The English Australia conference closed a few days ago. But I’ve stayed on in Sydney for some meetings, site visitations and to see family and friends. One meeting, in particular, I have been really looking forward to was with World Bicycle Relief’s Development Director Australia, Dagmar Geiger.
I was very excited to hear last year in May 2017, that WBR was opening a Sydney office.
Regular readers of this blog would be familiar with other posts I’ve uploaded about WBR’s bicycles-for-education programs – and this meeting was a great opportunity to chat with Dagmar in more detail.
World Bicycle Relief Australia – Meeting Dagmar Geiger
We met in a funky Newtown cafe and hit it off immediately.
Dagmar’s enthusiasm and passion for her work are obvious.
She is effervescent and thoughtful – and has a seemingly limitless amount of energy. Dagmar was also very interested in my blog, projects and PhD research and offered to help out where possible – which was so lovely!
We discussed WBR programs and how they are making positive changes in education, healthcare and income-generation opportunities. We also chatted about some events and fundraising efforts she has done.
It was especially interesting to hear about the stakeholder trip she took when she first started. On this trip to Africa, she got to experience first-hand the places, people and projects she now advocates.
It was lovely to be able to chat with a like-minded person who loves bikes and community building as much as I do.
It was a delight to meet Dagmar and hear what WBR has been working on. We need more people like Dagmar sharing stories of bicycles and the positive community impacts they make.
Source: Port Macquarie News
Spreading the word
Since starting her role, Dagmar has been working hard to raise the profile and networks for WBR in Australia and has had a number of high-profile successes including:
In February, retired pro-cyclist Carlee Taylor XXI Commonwealth Games and Junior World Champion pro cyclist Alex Manly, and Olympian BMX pro rider Lauren Reynolds were announced as the first Australian Pro Althele WBR ambassadors.
I am very excited about the possibility of Dagmar visiting Brisbane.
As cyclists and riders, we inherently know how important, useful and significant bikes are. It is also humbling to hear about different experiences and contexts where bikes are helping individuals and communities conquer the challenge of poverty and distance to achieve independence and increase livelihoods.
World Bicycle Relief
World Bicycle Relief aims to mobilize people through the Power of Bicycles. They envision a world where distance is no longer a barrier to necessary services like education, healthcare and economic opportunity and are working towards increasing access and equity.
Since 2005, World Bicycle Relief has delivered over 400,000 bicycles and trained over 1, 900 bicycle mechanics and has changed over 1.7 million lives.
Recently, I’ve been reading NIOSH’s No-Nose Bicycle Saddle research, which used US bicycle police officers who are ‘occupational bicyclists’ as participants into no-nose bike seat design.
Image: Bisaddle
No-Nose Bicycle Saddle Research
NIOSH explains the research as such: Over the last several years, NIOSH researchers have investigated the potential health effects of prolonged bicycling in police bicycle patrol units, including the possibility that some bicycle saddles exert excessive pressure on the urogenital area of cyclists, restricting blood flow to the genitals, resulting in adverse effects on sexual function.
NIOSH worked with several police departments with bicycle patrols to conduct reproductive health research. In these studies NIOSH did more than assess a problem; it also tested a solution and published recommendations.
Several bicycle saddle manufacturers have developed saddles without protruding noses. NIOSH has investigated whether these saddles, which remove the pressure from the urogenital area, will alleviate any potential health problems.
Here’s a 2-minute video explaining the key research focus.
Findings and recommendations
The study found that: workers who ride a bicycle as part of their job may be at risk for genital numbness or more serious sexual and/or reproductive health problems from pressure in the groin (perineum) from the traditional bicycle saddle.
NIOSH has conducted studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness of no-nose bicycle saddles in reducing pressure in the groin and improving the sexual health of male bicycle patrol police officers.
While most workers in jobs that involve bicycling are men, recent evidence suggests that no-nose bicycle saddles may also benefit women.
The research was also shared with the participant police departments. Below are a few articles from the International Police Mountain Bike Association Newsletter (IPMBA) Winter 2007, Spring 2009 & Spring 2011) editions of the San Antonio, Chicago and Seattle divisions that share participant’s experiences of being involved in the research project.
Earlier this year at the EA (QLD) PD Fest, our Bicycles Create Change session won the QLD Bright Ideas Award.
So, thanks to Pearson and the EA Queensland Branch, I’m in Sydney representing our BCC internship team session at the conference.
I am very honoured and very excited!
