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Understanding the drivers of student dropout from higher education has been a policy concern for several decades. However, the contributing role of certain factors—including student mental health—remains poorly understood. Furthermore, existing studies linking student mental health and university dropout are limited in both methodology and scope—for example, they often rely on small and/or non-representative samples or subjective measures, and focus almost exclusively on main effects. This paper overcomes many of these shortcomings by leveraging unique linked administrative data on the full population of domestic students commencing undergraduate studies at Australian universities between 2012 and 2015 (n = 652,139). Using these data, we document that approximately 15% of students drop out of university within their first academic year. Critically, students receiving treatment for mental health problems are 4.3 (adjusted) to 8.3 (unadjusted) percentage points more likely to drop out of higher education. This association remains in the presence of an encompassing set of potential confounds, and is remarkably uniform across segments of the student population determined by individual, family, and programme characteristics. Altogether, our findings call for increased policy efforts to improve student mental health and to buffer against its deleterious effects on retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abundance of research in Indigenous education has not resulted in significant systemic change in relation to Indigenous education in Australia. In this paper we examine convergence and divergence across the policy, practice and research realms with the aim of identifying key sites of opportunity for innovation and change. Through analysing how research and evidence is produced and included/excluded in Indigenous education policy settings, the complexities of how different types of evidence are considered rigorous and relevant were found to be clearly implicated with broader social and political discourses with relation to Indigenous peoples and interests. Whilst we argue for an Indigenous based evidence approach that centres Indigenous agency and solutions, we propose that deeper conversations about Indigenous voice and diversity is needed in implementing such an approach. We re-visit some key policy cycles that resembles the new co-design approach announced by the Australian Government in 2019 and consider the implications based on published literature to date for Indigenous education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on Australian university publications. Choice of performance indicators; Incentive for placement in a prestigious journal.

While an increasing body of Australian and international research has explored the relationship between media and education, few studies have examined this relationship in the context of early childhood education. This paper contributes to this research gap by reporting on a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of how childcare is represented in 801 newspaper texts from six Australian newspapers. As a foundational paper of a broader study investigating public and political influences on parents' childcare choices, the paper details the use and utility of corpus linguistic tools for exploring the discourse construction of childcare in a large corpus of media texts. It also highlights the value of analysing media corpora via media ownership, focusing on the two dominant Australian media organisations, Fairfax and News Corp. Analyses reveal similarities but also key differences in the representation of childcare in Fairfax and News Corp newspapers. In Australia, print media still sets the daily media agenda and reflects the dominant discourse constructions surrounding major public issues. Accordingly, the beliefs, practices and decision-making of current and potential parent users of formal childcare may be differentially influenced depending not just on their (direct or indirect) access to print media, but by the format (tabloid or broadsheet) and thus ownership (Fairfax or News Corp). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since social media is increasingly pervasive in modern society, this bibliometric study aims to investigate its educational applications. Using the Scopus database, the bibliometric method analyses publications published between 2010 and 2022. The research indicates that student participation and ease of access are the two main benefits of using social media in the classroom. However, it also spreads misinformation and poses privacy and security risks. Articles that discussed how social media could be used in the classroom were found and organised using a bibliometric analysis based on their subject matter, year of publication, and authors. The research shows that between 2001 and 2020, there was a rise in the number of papers discussing the use of social media in the classroom. In addition, the top five countries in terms of annual publication output include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia/India, and Canada. To further explore the connections between relevant articles, a co-citation network analysis was performed. Therefore, there must be strict rules and policies for using social media in education to address privacy and security concerns and the spread of false information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are increasing calls within Australia and internationally for schools to be research-engaged, for teaching to be research-rich and for researchers to engage with end-users. Such aspirations raise important questions about whether and how Australian schools are engaging in and with research. This paper reports on an empirical study, Catholic Education Melbourne's Understanding School Engagement in Research project, which sought to better understand research engagement amongst 67 Catholic schools in Melbourne. Drawing on the findings of this project, coupled with a subsequent analysis of wider international literature, this paper shows how schools are selective about their research involvement; are discerning about what the research is on and how it is conducted; access research in indirect and informal ways; value research more than they use it; and need much more than research access. The paper concludes by synthesising these five themes into a conceptual framework for understanding and improving school research engagement, and outlining the implications for research organisations, schools and jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of our paper is the leadership role of programme managers in the higher education sector. In particular, we highlight the complex and paradoxical nature of the programme leader’s role, and provide an insight into leadership in this challenging and dynamic environment. We identify cognitive and behavioural complexity as necessary capabilities for programme managers to ensure they can navigate the turbulent river system of academia. The Integrated Competing Values Framework describes some leadership behaviours appropriate for the programme manager’s role. We also argue how critical observation skills, reflection and self-awareness can assist programme managers to provide leadership in this uncertain environment. Our paper concludes with a discussion of areas for future research and important practical implications for universities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social inclusion