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In this new decade of the twenty-first century, research reports the same concerns about agricultural literacy in primary and high school students globally. A systematic review of agricultural literacy studies published between 2000 and 2020 which assess the agricultural literacy of the target population; evaluated an agricultural education program or curriculum; or developed instruments to measure agricultural literacy was conducted. The review method followed an internationally recognized protocol for selecting, screening, analyzing, and reporting outcomes. Results found that definitions of agricultural literacy have evolved from an awareness to a measure of a deeper understanding developed throughout the years of formal schooling by both formal and informal education and experiences. Informal agricultural knowledge may be gained through numerous sources and misconceptions are apparent even among those with informal familial knowledge networks. Developing agricultural literacy in school-aged children through formal education is critical. Recommendations offer innovative ways of developing agriculturally literate young people that can be used to design, deliver and evaluate programs which aim to increase the agricultural literacy of primary and secondary students across the globe.

Feedback is a complex socio-cultural construct, utilising various modalities over the lifespan of a research candidature. This study reports findings from a review of global literature on supervisory feedback to postgraduate research students. Three focus questions guided the review: students' problems in receiving feedback, perceptions of positive feedback strategies, and potential improvements to the feedback process. The review method combined a systematic search process with explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria applied to literature published over the last decade. A detailed content analysis of 43 articles is reported in a thematically ordered narrative. Findings suggested that problems with feedback were found to be caused by the content, processes involved and the expectations of those involved. Second, feedback strategies that positively impacted learning and teaching capabilities of both students and supervisors were identified as most effective. Third, improvements to the feedback process were canvassed through the three key actors of institutions, supervisors and students, providing insights into the synergistic relationship among these actors. Further research is warranted as feedback processes and products are at the mercy of research supervision, which is increasingly operating in online environments spanning different time zones, with professional, cultural and linguistic diversities impacting feedback processes and products.

The rigid architectures inherent within formal schooling continue to influence young people's disengagement from education. Globally and locally, policy makers have proposed education reform and innovation, politicians have legislated for education change, yet still the problem of disengagement remains. This paper investigates one community's effort to support the reengagement in learning of young people aged 15-18 years in regional Australia through a flexible, online, community-based education program. Theoretically, this study used critical discourse as a way in to expose so as to explain dimensions of power and ideological positions as to what counts as learning. Critical ethnography as a methodology extended critical discourse's explanatory authority to a naming of spatial and social architectures and their impact on the young people's lives. Discourses of a braided curriculum, structural conviviality and emotional well-being were found to reduce some barriers to reengagement in learning; develop a shared, multi-disciplinary approach to reengagement; and be inclusive of young people's emotional well-being as central to the reengagement process. At this time of pandemic induced online learning as the new normal on a global scale, young people who are already vulnerable due to individual, school, and socio-cultural marginalising conditions deserve research processes with outcomes valorising their voices and those who work with them.

This paper aims to identify and synthesise research related to industry perspectives of industry school partnerships (ISPs) with primary and secondary students globally. A systematic review of ISP studies published between 2001 and 2021 that included industry perspectives was undertaken in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. This focused systematically ordered review of industry perspectives of ISPs elicited four key findings: 1. Limited research specifically focusing on industry participants' perceptions of career and knowledge sharing ISPs exist. 2. The most common reasons for participation included promoting careers and/or their industry, and enhancing community goodwill. 3. The most common barriers or challenges in participating included time, budget and process constraints, and understanding the partnership's impact. 4. Communication, trust, relationships, and setting clear goals are often important features highlighted for successful partnerships. The recommendations from this review will be used to design, deliver and evaluate ISPs which aim to benefit agricultural industry participants. Future research will apply the findings from this review to a rural case site in Victoria, Australia, focused on agricultural ISPs aimed at increasing students' aspirations for a career in the sector. This is vital as agriculture is an important industry in this region, yet many students are unaware of the range of career opportunities available to them.

The GPS Cows Module is a co-developed, Australian resource that aims to increase the knowledge and skills of high school students in emerging agricultural technologies. It aligns with many outcomes in the New South Wales (NSW) Stage 4 Technology Mandatory Syllabus, a compulsory subject for Stage 4 students (Years 7-8), that engages students in production and design activities for agriculture, food and other technologies. GPS Cows is a complete resource that teachers can apply into their teaching program. To facilitate the knowledge, skills and confidence required to implement the module, a one-day workshop was offered to NSW teachers in 2018 and 2019. To evaluate the workshop, participants completed a survey containing open- and closed-ended questions. Additionally, classroom clickers were used throughout the workshop to gauge the development of skills, knowledge and confidence over time. Overall, the workshop was well received, with over 98% of respondents enjoying the workshop and 97% indicating that the workshop was a good use of time. Positive aspects included the activities and engagement with data analytics, the resources provided, and the clear link between agricultural technologies and the real world. Identified improvements included the time allotted for workshop activities and minor changes to the resource. In conclusion, the professional development workshops enabled teachers to successfully implement GPS Cows in their teaching program.

