Search

Ability grouping of students into separate classes within a school can be called 'betweenclass ability grouping'. This practice has persisted in Australia despite evidence that it is socially inequitable and does not improve academic outcomes. A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature about between-class ability grouping in Australia from 2012-2022 reveals only N=28 papers that meet the inclusion criteria. These papers are critiqued and synthesised into four main findings that characterise Australian research about between-class ability grouping from 2012-2022. The findings reveal a lack of substantive inquiry with most studies having limited scope and drawing on outdated or overly generalised data. International studies gloss over vital details about how betweenclass ability grouping is practised in Australia, while research conducted from within Australia reflects enduring tensions between gifted and talented, and social equity agendas. Further research that characterises the range of Australian grouping practices and their effects on students could be used to inform decisions about how to group students into classes in secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design thinking is becoming more commonly used as a collaborative, problem-solving approach in higher education outside design disciplines. With the pivot to remote and online learning in response to Covid-19 and lockdown measures, many educators have had to rethink their practice and collaboration in design thinking, without the usual recourse to shared physical space and material resources. This reflective study brings together four educators who take their human-centred design thinking approaches to higher education online. Through a process of collaborative reflective professional inquiry, the authors offer practice-oriented insights into learning design, educational development and facilitation in design thinking online. Findings challenge commonly held assumptions about teaching online, the role of technology, and the importance of 'best practice' in education. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research to explore design thinking online as a practice and mindset outside the confines of the design studio.

Ability grouping of students into separate classes within a school can be called 'between-class ability grouping'. This practice has persisted in Australia despite evidence that it is socially inequitable and does not improve academic outcomes. A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature about between-class ability grouping in Australia from 2012- 2022 reveals only N=28 papers that meet the inclusion criteria. These papers are critiqued and synthesised into four main findings that characterise Australian research about between-class ability grouping from 2012-2022. The findings reveal a lack of substantive inquiry with most studies having limited scope and drawing on outdated or overly generalised data. International studies gloss over vital details about how between-class ability grouping is practised in Australia, while research conducted from within Australia reflects enduring tensions between gifted and talented, and social equity agendas. Further research that characterises the range of Australian grouping practices and their effects on students could be used to inform decisions about how to group students into classes in secondary schools.

While researchers broadly agree on what enables and constrains teacher professional learning, reconfigured large teaching spaces potentially create new processes and content for this learning. In this paper we draw on six years of study of teacher adaptation to these settings in 10 schools in regional Australia to identify the nature of, and key influences on, this learning. Our analyses are based on a theoretical framing of relational agency illustrated in two case studies of sustained teacher interventions. We found that teachers’ professional learning (TPL) in these contexts entailed learning new roles, developing new practices, and understanding the warrants for these practices. TPL was enabled by (a) extensive improvisation and intensive collaboration; (b) opportunities for teachers to observe teacher practices in other schools, and customise them for their own schools; and (c) extended partnerships between teachers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and justifies the protocol for a research project investigating regional secondary school consolidation reforms in New South Wales, Australia. The study is designed to describe the experiences of those directly involved in the transition to a consolidated school in a way that has so far eluded educational leadership researchers. Identifying five themes from the international literature on school consolidation (leadership and governance; staff and student wellbeing; teaching and learning; curriculum and pathways; community satisfaction), the paper then articulates a systematic research protocol for examining the transition from individual schools through to a consolidated school. Previous studies have not systematically examined this transition and how it shifts practices and perceptions from different stakeholder perspectives. Using a purposeful merger of quantitative and qualitative forms of evidence, this study protocol has the potential to play a defining role in the area of school consolidation reforms. The applicability of the study design holds promise as an adaptable, focused, and sustainable protocol for generating understanding of school consolidation transitions and developing an empirical evidence base that is localised, internationally benchmarked, and critical for school decisions about investments and outcomes for educators, students, and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Curriculum is a policy document that directly influences the lived realities of millions of students and teachers. However, navigating and understanding the Australian Curriculum can be confusing due to discipline-specific meta-language. This poses problems when attempting to access the Curriculum in research that extends beyond the Education discipline. In response, this paper proposes a novel model that facilitates the analysis of curriculum documents for those outside the Education discipline. To illustrate the method, the paper provides an example of how and where community gardens align with the content descriptions of the Australian Curriculum. A word frequency analysis suggests that community gardens are most closely aligned with the Humanities and Social Science's (HASS) and Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning areas. A word tree analysis thematically groups content descriptions and discusses how community gardens can support classroom implementation of both HASS and HPE. The method presented will benefit scholars outside the Education discipline who seek to engage with the curriculum. It also extends discussions surrounding how to best integrate gardens in schools.