in Australian higher education was high on the agenda of the recent Rudd/Gillard Australian Government. This paper offers an assessment of that agenda, particularly the extent to which it worked in favour of under-represented groups. It argues that the Government's widening and expansion policies and its equity and aspiration strategies lacked sociological imagination, projecting deficits onto individuals who refused to be taken in by its ambitions for higher education participation. The paper concludes that in the absence of a sociological imagination in government policy, the freedoms of disadvantaged groups continued to be curtailed: not just to choose futures in keeping with their goals but also the freedom to formulate choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This literature review presents a critical appraisal of the dominant approaches toward the sexuality and relationships of people with acquired brain injury. In particular, we sought to identify and review existing programs focusing on sexuality and relationships which use an educational and/or peer–peer approach. A systematic and comprehensive search of the EBSCOHOST database was conducted within an unlimited time-frame to yield the highest number of relevant results possible, along with hand-searching of key journals and databases. Reports, papers and webpages, documents commonly referred to as 'grey literature' that are not published in peer-reviewed journals, were also hand searched as a part of this review. The database search yielded 862 results, 14 of which were found to be relevant to our research interests. All of the sexuality education programs identified in this review were experienced positively by participants, families, caregivers, and professionals working with people with acquired brain injury. No peer–peer sexuality and relationships programs were identified. However, we found strong support for the use of peer–peer approaches in other programs for people with acquired brain injury. This literature review provides strong support for the development peer–peer sexuality and relationships programs for people with acquired brain injury. However, any future programs would have to overcome the limitations of existing sexuality and relationships programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether the gap in fertility between women with higher education and in professional occupations and other women has narrowed or widened over time in Australia. Using data from the Australian Census of Population and Housing 1986, 1996 and 2006, the paper focuses on levels of childlessness. Both working women (using occupational categories) and all women (using educational attainment) aged between 20 and 44 were examined. Focusing particularly on women working in, or qualified for, some selected high-prestige professions (doctors, lawyers, dentists and vets), as well as on women with other tertiary qualifications and working in other professional or managerial occupations, the findings suggest that, between 1986 and 2006, childlessness has grown at a slower rate for women with tertiary education than for all women, although women with tertiary education continue to have the highest proportion of childlessness. Our findings for working women were similar, with women working in selected prestigious occupations having the highest rates of childlessness of all working women, but with this growing at a slower rate than was the case overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Relationships and sexuality education (RSE) for young people in Australia and elsewhere is a contentious topic. While focus has been on sexting practices, curriculum and policy and teachers and schools, few studies have examined how discourses of silencing are reflected in what young people want from their RSE. Methods: Using thematic analysis on 1258 open-ended comments from a 2018 survey of young people and sexual health and a theoretical framework of 'Thick Desire,' this paper explores what students in Australia desire from a RSE program and how they have come to understand those desires. Results: This analysis reveals that young people in Australia understand and are articulate about the gaps in their RSE. Young people are negotiating a 'silencing' of knowledge and education around several important factors and are drawing from broader social, cultural and political influences that shape their experiences. Specifically, young people actively desire a RSE that includes more in-depth information about sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and sexual health issues, programs that are inclusive of diverse genders and sexualities, RSE that is delivered by qualified providers and programs that include discussions concerning relationships, consent and pleasure. Social and Policy Implications: The findings of this study suggest several important policy recommendations to improve RSE education, particularly focusing on the sexual rights of young people, the lack of consistency and clarity in existing RSE national policy and the impact that silencing can have on young people's knowledge and safety in engaging in sexual activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although international definitions of early childhood repeatedly refer to a birth-8 age span, there are complex, institutional divides within this age range. This paper explores the divide between pre-compulsory and compulsory early childhood institutions. In countries such as Finland this divide is not such an issue because children do not begin formal schooling until age seven or eight. However, in Australia these 8 years include both pre-compulsory programs (often birth-5) and compulsory schooling. We argue that in situations where the early years of compulsory school are included in a country's definitions of early childhood, they often occupy a tenuous place in research, policy and practice. Drawing from the history of early childhood education in South Australia, we explore the place that the early years of school have occupied in early childhood discourse, policy and practice and then consider some contemporary state-based and national reforms. Our hope is that by considering the South Australian past, the paper may provide a space from which to advocate for policies and structures that uphold specialist expertise and leadership in the early years of schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last three decades there have been numerous surveys in Australian universities which have attempted to describe the perceptions of academic staff to various aspects of their roles. Each of these surveys appears to have been inspired by changes resulting from contemporaneous government policies and/or community expectations. Calls for ’’Efficiency and Effectiveness‘‘, ’’Accountability‘‘, and ’’Quality and Diversity‘‘ have coincided with massive expansion in the higher education system, the change from a binary system to the Unified National System, and consequent changes to student profiles, funding arrangements, and academic workloads. Academic culture, with its tradition of freedom and autonomy, has been besieged by the alien culture of managerialism with its own vocabulary of ’’client‘‘, ’’quality assurance‘‘, and ’’product‘‘: but has this assault made any difference to how academics perceive their work and their perceptions of quality in university teaching ? This paper reports on an analysis of data (relating to academics‘ perceptions of their work) from surveys conducted in universities from the late 70s and throughout the 80s and 90s. The paper analyses, compares and contextualises academic perceptions across these decades, and draws some conclusions about the perseverence of academic culture under siege. