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Full-Text Articles in Education

Averting Uncertainty: A Practical Guide To Physical Activity Research In Australian Schools, Jerome N. Rachele, Thomas F. Cuddihy, Tracy L. Washington, Steven M. Mcphail Sep 2013

Averting Uncertainty: A Practical Guide To Physical Activity Research In Australian Schools, Jerome N. Rachele, Thomas F. Cuddihy, Tracy L. Washington, Steven M. Mcphail

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Preventative health has become central to contemporary health care, identifying youth physical activity as a key factor in determining health and functioning. Schools offer a unique research setting due to distinctive methodological circumstances. However, school-based researchers face several obstacles in their endeavour to complete successful research investigations; often confronted with complex research designs and methodological procedures that are not easily amenable to school contexts. The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical guide for teachers (both teacher educators and teaching practitioners) seeking to conduct physical activity-based research in Australian school settings, as well as discuss research practices. The …


The Fitzroy Valley Numeracy Project: Assessment Of Early Changes In Teachers’ Self-Reported Pedagogic Content Knowledge And Classroom Practice, Lorraine Jacob, Andrew Mcconney Sep 2013

The Fitzroy Valley Numeracy Project: Assessment Of Early Changes In Teachers’ Self-Reported Pedagogic Content Knowledge And Classroom Practice, Lorraine Jacob, Andrew Mcconney

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The Fitzroy Valley Numeracy Project (FVNP) was designed to improve numeracy outcomes for Indigenous students by developing a systematic, co-ordinated approach to teaching primary school mathematics. In this study, using early project data, we examine FVNP teachers’ self‑reported pedagogic content knowledge and classroom practice from initial and follow up questionnaires, as well as interviews from case study teachers. After the first FVNP year, teachers reported being better able to plan focused mathematics lessons and to monitor student learning. On the other hand, teachers also felt less able to make mathematics explicit to students and their confidence in providing engaging activities …


Towards Internationalising The Curriculum: A Case Study Of Chinese Language Teacher Education Programs In China And Australia, Danping Wang, Robyn Moloney, Zhen Li Sep 2013

Towards Internationalising The Curriculum: A Case Study Of Chinese Language Teacher Education Programs In China And Australia, Danping Wang, Robyn Moloney, Zhen Li

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper presents a comparative curricular inquiry of teacher education programs of Chinese as a foreign language in China and Australia. While there is an increasing demand for qualified Chinese language teachers both within China and Western countries, pre-service teacher training is regarded as one of the major factors in impeding success in effective student learning. Using an interpretative approach, this paper captures voices from teacher educators and pre-service teachers through in-depth interviews to supplement curriculum document reviews. The results identify curriculum differences in educational aims and objectives, learning content, methods of delivery and assessment. The study suggests aspects of …


Impact Of Awareness Raising About Listening Micro-Skills On The Listening Comprehension Enhancement: An Exploration Of The Listening Micro-Skills In Efl Classes, Amir Rezaei, Fatimah Hashim Aug 2013

Impact Of Awareness Raising About Listening Micro-Skills On The Listening Comprehension Enhancement: An Exploration Of The Listening Micro-Skills In Efl Classes, Amir Rezaei, Fatimah Hashim

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is common practice in the classes that teachers focus on the outcome of listening rather than the listening process itself. Based on the interventionist view of language teaching, one of the ways proposed for teaching listening is to break it into smaller micro-skills and give learners awareness about them. But before giving awareness, it is important to identify the micro-skills that learners need mostly in performing listening tasks. This study was aimed at exploring the most frequently used listening micro-skills in EFL classes at lower levels. Also, an attempt was made to investigate the impact of awareness raising about …


Trainee Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Stuart Woodcock Aug 2013

Trainee Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Stuart Woodcock

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Policies on the inclusion of students with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms have focused attention on how general education teachers perceive these students. Furthermore with specific learning disabilities forming a large group of diverse students, and teachers’ attitudes often not changing over the career span, preparing teachers for inclusive education is vitally important. This study aimed to identify the attitudes of trainee1 teachers towards students with specific learning disabilities and differentiation of the curriculum. Significant differences were found between the attitudes of primary and secondary school trainee teachers, and the influence of training. There were no differences in …


