Abstract: The Creating Meaningful Connections project is a longitudinal study that resulted from a partnership between social work academics at the University of Newcastle and educators at a regional secondary school in NSW, Australia. It seeks to better understand the relationship between school connectedness and youth mental health. In stage 1, focus groups were conducted with 99 students 9 months after their transition to secondary school. The shift to secondary school created a range of social and academic challenges for young people. It often resulted in limited—or no—contact with friends from primary school, requiring the negotiation of new friendships. While this process was relatively trouble-free for many students, others described it as risky and challenging. Positive peer relationships appeared to increase happiness, feelings of safety, offer support during difficult periods and facilitate secondary school adjustment. This paper offers a unique perspective by capturing student voice and commentary about the nature and importance of peer relationships during transition. It also highlights the potential for social work and education to work collaboratively to enhance peer relationships, mental health and school connectedness during transition. PubDate: 2019-07-17
Abstract: From a social ecological perspective, there are multiple challenges that can lead to stress, burnout and attrition in teachers and school leaders. The capacity to manage negative emotions is important for emotion regulation, emotional intelligence, coping and mindfulness. Emotions also form one dimension of resilience as teachers use strategies to maintain their commitment and well-being. This paper examines those strategies nominated by 73 practicing teachers who completed online modules designed to enhance resilience capacity. An iterative process of coding of 206 separate responses led to 14 first-order categories. These were then coded into four higher-order categories of Waiting, Assessing, Problem-Solving and Being Proactive. The largest group of responses, aligned with mindfulness approaches, referred to the need to take a break to calm oneself and manage the emotions, before assessing the situation and engaging in direct problem-focused strategies. Participants also reported putting proactive strategies in place. Implications for teacher professional learning are discussed including the challenge of focusing on individual capacity when the source of challenges may lie in wider policies or workplace structure. Limitations include lack of corroborating observational data, and suggestions are made for further research to understand how teachers manage the emotional challenges of their work. PubDate: 2019-07-13
Abstract: This paper reports findings from a study of early career teachers (ECTs) in Western Australia. The aim of this study was to investigate the professional learning activities of ECTs and the perceived impact of these on their professional development. Data were gathered via two online surveys and interviews. Findings reveal that ECTs participated in a range of formal and informal professional learning activities which were accessed through the Department of Education and their schools. The activities that had the greatest perceived impact on professional development were engaging in informal dialogue with colleagues and participation in an in-class coaching programme. Results lend support to the criticism of the unhelpful dichotomy between formal and informal learning in the provision of professional learning activities for teachers, and ECTs especially. They also highlight the critical role played by relationships and school contexts in ensuring the future generation of teachers are equipped to provide high-quality teaching and will remain resilient and committed to the profession beyond the early career years. PubDate: 2019-07-10
Abstract: Primary schools are dynamic environments where teachers take on multiple roles, often simultaneously, to help promote high-quality learning and meet the various needs of their students. Within the primary school context both female and male teachers are required to perform multiple roles; however, these roles are often socially constructed based on gender. Traditionally, primary schools in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States have a high proportion of female teachers. Despite their minority status, research has noted that male primary teachers in the minority are often expected to take primary responsibility for roles such as disciplinarian, manual labourer, sports coach, and lead in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Role differentiation in primary schools often reflects broader societal gender constructions that are increasingly subjected to critical scrutiny. Yet that same level of scrutiny has not always been applied to educational contexts. It is the aim of this paper, therefore, to more fully examine how gendered roles influence the experience of male primary teachers and more specifically, how those teachers cope with the expectations placed on them because they are men. Understanding the sources and types of coping strategies will aid in the development of specific interventions to improve the retention of other male primary teachers. PubDate: 2019-07-04
