Education Commons^™

Cooperating Teachers As School Based Teacher Educators : Student Teachers' Expectations, Lourdusamy Atputhasamy

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore adapted and implemented a Partnership Model with schools in 1999 to help student teachers translate what they have learned in the teacher education programme into practice during the Practicum. This was realized through the utilization of classroom practitioners as cooperating teachers (CTs) to monitor and supervise student teacher’s teaching. This study explored the expectations of the student teachers from their cooperating teachers and the type and level of help they received from their cooperating teachers during the practicum. The areas in which help is desired and considered important by student teachers fall under …

Are Middle Years Teacher Education Courses Justifiable?, Terry De Jong, Rod Chadbourne

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The recent growth of separate middle schools for young adolescents raises the question – do we now need separate teacher education programs in middle schooling? Or, can the staffing requirements of middle schools be met adequately by existing primary and secondary teacher education programs? This paper provides a contribution to answering these questions by discussing the rationale underlying a new graduate diploma in the middle years of schooling offered at Edith Cowan University. In doing so, the paper draws attention to the contested nature of innovations in teacher education and some uncertainty about what the future holds for them.

Changing Perceptions Of Knowledge : Evaluation Of An Innovative Program For Pre-Service Secondary Teachers., Neil Hooley, Rod Moore

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Pre-service programs for secondary teachers have traditionally involved method subjects, where participants are inducted into the curriculum practices of two disciplinary or subject areas. In 2003, Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne, enrolled a small group of fourteen pre-service teachers into an innovative Graduate Diploma of Secondary Education that directly challenged these program assumptions. Method subjects were collapsed into an integrated study of the theory, skills and practices of classroom work and connections were drawn between all enrolled subjects or knowledge. Another key feature of the program involved all pre-service teachers being placed at the one school for their partnership experience, …

Well-Being, Burnout And Competence : Implications For Teachers., Hitendra Pillay, Richard Goddard, Lynn Wilss

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Traditionally, the teaching role has been one of nurturing and developing students’ potential. However, teachers’ work today comprises a complex mix of various factors that include teaching; learning new information and skills; keeping abreast of technological innovations and dealing with students, parents and the community. These are demanding roles and there are growing concerns about teacher well-being and competence. In particular, teachers are experiencing increasing levels of attrition, stress and burnout. This study investigated the relationship between burnout and competence for a sample of mid-career teachers in primary and secondary schools in Queensland. The results break new ground in reporting …

Webfolio - Using Electronic Portfolios In Preservice Teacher Education, Reesa Sorin

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The Webfolio project was developed at James Cook University to extend students’ professional learning beyond what is taught in lectures or gleaned through the practicum. The Webfolio project trialled alternative platforms and approaches to teaching and learning. It was developed as an online learning environment that incorporated both real people and virtual web resources. Through web-based case studies, early childhood and primary preservice teachers explored topics of professional significance to their growth as teachers. Each case study included a range of media, such as: work samples; audiotaped conversations; links to other websites; telephone and in-person professional opinions from practicing teachers, …

The Power Of Collegiality In School-Based Professional Development, Susanne Owen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The school has increasingly become the focus for teacher professional development and school leaders are maximizing teacher learning through restructuring time and meeting structures to create additional opportunities for collegial work within the school day. This research paper is the second part of a three stage research design investigating South Australian teachers’ experiences of school-based professional development and how this relates to emerging trends. This second stage of research focuses on professional development and professional growth, by interviewing fifteen staff in three case study schools to obtain greater detail about the implementation of quality teacher learning strategies. This paper reports …

Teacher Education And Critical Inquiry : The Use Of Activity Theory In Exploring Alternative Understandings Of Language And Literature, Brenton Doecke, Alex Kostogriz

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article explores the challenges of espousing a critical pedagogy within the managerial climate that presently shapes teacher education. Current discourses of professionalism are incommensurate with an understanding of the way that literacy practices are grounded in the social worlds in which both school and university students operate. Such discourses construct graduate teachers as the providers of decontextualised literacy skills to school students whose existing communication networks are ignored. We argue that an alternative understanding of professional practice can be developed by focusing on the textual resources university students use to mediate their learning, and by locating their emerging professional …