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of education as infrastructure in large-scale ehealth strategies-in theory, in international practice and in one national case study. Education is often invisible in the documentation of ehealth infrastructure. Nevertheless a review of international practice shows that there is significant educational investment made in implementing national ehealth agendas. Disparate views about the role of education are implicit in the ehealth strategy literature, while there is a shortage of evidence-based accounts of ehealth education. In the case of Australia, the benefits and challenges of a broadly collaborative approach to ehealth education are highlighted through activities of various types occurring on many levels to support the implementation of a national ehealth system. This paper concludes that although evidence-based practice is a given in other areas of healthcare, and although there are many published evaluations of ehealth usability and acceptance in the health informatics literature, there is surprisingly little evidence about what works and doesn't work with regard to the ehealth education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elizabeth A. Stuart is a Professor in the Departments of Mental Health, Biostatistics, and Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Associate Dean for Education at the school. She is a renowned expert in the area of causal inference, including propensity score methods for observational data and the generalizability of randomized trial results, and is also a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. Prior to her appointment to the faculty at Johns Hopkins, Professor Stuart received her Ph.D. in statistics from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Smith College. In 2015, Professor Stuart was recognized at the International Conference on Health Policy Statistics with the Mid-Career Award from the Health Policy Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can science curricula truly cultivate morals and values towards nature? This is the question that is raised by Carolina Castano Rodriguez in her critique of the new Australian Science curriculum. In this response to Castano Rodriguez's paper we ask two questions relating to: the influence of curricula on the relationships of children and other animals; and other models of science education regarding animals and nature that may be more relevant, just, or caring. In responding to these questions stimulated by the reading of Castano Rodriguez's paper, we reflect on our own experiences. We note the conflict between the values depicted in the curriculum priorities and the underlying anthropocentric view that appears to be embedded in the Australian Science Curriculum and in curricula generally. With this conflict in mind we encourage educators to examine our own practices regarding how the relationships between humans and other animals are promoted. We put forward the idea of science education that responds to the shifting views of science and its applications outside the confines of the laboratory to one that encourages both ethical and political discussion that is already taking place in the community relating to the role of science and technology in our lives and the lives of other animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) institutions are challenged with finding common ground as a basis for action among diverse resource users and stakeholders. Establishing and maintaining institutional credibility within their regions, catchments, communities and among their membership is fundamental to overcoming the challenge. So too is applying appropriate institutional and governance structures and appointing appropriate leaders. Drawing on triangulated case study data collected over a 12-month period using multiple methods, this paper examines the influence of institutional credibility and leadership on the functioning, decision-making and governance of two CBNRM institutions in Queensland, Australia. The paper shows that stakeholders have very different expectations of what makes a CBNRM institution credible. Satisfying the multiple expectations requires CBNRM institutions to incorporate diverse stakeholder representation, assert their legitimacy and demonstrate accountability, transparency, fairness and justice. The paper also draws attention to the value and importance of appointing inspirational leaders who focus on encouraging followers to pursue collective goals. Comparing the merits and constraints of appointing average Joes versus community elites to the Boards of CBNRM institutions, the paper highlights the urgent need for community-based natural resource governance and inspirational leadership education and training programs to improve the availability and quality of CBNRM leadership in rural Australia. Since combining credible CBNRM institutions with inspirational leaders does not necessarily equate to sustainable on-ground NRM outcomes, it is critical that the education and training programs emphasise the importance of monitoring and evaluating the improvements in decision-making processes and in decision outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the use of several quantitative analytic methods, including Rasch analysis, to re-examine teacher responses to questionnaire items probing opinions related to the compulsory numeracy tests conducted in Years 3, 5, and 7 in Queensland, Australia. Nisbet and Grimbeek (2004) previously reported an interpretable and statistically acceptable 6-factor exploratory factor solution. The present paper improved on this outcome by utilising Rasch analysis to identify items with orderly sequences of scores across response categories, and to subject these to fresh exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The resulting 3-factor scale proved acceptable in terms of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis as well as in terms of Rasch item analysis. The paper briefly discusses the implications of these outcomes in relation to the refined instrument's capacity to gather information about how teachers view the Queensland numeracy reporting system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide interest in Japanese Lesson Study as a vehicle to improve mathematics teaching practice through professional learning has left largely unanswered questions about the extent to which it can be replicated elsewhere. This paper reports on a small-scale research project, Implementing structured problem- solving mathematics lessons through lesson study, carried out in three Australian schools during 2012, and continued in a modified form during 2013 and 2014. Two major aims of the project were to investigate critical factors in the adaptation and effective implementation of (1) structured problem-solving mathematics lessons, and (2) Japanese Lesson Study as a model for teacher professional learning in the Australian context. This paper discusses the specific affordances that contributed to both the implementation of structured problem solving and to teachers' professional learning as a result of their participation in this project, as well as the constraints encountered, and the implications of these for the sustainability of lesson study in the Australian context. Critical