University Lecturer (Research and Teaching, Full- time, Permanent) [SC explains ethics protocols and keeping answers anonymous]

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1 University Lecturer (Research and Teaching, Full- time, Permanent) [SC explains ethics protocols and keeping answers anonymous] I don t particularly care if you mention my name. Everybody knows I m a Luddite (laughs). Q1. I work at the X University. I lecture, research and do consultancies. Q2. Other not private business or government. You probably need a category that is Education. Q3. There s about 16,000. Q4. There d be twenty. Q5. I would have thought we were small. SC Really? Thinking about the whole university? Well I m just thinking about the people in Archaeology. There s only seven of us as staff and there s some postdocs and then there s a few tutors who float about then there s people like X who is not in our School but around. And I think in the overall scheme of things we re relatively small. Q6. State X Q7. Throughout Australia. Let s be realistic here [3 states] they d be the regular ones and the others [states] less regularly. Seeing them at AAA conferences for the others. Q8. No. Q9. (See sheet tick box) Q10. (See sheet tick box) Q11. All the time. Q12. Yeah we do actually. We have media officers in the Faculty and they liaise with the people the university newsletter. So if any of us have major stories to go out to the wider public the media liaison officer in the Faculty will ensure that information is disseminated through the university newsletter, or through other media outlets. We also have a web page at the university that lists everybody s skills so if ever there s a media frenzy that relates to archaeology the media gets in touch with us through that particular page. 1

2 [SC notes that all larger organizations and government agencies now have media offices etc.] I don t think they are a big part of what we do as it s only when there are trumpets that need to be blown. When we re doing things like university open days then we re just part of the normal media organization undertaken by the university. So we don t get a special help there. And there are many people who do their own chasing of the media that given the amount of media coverage of archaeological work in Australia, as you know from your own research and from X and Y there isn t a great deal of media interest in local archaeology. Q13. I suppose it s yes and no. I don t have any formal training. I haven t done a Diploma of Education or a Graduate Certificate in Education, but I ve been an educator now for a very long time. I ve won awards for my education skills so I am obviously good at what I do. So although I don t have formal training I have experience qualifications I guess. [SC So your experience has been recognized professionally.] I ve also published papers that relate to Archaeology teaching. Q14. [SC How long have you been teaching?] Well I started here at University X in [date] but prior to that I used to do training courses for [a state heritage management agency]. You know I ve been doing it for a hundred years. [SC explains the question that interview respondents qualifications and experience in these areas are very variable. And this is an interesting result as everyone is communicating to some extent..]. It s really interesting you say that this is a bit of an aside but I do an assignment with my [environmental sciences] students where I get them to write a school programme, a programme for schools under the National History Curriculum on the [Aboriginal] site X. And one of the students in the class the other day, talking about assessment, muttered That was a waste of time cos I heard it I said Well, actually, it s not a waste of time. Although you may never end up teaching in a school it is about communicating. It doesn t matter what job you get you re going to have to communicate with somebody the CEO of your department, a lawyer, somebody in the general public, a mining company. You have to be able to explain to them why the environment or cultural heritage is important. So the exercise we did is about communicating with a particular group, and the skills that you learned in doing that are utterly transferable. She didn t get it she was very grumpy and miserable but you know that s the case. Q15. N/A. Q16. Yes I get rung up not regularly but I d be rung up three to four times a year to comment on something or other. Sometime they come completely out of left field like I was asked to comment on the [place in Scotland, UK] whale hunt which I could comment on as we d just published that paper that Researcher Y had written in [an academic journal]. So I said Just give me a chance to read this paper and I ll ring you back which I did. And I ve been asked to talk on the legislation they ve been the two I ve been talking about most recently. Ah and 2

3 about [Project X] to the [local regional] radio station So yeah I ve been rung up three to four times a year. Q17/18. [SC sounds positive but were there any problems?]. No no I don t usually have any problems at all. If it s something I can t talk about I piss them off and say That s not my area. I usually give them somebody else they can go on to. Q19 & 20. That s interesting. Obviously people come to the organization. Students come to the organization because they want to find out about archaeology and we tell them about it. We seek students to come to us by holding open days and trying to put on interesting shows, encourage people so that we get EFTUS and enrolments and or whatever those things are these days. So I suppose we do we really do both. Q21. Because I [emphatic I ] I ll just talk about me I think because this is something I m passionate about and I believe that there is a lot that we can learn from understanding archaeology and cultural heritage, because I d lump the cultural heritage in with that. I think it s really important that the past is protected, conserved, managed appropriately and we do that by explaining to people that this is important. And if we can train young people to do that and they then take that information out into the wider community then the word will eventually get around. I really like the fact that I don t just teach Archaeology students but I do teach [environment science students]. They are not normally exposed to issues that we in Archaeology, and Archaeology students, would be exposed to regularly. These [other] students are challenged by issues to do with cultural heritage and they don t like it. But by the end of the course they begin to see the relevance. Just this last week we were talking about the [regional environmental protection legislation] and the students were saying Oh yes but the Aborigines are just siding with the mining companies. I said It s not as simple as that. Let s look at the real evidence, what s really going on with [this] legislation. And we spoke for about half an hour and the students were quite amazed at the complexity of the heritage issues that Indigenous people face, and the economic issues that Indigenous people face. So that s why I think we need to communicate. And we communicate about archaeology and all the things that are associated with archaeology such as heritage issues. And I think it s really important. [SC Thank you. A strong theme coming out is that people are very passionate about archaeology not everybody but the few people who have said I m really passionate about what I do, I think it s important..]. Yep. [SC Explains more about Q22 kinds of content? and that s hard in a University environment]. Yeas yeah. Well my content is largely relating to cultural heritage. I don t tend to talk about archaeology specifically although I will use specific archaeological case studies to illustrate a heritage issue. So I will largely talk about heritage and management issues. 3

