Education Commons^™

Tough Teachers Actually Care: An Ethnographic Look Into The ‘Problematic’ Role Of Teachers As Figures Of Authority Under Learner-Centered Education, Julie Lucille Haber Del Valle

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teacher authority is culturally valued among Filipinos. This authority however poses a threat to the fundamental principles of learner-centred education as it arguably perpetuates ‘teacher-centered’ instruction and obstructs positive student-teacher relationships which are necessary for student learning. This problematic role of teacher authority is examined in this study by investigating what constitutes good pedagogy in one class within a rural school in the Philippines. With this research problem, this study used ethnographic research approach to examine what students and teachers understand about ‘classroom authority’ and its perceived value in good pedagogy within a specific and cultural place. Ethnographic data in …

The Uk’S Project Faraday And Secondary Stem Education, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Julie Boston, Paula Mildenhall, Stephen Winn

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This ethnographic study reports on the findings from seven English secondary schools that participated in Project Faraday. The project was funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to build innovative learning environments to encourage students into upper secondary inquiry-based STEM. Despite the innovative classrooms, the schools emphasised A-Level university entrance science. Technicians prepared for specific science subjects, although teachers acknowledged the value of inquiry-based pedagogies. UK policies prioritising A-Level assessment were found to be impeding inquiry-based STEM, although wealthy schools had the resources to facilitating both A-Level science and inquiry-based STEM through clubs and co-curricular programs. Our data …

Teacher Identity Under Reconstruction: Positional Analysis Of Negotiations In An International Teacher Education Programme, Satia Zen, Eero Ropo, Päivi Kupila

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the international learning experiences of Indonesian teachers participating in a Finnish master’s degree programme as an identity reconstruction process. We study the participants’ experiences based on dialogical identity construction to explore the positioning and repositioning occurring during an international learning experience. Given the conception of this experience as a boundary experience, repositioning is a way to create continuity and support the multiplicity of identity. From the narrative analysis of the participants' stories about the programme, we found that the participants' repositioning during the programme involved negotiation with temporality, sociality and spatiality. Throughout this process, the participants' understanding …

Exploring Change And Continuities In Internationally Mobile Pre-Service Teachers’ Conceptualisations Of Effective Teaching, Rhonda Di Biase, Elizabeth King, Jeana Kriewaldt, Catherine Reid, Mahtab Janfada

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: This qualitative study investigates the changes and continuities in conceptions of teaching and learning from course commencement to course completion for a group of international pre-service teachers undertaking a two-year Masters-level degree in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Data were collected through a series of graphic elicitation activities and ranking tasks at baseline and endpoint. Findings indicate that there was: a growing emphasis on student engagement and its linkages to student learning; a shift from viewing teaching as the transfer of knowledge to learning as an active process; and a more developed repertoire of professional language to explain what is …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Work With Teacher Assistants: A Systematic Literature Review, Claire Jackson, Umesh Sharma, Delphine Odier-Guedj, Joanne Deppeler

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

With the number of teacher assistants (TAs) employed in schools steadily increasing, most teachers are likely to work with a TA at various times throughout their career. International research indicates there is scope for teachers to enhance their work with TAs. This systematic review examines teachers’ perceptions of their work with TAs. Twenty-six studies were reviewed to gain insight into teachers’ thoughts, beliefs and/or impressions of their work with TAs. Ten perceptions of teachers relating to the manner in which they work with TAs were identified and further categorised into four key themes of roles and responsibilities, planning and pedagogy, …

Short-Term International Experiences In Language Teacher Education: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis, Emrullah Yasin Çiftçi, A. Cendel Karaman

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Short-term international experiential learning opportunities can foster language teachers' multidimensional development. Even though such experiences are considered beneficial for language teachers’ development, educational reviews have scarcely concentrated on a comprehensive synthesis of the impact of such experiences on language teachers. This meta-synthesis of qualitative research analyzed the role of international experiential learning in the multidimensional development of pre- and in-service language teachers. Besides presenting a number of research patterns in the literature, this synthesis of 25 qualitative studies reported main outcomes of short-term international experiences for language teachers. These outcomes were synthesized under three main headings: (1) professional, (2) linguistic, …