factors identified by the teachers as contributing to the success of the project included the opportunities for in-depth lesson planning, the presence of large numbers of observers at the research lessons and the post-lesson discussions, and the insight provided by the 'knowledgeable other'. Major constraints included the difficulty in finding suitable problem solving tasks to match the Australian curriculum, and the teaching culture that emphasises small-group rather than whole-class teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The factors leading individuals to immigrate to developed contexts are widely studied, but comparatively less is known about those who emigrate from them. In this paper, we use data from a nationally representative cohort of Australian adults to develop longitudinal measures of emigration and to assess how social ties and individual economic position predict emigration. Cox proportional hazards models indicate that the propensity to emigrate is particularly pronounced for those with relatively little social connectedness in Australia. Specifically, our results show that first-generation Australians, especially those with relatively short durations in the country, have substantially higher emigration rates than later-generation Australians. Similarly, having a partner with deeper generational roots in Australia strongly reduces the likelihood to emigrate. At the same time, our analysis also shows that economic position matters, with the not employed having higher risks of emigration. Perhaps most interestingly, estimates from our models reveal that those with university degrees are much more likely to emigrate than individuals with lower levels of education, a finding that is true for both first- and later-generation Australians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013 and 2014, the Australian Federal Government introduced the Gonski reforms and fee deregulation measures to reform the prevailing financing provisions for education sectors in Australia. The central proposition of the proposed new measures was to reduce the funding of public universities by the Federal Government. One likely consequence of the proposed measures was thus decreased government funding. In the given context, public universities were pressured into designing new strategies to cope with decreasing government funding. This paper examines the productive efficiency of public universities as a potential strategy. Using a concept of cost efficiency in production economics, cross-sectional data, correlation analysis, and regression analysis, this study explores the scope of allocative efficiency for public universities. Finally, this study recommends the intensive use of non-teaching staff in order to cope with any budgetary challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of policy and practice oriented at improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal students in Australia, achievements on most measures indicate that there is a long way to go in this endeavour. One avenue for improving Aboriginal education that has received little attention is accessing the views of Aboriginal students themselves about best practice in engaging Aboriginal students. While there is a body of research in education that attempts to privilege 'student voices,' little work has explicitly focussed on accessing the voices of Aboriginal students. This paper reports on my study that involved asking Aboriginal students their views on schools, teachers and the curriculum in culturally safe discussion spaces. The Aboriginal students highlighted the need for their culture to be represented at schools and the recognition of their Aboriginality in safe environments at school. These findings reinforce the importance of engaging with Aboriginal people in the development of best practice so as to build Aboriginal understandings within a Western educational system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2009, all Australian states require young people to be 'earning or learning' until age 17. Secondary schools and vocational colleges now accommodate students for whom the conventional academic pathways of the past were not designed. The paper reflects on a project designed to explore the moral orders in these institutional settings for managing such students in extended compulsory schooling. Originally designed as classroom ethnographies, the project involved observations over three to four weeks and interviews with teachers and students in five sites in towns experiencing high youth unemployment. The project aimed to support teachers to work productively in such classrooms with such students, under the assumption that teachers orchestrate classroom interactions. However, it became clear events in these classrooms were being shaped by relations and parties above and beyond the classroom, as much as by those present. Teachers and students were observed to both comply with, and push against, the layers of policy and institutional processes regulating their behaviours. This paper re-thinks the original project through the gaze and resources of institutional ethnography, to better account for the layers of accountabilities and documentation practices that impacted on both teacher and student behaviours. By tracing the extended webs of 'ruling relations', it shows both how teachers and students could make trouble for the institutional moral order, and then be held accountable for this trouble. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of increased demands for excellence in all areas, academic promotion and tenure is now directly linked to achievement of measurable outputs in all areas of performance. In a work environment characterised by high workloads, competing expectations and reduced resources, academics must increasingly demonstrate active engagement with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). For many, this may mean adopting new cultures, methodologies, theories, languages and modes of enquiry outside their home or cognate discipline. In the context of performance management, academics must reconceptualise and articulate notions of 'good academic practice', often in parallel with the practical requirement to continue to teach in the culture and practices of their cognate discipline. We need to better understand the implications, for institutions and individuals, of approaching SoTL through the lens of performance evaluation. This paper reports the key themes from a pilot study examining how academics at an Australian university are responding to the emergence of SoTL in the performance management context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While past literature has explored school engagement in older students, there is less research for younger children specifically, and very little which engages children themselves in the research process. This paper provides insight into school engagement for academically at-risk students in the second year of school through a participatory research project. Specifically, the paper reports on a project which examined three groups of students within the Catholic Education system in Australia, namely, those not considered at-risk academically, those considered at-risk but receiving one-on-one support, and those considered to be at-risk but not receiving support. Students participated in focus groups and a photo elicitation project, with questions adapted from The School Engagement Questionnaire forming the basis of data collection. In relation to behavioural