Kathleen Smithers
Biographic Data
| ID | 762312 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kathleen Smithers |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kathleen |
| FAMILY NAME | Smithers |
| SIGNATURE | SMITHERS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Charles Sturt University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7301-5658 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
What makes a sustainable career in Australian universities: Advice for early career academics
Previous research on early career academics (ECAs) has explored time, networking and research development, but career sustainability has received less attention. This study used a qualitative survey method to examine what it means to thrive in the first 5 years of an academic career. The survey was open to all Australian university academics and 57 respondents represented diverse disciplines, localities and experience levels. This paper focuses o…
The skills, knowledge, and attributes of the supervising teacher in initial teacher education: A framework for research and professional development
School placements are an integral component of a pre-service teacher’s experience, and the supervising teacher is potentially the first point of crossing from theory to practice. These important partners help pre-service teachers to navigate between their university study and career context. This paper presents a scoping review that reports on skills, knowledge, and attributes of supervising teachers. The review also outlines what is currently kn…
The role of service-learning in the International Baccalaureate: A scoping review, 2014–2024
The International Baccalaureate's (IB) mission centres on intercultural understanding and respect that fosters global citizenship. One strategy used to enact this mission across the IB programmes is service-learning, from Action in the Primary Years Programme to Service as Action in the Middle Years Programme to Creativity, Activity and Service in the Diploma and Career-related Programmes. After setting out to understand how philosophy shapes and…
Perspective of Supervising Teachers and Tertiary Supervisors on Professional Learning for Professional Experience
To examine current support mechanisms for supervising teachers and tertiary supervisors in professional experience placements, we investigated the perceived effectiveness of and explored strategies for enhancing university–school collaboration through the lens of situated learning theory, operationalized via a Communities of Practice framework. Data were collected from 282 interview participants across multiple institutions. Findings reveal oppor…
Working at the level above: University promotion policies as a tool for wage theft and underpayment
Higher education has a strong relationship with wage theft, which has been examined throughout years of research, reports, and government enquiries. This paper examines the practices of wage theft that often surround academic promotions, and specifically, the common requirement that someone must already be working at the level for which they are hoping to be promoted. The work uses Australia’s higher education sector as an example, as Australia’s…
What is known about simulation technologies and their application to Initial Teacher Education: A scoping review
Simulation technologies are emerging as a possible solution to prepare Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students for the classroom and reduce undue pressure on supervising teachers. This paper presents a scoping review that reports on what is currently known regarding simulated technologies and their application to ITE programs. The review scoped the literature published between January 2013 and March 2023, with 16 studies identified for inclusion…
Decasualisation and the universities accord: An examination of university approaches
Just because you are staying does not mean you are 'stuck: Conceptualisations of Academic Mobility for Precarious Academics
Discourses of the ‘wandering scholar’ privilege the notion of academic mobility, with career benefits for those who are mobile. Universities employ ever-increasing numbers of people on short term contracts, and it is important to consider how precarity influences an individual’s im/mobility. Drawing on interviews with precariously employed academics, we highlight how the concept of mobility privileges those without the ‘stickiness’ of affective t…
The rise of the pro-sessional: Precarious Employees Taking on Complex and Faculty-Critical Roles
Researchers have noted for several years that universities are increasingly relying on precariously employed academics rather than employing continuing or permanent staff members, and consequently, the length of time a new academic can expect to be sessionally employed is growing. However, within this epidemic of universities relying on precariously employed staff, these unsecurely employed academics are no longer taking on minor roles or filling…
Fieldwork from A–Z? Exploring shifting identities in doctoral research in Australia and Zimbabwe
While research into PhD programs and doctoral students’ experiences has increased in recent years, fieldwork is overlooked as a source of learning and support. In education, the focus of this paper, fieldwork remains laced with notions of the anthropologist gathering data in a place that is not their own, which narrowly construct the role of the novice and their expectations around ‘doing’ research. To demonstrate the relevance of these issues an…
School tours and philanthropy in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, partnerships with tourism companies enable schools to raise funds for infrastructure in exchange for allowing tourists to enter their school. This paper reports on one school using semi-structured interviews with teachers, school staff and tourism personnel. To shed light on the school tour, it explores three configurations of tours and funding. This paper argues that little is known about this type of tourism and by exploring three …
