This chapter describes work with an Aboriginal community group using an approach described as str... more This chapter describes work with an Aboriginal community group using an approach described as structural community development, a ‘bottom-up, citizen-led and -owned approach that seeks to challenge racism at its source in systems, laws, and policies based on white privilege’. Because the Benarrawa group owned this approach, the authors argue that it provides an excellent example of how grounded practice by community groups can inform the theorising of community development. The work of the group involved a range of activities, including workshops, cultural events, commemorative gatherings, and social activities, all designed to affirm the ownership of land by Aboriginal groups and strengthen their determination to assert that ownership against the depredations of the Australian state.
Globally, 5 million students annually leave both high school and their homes for the first time i... more Globally, 5 million students annually leave both high school and their homes for the first time in pursuit of a higher education, while some others may be transiting to a new country in search of an international education. If tertiary students are unable to access suitable accommodation, this could have several implications. First is the significant role of housing on one’s health, wellbeing, and quality of life as this can be an additional cause for stress and worry. Second, there is ample evidence that attests to the fact that students with access to settled housing have better educational outcomes than those with less settled housing. This paper examines tertiary students’ housing needs and preferences, towards providing them with suitable and stable accommodation during their study duration. A 26-item online questionnaire was administered to students enrolled at two regional universities in Australia. Participants were asked to choose their needs and preferences from eleven hou...
No abstract available.; This presentation was the Keynote Presentation [The Les Halliwell Address... more No abstract available.; This presentation was the Keynote Presentation [The Les Halliwell Address] for the 2013 Queensland Community Development Conference.; ;
“Watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical’” sang the English progressive rock band ... more “Watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical’” sang the English progressive rock band Supertramp in the late 1970s, echoing the way that the word “radical” is so often used to arouse ideas of extremism and instability. And given the recent tragic events in New Zealand – and in so many places around the globe – some might question the timing of this reflection. We could all be forgiven for shying away from a call for more radicalism and inviting a gentler framing for our activities. However, a closer interrogation of a radical agenda, and its place in community development, suggests that more rather than less radicalism may be just what social work in the Antipodes needs, and most particularly in these heartbreaking times.
Social Alternatives analyses, critiques and reviews contemporary social issues and problems. The ... more Social Alternatives analyses, critiques and reviews contemporary social issues and problems. The journal seeks to generate insight, knowledge and understanding of our contemporary circumstances in order to determine local, national and global implications. We are committed to the principles of social justice and to creating spaces of dialogue intended to stimulate social alternatives to current conditions. Social Alternatives values the capacity of intellectual and artistic endeavour to prompt imaginative solutions and alternatives and publishes refereed articles, review essays, commentaries and book reviews as well as short stories, poems, images and cartoons.
IntroductionThe context for social work practice is ensconced in neoliberalism, the current polit... more IntroductionThe context for social work practice is ensconced in neoliberalism, the current political ideology overshadowing all predecessors or alternatives. This dominant trend, with its emphasis on individualism, creates a kind of 'amnesia' regarding the social sources of oppression. This means, for example, that if prominent individuals from disadvantaged groups have surmounted barriers, such as racism, there is often a celebration of their individual achievement rather than any appreciation of how unjust barriers still need to change. This is reflected in a tendency for practitioners to overlook that social justice is about changing the life chances of large numbers of people and elevating and empowering whole communities (Ife 2013: 63).Critical social work takes a politically progressive stance and makes a commitment to questioning our current society, seeking to identify harmful divisions and unequal power relations, and to pursue social justice and human rights (Morl...
What can Applied Theatre (AT) techniques in the tradition of Augusto Boal and community developme... more What can Applied Theatre (AT) techniques in the tradition of Augusto Boal and community development (CD) goals in the liberatory educational tradition of Paolo Freire learn from each other? Specifically, can access to performance skills and processes intended as a 'poetics of the oppressed' enrich participation address discrimination, disadvantage and other forms of oppression? If so, can these 'borrowings' from AT enable empowerment of practitioners in how they think about and undertake their CD work in contemporary social services contexts? What are the possible limitations and challenges of adopting AT in this field of practice? Is it possible that this marrying of AT techniques and CD processes and goals might support Mouffe's call for an agonistic confrontation approach to the status quo? Such efforts may thereby 'contribute to a revitalization and deepending of democracy' where dominant power relations can be challenged through 'counter-hegemoni...
INTRODUCTIONIN MANY COUNTRIES GLOBALLY, higher education institutions such as universities serve ... more INTRODUCTIONIN MANY COUNTRIES GLOBALLY, higher education institutions such as universities serve as major economic enterprises (Marmolejo et al. 2007). This is a result of the role they play in teaching and research and their openness to sharing knowledge internationally (Marginson and Van der Wende 2007). Further, changing times and the advent of globalization (such as increased mobility of people, information, knowledge, and products) make it almost mandatory for universities to be even more "international" in their academic and business approaches and relationships (Altbach and Knight 2007). Nowadays, the emphasis is on universities engaging in knowledge transfer directed toward meeting the needs of the business community and the region (Newby 2003). Knowledge today is increasingly mobile in keeping with the digital age, and the nature and methods of teaching have also changed (Barr 2004). What has changed even more is that unlike in the past when higher education was t...
