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Pre-service teachers (PSTs) need sound Knowledge About Language (KAL), both for their own professional communication and for their teaching practice. In the longer term, enhanced KAL will benefit our graduates in their implementation of the Australian Curriculum. This paper reports on work with First Year PSTs at one Australian university. We present an analysis of students' response to an intervention designed to develop their KAL, focusing on Phonological Awareness (PA) and phonics. While the designed resources were introduced and discussed in class, students mainly accessed them online afterwards. Student achievement was measured by online testing, and attitudes were obtained from unit evaluation instruments and a survey. We present results documenting their knowledge before and after the intervention, and their attitude toward the content. Most students demonstrated improved confidence and increased knowledge in particular areas post intervention. Nevertheless, their ability to apply their knowledge lagged behind their ability to give definitions.

Reading difficulties have been associated with limited academic success and related social-emotional outcomes including anxiety and low motivation. Recent research on the educational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that children with poor reading skills were disproportionally disadvantaged. This growing number of students experiencing reading difficulties will require effective implementation of strategies to prevent long-term disadvantage, including in the challenging context of secondary schools where teachers are unfamiliar with reading instruction and constrained by timetabling of subjects and teachers. This research examined whether a Direct Instruction programme could be implemented with fidelity in the real world of a secondary school over a sustained period. Reading progress was monitored using a standardised assessment. Programme implementation was monitored via interviews with staff, classroom observations, and field notes. These data revealed that, whilst fidelity of programme implementation was challenging, programme delivery and student ability and confidence in reading improved over the three years.

This participatory action research case study describes how one secondary school aimed to improve staff culture. Although pre-test data showed the school as performing consistently well in terms of their organisational health, the school chose to implement a line management intervention over 12 months to target three low-rating factors: appraisal and recognition, professional growth, and supportive leadership. Quantitative evaluation showed that while the improvement strategy had no effect on the intended targets, there were unanticipated effects on other factors. Staff reported a mixture of positive and negative effects from the intervention; however, a core issue was its impact on teachers' workloads. Participants reported burnout and stress as a consequence of school leaders driving continuous change. This case study argues that quality school improvement needs to be supported by a clear vision, with due consideration and attention to sustainable work practices.

This paper reports on Aboriginal parents' perceptions about their involvement in a Western Australian pilot initiative called KindiLink. The program seeks to support parents as their child's first teacher and thereby enhance Aboriginal children's early-years development, while strengthening relationships between families and schools. A constructivist paradigm was used to inform the methodology which placed Aboriginal voices at the centre of the research. Data were collected from 125 participating family members, over two years and across 37 school-based KindiLink sites. The results show that parent contribution to and engagement in KindiLink provided a powerful context to acknowledge, encourage, and support parents. Parents identified the development of strong and mutually respectful relationships; the engagement in working with their child; and the incorporation of families' cultural and linguistic knowledge into the program as positive contributing factors. The paper concludes with recommendations and implications for the further development, implementation, and evaluation of Kindilink and other programs targeted at disadvantaged communities.

The technologically enhanced classroom assists students in developing their interpersonal, or soft skills, and helps them strengthen needed competencies as they move into their careers. This may be particularly helpful for contemporary students, who have grown up interacting with others electronically, via text message, Instagram, and the like. Once on campus, students must adapt to increasing expectations of adulthood: along with becoming more responsible and independent critical thinkers, they must also be able to speak effectively with others face-to-face and to negotiate relationships in groups, skills that they often noticeably lack.

In this article, we explore more than 100 Chinese school leaders' views about gender, equality and the historical and social contexts of Chinese education that they have experienced. China's success in international student assessment programmes is rising, and Chinese females are continuing a steady trend of outdoing their male counterparts at all levels of schooling. So importance grows for the world to better understand Chinese education and the influential roles leaders, especially women leaders, hold in that sector. Our research is underpinned by a theoretical framework that considers whether gender role-modelling by school leaders affects students' beliefs about gender roles and norms because they observe adult staff in schools for years. We present data that reveal most of our participants believe they are leading schools in China where gender equality is being role modelled and has been achieved. We discuss and theorise about a form of 'gender equality with Chinese characteristics' which seems to value a rigid gender binary with different, gendered expectations for adults. Finally, we consider whether Chinese school leaders may be reinforcing rather than changing gender inequality, even with the best intentions that they do not.