Preparing Teachers – The Importance Of Connecting Contexts In Teacher Education, Misty Adoniou Aug 2013

Preparing Teachers – The Importance Of Connecting Contexts In Teacher Education, Misty Adoniou

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Everybody wants quality teachers in schools. How are such teachers developed? In this article a model is presented that describes four contexts crucial to the preparation of teachers: the personal, the university, the practicum and the employment contexts. The ways in which these different contexts can and should work together in the education and development of teachers are discussed. The model was developed as a result of a 16 month inductive study into the first year experience of 14 beginning teachers who were graduates of a Bachelor of Education in Primary teaching in an Australian university. Whilst the findings of …


The Responsive Reading Teacher, Gloria R. Latham Aug 2013

The Responsive Reading Teacher, Gloria R. Latham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper describes the ways in which a literacy educator attempted to shift her own and pre-service teachers’ mindsets towards the needs of 21st Century literacy learners by employing a pedagogy of discomfort. The focus of the disruption was on contesting normative practices and content while developing and refining novice teachers’ skills in questioning, listening, noticing, and responding to children, as well as explicit teaching and assessing reading for learning in primary school settings.


The Weaving Of A Tapestry: A Metaphor For Teacher Education Curriculum Development, Susan E. Simon Aug 2013

The Weaving Of A Tapestry: A Metaphor For Teacher Education Curriculum Development, Susan E. Simon

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teacher educators rightfully dream of delivering inspiring programs to benefit future teachers and the students they will in turn inspire. However, in the current teacher education environment in Australia, the artisan’s craft of weaving rich texture and producing a masterpiece is potentially over-shadowed by the educational administrator’s continual focus on the mapping of professional standards to produce an accreditation-worthy product. Responding to increased accountability, teacher educators at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, embarked on re-developing programs utilising a process akin to tapestry weaving. This metaphor enriched contributors’ understanding of the complex process of teacher education program …


The Portfolio Effect: Enhancing Turkish Elt Student-Teachers’ Autonomy, Rana Yildirim Aug 2013

The Portfolio Effect: Enhancing Turkish Elt Student-Teachers’ Autonomy, Rana Yildirim

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article reports on the use of portfolios to develop ELT major student-teachers’ autonomy. The research was carried out for 14 weeks with twenty-one 3rd grade student-teachers in the English Language Teaching Department of Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. To evaluate the impact of portfolios on fostering the participants’ autonomy, data were collected from an autonomy readiness questionnaire, semi-structured interviews with the student-teachers and three portfolio evidences: graded goal sheets, reflection reports, and cover letters. The findings revealed that the use of portfolios assisted the student-teachers in becoming autonomous in regard to their personal and professional development and that the student-teachers …


Assessing Preservice Teachers’ Presentation Capabilities: Contrasting The Modes Of Communication With The Constructed Impression, Matt G. Bower, Robyn A. Moloney, Michael S. Cavanagh, Naomi Sweller Aug 2013

Assessing Preservice Teachers’ Presentation Capabilities: Contrasting The Modes Of Communication With The Constructed Impression, Matt G. Bower, Robyn A. Moloney, Michael S. Cavanagh, Naomi Sweller

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A research-based understanding of how to develop and assess classroom presentation skills is vital for the effective development of pre-service teacher communication capabilities. This paper identifies and compares two different models of assessing pre-service teachers’ presentation performance – one based on the Modes of Communication (voice, body language, words, and alignment between those elements) and another based on features of the Constructed Impression of the communication acts (confidence, clarity, engagement and appropriateness). The Modes of Communication and the Constructed Impression of 164 pre-service teacher presentations were rated. The Constructed Impression model provided a better fit to data, while averaging of …


Classroom Profiling Training: Increasing Preservice Teachers’ Confidence And Knowledge Of Classroom Management Skills, Cliff Jackson, Kym Simoncini, Mark Davidson Aug 2013