High attrition rates from university-based enabling programs continue to be the subject of much research and administrative effort. Understanding the factors behind decisions to withdraw from such programs is difficult since those who do not successfully complete an enabling program may not readily agree to participate in research into their motivations for enrolling, and reasons for withdrawal, leaving them silent in the literature. Students who are relatively successful with enabling study have "insider" perceptions to share concerning the motivations of their fellow students, and the barriers some face. They can provide unique insights into factors behind the intractable problem of high attrition from enabling programs and the low rates of articulation into university study.

Concerns have been raised internationally about whether alternative learning programmes are producing low-skilled labourers for rapidly disappearing twenty-first-century jobs. Researchers claim that learners in alternative programmes are more at risk due to the focus on low-level vocational and basic skill attainment, with a lack of formal academic pathways available to them. This article questions whether and in what ways an alternative learning programme supports young people to achieve successful transitions to sustainable social mobility for informed citizenship through a holistic approach to learning; or if class stratification is being re/enforced through systems' accountability discourses. Hesitant hopes in alternative learning are explored through an ethnographic study of one alternative learning programme across five sites in regional Australia. Contextually, not-for-profit community agencies provide physical infrastructures as well as youth workers and volunteers, while a publicly funded School of Distance Education provides teacher oversight of the curriculum. Findings suggest that the theme of 'hesitant hope' is constructed through the analysis of the discourses of supporting wellbeing, life skill development and academic learning. These discourses facilitate further analysis of the concept of social mobility, suggesting a conceptual starting point for an engaging critique of the differing perspectives on how support could be providing these marginalised young people with a sense of hope for a socially mobile future.

The Australian Government has prioritized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in recent years to ensure that the country has an adequate future workforce. The agriculture industry is a major employer with a diverse range of occupations heavily focused on STEM. Many students do not realize the career opportunities in the sector, which is currently facing severe workforce shortages. Industry school partnerships (ISPs) have been identified as one creative model to improve students' knowledge of an industry and aspirations for associated careers. Whilst ISPs have been implemented in the STEM context, limited research understands how industry organizations are involved in, influence, and interconnect with ISPs. Australia's Rural Research and Development Corporations (RRDCs) are legislated agricultural industry bodies and were selected to investigate due to the value ISPs could provide to this STEM-focused industry with workforce shortages. This qualitative case study analyzed data from the most current RRDC strategic and annual operating plans as of 27 July 2023 and semi-structured interviews with an employee(s) in a position relevant to student education of all 15 RRDCs in 2022. The key findings were that ISPs were considered part of the solution to address industry sustainability, though RRDCs were commonly only informally involved. Collaboration between industry partners, facilitators, and teachers at strategic and management levels and across commodities was essential. RRDCs were found to be strongly connected to ISP ecosystems through their role in research and development. We argue that RRDCs are positioned as essential stakeholders with the scope to improve agricultural ISP ecosystems as part of their role in driving agricultural innovation. These findings support the application of ecological systems theory to agricultural ISPs and help us to understand these structures. This paper aims to help those creating ISPs to consider and understand all stakeholders, including industry bodies, to deliver quality future partnerships that benefit both STEM sectors and primary and secondary student education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology Mandatory (Tech Mandatory) is a compulsory subject for New South Wales (NSW) Stage 4 students and aims to engage students in production and design activities applicable to Agriculture and Food Technologies (AFT), Digital Technologies (DT), Engineered Systems and Material Technologies. The GPS Cows Module, an agricultural education module focused on livestock and Global Positioning System (GPS) livestock data, was co-designed by the NSW Department of Education and CQUniversity Australia. Teachers had previously expressed concern about being able to successfully teach some content of the Tech Mandatory curriculum's AFT and DT components. Accordingly, the GPS Cows Module focused on livestock production and using digital solutions to address real-world problems. To introduce teachers to the GPS Cows Module and increase Module uptake, several one-day professional learning workshops were run in 2018 and 2019 across NSW, Australia. A post-workshop survey was used to evaluate the GPS Cows Module and the suitability of content related to AFT and DT learning outcomes. Participants agreed or strongly agreed that the Module content would address some of the AFT (92.8% combined) and DT (95.5% combined) outcomes of the curriculum. Over 72% of participants felt their students would find GPS Cows engaging and were excited to teach the Module. However, there were some barriers to implementation including perceptions of student ability, access to technology, teacher confidence and time. Overall, the GPS Cows Module comprises of high-quality content to address some of the AFT and DT outcomes of the Tech Mandatory curriculum. Additionally, it reinforces the importance of authentic data, real-life case studies, and a variety of accompanying resources to effectively implement into a teaching program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores teacher perceptions of agriculture and the subsequent influence of these perceptions on student career pursual in the sector. This quantitative study used a post-workshop survey to evaluate 185 Technology Mandatory teachers' knowledge, experience and perceptions of the agricultural sector. Participant's connection to agriculture was related to their childhood and current school locations. Childhood upbringing in a town or rural setting also impacted participants having an agriculture-related qualification, the likelihood of encouraging students to consider a career in agriculture, and an increased understanding of the job opportunities in the sector. This study highlights the importance of direct experiences with agriculture to increase teacher knowledge and perception of the sector and to encourage agriculture as a potential career for students, particularly if a teacher's childhood or school location is in a major city. The findings of this research provide preliminary evidence that formative learning experiences, exposure and education has an impact on perceptions of agriculture and these in turn are associated with teacher endorsement of careers in this area to their students. There are limited studies that highlight the current perceptions of teachers in Australia about agriculture as a career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational therapy competency standards provide an evidence-base to inform clinical best practice, however it is not known whether education about competency standards will increase occupational therapists' adherence to their use. To investigate if education about the 'Australian Competency Standards for Occupational Therapy Driver Assessors' leads to increased adherence to the competency standards in the clinical practice of occupational therapy driver assessors. A mixed methods multiple case study design was used to evaluate 5 occupational therapy driver assessors' adherence to the competency standards. An audit of 25 client files and interviews were conducted to evaluate practice against the competency standards prior to an education session, followed by an audit of a further 25 files, interview and feedback after education. Qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that education about the 'Australian Competency Standards for Occupational Therapy Driver Assessors' was associated with increased adherence to the competency standards in clinical practice. The results also support the use of competency standards in clinical practice. Competency standards can be used to inform and guide clinical practice, and individualised education and feedback of practice against the competency standards can increase occupational therapists' adherence to these standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which learning is contextualised among the intersecting worlds of education, training and work. Design/methodology/approach: A case study methodology is used. Findings: It was found that contextualised learning is integral to industry-school transition strategies in senior secondary school learning. However, its operational complexities are yet to be articulated in terms of senior secondary students as learners and earners--educational leadership in partnerships for future innovations in curriculum and pedagogy. Research limitations/implications: Initial analysis of first stage fieldwork data is reported. Originality/value: The paper is the first of a series that will report on findings from a three-year research project (2007-2010). Its originality stems from conceptualising "contextualised learning" (CL) for the development of individual capabilities through multi-directional and reciprocal boundary crossing among education, training and work systems. (Contains 5 tables.)