engagement, the thematic analysis demonstrated that students in each group valued social interaction, while at-risk students spoke about experiences of punishment at school and students in the group receiving support spoke about rewards. In relation to cognitive engagement, themes of boredom were evident across all groups, while students in the non at-risk group were more likely to speak about the value of learning. At-risk students also displayed some anxiety in relation to school which was not displayed by students who were receiving support. Free time, favourite lessons and technology were all identified as prominent themes in all groups in relation to affective engagement. While the study has some limitations due to restricted timeframe and sample size, it provides an insight into the utility of considering school engagement in developing an understanding of the school experience of at-risk students in primary school. Future studies in this area should examine broader, more representative samples and also consider students with multiple risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of globally mobile students has expanded, governments are assumed to be consistently and intentionally competing for talent, in what has been called a 'great brain race'. While the notion of competition has become dominant, there is little evidence on long-term policy dynamics in this field, not only across jurisdictions but also over time. We seek to address this gap in this paper through a longitudinal analysis of the politics and public policies impacting international students in four major recruiting countries-Australia, Canada, England and the USA. Through this comparative analysis of the period 2000 to 2016, we demonstrate that international student numbers across the jurisdictions have grown steadily but that this appears to be decoupled from political and policy changes. We also discuss how 'internationalization' initiatives provide an insufficient policy umbrella for policy action on the recruitment and retention of international students. Public policy impacting international students spans multiple government agencies or ministries, encompassing different policy fields. This requires greater policy coordination, which remains elusive for the most part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many transgender individuals face inequities, discrimination, and sometimes even a lack of transgender-specific knowledge in health care settings. Educational curricula can address such disparities and help future health professionals to become more knowledgeable, confident, and well-prepared for addressing the needs of transgender individuals. This systematic review aims to summarize current training interventions about care of transgender individuals for health and allied health students, and to analyse the effects of the respective intervention. A total of six databases (Pubmed, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase and SciSearch) were screened for original articles published between 2017 and June 2021. Search terms and eligibility criteria were pre-specified, and after a structured selection process 21 studies were included into further analysis. Extracted data contained information on general study properties, population, design, program format and outcomes of interest. A narrative synthesis was used to summarize detected results. Study quality was assessed for each individual study. A self-developed 18-item checklist combining criteria of two prior published tools was used to assess overall quality of quantitative studies. For qualitative studies a 10-item checklist by Kmet et al. [HTA Initiat, 2004] was applied. Eligible studies were designed for multiple health or allied health profession students, and varied widely regarding program format, duration, content, and assessed outcomes. Almost all (N = 19) interventions indicated improvements in knowledge, attitude, confidence and comfort levels or practical skills concerning care for transgender clients. Major limitations included the lack of long-term data, validated assessment tools, control groups and comparative studies. Training interventions contribute to prepare future health professionals to deliver competent and sensitive care and which may improve the prospective experienced health care reality of transgender individuals. However, currently there is no common consensus about best practice of education. Additionally, little is known about whether detected effects of training interventions translate into noticeable improvements for transgender clients. Further studies are warranted to assess the direct impact of specific interventions in the light of the respective target populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although refuted many times, the commonly accepted story about Indigenous communities in Australia is that they had few counting words and thus were lacking in ways to quantify amounts. In this paper, we use the case of quantifying to discuss how Indigenous mathematics can be used, not just to help Indigenous students transition into the classroom but also back into their home communities. We argue that mathematics education must take seriously its responsibility to support Indigenous students to gain school mathematics and also to help maintain the use of traditional mathematical ideas. If this does not occur, mathematics educators will contribute, intentionally or unintentionally to the loss of Indigenous knowledge that present and future generations of Indigenous people will hold them responsible for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the hopes that Somalis who came to Melbourne as refugees have for their children's education. It analyses their perceptions of the Somali and Australian education systems and the implications of these for their family's ability to adapt and cope with Australian life. In doing so, it also shows how they use education to reconstruct their world as part of resettlement in Australia. This paper argues that specific programmes and activities that bring parents and teachers together around their child's education can build bridging social capital, contributes to optimism about the future and sets the stage for positive agency at a time when Somali families are coping with trauma, loss and disconnection in an unfamiliar society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-Assisted Argument Mapping (CAAM) is a new way of understanding arguments. While still embryonic in its development and application, CAAM is being used increasingly as a training and development tool in the professions and government. Inroads are also being made in its application within education. CAAM claims to be helpful in an educational context, as a tool for students in responding to assessment tasks. However, to date there is little evidence from students that this is the case. This paper outlines the use of CAAM as an educational tool within an Economics and Commerce Faculty in a major Australian research university. Evaluation results are provided from students from a CAAM pilot within an upper-level Economics subject. Results indicate promising support for the use of CAAM and its potential for transferability within the disciplines. If shown to be valuable with further studies, CAAM could be included in capstone subjects, allowing computer technology to be utilised in the service of generic skill development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, many Australian state schools avoided teaching