Australian Teacher Education : Although Reviewed To The Eyeball Is There Evidence Of Significant Change And Where To Now?, Michael Dyson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teacher Education within Australia is once again on the cusp of further reviews at both State and Federal levels. This is in spite of frequent and invasive reviews and inquiries over the last 150 years of formal teacher education. Since the 1980s many reviews have been conducted with the intent of improving the quality of teacher education – in order to improve the learning outcomes for the pupils in the nation’s schools. This paper examines some of the reviews and the emergent patterns as it follows the journey of teacher education from the 1850s to the present day. It highlights …

Maximising Parent Involvement In The Pedestrian Safety Of 4 To 6 Year Old Children: December 2005, Donna Cross, Margaret Hall, Greg Hamilton

Research outputs pre 2011

In Australia, pedestrian injury is the leading specific cause of death among five to nine year old children (AI Yaman, Bryant & Sargeant 2002). In 1999-00 in Australia, there were 1,144 hospitalisations of children aged 0-14 years for pedestrian injuries, with a hospitalisation rate of 29.1 per 100,000 children. These rates decreased with age and were lowest for children aged 1 0-14 years. Pedestrian injuries among 0-14 year olds in 1999-00 were the second highest cause of hospitalisation in children (AI Yaman, Bryant & Sargeant 2002). While fatalities from pedestrian injuries among children 0-14 years have declined from 3.7 per …

Tackling Talk : Teaching And Assessing Oral Language, Rhonda Oliver, Yvonne Haig, Judith Rochecouste

Research outputs pre 2011

Tackling Talk was a collaborative research project sponsored by several bodies: the English Teachers Association (ETA), the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (ALEA) through Quality Teacher Program funding and the Association of Independent Schools of WA (AISWA). A team of researchers from the Centre for Applied Language and Literacy Research (CALLR), Edith Cowan University, guided teachers from the public and independent sectors through an action research program involving online/ electronic materials, professional development sessions and personal mentoring. Some 49 teachers from 28 schools from both metropolitan and regional districts of Western Australia were involved in the project.

On-Line Training For Smes: Final Report, Beth Walker, Beverley Webster, Sue Stoney

Research outputs pre 2011

This research aimed to explore the appropriateness of on-line training delivery methods for small business owner/managers.

It is widely recognised that training and education are effective ways to reduce small business failure. In Australia, small business accounts for 96 percent of Australian private sector, non-agricultural businesses and they employ 47 percent of the private sector, non-agricultural workforce. Not surprisingly then, encouraging the development of the skills of the workforce has emerged as a major priority for government policy. However, what is also recognised is that many small business owner/managers (SBOs) have limited e-competencies.

Results of this research confirmed this and …

Online Learning As Information Delivery: Digital Myopia, Jan Herrington, Thomas Reeves, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

In business and commerce, the concept of marketing myopia has been a useful tool to predict, analyze and explain the rise and fall of businesses. In this paper, we question whether the concept can also be used to predict the ultimate downfall of online learning in higher education, if universities continue to confuse their key mission— education—with the much more product-oriented aim of information delivery. The proliferation of information-based online courses is examined within the context of the limitations imposed by widely used course management systems, institutional impediments and other factors that encourage teachers to adopt information delivery in preference …

Building For The Future: The Aspirational Architecture Of Edith Cowan University, Glenys Haalebos

Research outputs pre 2011

When ECU decided to re-locate its headquarters, it not only made history- becoming the first modern university in Australia to take such a bold move - it also began a process of immense symbolic and strategic importance for its future. It was symbolic because, as this book illustrates, the University used inspirational architecture to create a powerful new public persona. It was strategic because these beautiful and functional structures have significantly enhanced our reputation as a provider of quality teaching and research and established us as a committed, energetic partner with our surrounding communities.

A Randomised Control Trial To Reduce Bullying And Other Aggressive Behaviours In Secondary Schools, Donna Cross, Hall Marg, Stacey Waters, Greg Hamilton

Research outputs pre 2011

In Australia bullying tends to peak twice in a school student's life - firstly at age 1 0 to 12 and then during the two years following their transition to secondary school (Rigby, 1994; Slee, 1995b) This transition to secondary school is considered a critical period to intervene on bullying (Farrington, 1993; Rigby, 1997, 1999; Sharp, 1995; Stevens, Bourdeaudhuij, & Van Oost, 2000; Whitney & Smith, 1993). It is suggested that compared with primary schools, the change in friendship structures that accompanies the move to secondary school, large student numbers and the less consistent contact and fewer close relationships between …

The Impact Of Digital Persona On The Future Of Learning: A Case Study On Digital Repositories And The Sharing Of Information About Children At Risk In Western Australia, Mark Balnaves, Joseph Luca