Teacher Education In Schools As Learning Communities: Transforming High-Poverty Schools Through Dialogic Learning, Rocio Garcia- Carrion, Aitor Gomez, Silvia Molina, Vladia Ionescu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: Teachers’ professional development in Schools as Learning Communities may become a key process for the sustainability and transferability of this model worldwide. Learning Communities (LC) is a community-based project that aims to transform schools through dialogic learning and involves research-grounded schools that implement Successful Educational Actions (SEAs). More than 600 such schools in Europe and South America, many of them located in high poverty areas, have shown a reduction in drop-out rates and an increase in school quality and attainment. This article analyses how teachers’ professional development is built in these schools. Following a communicative methodology approach, we analyse …

Fostering Creative Ecologies In Australasian Secondary Schools, Leon R. De Bruin, Anne Harris

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigates and compares elements of creativity in secondary schools and classrooms in Australia and Singapore. Statistical analysis and qualitative investigation of teacher, student and leadership perceptions of the emergence, fostering and absence of creativity in school learning environments is explored. This large-scale international study (n=717) reveals the impact of teacher behaviours, teaching environments and school leadership approaches that promote and impede the enhancement of creative, critical, and innovative thinking, organisation, and curriculum structures. Implications for Australian schools and teaching urge for secondary education to challenge current, practices, pedagogies and environments, arguing for school-based strategies and considerations that enhance …

Navigating The Challenges Of Becoming A Culturally Responsive Teacher: Supportive Networking May Be The Key, Nina L. Nilsson Ph.D., Ailing Kong Ph.D., Shantel Hubert

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Research shows graduates of teacher education programs do not always transfer, or apply, the best practices they learn to instructional practice due to factors related to course features, the student, and workplace environment (e.g., Brown & Bentley, 2004; de Jong et al., 2010). This study examined the challenges a secondary-level English teacher in the United States encountered when she attempted to implement culturally responsive teaching practices she learned from a graduate course to her class with ELLs. Findings indicate she faced strategy- and language-related challenges due to student culture and school environment factors (“external challenges”), as well as her own …

'Being In' And 'Feeling Seen' In Professional Development As New Teachers: The Ontological Layer(Ing) Of Professional Development Practice, Andrew M. Bills, David Giles, Bev Rogers

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Dominant discourses on professional development for teachers internationally are increasingly geared to the priority of ensuring individual teachers are meeting prescribed standards-based performance benchmarks which we call ‘performativities’ in this paper. While this intent is invariably played out in individualised performance management meetings and ‘fly by’ professional development workshops, our research into a NZ primary school discovered a counter-movement at work rejecting imposed standards and preoccupations with instrumental performativites and replacing these with teacher co-constructed and contextualised capacity matrices immersed within an ‘open’ and ‘seeing’ professional learning culture of support. Within manifestations of a rich and enabling culture of professional …

Preparedness Of Pre-Service Teachers For Inclusive Education In The Solomon Islands, Umesh Sharma, Janine Simi, Chris Forlin

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Recent policy changes in the Pacific Islands have seen a strong emphasis on implementing inclusive education. Preparing teachers for this change in education will be essential if they are to have the knowledge, skills and understandings so that they can become inclusive practitioners. Pre-service teacher education will play a critical role in supporting this process. This paper considers the perceptions of pre-service teachers undertaking the first year of the Diploma of Teaching in the one university in the Solomon Islands. This is the only university that prepares teachers to work across the entire archipelago. Data are collected pre and post …

International Students’ Experience Of Practicum In Teacher Education: An Exploration Through Internationalisation And Professional Socialisation, Georgina M. Barton, Kay A. Hartwig, Melissa Cain

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the practicum experience of international students studying in a teacher education course. Much research has investigated the experience of international students during their degree experience but there is limited research that has addressed the practicum; a key component of teacher education. The research that does exist tends to view international students as analogous rather than individual students with distinct needs and experiences. The current paper will draw evidence from fourteen (14) international students gathered via interviews. The themes of learning and teaching contexts and relationships; curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; and personal attributes were identified and the conceptual …

Developing Culturally Competent Teachers: An International Student Teaching Field Experience, Michelle Salmona, Margaret Partlo, Dan Kaczynski, Simon N. Leonard

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study offers a theoretical construct for better understanding how experiential learning enables student teachers to acquire social and cultural variation skills, develop cultural empathy in the K-12 classroom, and the transference of these skills to new educational situations. An Australian and United States research team used a phenomenological approach to explore the connections between the skills student teachers acquire and the application of these newly developed skills to professional practices. Participants were a group of United States pre-teachers who enrolled in a 5 week teaching experience in Australia. Findings show that participation in cultural based events is part of …