The link between one's postcode and probable school 'success' is well recognised. For those in remote Australian schools, it is an indicator that the further one lives from the metropolis, the less likely they are to be successful. Improved educational outcomes are desirable for students in remote communities to broaden their future life choices. This paper considers what neo-conservative policies around 'improvement' and 'success'--largely formed and mandated in metropolitan centres of education governance--mean for students living in remote locations. Using an example of leading a remote Australian school, we consider if educational success for students in remote schools can be readily evidenced through standardised testing alone. We also consider what this means for teachers, teaching in a remote site. This article draws primarily on the experiences of a school leader conducting an autoethnography, following their three-year tenure as a leader in a remote school. Through applied qualitative inquiry, drawing in particular on reflexive self-study, the paper explores one remote school's response to calls from governments for 'improvement'.

The importance of inclusive education receives global acceptance. The current paper presents a bibliometric analysis of 8398 papers dealing with inclusive education between 1980 and 2019. The research aim is to gain information on scientific productivity, international collaboration activities, and the conceptual structure of this research field. Descriptive analyses, co-authorship collaboration analysis and co-word analysis were conducted to obtain a comprehensive knowledge map of inclusive education research. The results show a fast growing body of research in inclusive education over the years with intensive international collaboration patterns. Six research clusters could be identified. Major and intensively studied research themes are disability issues, teacher professionalisation, teacher practices, attitudes towards inclusive education, social processes, support, curricular issues, student perspective, parent perspective, intercultural education, policy, etc. Research addressing inclusive education from a queer perspective, bullying, stigmatisation, digital education and emerging technologies in inclusive settings are under-represented and should be intensified in future studies.

For institutions intent on improving their research student outcomes, it is important to identify the variables most strongly associated with timely or tardy completions, which the university has the potential to influence or amend. For this to occur the analyses of doctoral completion times need to be conducted at an institution or discipline level. However, conducting meaningful analyses of doctoral completion data is a complex undertaking fraught with potential problems. This paper uses an intra-institution case study to reflect on and illustrate how different meanings can emerge from data analysis, depending on the statistical approach used to analyse the data. The paper outlines the lessons learned during data analysis, and the implications for doctoral education. The findings also point to potential marketing opportunities for research institutions.

In this paper we provide an evaluative description and report of the various aspects of teaching and learning Greek as a heritage and/or foreign language in the Northern Territory of Australia. Initially, we focus on the importance of the formation of dynamic learning communities through interdisciplinary collaboration. The main purpose of Charles Darwin University's Greek In-Country Study Program is to support the learning of Greek language and culture through language lessons as well as concurrent cultural activities that are delivered while students are in Greece. After thirteen years of successful implementation of the program, the purpose of this report is to highlight the learning activities that have been completed over these years through a discussion of the research outcomes of the students' experiences that we believe will underscore the important roles that language, literature, and culture play in the strengthening of one's Greek identify while living within Australia. Within this framework, basic principles of design and the use of cross-university teaching and learning programs for the Greek language are presented, as well as foregrounding the advantages of current information technology for instructional purposes and, in particular, the maintenance, and perhaps even revival of heritage languages as well as reinforcing their contributions to the role of education in the diaspora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors of this paper are academic developers in an Australian university. In this paper, we discuss the outcomes of a small pilot study about value tensions; completed to inform a larger research project about the possibilities of making collaborative collegiality an explicit aim of a curriculum review. After interviewing four course leaders, we were interested in the highly specific nature of the course leaders' challenges. Could a critical enquiry schema based on each course leader's emerging value tensions provide a scaffold for scholarly, critical discourse? Making tensions explicit in teaching and learning development work in university course teams may begin a process of situated, critical questioning and discourse on the curriculum itself. We acknowledge this work can, at times, elicit a form of difficult discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anecdotally, teachers take up opportunities to mark large-scale assessments because they are told by colleagues that it is ‘good PD’. Assertions about the value of marking are passed along with little question. However, research into the benefits of participating as a marker in large-scale marking has not been conducted in the Australian context. This paper reports the results of an online survey of Australian teachers (N=43) about their participation in large-scale marking in order to examine whether the research that has been conducted internationally is likely to be generalisable to Australia. The responses to the survey are described and then compared with four main areas of benefit identified in the literature. It found that Australian teachers’ views of large-scale marking are similar to those of their international colleagues, and that teachers report a broad and varied range of benefits. Additionally, it was found that survey respondents identified a range of costs and drawbacks of marking that have not been reported in the literature, but that in spite of these the respondents would still recommend the experience to other teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews research and theory relating to aspirations for higher education as a cultural capacity. Understanding the social and cultural dimensions of aspirations for higher education is important as they are increasingly becoming part of social commentary and more recently educational policy, research and practice. This paper synthesises the empirical literature, conceptual understandings and theory relating to aspirations as a capacity in a way that will be useful to others who are engaged in practical initiatives and research targeting educational equity. We focus on recent and current developments regarding the capacity to aspire as a conceptual framework, analyse studies that evaluate programs based on the capacity to aspire, and consider what evidence and lessons can be used in current and future equity initiatives. This paper draws on the authors' current research about the educational and career aspirations of students from under-represented backgrounds in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out to explain the Deakin University-Teach For Australia (DU-TFA) program for preparing teachers Australia-wide, with a focus on Western Australia (WA), and to offer insight into how the DU-TFA beginning teachers, known as Associates, 'dealt with' the demands of the program. It is not an evaluation of the DU-TFA program; rather, through qualitative research methods, it offers the perspectives of four Associates on how they 'dealt with' the demands of the program, and the suggestions they make for modifications to the program to alleviate some of these demands. The suggestions may prove useful to TFA and its new partner university, as well as to other initial teacher education (ITE) programs. The paper provides the background to the TFA program, inclusive of its purpose, its operations, and the mentoring approach it employs with its partner university to support the Associates. The qualitative research methodology used to gather the data, and the limitations of the study, are also explained.