Research outputs pre 2011

Modern databases and digital depositories have the capacity to store vast amounts of information on individuals. In the case of normal everyday affairs, of course, there may be many databases and many organizations involved in collecting information on individuals. There are two types of digital persona possible in these environments —active persona and passive persona (Clarke, 2001). In this paper the authors will report on initial results from an exploratory study on attitudes towards information sharing in Western Australian education and explore the role of active and passive digital persona in information sharing. Many organizations collect information on students, ranging …

Using A Blended Learning Approach To Support Problem-Based Learning With First Year Students In Large Undergraduate Classes, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper describes an exploration of the use of a technology-enabled problem-based learning approach undertaken with a group of first year students. The exploration sought to determine students' responses to the learning setting and to investigate its ability to successfully cater for the diverse needs and expectations of the subjects.

Learning Designs And Learning Objects: Where Pedagogy Meets Technology, Ron Oliver, Ralph Wirski, Lisa Wait, Vivienne Blanksby

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper discusses an Australian project where online learning materials with problem-based learning designs are being developed in a form which facilitates their inclusion in digital repositories and learning management systems. To that end the products are being developed as properly formed SCORM compliant IMS content packages. This paper discusses issues associated with the design of online resources characterised by quality learning designs and their subsequent redevelopment as IMS content packages.

In Teachers' Hands : Effective Literacy Teaching Practices In The Early Years Of Schooling, William Louden, Mary Rohl, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Claire Brown, Trevor Cairney, Jess Elderfield, Helen House, Marion Meiers, Judith Rivalland, Ken Rowe

Research outputs pre 2011

Aim and Methods

The aim of this study was to identify teaching practices that lead to improved literacy outcomes for children in the early years of schooling.

Literacy Assessments

The study began with literacy assessments of a representative national sample of 2,000 children using a literacy scale prepared by the Australian Council for Educational Research for the Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS). Assessments were caried out by 200 classroom teachers, half of whom were teaching in the first year of formal schooling and half of whom were teaching in the second year of formal schooling. A random sample of …

Prepared To Teach : An Investigation Into The Preparation Of Teachers To Teach Literacy And Numeracy, William Louden, Mary Rohl, Jennifer Gore, Daryl Greaves, Alistair Mcintosh, Robert White, Dianne Siemon, Helen House

Research outputs pre 2011

Teacher education in Australia is a large and diverse enterprise. There are more than 400 programs in 36 universities, enrolling a total of about 35,000 preservice teachers (DEST, 2003).

The labour market for newly graduating teachers, pattern of entry to teacher education, the range of courses offered, the place of literacy and numeracy in those courses, and the provision of school experience influence the quality of beginning teachers' literacy and numeracy teaching.

Walk With Your Kids: Early Childhood Pedestrian Injury Prevention Project: Classroom Activies: Pre-Primary, Marnie House, Maree James

Research outputs pre 2011

This resource contains learning activities designed to provide a review for children of the five road crossing steps, to introduce chiidren to sequencing these steps and then road crossing scenarios to build children's problem solving skills. The learning activities are designed to be developmentally and cognitively appropriate for pre-primary children, with a focus on learning through play.

Better Beginnings: A Western Australian State Library Initiated Family Literacy Project, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Mary Rohl, Grace Oakley, Jessica Elderfield

Research outputs pre 2011

Better Beginnings is an early intervention family literacy program that has been developed by the Public Library Services Directorate, at the State Library of Western Australia. Its stated purpose is to provide positive language and literacy influences for children in their first three years of life. The program is thought to be the first of its kind in Australia and has recently been taken up by another Australian Territory State. A fully evaluated pilot of Better Beginnings commenced in January 2004 in Gosnells, Mandurah, Midland, Carnarvon, Halls Creek and Kalgoorlie and in September was extended to include Armadale, Rockingham, Bayswater, …

Design Explorations For An Online Environment To Promote Metacognitive Processing Through Negotiated Assessment, Mark Mcmahon, Joseph Luca

Research outputs pre 2011

This study uses design-based research to explore how negotiated assessment contributes to students metacognitive processing. Metacognitive processing is shown to be linked to self-regulation and the development of generic skills. The research derived a conceptual framework from the literature that was integrated into a face-to-face learning strategy and evaluated. The results of this study were then used to refine the learning design, and another study was conducted with a view to explore its potential to be instantiated into an online electronic performance support system. Results from the second study are discussed and a new conceptual framework is proposed to promote …

The Pulse Of Change : E-Education And Other Reforming Influences On Vocational Education And Training, Robin Stark

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Reform has been a feature of the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) system for more than a decade. The Portfolio tracks the theme of reform through the sub-themes of e-education and globalisation, considering each as a set of changing hegemonic discourses that have redefined VET over the intervening years. Into this mix it is speculated a third sub-theme, that of social capital development, is now emerging. The new social paradigm however is likely to create new uncertainties and expectations in a system that struggles to cope with existing reforms.

