Catalysed by conversations amongst a group of colleagues, this article is an initial exploration of what happens to women academics aged 60+ who work in a university in Aotearoa New Zealand. This work is an example of when academic theories, in this case feminism, are called forth by real-world experiences - in this case, increasing academic job…

While the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic upon higher education institutions has been well documented, less is known about how academics themselves responded to these rapid changes. This paper analyses the experiences of teacher education academics from Australia and New Zealand (n = 13) who were interviewed during lengthy pandemic…

In this article, I rethink the key arguments of my co-authored paper "Teaching Pleasure and Danger in Sexuality Education" (Author and Co, 2013) by bringing the postmodern logic of critical sexuality education theory into conversation with the relational ontology of new materialism. I begin by rejecting the key problem presented in…

This ecofeminist-inspired research study, influenced by an ethic of care, engaged the participants in photo-elicitation and interviews. Ecofeminism originated as a theory and movement related to women and the environment (Estévez-Saá & Lorenzo-Modia, 2018), while an ethic of care stems from relational ethics that assumes human connectedness in…

This article is an experimental, philosophical exploration of what productive possibilities new materialist theory offers for reimagining sexuality education policy. It uses feminist, new materialist [Barad 2007. "Meeting the Universe Halfway. Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning." Durham: Duke University Press]…

A considerable scholarship now describes the increasing neoliberalization of universities and the accompanying impacts on academic research and researchers. However, less attention has been devoted to issues of research project leadership, especially for academics with feminist commitments. This article reports results of a qualitative study of 12…

"Washday at the Pa" ('pa' is used colloquially by Pakeha to refer to a Maori settlement) is the title of an old schoolbook, a picture reading book for younger schoolchildren, which was produced in 1964 by the state education system in Aotearoa-New Zealand in 1964, written and photographed by Ans Westra, who later became one of the most…

We offer here a metaphor of the university as an "infinite game" in which we bring to life insight, imagination, and radical inclusion; and resist the "finite games" that can lead us astray. We suggest that keeping the infinite game alive within universities is a much-needed form of academic activism. We offer four vignettes…

We examine student perceptions about feminists and feminism, and the willingness to claim a feminist identity and engage in collective activism, as stated at the beginning and end of a Women's Studies course. Course participation simultaneously fostered more positive views towards feminists and feminism and entrenched the unwillingness to claim a…

Popular culture is omnipresent in the lives of young children. The mass media, movies, television, and product advertising all carry messages about acceptability and desirability, deeply entangled with traditional stereotypes about gender, sex-roles, and sexuality. The intersection of discourses of media, gender, and performativity and their…

There is little research on care in higher education, and yet for many of those who teach in higher education institutions, care is an important part of their work. Care in the compulsory education sector has traditionally been linked to the feminine, and this paper considers whether this is also the case in higher education. It investigates how…

This specially themed ""Getting of Wisdom," Learning in Later Life" Edition of the "Australian Journal of Adult Learning" ("AJAL") is not so much concerned with the issue of ageing itself, but more about quality of life regardless of age. It is about taking, but also giving back as best as possible at any…

This special issue focuses on histories, pedagogies, policies, philosophies and alternative perspectives in early childhood education. "Te Whariki" is heralded as the first bicultural curriculum not only in New Zealand, but in the world. Its importance is reflected in national and international research and early childhood discourses.…

In a discussion of Deleuze's theorization of concepts, Todd May asks "what can a concept do with that which cannot be identified?" Or to put it another way, May writes--"A concept is a way of addressing the difference that lies beneath the identities we experience." This is not to say that identities, concepts, and experiences…

This article presents some of the findings of a three-year project researching the impact of changes made to teaching and learning in a first-year sociology paper for primary and early childhood education (ece) student teachers. The context of the research is an undergraduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme situated in the School of…