4 Q23. (long list of yes/no answers see paper copy of Q. survey for results) alternative archaeologies No unfortunately it would be fun. (Development companies large to small no ). Even though I do consultancies I tend to do them for Aboriginal groups rather than for companies. Q24. Students and Indigenous communities. Q25-7 (SC explains the questions) Q25. Well yes that s what we do in universities all the time. We re the font of all knowledge filling the empty voids in front of us (laughs) which of course isn t true. Yes it s really fabulous when the students pull you up about something and you say Oh hadn t thought about that. Quite right. [SC yes that s right quite right. As we are in education we know about these things [meaning theory and practice of education and is being ironic in her reply]]. Yes that s right. [SC- It s actually quite interesting this is a funny question but it s sort of getting some interesting answers. The next one is can you describe where you communicate with other experts with similar or common..] Actually can I go back to Q25? So there s lecturing but saying that I don t use digital technologies I do. I use the Place X web site because I use that in my teaching. I actually have the students designing material to go onto that web site. And I use that web site in particular when I m talking with other Indigenous people, because I often say to them If you want to see what I do go and have a look at the X website. So I do use that website, as well as lecturing techniques and I also use field- based techniques. In that paper I wrote in that [edited by X] volume that outlines the field- based techniques that I use problem- based learning exercises and stuff like that. Q26. Yeah look I communicate with not only my colleagues but with Indigenous communities often who have quite good knowledge of archaeology, and I communicate with them obviously in a very different way from the way I communicate with students. I would communicate much more When you talk to students it s very performance based you re always performing for the students, you want to entertain them whereas you don t do that when you re talking to professionals. It s much more po- faced.. um often quite serious if you re discussing an important archaeological concern. So it s much more done as a meeting format than as a performance format. [SC That s really useful that s really added to that.] Good. [SC Thank you for that]. I m a good performer. I like performing. [SC Yeah but you re right. That s a very interesting point which we could discuss ]. [Laughs] Some are better performers than others. [SC Yes that s the case. Or some people do put a performance on in meeting when it s not very helpful. Many people perform in meetings when they 4

5 ought to be getting on with stuff]. That s right. that s right. yes you re absolutely right. Q27 SC asks for examples? In general I don t because even if I m communicating with Indigenous people who have very different views from my own, my expertise is at least accepted. It may not be, it may not be incorporated into their belief systems but it is something that people will recognize that I m an expert in what I m saying. [SC Can I ask you something? Is that because people know you? Know your reputation]. Yep. yeah. I think so. [SC Cos I think that s yeah..]. Cos I think if I met Joe Average in the street and Joe Average was talking about the Gympie Pyramid and I said I think that s a load of tosh (laughs) I wouldn t have my ideas accepted. [SC No and you just said that you don t communicate with people who have alternative ideas]. No I don t tend to (laughs). [SC laughs]. At least I d get to meet them! [SC Thanks, that s fine. Here s a difficult one how do you judge the effectiveness of your communication etc (Q28)] Q28. (Immediate answer). That is an interesting one. Okay. We can do it formally through evaluation systems that we have at the university which we call [acronym]. I get very good [evaluation scores]. The students obviously enjoy.. they enjoy my performance. But how effective is the outcome? I get students who do good essays for me which demonstrate that they ve understood important questions, they understand the issues they can discuss those issues thoroughly, they come up with good examples and they use literature well. So that s a good sign that students have understood. I get them to do exercises that demonstrate to me that they ve understood best practice activities in cultural heritage management, and if they can demonstrate to me that they ve followed best practice then they ve clearly understood what I ve outlined as what I believe is best practice in that particular area. When I get I ve just recently had the X Aboriginal community ring me up and ask me to be [a formal member of their governance committee] and they re going to have to change their Constitution to let me do that because I m neither black nor male. But I think that demonstrates that my communication with them about what s important in their site is something that they recognize and has been successful as they now want me to really help them manage the site rather than just be an advisor, to be in there and physically help them. Well that s a real problem for me as I m not utterly convinced that is my role, but given that at the moment there isn t anybody else because they re restructuring I ve agreed to take on the role in the short term. [SC Well congratulations.] I think that does demonstrate that at least some of what I do is effective. And I mean I get papers published so that suggests that somebody has understood what I m saying and is prepared to publish a paper so that s another way in which I can judge my effectiveness. [SC I think look that s fine. I guess as we re all in the education business it makes.. we know.. sorry.. you know what I m saying]. Yes. 5