This paper describes and justifies the protocol for a research project investigating regional secondary school consolidation reforms in New South Wales, Australia. The study is designed to describe the experiences of those directly involved in the transition to a consolidated school in a way that has so far eluded educational leadership researchers. Identifying five themes from the international literature on school consolidation (leadership and governance; staff and student wellbeing; teaching and learning; curriculum and pathways; community satisfaction), the paper then articulates a systematic research protocol for examining the transition from individual schools through to a consolidated school. Previous studies have not systematically examined this transition and how it shifts practices and perceptions from different stakeholder perspectives. Using a purposeful merger of quantitative and qualitative forms of evidence, this study protocol has the potential to play a defining role in the area of school consolidation reforms. The applicability of the study design holds promise as an adaptable, focused, and sustainable protocol for generating understanding of school consolidation transitions and developing an empirical evidence base that is localised, internationally benchmarked, and critical for school decisions about investments and outcomes for educators, students, and communities.

There is continuing interest in identifying factors that influence learning in the middle years. This paper reports a case study that aimed to identify key factors that influenced Year 8 students' self-regulation of learning in English in an Australian regional secondary school with a low socio-economic profile. This study focuses on both students' selfregulatory strategies as well as contextual factors affecting student effort andperformance, drawing on an analysis of a) a group of year 8 students' perceptions of selfregulatory learning strategies in tackling two literacy tasks, and b) organisational structures and teaching and learning processes that supported student learning. The paper concludes with some implications for future pedagogical and structural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study reviews the research from 1969 to 2005 describing pre-service candidates' transition from student teacher to professional educator during their socialisation into school culture. Despite the educational reforms in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia over the last three decades, this review argues that new teachers experience many of the same initial concerns that have been documented about beginning teachers for over 35 years. The paper also examines the core themes that emerged in each of the respective periods identified in the review, including: teachers' perceptions of self (1969 to mid 1980s); professional sustainability (mid 1980s to late 1990s); and emerging identity during the process of their socialisation into school culture (2000 to 2005). Based on this examination, the paper suggests that the tension between new teacher identity formation and socialisation into school culture can be reconciled by a post-industrial perspective of how individuals formulate concepts of self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors of this paper are academic developers in an Australian university. In this paper, we discuss the outcomes of a small pilot study about value tensions; completed to inform a larger research project about the possibilities of making collaborative collegiality an explicit aim of a curriculum review. After interviewing four course leaders, we were interested in the highly specific nature of the course leaders' challenges. Could a critical enquiry schema based on each course leader's emerging value tensions provide a scaffold for scholarly, critical discourse? Making tensions explicit in teaching and learning development work in university course teams may begin a process of situated, critical questioning and discourse on the curriculum itself. We acknowledge this work can, at times, elicit a form of difficult discourse.

