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This study was undertaken in response to the imperative of teacher education courses incorporating National Professional Standards for Teachers, in particular Standard 7, which deals with the professional engagement of teachers (AITSL, 2011). It aimed to evaluate the efficacy of simulation and active recall as a learner-centred pedagogy in facilitating pre-service teachers' learning about their capacity to self-regulate emotionally and its relevance to the profession. A simulated "critical incident" was used in a lecture to guide students (n=106) to analyse and understand their emotional responses to an altercation between the lecturer and a colleague. The evaluation involved both quantitative and qualitative data collection. The study generated six useful insights associated with the efficacy of simulation pedagogy and revealed convincingly that this pedagogy can engage students actively in learning about the importance of emotional self-regulation in relation to their professional role as a teacher.

"Teacher education ill prepares pre-service teachers for the classroom." Research conducted in a teacher education program at Edith Cowan University (ECU) responded to this criticism. This longitudinal case study selected group work (i.e., group-based learning) to investigate the quality of its teacher education program. Phase one explored teacher educators' perceptions of group-based learning. Phase two explored pre-service teachers' perceptions and experience of group-based learning. This phase used student "voice" (i.e., through focus groups, confirmed field notes, summary sheets) to convey their ideas and experiences when studying in a group and/or implementing group-based learning in the classroom. This paper discusses phase two findings which show the importance of consistency and coherence in understanding group-based learning principles and practices, and the broad "conditions" and "actions" that enable meaningful learning. The research has enabled ECU teacher educators to enhance the quality of the teacher education program.

The effective "transfer" of knowledge and skills from university to the workplace is of global interest, yet this area of inquiry lacks research. Teacher educators, for example, require information on how to advance pre-service teachers' transfer of group-based learning to the primary school classroom (Scott & Baker, 2003). Group-based learning (GBL) is a valued means of developing learners' group work, personal attributes and interpersonal skills, and in the case pre-service teachers their professional skills. Graduate teachers do not necessarily generalise GBL pedagogy to the classroom. This discussion paper draws from a qualitative case study that examined this pedagogy in a pre-service teacher education program at Edith Cowan University. The case study revealed three core GBL issues: "consistency and coherence"; "equity and fairness"; "pragmatism and adding value". This paper proposes four principles of effective transfer and examines how, in relation to these three issues, these principles can promote effective transfer.

Teacher education programs focussing on the development of specialist teachers for "the middle years" have proliferated in Australian universities in recent years. This paper provides some insights into middle years' teacher education programs at the University of Queensland, Edith Cowan and Flinders Universities with regard to their: philosophical underpinnings; specific educational context; scope and nature of the program. In addition, some of the research directions and efficacy strategies utilised in conjunction with the programs will be shared, along with some early findings from a longitudinal study in one of the programs. We propose that the pattern of programmatic growth heralds a new time for teacher education, and we speculate about the production of new kinds of teacher identities as graduates take their place in the profession. (Contains 2 tables.)

The recent growth of separate middle schools for young adolescents raises the question--do we now need separate teacher education programs in middle schooling? Or, can the staffing requirements of middle schools be met adequately by existing primary and secondary teacher education programs? This paper provides a contribution to answering these questions by discussing the rationale underlying a new graduate diploma in the middle years of schooling offered at Edith Cowan University. In doing so, the paper draws attention to the contested nature of innovations in teacher education and some uncertainty about what the future holds for them.

MindMatters Plus is a mental health promotion initiative in Australia which aims to improve the capacity of secondary schools to cater for students who have high support needs in the area of mental health. The development of effective school case management was one of the projects associated with this initiative. The aim of this project was to produce a practical resource on the principles and practices of effective school case management for staff who work with secondary school students who have high support needs in the area of mental health (e.g. student support personnel, school administrators, school psychologists, school counsellors and mental health workers). This article briefly outlines the school case management initiative--its rationale, and research and development process. This is followed by a description of the resource itself, namely the framework for effective school case management, and the kit for developing effective school case management practices. Feedback on the resource is invited from readers following access to and utilization of the kit from the website provided. (Contains 1 note.)

Pastoral care in schools has traditionally been associated with notions of help, advice, values development, and children's moral welfare. In the past it has been viewed predominantly as a separate set of extra-curricula activities offered to students by school staff with particular support roles, or "pastors" from affiliated church or religious communities. In some Australian schools and education sectors pastoral care continues to be conceptualised in this way. However, over the past two decades interest has intensified in a "whole school approach" to pastoral care that supports the holistic development of students as they learn. What has influenced this change of direction? What are some of the key challenges encountered when implementing this approach? How might we define "a whole school approach" to pastoral care? What are the core principles and associated school practices of this approach to pastoral care? We attempt to address these questions in this paper. In doing so, we have drawn on the MindMatters Plus Demonstration Project and constructed a "whole school" framework for pastoral care. We emphasise the importance of distributed leadership in our framework, where all staff and students alike are responsible for developing an ethos of care. This is a "work-in-progress'". We invite feedback on our proposal.

Over the past 15 years, Australia has seen the growth of separate middle schools for lower secondary school students and in some cases, upper primary school students. For example, every new government high school built in the state since 1995 has taken the form of a middle school for young adolescents and a separate senior campus for young adults. Middle schooling has become more prominent in Australia. In response to this trend, Edith Cowan University introduced a one-year Graduate Diploma of Education in Middle Schooling in 2002. In this article, the authors discuss how ECU's new middle grades diploma represents the school's effort to promote middle schooling reform in Australia. They describe the intended outcomes for this particular diploma into three broad categories: (1) relationships, (2) curriculum, and (3) pedagogy. The authors, who are teacher educators at ECU, describe how they strive to practice what they preach by modeling middle schooling principles and practices in their teaching. They do this by not only "telling" graduates about the principles of best practice associated with middle schooling, but also "showing" them what it looks like in classrooms and learning communities, as a whole. (Contains 1 figure.)

