Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Theatre Pedagogy On Student Teachers’ Development Of Beliefs About Good Teaching And Their Pedagogical Ethos: An Exploratory Case Study, Angela Hadjipanteli

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The development of student teachers’ beliefs about good teaching needs to be integral to their education programmes. This study attempts to scrutinise the contribution of a theatre education course to the conceptualisation of a group of eight student primary teachers’ notion of good teaching and a teacher’s ethos. The findings reveal that, within the coursework, student teachers’ learning experiences are interwoven with the ethics of the beautiful, the ethics of the dialogue and the ethics of the will. This nexus of learning experiences enabled them to identify three internal goods of good teaching: the awakening of learners’ positive emotions; …

Learning To Teach Without Teaching: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Preservice Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs And Perceptions Of An Evidence-Based Creative Arts Subject, James Deehan, Rachael C. Hutchesson, Paul Parker

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Recognition of the inherent value of the Creative Arts in society seldom extends beyond rhetoric to meaningful action. The powerful ways the Creative Arts are positioned within curriculum documents, for example, stand in contrast to entrenched problems such as poor teacher attitudes, disengaging teaching practices and low status. Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs and preservice teachers are essential to the long-term improvement of Creative Arts education. Creative Arts in ITE is also an interesting context in which to examine the divide between Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) and Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) that has influenced both educational research and policy. This paper …

Visual Culture As A Teaching Practice In Visual Arts Education In Turkey: Practitioner Inquiry, Ebru Güler

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The present research investigates the experiences of pre-service visual arts teachers in the planning and application phase of a course focusing on visual culture in the special teaching methods course. This course in Turkey provides information about how and with what type of methodologies arts-related topics should be taught in visual arts education. During the first semester, the course was conducted theoretically, and in the second semester the researcher focused on the application of these theories. In this research, visual culture is discussed as one of the special teaching methods of visual arts education. A total of five visual arts …

Safe Spaces For Enabling The Creative Process In Classrooms, Monique Fuss, Graham R. Daniel

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Based on interviews with five creative professionals this article looks to investigate the creative experience as a source of data on how educators might create space for enabling the creative process in the classroom. Looking toward professional artists who are also committed educators provides core commentary on how to maximise creative experiences in the classroom. Whilst acknowledging the importance of physical space, the following article looks purposefully toward how to enable space as an internal state of being, with the intent toward establishing transdisciplinary discussions that stimulate and provoke creative pedagogical research across an interdependent continuum. The research concludes that …

The Development Of A Student Engagement Instrument For The Responding Strand In Visual Arts, Julia Morris

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

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 …

“Learning The Ropes”: Pre-Service Arts Teachers Navigating The Extracurricular Terrain, Christina C. Gray, Geoffrey M. Lowe

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Arts teachers undertake a multitude of extracurricular activities. Yet, while these activities consume considerable time and require specific expertise, little attention is afforded to developing these skills and expertise during pre-service training. This article presents findings from a study into the value of a pre-service teacher production as a form of professional development, from both the technical and personal development perspectives. Thirty pre-service secondary Arts teachers participated in the production. Through focus-group interviews, participants indicated the benefits of building technical understanding as well as personal benefits of engaging in an ensemble experience. All spoke of the potential transferability of what …

Correction To: Arts Engagement Outside Of School: Links With Year 10 To 12 Students’ Intrinsic Motivation And Self-Efficacy In Responding To Art (The Australian Educational Researcher, (2018), 45, 4, (455-472), 10.1007/S13384-018-0269-8), Julia E. Morris

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The article “Arts engagement outside of school: Links with Year 10 to 12 students’ intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy in responding to art” written by Julia E. Morris was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on 28 March 2018 without open access. With the author(s)’ decision to opt for Open Choice, the copyright of the article changed on 30 November to © The Author(s) 2018 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as …

Developing Children’S Physical Literacy: How Well Prepared Are Prospective Teachers?, Judith Dinham, Paul Williams

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

While the known health impacts of sedentary lifestyles have focused attention on children’s outdoor activity, the development of their physical literacy – the physiological, social, cultural, cognitive, expressive, and psychological dimensions of their physicality – is much less in focus.