Using Founder’s syndrome to explore leadership in one Zimbabwean school funded by tourism
In Zimbabwe, a range of actors are involved in education due to ongoing challenges of resourcing and funding schools. There are complex socio-political arrangements that result from private–public partnerships in the education system. Some schools are created and funded by individuals, and little is known about the tensions these funding structures create for school leaders and teachers. This qualitative study examined one school in Matabeleland …
Heterotopia and the ‘image of Africa’: School tours and philanthropy in a Zimbabwean school
Schools in southern Africa use tourism partnerships as a source for establishing philanthropic funding and philanthropic networks. In these partnerships, there is often an exchange of funds for use of the school for tourism purposes. Little is known about the influence of tourism on schools. Drawing on interviews with teachers and tourism personnel in one school that is also a tourism destination, this paper uses the concept of heterotopia to exp…
What is your name, where do you come from, what is your grade?’ Using art-based interviews to highlight the experience of children hosting school tours in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe
The incursion of tourism into schools is an increasing phenomenon, whether through volunteer tourism, developmentourism or philanthropic tourism. Tourism studies have largely ignored children as stakeholders in tourism destinations. In Zimbabwe, economic turbulence has led to a broken education system that relies on external donors to finance schools. As part of this financing, some schools welcome tourists in exchange for funds, sponsorship or i…
Working every weekend: The paradox of time for insecurely employed academics
Wage theft claims against Australian universities have raised awareness of the substantial proportion of academics who are precariously employed and underpaid. The COVID-19 global pandemic has further highlighted the extent of precarity for many working in higher education. It is in this context that we situate this paper, reflecting on how time is experienced for academics in a period of growing uncertainty, and what this means for individuals w…
Disrupting dominant discourses of the Other: Examining Experiences of Contract Researchers in the Academy
Internationally, changes to university funding arrangements have put pressure on the workloads of tenured academic staff and increased the reliance on casual academics to backfill teaching and research positions. Limited research has focused on the effects of casualisation on research academics and the institutions in which they work. This paper draws on interviews with 26 contract researchers, who have worked in the US, UK, and Australia. Drawin…
Back to zero? Precarious employment in academia amongst ‘older’ early career researchers, a life-course approach
Despite the diversity of entry points into academia, little research exists examining the experiences and impact of precarious employment at different life stages. Drawing on interviews with 19 academics employed casually or on fixed-term contracts in Australian universities, this paper illustrates how precarious employment is experienced at different life and career stages. Using Foucauldian understandings of power and discourse alongside a life…
Ethical responsibilities of tenured academics supervising non-tenured researchers in times of neoliberalism and precarity
Neoliberal reform of the university sector has resulted in increasing numbers of academics employed on casual or fixed-term contracts. While there is an emergent body of literature on issues of precarity in the academy, relatively little attention has been paid to the roles and responsibilities of those tenured academics who employ and manage non-tenured researchers. The work involved in hiring and managing a contract researcher is rarely acknowl…
Working every weekend: The paradox of time for insecurely employed academics
Wage theft claims against Australian universities have raised awareness of the substantial proportion of academics who are precariously employed and underpaid. The COVID-19 global pandemic has further highlighted the extent of precarity for many working in higher education. It is in this context that we situate this paper, reflecting on how time is experienced for academics in a period of growing uncertainty, and what this means for individuals w…
Ethical responsibilities of tenured academics supervising non-tenured researchers in times of neoliberalism and precarity
Neoliberal reform of the university sector has resulted in increasing numbers of academics employed on casual or fixed-term contracts. While there is an emergent body of literature on issues of precarity in the academy, relatively little attention has been paid to the roles and responsibilities of those tenured academics who employ and manage non-tenured researchers. The work involved in hiring and managing a contract researcher is rarely acknowl…
Back to zero? Precarious employment in academia amongst ‘older’ early career researchers, a life-course approach
Despite the diversity of entry points into academia, little research exists examining the experiences and impact of precarious employment at different life stages. Drawing on interviews with 19 academics employed casually or on fixed-term contracts in Australian universities, this paper illustrates how precarious employment is experienced at different life and career stages. Using Foucauldian understandings of power and discourse alongside a life…
What is your name, where do you come from, what is your grade?’ Using art-based interviews to highlight the experience of children hosting school tours in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe
The incursion of tourism into schools is an increasing phenomenon, whether through volunteer tourism, developmentourism or philanthropic tourism. Tourism studies have largely ignored children as stakeholders in tourism destinations. In Zimbabwe, economic turbulence has led to a broken education system that relies on external donors to finance schools. As part of this financing, some schools welcome tourists in exchange for funds, sponsorship or i…