This paper discusses the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) performance of Years Five, Seven and Nine students in standardised tests prior and post the implementation of a mobile learning initiative in a Western Australian school for boys. The school sees the use of ICT as important in enhancing its potential to deliver optimal educational outcomes. However, the School is also cognisant of the shared concern of teachers and parents in the school community about an over-reliance on mobile devices for learning, to the detriment of students' accomplishments in literacy and numeracy. The paper examines NAPLAN results from standardised test scores prior and post the mobile learning initiative at the School and in comparison to national data. Literacy and numeracy results were analysed between two periods: prior to 2010 in which the mobile learning initiative was not implemented at the School and between 2010 and 2012, in which the mobile learning initiative was implemented in Years Five, Seven and Nine. It is argued that the implementation of mobile learning has had a minimal effect on student performance as gauged by standardised testing.

This paper presents the early findings from a study that addresses the topic of mature age professionals making a career change into the secondary teaching profession by undertaking a postgraduate coursework initial teacher education program. The paper specifically addresses the factors that affect the decision for mature age professionals to make such a change. Education systems worldwide are encouraging mature age professionals to make a career change into secondary teaching to fill teacher shortages in specialist subject areas. However, the literature shows there has been little recent research about this aspect of mature age career changers. The study on which this paper is based utilised a qualitative, narrative inquiry approach to explore the stories of mature age professionals who were making a career change into teaching. The paper focuses on the resonances across the stories of 17 mature age professionals as they outline the factors that influenced their decision to make a career change into teaching. The findings of this study would be of interest to educational policy makers and academic administrators responsible for the recruitment of mature age professionals into secondary teaching.

This paper presents a reflection on the methodology used for a qualitative longitudinal study of the teaching of Modern Greek (Greek) in Western Australia under the Seconded Teachers from Greece Scheme (STGS). The study, a first of its kind, addressed an area of need in the teaching of Greek, investigating the perspectives of the key stakeholders in teaching Greek as a second language in WA under this particular scheme. The study was located within the interpretivist paradigm, with the theoretical position being that of symbolic interactionism. The methodology used was that of grounded theory and the research methods included document study, semi-structured interviewing, and participant and non-participant observation. The data analysis methods included coding, specifically open-coding and related methods. The reflection reported in this paper sheds light on the positive aspects of the methodology used for this study, as well as the issues that arose along the way, drawing conclusions that will hopefully assist other researchers undertaking this type of study.

With a proposed Australian national history curriculum, many Australians began to question what historical content would be taught in the nation's schools and colleges. While pressure for a national history curriculum had been building for many years, the final impetus came from a moral panic that gripped Australian society during late 2005, possibly reinforced by risk society imperatives. This paper argues that the history taught in Australian school education is highly politicised, the product of a moral panic, and of risk society thinking. This paper further argues students should be enabled to appreciate these factors underpinning national history curriculum through a more rigorous teaching of historiography in the school education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major disrupter in the Australian early childhood education (ECE) sector. ECE educators had to respond quickly to frequent surprises and risky challenges. Their stressful, exhausting experiences as they constantly managed change are explored in this paper. The study used an interpretive social constructionist approach to interview six ECE leaders in order to construct a shared understanding of their beliefs and experiences during this time. The results indicate an increased risk of mental and physical health problems, and some impaired service quality. Although the results are indicative of historical treatment, the consequences of government neglect have resulted in a staffing crisis and closed services. Lessons need to be learned in how we treat educators and services if we want future generations of children educated and cared for by resilient educators who are not at risk of feeling they are in "burnout central."

Professional standards for teachers have become a near-ubiquitous policy tool in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries in efforts to improve teacher quality and student outcomes. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers differ from teaching standards implemented in comparable countries, with its system of voluntary higher accreditation levels for teacher-leaders. In the decade since these standards were introduced, it was hoped that 50% of teachers would achieve higher levels of accreditation. Currently, that number is lower than 1%. This protocol paper outlines the rationale and methodologies for a design-based research study that creates, tests and refines a set of design principles for effective professional development. These principles are used to inform the design and delivery of a professional development program that supports teachers through the process of gaining higher accreditation under the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. The benefits of this study are twofold. The professional development program will remain as an artefact for the profession to address the issue of the dearth of Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers. The design principles will also support researchers and practitioners in the development of future effective professional development programs within and beyond the teaching profession.

This paper investigates the insights that we, as parent-educators gained from our children's learning experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and how this impacted our approaches to learning and teaching. All authors are teacher education academics working at a regional Australian university. The rapid and extensive changes in our personal and professional circumstances provided an opportunity for us to critically examine the ways in which we promoted learning for our children and our students. Our reflections on these investigations form the basis of this article. To explore these issues we drew on a method involving narrative inquiry and the Indigenous concept of yarning that we call collaborative narrative inquiry and the theoretical framework of Antonovsky's salutogenic approach. Key findings of the research demonstrated tensions between the roles of parent and educator with a growing focus on the former and an increasing emphasis on health and well-being. These issues impacted the ways in which parent-educators facilitated learning for all students.

