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The OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 (E2030) project's overall goal is that of looking to the future in terms of how school curricula should evolve given the technological advances and other changes that societies are now facing. Towards that end, the E2030 project centres on the idea that education needs to equip students with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values they need to become active, responsible and engaged citizens. Mathematics is considered a highly relevant subject for achieving the above stated goals, as such it requires further and more detailed analysis. As a result, it has been chosen as one of the E2030 project's subject-specific analyses. The project has been named the Mathematics Curriculum Document Analysis (MCDA) study as per the request of participating countries. This working paper presents the findings of the MCDA study, which involves participants from 19 countries and jurisdictions.

This working paper is the first publication coming out of a project investigating the role of vocational education and training (VET) in developing digital skills in the Australian workforce, using two sectors as case studies--Transport and Logistics, and Public Safety and Correctional Services. The study employs a mixed method approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative analyses. It involves industry training package content analysis, content extraction and analysis from online job vacancy advertisements, and key industry interviews, as well as a quantitative employer survey. In the online job vacancy analysis, a total of 1,708 job advertisements covering 74 occupations/job titles were analysed to explore digital skills requirements. In addition, a detailed content analysis was conducted of 11 training packages, with a specific focus on the qualifications for these occupations. In this analysis, 758 units of competency were analysed to examine how and the extent to which digital skills provision is embedded into qualifications. Findings showed that only a small number mentioned digital skills as a requirement. The training packages for these industries contained significant digital training content but with the majority of these units of competency occurring as electives. These findings raise questions about whether employers are making assumptions about the digital skills of potential employees.

In mid-2010 NCVER undertook a review of its building researcher capacity initiative in order to inform its direction into the future. The review found that the initiative had achieved a high profile among vocational education and training (VET) practitioners. The scholarship programs had heightened awareness about the role research can play in fostering good practice and a culture of evaluation. The review found, however, that more work needs to be done to find the best ways to encourage new VET researchers within universities. Program findings are appended. (Contains 2 tables and 3 footnotes.)

A study identified some implicit concepts, knowledge, and skills that a seemingly standard adult literacy and numeracy "lesson" contains. Conversation analysis was used to show instances of how adult numeracy is embedded in adult language and literacy. The "conversation" was a transcript from an adult literacy class for long-term unemployed adult men that began with a recall segment about question and answer patterns. Two types of questions were compared: those occurring "naturally" as part of the "common sense" made during the classroom conversations and those asked as part of the instructional content of the lesson appropriate to the subject matter of mathematics. Analysis showed how language and literate practices in the adult literacy classroom created the reality that adult learners come to recognize as the subjects mathematics or numeracy. Two implications were explored. First, considerable differences between school mathematics and real-life numeracy raised the dilemma of what should be taught. Second, embedding of language with particular sets of valued "content areas" caused teachers to reproduce school-based practices and discourses for adults who had already experienced school failure and implied that literacy and numeracy teachers be trained in language interaction patterns and ways for teachers and adult students to manage them to achieve an identified purpose. (Contains 28 references.) (YLB)

Content analysis in the manner of M. H. Nagy's 1948 study was used to explore facets of children's thoughts and feelings about death. Participants were 316 children aged 3-12 who resided in the Sydney Metropolitan Area. Subjects expressed their views on death in talking, writing, and drawing. It was found that all children progressed through three stages of development in attaining a valid concept of death. Children 3 and 4 years of age believed that death is temporary and reversible. The 5-year-olds tended to see more clearly that death meant the end of bodily functions. The expression of the concept of reversibility tended to decrease with age. A significant number of 6- to 8-year-olds understood that death was final but saw it as something that happened only to other people. In contrast, older children rarely used the third person to express their feelings concerning death. Most children 8 through 12 years of age had a realization of death in a personal or irreversible sense. It was further found that children who had come to such a realization freely experienced fear and anxiety about death. Almost half of the children aged 6-12 suffered death anxiety. (RH)

