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Full-Text Articles in Education
Cultivating Teachers’ Beliefs, Knowledge And Skills For Leading Change In Schools, Suzanne Carrington, Joanne Deppeler, Julianne Moss
Cultivating Teachers’ Beliefs, Knowledge And Skills For Leading Change In Schools, Suzanne Carrington, Joanne Deppeler, Julianne Moss
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Australian policy initiatives and state curriculum reform efforts affirm a commitment to address student disengagement through the development of inclusive school environments, curriculum, and pedagogy. This paper, drawing on critical social theory, describes three Australian projects that support the cultivation of teachers’ beliefs, knowledge and skills for critical reflection and leading change in schools. The first project reports on the valued ethics that emerged in pre-service teacher reflections about a Service-learning Program at a university in Queensland. The second project reports on a school-based collaborative inquiry approach to professional development with a focus on literacy practices. The final project reports …
The Attributes Of Effective Lecturers Of English As A Foreign Language As Perceived By Students In A Korean University, Bruce D. Barnes, Graeme Lock
The Attributes Of Effective Lecturers Of English As A Foreign Language As Perceived By Students In A Korean University, Bruce D. Barnes, Graeme Lock
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This study, conducted in a Korean university setting, examines student beliefs about the attributes of effective lecturers[1] of English as a foreign language. Student opinions about rapport and delivery type attributes are particularly informative. Rapport attributes were the major focus of discussion and viewed as particularly important in Korean university contexts where student anxiety about interacting in English often inhibits effective English language learning. Discussion about delivery attributes was generally supportive of participatory modes of instruction, but contained different views about how aggressively lecturers should enlist participation. The beliefs of Korean university students revealed in this study can, if seen …
The Relation Between The Level Of Job Satisfaction And Types Of Personality In High School Teachers, Sezer Ayan, Faruk Kocacik
The Relation Between The Level Of Job Satisfaction And Types Of Personality In High School Teachers, Sezer Ayan, Faruk Kocacik
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Teachers are loaded important responsibilities in educational process. The productivity and effectiveness of them are influenced by promotion, charging, job security, technological level, course load and working schedule which all are determined mostly by their institutions and influenced by noncognitive characteristics such as age, gender, family structure and finally influenced by personality types and characteristics, attitudes and behaviors, social values, competency and other personality characteristics of teachers. Purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between the level of job satisfaction of high school teachers and types of personality and to evaluate the differences of the levels of job …
Aspire: Formation Of Pre-Service Teachers Through Leadership, Community Engagement And Retreat Training, Chris Hackett, Shane Lavery
Aspire: Formation Of Pre-Service Teachers Through Leadership, Community Engagement And Retreat Training, Chris Hackett, Shane Lavery
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This article explores the experiences of pre-service teachers who are involved in a program promoting leadership, community engagement and retreat training. It initially presents a review of the literature on the significant links between teacher commitment and quality teaching. It then describes how four significant dispositions: care, leadership, service and reflective practice, are embedded in a program entitled ‘ASPIRE’ at The University of Notre Dame Australia. The program is designed to assist pre-service teachers in recognising and developing their sense of teaching vocation. An outline of the research methodology is provided. Specifically, the research is based on qualitative data derived …
Learner Autonomy In Language Learning: Student Teachers’ Beliefs, Cem Balçıkanlı
Learner Autonomy In Language Learning: Student Teachers’ Beliefs, Cem Balçıkanlı
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This paper aims to investigate student teachers’ beliefs about learner autonomy in the Turkish educational context. In a study in the ELT Department, Gazi University, a questionnaire developed by Camilleri (1997) was administered to 112 student teachers. Twenty volunteer student teachers were interviewed in groups to identify their further general attitudes towards learner autonomy. The overall study findings indicate that student teachers are positive towards the adoption of learner autonomy principles. Most student teachers, however, do not want their future students to take part in the decision making process concerning the time and place of the course and the textbooks …
Climate Change? Who Knows? A Comparison Of Secondary Students And Pre-Service Teachers, Helen J. Boon
Climate Change? Who Knows? A Comparison Of Secondary Students And Pre-Service Teachers, Helen J. Boon
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
In the context of recently published academic discrepancies between Queensland students and students from other Australian states, final year pre-service teachers were surveyed to explore their understanding and knowledge of climate change. Their responses were compared to those of secondary students to discern any significant gains in knowledge as a consequence of tertiary teacher training. Responses from a survey completed by a sample of 107 pre-service teachers and 310 grade 10 secondary students were examined for their level of understanding and knowledge, models of explanation and sources of information of the phenomenon. Results showed similarities between the two groups, with …
