Digital Commons Network^™

“Fitting Into The Teaching Profession”: Supervising Teachers’ Judgements During The Practicum, Lynn Sheridan, Sharon K. Tindall-Ford

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study explores supervising teachers’ judgements about pre-service teachers during a practicum experience. Making judgements is a complex, subjective process with judgements being conscious and intuitive, influenced by individual beliefs, contextual expectations and personal learning biographies. This research draws on Social Judgement Theory to guide the analysis of data collected from interviews with experienced supervising teachers. Analysis indicated that the supervisors placed most emphasis on ‘personal qualities’ of pre-service teachers. This has implications for the selection of candidates for teaching, the importance of non-academic capabilities in teaching and the development of pre-service teachers’ personal qualities within initial teacher education programs.

Effective Behaviour Management Strategies For Australian Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Students: A Literature Review, Linda L. Llewellyn, Helen J. Boon, Brian E. Lewthwaite

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports findings from a systematic literature review conducted to identify effective behaviour management strategies which create a positive learning environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The search criteria employed resulted in 103 documents which were analysed in response to this focus. Results identified eight themes underpinning strategies for effective behaviour management. Despite the suggested actions, the review highlights that little empirical research has been conducted to validate effective classroom behaviour management strategies; strategies which may also be used to inform teacher education. Considering the high representation of Indigenous students in statistics related to behaviour infringements …

A Stealth Intervention: The Glama (Girls! Lead! Achieve! Mentor! Activate!) And Blast (Boys! Lead! Activate! Succeed Together!) School Connectedness, Peer Leadership And Physical Activity Transition Program, Kate A. Jenkinson, Geraldine Naughton, Amanda C. Benson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated the effects of the GLAMA (Girls! Lead! Achieve! Mentor! Activate!) and BLAST (Boys! Lead! Activate! Succeed Together!) controlled 8-week peer-led stealth intervention on school connectedness and physical activity self-efficacy(PASE). The GLAMA and BLAST sessions were conducted during curriculum time in an Australian state secondary school by 49 Year 10 student leaders and 206 Year 7 students. Year 7 school connectedness decreased in both the control and intervention schools (p

Individual’S Patterns Of Commitment, Resilience And Subjective Well-Being Of Prospective Physical Education Teachers, Britta Fischer, Miriam Bisterfeld, Oliver Staab

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

To a greater or lesser extent, specific combinations of commitment, resilience and subjective well-being represent favorable individual resources in order to cope with professional demands. Prior studies have identified different patterns of these behaviors and experiences. The present study deals with the question whether these patterns are also identifiable in prospective physical education (PE) teachers. In addition, differences between physical education students and sport students with other career goals are examined. Lastly, the study concentrates on the existence of specific gender related differences within the group of student teachers.

For this purpose, 851 sport students were interviewed. The results of …

Why Do You Work With Struggling Students? Teacher Perceptions Of Meaningful Work In Trauma-Impacted Classrooms, Tom Brunzell, Helen Stokes, Lea Waters

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study contributed new findings to the construct of meaningful work (MW) and negative impacts on MW. In other professional samples, finding meaning in work has been shown to be an effective buffer when facing workplace adversity. However, prior investigation has neither identified nor explored the specific sources and mechanisms of meaningful work that teachers derive from educating trauma-affected students. Within a cross-sectional sample of primary and secondary teachers (N = 18) working in trauma-affected classrooms, two interrelated sources of MW: (1) practice pedagogy and (2) teacher wellbeing were further analysed for discussion via Rosso, Dekas, and Wrzesniewski’s (2010) four …

Attracting Preservice Teachers To Remote Locations, Kenneth D. Young, Peter Grainger, Dennis James

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teaching in rural/remote regions poses many challenges to teachers and is identified as a priority research area by the state government. Despite initiatives by the state government and university providers to solve the issue through various incentives designed to attract teachers, the problem remains significant. This research describes and analyses the impact of a regional university initiative to attract teachers to rural and remote locations in Queensland. The data was gathered through analysis of responses from preservice teachers completing education degrees at a regional university in Queensland. The data revealed that a pre-graduation teaching placement to a rural/remote region resulted …

Interculturality And Teacher Education. A Study From Pre-Service Teachers’ Perspective, Eva F. Hinojosa Pareja, M. Carmen López López

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Due to the multicultural nature of society and the failure of some of the educational models adopted to respond to cultural diversity, there is a need to pay greater attention to teachers’ training. This study examines Teacher Education students’ beliefs about cultural diversity and their relationship with pre-service teacher training as key aspects in designing intercultural teacher training proposals and improving educational practice. This quantitative, descriptive study was carried out with 1464 participants enrolled in teacher training programs. The results show that future teachers have positive beliefs about cultural diversity in general terms, but their positions diverge when dealing with …

Creating Multicultural Music Opportunities In Teacher Education: Sharing Diversity Through Songs, Dawn Joseph, Rohan Nethsinghe, Alberto Cabedo Mas

