Behind every school leader is an individual with experiences. These experiences, personal and professional, shape how an educator conceptualizes leadership. This study examines the types of experiences that leaders, enrolled in a Master of Educational Leadership degree in Australia, draw on to inform their leadership. The findings reveal four key…

In this article, we explore the concept of belonging and its utility as a means for understanding academics' experiences of working in the academy. Transformative changes have reorientated academic work in recent years and continue to do so as we grapple with what it means to work and live in a post-digital, post-covid, world. We engage a…

Since invasion the trajectory of colonial education in Australia has been linear; most students are expected to complete primary and secondary education, and, if accepted, seamlessly transition to university by 18 years of age. The reality is that many students do not experience continuity in their education, let alone reach university, and this…

This article provides a reflexive account of the authors' experiences of the ethical challenges in conducting a higher degree by research (HDR) supervision project prompted by the ethics review process in a major Australian university. The authors also raise epistemological questions about the specific focus of the study, given the interrelations…

This paper reflects on the recounts of a group of 'old boys' about their transition from elite schools to university. Analysis of semi-structured interview data reveals that this transition was not always straightforward. Although educational background has traditionally determined access to, and progress through, university, this paper details…

This study sets out to argue for the interplay between structure and agency to create a deeper understanding of careers. Using Bourdieu's Theory of Practice as an integrative framework for career theory, this study sets out to answer two questions: (1) does the concept of a Holistic Career Framework add value to the career debate by placing…

The shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a learning experience for educators. While online learning is not new, the sudden loss of familiar cues has highlighted challenges for learners and teachers. This paper focuses on the significance of language in virtual classrooms in an Australian university in the narrative…

In this paper four pre-service teachers share narrative responses to the phenomenon of studying Education degrees at Australian universities during periods of lockdown following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The narratives serve to capture a variety of experiences and emotions of pre-service teachers, with two narratives reflecting the…

The working lives and identities of teacher educators remain an under-researched aspect of teacher education. This paper reports on a collaborative narrative inquiry by three early career teacher educators as they made the transition from classroom practice in schools, to teacher education in a university setting. The authors confronted technical…

Within the neoliberal university, scholarship, education, students, academic staff, and practices are subordinated to managerial imperatives. University educators are denigrated and displaced by colonising neoliberal practices that systemically invalidate and invisibilise academic work. The present article provides an example of this by critically…

Despite limited opportunities for tenured academic positions, the number of PhD graduates in Social Sciences has steadily risen in countries with developed research systems. The current literature predominantly portrays PhD graduates as victims, either of the higher education system or of their own optimism in pursuing an academic career. This…

This research investigates the value of teaching philosophies (TP) for today's academics and their institutions. It offers a new framework to enhance academic development, personal resilience, and institutional capacity building. Since the 1990s, TPs have been formalised as personally constructed and reflectively written statements of educational…

This paper investigates the preparation of Australian undergraduate university arts students for a life challenging arts-teaching and creative experience in Timor-Leste. It explores university teaching practice and how we may achieve better student experiences in preparation for their futures as teaching artists. This narrative inquiry research…

This article reports on a two-year ethnographic research study that critically examined the lived multilingual and multicultural experiences of two international students in search of heightened intercultural awareness and enhanced levels of intercultural competence during the pandemic. Drawing on a constructivist view of intercultural competence,…

This study uses autoethnography to examine the development of and changes in my professional identity through my study and work experiences since I came to Australia from Japan. I am currently an academic teaching Japanese language and research in the field of applied linguistics in an Australian university. I wrote a self-narrative about my…