Self As Teacher: Preliminary Role Identification Of The Potential Teaching Candidate, Lisa A. Gross, Shanan Fitts, Tracy Goodson-Espy, Ann-Marie Clark
Self As Teacher: Preliminary Role Identification Of The Potential Teaching Candidate, Lisa A. Gross, Shanan Fitts, Tracy Goodson-Espy, Ann-Marie Clark
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
In this study, the researchers used qualitative surveys to explore potential teaching candidates’ preliminary perceptions of self as teacher and examine how roles are identified, defined and constructed in the context of a tutoring lab that provides support to English Language Learners. Prospective candidates’ perceptions of their tutees, children whose cultural identities and backgrounds differ from their own, are also examined. Findings indicate participants’ teaching identities and conceptualizations of their roles as teachers became more specific and elaborated over the course of the semester. Additionally, the significance of multiple practicum experiences in diverse settings for ongoing identity development and for …
The Competencies Of An English Teacher: Beginning Student Teachers’ Perceptions, Sorrel Penn-Edwards
The Competencies Of An English Teacher: Beginning Student Teachers’ Perceptions, Sorrel Penn-Edwards
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This paper presents the results of a survey conducted with first year Education students at a Queensland university on the levels of competency in literacies expected for teachers in schools. Eight aspects were chosen to be examined to discover the skill levels students thought to be essential for effective teaching and to compare these with their estimation of their own skill level; spelling and grammar competency rated the highest, ICT/computing and visual aspects the lowest for teachers. Students rated their own spelling competency at the highest level and knowledge of genre the lowest. They were asked how they intended to …
First-Year Transition In Teacher Education: The Pod Experience, Jennifer Masters, Sharn Donnison
First-Year Transition In Teacher Education: The Pod Experience, Jennifer Masters, Sharn Donnison
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Research on student retention and transition in higher education has been an ongoing focus since the 1950s and during the past decade research into this area has gathered momentum as institutions of higher education increasingly recognise the economic and social costs of failing to retain and transition future graduates. Measures to improve transition and retention rates have generally focused on developing strategies to engage students in their studies and tertiary discourses by providing institutional, academic and/or social support. In this paper we discuss ‘Pods’ as an effective and innovative approach to transitioning first-year pre-service teacher education students in regional Victoria. …
Consonance And Dissonance Between Turkish Prospective Teachers’ Values And Practices: Conceptions About Teaching, Learning, And Assessment, Altay Eren
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This study aimed to examine the consonance and dissonance between prospective teachers’ values and practices in terms of their conceptions about teaching/learning and conceptions about assessment, as well as to explore the patterns of those consonance and dissonance between prospective teachers’ values and practices. The sample consisted of 304 prospective teachers majoring in teaching science, art, special education, music, Turkish literacy, mathematics, English language, and classroom teaching domains in a large university located in the north-west of the Black Sea region in Turkey. Overall results of the study showed that the prospective teachers valued constructivist teaching/learning, making learning explicit, and …
Proposed Principles For Promoting Pre-Service Teacher Transfer Of Group-Based Learning To The Classroom: A Discussion Paper, Terry De Jong, Marguerite Cullity, Sue Sharp, Sue Spiers, Julia Wren
Proposed Principles For Promoting Pre-Service Teacher Transfer Of Group-Based Learning To The Classroom: A Discussion Paper, Terry De Jong, Marguerite Cullity, Sue Sharp, Sue Spiers, Julia Wren
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
The effective ‘transfer’ of knowledge and skills from university to the workplace is of global interest, yet this area of inquiry lacks research. Teacher educators, for example, require information on how to advance pre-service teachers’ transfer of group-based learning to the primary school classroom (Scott & Baker, 2003). Group-based learning (GBL) is a valued means of developing learners’ group work, personal attributes and interpersonal skills, and in the case pre-service teachers their professional skills.. Graduate teachers do not necessarily generalise GBL pedagogy to the classroom. This discussion paper draws from a qualitative case study that examined this pedagogy in a …
Community Service Learning: A First Year Transition Tool For Teacher Education, Sharn Donninson, Diane Itter
Community Service Learning: A First Year Transition Tool For Teacher Education, Sharn Donninson, Diane Itter
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Community Service Learning (CSL) as a first year transition strategy into teacher education is a new concept not previously identified in either the CSL literature or the First Year in Higher Education literature. This paper reports on a study that investigated how first year preservice teachers experienced CSL and how this impacted on their current and future professional sense of self. The study showed that the students benefitted professionally, personally, and academically from undertaking community service. We argue that given these results and the similar framing discourses of both CSL and first year transition into Higher Education, that CSL can …