Developing children’s physical literacy is embedded in the Early Years Learning Framework and Primary curriculum: Health and Physical Education, and the performing arts subjects within The Arts. This study asks “How well prepared are pre-service teachers to implement a program that contributes to developing children’s physical literacy?”

This mixed methods study includes an environmental scan of BEd courses at 12 …

Teachers’ Perspectives About Implementing Ict In Music Education, Anne-Maree Eyles

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article provides insights into the current state of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) implementation in music classrooms throughout Queensland, Australia, through the perspectives of classroom music teachers with regard to organisational practices that influence the implementation of ICT in music education. Using explanatory sequential mixed methods, a quantitative survey gathered music teachers’ perspectives regarding the availability of ICT resources, ICT support, teacher confidence, current teaching practices and professional development. Six qualitative semi-structured interviews were then conducted to investigate further the identified themes. This paper discusses the analysis of the quantitative survey results. Findings suggest that the F-10 Australian Curriculum …

Dialogic Communication In The One-To-One Improvisation Lesson: A Qualitative Study, Leon R. De Bruin

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This qualitative study investigates the dialogic interactions between teacher and student that enhance learning and teaching within the one-to-one music improvisation lesson. This study analyses the ways teachers elicit student actions, thoughts and processes that develop student skills, critical and creative thinking processes necessary for improvisational development. Interactions and interplay between six Australian conservatoire improvisation students and their teachers were investigated. Data reveal dialogic interactions that span instruction, conversation, inquiry and enablement of student knowledge and skills that constitute a complex socio-cultural tapestry of discursive threads. Teacher-student interactions that activate desired creative student activity engage meta-cognitive processes and the cultivation …

Competition Versus Cooperation: Implications For Music Teachers Following Students Feedback From Participation In A Large-Scale Cooperative Music Festival, Geoffrey M. Lowe

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Competition is reported in the general education literature as having a largely detrimental impact upon student engagement and long-term motivation, yet competition has long been an accepted part of the music education ensemble landscape. Adjudicated ensemble competitions and competition-festivals are commonplace in most Australian states, as opposed to large-scale cooperative events. Arguments advanced in support of competitive events revolve primarily around perceived extra-musical benefits framed from the director / conductor perspective. The student voice is rarely considered in assessments of the impact of participation. This study presents student feedback following participation in an alternative large-scale cooperative music ensemble festival. Students …

Arts Engagement Outside Of School: Links With Year 10 To 12 Students’ Intrinsic Motivation And Self-Efficacy In Responding To Art, Julia Morris

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study draws on student engagement factors to examine the relationship between students’ non-school-based arts experiences on their intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy to participate in visual arts responding tasks. Visual arts responding in the curriculum includes learning about artists and artworks, decoding art and making critical judgements, and is important in building twenty-first century learning skills such as critical thinking and communication. A total of 266 Year 10 to 12 students from 18 schools in Western Australia (WA) participated in the quantitative research, which explored outside-school arts engagement as well as cognitive and psychological engagement factors in their current year …

Primary Students’ Engagement With The Visual Arts And Their Transition Into Year 7, Zoe Wittber

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Visual Arts education is fundamental to an effective school curriculum for primary and secondary students. It provides students with opportunities for expression and personal growth, essential to a holistic education. Recently, in Perth, Western Australia (WA) several secondary Visual Arts educators expressed what they saw as a significant deficit in the outcomes of Making and Responding in Visual Arts, evidenced in their Year 7 students who had recently graduated from primary school. Consequently, this research investigated the extent of Year 7 students’ prior Visual Arts experiences upon entry into secondary school.