Maximising Intercultural Learning In Short Term International Placements: Findings Associated With Orientation Programs, Guided Reflection And Immersion., Coral J.L. Campbell, Caroline Walta

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Short-term international practicum experience is now a feature of many university education programs in Australia in an attempt to engage students with the growing multi-cultural aspects of Australian life. The stated purposes of such practicum experiences generally highlight intercultural learning, which is associated with the development of intercultural sensitivity, cultural identity, global citizenship and global competence. This paper tracks and documents the early and developing attitudes and dispositions of a group of pre-service teachers (PSTs) and academic staff who were engaged with the pilot project of a pre-service placement in Malaysian secondary schools. The behaviours associated with intercultural learning are …

The Evolution Of English Language Teaching During Societal Transition In Finland – A Mutual Relationship Or A Distinctive Process?, Riitta Jaatinen, Toni Saarivirta

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study describes the evolution of English language teaching in Finland and looks into the connections of the societal and educational changes in the country as explanatory factors in the process. The results of the study show that the language teaching methodology and the status of foreign languages in Finland are clearly connected to the changes in society and its education system. Since the first decade of the 20^th century, Finnish society has developed from an inward-looking agrarian country into an economically and technologically advanced and industrialized society joining in various ways to the rest of Europe and global …

International Student Perceptions Of The Quality Of Learning Experiences In Vocational Education And Training, Jimmy P. Kho

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The private VET education industry has done well to maintain a high self-concept among the students, and perhaps the overall high praise of the teaching staff have contributed to maintaining high self-concepts among the students. Most international students treasured the social cultural, environment and lifestyles aspects of their stay in Australia and these items are also among the easy items of the linear scale produced in this present study.

The Rasch self-concept findings were consistent with the qualitative findings where students related much of their positive self-concept through their non-academic activities. Importantly, when the student’s Self-Concept is high they are …

First Year Experience (Fye): International Students’ Experiences , Catherine Ferguson, Bronwyn Harman, Lynne Cohen, Shelley Beatty, Mary Boyce, Sue Sharp, Kevin Vanderplank

eCULTURE

International students confront a range of challenges during their transition to living and studying in Australia. Despite these challenges over 80% of international students reported high satisfaction with their life and study within Australia. This qualitative study reports on the experiences of 53 first year international students at ECU. Participants were students from across a range of study areas who responded to an online or face to face survey. Participants were required to respond to four questions which were analysed thematically to provide a summary of their experiences. Survey questions included their positive and negative experiences of being a first …

Key Stakeholders’ Experiences Of International Education At One Australian University, Sophia A. Harryba

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Aim: This study aimed to explore the experiences which influenced the perceptions of three key groups of stakeholders: academic and support staff, international students, and their domestic peers, when engaging in International Education at one Australian university. The original research questions for this study were:

1. What experiences influence staff members’ perceptions of International Education at one Australian university?

2. What experiences influence international students’ perception of their education at one Australian university? As directed by theoretical sampling, the views of domestic students were then also sought, to shed light on the following research question:

3. What experiences influence domestic …

Portraits Of Middle Eastern Gulf Female Students In Australian Universities, Susan Delahunty

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research explores the experiences and insights of ten Middle Eastern Gulf women as they cross international borders to study in Australian universities. The literature indicates that international students in Australia establish their identity within the context of their overseas existence. This is particularly important as Muslims may feel they are being placed in a precarious situation due to, more often than not, terrorism being linked to Islam. Also, when Muslim women wear Islamic or traditional attire, the general public tends to look upon them with curiosity. With this in mind, the complex and changed contexts faced by ten Middle …

Codes Of Ethics In Australian Education: Towards A National Perspective, Daniella J. Forster

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teachers have a dual moral responsibility as both values educators and moral agents representing the integrity of the profession. Codes of ethics and conduct in teaching articulate shared professional values and aim to provide some guidance for action around recognised issues special to the profession but are also instruments of regulation which position teachers in sanctioned roles. This paper offers a rationale for reviewing the purposes of codes of ethics in Australia as instruments which profoundly influence teacher morality and have significant educational implications. As one of the first comparative reviews of Australian state and territory codes of ethics and …

Critically Reflective Leadership, Christine L. Cunningham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Critical Reflective Practice (CRP) has a proven reputation as a method for teacher-researchers in K-12 classrooms, but there have been few published examples of this method being used to document school leaders’ work-based practice. This article outlines adaptations made by the author from an original CRP method to a Critically Reflective Leadership (CRL) method that she developed to document her own lived experiences as a principal and then director of an American International School in South America. The method described in this paper may be useful for school leaders who wish to become practitioner-researchers in their own work places. The …

