Education Commons^™

Education For Sustainability Policies: Ramifications For Practice, Deborah Moore, Sylvia Christine Almeida, Melissa M. Barnes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

While it is well understood there is an urgent need to address global environmental problems, there is less understanding around how these problems can be addressed. At each level of government, policy is initiated as a response to a perceived problem. However, research has shown governmental policies are overly generalised which creates a universal approach, with little regard for contextual difference. This paper seeks to push back against unspoken assumptions surrounding Education for Sustainability (EfS) policy processes from development to implementation, showing that context is important in the interpretation of policy. Through a mixed method survey, the findings illustrate how …

Integrated Co-Professional Evaluation? Converging Approaches To School Evaluation Across Frontiers, Martin Brown, Gerry Mcnamara, Joe Ohara, Shivaun O'Brien, Jerich Faddar, Cornelius Young

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper posits that almost all inspectorates are now following, if to varying degrees, a similar overarching ideology and methodology for school accountability and improvement. The first part of the paper provides an analysis of recent changes to school inspection policies across Frontiers. Using Ireland as a case example, the next part of the paper provides an analysis of Irish school inspection policies and practices that appear to mirror other school inspection systems. To test these assumptions, the paper then provides an analysis of a key informant interview with the Chief Inspector of schools in Ireland.

The evidence suggests that …

Australian Teacher Education Policy In Action: The Case Of Pre-Service Internships., Susan Ledger, Lesley Vidovich

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Studies on internships within initial teacher education have existed in literature since the early 1900s, they have espoused the benefits of experiential learning or critiqued the variance available in terms of structure, length of time and purpose. However, little research on teacher internships has been reported within a policy context. This study employs a modified ‘policy trajectory’ framework to capture the impact of teacher internship models emerging from policy reform in Australia driven by the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Teacher Quality Program (NPTQ). It highlights how policy contexts and practices are inextricably interconnected and influenced by key policy ‘threads’ …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Using Peer-Dialogue Assessment (Pda) For Improving Pre-Service Teachers' Perceived Confidence And Competence To Teach Physical Education, Narelle Eather, Nick Riley, Drew Miller, Bradley Jones

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Developing effective methods for improving student learning in higher education is a priority. Recent findings have shown that feedback on student work can effectively facilitate learning if students are engaged as active participants in the feedback cycle; where they seek, generate and use feedback in the form of dialogue. This novel study investigates the use of peer dialogue assessment as an assessment for learning tool used in an existing undergraduate physical education course. Our findings demonstrate that when thirty six undergraduate physical education students were provided with instruction and practice using peer dialogue assessment after consecutive teaching performances, they exhibit …

Any Time, Any Place, Flexible Pace: Technology-Enhanced Language Learning In A Teacher Education Programme, Jocelyn M. Howard, Adèle Scott

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Ongoing developments in e-learning, improved internet accessibility and increased digital citizenry provide exciting opportunities to integrate effective classroom pedagogies with online educational technologies, creating mixed-mode courses to enhance student engagement and facilitate greater autonomous learning. This research examines pre-service teacher education students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of experiential and digitally-mediated tools which take them beyond the constraints of traditional lecture-type delivery. Quantitative and qualitative results from distance and face-to-face cohorts show the value the students ascribe to tools employed in a modified language course. These are discussed in relation to reported changes in students’ proficiency in the target language and …

What Efl Student Teachers Think About Their Professional Preparation: Evaluation Of An English Language Teacher Education Programme In Spain, Juan De Dios Martínez Agudo

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Given the importance of programme evaluation in the EFL teacher education, this research paper of exploratory-interpretive nature mainly focuses on both strengths and weaknesses identified through the analysis and/or critical evaluation of an EFL teacher education programme carried out in Spain. Both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were used in the study. The current TEFL programme has several strengths, but also certain significant shortcomings in light of the high percentage of undecided responses. The TEFL programme was evaluated positively by participant student teachers in general, in terms of pedagogic competence and promotion of reflection, although more input on English proficiency …

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 …

Using Assessment To Develop Social Responsibility As A Graduate Attribute In Teacher Education, Kerry Howells, Noleine Fitzallen, Christine Adams

