Wooltorton, S. and Marinova, D. (Eds) Sharing wisdom for our future.

Environmental education in action: Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australian Association of Environmental Education

Chapter 14 The Discursive Construction of Environmental Educators and Environmental Education through Online Positions Vacant Advertisements Joy Hardy and Jan Connelly University of New England 1. Introduction Positions vacant advertisements provide a potentially rich source of analysis across diverse philosophical, ideological, methodological and disciplinary divides. For poststructuralists, positions vacant advertisements provide a lens into identity politics , disciplinary practices, subjectivity (Foucault, 1977; Mansfield, 2000) and regimes of truth; for feminists, they provide a lens to analyse the reproduction of or resistance to asymmetrical gendered and sexualised power relations; for psychoanalysts, they provide a lens into fears and desires; for critical discourse analysts, they provide a lens into discursive positioning and consequent material effects; and in the field of organisational management, they provide a lens into cost benefit analysis, organisational promotion and market surveillance. Despite the rich research opportunities that positions vacant advertisements avail, however, such research has not been conducted in environmental education. 2. Current Study This paper reports on a poststructuralist study that responded to the gap in environmental education research. Drawing on the concepts and tools of content analysis, systemic functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis, the overarching question framing the study was: How do online positions vacant advertisements discursively construct environmental education and environmental educators? More specific investigations within the broader framework included (a) an analysis of fears and desires inscribed within positions vacant advertisements, (b) a comparison of environmental education and education for sustainable development positions, and (c) an analysis of missionary discourse. This paper, however, addresses the overarching question only. 3. Data Collection Recruitment advertisements for positions in environmental education and education for sustainable development were collected from major Australian online recruitment agencies (Seek, Career One and Byron Employment) and Australian environmental websites (COOEE Ads and EcoShout). Eighty-seven online recruitment advertisements and associated duty statements and selection criteria were collected between February and August, 2006. Although thorough in its data collection, the study does not claim to be exhaustive. Some recruitment advertisements for positions in New Zealand were listed with the major Australian online recruitment agencies and thus contributed to the discursive construction of environmental education and environmental educators within Australia. Consequently, the advertisements for positions in New Zealand were included in the data set. The inclusion of the advertisements for positions in New
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Wooltorton, S. and Marinova, D. (Eds) Sharing wisdom for our future. Environmental education in action: Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australian Association of Environmental Education

Zealand can be theoretically justified by Appadurais model of globalisation. Appadurai theorises globalisation as a series of fluid scapes, which comprise the flow of ideas, images and sound bytes, capital, people and technology, or the ideo-, media-, finance-, ethno- and techno-scapes. Appadurais model facilitates exploring the diverse currents along which cultural material may be seen to be moving across national boundaries, which, in this instance, contribute to the discursive construction of environmental education and environmental educators through online recruitment advertisements. Using Appadurais model, online positions vacant advertisements comprise flows along the media-scape and the ideo-scape. 4. Data Analysis The positions vacant advertisements provided a rich data set, where the term rich is used to signal the fecund possibilities for interpretations and insights into constructs of environmental education. Individual advertisements were also rich in and of themselves: detailed advertisements were rich in the combination of multiple discourses and genres, whereas skeletal advertisements were rich in terms of their silences. Take, for example, the skeletal advertisement shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Advertisement 17 Coastal Environmental Centre Educational Educators Wanted With growing demand for high quality school excursions, the Coastal Environment Centre is seeking people to assist on [a] casual basis. Local environmental knowledge or involvement is desirable and some teaching experience preferred. Please send expressions of interest and CV to the Coastal Environmental Centre, PO Box 552 Narrabeen 2101 or email to CEC@pittwater.nsw.gov.au. For further information call 9970 6905 Whilst this text includes the four elements of a skeletal advertisement - the organisations identity, the human resources needs, requirements to fulfill these needs, and contact details the organisation is silent on the transactional aspects of the position, namely pay scale and the anticipated number of hours of work. Hence, the employer maintains absolute control over the terms and conditions of the position. Figure 2: Advertisement 1 EDUCATION OFFICER ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION Enjoy travelling and getting paid for it? Like working with kids? Have experience and/or interest in working with Australian Reptiles?

