Education Commons^™

To inform a coherent pedagogy through examined identity as professor requires more than constructing a list of personal descriptors. This paper challenges the dominant discourse through examining identity as fluid, situated and relational. A deep inquiry into tertiary educator identity is grounded in the first author‘s own defining moments within academia, as well as reflective analysis of literature situated within the context of Australian higher education.

This paper presents a study into the motivations, aspirations and characteristics of students who embarked on a new wholly-online early childhood teacher preparation program introduced at James Cook University in 2007. The inquiry contributes to a number of areas where there is currently little research. Australian studies into the experiences of first-year undergraduates focus on on-campus students, not on students who engage with tertiary studies wholly online, nor do they specifically relate to preservice teacher education. Contemporary research into e-learning is predominantly based on blended learning rather than solely online modes of study. In addition, there is little literature relating …