This paper reports on a study which focused on surveying children and young people (aged 4 to 17) regarding their experiences of childhood, schooling, family, and community. Participants focused on the importance of their connections to fellow children and young people, their families, and their educators. They identified ways for adults to care for them and to create connectedness and belonging whether at home or school. Participants also spoke to the value of their voices and views, and expressed a desire to be respected and recognised, whether on a personal level or with reference to broader systems such as government. Throughout the study, participants expressed appreciation regarding the opportunity to engage in research that explicitly focused on seeking and honouring their voices and views. For instance, one secondary-aged student stated, "Children can make a difference by sharing their perspective and expressing the way the world feels to them." Recommendations are posed which have heightened relevance for educators, school leaders, and parents/carers. These relate to school culture, learning and teaching, caring for children, and relating to children.

Australian children read for pleasure less and less as they move through primary school, with a noticeable decline emerging in the middle primary school years (Scholastic, 2019). It has also been found that "reading for pleasure at school" has become de-prioritised in primary schools, with greater emphasis in the broader literacy education dialogue placed on instructional reading pedagogy and standardised literacy testing (Merga & Gardiner, 2018). The research presented in this paper focuses on the aspects of school culture that meaningfully support Reading for Pleasure at School (RfPS) in Years 3-6. It aims to explore the perspectives of five educators and 14 Years 3-6 children from one Western Australian independent public school. Consistent with a phenomenological perspective, this qualitative case study collected data through semi-structured individual interviews and focus group interviews with the participants. The research found that there were notable discrepancies between the educators' and the children's perspectives of RfPS culture, highlighting the importance of children's perspectives being sought if schools wish to improve the quantity and quality of their reading for pleasure practices.

A new, independent Catholic school in rural Australia has had to face significant challenges in relation to its distinct Catholic ethos and curriculum. The challenges have included resistance from parents of the School with regard to the weekly time allocation for Religious Education, the nature of the faith-based curriculum, and the way in which it is taught. Resistance to the School in general has also been demonstrated from further afield and higher up, including the 'systemic authorities'. The various forces of resistance have created challenges for the School on both a small and large scale. This paper presents the types of challenges met by the School's Directors and Principal. It also presents how the challenges were tackled and explores the implications for the School, at the time and in the future. The implications may also be relevant to other faith-based schools in similar settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental choice of school is an under-researched area in the Australian educational literature. Moreover, research in this area tends to focus on school choice with respect to government policy and market influences. This paper presents the findings from doctoral research which explored the ways in which parents living in rural and remote areas selected a secondary boarding school for their child. In particular, the paper shows the complex psychical constructions undertaken by non-Indigenous parents in their defining of "good" schools, which subsequently underpin their selection of school. The confluences of geography, school culture and race on the parental choice of school process are explored.

This paper examines leadership strategies that are most likely to engender success in schools that may be defined as facing challenging circumstances. First, it presents an overview of the relevant literature in order to illustrate distinctive challenges that tend to be encountered in these environments, as well as strategies that are adopted for dealing with such challenges. Secondly, the paper reports on a Western Australian qualitative study of four principals leading primary schools facing challenging circumstances. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications that may be drawn from the resultant theoretical and empirical insights for policy and practice as well as for future research endeavour.

