvious absurdity of fining families over lunches, as unhealthy lunches are often a outcome of food insecurity to which additional financial penalty would make worse, the unbelievable element to this story is what was determined to be an 'unhealthy lunch' and the 'solution' to the problem.

The two children, who attended the daycare centre responsible for the fines, were sent to school with lunches consisting of roast-beef, potatoes, carrots, an orange, and milk. Despite the fact this this lunch is full of lean protein, vegetables, fruit, and dairy products (all in a low processed form) the daycare decided it was an incomplete lunch because it did not contain a grain, as outlined in the Canadian Food Guide as a necessity for a healthy meal. There solution to this 'incomplete' lunch? A $5 per lunch fine and supplementing the lunch with Ritz crackers, a highly processed food high in fat, refined grains, and salt.

While I understand why the daycare centre is concerned about lunches, and why the Canada Food guide is an appropriate tool to use in guiding children and families eating practices, the complete lack of common sense or logic in evaluating food as 'healthy' speaks to the widespread misinformation and disconnect citizens in developed nation have with food.

While the Canada Food guide is helpful, health promotion tools need to be used as guidelines, not laws, and particular family needs, preferences, skills, and access need to be taken into account when tackling the very difficult job of increasing health literacy within the population.

Policing individuals food choices and fining 'offenders' is simply another symptom of our societies promulgation of 'responsibilisation', an inevitable byproduct of Neoliberalism. Responsibilization, as the abdication of responsibility of the government for putting controls or limits on the way food is marketed to families and children,  the cost of healthy food, or the availability of processed food, becomes a vehicle for fining offenders instead of addressing social determinants of health and making change possible.

If parents, educators, children, and people in general struggle to even identify healthy food, how can we move as a whole to a place of health literacy? While there are no simple answers, clearly a punitive paradigm based on health guidelines is inappropriate, nor does it support the health of children and families. Educators need to work with families, and have the health literacy necessary to accurately educate. Educators also need to be supported with policies and practices put in place that require stricter labelling controls of food which greatly contribute to ubiquitous food confusion contributing to health misinformation. There are no quick fixes to health literacy, and it's a long road ahead.

School of Education Post-Graduate Research Seminar

Jennifer Fane - Post Graduate Seminar

Today I had the pleasure of presenting my current research initiative to faculty members and post-graduate students here at Flinders. This seminar series runs weekly, and is a space where academic staff and post graduate students share their current projects and initiatives. It has been a fantastic opportunity to learn about what colleagues are doing and exciting new areas of research that are being done here in the School of Education.

My presentation, entitled Engaging Students in a Social View of Health" builds on the writing I have been doing on engaging young children in health equity instead of charity, and links to a current research project I am involved in with my undergraduate students. Here is a link to the prezzi presentation for anyone interested.

The current research project I'm involved in surrounds a topic I teach in, Foundations of Health Education (HLPE 1540), with another colleague in Health Education and two more colleagues from the Student Learning Centre here at Flinders. With the support of FEFRI (Flinders Educations Futures Research Institute) and a faculty grant, we are exploring how the topic HLPE 1540 has engaged students in a social view of health. As out students (mostly PE majors) come into university with a very individualistic view of health, our challenge is to develop their sociological imagination, or capacity to view the world socially. Developing a social view of health is essential for health educators as it explores how social health inequalities are social constructs, not inevitable outcomes, and allows for discussion and thinking about health differently - attempting to move students away from an individualistic paradigm which reproduces health inequity.

The presentation was very well received and will be bases for a forth coming publication and a symposium presentation at the AARE (Australian Association for Research in Education) in Adelaide in December 2013.

A photo of myself and the amazing colleagues I have here at Flinders

ACHPER Primary Years Conference 2013

Jennifer Fane - ACHPER SA conference

I was invited to present at the 2013 ACHPER (Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation) Primary Years Conference happening at Flinders University today and delivered a presentation on Strength-Based Approaches to Health Education. It was my first time using Prezi, a cloud based presentation soft ware, but I found the non linear presentation style quite helpful for examining issues in  Health Education. The photo above is a screen shot of my presentation, the following is a link for anyone interested.

While Health Education seems to have a hard time finding its rightful place along side Physical Education, there is such a need to expand the practices, beliefs, and knowledge of Health Education in schools past physical activity and health eating. This presentation seeks to engage educators in looking at health socially, recognizing the barriers facing students and families, and making structural and institutional changes to the way in which schools model, teach, and represent health and well-being.

It's been a pleasure working with ACHPER and fostering ties between Flinders University and the greater educational community in Adelaide and South Australia. I may have traded in my kindergarten classroom for a lecture theater, but I feel that maintaining strong ties between my work and my background in primary education and schools is an essential piece of my role here in the school of education.

Jumping through hoops (the real kind - not proverbial) in pre-service teacher education

So often I hear students speak of having to 'jump through hoops' in their teacher education courses. Practicums and placements are heralded as the 'important' or 'valuable' parts of the degree, rather than the course work that supports their learning and understanding of the teaching profession. The expression of 'jumping through hoops' took on a new meaning for me in my own graduate learning experience when my supervisor in my Health Education masters program said that "they should be jumping through hoops, real ones", as hoops and other flow arts/physical activity  allows student teachers to experience physical education in agentic and experiential ways.