The research engaged a qualitative research approach to gather …

Transforming Pedagogies: Encouraging Pre-Service Teachers To Engage The Power Of The Arts In Their Approach To Teaching And Learning, Mary-Rose Mclaren, Julie Arnold

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper describes and analyses, through the use of case studies, two experiences of transformative learning in an undergraduate arts education unit. Pre-service teachers designed and engaged with arts-based curriculum activities, created their own artwork, participated in a modified production of The Tempest and kept a reflective journal. These activities constituted the data which was analysed using creative frameworks such as case writing, script writing, narrative analysis and found poetry as ways of developing richer understanding of pre-service teachers’ self-perceptions and self-awareness as teachers and as potential artists. The stories explored here uncover two different ways of encountering the challenges …

‘We Did The How To Teach It’: Music Teaching And Learning In Higher Education In Australia, Dawn Joseph

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The Australian Government recognizes that the Arts are a critical part of formal school education and it should not be viewed as subordinate or extra. This paper forms part of a wider research project titled “Pre-service teacher attitudes and understandings of Music Education” that started in 2013. The focus of this paper investigates music teaching and learning in a core unit within the Bachelor of Education (Primary) course at Deakin University (Australia). Using questionnaire and interview data gathered in 2014, I employ Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to analyse and codify the data. Three themes are discussed in relation to: Why it …

Arts Immersion: Using The Arts As A Language Across The Primary School Curriculum, Susan N. Chapman

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Abstract: Australia’s national arts curriculum has potential to realise the following benefits: cognitive, social, affective and curricular. This curriculum is designed for generalist and special arts teachers, but its delivery may be hindered by the prioritisation of high-stakes-tested disciplines and pedagogies, and reduced government funding to arts education across school and tertiary sectors. This may lead to a lack of opportunities to build teacher capacity in arts education, and diminished support for arts education in terms of time allocation and resourcing. The notion of ‘silos’, where the separation of teaching practices persists between teachers of different disciplines, discourages meaningful interdisciplinary …

The Curious Schools Project: Capturing Nomad Creativity In Teacher Work, Mary Ann Hunter, Sherridan Emery

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The Curious Schools project is a teacher professional learning initiative that aims to provide an insight into – and resource for – creativity in Tasmanian schools. It offers an alternative to conventional models of teacher professional learning by engaging teachers in multi-modal methods of documenting and reflecting on their work as the basis for an online community of practice and public showcase for creativity in education that takes place ‘behind the scenes’. The authors, as coordinators of the project, describe the rationale behind the project and the ways it embraced discourses and practices of curiosity as a means of making …

Partnerships With Cultural Organisations: A Case For Partnerships Developed By Teacher Educators For Teacher Education, Narelle Lemon, Jacolyn Weller

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

New ways of working in teacher education are currently being highlighted, especially in relation to partnerships. One type of partnership that is under utilised is that with cultural organisations. This paper reports on two projects where the authors work with pre-service teachers in partnership with a wildlife sanctuary and a national gallery. Common project elements included research into the value for pre-service teachers in professional engagement of their own teaching and insight into ongoing professional development. The data showed that ownership, empowerment, and meaning can be experienced by stakeholders. The research not only challenges new ways of working with partnerships …

Assessing Western Australian Year 11 Students’ Engagement With Responding In Visual Arts, Julia Elizabeth Morris

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Responding to visual arts is an important outcome of both the Western Australian and the Australian (F-10) Curriculum in Visual Arts (ACARA, 2014; Curriculum Council, 2008; School Standards and Curriculum Authority, 2014a). Responding is important because it facilitates students’ development of visual literacy, or the ability to decode and recode meaning through visual media (Flood, 2004; Flood & Bamford, 2007; Avgerinou & Petterson, 2011). This mixed methods research study investigated Western Australian students’ engagement in responding within Year 11 Stage 2 Visual Arts. A diagnostic instrument was created to quantitatively assess the engagement of 137 Year 11 Visual Arts students. …

Forget Me Not: An Exhibition –And– Creative Reuse: How Rescued Materials Transformed My A/R/Tographic Practice: An Exegesis, Susan Girak

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis, comprising of a written exegesis, solo exhibition and an artist book, emerged from research undertaken by an artist-researcher-teacher. For that reason, a/r/tography was the overarching methodology used, incorporating a bricolage of methods to address a multifaceted study undertaken in two settings: a primary school classroom and an artist’s studio. A/r/tography is a multilayered interdisciplinary Arts education research methodology that correlates well with my expertise as a primary Visual Arts specialist. The methodology allowed me to immerse myself in both teaching and the artmaking process, as ways of gaining a deeper understanding of Visual Arts pedagogy. The purpose of …