Recently the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) conducted a nationwide survey on programs that exhibit best practice in addressing student behaviour issues (de Jong, 2004). Seven themes related to the characteristics of best practice were identified in this survey. Alternative education programs (AEPs) was one of them. Although contentious in the context of inclusive education, this survey indicated that, provided they are embedded in best practice, AEPs are still considered to be a creditable means of meeting the needs of adolescent students with challenging behaviour in most Australian education jurisdictions. This being so, what constitutes best practice in the construction and delivery of an AEP? This is the main focus of our article. We briefly define AEPs, submit a continuum of types of AEPs, consider the cases against and in favour of AEPs, and conclude by presenting the characteristics of quality AEPs according to three categories, namely: (1) organisation and partnerships, (2) pastoral care and ethos, and (3) curriculum and pedagogy.

MindMatters Plus (MM+) is a program that focuses on building the capacity of secondary schools to meet the needs of students who have high support needs in the area of mental health. A necessity to supplement this work with specific strategies and processes allied to the delivery of mental health programs in secondary schools was identified. Effective school case management was one key strategy of MM+ that subsequently was targeted for further identification and development. To this end, the Australian Guidance and Counselling Association was commissioned to produce a resource on effective school case management for staff who work with secondary school students who have high support needs in the area of mental health. This article briefly describes the School Case Management Project that was established to achieve this aim, and presents a work-in-progress framework of the principles, definition, aims and strategies of effective school case management. This framework is the basis upon which the resource, a tool kit designed to appraise and improve the quality of a school's case management practices, is currently being developed. The project is due for completion by the end of October 2005.

Public opinion over the past 30 years consistently rates lack of discipline in public schools in the USA to be the biggest problem communities have to contend with (Charles, 1999). Similar concerns are apparent in Australia. The issue of student behaviour was raised at the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in 2002. The Council recognized that behavioural problems were both ongoing and growing and were of major concern nationally. Consequently, the Student Behaviour Management Project was established. This article briefly describes the aim, research process and outcome of this project. It reports on the core principles and key characteristics of best practice that were identified and the predominant models and approaches of student behaviour management that appear to inform best practice across Australia. Of what relevance is this project to school psychology? The effective management of student behaviour is arguably the business of school psychology practice in many countries around the world. This article is intended to contribute to international perspectives and debate on contemporary theories, principles and best practice associated with the effective management of student behaviour.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) views health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not simply the absence of illness or disease. Schools are powerful sources of health promotion and, of course, health adversity. In South Africa's attempt for social and economic transformation much emphasis is being placed on education as being a primary site for achieving healthy development. Organization development (OD) is presently considered by many school development practitioners in South Africa to be a potent strategy for managing change and enhancing the school's growth towards becoming a healthy learning environment. Current policy proposals on education support and special needs in South Africa advance the idea of health-promoting centres of learning through a holistic approach to institutional development. It is against this background that this paper, which is based on a case study research project, briefly tells the story of a historically disadvantaged South African high school and its quest to establish itself as a healthy learning environment. The school had transformed itself from an adverse learning environment typical of many South African schools (and perhaps schools elsewhere) to a safe, supportive, caring, mutually respectful and generally well organized educational context. Many of these improvements were associated with a particular school OD intervention. What can we learn from this story about the process of developing a health-promoting school? What are the practical implications for school development practitioners, especially school psychologists whose general task it is to promote the health of all learners? This paper addresses these questions and offers some propositions concerning the role of school psychologists in contributing towards the development of health-promoting schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines positions on systems thinking and educational psychology service delivery in the South African context. School organization development project; Power; Sustainability.

South Africa is currently undergoing a process of reconstruction and transformation, and educational changes constitute an integral part of this process. Organization Development (OD), could play a valuable role in such change. OD practices, when located within an ecosystemic framework, represent a departure from certain inadequacies of conventional educational psychology practice in South Africa, such as decontextualization and individualization. This paper is the product of a formative evaluation study and ongoing enquiry into school organization development in South Africa. Such research has indicated that particular issues tend to emerge as 'substantive' in the course of OD practice. The paper outlines and discusses a number of substantive issues and presents a framework for conceptualizing these issues in an integrated fashion. The framework is comprised of three interrelated components, namely the school, the consultant(s) and the interaction between them. These components exist within a particular micro and macro context which needs to be taken into account in any OD intervention. It is hoped that the framework will prove useful to OD practitioners in a variety of different contexts and provide a practical means of conceptualizing their situations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

South Africa is experiencing a process of political and social transformation unprecedented in its history. Underpinning this process is the tension inherent in grappling with radically different definitions of reality, not least of which is the formulation of democratic principles for a new constitutional framework in South Africa. Given the legacy of apartheid and its concomitant damage to the fabric of South African society, the position of mental health workers and educationalists is central to this transformation. Based upon the contention that the creation of a functional democratic society must be embedded in the development of democratic values and attitudes, this paper, through refiectingupon a workshop on democratic living, raises some thoughts and issues pertaining to the role of the educational psychologist in facilitating the transition to democratic living in South Africa. (A 30-minute videotape was produced and is available for purchase.) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The development and use of a student-centred method for promoting good study skills is described. The student-centred course has been used by one group of trained students to assist younger students identified as having had difficulties in some areas of school work. The students' own comments are included. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]