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Many social enterprises aim to transition disadvantaged people into mainstream employment; they are engaged in commercial activity underpinned by a social mission. They provide training in life and work skills to develop capability, defined as ability to achieve. They are spaces apparently available not only to develop socially and economically useful capability, but also to promote social inclusion and well-being. This article develops understanding of how social enterprises perform their dual role by drawing on two theoretical frameworks. Situated learning theory is used to explore the work-based learning aspect of social enterprises, whereas spaces of well-being theory is used to explore the social aspect of their missions, where capability is one aspect of well-being. Qualitative data of participants' experiences in two Australian social enterprises are used to develop a model which depicts capability development through situated learning in multiple communities of practices within a space of well-being created by the social enterprise. Opportunities provided by communities of practice and features of spaces of well-being can facilitate participants' capability realisation and transfer.

This study explored academics' and institutional leaders' perception of the empowerment of various actors in Ethiopian higher education institutions. Little is known about university autonomy in Ethiopian higher education in the context of the Bologna Process. Three public universities were selected from the 31 public universities using a stratified sampling technique. A mixed method exploratory research design was employed. The study used descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (ANOVA and Tukey's posthoc test) for the quantitative data analysis while thematic analysis was used to identify the emerging themes and meanings within qualitative data. The findings of this study showed that the Ethiopian public universities are hierarchal (top-down) in terms of autonomy as power is highly centralized, and the autonomy of the academic units is constrained. Both academics and institutional leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the current situation. They noted the need for more autonomy for the University, which they expected would subsequently lead to them having greater academic freedom. From the findings of the study, there is a critical need for a flexible and responsive system of governance, where academics and institutional leaders are empowered to execute their core activities. University autonomy should be supported by more collegial and less hierarchical systems of governance. The study suggests shared governance or consultative governance for mutual accommodation if Ethiopian universities are to maintain their academic freedom and institutional autonomy and optimize their contribution to national development.

The language of "impact" has been foregrounded in the recent lexicon of Australian initial teacher education (ITE). How teacher education programmes and supervising teachers identify and assess the impact of pre-service teachers' work with learners across a professional placement is a pressing issue for ITE providers. This paper reports on qualitative analysis of the language of supervising teachers' summative assessments of pre-service teachers' final-year professional experience placements in relation to impact. Analysis of written comments that addressed the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Graduate Standards revealed that the language of impact is still emerging within the discourse of supervising teachers. This has professional learning implications for all ITE stakeholders.

This study explored the voice of students in the Ethiopian higher education context. Stratified sampling and an exploratory research design were employed to understand students' voices. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes and meanings. The strength of students' voices was contrasted with other countries that have implemented the Bologna Process. In Ethiopian higher education, students' voices get considerable attention. Students are aware of their rights in terms of influencing decision-making processes. The study recommends inclusive and shared forums where the university, academic units, their staff, and students are expected to participate in participatory governance systems in pursuit of their respective missions within the university. The findings have implications for other countries. To fully implement the intention of the Bologna Process, student participation in university governance should be encouraged, but not at the expense of the participation of academic staff.

The benefits of positive education initiatives are well understood in educational settings but less is known about how positive education can support remote communities to embrace change and become more resilient. This paper draws on the findings from an evaluative study of the Foundations to Flourish (F2F), a positive education programme, delivered on the remote setting of King Island, a sparsely populated Island in Bass Strait off Tasmania's north west coast. In interpreting its findings, the study draws on community resilience models to understand the influence of the F2F programme on adaptive capacity, self-organisation and connectivity during a period of social and economic change. The paper concludes that positive education initiatives such as F2F play an important role in enhancing social connectedness and providing resources known to enhance resilience: positivity, learning experiences, respectful local leadership, effective service infrastructure and interactions that cut across normal close social circles creating a shared sense of purpose or direction.

The research, focused on parents with children in years 5-10 in three low-socioeconomic rural and regional communities, drew on an understanding of educational aspiration as culturally and socio-spatially embedded to develop practical strategies for parents to engage with their children as they made education and career pathways choices. It draws from principles of community- based participatory research to address the gap between parental aspirations for their children and parental knowledge by linking parents to expert knowledge and quality resources, building their confidence to discuss post-year 10 options and support their children's choices. This paper reports results from the evaluation of a successful 'initiative' to support parents and families in rural/regional Tasmania to access information about their children's options for post school education and contribute to their aspirations for further study. This research highlights the challenges in engaging parents in disadvantaged communities around education. Establishing trust takes time. Parents are well placed to deliver parent information programs that engage other parents in their children's education and career journeys. Programs must understand the community they are operating in and walk alongside its parents to design programs. Those aiming to increase parents' ability to support children's education should deliver targeted programs in community settings that respond to the context and needs of that community. Facilitators should act as bridges between community, industry, schools and parents to address the gap between parental aspirations and parental knowledge.