Putting Theory Into Practice: Moving From Student Identity To Teacher Identity , Dawn Joseph, Marina Heading
Putting Theory Into Practice: Moving From Student Identity To Teacher Identity , Dawn Joseph, Marina Heading
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
As teaching is a highly skilled and complex profession, pre-service teachers’ need to develop a series of attributes for their practice in relation to pedagogy, content, student learning, classroom management and their ability to engage in reflection. Through reflective narrative, this article seeks to share how a tertiary music educator prepares her generalist primary pre-service teachers to engage, explore and experience music education within the Bachelor of Education (Primary) course at Unnamed University. It also presents one pre-service teacher’s experience of teaching music during her school placements in 2009 in what she calls ‘putting theory into practice’ moving from student …
The Models Used By Elementary School Teachers To Solve Verbal Problems , Yasin Soylu
The Models Used By Elementary School Teachers To Solve Verbal Problems , Yasin Soylu
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
One of the most important goals of mathematics education is to improve students’ problem solving skills, which can only be realized by teachers who are well-trained in this field. In this context, the purpose of the studies on the subject is to investigate the models used by elementary school teachers to solve verbal problems and their opinions in this process. A multiple-case study was conducted for this study which employs the Problem Information Scale comprised of eight open-ended questions. The study sample consists of a total of 100 elementary school teachers. Six of them were selected for individual interviews on …
Cross-National Comparisons Of Background And Confidence In Visual Arts And Music Education Of Pre-Service Primary Teachers , Deirdre Russell-Bowie
Cross-National Comparisons Of Background And Confidence In Visual Arts And Music Education Of Pre-Service Primary Teachers , Deirdre Russell-Bowie
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This paper reports the findings of a study on pre-service teachers’ background and confidence in music and visual arts education. The study involved 939 non-specialist pre-service primary teachers from five countries. Initially the paper identifies the students’ perceptions of their background and confidence in relation to music and visual arts education. Secondly it examines any differences between the visual arts and music education background and confidence of Australian students and those from the other four countries. Results indicated that 25% of the subjects agreed or strongly agreed that they had a good background in music education and 16% indicated that …
The Dynamics Of Emergent Self-Organisation: Reconceptualising Child Development In Teacher Education, Minkang Kim, Derek Sankey
The Dynamics Of Emergent Self-Organisation: Reconceptualising Child Development In Teacher Education, Minkang Kim, Derek Sankey
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
For more than half a century, child development has endured as one of the main components of teacher education. But if children do develop, as developmentalists claim, what precisely is it that develops and how? Traditionally, within education, answers to these questions have drawn heavily on the theories of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Piaget advocated the progressive development of reasoning through identifiable linear phases or stages. Vygotsky emphasised the role of cultural mediation, whereby the child internalises the habits of mind of his/her social group. More generally within cognitive psychology, development has been attributed to the interaction of two …
Casualties Of Schooling? 18 To 22 Year Old Students In A Tertiary Bridging Programs, Robert Whannell, Bill Alen, Kathy Lynch
Casualties Of Schooling? 18 To 22 Year Old Students In A Tertiary Bridging Programs, Robert Whannell, Bill Alen, Kathy Lynch
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
A sample of 81 students between the ages of 18 and 22 years in a tertiary bridging program at a regional university completed a questionnaire examining how demographics, social context, academic engagement and the ability to cope with the curriculum complexity influenced academic success in high school and adversely affected their preparedness for tertiary study. The demographics of the study participants, including socio-economic status, private/public school attendance and first in family to attend university were such that the study participants could not be considered to be members of a disadvantaged group. The study supports the hypothesis that a number of …
Bibliotherapy Use By Welfare Teams In Secondary Colleges, Pam Harvey
Bibliotherapy Use By Welfare Teams In Secondary Colleges, Pam Harvey
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Bibliotherapy – the use of books to heal – is a concept that dates back to the time of the philosopher Aristotle who believed that literature had healing effects and that reading fiction was a way of purging illness. But how is bibliotherapy practiced now in secondary schools? This study investigates bibliotherapy use in a regional Australian city with adolescents who have chronic illness. It explores the responses of members of welfare teams (welfare co-ordinators, school nurses and teacher-librarians) within secondary schools to questions on how books are used with students experiencing issues. Findings indicate that although bibliotherapy practice is …
