Search

Social identity is an important social determinant of student outcomes such as mental health and well-being. Currently, no validated social identity measures exist for adolescents in secondary school settings. A new 'Adolescent Social Identity' measure was developed by adapting two social identity dimensions from a validated reputation enhancement scale. The Social Identity Measure comprises two scales of 10 items each to measure how adolescents think their peers view them (e.g., reputational status) in terms of their conforming and nonconforming behaviour (Self-perception of Public Self) and how adolescents would ideally like to be viewed (Ideal Public Self) by peers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted along with assessments of reliability, validity, and measurement invariance. Conforming and Nonconforming subscales for both scales were shown to be reliable, valid, and invariant across age and gender groupings. There were significant but small differences in the latent means for gender.

There has been much discussion about the high performance of East Asian students in international high stakes testing, but little attention has been paid to their lifeworlds beyond school. In this article we explore findings from a survey of 627 Year 4 children (nine and ten years old) in three global cities (Hong Kong, Singapore, and Melbourne), focusing on their out-of-school activities as one aspect of their lifeworlds. The findings indicate that the most common activities in each location were comparable. Since the activities in the three locations were largely similar, the findings problematise East/West binaries which have been a feature of research and discussions in this area.

The Learning and Engagement Questionnaire (LEQ) measures instructional and environmental variables associated with learner engagement. The present study sought to determine the suitability of the LEQ to measure learner engagement with a sample of Canadian teachers and to further investigate the factorial structure in comparison with the Australian context. Canadian teachers (N = 739) from Kindergarten to Grade 12 responded to the LEQ in ways that are explained by two factors identified as "Instructional Cycle" and "Student-Directed Learning." The previously reported factor structure of the LEQ identified five factors in the Australian study: "Goal Directed Learning," "Task Selection," "Intensive Teaching," "Teacher Responsiveness," and "Planning and Learning Environment." There is a discussion of the cross- cultural differences between the Australian and Canadian participant groups and their dominant pedagogical approaches. The LEQ has the potential to raise teachers' awareness of the strategies they can use to facilitate inclusive practice through differentiated student engagement.

There is considerable enthusiasm in many quarters for the incorporation of digital games into the classroom, and the capacity of games to engage and challenge players, present complex representations and experiences, foster collaborative learning, and promote deep learning. But while there is increasing research documenting the progress and outcomes of game-based learning, relatively little attention is paid to student perceptions and voice. In order to effectively target game-based learning pedagogy, it is important to understand students' previous experience, if any, of the use of games in the classroom, and what they made of these. In this paper, we present findings from a survey of 270 primary and secondary school students in Year Levels 4-9 (aged 9-14) in 6 Queensland schools at the start of a 3-year Australian Research Council project researching the use of digital games in school to promote literacy and learning.

This article reports on a study that investigates the possibilities of developing a professional learning model based on action research that could lead to sustained improvements in teaching and learning in schools in remote areas of Papua New Guinea. The issues related to the implementation of this model are discussed using a critical lens that questions the use of "western" constructs about "successful" professional learning and "quality" education in Papua New Guinea. In the article, we discuss the notion of "professional learning" and how action research can be conceived as a model for professional learning. Then, we discuss some of the issues and difficulties that are arising during the implementation of our study. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for future developments of professional learning for teachers in countries such as Papua New Guinea. (Contains 1 note and 1 table.)

Effective engagement of young children in the classroom is a critical step toward achieving positive learning outcomes. The Learning and Engagement Questionnaire (LEQ) was developed by the first two authors to identify ways in which teachers strive to engage learners in the classroom. In this study, the factor structure of the LEQ is examined. Participants were 274 teachers of children in their first 3 years of formal schooling. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted and supported a five factor solution: Goal Directed Learning; Task Selection; Teacher Responsiveness; Intensive Teaching; and Planning the Learning Environment.

This paper reports on the effects of two types of parent-focused intervention, for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 2-4 years and within 6 months of diagnosis, on parent's perceptions of stress and competence. Interventions aimed to decrease parenting stress and increase parenting competence by embedding empirically supported parenting strategies within family routines. Families were assigned to a professionally supported intervention that included a workshop and 10 home-visits (n = 17) or to a self-directed video based intervention (n = 22). Development in social communication was greater for children of families receiving professional support as measured by a caregiver questionnaire but not on a clinically measured behavior sample. Improvements in adaptive behavior were greater for children in the professionally supported intervention when relatively low adaptive behavior scores had been demonstrated at pre-intervention. The professionally supported intervention resulted in reduced child-related parenting stress and increased parenting self-efficacy relative to the self-directed intervention. The findings support the importance of providing individualized information and professional support around the time of diagnosis for families who have a child with ASD. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)

In this article we explore East Asian students' lives beyond performance in high-stakes testing regimes. We surveyed 123 P5 students (eleven years old) from one school in a low socioeconomic area of Hong Kong about what they liked doing at school. We linked these questions to others asking what they wished they could do more of, as well as if they felt their teachers and friends showed that they liked them and if they enjoyed school. The results showed that the majority of students reported that they both liked school (83%) and felt liked by their teachers and friends (81.3%). Further, the data showed that if students indicated that they liked an activity "a lot," this was linked to their perception that their teachers and friends liked them. The top three items that the students wished they could do more of were using computers for learning (59.3%); playing sports (52.8%); and playing in a bigger play area (43.9%). Girls tended to like the school activities more than the boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant efforts worldwide have gone into developing cybersafety education for young people. In many countries, key government bodies, community organisations, charity groups and school sectors have engaged in program and curriculum development with the aim of improving students' cybersafety awareness and digital literacy. In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) delivers cybersafety programs, presentations and resources to teachers, librarians, children, parents, carers and other community members through its Cybersmart branding, including the Cybersmart Outreach Program. Drawing on data from the 2011 evaluation of the effectiveness of the ACMA Cybersmart Outreach Program in schools, this paper discusses distinctions between what junior secondary students rated as 'easy' and what is 'important' in relation to managing online safety, and proposes that closer attention to this distinction might present useful guidance for this age group in the development of future education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]