Abstract: This paper reports students’ perceptions of their learning of 21st century skills through a novel approach to delivery of the school program in Year 10. For 1 day per week, all Year 10 students at this school participate in The DeLorean Project, where they create, design and implement their own real-world projects with the assistance of teachers as facilitators. Student attitudes towards participation in the initiative were surveyed and analysed. Results indicated that students’ awareness of skills associated with the General Capabilities of the Australian Curriculum were explicitly developed as a result of participation in the DeLorean Project, particularly critical and creative thinking, ethical behaviour, and personal and social capability. Student voice in relation to the project gives rise to implications for further development and design of DeLorean as new approach to teaching and learning in Australian schools. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: In this paper, we present case study data from research that sought to evaluate the implementation and impact of a Respectful Relationships in Education (RRE) program. The program is part of the Victorian state government’s school-based response to ending violence against women and their children. It advocates a liberal feminist aligned ‘gender lens’ (of equitable gender access, representation and participation) within six areas of a whole school approach. The paper illustrates how this lens informed the understandings and practices of educators at one of the primary schools in the research. We explore the deployment of an affirmative and non-affirmative gender politics within the context and goals of the RRE program. Identifying the potential and problematics of this deployment in working to support the goals of gender justice, we offer a theoretical framework—the status model—as a way forward. The status model supports a critical engagement with all relations and knowledges (i.e. within dominant and subordinate cultures) that oppress and marginalise. It thus supports the deployment of a critical affirmative and non-affirmative gender politics that reflects capacity to transform the underlying power relations and structures that generate gender-based violence. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: As we see a ramping-up of online teacher professional learning and development (PLD) offerings, it is becoming increasingly imperative to consider the complexity and nuances of what constitutes effective online teacher PLD, and to be able to plan and evaluate it. There is a need for PLD to be ‘genuinely effective’, but while descriptions of effective teacher PLD abound, effective online teacher PLD is not as clearly articulated. We analyse characterisations of effective PLD and the extent to which they apply to online contexts. We argue that for online PLD to be genuinely effective—relevant, collaborative and future focused—attention must be paid to practice architectures that hold online PLD in place, to technological demands and to how evidence regarding PLD efficacy is generated and collected. To this end, we propose a heuristic framework for planning and evaluating online PLD. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: University participation rates are significantly lower in low socioeconomic status (SES) areas in Australia. Specifically, rates differ between-schools and within-schools, where inequalities in opportunities to access university pathway programs exist. The aim of this study was to test whether academic encouragement supported students’ school satisfaction and increased their desire for, expectation of and belief in the possibility of university study and whether differences were evident depending on pathway of study: the ATAR pathway versus a Year 12 access enabling pathway program called TLC110. A sample of 257 high school students (58% female) from 18 high schools, within a low-SES area of outer metropolitan Perth, Western Australia, were surveyed. Teacher encouragement was found to be positively associated with school satisfaction and, in turn, supported university desire, expectation and belief for ATAR students but not for TLC110 students. Qualitative data were collected (n = 9) to contextualise the inclusivity of TLC110 for high school students from low-SES backgrounds to support aspirations for university. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: Catering for diversity within birth to 5-year-old settings continues to be an on-going concern for policy makers and educators worldwide. This research contributes to discussion on the value of children’s literature in achieving international principles of diversity and, in particular, the Principles, Practice and Outcomes outlined in the Australian Early Years Learning Framework. The article considers the selection and use of children’s literature related to diversity, as well as what influences these processes. Seventeen educators from five long day care centres located in or near the Perth metropolitan area participated in the study. Data were drawn from interviews and a book audit. The findings revealed educators had limited understandings of the role of literature in acknowledging and valuing diversity and rarely used it to promote the diversity-related outcomes of the EYLF. The key challenges which emerged from the findings concerned beliefs of educators, professional learning and the application of the EYLF in practice. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: Australian students’ performance on national and international literacy assessments has declined since 2000, while teachers in contemporary classrooms contend with conditions of increased complexity and uncertainty. In July 2017, the Australian Government commissioned a panel of experts to provide advice on how to improve Australian students’ achievement and school performance. The panel concluded that Australian schools must support every student to realise their full learning potential through an increased emphasis on personalised student learning and collaborative teacher practices. This paper outlines a case study of complexities and influences in enabling and constraining a local curriculum innovation in literacy that sought to personalise learning and promote teacher collaboration in conditions of constant change and disruption. Named Literacy Toolbox, this initiative was developed by Year 7 and 8 literacy leaders at a Tasmanian secondary school to increase student agency and enhance teaching around a model of deprivatised or shared practice. The findings provide insight for education researchers and schools regarding the challenges and opportunities of attempts to enact personalised learning and co-teaching in the current context. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: Formal primary and secondary school education for all students should provide a pathway to overcome inequality and disadvantage. Logically, attending school regularly and often during the compulsory years of school provides the best prospects to achieve educational success and enhance post-school opportunities, particularly for socioeconomically disadvantaged students. However, recent research of Indigenous students living in remote regions of Australia suggests school attendance frequency has little, or no correlation with academic success or failure. Our study of a disadvantaged urban school population also showed no attendance and achievement relationship at student-level for Indigenous students (or non-Indigenous peers). The findings of this study highlight the generally accepted relationship between attendance and achievement does not apply universally for all students. Many factors have potential to influence for Indigenous students’ capacity for educational achievement. We need further research to ensure Indigenous education policy and strategies for improved student outcomes target what matters most. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: The ‘responding’ strand of the Australian visual arts curriculum promotes twenty-first century learning skills through students’ analytical engagement with artworks and artists. Assessing students’ experiences and engagement is one strategy to improve teaching and learning in responding. However, there are no validated, subject-specific student engagement instruments for teachers to use. This study sought to develop a student self-report diagnostic instrument that provides information on past experiences with visual arts and factors affecting both cognitive and psychological engagement, with implications for improving teaching and learning. The instrument was piloted with 266 Year 10 to 12 students, as responding has an approximate 50% assessment weighting in the Australian visual arts course for senior school students. This paper reports on the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses conducted in the development of the instrument. It adds to the body of knowledge on developing engagement instruments, recognising that student engagement in secondary education is context-dependent. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: The public education systems of many countries have undergone governance reforms involving administrative decentralisation, corporatisation and community ‘empowerment’. In this paper, we examine the significance of local participation and partnerships in the context of public school autonomy and their corporatisation. Focusing specifically on the use of school boards in the Independent Public Schools (IPS) initiative in Western Australia, we analyse the interview responses of five IPS principals using Foucauldian notions of governmentality, governance and community. The analysis shows that school boards are conceptualised and mobilised through the narrow technical–rationalist discourses of governance associated with corporatised school autonomy. School boards function as a new form of governmentality that constrains recruitment and participation in school decision-making in ways that depoliticise education. In response to the rise of school autonomy and corporatisation in Australia and elsewhere, we argue for wider local participation on school boards and local engagement with, rather than eschewal of, the politics surrounding education and the public good. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: In line with teaching standards requiring teachers to evidence research capacities, this paper explores responses to a professional learning programme designed in partnership by an educational authority and a university. Intended to enable practising teachers to develop research capacities and complete postgraduate qualifications, the professional learning programme featured collaboration, distributed leadership and participatory action research. Focusing on the experiences and responses of teachers participating in the collaborative project, data collected through teacher interviews, focus groups, researcher observations and teacher-and-student documentation were analysed. Findings indicate that a collaborative practice-based approach to professional learning and postgraduate studies developed teacher appetite for, appreciation of and emerging capacities in both empirical and conceptual research including defining a research question; reviewing literature; conducting an action research project; engaging with evidence; criticality; and reporting on findings. Enabling conditions of and limitations to the development of research-based capacities are explored. PubDate: 2019-07-01
Abstract: Despite numerous equity initiatives aimed at increasing participation in higher education, students from regional and remote communities continue to be underrepresented in Australia. This paper presents a scoping review of empirical studies, published between 1991 and 2016, that examined aspirations for higher education of students from regional and remote areas. Analysis of the 65 articles revealed an emphasis on enablers and barriers to participation in higher education including: cost and distance, supportive environments, attachment to home, schooling and academic achievement, knowledge of pathways, and individual characteristics. However, much of the research offers a homogeneous view of regional and remote communities which elides location-specific characteristics that are powerful in shaping educational aspirations. We argue that there is a critical need for greater understanding of the diversity of experiences, influences, and aspirations among students within rural and remote communities to underpin the provision of appropriate infrastructure and support for their higher education aspirations. We identify some key avenues for further research into the aspirations of students in rural and remote communities and the ways in which this research can inform and improve outreach activities. PubDate: 2019-06-28