Fostering Nonverbal Immediacy And Teacher Identity Through An Acting Course In English Teacher Education, Kemal Sinan Özmen
Fostering Nonverbal Immediacy And Teacher Identity Through An Acting Course In English Teacher Education, Kemal Sinan Özmen
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This research study focuses on integrating acting theories in pre-service English teacher education so as to improve nonverbal immediacy behavior and to contribute to the development process of teacher identity. Studies on incorporation of acting literature into teacher education provide educators with some significant findings clearly indicating that certain teacher competences can be fostered effectively by benefiting from acting theories and practices. While focusing on different aspects and competences of the teaching profession, these studies are in a general accord with the idea that teacher education programs should give more attention to actor preparation theories and techniques so as to …
The Construction Of Education As An Area Of Study At Murdoch University: 1974-2003, Di Gardiner, Tom O’Donoghue, Marnie O'Neill
The Construction Of Education As An Area Of Study At Murdoch University: 1974-2003, Di Gardiner, Tom O’Donoghue, Marnie O'Neill
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This paper is concerned with the extent to which both structural and agency factors were at play in the establishment and maintenance of an innovative model of Education Studies at Murdoch University in Western Australia, from the mid 1970s to 2003. Regarding structural factors, the fact that the University was established as one of a number of ‘new’ universities on the national scene, with a brief to break out of the curricular traditions of the established universities, meant that there was latitude for the adoption of new curriculum structures in outlining the parameters of Education Studies. However, it required the …
Teachers’ Influence On Integration Of Tools Into Mathematics Teaching, Sibel Yesildere
Teachers’ Influence On Integration Of Tools Into Mathematics Teaching, Sibel Yesildere
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This paper examines the process through which three pre-service teachers learn to use mathematical tools; it also looks at pre-service teachers’ instrumentation of tools into mathematics teaching. Three pre-service teachers were studying at a primary mathematics teacher training program at Dokuz Eylül University in Turkey. During an eight-week period, workshops were conducted on curriculum tools with pre-service teachers. Subsequently, pre-service teachers’ lessons were observed in real school settings. The findings are underpinned by the theoretical framework based on the instrumental approach to tool use. Results indicate that pre-service teachers had difficulty in applying the appropriate use of tools, and teachers’ …
A Partnership In Induction And Mentoring: Noticing How We Improve Our Practice, Juilianne Moss
A Partnership In Induction And Mentoring: Noticing How We Improve Our Practice, Juilianne Moss
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This article focuses on the induction and mentoring of early career teachers. The context is a suburban primary school in Victoria, Australia, as the school develops mentoring networks for graduate and beginning teachers. Instigated from a school–university partnership, the research draws from the traditions of practitioner research. In the research design and likewise in successful mentoring the importance of a genuine commitment to the discipline of reflective practice or what we have come to describe as “ noticing ” (Mason, 2002; Moss et al., 2004) is illustrated. The approach offers a new method for small scale–close up research in teacher …
The Impact On Final Year Pre-Service Secondary Teachers Of A Unit In Teaching Literacy And Numeracy Across The Curriculum, Paul White, Maya Cranitch
The Impact On Final Year Pre-Service Secondary Teachers Of A Unit In Teaching Literacy And Numeracy Across The Curriculum, Paul White, Maya Cranitch
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Addressing literacy and numeracy as social practices in different teaching content areas create challenges for teachers and teacher education. Literacy and numeracy skills and understandings are generally addressed incidentally in teacher education courses and often overlooked by teachers in secondary schools. This paper reports on a study which examined the impact of a unit called ‘Curriculum Literacies’ in the final year of a Secondary Bachelor of Teaching/ Bachelor of Arts course. The unit developed students’ personal skills and understanding of literacy and numeracy and their application to teaching in particular discipline areas. Findings show the unit had positive effects on …
Minding The ‘P’S For Implementing Online Education: Purpose, Pedagogy, And Practicalities, Wendy Sutherland-Smith, Sue Saltmarsh
Minding The ‘P’S For Implementing Online Education: Purpose, Pedagogy, And Practicalities, Wendy Sutherland-Smith, Sue Saltmarsh
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Online education has a presence in most Australian universities, and its uptake has been broadly understood as being driven by external imperatives associated with intensive competition within the global knowledge economy. However, the implementation of online education does not take place uniformly, and tensions can arise as a consequence of the considerable variation in approaches taken by institutions, faculties, departments and individual educators. In this paper, we analyse interview data from five Australian universities to consider how senior administrators, teacher educators and educational designers interpret the drivers of and barriers to online education. Our findings indicate that there are considerable …