EAC 2018 Day 2 Program
Session Presentation:
From EAS to Collaborative Internship:
Lessons and insights where Bicycles Create Change
Many international students undertake English and Academic Skills (EAS) and DEP bridging classes to get into university with the ultimate aim of getting a job in their field of study.
There is a perception that English classrooms are for learning English, University tutorials are for discipline-specific content, and the workplace is for vocational skills. Internships are one-way students can become more work-ready. However, a number of studies confirm that current tertiary students lack generic employability skills (ACNielsen Research Services 2000; ACCI/BCA 2002), an issue that is even more challenging for international students.
I was curious to explore what a career development program that specifically catered to the academic, vocational and personal needs of the international students in my DEP classes might look like.
This presentation is a brief overview of the origins, activities and outcomes of this exploration: The Bicycles Create Change.com 2016 Summer Internship Program.
Program background
This Internship was a volunteer, eight-week, collaborative internship that ran from January 4th to February 27th, 2016. It required participants to fulfil 80-110 working hours.
The blog Bicycles Create Change.com (which has over 110,000 readers locally and internationally) served as the professional platform for work activities as it was a low-cost, high-exposure, authentic, skills-integrated outlet to showcase work.
The program was semi-structured with space to modify and self-initiative content. Hours were achieved individually, in pairs and as a team. The team met for one full day each week to review tasks, run workshops, refine skills and to discuss progress.
Theoretical underpinnings
This program integrated key theories including, scaffolding new skills (Vygotsky 1987), the need for authentic vocational guidance, participation and engagement (Billet, 2002), promoting creative thinking and expression (Judkins, 2015) and building on foundational DEP EAS skills and competencies (GELI, n.d.).
Origins and participants
The four volunteer participants varied in ages, backgrounds and degree levels and disciplines. The 4 volunteers for this program were; Sachie (female, 23, Japanese, Philosophy undergrad), Mauricio (male, 33, Columbian, IT PG), Juliet (female, 37, Indian, Special Education PG) and Gabriel (male, 42, Cameroonian, Social Work PG).
All participants had just graduated from the Griffith English Language Institute (GELI) 10-week DEP program in December.
Semester 1 2016 did not commence until Feb 28th. This left a gap of 9 weeks before university started, which is when the internship was undertaken.
Key considerations
There were are a number of key considerations built into this program:
Strengthening self-confidence and independent learning
Experience with unique, transferable and challenging skills
Fostering creativity and valuing artistic expression
Emphasis on developing reflection, collaboration and planning skills
Integrating EAS, vocation and personal skills to a range of contexts
Promoting initiative and the ability to generate own opportunities
Increasing employability, CV and work-ready skills
Authentic interactions and connection with locals/community
Create a comprehensive evidence portfolio of work, skills and achievements
To have fun applying skills in a challenging and productive way
Program design
The focus was to build on current competencies, develop new skills, build a professional portfolio of experience (and evidence), and for participants to become more confident in initiating their own opportunities and outputs.
This program minimised the ‘daily’ supervision and ‘student’ mentality of traditional internships to instead put supported autonomy firmly into the hands of each participant, who ultimately self-managed their own workload.
Tailored experiences (below) provided exposure to a collection of advanced competencies that are cumulatively not commonly experienced in other internships or classes.
The program integrated three main competency streams: EAS, Professional Skills and Individual Development. The program was scaffolded, so tasks became progressively more challenging and required greater participant self-direction to complete, as seen below:
Unique features
Participants undertook a series of challenging tasks, including:
Develop and present a professional development workshop (individually and in pairs)
Undertake an individual project that resulted in an output (ie. Crowdfunding project, publication)
Self-identify an industry leader to cold call for a 20-min introductory meeting
Complete a Coursea MOOC on an area of their choosing
Research a social issue to creatively present as an individually ‘art bike’ as part of the team Public Art Bike Social Issue Presentation and Forum
Research and produce five original blog posts on how bicycles are being used to create more positive community change in their home country
Weekly meeting with an assigned independent industry expert mentor
Join an industry association and attend events
Series of community activities: vox pops; invite locals to contribute to a community storybook; solicit locals to donate bicycles; deliver their work at a local community garden to the general public as part of the Art Bike Public Forum; conduct an individual public presentation
Complete an Internship Portfolio (documentation of work and reflection journal that documents, audits and reviews tasks, opportunities and skills)
The BCC Internship Team: Public Art Bike Social Issue Presentation and Forum. Sunday 13th March 2016.