This research explored teachers' experiences of school and their work-related wellbeing, from the perspective that work-related wellbeing is an organisational responsibility. A single case study was enacted in an urban Western Australian secondary school to explore the relationship between school organisational health and teacher wellbeing. A mixed method pre-test phase determined professional growth, professional interaction and role clarity were areas of organisational health that yielded divergent responses from staff. Subsequently, the school's leadership team implemented interventions to improve these domains, and post-intervention data collection was conducted 18 months later to determine any changes. Qualitative data showed improvements in the professional growth and professional interaction domains, with staff reporting that professional learning summary sessions and mentoring conversations between teachers and the principal were beneficial strategies to improve teachers' school experiences. Role clarity was not so easily addressed, as the school suffered a series of crisis events during the research process that resulted in an emphasis on improving student services roles within the school. Consequently, role clarity was not achieved across the whole school staff. The qualitative data describe the complexity of addressing teacher wellbeing through organisational health, and specific strategies that leadership teams can implement to develop a supportive, collaborative staff culture at school.

The article presents a classroom-based study that engaged linguistically diverse preschool and early school-age children in illustrating books, jointly composing written narratives to accompany their illustrations, and enacting these child-authored books through shared sociodramatic play. Findings from story retell tasks show significant improvement in children's narrative language: vocabulary, syntax, accuracy, and text structure. Analysis of collaborative dialogue during book-making highlights the role of peer and teacher scaffolding in supporting children's literate language and identity development. The article presents an engaging play-based approach for ECE educators to (1) significantly and equitably increase child-led literate language interactions; (2) improve early writing instruction, by increasing meaningful composing experience; (3) strengthen culturally sustaining home/community-school partnerships, through authentic dialogue with caregivers about children's writing; and (4) harness the social and multimodal power of play to promote a range of important early learning goals.

In this paper we report on a study of the implementation of handheld game consoles (HGCs) in 10 Year four/five classrooms to develop student automaticity of mathematical calculations. The automaticity of mathematical calculations was compared for those students using the HGC and those being taught using traditional teaching methods. Over a school term, students (n = 236) who used the HGCs and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training showed significant improvement in both the speed and accuracy of their mathematical calculations. Data collected in interviews during the intervention period from students, staff and parents were analysed to provide further information on the implementation and efficacy of this approach. This exploration identified that the HGCs contributed to positive learning, motivational, and efficiency outcomes. These findings highlight opportunities for using commercially available digital games to achieve classroom objectives.

Sport Australia released the Australian Physical Literacy Framework (APLF) in 2019 to advance a national agenda for physical literacy (PL) and specifically, clarify and promote the development of PL in Australian sport and education sectors. For teachers, this policy initiative followed a period of curriculum development guided by the Australian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education (AC: HPE). The AC: HPE makes no explicit reference to PL, but nevertheless seeks to support young people to lead active healthy lives. This study acknowledged that HPE teachers are now challenged to navigate the divide between the APLF and AC: HPE and find ways to appropriately integrate the APLF into HPE programmes. The premise for the study was that investigating conceptual 'common ground' between the APLF and AC: HPE in relation to PL could provide an important foundation for coherent policy enactment. Accordingly, Whitehead's (2001) foundational conceptualisation of PL was employed as an analytic framework for examination of both policy texts. The purpose was to identify points of conceptual connection between the APLF, AC: HPE and Whitehead's conceptualisation of PL, and thereby strategically extend the PL discourses 'at play' across the Australian sport and education sectors. Findings suggest that while the AC: HPE and the APLF reflect differing policy agendas, the two texts both have some points of alignment with dimensions of Whitehead's framework. Discussion pursues the significance of distinctions and commonalities identified and addresses issues that HPE teachers and other stakeholders need to consider to promote a coherent approach to PL in Australia.

This Australian case study explored the implementation of strategies to support the development of a positive school culture among whole school staff. A participatory action research approach was used to involve leadership staff in the development of a mixed method assessment of the school organisation. Baseline data from the School Organisational Health Questionnaire (n = 28) and qualitative data from focus groups (n = 15) were collected and presented to the leadership team who identified four foci for the study: appraisal and recognition, participative decision-making, professional growth and supportive leadership. After a range of interventions, findings from both post-test surveys (n = 22) and qualitative data (n = 30) suggested a change in leadership style was a key factor of school cultural change across all factors. The case study highlights a number of visible strategies that were employed to increase morale and improve staff wellbeing.

This study explored the quality of interactions in mother-child shared reading with a print book and with an electronic book on an i-Pad. The study involved a Turkish mother and her 5-year-old son who were observed at home when reading the printed book "Ay'i kim çaldi?" ("Who stole the moon?") and its exact digital match. The shared book reading interactions were analysed in terms of (a) the amount of talk with the different book formats and (b) the content of the mother-child talk including the focus of the talk, expansion of ideas and behavioural-related talk. The results revealed that print book reading engaged the child in higher-level thinking compared to digital book reading. There was greater frequency of non-immediate talk in the print book reading compared to the digital book reading. Also, results suggested that the digital book encouraged more behaviour-related talk related to negotiating the book sharing routine.