6 Q29. [SC the Q29 is in fact course evaluation questionnaires and things]. Yes and it s what we call [acronym] and all that crapulous stuff [laughs, SC laughs]. [SC explains the ICT questions] Q30. I don t use a lot of digital technology in my work because I don t like it. However we have Blackboard sites and I use them and I put information to the students up on the Blackboard sites. I communicate various stages in our PBL exercises by putting up letters from fake people onto the Blackboard site which the students then have to engage with, and things like that. I use the X site particularly for student assignment activities because almost all the information that s on that website has been designed by students as part of assessment. And then I ve uploaded the best ones. So I do use the digital technologies at that level. In terms of sharing data or information again I would only do that through the Blackboard site with students. I don t use social media of any kind so I don t communicate my results other than oh well no I tell a lie. I would share information using . But that is all I would use [emphatic] because I just don t like any other form of social media. Q32. Do you use social media? No. Not at all. [SC And you don t like it?] No I don t like it. [SC Can I ask you why you don t like it? You re not the only one that doesn t like it.] I often.. yes lots of reasons. I ve got too much to do in my life to learn something new. I m getting too old. Um I couldn t be bothered. I get very concerned at some of the things I hear that go wrong with social media, particularly Facebook and I m quite glad that I don t have to worry about that kind of thing. I don t have a mobile phone that would allow me to Twit to Tweet sorry to Tweet that s the verb isn t it? I don t have a mobile phone that would allow me to Tweet so I don t have Twitter and what s the point of having Twitter if you ve already got ? So I guess that the nearest thing that I would have and I don t yet have it is that I m considering putting up a blog on the X website, but that would be it. Oh and I use a blog in the Blackboard site and that s it. Q33. I like the fact that it s very easy to send the students to the information they need. Somebody sends you and and says I can t find the paper by so and so and so I can send an out to everybody and say So and so couldn t find the paper by Bloggs and Brown, I ve just found it and uploaded it onto the Blackboard site and then basically get off my back and go and find the stuff yourself you lazy so and so..[sc I thought you were going to say you send them an saying Have you looked in the Library? ]. (Laughs). Well I do that as well. But I m getting sick of saying that I now just stick it up on the Blackboard site. And that is very easy. And it also means that when we re doing this PBL exercise instead of the students having to wait until the beginning of class and being given their letter, they re sent it two or three days before the class and they come already having read the letter and being shall I say prepared. Partially prepared for whatever they think we will be doing in light of the fact 6

7 that all of their recommendations from the week before have now been thrown out the window. [SC So this allows you to like have a rolling.. um.. teaching thing where you can react to whatever they produce the week before?]. Yep, yes. [SC So you ve got timed release of information?]. Yep. Yes timed release of information that s a very good way of putting it. Which I like doing that. I like having the X website. It is a brilliant way to explain to people about the X site. Currently it s very overgrown so people can t go there. So we actually have as one of our National Archaeology Week activities a virtual tour of X by going and visiting the website. So that s on the National Archaeology Week website. [SC I ll go and have a look at that] So I like using computers and digital technologies from that perspective, but what I don t like is using computers to replace face to face learning. I think face to face learning is important because if you have face to face learning it s two way learning and it s immediately shared. Whereas if it s done by computers it may be two way learning, and it may be something that you can share, but it s not shared in real time. And I also find that using digital technologies is very time consuming. So that if you do have a blog, for example, you have to keep going back to it and see if someone has put something on it. Whereas if you re running a tutorial they re answering you right then and there. [SC Comment this can be managed by setting terms of use on the blog however] I find my time I m so time poor that my time is easier to organize in a face to face situation than it is if everything I did was through digital technology. I could be quite wrong. Maybe it s not that bad but certainly in my experiences when I have occasionally ventured into that realm have not been happy. Q35. Other Utterly Useless. [SC (laughs) I don t believe that..]. Alright. Below Average (laughs). [SC Why you don t sound as if you re below average]. Look. I m not really very good. I use Blackboard in the most basic of ways. I can t upload stuff onto the X website. I have to pay somebody to do it as I can never work out how the bloody thing works. No. I m no good. I m really hopeless. Q36. I go through people at the university who have the skills I m looking for, such as people in the library or people in IT - who are usually not available - but the library people are fabulous. Or I employ somebody to help me. And I do also with the Blackboard site I just muddle through. You know when all else fails I read the manual. [SC Well hey that s very sensible!] Q37. I thought the survey questions were very interesting and I think you re going to get some very interesting results out of this. And it s going to be particularly interesting to see what people who are outside the education industry say. 7

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