Takeaways:
There were many lessons learnt from this project and given time constraints, only a few are mentioned in the presentation. Some key takeaways were:
Provide transferable and unique opportunities to develop ‘generic employability’, critical reflection and creative problem-solving skills
Provide integrated, genuine and practical ways to apply skills
Celebrate strategies, ‘sticky points’, ‘misfires’ ‘pregnant opportunities’ and successes
Make tasks more challenging and higher profile
Participants loved having more contact with the local community
Adaptations are needed for aspects to be taken up by educational institutions
Work from the end result backwards (CV and skill development)
Have visible, productive and meaningful evidence (or body) of work
Foster ability to independently create own opportunities and networks
Honour unexpected outcomes
Change the mindset to change to experience
References:
ACCI/BCA (2002) Employability skills for the future, DEST, Canberra.
ACNielsen Research Services (2000) Employer satisfaction with graduate skills: research report, Evaluations and Investigations Programme Higher Education Division, Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA).
Billett, S. (2002). Workplace pedagogic practices: Participation and learning. Australian Vocational Education Review, 9(1), 28-38.
Griffith English Language Institute (GELI): Direct Entry Program. (n.d.) Retrieved from: https://www.griffith.edu.au/international/griffith-english-language-institute.
Judkins, R. (2015). The art of creative thinking. Hachette UK.
Lyons, M. (2006). National Prosperity, Local Choice and Civic Engagement: A New Partnership between Central and Local Government for the 21st Century. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
McLennan, B., & Keating, S. (2008, June). Work-integrated learning (WIL) in Australian universities: The challenges of mainstreaming WIL. In ALTC NAGCAS National Symposium (pp. 2-14).
Vygotsky, L. (1987). Zone of proximal development. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes, 5291, 157.
This weekend, I’m at a 2-day HDR Research Conference collaboration between the University of Queensland and Griffith University. At this conference, we are discussing how to interrogate and reconcile research paradoxes where notions of justice, integrity and impact in an increasingly complex post-truth world. I’m presenting a session (see below) as well as being a Plenary Panelist.
Reconciling research paradoxes: Justice in a post-truth world
UQ & GU Postgraduate Research Community Conference
2018 has seen the ascendance of post-truth politics also known as post-factual and post-reality. Post-truth is opposed to the formal conventions of debate, the contestation of ideas and the falsifiability of theories and statements. In a post-truth era what reigns supreme are fallacies, talking points, leaked information, and so-called fake news fueled by unfettered social and traditional media, and a highly-polarised political spectrum. What are the implications of post-truth to educational research that values social justice, ethical integrity, the search for the good of the community as well as that of the individual? How will research and its tenets of validity, reliability and trustworthiness respond to the challenges brought upon by a post-truth world?
My presentation: The good Samaritan and little white lies: False news, transparency and project challenges of researching NGOs.
Keywords: INGOs, transparency, self-reporting, M & E mechanisms
Around the world, thousands of International non-government organisations (INGOs) provide much-needed support and aid to those in need. But in the eyes of the general public, perceptions of INGOs are mixed. Some perceive INGOs to be ‘good Samaritans’, while others question project motives and management. INGOs continue to face criticism in a number of key areas: project practices, corruption, hiring policies, salaries of top executives, distribution of donated funds and lack of transparency. For researchers who work with INGOs, this adds an additional layer of complexity to the research process and research relationships.
This session will explore how factors such as unsourced media reports, reliability of M & E mechanisms, use of grey literature and the legitimacy of self-reported outcomes has equally enriched and problematized the aid and INGO research space. Using key examples and my own INGO experience, I will reflect on ethical and methodological ‘white lies’ that can arise when researching with INGOs.
This week saw a very sobering Enduro announcement.
Internationally, MTB riders have galvanised behind Enduro World Series (EWS) racer and Specialized athlete Jared Graves, who this week announced he had just found out he has a brain tumour.
This was completely unexpected for all (including Graves) as only days previously, he was racing an EWS round in Whistler.
After Graves returned home to Australia from Whistler (he’s from Toowoomba, QLD), he suffered a few seizures. After one in particular, he woke up in an ambulance and hospital tests confirmed the cause was a brain tumour.
There has been an international outpouring of support for Graves.
Loic Bruni just after finishing his UCI World Championship DH run – sticker reads #strengthforjared. @jaredgravesmtb.
Jared reported he will have surgery in the next ten days and then undergo chemotherapy.
On Instagram, Graves said, “Not sure what else to say for now, it’s all hit so fast….needless to say, I won’t be at the last 2 EWS rounds this year as this new battle begins”. He also thanked his partner Jessica for her support, as well as family, friends and his many fans and supporters.