about values explicitly. However, the Australian government released Australia’s first official values education policy in 2005: the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools (NFVEAS). This framework represents a local manifestation of the recent international values education movement. This study contributes to an exploration of what, and who, the government’s construction of Australian values privileges. It uncovered the dominant discourses inherent in the framework through a critical discourse analysis, framing it in relation to the 16 key values education approaches identified in the literature. The data revealed the document’s strong privileging of conservative values education discourses, particularly civics and citizenship education, values inculcation and character education. In practice, some Australian schools have been disrupting this move to conservatism by taking more critical and postmodern approaches. The paper argues for such alternative practices and policy that is more diversified and student-centred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aligned with recent changes to syllabuses in Australia is an assessment regime requiring teachers to identify what their students `know' and `can do' in terms of the quality of understanding demonstrated. This paper describes the experiences of 25 secondary science and mathematics teachers in rural schools in New South Wales as they explore the changing nature of assessment and its implications on their classroom practice. To help reconceptualise these changes, teachers were introduced to a cognitive structural model as a theoretical framework. Throughout the 2-year study, teachers attended a series of professional development sessions and received ongoing consultative support. Each session was taped and transcribed while interviews were conducted with each teacher at the end of both years. Analysis of these data using a grounded theory approach identified seven major components of teacher practice impacted by the study. The core component was questioning while the six contributing components were teachers' pedagogical practices, attention to cognition, teaching strategies, assessment linked to pedagogy, classroom advantages for students, and classroom advantages for teachers. These findings represent a major shift in teachers' perceptions of assessment from a focus on the accumulation of students' marks to one of diagnosis as a means of directing teaching to enhance students' scientific and mathematical understandings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Master TreeGrower (MTG) program was launched in 1996 as an agroforestry extension initiative of The University of Melbourne. The program included a short course for landholders that provided knowledge and practical skills but also had a strong focus on developing the information and peer networks that would provide them, and their community, with on-going support as they implement their agroforestry activities. Since 2010 the MTG has been delivered by The Australian Agroforestry Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, and integrated with the Peer Group Mentoring (PGM) concept developed by a regional farmer group in Australia. The PGM trains, then pays, past Master TreeGrowers to support other landholders as they design and develop their own agroforestry projects. More than 100 MTG courses have been run across Australia involving over 2000 landholders and more than fifty partner organisations. Independent evaluation shows that participants enthusiastically support the program, increase the area of tree cover on their land, adopt more intensive or purposeful management practices, are more inclined to want to grow trees for a mix of both public and private good outcomes, and, actively encourage others in their community to do the same. This paper reviews the development and delivery of the MTG and PGM in Australia and explores whether the models are transferable to developing countries. To date four MTG courses have been conducted in Africa (Uganda (2) and Niger (2)), seven in Indonesia and one in Timor-Leste. Whilst the structure of the international MTG courses was different to that commonly adopted in Australia the content was similar in that they included: information to support the development and implementation of agroforestry designs that reflect their particular interests and aspirations; a review of market opportunities for agroforestry products and services, training in tree and forest measurement, education in tree growth and silviculture; and, encouragement, guidance and support to encourage landholders to share their experience with others in their community. The response suggests that the MTG, originally developed for Australian farmers, may represent a very different model of agroforestry extension to what is commonly offered to farmers in developing countries, and that it may be worth developing in regions where farmers believe they have relatively secure land tenure and are able to make long-term land management decisions regarding tree establishment and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the source of the gender gap in third-grade numeracy and reading. We adopt an Oaxaca-Blinder approach and decompose the gender gap in educational achievement into endowment and response components. Our estimation relies on unusually rich panel data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children in which information on child development reported by parents and teachers is linked to each child's results on a national, standardized achievement test. We find that girls in low- and middle-socio-economic-status (SES) families have an advantage in reading, while boys in high-SES families have an advantage in numeracy. Girls score higher on their third-grade reading tests in large part because they were more ready for school at age 4 and had better teacher-assessed literacy skills in kindergarten. Boys' advantage in numeracy occurs because they achieve higher numeracy test scores than girls with the same education-related characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that the emphasis on students' socioeconomic status (SES) in research and policy circles in Australia is unwarranted. The bivariate relationships between SES and educational outcomes are only moderate and the effects of SES are quite small when taking into account cognitive ability or prior achievement. These two influences have much stronger relationships with students' outcomes than SES and their effects cannot be attributed to the influence of SES at earlier points of time. The theoretical explanations for socioeconomic inequalities in education (e.g. schools and cultural factors) are problematic and are not supported by empirical work. The much weaker than assumed effects of SES has implications for research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, the Australian Federal Government attempted to de-regulate higher education fees so as to allow universities to set their own tuition fees. The associated public debate offer critical insights into how the identity of a student as a 'customer' of higher education is understood and deployed when developing higher education policy. This paper uses the 2014 Australian higher education reforms as a lens through which to further scholarly research into the student-as-customer metaphor and to see how it is influenced by the perceptions and understandings of policy actors external to the higher education sector. These include