Research on the news media's reporting on suicide and mental illness is understudied in Australia despite the controversial nature of much coverage and its possible consequences for a variety of audiences. This paper critiques the underlying assumptions of most international research in this area, which follows a media imitation or contagion model. The paper details the theory guiding the qualitative section of a major 18-month study of Australian media coverage of suicide and mental illness. The project will be completed in 2001. In this paper, the Australian government's media guidelines for journalists reporting on suicide are examined and, using media framing theory as a departure point, selected media coverage is assessed. The paper illustrates how the examination of media representations of suicide can inform the public policy debate. Contains 67 references and 2 notes. (Author/RS)

Contemporary teacher education, like other aspects of tertiary education, involves regimes for assessing quality of teaching. These regimes include student assessment of and feedback on teaching. These are widely considered problematic, and yet there are few signs that teacher educators reject the notion that student responses have something of value to offer. This paper examines some evidence of student responses to teaching in teacher education institutions in the first half of the twentieth century, in order to provide means to reflect on regimes for securing and using students' responses to teaching and curriculum in contemporary teacher education. Specifically, it examines evidence from a range of teacher education institutions in England and Australia. Evidence of student responses to teacher education programs in this period is, in fact sparse, but can be derived from student magazines, two systematic attempts to gather (already "historical") information, and from some of the reports on teacher training institutions by His Majesty's Inspectors in the UK. The evidence indicates that students were keenly and often critically aware of the differences between teaching styles, subject content and the effectiveness of different staff and components of their programs. It also reveals that they had a keen interest in the relationship between college curricula and school practice, and its implications for their own preparation as teachers. Their views differed widely among themselves; they also ranged unevenly from a good humoured and often deeply ironic sense of the absurdity of aspects of their programs (in particular the demonstration lesson) through a sense that they were poorly served by some staff and subjects, to a recognition of enduring and (they seem to imply) unresolvable tensions in the process of teacher education. (Contains 1 footnote.)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the nature of activities in the change process undertaken by two initiatives to produce national standards in academic disciplines, national assessments and accountability measures. The Common Core State Standards Initiative, a project coordinated by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, aims to produce common core standards for states in the USA, and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority aims to produce a national curriculum. Content analysis method was applied to summarise information obtained from searches on the web sites of organisations involved in these initiatives and education newspapers. A model for classifying the activities of research, development, diffusion and adoption in the change process was applied to evaluate the two innovations. The results showed that activities involving research and development, at which point evaluation of both innovations was made, were well-defined. Each initiative was preceded by publication of policy documents advocating innovation and research activities to uncover possibilities for change, although these activities were more extensive and substantial in the USA than Australia. The emphases in each innovation for developing academic standards are different. Benchmarking standards against state, national and international standards, using a research-based process for decision making, reviewing successive drafts by stakeholders, and conducting an independent validation characterise the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Specifying plans and guidelines, inventing and refining standards, using a consensus-building process for decision making, and reviewing successive drafts by stakeholders characterise the national curriculum initiative in Australia. Initial steps to sustain adoption of the innovations are the formation of the National Policy Forum to build support for the Common Core State Standards Initiative and the foundation of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. However, attention to other activities to assist practitioners adopt the innovations are lacking in both initiatives. The paper concludes by presenting some judgments about the potential success of each initiative. (Contains 1 figure.)