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Australian higher education institutions have struggled to develop clear strategies for developing and assessing graduate attributes within their specific disciplinary contexts. Using the example of the graduate attribute of social responsibility, this paper explores the outcomes of using assessment tasks to raise the awareness of development of graduate attributes, while at the same time contextualising their meaning and relevance within pre-service teachers’ immediate lived experiences within the study situation. The data collected were pre- and post-surveys as well as written reflections. The findings indicate that if embedded in an explicit way in assessment tasks that require reflection on the development …

Utilizing An Experiential Approach To Teacher Learning About Afl: A Consciousness Raising Opportunity, Helen Dixon, Eleanor Hawe

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this article we focus on how an experiential based approach to teacher learning about assessment for learning (AfL) provided opportunities for teachers to examine: their deep-seated beliefs about effective learning (and teaching); how these beliefs permeated their day-to-day actions and interactions with students, and the consequence of these actions and interactions for student learning. It also pays attention to how teacher self-efficacy in the use of various AfL strategies was developed through a heightened awareness of the beneficial effects of these strategies on teachers’ own learning in particular.

Cook Islands Students' Attitudes Towards Physical Education, Aue Te Ava, Christine Rubie-Davies

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teacher education has the potential to bring changes within educational systems that can shape the knowledge and skills of future generations. Teaching in a culturally responsive manner is an important part of developing teachers to serve as key change agents in transforming education and society through research, from the perspectives of student learning and achievement in health and physical education. It was expected in this study that students’ recognition of cultural activities could inspire them to engage in physical education. The aim of the study was to examine student awareness of teaching that included cultural activities, with an emphasis on …

Developing School Heads As Instructional Leaders In School–Based Assessment: Challenges And Next Steps, Govinda Ishwar Lingam, Narsamma Lingam

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a study on school-based assessment in a Pacific nation – namely, the Solomon Islands. A questionnaire was designed consisting of both open-ended and closed-type questions to elicit the views of school heads on the challenges they faced in school-based assessment. The findings indicated that they faced difficulties in effectively carrying out school-based assessment due to the limited knowledge and skills they possessed. They highlighted that the initial teacher training programme did not include much on assessment and this adversely impacted their work as instructional leaders on assessment for learning …

'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 …

The Washback Of The Toefl Ibt In Vietnam, Melissa Barnes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Washback, or the influence of testing on teaching and learning, has received considerable attention in language testing research over the past twenty years. It is widely argued that testing, particularly high-stakes testing, exerts a powerful influence, whether intended or unintended, positive or negative, on both teachers and learners. This article investigates the washback effects of a high-stakes English language proficiency test, the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT), in Vietnam. Vietnam, a developing country whose educational philosophies differ from those underpinning the TOEFL iBT, provided a unique context to explore the test's washback. In the …

Feedback, Iterative Processing And Academic Trust - Teacher Education Students' Perceptions Of Assessment Feedback, Susan E. Davis, Joanne M. Dargusch

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Abstract: Feedback and reflective processes play an important role in learning with both teachers and students required to play active roles. The importance of feedback processes and practices takes on an added dimension in the field of teacher education as the assessment and feedback processes are also professional practices that students themselves will be enacting in their professional roles. To this end, feedback provides opportunities for students to develop their own professional assessment literacy but also draws attention to the role of the teacher-education lecturer or assessor and the roles and relationships involved. This article reports on a research study …

Should Educators Be ‘Wrapping School Playgrounds In Cotton Wool’ To Encourage Physical Activity? Exploring Primary And Secondary Students’ Voices From The School Playground, Brendon P. Hyndman, Amanda Telford

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Physical activity in school playgrounds has changed considerably over recent decades to reflect a climate of ‘surplus safety’. A growing culture of surplus safety can be attributed to a desire of parents and teachers responsible for children to protect school students from danger. The aim of this research was to examine students’ perceptions of playground safety influences on physical activity during school breaks from the perspectives of the ‘users’ of school playgrounds. Data collection consisted of seven focus groups (4 primary school & 3 secondary school) conducted across four schools (2 primary & 2 secondary). During this study, the focus …

Strengthening Learners’ Perspectives In Professional Standards To Restore Relationality As Central To Teaching, Jeana A. Kriewaldt

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Australian teacher standards have effects on what is thought about teachers’ work. Just as teacher standards give expression to some characteristics of quality teaching, so too do students’ views if solicited and made public, yet the archive of teaching standards pays little attention to learners’ perspectives. This paper uses a theoretical framework informed by Foucauldian discourse analysis to contribute to a critical deliberation of how the diminished account of learners’ perspectives sidelines the relational aspects of teaching and learning which are thus placed as inferior—as having a low ranking—in this pervasive standards-driven policy arena. In this qualitative study, exploring discourses …