Please send applications to: Australian Reptile Productions PO Box 777, Terrigal NSW 2260 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The position entails prolonged
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Wooltorton, S. and Marinova, D. (Eds) Sharing wisdom for our future. Environmental education in action: Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australian Association of Environmental Education

Love to put on a show?... This is the opportunity of a lifetime for you! The nationally acclaimed SOS Aussies environmental education programme is looking for a vibrant, bouncy and enthusiastic individual to star as part of a two-person team visiting schools around Australia and performing a 30 animal School Spectacular teaching young Australians about the important and unique natural world around them. The animals are awesome! The pay is pleasing! The travel is terrific! And the cost of accommodation and travel is covered! Have you scuba dived on the Barrier Reef? Have you cruised across the Red Centre? Have you trekked in the Pilbara? Have you chilled out in the Whitsundays? Have you worked for half the year then played for the other half? I did all that and more in between and after school performances. Climb aboard - you wont regret it! Keith Mills, Education Officer. SOS Aussies. Spencers Monitors; Pythons; Olive; Centralian; Carpet; Diamond; Childrens; Spotted; Blackhead; etc. Plus a selection of mini beasts. YOU CAN VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE PROGRAMME INFORMATION Go to www.sosaussies.com If you fit the description and are motivated by the experience, we would love to receive your application now.

periods of absence from home base and daily travel between venues, local and interstate and involves shared accommodation whilst travelling. Duties include shared responsibility for the welfare, safety and husbandry of the reptilian species on tour; the presentation of a professional environmental education programme at venues nominated on the itinerary; banking and recording; care of equipment, etc. Outstanding personal attributes, enthusiasm, initiative, commitment, a love of the Australian environment; experience and/or interest in learning to keep reptiles are the major criteria sought. A current first aid certificate is advantageous. The successful applicant will be required to satisfy the Working with Children Check required by the Education Department. The position involves significant periods of driving. This role is shared. A current drivers license and competent driving skills are essential. The amount of training required will depend on the experience and qualifications of the successful applicant and may require a period of voluntary work experience and/or reading and programme familiarization. The period of employment is closely linked to the duration of the tour which is determined by the number of bookings received from schools in various regions. The itinerary is based on each school term. It is important to note that the duties and responsibilities of this position are well defined, requiring commitment and application. The position is for an education officer only. The structure of the routine is
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Wooltorton, S. and Marinova, D. (Eds) Sharing wisdom for our future. Environmental education in action: Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australian Association of Environmental Education

Applications should be made in writing and consist of a handwritten letter; a resume; references; a standard photo (for ID purposes) as well as a short audio or video recording which illustrates your communication style and creativity (this is not required to be at a professional production level).

not suitable for children or additional animals other than those licensed to be on tour. The position is not recommended for those with permanent relationships (such as spouses or dependant children) due to the extensive travelling and periods of absence from home. Although the programme operates Australia wide, tours originate from the Central coast of NSW. All application and interview costs incurred by applicants are a personal responsibility. If the successful applicant is not a Central Coast resident, all travel and accommodation to the Central Coast for training and work related reasons remain a personal responsibility but may possibly be claimed as a work-related tax deduction.

In contrast to the skeletal advertisement, the elaborate advertisement shown in Figure 2 interweaves a diverse range of genres and discourses. The questions introducing the advertisement simulate a conversational genre in which power gradients are typically mild. This is followed by a narrative description that promotes the education programme and describes the human resource need. The text then uses a testimonial genre: I did all that and more in between and after school performances. Climb aboard you wont regret it!. Rafaeli claims that corporate advertising is inherently suspect, as is the corporate identity presented in an employment ad. Therefore, testimonials are deployed to validate claims made by the organisation and to minimise prospective employees distrust. Advertising and contractual genres follow. In addition to the rich combination of genres, multiple discourses are invoked: promotional, the nationally acclaimed SOS Aussies environmental education programme; acting/entertainment, an individual to star as part of a two-person team; affluent leisure, Have you worked for half the year and then played for the other half?; exclusionary, This position is not recommended for those in permanent relationships, as well as scientific and educational discourses. Fairclough refers to the combination of multiple genres and discourses as interdiscursivity. According to Fairclough, a high level of interdiscursivity is associated with change, while a low level of interdiscursivity signals the reproduction of the established order. Thus, positions vacant advertisements that exhibit a high degree of interdiscursivity may signal the opportunity for negotiation in a changing workplace. However, this advertisement makes it clear that the duties and responsibilities of this position are well defined.
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Wooltorton, S. and Marinova, D. (Eds) Sharing wisdom for our future. Environmental education in action: Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australian Association of Environmental Education