This paper attempts to examine different methods of content analysis for student online discussion that takes place on bulletin boards. The purpose of that analysis is to determine whether higher order thinking can be distinguished within transcripts of dialogue. The context of the analysis was a higher education undergraduate course. A group of students were presented with a discussion topic and were given a series of criteria against which their work would be assessed. At the end of the discussion their dialogue was analyzed using three different techniques which were then compared to identify whether any one method could be recommended to other practitioners. Suggestions for evaluation of bulletin board transcripts are made on the basis of this investigation. (Contains 17 references and 5 tables.) (Author)

Analogies are considered an effective method for providing a bridge between unfamiliar concepts and knowledge that students already have. This paper reports a critical analysis of analogies found in chemistry textbooks used by Australian senior high school students and is presented in three sections. The first section of the paper presents the definition of analogy and discusses different types of analogies, their use in teaching, and potential constraints to their effective use. The second section reports a two-part study of 10 chemistry textbooks. A content analysis: indicated that 93 analogies were found in the 10 textbooks; compared the frequency of analogy use for particular targeted content areas; identified textbook authors' incorporation of instructional strategies that aim to directly assist the student to use analogies to aid understanding; and examined the type of analogies used most frequently in the textbooks. Secondly, interviews were conducted with the authors of 7 of the 10 textbooks to solicit views held by the authors concerning: analogy use; reasons for inclusion or exclusion of analogies; and changes the author would make to a later edition of a textbook. Conclusions reported in the third section indicated that: (1) authors assumed classroom teachers would effectively use the analogies, despite no evidence that teachers have pedagogical content knowledge in this area; (2) the frequency of analogy inclusion implies an unwillingness by authors to use analogies in textbook situations; and (3) the authors are unfamiliar with research guides regarding analogy presentation results. A list of 21 references and an appendix of the textbook titles are provided. (MDH)

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the instructional leader when introducing digital technology into the mathematics teaching in the Australian Curriculum. The research reported here involves the principal and five teachers from one school and is part of a larger study. Results indicated that principal-led "crucial conversations" supported educational change that comprised not only curriculum change but also a transition from a pedagogy that draws on technology to a pedagogy in which technology is embedded. [This project was funded by Brisbane Catholic Education.]

The purpose of this study was to review five initiatives in national curriculum collaboration, which have emerged since the move to national consistency arose in 2003, and to examine reports on these initiatives published by the news media and the education profession. Searches on web sites of education organisations, an electronic magazine, and the Australian Education Index were conducted to identify documents, news reports and educational literature referring to the five initiatives. Content analysis method was applied to summarise and categorise the documents. The results showed that policy making during this phase of national curriculum collaboration has shifted from establishing national consistency to introducing standards-based education, and reports published by the news media and the education profession have increased since this shift occurred. The conclusion indicated that, whilst a national debate has emerged on this issue, only a small proportion of policy makers and leaders within the education community has been engaged in contributing to this debate.

Focusing on the experience of New Zealand, this paper is a response to a 1978 essay which suggested that a study be done to compare the programming patterns of television in the developed countries of Australia and New Zealand. Significant differences between the two nations are presented, including conspicuous discrepancies in television programming, despite similar shared social and cultural characteristics. A need for cooperative research efforts by Australian and New Zealand media scholars is noted, and some limited New Zealand research is summarized, including content analyses and program ratings. Numerous areas for fruitful research are suggested, many of which center on audience reactions and attitudes about viewing Australian, American, and United Kingdom imports, as well as on other aspects of television programming and scheduling. The production of television genres other than the more costly, less effective indigenous drama programs is advocated as the best means of inculcating a sense of national identity. The need for research to investigate the influence of "cultural imperialism" on Australian and New Zealand television audiences is stressed. An analysis of the national origins of television programs shown in New Zealand is appended. (40 end notes) (CGD)

Over the last 2 years, 3 Australian universities have been cooperating on a Commonwealth Government funded project on Distance Teaching and Evaluation Skills to identify and disseminate good practice in the professional development of distance educators. A specific and supportive professional development intervention to foster the evaluation of subjects taught by distance education was studied. Experienced distance educators at the University of South Australia were asked to comment on components of an evaluation questionnaire that sought student responses to a teaching package with which they were working. From this, a revised general questionnaire and four shorter template versions were developed to deal with subject content, the study package and library services, the teaching process, and assessment. "Constructing an Evaluation Questionnaire" was also prepared. At two other universities, Deakin and Monash, professional development activities centered on workshops for distance educators to identify concerns and to consider the approach undertaken at the University of South Australia. Workshop participants concluded that "Constructing an Evaluation Questionnaire" and its supporting documents represents an approach suitable for inclusion in the general professional development resources for the Distance Teaching and Evaluation Skills project. (SLD)