Teaching students to read is one of the main aims of education systems around the world. For a significant number of adolescents, however, formal schooling has failed to deliver adequate reading proficiency. This article reports on a study of teachers' responses to a reading intervention programme for adolescents implemented in a senior secondary college in Australia in 2006. It engages with the question: in what ways does the reading intervention affect senior secondary teachers' knowledge of reading literacy and their motivation to provide reading literacy support to students in content area subjects? Data were collected from 20 semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers over a six-month period. The findings suggest that, despite the success of the intervention for the students, in this particular senior school context the teachers were largely resistant to expectations that they engage with the process of teaching reading in all senior phases of learning curriculum areas.

Robust hope aims to contribute to educational praxis. In Australia, what counts as teacher education is currently determined at the individual State and Territory level. Yet the demand side of teacher education is determined by responses to the effects of global marketplace forces that impact on changes to local communities. This article investigates the utility of robust hope as a means of analysing one Australian State Government's reforms to the senior phase of education and training; and as a way of conceptualising future teacher education possibilities. Recent research into Queensland's "education and training reforms" (ETRF) for the senior phase of learning (Years 10-12) identifies the positioning of schools as brokers of socio-economically aligned learning and earning for young people. These changes to young people's senior phase of learning present significant implications for capacity building of the teaching workforce.

Feedback is a complex socio-cultural construct, utilising various modalities over the lifespan of a research candidature. This study reports findings from a review of global literature on supervisory feedback to postgraduate research students. Three focus questions guided the review: students' problems in receiving feedback, perceptions of positive feedback strategies, and potential improvements to the feedback process. The review method combined a systematic search process with explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria applied to literature published over the last decade. A detailed content analysis of 43 articles is reported in a thematically ordered narrative. Findings suggested that problems with feedback were found to be caused by the content, processes involved and the expectations of those involved. Second, feedback strategies that positively impacted learning and teaching capabilities of both students and supervisors were identified as most effective. Third, improvements to the feedback process were canvassed through the three key actors of institutions, supervisors and students, providing insights into the synergistic relationship among these actors. Further research is warranted as feedback processes and products are at the mercy of research supervision, which is increasingly operating in online environments spanning different time zones, with professional, cultural and linguistic diversities impacting feedback processes and products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]