Thankfully, another publication from the creative Queensland Community Development ‘crowd’… Indee... more Thankfully, another publication from the creative Queensland Community Development ‘crowd’… Indeed, what would we do without them in a rather sedate and seemingly stagnant Australian publishing landscape in so far as Community Development is concerned…? What I most particularly appreciate is the editors’ and contributors’ ongoing attempts at creating ‘living theory’ informed by their ongoing practice and their holding on to the spiritual, democratic, relational and dialogical principles for which their work has become known. The book therewith documents its authors’ continuing attempts at developing good practical and reflective support for their ongoing social change efforts, something our local community development scene could very well do with…” Jacques Boulet, editor New Community Quarterly. [Book Synopsis]
This article analyses the ways community development in Australia has succumbed to neoliberal for... more This article analyses the ways community development in Australia has succumbed to neoliberal forces resulting in conservative or reformist practice. Ledwith (Community Development in Action: Putting Freire into Practice, 2015, Policy Press, UK.) argues that popular education theory is a useful vehicle through which community development can recover its emancipatory intentions and take on a more critical role in strategising and acting for structural changes. This article reports on a participatory action research project undertaken in Australia in 2017, to explore what the Popular Education tradition could bring to the field of community development within south-east Queensland. The research aim was to theory-test the possibilities of popular education for influencing contemporary community development in an era of hegemonic service-delivery and welfare work within Australia. Practitioners were exposed to a series of popular education workshops, grounding a clear experiential model...
Social work education has yet to undertake research into whether there is enhanced learning in us... more Social work education has yet to undertake research into whether there is enhanced learning in using spatially immersive technologies in simulation methods based on authentic scenarios. The research problem is the lack of teaching resources for engaging students in role plays using authentic scenarios to enable them to demonstrate anti-oppressive praxis. The evaluative research aim is to explore if simulated responses to a real life case study using immersive technologies could engage students to embrace collaborative, experiential learning. The research methods utilised were a survey from the social work subject evaluation and a focus group with participants chosen using a purposive sample of stakeholders. The results show the value of immersive technologies and how they relate to enhancing students’ engagement in subject material and learning goals by increasing their ability to create richly crafted roles, and to design finely nuanced scenarios which are context-responsive. This ...
This chapter describes work with an Aboriginal community group using an approach described as str... more This chapter describes work with an Aboriginal community group using an approach described as structural community development, a ‘bottom-up, citizen-led and -owned approach that seeks to challenge racism at its source in systems, laws, and policies based on white privilege’. Because the Benarrawa group owned this approach, the authors argue that it provides an excellent example of how grounded practice by community groups can inform the theorising of community development. The work of the group involved a range of activities, including workshops, cultural events, commemorative gatherings, and social activities, all designed to affirm the ownership of land by Aboriginal groups and strengthen their determination to assert that ownership against the depredations of the Australian state.
Globally, 5 million students annually leave both high school and their homes for the first time i... more Globally, 5 million students annually leave both high school and their homes for the first time in pursuit of a higher education, while some others may be transiting to a new country in search of an international education. If tertiary students are unable to access suitable accommodation, this could have several implications. First is the significant role of housing on one’s health, wellbeing, and quality of life as this can be an additional cause for stress and worry. Second, there is ample evidence that attests to the fact that students with access to settled housing have better educational outcomes than those with less settled housing. This paper examines tertiary students’ housing needs and preferences, towards providing them with suitable and stable accommodation during their study duration. A 26-item online questionnaire was administered to students enrolled at two regional universities in Australia. Participants were asked to choose their needs and preferences from eleven hou...
No abstract available.; This presentation was the Keynote Presentation [The Les Halliwell Address... more No abstract available.; This presentation was the Keynote Presentation [The Les Halliwell Address] for the 2013 Queensland Community Development Conference.; ;
“Watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical’” sang the English progressive rock band ... more “Watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical’” sang the English progressive rock band Supertramp in the late 1970s, echoing the way that the word “radical” is so often used to arouse ideas of extremism and instability. And given the recent tragic events in New Zealand – and in so many places around the globe – some might question the timing of this reflection. We could all be forgiven for shying away from a call for more radicalism and inviting a gentler framing for our activities. However, a closer interrogation of a radical agenda, and its place in community development, suggests that more rather than less radicalism may be just what social work in the Antipodes needs, and most particularly in these heartbreaking times.
Social Alternatives analyses, critiques and reviews contemporary social issues and problems. The ... more Social Alternatives analyses, critiques and reviews contemporary social issues and problems. The journal seeks to generate insight, knowledge and understanding of our contemporary circumstances in order to determine local, national and global implications. We are committed to the principles of social justice and to creating spaces of dialogue intended to stimulate social alternatives to current conditions. Social Alternatives values the capacity of intellectual and artistic endeavour to prompt imaginative solutions and alternatives and publishes refereed articles, review essays, commentaries and book reviews as well as short stories, poems, images and cartoons.
