News Archive

NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR

Recently Steve Johnson and I presented a short (four week) course through University Extension, Human Wellbeing in the 21st Century. We examined evolutionary, physiological and psychosocial perspectives of human wellbeing and considered how our worldview is affected by culture, and how this might influence outcomes for human wellbeing in the 21st century. Our small but enthusiastic group of participants discussed many issues and I was impressed by their thoughtfulness and engagement. The Extension course was a great pleasure to teach and also a good opportunity to canvas a range of responses to some of our curricular material.

Professor Neville Bruce
Director, Centre for Integrated Human Studies

NEXT SEMINAR: THE TOAD WORK May 6

“Why should I let the toad work / Squat on my life?” Philip Larkin

In hunter/gatherer societies, around twenty hours a week was needed to acquire food and shelter to maintain bodily health, and the rest of the time was available for sleep, leisure, family life and cultural activity. What has driven us to work longer hours? How do our patterns of work affect us? Where is the leisure and prosperity promised by the technological revolution?

Join chair Prof Colin MacLeod and presenters Prof Rob Lambert, Dr Elliot Wood, and SSTUWA president Anne Gisborne at 5.30 pm on May 6 to consider how human wellbeing is affected by modern work practices. All are welcome and there is no charge to attend. The seminar is in Seminar Room 1.81 on the first floor of the School of Anatomy and Human Biology. For those who have yet to attend our seminars, and wonder where we are, see Getting Here below.

NOTES FROM THE LAST SEMINAR, EDUCATION
Neville introduced the Education for World Futures initiative. We at the Centre for Integrated Human Studies have strong ideas about how education can contribute to a positive change by presenting interdisciplinary curricula and including an examination of values. The three speakers each had their own perspective on important aspects of education.

Aileen Marwung Walsh has taught Aboriginal history at UWA, Curtin and Notre Dame universities. She found it personally traumatic to speak of some of the things that have happened to Aborigines, and recognised that her students, many of whom were encountering Aboriginal history for the very first time in her classes, also found it traumatic. Aboriginal history was not only relevant to Australians but had parallels throughout the world where countries with indigenous populations were colonised. International research into trauma and cultural identity by Ron Eyerman and the race theory of Robert Young informed Aileen’s own work. It was impossible to avoid contemplating racism in Australian history, as the nation developed through the naturalisation of racism, and it was a key theme of much of the written history. Much more work would need to be done in Aboriginal history to uncover examples of Aboriginal experience which did not include racism. Students want to make sense of the present by understanding the past, but the present, in the form of news reporting, can intrude on their sense of Aboriginal progress. Aileen’s students often ask why nothing seems to be changing for Aborigines but she points out that her life is very different from that of her mother (who was taken from her family at the age of 7 and raised in a mission) and her grandmother. Aileen said that it was important that the trauma experienced by Aborigines could now be shared by all Australians. Just as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day memorialised traumatic histories, Aboriginal stories had now been publicised through Bill Stanner’s “After the Dreaming” Boyer lectures and royal commissions into the Stolen Generation and Deaths in Custody. The work of FCAATSI (The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) and the shared experience of enslavement influenced the formation of a pan-Aboriginal identity – this and the rediscovery of Aboriginal history by the wider community affected how Australians know themselves. The 2008 Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples was very moving and allowed Australians to come together and share enduring memories of traumatic Aboriginal histories.

Canon Frank Sheehan said it was important to recognise all the different resources for teaching ethics that were available. The sacred texts – the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita – with their narratives and large themes, were enduring sources of wisdom that provided common cultural references to draw on. Philosophical texts and concepts were also useful. The concept of the virtues was fashionable at the moment, and the Aristotelian idea of not only knowing but performing the right action, and many schools were now building community service into their curricula to deliver this experience. Students did not necessarily have to travel to experience different cultures, conditions, and ideas that opened their eyes to new ways of thinking. Incursions by inspiring individuals were valuable. Bishop Saibo Mabo had addressed Frank’s Christ Church Grammar School students. Bishop Mabo’s family (he is the nephew of Eddie Mabo) had lived in the Torres Strait Islands region for thousands of years (“and had come to think of it as home,” Frank noted); Bishop Mabo’s talk personalised the issue of land rights. Other speakers included Miriam-Rose Baumann, Jose Ramos-Horta, and Michael Leunig. Their talks or presence in the school were opportunities for students, teachers and parents to be inspired.

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Bill Louden has spent nearly a lifetime in education. He prefaced his remarks on higher education by saying that as hard as it is to know the past, it is even harder to predict the future. Changes that had already occurred in tertiary education had had unpredicted effects. Technology had changed the way education is delivered and consumed. Students at UWA would now not bother to attend a lecture if the lecturer was not a good performer: they preferred to access the lecture online. Changes were also influenced by such things as the university ranking system. While this was not necessarily a driver for much better educational outcomes, it is in reality a driver of policy and practice as UWA strives to climb the ranks. Globalisation was also a motivator of change as universities recognised the new skills that students now require. There are also points of resistance to change, and one is the nature of teachers. Teaching skills are enduring and relevant even while technologies change. One of the indicators of educational outcomes for children is the degree to which teachers present an intellectual challenge. The classroom, with its set of: the person who knows more doing most of the talking; a group of students doing most of the listening; and aids such as the blackboard, whiteboard or data projector displaying useful information, is also an enduring and simple educational mode. Finally, although much of interest is discovered at the intersection of disciplines, disciplines themselves are enduringly useful intellectual tools.

Questions and comments included :

• Challenge is an important element of education, whether it is in community service, learning about trauma, or other ways. Challenge works both ways and applies to both students and teachers.
• Teachers who create an intellectually challenging environment have the best learning outcomes.
• What about global challenges? Collisions between identity and values are a problem; how can education contribute to a real change in the way groups of people relate to each other?
• Universities used to be very political places. Voluntary student unionism has eviscerated student politics.
• Is there a need for parenting education in the curriculum?
• The quality of teaching depends on the quality of the teacher and how relevant the material seems to the student.
• Students should be exposed to interdisciplinary units so they can see how disciplines are relevant to real world issues.

GETTING HERE

The School of Anatomy and Human Biology is two doors south of Shenton House on the eastern (Matilda Bay) side of the UWA campus, opposite the Matilda Bay kiosk. There is a map on our website. Bus routes Nos 23, 79, 98, 99,102 and 107 pass UWA on Stirling Highway; after alighting you will enjoy a five-minute stroll through the campus. Go past the Guild Village and turn left immediately after the Psychology building. You’ll be facing the School of Anatomy and Human Biology and will see the lift to the left of the glass doors. The seminar room is on the first floor opposite the lift door. If you are driving , we are closest to Hackett Entry No 2 to Carpark No 4. Free parking is available after 5 pm in ticket parking areas in UWA, and after 6pm in Council ticket parking areas. When you arrive at the School, go to the rear and use the lift to come to the first floor.