This publication contains 19 papers presented at the inaugural meeting of the Australian Geographical Education Research Association held in Brisbane, December 1980. The papers surveyed a wide and diverse range of research. The introductory group of papers present several new views on curriculum development, course content, and teaching methods for geography teachers. The affective domain was highlighted by several speakers, which reflected the importance of attitudes and values in current research and teaching in geography. An example of a technique called "Values Probing" which provides an integrated and comprehensive approach to teaching values issues in geography is presented. Five papers relate to mapping geography. Two papers reflect a concern for the teaching effectiveness of geography textbooks. Teachers were the focus of research by two speakers. The conceptual structure of geography has received considerable attention in recent years. One paper describes the technique of quanitative content analysis which he has used to survey the conceptual structure of the discipline. Another paper investigates the use of one of the fundamental concepts of geography--the regional concept--with primary school children. The final two papers survey the nature of research in geographical education. (Author/RM)

The past four decades have seen increasing public and professional awareness of child sexual abuse. Congruent with public health approaches to prevention, efforts to eliminate child sexual abuse have inspired the emergence of prevention initiatives which can be provided to all children as part of their standard school curriculum. However, relatively little is known about the scope and nature of child sexual abuse prevention efforts in government school systems internationally. This paper assesses and compares the policies and curriculum initiatives in primary (elementary) schools across state and territory Departments of Education in Australia. Using publicly available electronic data, a deductive qualitative content analysis of policy and curriculum documents was undertaken to examine the characteristics of child sexual abuse prevention education in these school systems. It was found that the system-level provision occurs unevenly across state and territory jurisdictions. This results in the potential for substantial inequity in Australian children's access to learning opportunities in child abuse prevention education as a part of their standard school curriculum. In this research, we have developed a strategy for generating a set of theoretically-sound empirical criteria that may be more extensively applied in comparative research about prevention initiatives internationally.

Web 2.0 technologies are increasingly being used to support teaching in higher education courses. However, preliminary research has shown that students are using such technologies primarily for social purposes, rather than as a means of further engaging with academic content. This study examines a cohort of tertiary students' use of a Facebook page, which was created for a second year university policing unit at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Results from content analysis of the Facebook "wall" and a survey of student users and non-users showed that although students only demonstrated very little active engagement with academic content posted on the site (that is, they were reluctant to interact with unit materials in a way that would leave a "digital trace"), they reported that Facebook had increased their ability to engage with and critically analyse the unit content. In alignment with other research in this area, students also reported the usefulness of the Facebook page for increasing communication with their peers and with the teaching staff. This paper concludes by offering a number of best practice guidelines for the use of Facebook in tertiary education.

Oral language has primacy both developmentally and by virtue of use for most individuals in our society; however, the development of oral language for many children is left to chance. Although English education journals have resounded with exhortations to teachers about the importance of encouraging children to talk, the recent limited research suggests strongly that speaking and listening activities in Years 7-l0 classes have very low profile by comparison with the amount of time devoted to reading and writing activities, at least in Australia. One macro-level speech community which cuts across age, sex, and social class boundaries in Australia is sports, and an examination of the speech community inhabited by sporting "heroes" reveals the nature of the role models for young people's oral language. A study of 15 hours of video tape interviews with sports heroes yields four major classifications (expressive moments, self-reflection, decision-making considerations, and outer-directed analyses) which account for virtually all the utterances apart from social banalities and chitchat revealing startling limitations of self-observation, analysis and reflection. These interviews not only provide a model for sporting fans--of whom children and adolescents form a substantial group--they also provide a data base for the study of the products of the English education of the seventies and eighties, presenting evidence to support the need for constructive direction from curriculum designers and researchers. (A list of 15 references is appended.) (NH)