Classroom Profiling Training: Increasing Preservice Teachers’ Confidence And Knowledge Of Classroom Management Skills, Cliff Jackson, Kym Simoncini, Mark Davidson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Classroom management is a serious concern for beginning teachers including preservice teachers. The Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE) has developed the Essential Skills for Classroom Management (ESCM), a system of positive and pro-active strategies for maintaining supportive learning environments. In addition, the DETE offers Classroom Profiling, a data driven, non-judgmental process to allow teachers to reflect on the classroom management strategies they employ. This qualitative study investigated whether Classroom Profiling training could increase preservice teachers’ knowledge and confidence in using ESCM. Fifteen preservice teachers in their final year of a Bachelor of Education degree in Far North …


Chaos Of Textures Or ‘Tapisserie’? A Model For Creative Teacher Education Curriculum Design, Sue E. Simon Aug 2013

Chaos Of Textures Or ‘Tapisserie’? A Model For Creative Teacher Education Curriculum Design, Sue E. Simon

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A tapestry or ‘tapisserie’ methodology, inspired by Denzin and Lincoln’s ‘bricolage’ methodology (2000), emerged during the complex task of re-developing teacher education programs at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. ‘Tapisserie’ methodology highlights the pivotal task of determining stable ‘warp threads’ prior to the subsequent interweaving of myriad ‘weft threads’. In our context, the core values of the education team were deemed to be the crucial ‘warp threads’ which would provide structure and navigation through numerous ‘weft threads’. The resultant model assisted teacher educators’ understanding of this complex process within a rigorous accreditation environment. It aims to preserve …


Creative Arts: An Essential Element In The Teacher’S Toolkit When Developing Critical Thinking In Children, Caroline Nilson, Catherine M. Fetherston, Anne Mcmurray, Tony Fetherston Jul 2013

Creative Arts: An Essential Element In The Teacher’S Toolkit When Developing Critical Thinking In Children, Caroline Nilson, Catherine M. Fetherston, Anne Mcmurray, Tony Fetherston

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper is a position paper, which argues the position that critical thinking is a crucial skill, which needs to be developed in the school curriculum and that the creative arts can do this. The paper explores the states of the Arts in the present curriculum and goes on to argue that knowing how to develop critical thinking is an important pedagogical skill that needs to be developed in our pre-service teachers. This position is supported through data gathered from an innovative project that explored teachers’ and mothers’ perceptions of children’s critical thinking.


Peer Mentoring: A Way Forward For Supporting Preservice Efl Teachers Psychosocially During The Practicum, Hoa Thi Mai Nguyen Jul 2013

Peer Mentoring: A Way Forward For Supporting Preservice Efl Teachers Psychosocially During The Practicum, Hoa Thi Mai Nguyen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

During the past several years, the importance of practicum as a vital proportion of the preservice teacher education program has been increasingly emphasized. There have been a number of initiatives for supporting preservice teachers. Among these, peer based relationship is increasingly emerged as an innovative strategy to provide additional support to preservice teachers. This paper reports on part of a larger study which investigated the impact of peer mentoring in the context of Vietnam. Using mixed methods research design, the study investigated the impact of a peer mentoring model on the preservice teachers’ perceptions of their psychosocial support from their …


Empowering Pre-Service Teacher Supervisors’ Perspectives: A Relational-Cultural Approach Towards Mentoring, Liisa Uusimaki Jul 2013

Empowering Pre-Service Teacher Supervisors’ Perspectives: A Relational-Cultural Approach Towards Mentoring, Liisa Uusimaki

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Positive relationship building between the university and the schools that receive their pre-service teachers are crucial to developing quality educators fit for the teaching profession. This paper presents an overview of a mentor workshop that was introduced by the professional experience unit of a regional university in Australia. The aim of the mentor workshop was to explore classroom teachers’ concerns when supervising pre-service teachers and find ways to better support them in the supervisor role. In addition, different ways and ideas about how to best meet the high (and growing) demand for professional experience placements were explored. Findings suggest that …