The purpose of this study was to explore the connections between young children's oral language vocabulary and children's reading of written language in beginning reading books. Oral language has been viewed as the foundation for emergent reading development as it provides the semantic base, syntactic base and phonological base for successfully moving from oral to written language. In fact in the years before school the development of children's oral language in the home environment is viewed as an important factor for early reading success. The research reported in this study involved children in their first year of school in a socioeconomically diverse community. The findings revealed disconnections between children's receptive oral language vocabulary and early reading. Children with English as a Second Language scored low on oral language vocabulary but high on reading levelled texts. Children with high scores on oral vocabulary scored low on reading levelled texts and a small group of Aboriginal children scored low on both oral and written measures. This study raises questions about the view that oral language neatly underpins reading development and suggests that learning to read is akin to learning a second language for all children. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

For centuries Canadian First Nations education has been a substandard, abusive means of dealing with the "Indian Problem." In recent decades Native education has been under-funded and employed non-indigenized models. Despite these facts, many are surprised when these efforts fail another cohort of children. This article outlines Canadian Native education including attainment and attrition, curriculum, Native epistemology, and Indigenous practice and theory. Finally, a Curriculum Model designed from a 2004 mixed-method study based on Haudenosaunee student and educator responses is offered as a means to achieve reparative or equitous educational outcomes through the creation of in-classroom coalitions between educators and students. (Contains 2 figures and 36 notes.)

This study describes the prevalence of risky sexual activities among Bolivian adolescents within the context of other behavioral factors that contribute to compromised health outcomes, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS. Data was collected from 576 adolescents, 13-18 years of age, from six schools in La Paz, Bolivia, using the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. Findings indicate that males were more likely than females to report having ever engaged in sex, initiated sexual activity at age 14 or younger, and had two or more sexual partners within the three months prior to the survey. For both sexes, those who initiated sexual activity at an early age were more likely to engage in a variety of risk behaviors, with alcohol as the most significant risk factor. The likelihood of engaging in sexual activity is associated with age, low academic performance, substance abuse, violence, depression, and suicidal tendencies. The more frequent the occurrence of these risk factors, the higher the chances of engaging in sexual activity. Future research should examine efforts to simultaneously reduce multiple risk factors and to determine how adolescents' views on reproductive issues influence sexual initiation and patterns of sexual behavior over time. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Every year in the United States, health and social problems result from adolescents' use and abuse of alcohol. Alcohol use is associated with high-risk behaviors and is a leading cause of death among adolescents. Research indicates that alcohol advertising influences drinking intentions for children and adolescents. Using content analysis of 486 advertisements, the focus of this study was to analyze persuasive themes and responsibility messages in alcohol advertising from a popular youth-oriented magazine over a three-year period. Findings indicate that product quality, humor, sex appeal, romance/relationships, and hanging out/partying were the most frequently used persuasive themes. Nearly 75% of advertisements included a responsibility message, but less than 1% included statements warning against underage drinking or encouraging the use of a designated driver. Chi-square analysis indicated a relationship between persuasive themes and the presence of responsibility messages. Given the susceptibility of youth to the emotional appeals of advertising, health education implementing media literacy and advocacy strategies can inform adolescents of the persuasive techniques and mixed messages used in advertising, and help develop skills to decrease their susceptibility to them. (Contains 5 tables.)

Media literacy education helps individuals become discriminating consumers of health information. Informed consumers are less likely to purchase useless health products if informed of misleading and deceptive advertising methods. The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis of health-related TV infomercials. An instrument specifically for health-related infomercials was developed and tested. The instrument assessed product category, health problems solved, production format, persuasive techniques, implied health benefits, implied social/emotional benefits, testimonial frequency, and product acquisition information presented in the program. Four trained observers analyzed the content of 31 health-related infomercials. Health infomercials were divided into five categories of products. Frequency of use for 21 different promotional techniques varied from 93 to 10%. Analysis demonstrated that particular types of products were far more likely to utilize selected persuasive tactics. Frequency distributions for implied physical and emotional/social benefits were calculated. Health-related infomercials utilize a consistent formula of promotional techniques. Veteran health educators will recognize these techniques from long-standing consumer health recommendations on how to spot health fraud. Implications for media literacy in health education are explored. (Contains 6 tables.)