Education Commons^™

What Is The Best And Most Special About Teaching Religious Education?, Chris B. Hackett

Education Papers and Journal Articles

If you have taught Religious Education in a Catholic secondary school, then you may have sat down at the end of the class or the school day and just wondered why you bothered. Before reading this article further, give yourself a few moments to reflect on this question:

“What for you is the best and most special about teaching Religious Education?”

How did you answer the question? Was your response negative or positive? Did you reach for the instant cynical remark, “When I finished teaching the class!” Or, did you imagine yourself taking great pride in accomplishing deeper understandings among …

Religious Educators: Promoting Servant Leadership, Shane D. Lavery

Education Papers and Journal Articles

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it proposes that servant leadership is a suitable model of leadership for religious educators. Second, it suggests reasons why religious educators should exercise servant leadership.

The paper briefly considers the history of leadership development, per se. The concept of servant leadership is then explored with particular reference to four Gospel texts: Mk 10:42-45, Mt 23:8-12, Lk 22:24-27; and Jn 13:12-17. Three reasons are then presented as to why religious educators should choose to exercise and model servant leadership for their students. These are: servant leadership is the way Jesus exercised leadership; servant …

Middle Years Students' Use Of Self-Regulating Strategies In An Online Journaling Environment, Chris Campbell

Education Papers and Journal Articles

This study investigated boys’ capacity for self regulation in a Year 8 classroom at a regional secondary college in the state of Victoria, Australia. This was an exploratory descriptive study that sought to examine how the use of an online journal influenced students’ capacity to adaptively react (Zimmerman, 2002) to self-determined knowledge about the effectiveness of their method of learning and set learning goals (Ames & Ames, 1989; Midgley, Kaplan, & Middleton, 2001). An online recording and online journaling space were developed by the researcher. The journal has been designed to be engaging for young adolescent male students as well …

Swapping The Boardroom For The Classroom, Matthew B. Etherington

Education Papers and Journal Articles

This study inquires into the practicum experiences of 10 second career pre-service teachers who were enrolled in two accelerated graduate teacher education programs at a well established university in Ontario Canada. The objective was to understand the actuality of the teaching experience for teacher candidates with previous careers. The data collection drew on a semi-structured interview format and spanned nearly a six month period. The results suggest that second careerists draw heavily on their experiences from first careers and these experiences continue to shape their interpretations, attitudes and beliefs about teaching during and after the practicum. The conclusions recommend that …

Engaging Boys Through Self-Reflection Using An Online Journaling Tool, Chris Campbell, Craig Deed

Education Papers and Journal Articles

The study reported here investigated whether Year 6 boys were engaged through the use of an online journaling tool. This journaling tool allowed the students to self reflect on their behaviour and affective reaction in an online environment. Case study methodology was used with twelve boys from a regional primary school in Victoria, during the one school term of ten weeks. This online journaling website allowed the boys to log in securely, set goals, reflect on their goals as well as keep a reflective journal measuring their cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement. The results suggest that the online journaling tool …

Junior Secondary Students' Perceptions Of Influences On Their Engagement With Schooling, Chris Campbell, Craig Deed, Sue Drane, Michael Faulkner, Andrea Mcdonough, Angie Mornane, Vaughan Prain, Caroline Smith, Peter Sullivan

Education Papers and Journal Articles

Various explanations and solutions have been proposed over the last decade in relation to the implications of students’ apparent lack of engagement with middle years schooling in Australia. In this article we report on responses to a questionnaire by 333 Year 8 students (aged about 13, the second year of high school) on perceptions of factors relating to their engagement with the academic curriculum. We found that while the majority of students reported a strong sense of the importance of, and opportunities in, schooling, and saw English, mathematics and science connected to those opportunities, this orientation was not matched by …