A Tale Of Five Countries: Background And Confidence In Preservice Primary Teachers In Drama Education Across Five Countries, Deirdre E. Russell-Bowie Jul 2013

A Tale Of Five Countries: Background And Confidence In Preservice Primary Teachers In Drama Education Across Five Countries, Deirdre E. Russell-Bowie

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In many public primary schools across different countries, generalist primary teachers are required to teach all subjects, including music, dance, drama and visual arts. This study investigates the background and confidence of preservice primary teachers from five countries in relation to drama and drama education. It also examines if there is a difference between the preservice teachers’ perceptions of their own background and confidence in drama education in relation to each of the five countries (Australia, South Africa, Namibia, USA and Ireland). On investigating the differences between countries, there were significant statistical differences in the means of responses from preservice …


Enriching The Professional Learning Of Early Years Teachers In Disadvantaged Contexts: The Impact Of Quality Resources And Quality Professional Learning, Elizabeth A. Warren, Jodie Miller Jul 2013

Enriching The Professional Learning Of Early Years Teachers In Disadvantaged Contexts: The Impact Of Quality Resources And Quality Professional Learning, Elizabeth A. Warren, Jodie Miller

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Studies indicate that very few teachers entering disadvantaged contexts feel prepared academically or professionally to teach effectively. This study focuses on the impact of a model for professional learning, the RoleM Professional Learning model (RPL), situated in a disadvantaged context over a three-year period. The participating teachers (n = 12) in this study taught in the first three years of school (Foundation to Year 2). To ascertain the effectiveness of RPL, teachers were interviewed three times a year and students’ pre and post-test scores were also considered. The results indicate that quality teaching is related to the establishment of quality …


A Faith Dimension On The Landscape Of Teachers: Muslim Teachers On Recruitment, Retention And Career Advancement, Imran Mogra Jul 2013

A Faith Dimension On The Landscape Of Teachers: Muslim Teachers On Recruitment, Retention And Career Advancement, Imran Mogra

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A significant area of teacher education is the increasing focus in many countries on how faith and schooling should best be understood. Yet, understanding faith perspectives in the lives and careers of teachers appears to be an under-researched area. To this end, the experiences of professional Muslim teachers in state primary schools in England were explored using semi-structured in-depth life history interviews. This paper focuses on their views regarding the recruitment, retention and career advancement of Muslim teachers in particular, as part of Black and minority ethnic teachers in Britain. Findings reveal a positive picture and their representation at various …


I See, I Think I Wonder: An Evaluation Of Journaling As A Critical Reflective Practice Tool For Aiding Teachers In Challenging Or Confronting Contexts, Geoffrey M. Lowe, Peter Prout, Karen Murcia Jun 2013

I See, I Think I Wonder: An Evaluation Of Journaling As A Critical Reflective Practice Tool For Aiding Teachers In Challenging Or Confronting Contexts, Geoffrey M. Lowe, Peter Prout, Karen Murcia

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In October 2011, five selected Western Australian teachers took part in a teacher mentoring project in Tanzania. The teachers spent a month embedded in local primary and secondary schools, working collaboratively with their Tanzanian counterparts. As a strategy for making sense of their experiences, each teacher was asked to maintain a reflective journal, using the Harvard Visible Thinking Routine of ‘see, think, wonder’ as a critical structure for guiding their journal writing. The purpose of this article is to discuss the effectiveness of journaling for teachers in challenging teaching situations, and the usefulness of the Harvard approach in structuring the …


Career Development In Language Education Programs, Saad Fathy Shawer, Saad Ali Alkahtani Jun 2013

Career Development In Language Education Programs, Saad Fathy Shawer, Saad Ali Alkahtani