Purpose: To identify and understand factors influencing farmers' decisions to engage with extension activities. To understand farmer segments and how these factors vary in order to develop recommendations for future extension delivery. Methodology: Qualitative data was obtained through semi-structured interviews with 30 Tasmanian dairy farmers. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) framework was used to identify and explore factors influencing farmer engagement intentions and behaviour. Findings: There was a negative effect of social influence on experienced farmers' intention to re-engage with extension, due to the belief extension activities were targeted to less experienced, younger farmers. Perceived control factors limiting engagement included lack of confidence about existing knowledge, resulting in farmers perceiving extension activities as confronting.Practical implications: Key factors influencing intention to engage and continued engagement with extension were identified. These findings will inform future design and targeting of extension activities to improve initial and continued engagement. Subsequent recommendations are presented. Theoretical implications: Previous TPB studies on adoption as an outcome of extension have typically focused on quantifying adoption predictions, rather than exploring how social factors interact and influence intentions and behaviours. This paper demonstrates how the TPB can be qualitatively applied to better understand farmer decision making, in this instance with respect to their initial and continued engagement with extension. Originality/value: This paper demonstrates how the TPB can provide an evidence-based framework to qualitatively explore farmer intentions and behaviour. This approach has led to new insights into farmer decision making that will inform improvements in future extension development.

This paper reviews the literature on best practices to engage parents in order to equip them to support their children's higher education aspirations. Parents from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, in common with other parents, report that they want "the best" for their children's future. Getting a good education is a part of the aspiration of most parents, regardless of SES. However, unlike parents from mid and high SES backgrounds who usually have "educational cultural capital" to support their children's educational aspiration, parents from low SES backgrounds often are unable to confidently access information they need about possible education pathways within and beyond school. Additionally, they need to know where to find out about financial and other support resources available to facilitate access to higher education. Higher education participation by students from non-traditional backgrounds could be improved by outreach that promotes parents' social capital and "educational cultural" capital. This project has built upon University of Tasmania and University of Wollongong's combined experience, international literature and workshops with parent engagement practitioners to identify features of parent engagement programmes and resources that are efficient and effective in engaging parents from low SES backgrounds to support their children's higher education aspirations. From this, the higher education Design and Evaluation Matrix for Outreach was modified to develop a tool to plan, design, modify and evaluate parent engagement programmes.

Widening higher education participation can deliver benefits to individuals, societies and economies but rural populations experience factors which inhibit their aspiration for and participation in higher education. When designing outreach programs, universities need to consider this landscape of factors, many of which are socio-cultural. This article reports evaluation results from a project that trialled three university outreach programs designed to align with rural contexts with the aim of identifying aspects which were effective in addressing factors of rurality, revealing obscured future options and showing higher education pathways as attainable. Universities can work effectively with rural communities to inform people's higher education aspirations through 'disruptions', interventions that inform educational aspiration, and 'bridges' which support higher education participation through facilitating access to information, physical, financial, academic and social resources. A model including both 'disruptions' and 'bridges', jointly resourced and drawing on social capital resources of communities and higher education institutions is presented.

Effective professional learning communities are crucial for supporting and developing the practice and identity formation of beginning teachers. Professional networks facilitate collegial learning and continuous improvement of professional practice of all teachers, and are especially important for out of field teachers. Rural practice is characterised by professional isolation, the need to be a 'specialist generalist' and broad work and social networks that rarely include others working in a closely related professional specialisation. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in rural schools is frequently taught by beginning or out of field teachers. Many rural schools therefore lack depth and breadth in their school-based professional learning network to meet STEM teachers' needs. This paper reports findings from a research project, based upon a pragmatic qualitative design, in which teachers developed a framework to assist beginning and out of field, rural STEM teachers identify appropriate resources for their context. A qualitative evaluation of its trial suggests professional learning networks among schools can enhance the framework's effectiveness.

This paper reports results of a review of Ethiopian universities' Senate governance documents: Senate legislation of public universities and the Ethiopian Higher Education Proclamation of 2009, in light of the Bologna Process. The result revealed that Ethiopian public universities were categorised as hierarchal (top-down) in terms of Senate legislation provision as legal documents vested power in University Presidents. In contrast, they were categorised as having collegial decision-making approaches because the participation of representatives of academic staff and students have been mandated as members of Academic Senate decision-making. This review finds there is a tension in the Senate legal documents between the decision-making power of university top management and the mandated representatives in Senates. Understanding the concept of governance and governmentality could assist to revise the Senate documents by exploring the techniques that universities employ to govern their affairs, which is the next emphasis of this paper.

The paper explores the processes by which two Australian rural communities established Community Learning Plans (CLPs). It acknowledges the role of CLPs as contributors to social and economic change through influencing employment rates, income equity, social cohesion and reduction in poverty. In addressing the research question: What factors contribute to the effective development and implementation of a CLP in a small rural community? The paper reveals the importance of evidence and clarity of vision such as improved social and economic outcomes as core rationales for triggering the development of CLPs. The analysis of leadership and social capital resources drawn upon from trigger for a CLP through initiation, development and reflection to sustainable embedding in community, reveals the interplay between formal community leadership structures such as Council, community members, education, business, training and social services, and external actors as a predicator of communities' ability to enact CLPs. Maturity of social capital resources and leadership processes and resources influence the development and implementation of plans in alignment with community needs and aspirations. The paper advocates for reward and recognition frameworks to help connect, engage and sustain stakeholder groups into community learning initiatives through providing relevance to their business or activity.