Education Commons^™

Pedagogy Of Belonging: Pausing To Be Human In Higher Education, Narelle Lemon

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Valuing care and self-care in higher education requires a conscious pause and rethinking of how we are together as educators and students. The pandemic caused various complexities, including changes in curriculum delivery, deadlines, and assessment modes, leading to feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, and change fatigue, which contributed to the emergence of panicgogy. This paper argues for the need to disrupt this way of being and experiencing the pandemic through valuing humanity and repositioning self-care and care by and for academics to inform their pedagogy. Presented is the narrative and the design story behind Pedagogy of Belonging (PoB), a systems informed …

Exploring University Student Engagement And Sense Of Belonging During Work-Integrated Learning, Anna D. Rowe, Denise Jackson, Jenny Fleming

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is recognised as a valuable pedagogical strategy for developing graduate employability, increasing employment prospects and contributing to a range of other learning outcomes. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the degree to which WIL students in higher education, felt they fully engaged in workplace activities and experienced a sense of belonging to their workplace environment. Further aims were to identify factors that facilitated and inhibited their engagement and belonging. Data were collected using an online survey of 151 students undertaking WIL as part of a university degree, in the contexts of business, sociology and …

Perceptions And Experiences Of Belonging During The Transition From Primary To Secondary School, Lynette Longaretti

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A young person’s sense of belonging at school can affect their level of motivation, academic achievement and wellbeing. During the transition from primary to secondary school, one’s sense of belonging may be affected by the changes and challenges encountered.

This paper reports some of the findings from a larger qualitative longitudinal study that investigated the factors that contribute to educational resilience during the transition from primary to secondary school. Data gathered from interviews with sixteen Year 6 students from three Victorian primary schools over a period of eighteen months is presented and analysed.

A key theme identified from the larger …

Being And Belonging: Student-Teachers’ Contextual Engagement In Schools, Enda Donlon, Elaine Mcdonald, Sabrina Fitzsimons, Pj Sexton

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

While School Placement is long established as a central component of Initial Teacher Education programmes, there is an increasing awareness that these placement experiences should go beyond the practical activities most directly associated with teaching. This paper considers how engagement in a school placement period with a focus on non-teaching activities contributes to the professional and personal development of student-teachers, and to their sense of ‘belonging’ while on placement. Drawing primarily on the analysis of data obtained from online logs maintained by student-teachers during this predominantly non-teaching placement, it establishes the activities that they engaged in, and their reflections and …

Preservice Teachers’ Sense Of Belonging During Practicum Placements, Yvonne Dewhurst, Michelle Ronksley-Pavia, Donna Pendergast

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Practicum placements in schools are keystone features of preservice teacher education, yet inconsistencies in their nature and quality are pervasive. This phenomenon was explored in two cultural contexts, with a focus on ‘belonging’, which the literature reveals may impact practicums and commitment to the profession. Interviews were conducted with six primary school preservice teachers in Australia and Scotland, about their lived experience of belonging/non-belonging during practicum. Hermeneutic phenomenological analysis revealed four themes in both cultural contexts: 1. Being welcomed; 2. Settings and procedures; 3. Interpersonal interactions; and, 4. Strategic behaviours. This study indicates belonging as crucial to preservice teachers’ cognition, …

Narratives Of Place And Land: Teaching Indigenous Histories In Australian And New Zealand Teacher Education, Richard Manning, Neil Harrison

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article offers a trans-Tasman critique of approaches to the teaching of history in New Zealand and Australia. Taking knowledge out of place and time and presenting it in textbooks is a conflicted task for schooling in both countries. The disembodiment of knowledge in history books has led students to the proclamation that the teaching of history in schools is ‘boring’ and irrelevant to their lives. The authors seek a way out of this dilemma in proposing that the teaching of Indigenous history in schools must recognise that Indigenous historical narratives are intimately tied to the ecologies of places – …