Disrupting dominant discourses of the Other: Examining Experiences of Contract Researchers in the Academy
Internationally, changes to university funding arrangements have put pressure on the workloads of tenured academic staff and increased the reliance on casual academics to backfill teaching and research positions. Limited research has focused on the effects of casualisation on research academics and the institutions in which they work. This paper draws on interviews with 26 contract researchers, who have worked in the US, UK, and Australia. Drawin…
Just because you are staying does not mean you are 'stuck: Conceptualisations of Academic Mobility for Precarious Academics
Discourses of the ‘wandering scholar’ privilege the notion of academic mobility, with career benefits for those who are mobile. Universities employ ever-increasing numbers of people on short term contracts, and it is important to consider how precarity influences an individual’s im/mobility. Drawing on interviews with precariously employed academics, we highlight how the concept of mobility privileges those without the ‘stickiness’ of affective t…
The rise of the pro-sessional: Precarious Employees Taking on Complex and Faculty-Critical Roles
Researchers have noted for several years that universities are increasingly relying on precariously employed academics rather than employing continuing or permanent staff members, and consequently, the length of time a new academic can expect to be sessionally employed is growing. However, within this epidemic of universities relying on precariously employed staff, these unsecurely employed academics are no longer taking on minor roles or filling…
Heterotopia and the ‘image of Africa’: School tours and philanthropy in a Zimbabwean school
Schools in southern Africa use tourism partnerships as a source for establishing philanthropic funding and philanthropic networks. In these partnerships, there is often an exchange of funds for use of the school for tourism purposes. Little is known about the influence of tourism on schools. Drawing on interviews with teachers and tourism personnel in one school that is also a tourism destination, this paper uses the concept of heterotopia to exp…
Ethical responsibilities of tenured academics supervising non-tenured researchers in times of neoliberalism and precarity
Neoliberal reform of the university sector has resulted in increasing numbers of academics employed on casual or fixed-term contracts. While there is an emergent body of literature on issues of precarity in the academy, relatively little attention has been paid to the roles and responsibilities of those tenured academics who employ and manage non-tenured researchers. The work involved in hiring and managing a contract researcher is rarely acknowl…
Back to zero? Precarious employment in academia amongst ‘older’ early career researchers, a life-course approach
Despite the diversity of entry points into academia, little research exists examining the experiences and impact of precarious employment at different life stages. Drawing on interviews with 19 academics employed casually or on fixed-term contracts in Australian universities, this paper illustrates how precarious employment is experienced at different life and career stages. Using Foucauldian understandings of power and discourse alongside a life…
Heterotopia and the ‘image of Africa’: School tours and philanthropy in a Zimbabwean school
Schools in southern Africa use tourism partnerships as a source for establishing philanthropic funding and philanthropic networks. In these partnerships, there is often an exchange of funds for use of the school for tourism purposes. Little is known about the influence of tourism on schools. Drawing on interviews with teachers and tourism personnel in one school that is also a tourism destination, this paper uses the concept of heterotopia to exp…
What is your name, where do you come from, what is your grade?’ Using art-based interviews to highlight the experience of children hosting school tours in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe
The incursion of tourism into schools is an increasing phenomenon, whether through volunteer tourism, developmentourism or philanthropic tourism. Tourism studies have largely ignored children as stakeholders in tourism destinations. In Zimbabwe, economic turbulence has led to a broken education system that relies on external donors to finance schools. As part of this financing, some schools welcome tourists in exchange for funds, sponsorship or i…
Working every weekend: The paradox of time for insecurely employed academics
Wage theft claims against Australian universities have raised awareness of the substantial proportion of academics who are precariously employed and underpaid. The COVID-19 global pandemic has further highlighted the extent of precarity for many working in higher education. It is in this context that we situate this paper, reflecting on how time is experienced for academics in a period of growing uncertainty, and what this means for individuals w…
Disrupting dominant discourses of the Other: Examining Experiences of Contract Researchers in the Academy
Internationally, changes to university funding arrangements have put pressure on the workloads of tenured academic staff and increased the reliance on casual academics to backfill teaching and research positions. Limited research has focused on the effects of casualisation on research academics and the institutions in which they work. This paper draws on interviews with 26 contract researchers, who have worked in the US, UK, and Australia. Drawin…
Fieldwork from A–Z? Exploring shifting identities in doctoral research in Australia and Zimbabwe
While research into PhD programs and doctoral students’ experiences has increased in recent years, fieldwork is overlooked as a source of learning and support. In education, the focus of this paper, fieldwork remains laced with notions of the anthropologist gathering data in a place that is not their own, which narrowly construct the role of the novice and their expectations around ‘doing’ research. To demonstrate the relevance of these issues an…
