The Corporatization and Environmental Sustainability of Australian Universities


Book Description

Analysing the juxtaposition of two trends in universities – corporatisation and environmental sustainability – this book explores how they are more contradictory than compatible. Hans A Baer argues that this contradiction is unavoidable because of the capitalist parameters in which they operate, including a commitment to on-going economic growth which contributes to social inequality, environmental degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions. Drawing on archival sources and Baer’s experiences in university sustainability forums, the book exposes how what universities claim to do in relation to environmental sustainability compares with their research, educational, operational and institutional activities. Presenting a critique of and a radical alternative to the status quo, this book is suitable for academics and students of anthropology, environmental studies and higher education.




The Corporatisation and Environmental Sustainability of Australian Universities


Book Description

Analysing the juxtaposition of two trends in universities - corporatisation and environmental sustainability - this book explores how they are more contradictory than compatible. Hans A Baer argues that this contradiction is unavoidable because of the capitalist parameters in which they operate, including a commitment to on-going economic growth which contributes to social inequality, environmental degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions. Drawing on archival sources and Baer's experiences in university sustainability forums, the book exposes how what universities claim to do in relation to environmental sustainability compares with their research, educational, operational and institutional activities. Presenting a critique of and a radical alternative to the status quo, this book is suitable for academics and students of anthropology, environmental studies and higher education.




The Corporatization and Environmental Sustainability of Australian Universities


Book Description

Analysing the juxtaposition of two trends in universities -- corporatisation and environmental sustainability -- this book explores how they are more contradictory than compatible. Hans A Baer argues that this contradiction is unavoidable because of the capitalist parameters in which they operate, including a commitment to on-going economic growth which contributes to social inequality, environmental degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions. Drawing on archival sources and Baer's experiences in university sustainability forums, the book exposes how what universities claim to do in relation to environmental sustainability compares with their research, educational, operational and institutional activities. Presenting a critique of and a radical alternative to the status quo, this book is suitable for academics and students of anthropology, environmental studies and higher education.




Empowering Teachers through Environmental and Sustainability Education


Book Description

Empowering Teachers through Environmental and Sustainability Education draws inspiration from an empirical study exploring early career teachers’ attempts at enacting Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) in their everyday teaching practices. It showcases how a confluence of personal, professional and environmental identities supports implementation of ESE. Additionally, this book discusses key concepts and issues surrounding ESE and the ways in which teachers may claim agency and power to create change in their classroom practices. Drawing from theoretical perspectives, such as Bourdieu’s ‘thinking tools’ habitus and capital, theories of identity, and Foucault’s concept of power and knowledge relations, this book explores how teachers negotiate policies, curriculum and institutional norms to further theoretical and practical understanding of ESE. The use of personal narratives offers new insights into teachers’ agency in creating localised yet powerful change through small and meaningful actions. The purpose of this book, therefore, is to explore ways in which meaningful change can be made in educational settings through these small agentive and yet empowering steps. This book reveals that teachers can enact agency and navigate the power structures that exist within educational settings in order to make ESE meaningful within their classrooms.




University-Community Partnerships for Promoting Social Responsibility in Higher Education


Book Description

This book provides empirical evidence on how universities have considered social responsibilities as their prime focus, and engaged with civil society to enhance their values. Case studies from Indonesia to the United Kingdom enrich the book through experience, interventions and narratives.




Academic Flying and the Means of Communication


Book Description

This open access book shines a light on how and why academic work became entwined with air travel, and what can be done to change academia’s flying habit. The starting point of the book is that flying is only one means of scholarly communication among many, and that the state of the planet now obliges us to shift to other means. How can the academic-as-globetrotter become a thing of the past? The chapters in this book respond to this call in three steps. It documents the consequences of academic flying, it investigates the issue of why academics fly, and it begins an effort to think through what can replace flying, and how. Finally, it confronts scholars and scientists, students, activists, research funders, university administrators, and others, with a call to translate this research into action.




Grappling with Societies and Institutions in an Era of Socio-Ecological Crisis


Book Description

Grappling with Societies and Institutions in an Era of Socio-Ecological Crisis is an autobiographical ethnography of the journey through various societies and institutions and how they function in the midst of an era of socio-ecological crises. The volume traces the steps of the author in becoming a radical anthropologist, namely through the experience of immigration and naturalization from Peru to the United States and then to Australia, politicization while working as an engineer in the aircraft industry during the late 1960s, socialization in and subsequent exit from Roman Catholicism, and experiences as an academic working in the corporate university. As well, the author illuminates the practices of research and engagement as a scholar-activist on various topics, such as the Levites of Utah and African American Spiritual churches, socio-political and religious life in East Germany, complementary and alternative medicine, the Australian climate movement, and democratic eco-socialism.




Evidence-Based Learning and Teaching


Book Description

Education has become a political, economic and social priority for Australia, with the success of schools (and teachers) being an integral part of the economic and social future of the country. As a result, quality assurance for learning and teaching has become increasingly debated among policy-makers and the broader public, with a call for more evidence, data and standards to ensure that schools and teachers are held accountable for students’ learning outcomes. In response, this book provides a snapshot of the types of evidence and data relating to learning outcomes that are being collected in our classrooms within Australia. The chapters in this book seek to interrogate current views of learning and teaching, beyond what is measured in external assessments that only capture a limited view of student learning outcomes. The chapters explore a range of fundamental topics within education, including positive learning environments, student voice and assessment. They explore and articulate the vital knowledge and skills needed for current and future teachers. In addition, these chapters make clear links between teaching, learning and the theories that frame, shape and inform these learning and teaching processes. The research presented in this book provides practical and theoretical insights into learning and teaching in early years, primary, secondary and tertiary education.




Understanding Human Ecology


Book Description

Understanding Human Ecology offers a coherent conceptual framework for human ecology – a clear approach for understanding the many systems we are part of and for how we frame and understand the problems we face. Blending natural, social, and cognitive sciences with dynamical systems theory, this key text offers systems approaches that are accessible to all, from the undergraduate student to policymakers and practitioners across government, business, and community. In the first edition, road-tested and refined over a decade of teaching and workshops, the authors built a clear, inspiring, and important framework for anyone approaching the management of complex problems and the transition to sustainability. Fully updated for the second edition, the book now goes further in using systems-thinking principles to explain fundamental processes of change in social–ecological systems. Revised case examples provide a working application of these principles, whilst a new discussion of the hierarchical structure of complex systems is included to guide practical policymaking. This new edition is essential reading for students and scholars of human ecology, environmental ethics, and sustainability studies.




Managing Academics


Book Description

Managing Academics contrasts three alternative perspectives of managing (professionalism, quality of worklife, prosocial identity) with the dominant perspective of managerialism in higher education institutions. The intention of the contrast is to: (1) challenge the notion that managing academics is a unitary, values-free process; (2) raise awareness of managing as a social process in which values and identity questions resonate as issues of importance to managers and the managed; and (3) help academic-managers influence and balance “hybrid” perspectives of managing and scholarship.