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study assesses the influence of a two-year language program evaluation on program directors and faculty career development. The study makes use of mixed-paradigms (positivism and qualitative interpretive), mixed-strategies (survey research and qualitative evaluation), one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a post-hoc test of multiple comparisons (Scheffe). The findings indicate that imposed program evaluation experiences help faculty members advance their career skills in terms of course planning, classroom teaching, learning assessment, classroom research, and coping with career pressure. The findings also indicate significant improvement in program director academic and administrative career skills. Moreover, the findings did not show inter-program differences …


The Case For Using Learning Designs With Pre-Service Teachers, Leanne Cameron, Chris Campbell Jun 2013

The Case For Using Learning Designs With Pre-Service Teachers, Leanne Cameron, Chris Campbell

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This research paper documents what learning designs, teaching methods and teaching activities were most commonly used by pre-service teachers and experienced teachers as observed by the pre-service teachers when on their practicum visits in schools. The paper also outlines the benefits of documenting learning designs so that good teaching practice might be shared. Using case study methodology, the authors also report how infrequently the pre-service teachers participated in discussions about learning designs, teaching methods and teaching activities with their supervising teacher and/or other experienced teachers. The findings demonstrate that while the pre-service teachers recognized the benefits of documenting and sharing …


Intentions And Behaviours: Record-Keeping Practices Of Pre-Service Teachers During Professional Experience, Simon G. Shaw, Scott Pedersen, Dean Cooley, Rosemary A. Callingham Jun 2013

Intentions And Behaviours: Record-Keeping Practices Of Pre-Service Teachers During Professional Experience, Simon G. Shaw, Scott Pedersen, Dean Cooley, Rosemary A. Callingham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The current expectation of teachers in Australia is that they are able to collect, interpret, and use data related to teaching and learning. Digital technologies in schools, such as electronic methods of record-keeping, offer enhanced opportunities for teachers to perform this skill, and its application has been growing steadily in education. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine fourth-year pre-service teachers’ behaviour in record-keeping whilst on their final professional experience placement. Using Ajzen’s (1992) theory of planned behavior, this study found that most pre-service teachers exhibited positive attitudes toward the behaviour of recording, using, and analysing classroom data. …


Policies And Practices Of Professional Development In China: What Do Early Childhood Teachers Think?, Karen Liang Guo, Yan Yong Jun 2013

Policies And Practices Of Professional Development In China: What Do Early Childhood Teachers Think?, Karen Liang Guo, Yan Yong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper focuses on early childhood teachers’ professional development in China. It reports a study which aims to elicit twelve in-service early childhood teachers’ perspectives of the values and issues of professional development policies and the learning opportunities they experienced. Two themes arising from the study are addressed, namely the teachers’ positive responses to the government aspirations for enhancing teaching in early childhood education, and the complexities of the organizational and role structures of the early childhood community in ChangChun where the study took place. An important aspect of the teachers’ perspectives of their professional development, which connects up to …


Conceptualising An Approach To Clinical Reasoning In The Education Profession, Jeana Kriewaldt, Dagmar Turnidge Jun 2013

Conceptualising An Approach To Clinical Reasoning In The Education Profession, Jeana Kriewaldt, Dagmar Turnidge

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

An increasing number of teaching qualifications are underpinned by the concept of clinical practice (Alter & Coggshall, 2009; McLean Davies et al., 2013) and draw on clinical education research in the health professions. Teaching as a clinical practice profession is an emergent approach in teacher education. Clinical practice is not a wholesale shift in approach; rather it is a change in perspective that has the capacity to create changes in thinking about learning and teaching. The concept of clinical reasoning presented in this paper is offered as a key element in teacher education that requires greater emphasis. …


Slipping Through The Cracks: One Early Career Teacher’S Experiences Of Rural Teaching And The Subsequent Impact On Her Personal And Professional Identities, Chad M. Morrison Jun 2013

Slipping Through The Cracks: One Early Career Teacher’S Experiences Of Rural Teaching And The Subsequent Impact On Her Personal And Professional Identities, Chad M. Morrison