School tours and philanthropy in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, partnerships with tourism companies enable schools to raise funds for infrastructure in exchange for allowing tourists to enter their school. This paper reports on one school using semi-structured interviews with teachers, school staff and tourism personnel. To shed light on the school tour, it explores three configurations of tours and funding. This paper argues that little is known about this type of tourism and by exploring three …
Using Founder’s syndrome to explore leadership in one Zimbabwean school funded by tourism
In Zimbabwe, a range of actors are involved in education due to ongoing challenges of resourcing and funding schools. There are complex socio-political arrangements that result from private–public partnerships in the education system. Some schools are created and funded by individuals, and little is known about the tensions these funding structures create for school leaders and teachers. This qualitative study examined one school in Matabeleland …
The role of service-learning in the International Baccalaureate: A scoping review, 2014–2024
The International Baccalaureate's (IB) mission centres on intercultural understanding and respect that fosters global citizenship. One strategy used to enact this mission across the IB programmes is service-learning, from Action in the Primary Years Programme to Service as Action in the Middle Years Programme to Creativity, Activity and Service in the Diploma and Career-related Programmes. After setting out to understand how philosophy shapes and…
Perspective of Supervising Teachers and Tertiary Supervisors on Professional Learning for Professional Experience
To examine current support mechanisms for supervising teachers and tertiary supervisors in professional experience placements, we investigated the perceived effectiveness of and explored strategies for enhancing university–school collaboration through the lens of situated learning theory, operationalized via a Communities of Practice framework. Data were collected from 282 interview participants across multiple institutions. Findings reveal oppor…
Working at the level above: University promotion policies as a tool for wage theft and underpayment
Higher education has a strong relationship with wage theft, which has been examined throughout years of research, reports, and government enquiries. This paper examines the practices of wage theft that often surround academic promotions, and specifically, the common requirement that someone must already be working at the level for which they are hoping to be promoted. The work uses Australia’s higher education sector as an example, as Australia’s…
What is known about simulation technologies and their application to Initial Teacher Education: A scoping review
Simulation technologies are emerging as a possible solution to prepare Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students for the classroom and reduce undue pressure on supervising teachers. This paper presents a scoping review that reports on what is currently known regarding simulated technologies and their application to ITE programs. The review scoped the literature published between January 2013 and March 2023, with 16 studies identified for inclusion…
Decasualisation and the universities accord: An examination of university approaches
Just because you are staying does not mean you are 'stuck: Conceptualisations of Academic Mobility for Precarious Academics
Discourses of the ‘wandering scholar’ privilege the notion of academic mobility, with career benefits for those who are mobile. Universities employ ever-increasing numbers of people on short term contracts, and it is important to consider how precarity influences an individual’s im/mobility. Drawing on interviews with precariously employed academics, we highlight how the concept of mobility privileges those without the ‘stickiness’ of affective t…
The rise of the pro-sessional: Precarious Employees Taking on Complex and Faculty-Critical Roles
Researchers have noted for several years that universities are increasingly relying on precariously employed academics rather than employing continuing or permanent staff members, and consequently, the length of time a new academic can expect to be sessionally employed is growing. However, within this epidemic of universities relying on precariously employed staff, these unsecurely employed academics are no longer taking on minor roles or filling…
What makes a sustainable career in Australian universities: Advice for early career academics
Previous research on early career academics (ECAs) has explored time, networking and research development, but career sustainability has received less attention. This study used a qualitative survey method to examine what it means to thrive in the first 5 years of an academic career. The survey was open to all Australian university academics and 57 respondents represented diverse disciplines, localities and experience levels. This paper focuses o…
The skills, knowledge, and attributes of the supervising teacher in initial teacher education: A framework for research and professional development
School placements are an integral component of a pre-service teacher’s experience, and the supervising teacher is potentially the first point of crossing from theory to practice. These important partners help pre-service teachers to navigate between their university study and career context. This paper presents a scoping review that reports on skills, knowledge, and attributes of supervising teachers. The review also outlines what is currently kn…
Sociology (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Law (7 works) · Public relations (7 works) · Pedagogy (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Social science (6 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (4 works) · Higher education (4 works)