The Public, Practice of Hope, and the Role of the Academic

Abstract

We consider how the public is constructed and what it means to make this work public for debate and dialogue in teaching practices. If we think of the public as a constructed space of movement where a group gathers for a common purpose, what does that mean for teaching in both early childhood and higher education? We draw on the practice of hope framework to think about the role of the academic, research, and the connection with the public. The Out and About research project, located in urban and regional Australia makes visible how academics connect research with the public and generates further considerations of what the public can be including--a public constructed by humans, place, and more-than-human communities. Out and About situates the practice of hope as always becoming towards an awareness of what is limiting and unjust, how change and transformation is imagined, and how being public provokes action. The practice of hope drives how we act as academics and creates a space for academics to connect with the public to activate environmental justice.