This article reports on the development of a conceptual model of teacher emotion through a review of teacher emotion research published between 2003 and 2013. By examining 82 publications regarding teacher emotion, the main aim of the review was to identify how teacher emotion was conceptualised in the literature and develop a conceptual model to illustrate the findings. Interestingly, few papers explicitly defined 'emotion' or 'teacher emotion' but described the functions of emotion (such as providing information) and influences on emotion (such as personal characteristics), so these were also used to build the conceptual model. The literature also highlighted the complexities of emotion, with implications for how teacher emotion should be studied. The model proposed aims to clarify how emotion research has been conceptualised within education research contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the term 'andragogy' (adult education) and develops a new concept based upon an analysis of the skills and dispositions of 21st century learners in initial teacher education through the lens of adult education: 'digital andragogy'. In order to engage and retain students and revitalise education courses by optimising digital affordances, lecturers must examine the profiles of their learners and seek to create learning spaces that best suit their needs and wants. We posit that learners in initial teacher education programs should be encouraged and supported to transition from pedagogical practices experienced in their school years to higher education contexts for learning that are based upon digital andragogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research reported in this paper investigates the situation of German migrant teachers in Australia. Although German born teachers represent the largest group of non-English speaking background teachers in Australia, there is no study of the circumstances and experiences of these teachers in Australia. This study aims to fill this gap. It consists of two parts, employing quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The first part provides demographic data about the German born teacher population in Australia, compiled from national Australian census data. The second part presents the results of the analyses of interviews with ten German migrant teachers in Western Australia. The results indicate issues related to the acculturation and professional transition of these teachers into Australia, such as diversity in expectations and values of education, a lack of professional support, and feelings of isolation. Finally, wider implications of the findings in terms of the provision of professional support for migrant teachers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the implementation and outcomes of Growing Better Beginnings: a family literacy program for four and five year olds. The program builds on Better Beginnings: Birth to Three launched in 2005. Parents, teachers and librarians were surveyed and interviewed to ascertain their perceptions of the program. An analysis of the factors which facilitate the implementation and outcomes of Growing Better Beginnings and issues associated with the effectiveness of the implementation process is discussed. Findings indicate that perceptions of the program, central coordination, relationships and resources were viewed as facilitating implementation, whilst communication, impact on work, training and use and sustainability were seen as issues impacting on the effectiveness of the implementation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issues of developing strategies and approaches to teaching introductory level economics courses at university have been long standing. With the development of economics learning standards in Australia, this is a time to consider teaching and learning approaches to engage students and develop skills in economics. This paper considers that to satisfactorily develop skills in economics it is important to recognise this difference in student preferences for learning styles and to apply a variety of learning styles and opportunities for students to learn and develop skills. One method for measuring learning styles is VARK. This approach considers visual (V), aural (A), reading (R) and kinesthetic (K) preferences for learning. This method determines students preferred modes of intaking, processing and outputting information. The paper examines the application of this approach at Australian Catholic University and evaluates the success this pedagogy had at increasing student satisfaction and skills in introductory level economics.

This paper presents the experiences of four researchers working within, alongside and for the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The focus of the research was a health and education needs analysis of Gumala Aboriginal Corporation members that would inform future education and health planning in the region. The research project was a collaboration between the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation, Rio Tinto and Murdoch University. The research comprised a combination of paper and pen surveys, interviews, focus groups and meetings with elders. What we learned about researching in Indigenous contexts through these experiences is the focus of this paper. Building on Indigenous research methodologies, theories and ways of being and doing, we explore the need to be build trust and relationships, respect Indigenous protocols, understand what it means to be "on country" and perhaps most importantly to learn to sit and listen. Based on our research and experiences, this paper discusses key elements of the emerging "grounded in country" framework we are developing in response to our experiences.

This paper evaluates various feedback models utilised for summative assessment tasks for tertiary digital media students at the University of South Australia in Australia. The aim of this research project was to establish the advantages and disadvantages of each technique, and to determine which model provided students with more insight into their academic performance. In the first half of 2014, in the course Design Language in Media Arts, three different summative feedback models were trialled: written feedback; audio feedback; and video feedback. 77 first year students participated in the learning experiment where a different feedback model was utilised for each of the three major assignments in the course. The three summative feedback techniques were evaluated at the end of the semester in the form of an online survey, which provided participating students with the opportunity to critically reflect on the learning experience. The findings of the study are discussed in light of the growing use of non-traditional feedback measures in higher education, and provide insight into the advantages and disadvantages of each model, from both student and staff perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews research and theory relating to aspirations for higher education as a cultural capacity. Understanding the social and cultural dimensions of aspirations for higher education is important as they are increasingly becoming part of social commentary and more recently educational policy, research and practice. This paper synthesises the empirical literature, conceptual understandings and theory relating to aspirations as a capacity in a way that will be useful to others who are engaged in practical initiatives and research targeting educational equity. We focus on recent and current developments regarding the capacity to aspire as a conceptual framework, analyse studies that evaluate programs based on the capacity to aspire, and consider what evidence and lessons can be used in current and future equity initiatives. This paper draws on the authors' current research about the educational and career aspirations of students from under-represented backgrounds in higher education.