From Research To Praxis: Empowering Trinidadian Primary School Teachers Via Action Research, Charmaine S. Bissessar

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

An exponential body of extant research illustrates the symbiotic dyad action research, andragogy, reflective praxis, and transformative learning share. This paper contains a narrative review of 83 action research papers submitted to the researcher as part of the fulfilment of the Bachelor of Education degree from April 2011 to May 2013. Additionally, interviews via email and telephone with 42 of the 83 student-teachers on their perceptions of the importance of action research on their instructional practice are examined. The narrative review of student-teachers’ archival research action proposals was thematically coded to reflect challenges confronting primary school, special needs, and early …

Teacher Allocation Policies And The Unbalanced Distribution Of Novice And Senior Teachers Across Regions In Turkey, Murat Ozoglu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Policies toward fostering a more balanced distribution of teacher quality have garnered considerable attention from researchers and policymakers around the world. This attention has been motivated largely by the widely acknowledged educational goal of providing quality education for all children. Equipped with similar policy concerns, this study examines the initial assignment of novice teachers and voluntary transfer of senior teachers to determine whether there is any kind of sorting pattern in the allocation of novice and experienced teachers to schools across regions, particularly across provinces, in Turkey. Using the entire initial teacher assignment and voluntary teacher transfer data in between …

Effective Teaching Practices For Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Students: A Review Of The Literature, Natalie J. Lloyd, Brian Ellis Lewthwaite, Barry Osborne, Helen J. Boon

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper presents a review of the literature pertaining to the teacher actions that influence Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander student learning outcomes. This review investigates two foci: the identification of teacher actions influencing learning outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students and the methodological approach to how the influence of teacher behaviours on student learning has been determined. The literature review identifies that published literature in the effective teaching area is predominantly in the ‘good ideas’ category; that is assertions are made by authors with no research-based evidence for supporting such claims, especially through quantitative research which seeks …

Teaching Mindfulness To Year Sevens As Part Of Health And Personal Development, Kathy Arthurson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Recently the adoption of mindfulness or contemplative based approaches has escalated across many sectors, including in education. Proponents argue that mindfulness based teaching programs improve students’ life skills, provide emotional balance, reduce stress and enhance classroom climate. To date though there is little evaluation or knowledge of how young people experience such programs introduced to classroom settings. This paper reports some key insights gained from an independent evaluation of a pilot mindfulness based teaching program implemented (over nine weeks) with a class of thirty, year seven students at a private school in Adelaide. The research methods incorporated a self-completed student …

Investigating First Year Education Students’ Stress Level, Gretchen Geng, Richard Midford

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper investigated the stress levels of first-year education students who undertake teaching practicum and theory units during their first year of teacher education program. First, 139 first-year and 143 other years’ education students completed the PSS-10 scale, which measures perceived level of stress. Then, 147 first-year education students completed an online questionnaire to identify the particular stressors in their learning experience. The first-year education students had significantly higher stress levels than other years’ education students, (p < .01). Contributing stressors included academic work commitment; completing placement and related performance assessments in schools and at university; having a good understanding of the requirements of professional teaching, such as classroom management, and working with mentor teachers; and conflicting work and family commitments. These findings provide greater understanding about the stressors experienced by first-year education students and usefully inform ways to help this group achieve their study and career goals.

Fijian Teachers' Conceptions Of Assessment, Hem Chand Dayal, Govinda Ishwar Lingam

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Abstract: Teacher’s conceptions are important as they have a strong influence on their professional practices. This study set out to explore Fijian teacher’s conceptions of assessment. Seventy teachers enrolled in an assessment course at a university in Fiji were involved in this study. Data was collected by asking teachers to write a reflection on assessment. The reflective exercise contained four open-ended items. Data was analyzed qualitatively. The results indicate that Fijian pre-service teachers generally held an assessment of learning view, while majority of in-service teachers see assessment as formative.