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper presents experiences and responses of a first-year teacher, Emily, who participated in research exploring the identity formation of early career teachers. 14 teachers were recruited from South Australian schools and Emily was one of four participants working in a rural school in her first year of teaching. What emerged from her experiences and responses were issues of acute personal and professional isolation, absence of professional and personal dialogue and support, including limited acknowledgement of the implications of deteriorating personal and professional wellbeing. In the midst of these disparaging experiences, and in light of the subsequent personal and professional …


Reciprocal Mentoring: Can It Help Prevent Attrition For Beginning Teachers?, Lisa F. Paris Jun 2013

Reciprocal Mentoring: Can It Help Prevent Attrition For Beginning Teachers?, Lisa F. Paris

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Forty per cent of new teachers in Australia leave the profession in the first five years. Stress, induction failure and professional isolation have been identified as key attrition factors. Mentoring has been used both internationally and in Australia to enhance induction and reduce profession isolation; however, these mentoring relationships are often fragile and there is a need to establish more effective mentoring models. Reciprocal Mentoring (RM) pairs two equal, though differently skilled, experts who act in the role of mentor and mentee to each other for their mutual benefit. The RM approach is designed to support beginning teachers as they …


Challenges For Curriculum Leadership In Contemporary Teacher Education, Robert J. Parkes Jun 2013

Challenges For Curriculum Leadership In Contemporary Teacher Education, Robert J. Parkes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper outlines the complex contemporary milieu of Australian teacher education within which curriculum leaders responsible for designing teacher education programs must make their program design decisions. Particular attention is paid to the collision of vertical (‘hierarchical’ or 'academic rationalist') and horizontal (‘flat’ or 'student-centred') curriculum discourses as a program design problem that has emerged within the current context; how it is intensified by an unexpected alliance between progressivist and new managerial curriculum discourses; and how this problem may be amplified in graduate entry teacher education programs. This paper concludes with a provocation to see the curriculum tensions and conditions …


The Effects Of Training On Pre-Service English Teachers’ Regulation Of Their Study Time, Aysegul Daloglu, Seniye Vural Jun 2013

The Effects Of Training On Pre-Service English Teachers’ Regulation Of Their Study Time, Aysegul Daloglu, Seniye Vural

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Based on Zimmerman et al.’s (1996) learning model, an intervention consisting of seven weekly training sessions to increase students’ awareness of and ability to plan and manage their study time was developed. Weekly journals, in which students reflected on their implementation of each phase of the learning model, were applied for students and the researchers to monitor and evaluate the training process. The results indicate that the training proved to be beneficial in that students reported a frequent use of a variety of strategies throughout the training process.


Reading And Note Taking In Monological And Dialogical Classes In The Social Sciences, Manuela Cartolari, Paula Carlino, Laura M. Colombo Jun 2013

Reading And Note Taking In Monological And Dialogical Classes In The Social Sciences, Manuela Cartolari, Paula Carlino, Laura M. Colombo

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This qualitative study explores the uses of reading and note-taking in two pre-service teacher training Social Sciences courses. Data analysis of in-depth interviews with professors and students, class observations and course materials suggested two polar teaching styles according to how bibliography was included in the course and the presence or absence of dialogicality. In one course, the professor assumed that students should read texts on their own prerogative. As monological lectures were given, they mostly studied from their class-notes. In the other course, the professor held class discussions based on readings that took place in and outside the classroom. According …


Seeing The Bigger Picture: Investigating The State Of The Arts In Teacher Education Programs In Australia, Georgina M. Barton, Margaret Baguley, Abbey Macdonald Jun 2013

Seeing The Bigger Picture: Investigating The State Of The Arts In Teacher Education Programs In Australia, Georgina M. Barton, Margaret Baguley, Abbey Macdonald

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There is extensive research that shows how the arts provide many benefits for all students yet there is evidence that arts education offerings and experiences are decreasing across both university and school sectors. It is important that we recognize the essential role of teacher educators in preparing pre-service teachers to be aware of the ‘bigger picture’ of arts education before beginning their work with students. Drawing on interview data from eight tertiary arts educators, this paper will provide a timely national snapshot view of their perceptions. It explores their experiences as arts educators in higher education contexts in regards to …