This paper develops the concept of articulated learning and relates it to the role of Academic Language and Learning (ALL) academics in facilitating the progress of international and other English as an additional language (EAL) students from program to program, between generic, academic and disciplinary skills and from their studies to the work environment. It also describes the ALL role in the development of reflective learning practices which are essential to enable students to problem-solve both academically and professionally. We combine these two elements to extend the theory of articulated learning and explore its value in the internationalisation of higher education. Although it is impossible to detail the vast array of ALL contexts and practices in Australian and international contexts, the case study exemplified in this paper by the Introductory Academic Program enables a clearer definition of the role of ALL practitioners and how they, along with disciplinary counterparts, can best facilitate student learning and achievement. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

The Independent Public Schools (IPS) program began to be implemented in some Western Australian schools in 2010. The IPS program devolves a number of responsibilities to principals and is part of the political objective of removing the constraints of the education bureaucracy by fostering school level decision-making, problem-solving and innovation. This paper argues that IPS can be understood as an instance of "advanced liberal government". It then explores the enactment of IPS in a Western Australian high school. This paper suggests that while IPS was designed to empower principals from the constraints of the Department of Education, and principals are taking up the flexibilities offered by the program, some principals may be experiencing a lack of support and resources that imposes constraints in their capacity to innovate and problem-solve.

There is a growing interest in tertiary education in Australia about developing the capacity of learners to evaluate and improve both their own work and that of others (Boud & Falchikov, 2006; Oliver, 2011). In order to successfully direct their own learning beyond university (and engage in lifelong learning), students need to be able to evaluate their performance in relation to a standard, identify gaps, and determine how to bridge them in order to achieve the desired standard if required. One strategy that can be employed to help students achieve this is engaging them actively in a feedback process, so that feedback becomes an integral part of learning. In this paper the authors define feedback as a loop, meaning that the feedback process is only complete when there is not only some identifiable influence on the recipient of the feedback (Boud & Molloy, 2012), but feedback results in improved performance -- a sign that learning has occurred. This paper describes how peer feedback was embedded in a third year social studies unit. Pre and post surveys of students reveal their responses to the requirement that they actively engage in evaluation and feedback. This paper explores how engaging students in peer review as part of a major assessment task affected their learning, their capacity to direct their learning, and their self-efficacy in relation to academic and real-world tasks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to examine the initial policies developed by Australian, Canadian, English, German, Greek and Irish governments to limit the spread of the virus. This has revealed governments' conceptualisation of the early childhood sector and its workforce. This paper argues that neoliberal ideology and neoliberal imaginaries have already influenced the early childhood sector globally. During the pandemic, the choices that governments made at the outset of the pandemic has allowed their priorities and underlying ideology to be more transparent. Using an ethnographic methodology, early childhood researchers from each of the six countries, examined their individual governments policy responses and the effects on the early childhood sector during its initial months (between March and June 2020). The authors consider the extent to which this may have implications for the sector in how it should continue its ongoing pursuit of professionalisation of the sector.

Student retention in education courses is a political imperative. This research examined the wicked problem of attrition in a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Studies) course, drawing on the experiences of three different groups of students studying early childhood. The participants from each study represented different student groups within the course, which included all female (n=20), all male (n=6) and all mid-year entry students (n=10). A qualitative methodology was employed to capture students' university experiences and their perceptions of events at university. The research generated a unique theoretical framework examining the intersection between student and event and its impact on student belonging. Over fifty-six hours of interview data were analysed and conceptualised using this theoretical framework, which resulted in three distinct categories. This paper reports on one category of the framework, that of 'Where the intersection of event and student did not meet needs', identifying factors beyond the university's remit. Findings indicate that supporting student belonging through events is not straight forward as the one event or experience can either support or not support student belonging, depending on student circumstances. Recommendations to increase student retention and belonging are made that emphasise focusing on factors within the university's control, such as sourcing mentors within the discipline and educating them in ways to better support peers. In addition, shortening the duration of courses without compromising course quality will support attracting students to the course as well as retaining them.

While researchers broadly agree on what enables and constrains teacher professional learning, reconfigured large teaching spaces potentially create new processes and content for this learning. In this paper we draw on six years of study of teacher adaptation to these settings in 10 schools in regional Australia to identify the nature of, and key influences on, this learning. Our analyses are based on a theoretical framing of relational agency illustrated in two case studies of sustained teacher interventions. We found that teachers' professional learning (TPL) in these contexts entailed learning new roles, developing new practices, and understanding the warrants for these practices. TPL was enabled by (a) extensive improvisation and intensive collaboration; (b) opportunities for teachers to observe teacher practices in other schools, and customise them for their own schools; and (c) extended partnerships between teachers and researchers.

The National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) was introduced into Australian schools in 2008. Since NAPLAN's standardised tests are now regarded as high-stakes assessment, how well students perform has now become much more important. The findings presented in this paper pertain to students' experiences of how NAPLAN has affected their learning of mathematics. This investigation makes a contribution to understanding student experiences of high-stakes testing, from an Australian perspective. To best ascertain students' experiences of NAPLAN and to gain an understanding of how NAPLAN affected the teaching and learning of mathematics, a qualitative approach to research design was selected.

