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The Thesis by Publication is garnering increasing interest across nations and disciplines. However, more needs to be learned about institutional and supervisory support for this thesis mode to ensure that doctoral candidates pursuing this approach enjoy the best possible outcomes. This paper draws on data from 246 recent successful doctoral candidates who took part in the "2018-2019 PhD candidates' motivations, experiences, and opinions of the thesis by/with publications" study. Findings suggest that perceived institutional support may be more common than supervisory support, and initial institutional support may be eclipsed by ongoing support. Findings suggest that more can be done to support students intending to embark on Thesis by Publication at induction, and that high quality supervisory support can be perceived as integral to candidate success in most cases. However, high dependence on supervisory support paired with comparatively limited institutional support can place workload pressure and increased accountability on supervisors, and may raise ethical implications that require close consideration.

For secondary school teachers, developing a teacher identity is complicated by spoken or implied expectations of the need to be an expert in the skills and knowledge of one's subject discipline. Since 2009, the Teacher as Practitioner study (N = 764) has explored the effect of continued subject discipline practice on teachers' identity and retention using a longitudinal mixed-method design. Within the population are 305 responses from initial teacher education graduates classified as early career teachers, those within their first five years of teaching. This sub-sample was used to explore relationships between discipline practice, identity and perceptions of retention in the profession. Analysis of quantitative data showed time spent engaged in practice had a greater effect on expectations of retention and identity than simply aspiring to maintain a discipline practice, while qualitative analysis showed maintaining a practice in a supportive community was also highly valued.

The primary research output of a contemporary doctoral journey is no longer limited to a traditional thesis. Amongst other possibilities, current doctoral candidates may choose to produce a Thesis by Publication (TBP). However, very little is known about the factors shaping doctoral candidates' decisions to adopt a TBP approach during their doctoral journey. This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative data collected in 2018 and 2019 from 246 recent doctoral graduates from Australian universities who completed a TBP. It reports on data exploring when candidates made the decision to select this option, who influenced their decision, and their reasons for choosing the TBP approach. We found that candidates typically adopted a TBP approach early, strongly influenced by their supervisors, to meet vocational, promotional and process goals. The study has implications for administrators, supervisors and candidates in selecting the thesis mode that suits the unique needs of each candidate.

In the current field of doctoral education, there is a range of possible approaches presented to doctoral candidates. The Thesis by Publication (TBP) is an option increasingly offered by universities around the world and adopted by candidates in diverse fields. As the approach gains in popularity in response to the demands of modern academia, there is a need to better understand the limitations and possibilities associated with completing a TBP. This paper reports on a survey of 246 recently conferred doctoral candidates from Australian universities, who shared their personal experiences of successfully completing a TBP, with particular focus on the challenges and benefits. The challenges of ensuring thesis cohesion, time pressures, managing the publishing journey, and issues with supervisory and/or university support emerged as notable recurring themes. Positives included efficiency, accessibility and dissemination of findings, feedback, skills for research, career and reputation, emotion and motivation, and ease of examination. These findings have associated implications for candidates seeking to make informed choices about the approach that best suits their needs. They can also inform supervisors desirous of supporting students to harness the benefits and overcome the challenges of the TBP, and support institutions in the provision of informed and responsive guidelines and training opportunities for TBP.

Sustainability has recently been made a cross-curriculum priority in Australia, through the development and implementation of the Australian Curriculum. Subsequently, primary and secondary teachers across all subject areas are required to integrate Education for Sustainability (EfS) into formal education. A recent research case study was undertaken to determine Western Australian (WA) Graduate Diploma of Education (Primary) students' perceptions of sustainability on entering their teacher education course. This paper reports on part of the findings from this study, specifically the sources of information these pre-service teachers used to inform their perceptions of sustainability. The case study emphasised the need for reliable scientific information in mass media and pre-service teachers' mistrust of commercial media. It also underscored the need to provide specific sustainability content in pre-service primary teacher education courses.