Etude Comparee De L'Enseignement Des Langues Vivantes Etrangeres En France Et En Australie : Le Cas De L'Anglais En France Et Du Francais En Australie Occidentale Au Lycee, Elodie Mortet

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse French and Australian approaches to foreign language learning and teaching within their education systems through a comparison of English programmes for French high schools and French programmes for Western Australian high schools. The value and originality of this project lies in the absence of any previous study between the two countries in this field of research. It will be of interest to anyone involved in foreign language learning and teaching. This research is mainly based on official texts and publications (also available online) as well as on work by specialists in education …

Development Of Principles For The Integration Of Technology Education In The Primary Curriculum In Botswana, Patrick Tlalelo Mmokele

Theses : Honours

Design and Technology is being taught in secondary schools in Botswana. This innovation began in junior secondary schools in 1989 and senior secondary schools in 1993. However it has not yet been introduced in primary schools. There have been some Design and Technology attainment targets which are outlined in the primary curriculum, but it is proposed that these do not fit well into the curriculum structure. This study seeks to investigate the principles upon which Design and Technology can be integrated into the primary curriculum in Botswana. Data for this study was collected through a review of related literature and …

Influence Of Home And School Environments On The Academic Performance Of Chinese-Australian And Anglo-Australian Students Studying At An Academically-Oriented High School In Perth, Western Australia, Ranbir Singh Malik

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although minority status has been associated with low academic achievement, the “high Asian achieving syndrome" remains as one of the unresolved sociological puzzles. Consistent evidence suggests that regardless of the family status, children from the Asian migrant families, settled in the industrialised countries, tend to perform academically better than their counterparts from the dominant group. This disparity is attributed to a number of factors, which taken separately, do not address this complex issue. In Australia little research has been done to compare the home environment and school experiences of children coming from Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families even though the number …

Investigation Into The Compatibility Of The Outcomes Of The Northern Territory Special Category Curriculum For Secondary Aged Indigenous Students And The Western Australian Student Outcome Statements, Matthew Byrne

Theses : Honours

This study is an investigation into the compatibility of the outcomes of the Northern Territory Special Category Curriculum for Secondary Aged Indigenous Students (NTC) and the Western Australian Student Outcome Statements (SOS), in the Learning Area of English, using specified criteria. This document analysis examined the theoretical assumptions underpinning the NTC and SOS, the comparisons that can be made between the two, and then, how suitable the NTC was for achieving the SOS documented by Education Department of Western Australia (EDWA) for Indigenous secondary students in remote comminutes. The outcomes for the NTC and SOS in the Learning Area of …

How Efl Writing (English As A Foreign Language) Is Taught In Solomon Islands, Sylvia Skinner

Theses : Honours

A grounded theory investigation of Solomon Island teachers' best methods for teaching EFL writing was undertaken in Perth. Thirteen teachers (three male and ten female) participated. being selected according to availability and coverage of all primary school grades Two Coordinators assisted with location and liason between the participants and the research base in Western Australia The investigation proceeded in four phases In the first phase, data were gathered through a report file, in which the teachers identified their three most successful methods for teaching EFL writing Data were analysed using the continuous comparative method to find the core variable underlying …

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Inquiry-Oriented Teaching With Traditional Teaching In The Maldives, K. Ibrahim-Didi

Theses : Honours

This thesis compares the effectiveness of an activity-based, inquiry oriented approach using simple, inexpensive, locally available equipment with a traditional approach, in enhancing student achievement and positive attitudes towards science in the Maldives. The sample consisted of 79 boys range from 13 to 16 years of age from two year eight classes in a private lower secondary high school. A quasi experimental non equivalent control group research design was adopted for the study. The control group was taught the currently existent curriculum for two weeks in the traditional manner while the treatment group was taught using a curriculum package developed …

Teacher And Student Attitudes Towards Recent Methods Of Teaching And Learning, Nguyen Thuy Hoang

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The idea of implementing a variety of teaching and learning activities to the teaching and learning of the Language Teaching Methodology Unit at the Department of English, Ho Chi Minh City Teachers' College has been proposed as a contribution to motivate the students in learning this Unit. These various activities, for example, guided reading, diary keeping, action research or task- based learning are quite new to the teachers and students and considered to be the recent methods of teaching and learning. This study has been carried out to let the teachers and students know what the recent methods are and …