Suburbia : A Postmodern Artistic Investigation And An Examination Of How Postmodern Approaches Can Be Effectively Adopted In The Context Of The New Western Australian Post-Compulsory Visual Arts Course Of Study, Lisa Young

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In 2007, Western Australia art educators will be required to teach a new post-compulsory visual arts curriculum. This course written in a postmodern context, will need a paradigm shift in approach. As a visual arts educator and a visual artist working in a contemporary context what are valid and effective methods of creatively investigating the postmodern world? How can postmodern themes be taught and strategies employed effectively and with integrity in a visual arts curriculum? What are effective and valid approaches to teaching visual arts in the context of the post-complusory Visual Arts Course of Study?

The Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy And Sense Of Belonging In Young Adolescents At School, Elisabeth Freeman

Theses : Honours

Research emphasises the importance of adolescents' psychological sense of belonging in relation to academic, motivational, psychosocial, developmental, and behavioural outcomes, particularly during transition to high school. However, adolescents' adjustment during transition period does not occur in isolation, it occurs in conjunction with normative biopsychosocial change-related effects. As most of adolescents biopsychosocial needs are negotiated in high school, the school's social context assumes a fundamental role in facilitating successful adolescent adjustment, and school belonging. Features of the high school context such as perceived peer, parent, and teacher support have an influence on adolescents' perceived belonging. Similarly, the educational values, in terms …

Creating A Creative University, Robert Ely

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The research focuses on an auto-ethnographic case study of the creation of a new university specialising in creativity in Singapore between 2003 and 2005. The author is the President and CEO of that institution and the Vice Chancellor designate of the University of the Arts Singapore (UARTS@). Through the personal application of knowledge and documentary research, the context for the study is explored, together with the conceptual framework within which it will operate.

Some of the social, economic and political issues are described, as they relate to the Singapore Education System, drawing direct comparison with the two systems from which …

An Exploratory Case Study Using An Expert Learning Process Designed To Promote Number Sense In A Year 6 Classroom, Paula Mildenhall

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

not available

A Study Of Intercultural Discourse Between Mainland Chinese Speakers Of English And Anglo-Australians, Leng Hui

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Intercultural communication between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians is receiving ever-increasing attention in many fields. These fields include intercultural communication. English language teaching, education and business. This study approached the intercultural communication between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians from a cognitive perspective by applying the theoretical framework of cultural linguistics. The intercultural discourse produced by mainland Chinese speakers of English in the context of them interacting with Anglo-Australians was analysed. The analysis was made by employing key concepts such as schemas, cultural schemas, discourse scenarios and discourse indexicals. A body of 39 audio-taped conversations between mainland …

The Status And Quality Of Secondary Science Teaching And Learning In Lagos State, Nigeria, Taiwo O. Ogunmade

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigated and described the status and quality of secondary science teaching and learning in Lagos State, Nigeria. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used for gathering research data. Quantitative data were obtained from the surveys of 78 junior secondary science teachers and 500 junior secondary students from three Local Education Districts of Lagos State. Qualitative data on the other hand, were gathered from analysis of national and state curriculum documents and from focus groups of science teachers, school principals, parent association representatives, education officers, teacher educators, representatives of the professional association for science teachers and representatives of examination bodies …

Character Cars : How Computer Technology Enhances Learning In Terms Of Arts Ideas And Arts Skills And Proceses In A Year 7 Male Visual Arts Education Program, Gemma E. Scarparolo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

'The possibilities that the technology can offer are seemingly endless and remain to be fully explored in [visual] art education." (Callow. 2001. p,43) The aim of this research is to investigate whether the integration of Visual Arts Technology Tools (TECH-TOOLS) into Traditional Visual Arts Programs (TRAD-['ROG) enhance the students' learning in terms of Arts Ideas (AI) and Arts Skills and Processes (ASP) and whether it is a cost effective option for Western Australian primary schools. To determine whether it is worth the inclusion of TECH-TOOLS in terms of enhancing learning. this research will statistically state whether the combination of TECH-TOOLS …