According to international benchmarks [Thomson, S., Wernert, N., O'Grady, E., & Rodrigues, S. (2017). TIMSS 2015: Reporting Australia's results. Retrieved from Camberwell, Victoria: www.acer.edu.au/timss], Australia's science education is still in decline and so the need for further investigation into preservice teachers is warranted. Utilising data from a broader mixed methods doctoral study [Norris, C. M. (2017). Exploring the impact of postgraduate preservice primary science education on students' self-efficacy. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2040], this paper investigates the type of science learner entering into postgraduate preservice primary teacher education and how different learner types influence teacher self-efficacy and their effectiveness to teach science [Bleicher, R. (2009). Variable relationships among different science learners in elementary science-methods courses. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 7(2), 293-313. doi:10.1007/s10763-007-9121-8]. In this study, data was derived from a modified STEBI-B questionnaire and focus group discussions that provided a deeper insight into the survey data. Participants (N = 274) were from a one-year Australian Graduate Diploma of Education Primary (GDEP) program. Bleicher's (2009) research on 'science learner types', which included Fearful, Disinterested, Successful and Enthusiastic learners, was used as a theoretical framework to categorise the participants. The study identified a new type of learner (Not Clearly Identifiable, n = 68), located in the middle of the other four categories, where individuals' attitudes and beliefs towards science had changed due to life experiences between secondary school and their GDEP program. Statistical analysis showed science learner types did influence participants' science teaching self-efficacy (STSE), giving suggestions for how this may affect tertiary teacher education courses.

This article presents the findings of a qualitative research study on student teachers' perceptions of sustainability, specifically influenced by ecological citizenship and political solidarity. Research was conducted with 18 Graduate Diploma of Education (Primary) student teachers at one university, as they only have one year in which to train as teachers. A clear conceptualisation of Education for Sustainability is required for teachers to effectively implement the Australian Curriculum, which has sustainability as a cross-curriculum priority. Subsequently, Education for Sustainability is a key issue for teacher education and particularly within the short Graduate Diploma course. The findings showed that student teachers' perceptions of sustainability are shaped by aspects of ecological citizenship and political solidarity, and are informed by the local context. The findings also showed that the student teachers were moving from a more environmentally-centred conception of sustainability to a definition that included the other pillars of economic and socio-political sustainability. This article concludes with an argument for integrating the complex concepts of ecological citizenship and political solidarity within teacher education, so that student teachers graduate with the appropriate content knowledge to explore global citizenship and the ecological space with their future primary students.

Music is essential in developing the young brain, particularly skills relating to concentration, filtering, information retrieval, verbal competencies, mental visualisation, problem solving, empathy and personal expression. With the introduction of the Australian National Curriculum and its adoption as the basis of the Western Australian P-10 music syllabus, there is cause to reflect on the effectiveness of music provision within teacher education courses and pre-service generalist teachers' abilities to deliver the new music syllabus. Accordingly, a mixed method study was conducted with first and fourth year Bachelor of Education primary students at a Western Australian university, to investigate students' music experiences prior to and during the course. Fourth year graduating students were also asked to reflect on their self-efficacy to teach music based upon the course. For this article, selected data from 2013 and 2014 is presented as descriptive statistics along with interview observations to contextualise the findings. While students generally reported encouraging levels of musical engagement, this did not translate into self-efficacy to teach music. This article emphasises the importance of building pre-service teacher self-efficacy to support ongoing personal and professional engagement with music so future generations of young people can benefit from sustained, quality music education in primary schools.

The Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument has been a widely reported measure of teachers' personal efficacy and outcome efficacy beliefs. This pilot study examined if the instrument could be amended for use in The Arts learning area. A small cohort of 110 Graduate Diploma of Education preservice teachers participated in the pilot. Factor structures were examined through confirmatory factor analyses. The model displaying best fit consisted of six items measuring outcome expectancy and 10 items related to teaching efficacy. Measuring self-efficacy is important as many teachers who teach the Arts in Australia and internationally are not subject specialist teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]