This has always remained with me and when I took on the coordination of the Early Childhood Health and PE topic at Flinders this year I was extremely excited to continue the existing partnership that the course has with one of the University's Childcare centres. This partnership allows my students (most of which are completing undergraduate degrees in Early Childhood Education, though some Masters level  and physical education majors) to learn about teaching young children physical education and fundamental movement skills through giving a PE lesson to young children. This contstructivist approach  has so much more value for students that an essay, unit plan, or reading notes, and the feedback and reflective practice that has begun from these lessons has been very positive and meaningful.

Today I was able to go into the one of the houses (rooms in the centre) and watch a pre-service teacher deliver a PE lesson to 2.5-3.5 year olds on jumping with hula hoops. After the lesson was complete,  I watched students engaging in guided discovery with the hoops and  was struck at just how fitting that saying can be, not just for poorly developed teacher education practices which involve proverbial hoops, but for experiences where real hoops provide valuable learning experience for pre-service teachers. And yes, guilty as charged, I enjoyed playing with hoops as much as the 2.5-3.5 year olds :)

Hoops and other equipment used for the preschool PE lessons.

Making my way back into Early Childhood Education

Jennifer Fane - Flinders University

I have greatly been enjoying my role as an Associate Lecturer in Health Education here at Flinders University. But when a course came up in the Early Childhood degrees program that needed a topic coordinator, Early Childhood Health and Physical Education, I jumped at the chance to combine my two areas of expertise into a teacher education course. This particular course enjoys a partnership with a Childcare Centre on campus, allowing the students extra hands on teaching opportunities with young children in childcare settings, and allowing for extremely authentic student assessment tasks.

As the newest member of the ECE team, I was featured in a Q & A in the latest edition of the Early Childhood at Flinders University newsletter. Here's a link to the newsletter, and the Q & A is on page 4.
It's been great to be welcomed by the excellent and supportive ECE team here at Flinders, and I look forward to my continued involvement in Early Childhood Teacher Education both on and off campus.

Lessons from Policy Makers

The 2013 ATEA (Australian Teacher Education Association) conference theme was Knowledge Makers and Notice Takers: Teacher education research impacting policy and practice, with the discourse in and out of sessions, and the keynote addresses being how can teacher education research make a difference in educational policy?

Teacher education research is grounded in pedagogy, theory, and best practices for students, teachers, and teacher educators alike, yet it is often ignored and overlooked by policy makers. The question then becomes, how can teacher educators conduct and present research in a way likely to be noticed and listened to by policy makers, as no matter how meaningful the research is, if it doesn't inform change it's of little use.

In spirit of the theme, the conference did have empowering speakers who did in fact speak to ways that teacher educators can work towards informing policy, such as working together across national and international divides to create larger scale research, and the creation of an educational databased controlled by teachers, for teachers to share knowledge and research. However, it was the Plenary Forum discussion on the final day that, perhaps, was most telling in the discourse between teacher educators and policy makers.

The panel participating in the discussion included policy makers  alongside academics/researchers in teacher education and administrators in the high schooling sector. Each shared a little about their work, or the challenges facing teacher education, but was most remarkable was the words that were repeated in their addresses. Recurrent words and phrases were "teacher quality", "teacher training", "training institutions", and the sharing of a personal account of one's practicum being a "waste of time".

From these comments, placed innocently within speeches under the guise of supporting teacher education, I surmise that the greatest hurdle for teacher educators informing policy is the constant attack on the professionalism of teachers and our value to shaping education policy. While I was aghast at these comments from members of the panel, I was certainly not alone. The conference used an app called GoSoapBox give attendees the opportunity to ask questions and discuss conference proceedings. The palatable devaluing of teacher professionalism was evident in many of my colleagues comments:

Teacher quality is the most insulting term in Education. Why is it used? It sets up a premise that teachers aren't quality.

Is 'teacher training' and 'training institutions' the most appropriate language for teacher educators to use in promoting their work in higher education?

Much discussion also ensued over the idea that Universities were wholly responsible for creating teachers who were 100% ready for schools the second the leave teacher education spaces, and that schools and education sectors do not need to play a role in supporting pre-service and early career teachers:

Why can't we leave time for a new teacher to learn about the context in which they begin teaching?

How can they be teacher ready if schools dont mentor PSTs?

Why can't we leave time for a new teacher to learn about the context in which they begin teaching?

Demanding that pre-service teachers leave teacher education ready to face anything the classroom can throw at them when educational research continually shows the need for early career teachers to continually develop skills and grow from mentorship and networks, continually devalues the work of teacher educators and attacks the professionalism of teachers through an impossible standard of "quality control" in education. 

This constant push from government and policy makers to control education and teachers in order to improve education is exactly what is halting the high quality of research, practice, and discourse of teachers in attempt to improve education. Policy makers devalue teachers and their work, yet teachers are the very professionals with the experience and knowledge to make education better. Beck's theory of risk management, where fear of poor quality leads to tighter controls, resulting thusly in poor quality is very much alive and well in current educational policy.

While it is extremely discouraging to hear this stark reality at a teacher education conference, it is extremely telling of the work educators have to do in shifting policy makers to value teachers as professionals and our work as grounded in theory, research, and best practices.

Despite an rather non inspirational panel discussion, I am extremely thankful for spaces such as teacher educator conferences where we can work towards the goal of informing policy and presenting ourselves and our work as the professionals we are. If we don't believe in and support our profession, who will?