He is a wonderful advocate for the sport and has achieved an impressive range of Enduro, MTB and BMX race results – including 2014 EWS World Champion, 4X World Champion, 3X xWorld Cup Champion, 30 x World cup and 15 x EWS podiums. 2008 Olympian (BMX) and the 2013 World Champs DH Bronze.
When I met Graves in La Thuille, I was impressed by how down-to-earth and genuine he is – and it is obvious why he is so respected and loved.
Our home, like many others this week, is thinking of Graves and his family and sending loads of extra support during this difficult time.
As always, we are wishing Jared all the best and are behind him 100% – both on and off the bike.
As Graves wisely advises: Make everyday count people!
@jaredgravesmtb. “Would rather be doing this. Make everday count people!”
I saw this book in my local library and I couldn’t resist the cover.
This quirky picture book for preschoolers (ages 3-6) is the first foray into children’s books by Frank Viva, an award-winning illustrator/graphic artist for Esquire, Time and The New Yorker.
The story focuses on a winding, uninterrupted road that is both a stylistic feature of Viva’s work, a fundamental that leads the reader through the story and a necessary motif given this particular story – which is of course…cycling along a lon road!
The road features prominently and runs from the very start of the book by loops across the inside front cover, then out across each page as it weaves around towns, farms, a theme park, forests and past ocean foreshores.
The cyclist is on an elongated bicycle, which he expertly rides through tunnels, over bridges, up and down hills and around bends…. all in order to get to the end FAST – only to start the journey all over again!
Here’s an excerpt:
Along a long road gaining speed
Again and again and again
Along a long road going fast
Around a round bend near the end
And start all over again
This book appears simplistic, however, the winding long road, even cadence of text, the steadfastness of the cyclist and the ever-changing, yet familiar scenery – all have a rhythm and movement that many riders will identify with.
Just like the cyclist in the book, many riders have felt the compulsion to ‘just keep going!’.
The illustrations are minimalist and use a limited palette of four key muted tones to focus attention on the activity in the book.
The pages are thoughtfully designed and are clear and easy to look at. Hidden on pages are little gems, like whales diving in the ocean, dragonflies and tractors in fields.
My favourite part in the book is when the cyclist is stopped by an apple on the road out the front of a library…after the apple is moved, our cyclist is off again after waving to a little boy, his mother and their dog.
Few people know that Frank Viva originally created this project as one continuous, thirty-five-foot-long artwork. Amazing!l Athough Frank might be new to children’s books, he is certainly not new to cycling – as he is an avid rider and has cycle-toured many countries.
I like this book because it reminds me of riding my bike around Brisbane: the bayside, the theme park, the forest and the farming country – and all the happy times I’ve had wooshing around the city and getting to where I want to go FAST ….. it is lovely to see it expressed in such a unique and whimsical way.
More fun picture books for kids about bikes, please!
So, if you see this book in a bookstore or the library – take the time to flip through it- it is an entertaining, easy and highly recommended read.
I have now been in Brisbane and working at Griffith University for 5 years. I really enjoy it. Griffith has a vibrant community, offers excellent opportunities and makes a genuine effort to improve individual, community, national and global imperatives – and Sustainability Week is a case in point.
Griffith University, 2018
This week is Sustainability Week at Griffith University.
It just so happened, I was teaching 1205MED Health Challenges in the 21st Century (x 3 tutorials) today at the Gold Coast campus, which coincided beautifully with the first of Griffith’s Sustainability Week events.
Hooray!
The Library Lawn had a range of stalls set up from 10-2pm to kick off their Sustainability Fair.
My two favourite stalls were the pedal-powered smoothie stall (of course!) and the Native flora stall.
While I was there, the pedal-powered smoothie stall was busy and was attracting some good attention – that was until it started raining! Oh no!
I had a chat with the native plant stall representatives and got some lovely native seedlings to plant in the garden (Thanks so much!).
support and promote the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals
undertake research that provides solutions to sustainable development challenges
provide the educational opportunity for our students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development
contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by ensuring our campuses and major programs are environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive, and
report on our activities in support of the Sustainable Development Goals
Even though it was a little stormy and rained towards the end, I was happy that such events occur on campus. It is important that we keep sustainability at the forefront of our daily routines, thoughts and actions.
I am glad to work for an organisation that makes a concerted effort to highlight – and redress – some of the biophysical issues we face.
It was great to see more bikes on campus being used to promote a more green and positive approach to transport, food (well….in this case, smoothies) and academic life in general!
Image: World Bicycle Relief
