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Students with learning difficulties form the largest group of students with additional needs in Australian mainstream classrooms. However the terminology surrounding these students differs broadly across the country. A consistent and shared understanding of the term learning difficulties is vital, as this impacts the identification and equitable provision of support for students experiencing difficulties with learning. The website of each Australian state/territory government education department was examined to determine to how students with learning difficulties are formally identified and supported. It was found that considerable differences, and even conflicting information, exist both within and across education systems. Implications and the significance of this situation are discussed.

Mobile learning is viewed by many institutional leaders as the solution for a student cohort that is demanding an increasing flexibility in study options. These students are fitting study around other aspects of their lives including work and caring responsibilities, or they are studying at a geographical location far removed from the university campus. With ubiquitous connectivity available in many parts of the world and with the incremental improvements in design and affordability of mobile devices, many students are using mobile technologies to access course materials and activities. Even so, there are relatively few formal mobile learning initiatives underway and even fewer evaluations of those initiatives. This is significant because without a rigorous evaluation of mobile learning, it is impossible to determine whether it provides a viable and cost-effective way of accessing courses for both the student and the institution. This chapter examines the broad groupings of uses for mobile devices for learning, before considering the evaluation frameworks that are currently in use. The characteristics, affordances, and issues of these frameworks are briefly discussed. A project to develop a Mobile Learning Evaluation Framework is introduced, which will consider evaluation from four aspects: (1) pedagogical learning, (2) pedagogical teaching, (3) technical, and (4) organizational.

In this chapter we look at inclusive education as part of a number of wider social movements for social justice. Inclusive education is thus understood as a transformation of education systems, rather than simply the addition of new groups of students to schools, or the development of new techniques (Slee, 2006). We illustrate the ways movements for social change can occur at many levels. Resistance to social change also occurs at many levels. Movements for social justice often include a goal of changing what happens in education. This is because education is often seen as one of the important social institutions that can reinforce the status quo. Education is also seen as an important means of changing the status quo, giving more people access to a more meaningful education. It’s not uncommon to hear various political parties criticising each other’s educational policies as ‘social engineering.’ Movements for social justice in education understand that education has always been about social engineering. The questions of interest are thus: Social engineering for what?; Who benefits; and At whose expense?

This thesis will report on mixed method research which examined secondary Support Teachers Learning Difficulties (STLDs) and their modes of operation in New South Wales (NSW) government schools, Australia. Four modes of operation were identified in the literature as consultancy, team teaching, in-class support and withdrawal. An additional area of other duties was also included to examine the time when STLDs were not functioning in the four identified modes of operation. NSW government policy is in keeping with the literature as it recommends that STLDs should spend the majority of their time in consultancy and team teaching while in class with a minimum of withdrawal of students from their main classrooms for individual or small group instruction. STLDs, however, did not appear to be functioning in the recommended way. A number of factors identified in the literature, which may influence the modes of operation, can be grouped under the heading of school culture thus this research involved the examination of the effects of school culture on the modes of operation with the aim of expanding our understanding of the functioning of STLDs and providing suggestions for improvement. The theoretical base of social constructionism has informed this research which included survey and case study methods. Case studies of the STLDs in three secondary schools led to the conclusion that, in conjunction with factors such as flexibility and commitment, the involvement of the STLD in a sub-culture of learning support may lead to functioning in the recommended modes of operation.