The first days of 2009 in Auckland are a blur of spectacular summer days, still nights, and the sweet sense of a few last hurrahs before we begin the serious business of handling a recession. Reluctantly back at my desk, I join a few hardy souls at my place of work scanning the figures, attempting to divine whether an economic downturn will bring increased interest in higher education – that is, more bums on seats. We all like to think so. There may be nothing like the cool breeze of rising unemployment to focus our attention on the relationship between university study and “the industry”.
The lull of summer is also a traditional opportunity for page 1 media exposure for university researchers. So it was that Professor John Hattie from the University of Auckland appeared on the front page of a NZ Sunday newspaper on January 4, where his 15-year study of student achievement, involving a total of 83 million students, was hailed as “teaching’s Holy Grail”. Hattie’s key finding: the most important factor in student achievement is - not class sizes - but the relationship a student has with the teacher, embodied in trust and effective feedback. My lifetime of teaching so far tells me this is indisputable, but with the relentless focus on increasing student/staff ratios in the tertiary education sector in NZ, my challenge is how to protect the conditions in which the necessary trusting relationships can be fostered. Hattie calls for a carrot approach: boost salaries and provide the incentive of performance payments for excellence. Presumably then, we will find creative ways to produce it. Time and motion studies, anyone?
Our upcoming conference, Communication, Creativity and Global Citizenship at QUT in Brisbane from 8 - 10 July 2009 is an unparalleled opportunity to ensure that we are mixing with peers in communication research and education, debating the issues that unite us, sharing in one another’s latest research and hearing from outstanding keynote speakers. Abstracts and papers are due 6 February. Now is the time to ensure you register for the conference and consider accommodation options in this most appealing of mid-year destinations.
Finally, I invite you to take up the opportunity to renew your membership online. We have installed a PayPal facility on the ‘Join’ page of the ANZCA site so that the business of ensuring your continued access to MIA, the Australian Journal of Communication, a wonderful network of peers across the Australasian/Pacific region, the annual conference and more, is as easy as 1-2-3.