Effectiveness Of Research-Based Teacher Professional Development:, Rebecca Saunders

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A significant body of literature assists researchers and program designers to identify the desirable characteristics of professional development for teachers. Few studies, however, specifically examine the operation and outcomes of programs built upon research-led principles. This study uses a sequential mixed methods design to examine a four-year systemic-change professional development initiative designed to extend and refine the instructional processes of teachers working in the vocational education and training (VET) system in Western Australia. The program’s design incorporated theory and research on systemic change and teacher professional development. Findings reveal that the program was successful in helping teachers extend and refine …

Valuing Assessment In Teacher Education - Multiple-Choice Competency Testing, Dona L. Martin, Diane Itter

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

When our focus is on assessment educators should work to value the nature of assessment. This paper presents a new approach to multiple-choice competency testing in mathematics education. The instrument discussed here reflects student competence, encourages self-regulatory learning behaviours and links content with current curriculum documents and with collaborative and cooperative learning episodes.

Title: How Do Preservice Teacher Education Students Move From Novice To Expert Assessors?, Peter R. Grainger, Lenore Adie

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Despite the acknowledged importance of assessment in education, there has been minimal research into the preparation of preservice teachers for the important role of involving preservice teachers in marking, grading, moderating and providing feedback on student work. This article reports on a pilot project in which preservice teachers participated in an ongoing peer assessment and social moderation process in a dedicated course on assessment. The purpose of the project was to investigate specific ways in which key assessment processes can be effectively taught to preservice teachers. The research involved 96 preservice teachers who completed a Likert scale survey and free …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Opinions About The Course On Scientific Research Methods And The Levels Of Knowledge And Skills They Gained In This Course, Cemal Tosun

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the basic knowledge and skills are attained within the scope of the course on Scientific Research Methods. In addition, the impact of the procedure, which is followed while implementing the course, on the students’ anxiety and attitude towards the course is examined. Besides, the study also tried to determine the pre-service teachers’ beliefs regarding their self-sufficiency in terms of doing a scientific research. The study was carried out the action research design as the basis. The sample of the study consisted of 27 pre-service teachers. They were in the third …

Iranian Efl Teachers' Perceptions Of Dynamic Assessment: Exploring The Role Of Education And Length Of Service, Mohammad Nabi Karimi, Zahra Shafiee

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The present study reports on the thematic analysis of Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions of dynamic assessment in relation to their academic degree and length of service. To this end, 42 Iranian EFL teachers participated in the study. Of these teachers, 22 held BA and 20 held MA degrees in ELT-related subjects, with varying lengths of service. Semi-structured interviews were used to inquire into the teachers' perceptions of dynamic assessment. The four major themes which emerged from the content analysis of the audiotaped interviews revealed significant variations in participants' patterns of perceptions and concerns towards dynamic assessment. The major themes comprised …

The Approaches To Teaching Inventory: A Preliminary Validation Of The Malaysian Translation, Pauline Swee Choo Goh, Kung Teck Wong, Mohd Sahandri Gani Hamzah

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a Malaysian translation of the 22-item Approaches to Teaching Inventory for application in higher education. The Approaches to Teaching Inventory was a quantitative measure used by teachers of higher education to gauge their own teaching approaches that had been psychometrically assessed and widely used in western universities. Data in the present study came from 172 teachers in two institutions of higher learning. Principal factor analyses with varimax rotation and confirmatory factor analyses support a model with 17 items categorized into five sub-factors that were subsumed within two main factors. The alpha values …

Student Voices About The Role Feedback Plays In The Enhancement Of Their Learning, Christine Plank, Helen Dixon, Gillian Ward

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

If feedback is to be framed as purposeful dialogue then both students and teachers have significant roles to play. Students must be willing and able to provide feedback to teachers not only about their learning needs but also about the teaching they experience. In turn, teachers must create the conditions that support active student learning and disclosure. It is against this backdrop that the current interpretive, qualitative research was carried out. Set within the final year of secondary schooling in New Zealand (Year 13) this paper draws on data generated from two semi-structured, focus group interviews. It provides insights into …

Investigating The Literacy, Numeracy And Ict Demands Of Primary Teacher Education, Helen De Silva Joyce, Susan Feez, Eveline Chan, Stephen Tobias

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The pre-service programs delivered in Australian teacher education institutions are expected to graduate students who meet externally determined standards, including standards in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology. These programs are also expected to educate future teachers in professional knowledge and practice, as well as prepare them to engage in professional learning continuously throughout their careers. This paper reports on the first phase of a project that investigated the literacy, numeracy and ICT demands of assessment tasks across the four years of the Bachelor of Education (Primary) program at a regional university.