politicians, special interest groups, the students and their parents and prospective employers. This study reveals that the public/private nexus-both of funding and benefit-problematizes traditional conceptualisations of students and others as higher education customers. In turn, this restricts the ability or desire of policy actors to describe how the student functions as a customer as a consequence of market reform. This inability compromises the development of effective and sustainable higher education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In much the same way that a squirrel stores a range of food in a range of places, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority's (ACARA) Australian Curriculum: English (ACARA, 2015) stores references to grammar in a range of places. This paper explores some seemingly 'hidden' grammars within the AC:E to (re)discover their genesis and how they unfold across Foundation to Year 6. The first 'Secret Squirrel' moment centres on the introduction of a new grammar which weaves traditional Latin-based and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theory. The second 'Secret Squirrel' moment centres on the use of one sub-system of SFL Theory, the System of Appraisal, and its potential to provide an analytical lens for 'reading' the interpersonal meaning within narratives. The remainder of the paper draws on Goodson's (1990) notion of curriculum as a social construction, paying attention to the levels of processes and (potential) practice. This part of the paper focuses on the System of Appraisal as it is introduced in the AC:E and then translates the Content Descriptions to an example analysis. One stimulus text, Melanie Watt's (2012) children's picture book 'Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach', is introduced then analysed using the System of Appraisal as an analytical lens for identifying how language choices 'go to work' (Macken-Horarik, 2003, p. 285) on readers, that is how Watt's language choices are crafted so a 'compliant' child reader (Martin & White, 2005, p. 62) has the opportunity to 'feel with' and thus 'adjudicate' the behaviour of characters in particular ways (Macken-Horarik, 2003, p. 285). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, a new assessment and rating process for Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) services was introduced, using a new National Quality Standard (NQS). The NQS assessment and rating process has similarities to observational assessment systems used in educational research, and involves similar strategies for upholding 'rigour', as defined by a positivist research paradigm. Drawing on the author's own experience supporting authorised officers to conduct NQS assessments, the paper argues that the NQS assessment and rating process also contains certain similarities to educational research conducted using a constructivist paradigm. Understandings of rigour from constructivist research-including rapport with participants, reflective practice and comfort with ambiguity-can therefore offer valuable insights into how NQS assessments can best be implemented. Although government actors maintain a preference for positivist paradigms, greater attention to constructivist paradigms may help to align the NQS assessment process with the ways of knowing valued in contemporary ECEC practice, and improve its ability to accommodate the complexity and diversity of ECEC quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing awareness that some children transition into formal schooling more readily than others. Compelling evidence indicates that children familiar with the skills and knowledge associated with the dominant practices of literacy teaching in schools have an advantage. While families play a pivotal role in children's early literacy development, there is often a disjuncture between the literacy experiences of children from minority backgrounds and those they encounter on entry into formal schooling. Quality teaching in the prior-to-school setting becomes increasingly important for these children. This paper first examines what research and the literature reveal about successful transitioning of children into formal schooling, successful early literacy practices, and the importance of a quality early childhood education. This sets the backdrop for a description of an early literacy initiative, which took place in six remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Australia, where all the early childhood educators were under- or un-qualified. Significant aspects emerging from the initiative were: the engagement of the Elders in the community for the implementation of the initiative; the 'two-way' learning between the non-Indigenous University mentor and the Aboriginal early childhood educator in each community; the necessity for making Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing a key pillar of the children's literacy learning; the bilingual nature of the initiative; and the University mentors gradually stepping further and further away, moving from teacher, to coach, to mentor, as the skills and confidence of the early childhood educators developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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People over 65 (or older people) are a growing proportion of the population in many developed countries including Australia. In the last 10 to 12 years interest from this group in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the Internet has also grown considerably. ICT has much to offer older people as a means of keeping in touch with family, perhaps in other parts of the world, to obtain information about health and financial matters, for entertainment and to further their education. It also offers possibilities for intergenerational cooperation with, for example, children coaching their grandparents. This paper concentrates on older people's use of ICT for education, some of this being formal but mostly informal, and adopts a socio-technical framework based on actor-network theory (ANT) to investigate this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the recent introduction by the Australian government of standardised literacy testing, and raises questions about the impact of this reform on the professional ethics of English literacy teachers in primary and secondary schools. We draw on data collected as part of a major research project, involving interviews with teachers about their experiences of implementing standardised testing in Victoria and South Australia that focused on the changing nature of their work practices through the implementation of such tests. The paper traces the ways in which teachers' work is increasingly being mediated by standardised literacy testing to show how these teachers struggle with the tensions between state-wide mandates and a sense of responsibility towards their students. Through an analysis of research data collected in public schools, the paper challenges circumscribed understandings of ethical practice on the part of teachers as a matter of being publicly accountable through mechanisms like the publication of standardised test results. It invokes, instead, a situated notion of professional ethics as responsiveness to those around us. The paper argues the primacy of an ethic of care that cannot be measured, and which is enacted in resistance to the judgments made by standardised tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses academic work and the academic workforce in the context of