Indigenous, pre-undergraduate and international students at Central Queensland University, Australia: three cases of the dynamic tension between diversity and commonality

Bowser, Don and Danaher, Patrick A. and Somasundaram, Jay (2007) Indigenous, pre-undergraduate and international students at Central Queensland University, Australia: three cases of the dynamic tension between diversity and commonality. Teaching in Higher Education, 12 (5-6). pp. 669-681. ISSN 1356-2517

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Abstract

While diversity and commonality are not necessarily contradictory aspirations in relation to contemporary teaching in higher education, they exist potentially in a state of dynamic tension, fostered by market-based and government-induced policies that strive to have the largest and widest possible client or customer base while reducing costs by standardising delivery and assessment.

This paper explores this dynamic tension between diversity and commonality through three empirical cases of different types of students at Central Queensland University in Australia: Indigenous, pre-undergraduate and international students. The paper presents an analytical synthesis of the particular teaching strategies developed by academic staff working with students in each case: experiential learning, transformative learning and culturally situated pedagogy. The authors argue that these strategies constitute a potentially effective means of helping to resolve the dynamic tension between, and of unravelling the Gordian knot linking, diversity and commonality in Australian contemporary higher education.

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Item Type:	Article (Commonwealth Reporting Category C)
Refereed:	Yes
Item Status:	Live Archive
Additional Information:	Author version deposited in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.
Faculty / Department / School:	Historic - Faculty of Education
Date Deposited:	09 Apr 2008 04:47
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2013 22:52
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Australia; Central Queensland University; commonality; diversity; indigneous students; international students; pre-undergraduate students
Fields of Research :	16 Studies in Human Society > 1608 Sociology > 160809 Sociology of Education 13 Education > 1301 Education Systems > 130103 Higher Education 13 Education > 1303 Specialist Studies in Education > 130302 Comparative and Cross-Cultural Education
Socio-Economic Objective:	C Society > 93 Education and Training > 9301 Learner and Learning > 930102 Learner and Learning Processes
Identification Number or DOI:	doi: 10.1080/13562510701596224
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/3420

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