As well as applying critical discourse analysis to individual advertisements, content analysis was used across the data set to identify areas of commonality and disjuncture. The construction of environmental educators was used as one lens to capture commonalities and disjunctions. The construction of environmental educators was examined from four perspectives, the construction of the personal, professional, environmental and global environmental educator. Statements regarding personal attributes, with exception of statements regarding the possession of a current drivers licence, were absent from recruitment advertisements for positions in state and federal government departments. In total, 172 statements regarding personal attributes, again excluding statements about drivers licences, were present in the remaining 45 advertisements. Thus, a great deal of space in the subset was devoted to discursively constructing the personal attributes of desirable environmental educators, i.e. advertisers devoted a great deal of space to constructing their versions of the environmental education subject position (Foucault, 1979, 1997; Mansfield, 2000). The personal attributes afforded the highest frequency were: enthusiasm, creativity, innovation, motivation and passion. This finding is in agreement with Thomas and Nicitas (2003) study, which investigated employers expectations of graduates of environmental programmes. Their study, whilst limited to organisations in close geographical proximity to RMIT (a major metropolitan university in Australia), focused on organisations across a range of sectors, namely: building and construction; education, research and training; environmental consultancy; environmental policy; land management; local government; minerals and energy; and waste management. The study revealed that in relation to the desirable personal attributes of graduates, passion, commitment and enthusiasm rated very highly. One could argue, then, that such commonality across diverse employment sectors reduces such personal attributes to clichs. However, drawing on Foucaults notions of normativity, regimes of truth, disciplinary practices and subjectivity, such clichs should not be dismissed or underestimated; they are practices of power, ways of acting on the labour market, organising and dividing them in particular ways. The mundane aspect of clichs can render these practices of power imperceptible. Given the scope of this paper, consideration of the construction of the professional self will be limited to tertiary qualifications. Science degrees were privileged in 49% of the advertisements, whereas 31% privileged education qualifications. Qualifications in environmental education were mentioned in 11% of advertisements; this is included in the 31% that privileged education qualifications, not additional to it. Other essential or desirable tertiary qualifications included media studies, communication studies, eco-tourism and social science. The majority preference for tertiary qualifications in science suggests an emphasis on education in and about the environment, rather than education for the environment . Analysis of the discursive construction of the environmental self was framed as commitment to environmental values, sustainable lifestyles, etc. In other words, the environmental self was construed as walking the talk. Statements regarding the environmental self were present in only 11 (12.5%) advertisements and the majority of such statements were expressed weakly, e.g., personal interest in the environment and a desire to improve it (Advertisement 70). Whilst interest and
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Wooltorton, S. and Marinova, D. (Eds) Sharing wisdom for our future. Environmental education in action: Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australian Association of Environmental Education

desire are important aspects of environmental engagement, neither of them, either individually or in combination, necessarily result in pro-environmental action. Finally, content analysis was used to investigate the discursive construction of the global self. The global self was framed as commitment to, support for, and/or active involvement with international approaches and movements addressing global environmental problems. Statements regarding the global self were completely absent from the data set; the environmental focus was entirely restricted to the local. Whilst concern for and attention to ones local environment is essential in environmental education, the complete lack of attention to global perspectives and issues is myopic and detrimental. 5. Conclusion Positions vacant advertisements are a rich source of data for environmental education research. The richness lies in their abundance, the unique lens that they provide into employment sectors and the diversity of research that they avail. In relation to the latter, recruitment advertisements for environmental education positions enable research that may gauge the efficacy of tertiary environmental education programmes in terms of the human resources needs of the profession or compare the representation of environmental education practice in various employment sectors with environmental education theorising. Both types of research use recruitment advertisements as a barometer of the dominant discourses in the employment sectors. The first type of research valorises the representation of the dominant discourses, whereas the second type of research accentuates the agency that analysis of recruitment advertisements avails environmental education scholarship; the academy can expose and contest dominant discourses in employment sectors. In addition to heralding the research opportunities that recruitment advertisements avail, this paper has briefly described a project that investigated the discursive construction of environmental educators through positions vacant advertisements posted on Australian online recruitment agencies. The analysis advances that the specification of the desired personal attributes of prospective employees initiates the play of disciplinary power and subjectification prior to entry into an organisation. The analysis of the discursive construction of the professional self in terms of tertiary qualifications, suggests that the privileging of science qualifications preconfigures education in and about the environment as the norm. In relation to the construction of the environmental self, the analysis advances that walking the talk has a low profile in recruitment of environmental educators. And finally, the complete absence of attention to the global environmental consciousness and involvement of prospective environmental educators casts the practice of environmental education in Australia as a parochial affair. References Ainsworth, S., & Hardy, C. (2004). Critical discourse analysis and identity: Why bother? Critical Discourse Studies, 1(2), 225-259.

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