Abstract: This paper reports on the external evaluation of a two-year project aimed at improving educational opportunities for Aboriginal Education Workers (AEWs) through technology-based pedagogy. A design-based approach was selected by the research team to increase the relevance of the research for both praxis and practice, with emphasis on improvement of practice through evidence-based education throughout the project. To complement this research approach, a design-based approach was also adopted for the external evaluation that was undertaken in parallel to the research study. Design-based methodology has advantages and issues for an independent evaluator due to the inter-relationship of the research team in iteratively using findings of phases of the evaluation to inform and enhance the project. Internal evaluative data collected by the research team need to be balanced with that collected independently by the external evaluator to ensure authentic evaluation of the nature and effects of the interventions on participants. The paper reports on the outcomes of the external evaluation process and reflects on its capacity to serve dual objectives for evaluator and research team. PubDate: 2019-06-28
Abstract: This paper reports on interviews exploring pre-service English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher attitudes towards the inclusion of controversial issues in EAL classrooms. The paper examines how teachers perceive the role of the teacher in fostering EAL students’ democratic understandings, skills, and dispositions, and whether these perceptions lead teachers to consider including controversial topics such as terrorism for discussion in EAL. Pre-service teachers report that they perceive the discussion of controversial topics to be beneficial in both breaking down stereotypes and misrepresentations and in developing students’ knowledge and skills as active citizens, in agreement with a body of international research that recommends the discussion of controversial issues as a fundamental democratic practice. However, analysis suggests that despite this positive attitude towards the discussion of controversial topics, many pre-service teachers often defer the decision to include such topics to external authorities over concerns related to negative professional consequences and sensitivity to student well-being. PubDate: 2019-06-14
Abstract: Teacher agency is enacted when teachers attempt to control or influence curriculum in an effort to achieve their desired outcomes. This article presents the results of a longitudinal qualitative case study which explored teacher agency using the Triadic Reciprocity Framework Core Agency Concepts (TRFCAC) model. The current study identified teacher agency manifested in three ways—proactively, reactively and passively, as influenced by the many contextual factors (determinants) which affected teachers. Teacher effectiveness in implementing curriculum change was shown to be heavily dependent on school leadership, teacher relationships with leaders and colleagues, and school operational practices and school culture, as well as personal motivation. Collegiality and perceptions of trust increased the likelihood of proactive agency, whereas job intensity and constant curriculum change led to increased occurrences of reactive agency. Passive agency resulted from poor relationships with school leaders, personal reluctance to change curriculum or lack of knowledge of school procedures. PubDate: 2019-06-07
Abstract: Secondary data analysis in educational research has been an established research method for many years. Yet, few publications outline the “how to” of undertaking the process. This paper presents an analysis framework suitable for undertaking secondary data analysis within the field of education. The framework is a modification and an application of a pre-existing data mining research process known as Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD). The KDD process is interactive and generative and involves a series of sequential steps and decision-making processes. The modified KDD process is described to show how it supports secondary data analysis and provides an example of how the modified KDD process was applied across a secondary analysis in mathematics education. This paper provides educational researchers with a practical and iterative framework through which to undertake secondary analysis that enhances flexibility and encourages depth and saturation. PubDate: 2019-05-18
Abstract: This study examines associations between Australia’s regulatory ratings of quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC)—the National Quality Standard (NQS)—and two research-based quality rating scales. The analytic sample consisted of 257 ECEC services across three Australian states. Results indicated (1) modest positive associations between NQS ratings and scale scores; (2) some specificity between NQS quality areas (educational programs and practice; relationships with children) and one research scale—the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing (SSTEW) scale; (3) variability in quality scales scores within each NQS designation; and (4) mitigation of these associations when the time-gap between ratings exceeded 24 months. Findings suggest NQS and research scales tap some common core of quality, yet capture different aspects of quality, suggesting both could be used to raise standards of quality in Australian preschools, where the research scales potentiate raising quality to even higher levels than NQS. PubDate: 2019-04-16
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