Teachers Of Poor Communities: The Tale Of Instructional Media Use In Primary Schools Of Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia, Mehadi Abdo, Tesfaye Semela
Teachers Of Poor Communities: The Tale Of Instructional Media Use In Primary Schools Of Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia, Mehadi Abdo, Tesfaye Semela
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of working conditions at school on teachers’ level of instructional media use in the primary school system of Gedeo Zone, southern Ethiopia. The survey was made on a sample of 139 (24.4 % female and male 75.6 %) teachers who were randomly drawn from 9 primary schools (four rural and five urban primary schools). The instruments used to generate data were self-reported questionnaires tapping the level of instructional media use and the associated school-level environmental factors. The findings based on Factor Analysis revealed three independent dimensions of school environment factors …
Schools As Sites Of Race Relations And Intercultural Tension, Fethi Mansouri, Louise Jenkins
Schools As Sites Of Race Relations And Intercultural Tension, Fethi Mansouri, Louise Jenkins
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Australia’s education system endeavours to provide an environment in which students can learn in a safe and comfortable manner, free of fear of verbal or physical abuse. However, for many schools, the ability to create this safe environment has been undermined by a recent rise in society-wide intercultural tensions that inevitably permeate the school boundary. Empirical data from a national project about racism among Australian youth provides evidence that these intercultural tensions are generating an unsettling level of verbal, and in some cases, physical abuse in Australian secondary schools. These project findings inform the discussion presented in this paper that …
Barriers To Providing Physical Education And Physical Activity In Victorian State Secondary Schools, Kate A. Jenkinson, Amanada C. Benson
Barriers To Providing Physical Education And Physical Activity In Victorian State Secondary Schools, Kate A. Jenkinson, Amanada C. Benson
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
An on-line questionnaire was completed by 115 physical education teachers to establish the barriers to their implementation of physical education in Victorian state secondary schools. In addition, the barriers perceived by teachers to impact on students’ participation in school-based physical education and physical activity were examined. The barriers to the provision of physical education were found to be largely institutional, although two-thirds of respondents recognised their own difficulties in engaging students when teaching as potential obstacles to student participation. Students were also perceived to be influenced by their own (45 per cent) and their peers (62 per cent) low levels …
The Relationships Between University Students’ Chemistry Laboratory Anxiety, Attitudes, And Self-Efficacy Beliefs, N. Izzet Kurbanoglu, Ahmet Akim
The Relationships Between University Students’ Chemistry Laboratory Anxiety, Attitudes, And Self-Efficacy Beliefs, N. Izzet Kurbanoglu, Ahmet Akim
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between chemistry laboratory anxiety, chemistry attitudes, and self-efficacy. Participants were 395 university students. Participants completed the Chemistry Laboratory Anxiety Scale, the Chemistry Attitudes Scale, and the Self-efficacy Scale. Results showed that chemistry laboratory anxiety was correlated negatively to chemistry attitudes and to self-efficacy. On the other hand, chemistry attitudes were found to be positively associated with self-efficacy. The path model showed that self-efficacy predicted chemistry laboratory anxiety in a negative way. Also, self-efficacy has a direct and positive effect on chemistry attitudes which in turn affects chemistry laboratory.
Preparing Quality Teachers: Making Learning Visible, Felicity Mcardle
Preparing Quality Teachers: Making Learning Visible, Felicity Mcardle
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Teacher quality is recognised as a lynchpin for education reforms internationally, and both Federal and State governments in Australia have turned their attention to teacher education institutions: the starting point for preparing quality teachers. Changes to policy and shifts in expectations impact on Faculties of Education, despite the fact that little is known about what makes a quality teacher preparation program effective. New accountability measures, mandated Professional Standards, and proposals to test all graduates before registration, mean that teacher preparation programs need capacity for flexibility and responsiveness. The risk is that undergraduate degree programs can become ‘patchwork quilts’ with traces …
Increasing Effectiveness Of Strategic Planning Seminars Through Learning Style, Nail Yildirim
Increasing Effectiveness Of Strategic Planning Seminars Through Learning Style, Nail Yildirim
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This research tests the effectiveness of taking learning style variables from the Kolb learning model in designing strategic planning seminars. We observe in our research that the participants in the seminar – school principals – positively judge the effectiveness of the seminar. The research also tests the seminar’s effectiveness in terms of the appropriateness of the schools’ strategic plans. The research finds that the plans are largely successful. The findings indicate that the effectiveness of in-service training seminars increases when the learning styles of the participants are taken into account when planning the seminars.