current dynamics and likely futures. It discusses the significance of academic work, reviews workforce characteristics, and analyses tensions and pressures. Prevailing conceptualisations, it is argued, do not reflect the current situation in which the profession finds itself, and would provide a very shaky foundation on which to build the future workforce. There is an overarching need for a fresh conceptualisation of academic work that is authentic and feasible and suggestions are offered of what this might look like. A number of strategies are proposed how such a recasting might be implemented. The paper works from Australian research, and make suggestions for other systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I highlight the significance of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's contribution to the study of teacher learning. I particularly draw on his notion of embodiment to show that professional knowledge is embodied knowledge and that teachers make sense of their professional world through their embodied action. I contrast my interpretation with a professional learning model that has been influential in Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and other countries. I suggest that policy makers interested in education reform initiatives would benefit from interrogating the nature of professional practices in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new Australian Curriculum: English (ACARA, 2012) has considerable implications for teachers' knowledge about language (KAL) and pedagogic practice. To successfully implement the functionally oriented model of grammar proposed by the Curriculum, many teachers will need to expand their expertise in grammar to understand 'the structures and functions of word- and sentence- level grammar and text patterns and the connections between them' (ACARA, 2009. p. 7). They will also need to apply that knowledge to enhance their students' learning outcomes. This paper describes a small-scale research project involving a group of primary and secondary teachers in a targeted professional learning program. The initial findings have implications for theory and practice. In terms of theory, the research provides one of the first studies of the implementation of the new Curriculum. The case study reported underscores the importance of the implementation phase for the Curriculum and of the need for appropriate professional learning programs. The paper argues that such programs must go beyond a 'trainthe- trainer' or 'one size fits all' model. They must be nuanced enough to account for the range of teacher needs in terms of linguistic knowledge and the contexts in which they will enact the Curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Somewhat surprisingly, an explicit knowledge about language has been often absent from English curricula. The new Australian Curriculum: English (ACARA, 2012) has taken a fairly radical step in placing knowledge about language at the core of classroom practice, thereby raising the issue of an appropriate model of language to inform the Language Strand of the Curriculum. This paper will outline the rationale behind the Language Strand, and will then make explicit its underlying model of language. The paper thus provides a context for the ensuing articles in this Special Focus Issue of AJLL, which take up various concerns in relation to implementation of the Curriculum and especially of the Language strand of the English Curriculum. The paper concludes by canvassing a number of issues relevant to the development and implementation of the Curriculum: student outcomes, terminology, and pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is consensus in the partner abuse prevention education literature that a skills-focus is needed. However, appropriate instruments for evaluating the effectiveness of skills-focused programs do not exist. Against this background, and based on the dyadic slippery slope model of partner abuse, the Tendency to Resist or End Abusive Dynamics (TREAD) scale was developed. TREAD is defined as one's tendency to respond assertively or protectively in situations involving warning-sign (potentially hurtful or controlling) behaviors by a partner. The scale's development drew on the input of three Australian samples: mixed-gender adolescent focus groups, 426 young female respondents to an online survey, and 152 adolescent girls participating in a school-based program trial. When tested with the 152 adolescent girls, the TREAD scale had acceptable internal consistency and high inter-rater reliability. Principal components analysis identified three interrelated TREAD subscales (i.e., Conflict-Retaliation TREAD, Denigration TREAD, and Dominance-Possessiveness TREAD) all of which were negatively associated with frequency of exposure to warning-sign behaviors. This paper charts the preliminary development of the TREAD scale, presenting evidence supporting its validity as a change-target for partner abuse prevention education with adolescent girls and, potentially, boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report describes a 1-year exchange between members of two pediatric cardiology centers: one in Canada and one in Australia. Five cardiologists participated in sequence, fully engaging in the activities of the host department. The motivation of the exchange was broadly educational including clinical experience, shared expertise, teaching, and research collaboration. Structured debriefing confirmed the value of the exchange. In addition to the experience of working in a different medical system, eight research papers were developed, with two research projects ongoing as well as subsequent exchanges of nursing and technical personnel. Interchange between two academic departments can add strength to both and allow development of new skills and research activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on earlier work by the author to explore the international dimensions of a study of the changing roles and identities of professional staff in higher education (Whitchurch , ). It further develops the concept of the blended professional, characterising individuals with identities drawn from both professional and academic domains, and examines the institutional spaces, knowledges, relationships and legitimacies that they construct. Comparisons between the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States are used to provide indicators of possible futures for this group of staff, including their positioning in the university community, the challenges they face, and the potentials that they offer to their institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia’s retirement savings regime requires employers to make contributions to a superannuation fund for their employees. Workers who may have no experience of investment are asked to make relatively complex decisions, which have significant implications for their retirement lifestyle. Evidence suggests individuals may be unduly influenced by recent historical returns when making investment choices. Such a bias may produce sub-optimal results over the longer-term. This paper uses a large database from four not-for-profit retirement savings funds to investigate members’ investment choices using logistic regression and multi-variate tests. We find evidence that choices are driven by recent historical returns. We also investigate demographics and find a link between age and return chasing behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]