Enquiry

Abstract:

In 2008, the Australian Government set a target stipulating that by 2020, 20 percent of higher education enrolments at the undergraduate level would be made up of students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. Students of refugee background are a specific group within this low SES targeted cohort but little research has occurred into their transition and retention in universities. In response to this research lacuna, an Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching study (2013-2014), examined school to university pathways for young people of refugee origin. The study’s findings raise uncomfortable questions in regard to the roles and responsibilities of universities and staff in catering for the frequently highly complex needs of this demographic of students. This seminar argues that reflections on current university policies and practices are not solely a matter of economic productivity but a central commitment to university education as a form of socially just practice.

Speaker:

Dr. Jane Wilkinson is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. She is co convenor of the Leading and Learning: Theory and Practice Research Group of the Griffith Institute for Educational Research (GIER). 

All welcome
 

For registration, please email Benjamin at hcso@ied.edu.hk .

** UNESCO Research Seminar Series is a HKIEd 20th Anniversary Celebratory Event, which is jointly organized by: the UNESCO Chair in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)and Lifelong Learning, the UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre (HK), the UNESCO Arts-in-Education Observatory for Research in Local Cultures and Creativity in Education (RLCCE), Centre for Lifelong Learning Research and Development, and Centre for Governance and Citizenship.