Western Australian Music Teachers And The Wace Music Syllabus Five Years Down The Track: Where Are We Now?, Geoffrey M. Lowe, Andrew Sutherland

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Western Australia introduced a new Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Music course for Year 11 and 12 students in 2009. The construction of the course was protracted due to political interference at the ministerial level, input from vested interests within the music teaching community and adverse publicity in the wider community. The result has been the creation of a long and potentially confusing syllabus document. This paper reports on music teacher experiences with the WACE music course five years after its initial implementation. A questionnaire was distributed to all WACE music teachers asking them to respond to 27 statements …

Digital Portfolios For Summative Assessment, Christopher P. Newhouse

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The collection and scoring of creative practical work for summative assessment across a large jurisdiction such as Western Australia is challenging. An alternative approach would be to submit digital representations as online portfolios. However, to give a valid and reliable measure the representations would need to be of adequate quality. Further, judgements of creative practical work are necessarily subjective giving concern about the reliability of scores for high-stakes assessment. The paired comparisons method of scoring lends itself to addressing this problem and is feasible where the work is in digital form. This paper reports on a three-year study to investigate …

The Importance Of Positive Arts Experiences And Self-Efficacy In Pre-Service Primary Teacher Education, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Julia Morris

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

With the impending introduction of the Australian Curriculum in the arts, there is cause to reflect on primary pre-service teacher education courses, and how effectively they prepare graduates to facilitate the curriculum. Reflecting on pre-service teachers’ experiences in the arts, at both entry and graduation of their degree, may afford insight into improving arts instruction in Bachelor of Education. A two-year mixed methods study (2013-2014) was conducted with first and fourth-year Bachelor of Education primary students at a Western Australian university, to determine students’ arts experiences and their self-efficacy to teach the arts at graduation. This paper reports specifically on …

Embodied Learning: Towards New Models For Engaging With Art Within The University, Clive Barstow, Paul Uhlmann

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Mark Johnson’s embodied mind thesis (2007) makes a case for aesthetics as being the most important philosophy for the 21st century. If this is the case, then art schools become even more important to the advancement of knowledge; however economic reforms clearly place traditional art schools under enormous pressure. These two points provide a background for considering two ongoing projects as flexible models for embodied learning – the Jimmy Pike Scholarship, which is an annual artist-in- residency programme for Aboriginal artists, and the Third Space Project which is an ongoing International exchange programme between Edith Cowan University and University of …

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.

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 …

Using Digital Representations Of Practical Production Work For Summative Assessment, C. Paul Newhouse

Research outputs 2013

This paper presents the findings of the first phase of a three-year study investigating the efficacy of the digitisation of creative practical work as digital portfolios for the purposes of high-stakes summative assessment. At the same time the paired comparisons method of scoring was tried as an alternative to analytical rubric-based marking because we believed that it was likely that a more holistic approach to scoring would be more appropriate. Researchers created digital representations of the practical submissions of 75 Visual Arts and 82 Design students graduating from secondary school in Western Australia. These digital portfolios were scored using the …

Creating Flickr Photo-Narratives With First-Year Teacher Education Students: The Possibilities And Pitfalls Of Designing Emergent Learning Tasks, Marta Kawka, Kevin M. Larkin, Patrick Danaher

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the implementation of a Flickr (Web 2.0 photo sharing software) learning task in a first year primary education course. The context for the task was a Multiliteracies course where students designed digital media activities for later use with primary age students. The Flickr task was constructed to determine how a learning activity might be designed to afford the best opportunities for emergent learning (Kawka, Larkin, & Danaher, 2011). Emergent learning describes learning situations where: the student is self-directed; the content is created and distributed by learners; and the learning destination is open-ended and unpredictable (Williams, Karousou, & …

Drama Rising, Starring The Famous Five: Investigating The Relationship Between Current Drama Practice In Year 1 Settings And The New Arts Curriculum, Christine Lovering

Research Journeys in Education

No abstract provided.

Young Children’S Construction And Expression Of Meaning When Engaging With And Responding To Artworks, Julia Wren

Research Journeys in Education

No abstract provided.