In this paper we provide an evaluative description and report of the various aspects of teaching and learning Greek as a heritage and/or foreign language in the Northern Territory of Australia. Initially, we focus on the importance of the formation of dynamic learning communities through interdisciplinary collaboration. The main purpose of Charles Darwin University's "Greek In-Country Study Program" is to support the learning of Greek language and culture through language lessons as well as concurrent cultural activities that are delivered while students are in Greece. After thirteen years of successful implementation of the program, the purpose of this report is to highlight the learning activities that have been completed over these years through a discussion of the research outcomes of the students' experiences that we believe will underscore the important roles that language, literature, and culture play in the strengthening of one's Greek identify while living within Australia. Within this framework, basic principles of design and the use of cross-university teaching and learning programs for the Greek language are presented, as well as foregrounding the advantages of current information technology for instructional purposes and, in particular, the maintenance, and perhaps even revival of heritage languages as well as reinforcing their contributions to the role of education in the diaspora.

Commencing students in universities today are very diverse with regards to their academic preparation, language, and cultural background. Some of these students are also first in family to attend university. With such diverse student profiles and previous learning experiences, it is possible that some students may not be confident to employ the academic literacies required in their study program. This paper reports on a mixed-method case study undertaken at an Australian university, to explore commencing students' confidence in using academic literacies at the start of their study program and after they had completed two semesters of instruction. Data were collected from 120 students at Time 1 and 54 students at Time 2 of the study. The study found that some students were uncertain of completing some task types such as case studies, article reviews and critical reflections. Students also lacked confidence employing discipline-specific vocabulary, critical thinking, and critical writing skills. Although, students' confidence levels in employing academic literacies improved overall after two semesters of instruction, confidence in writing critically appeared to remain low. Furthermore, students with English as an additional language (EAL), those studying externally and students who had taken a break from their studies, identified challenges in multiple areas of academic literacies.

A whole school (K-12) "Reading for Pleasure" program was implemented at an independent girls' school in Sydney, Australia. This paper reports on the results of a teacher survey conducted one year into the implementation of the program. Qualitative data were collected from 105 teachers on the perceived benefits and challenges of the program. Teachers were overwhelmingly positive about the benefits, which included increased skill development, not only in literacy, but also in learning dispositions and 21st century skills, such as creativity and imagination. Other benefits included student engagement and wellbeing. Teachers identified challenges with implementing the program, including student disengagement, and organisational and structural concerns. Advice for implementing a whole school RfP program is given based on the experiences of the Project team and results of the survey.

This paper seeks to engage the field of educational leadership in a methodological conversation. It outlines a methodological position taken by the author (a focus on leadership practice using Bourdieu) in a currently funded project and seeks discussion with the wider field. The paper is structured to provide the reader with background to the theoretical position of the author and the implications this has for the study of school leadership practice. The discussion highlights the need for multi-layered descriptions of leadership and the dual purpose of leadership research. This provides for a greater understanding of the phenomenon of leadership, and the subsequent implications for leadership practice and, potentially, preparation. The intent of this paper is not merely to critique existing works in the field, nor to create a modernistic binary between the positions of others and those presented here. Rather, the value of this work is its potential to intervene in the scholarship of the field and disrupt the status quo, highlighting the benefits of embracing the complexity, ambiguity and moment-by-moment contestation that defines the social practice that is school leadership.

This paper is about examining life in classrooms. Authentic recording and interpretation of the complexities of classroom life have long been both fascinating and challenging for researchers. Typically, such research has been expensive, time-consuming and susceptible to claims that its intrusiveness pollutes the authenticity of the very context that it seeks to understand. Furthermore, it has usually been restricted to the visual focus selected for recording by the "two eyes" of the researcher, the editor or the camera operator. However, developments in the "one eye" of digital video technology and associated research software offer opportunities to look into classrooms in ways that are more cost and time-efficient, less intrusive, and more inclusive and representative of the totality of classroom life. In this paper we report that, regardless of the limitations and challenges, we are convinced of the potential for research to be enriched through the incorporation of new technologies. Our experience in conducting research into life in six primary school classrooms supports the value of new technologies as methodological tools which are more manageable in practical terms, which increase and improve information-gathering, and which enhance the construction of datasets based upon the dynamism and complexities of classroom life. We recommend their use to explore, better understand and appreciate classroom life in fuller, richer ways. (Contains 3 endnotes.)