IntroductionThe context for social work practice is ensconced in neoliberalism, the current polit... more IntroductionThe context for social work practice is ensconced in neoliberalism, the current political ideology overshadowing all predecessors or alternatives. This dominant trend, with its emphasis on individualism, creates a kind of 'amnesia' regarding the social sources of oppression. This means, for example, that if prominent individuals from disadvantaged groups have surmounted barriers, such as racism, there is often a celebration of their individual achievement rather than any appreciation of how unjust barriers still need to change. This is reflected in a tendency for practitioners to overlook that social justice is about changing the life chances of large numbers of people and elevating and empowering whole communities (Ife 2013: 63).Critical social work takes a politically progressive stance and makes a commitment to questioning our current society, seeking to identify harmful divisions and unequal power relations, and to pursue social justice and human rights (Morl...
What can Applied Theatre (AT) techniques in the tradition of Augusto Boal and community developme... more What can Applied Theatre (AT) techniques in the tradition of Augusto Boal and community development (CD) goals in the liberatory educational tradition of Paolo Freire learn from each other? Specifically, can access to performance skills and processes intended as a 'poetics of the oppressed' enrich participation address discrimination, disadvantage and other forms of oppression? If so, can these 'borrowings' from AT enable empowerment of practitioners in how they think about and undertake their CD work in contemporary social services contexts? What are the possible limitations and challenges of adopting AT in this field of practice? Is it possible that this marrying of AT techniques and CD processes and goals might support Mouffe's call for an agonistic confrontation approach to the status quo? Such efforts may thereby 'contribute to a revitalization and deepending of democracy' where dominant power relations can be challenged through 'counter-hegemoni...
INTRODUCTIONIN MANY COUNTRIES GLOBALLY, higher education institutions such as universities serve ... more INTRODUCTIONIN MANY COUNTRIES GLOBALLY, higher education institutions such as universities serve as major economic enterprises (Marmolejo et al. 2007). This is a result of the role they play in teaching and research and their openness to sharing knowledge internationally (Marginson and Van der Wende 2007). Further, changing times and the advent of globalization (such as increased mobility of people, information, knowledge, and products) make it almost mandatory for universities to be even more "international" in their academic and business approaches and relationships (Altbach and Knight 2007). Nowadays, the emphasis is on universities engaging in knowledge transfer directed toward meeting the needs of the business community and the region (Newby 2003). Knowledge today is increasingly mobile in keeping with the digital age, and the nature and methods of teaching have also changed (Barr 2004). What has changed even more is that unlike in the past when higher education was t...
Thankfully, another publication from the creative Queensland Community Development ‘crowd’… Indee... more Thankfully, another publication from the creative Queensland Community Development ‘crowd’… Indeed, what would we do without them in a rather sedate and seemingly stagnant Australian publishing landscape in so far as Community Development is concerned…? What I most particularly appreciate is the editors’ and contributors’ ongoing attempts at creating ‘living theory’ informed by their ongoing practice and their holding on to the spiritual, democratic, relational and dialogical principles for which their work has become known. The book therewith documents its authors’ continuing attempts at developing good practical and reflective support for their ongoing social change efforts, something our local community development scene could very well do with…” Jacques Boulet, editor New Community Quarterly. [Book Synopsis]
This article analyses the ways community development in Australia has succumbed to neoliberal for... more This article analyses the ways community development in Australia has succumbed to neoliberal forces resulting in conservative or reformist practice. Ledwith (Community Development in Action: Putting Freire into Practice, 2015, Policy Press, UK.) argues that popular education theory is a useful vehicle through which community development can recover its emancipatory intentions and take on a more critical role in strategising and acting for structural changes. This article reports on a participatory action research project undertaken in Australia in 2017, to explore what the Popular Education tradition could bring to the field of community development within south-east Queensland. The research aim was to theory-test the possibilities of popular education for influencing contemporary community development in an era of hegemonic service-delivery and welfare work within Australia. Practitioners were exposed to a series of popular education workshops, grounding a clear experiential model...
Social work education has yet to undertake research into whether there is enhanced learning in us... more Social work education has yet to undertake research into whether there is enhanced learning in using spatially immersive technologies in simulation methods based on authentic scenarios. The research problem is the lack of teaching resources for engaging students in role plays using authentic scenarios to enable them to demonstrate anti-oppressive praxis. The evaluative research aim is to explore if simulated responses to a real life case study using immersive technologies could engage students to embrace collaborative, experiential learning. The research methods utilised were a survey from the social work subject evaluation and a focus group with participants chosen using a purposive sample of stakeholders. The results show the value of immersive technologies and how they relate to enhancing students’ engagement in subject material and learning goals by increasing their ability to create richly crafted roles, and to design finely nuanced scenarios which are context-responsive. This ...
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Papers by Tina Lathouras