Both structured and free response questionnaires were given to 600 Australian children (100 each of 6-, 7-, and 8-year-old boys and girls) on perceptions of their parents. The free response questionnaire asked children to complete sentences beginning with the phrase "Mothers are" or the phrase "Fathers are." The structured questionnaire consisted of 37 questions to which the children answered either M(Mother) or F(Father), depending on which parent they associated with the question. Content analysis of the children's statements was based on 12 of the 33 categories developed by Livesley and Bromley. Large discrepancies were found between the results for the two questionnaires. In particular, the structured data overemphasized the importance of negative characteristics which did not appear to be salient in the free response data. Other findings were: Two of the 15 categories, Positive Evaluation and General Personality Attributes, accounted for more than half of all the children's responses. Four categories which describe more peripheral aspects of persons--Social Roles, Appearance, Physical Condition, and Effect Upon and Relations With Others--accounted for 30% of the total responses. Results are also reported on sex differences and age differences in perception of fathers and of mothers. It was concluded that the free response technique has more validity as a measure of parent perception. (Author/SS)

A study was conducted to explore the way network television news observes three countries friendly to the United States: Australia, Canada, and Japan. Every news story from 1968 to 1983 on the ABC, CBS, and NBC networks that mentioned any of the three countries or their people was examined. Coders classified the 4,038 stories based on origin, date, length, network broadcast technique, and topic category. The most significant finding of the study was that none of the countries was particularly newsworthy. Most of the stories originated in the United States. The Canadian and Japanese stories tended to concern legal and political or business and economic matters, insofar as these impinged on American interests. Canadian stories were often concerned with the Canadian environment, but seldom with Canadian sports. Stories were unusually interested in Australian sports and environment. In general, the news reports tended to ignore art, music, show business, and religion, particularly in Canada. (HTH)

The current tension in the writing of histories has been between the defense of "textbook" histories--i.e., the conventional approach which focuses on great events, great individuals, and great collectivities--and progressive--i.e., populist or alternative histories which focus on ordinary people. A new form has been engineered by television, which produces documentary-dramas and drama-documentaries by dramatizing histories and bringing them to life through individual accounts and experiences. These emergent forms have involved a shift in programming rationale to endorse long programs or mini-series; have taken on certain humanist and progressive critiques; and have adopted some dramatic and footage techniques that offer more daring accounts than earlier authoritative documentaries. Three documentaries illustrate different ways of writing about people and place as television: (1) "About Time," which spins a yarn about our notions of time and our relationships with time; (2) "The Country and the City," which presents the relationship between country and city as a central element in the development of capitalism; and (3) "The Dragon Has Two Tongues," which speaks of Welsh histories through two opposed historical viewpoints. These three examples have sought the essence of identity through mechanisms of time, and polarity, respectively, and each can be located within the transforming practice of writing and reading histories. However, constructed within the spectacle, and ordered by the present, they can at best make explicit those connections and acknowledge those restraints. (34 references) (CGD)

Before educational planners can develop associate degree level curricula to train human resource practitioners, they must have a clear understanding of the field of human resource development (HRD). A review of research relating to the role of the HRD specialist indicates that HRD practitioners must be specialists in human relations skills and attitudes, should be skilled in the area of adult education and adult learning principles, and must be able to act as consultants to line supervisors and managers. Analysis of the job duties typically performed by HRD specialists indicates that they need training to be able to complete the following tasks: analyze training needs, determine a training approach, design training programs, prepare instructional materials, evaluate and train trainers, supervise external programs, counsel staff, advise managers, instruct staff, influence various groups, research training practices, interact with managers, manage training, and inform on changes in training. More research is needed to determine the extent to which the role of an HRD practitioner should be extended to incorporate organizational change, human resource management, management skills, and other responsibilities previously not considered as part of their role. (MN)