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper contributes to the knowledge base for preparing pre-service teachers (PSTs) for contemporary multicultural classrooms. To do so, we refer to our ongoing project “See, Listen and Share: Exploring intercultural music education in a transnational experience” across three Higher Education sites (Australia and Spain). Drawing on our narrative, and PSTs’ questionnaire data, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to analyze and code the PST data, we report on our initial experience and findings across the three sites and cultural contexts. Generalisations to other institutions cannot be made. We discuss what was taught and how it was taught in our three settings, …

A Systematic Review Of The Research On The Knowledge And Skills Of Australian Preservice Teachers, Jennifer Stephenson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Since knowledge and skills related to curriculum content and pedagogy are crucial for teachers, it is of interest to explore the research relating to what preservice teachers know and can do. Refereed journal articles published between 2005 and 2015 that reported on the assessment of the knowledge or skills of Australian preservice teachers are reviewed. Data were extracted from 52 articles relating to the context of the research, participants in the research and the adequacy of the knowledge and skills of preservice teachers. Most authors expressed some concern about the level of knowledge and skills of preservice teachers and where …

The Effects Of The School-Work Environment On Mathematics Teachers’ Motivation For Teaching: A Self-Determination Theoretical Perspective, Danya M. Corkin, Adem Ekmekci, Richard Parr

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Guided by self-determination theory, this study investigated the extent to which factors of teachers’ school-work environments predict their self-efficacy and intrinsic value for teaching. Participants were 217 mathematics teachers working in Texas public schools. Results indicated that principals’ autonomy support positively predicted teachers’ self-efficacy and intrinsic value for teaching beyond years of teaching experience, mathematics background, and grade level taught. Moreover, the negative effects of school-work environments dominated by high-stakes testing on teachers’ motivation for teaching were moderated by the level of autonomy support provided by the school principal.

Assessing Adolescent Reading Comprehension In A French Middle School: Performance And Beliefs About Knowledge, Pascal Dupont

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In France, the growing percentage of students with reading problems calls for innovative teaching, particularly for students with serious learning difficulties. The present study was conducted on two classes with comparable reading levels: one standard sixth-grade class and one eighth-grade SEGPA class (those with learning difficulties). This study examined the effects of introducing a new teaching practice, didactique workstations, into the SEGPA class. The purpose of these workstations was to make the teaching content clearer and to promote formative assessment practices in order to improve adolescents’ reading comprehension and their relationship to knowledge. The results showed that introducing this innovative …

Pre-Service Teachers: Knowledge, Attitudes And Their Perceived Skills In Addressing Student Bullying, Leanne Lester, Stacey Waters, Natasha Pearce, Barbara Spears, Sarah Falconer

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Understanding pre-service teachers’ capacity to prevent and manage student bullying behaviours is critical for ensuring a smooth transition into early career teaching and the success of schools’ anti-bullying initiatives. This exploratory study investigated 234 pre-service teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, perception of skills, personal experience of bullying and current undergraduate learnings in relation to bullying behaviours in schools.

Most undergraduate pre-service teachers could identify bullying behaviours, however many reported they felt their undergraduate degree had not prepared them well enough to deal with bullying behaviours. As a consequence they felt they lacked the skills to prevent and respond effectively to incidents of …

A Leadership Strategy: Coaching, A Singaporean Example, Marjory A. Ebbeck, Connie Seah Geok Lian

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The demand for recruiting and retaining early childhood teachers remains a challenging problem in the early childhood field in Singapore as well as in many other countries. A research study was devised to investigate if the use of a ‘coaching approach’ could bring about change in teachers’ participation in their centre’s management and organisational climate. The study involved 72 teachers and seven principals from seven, privately owned child care centres. A before-and-after study intervention was conducted over an 18-month period of time. Results showed significant statistical increases in that a coaching intervention had made a difference to both teachers and …

Perceived Attributes Of Music Teaching Effectiveness Among Kindergarten Teachers: Role Of Personality, Yau-Ho Paul Wong, Wing-Chi Margaret Lau

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: Musical activity has been found to be beneficial to young children’s all-round development in kindergartens. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between kindergarten teachers’ perceived attributes of music teaching effectiveness and personality. Eighty-eight in-service kindergarten teachers rated themselves using a set of Attributes of Music Teaching Effectiveness (AMTE) and the sensing-intuitive dimension of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. Results showed that 75% (66 of 88) and 25% (22 of 88) of the teachers were sensing types and intuitive types, respectively. The former prefers a directive approach in music teaching to children, whereas the latter …

Student Reflections On Teacher Identity Development In A Year-Long Secondary Teacher Preparation Program, Kaisa Hahl, Erin Mikulec

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This preliminary case study examines qualitatively the experiences of 20 participants enrolled in an international English-medium secondary teacher preparation program at a university in Finland and analyzes reflections on their teacher identity development. Multiple measures of data with triangulation were collected from course work, including reflection essays from 20 pre-service teachers and a focus group interview with four of the pre-service teachers. The data were analyzed with thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) in order to find categories of factors that influenced the pre-service teachers’ teacher identity development. The results indicate that the support especially from mentors and positive feedback …

An Investigation Of Mobile Phone Use While Driving: An Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Sokunthea Kruy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Mobile phone use while driving has been an emerging issue for road safety in recent years. The development of new technology has meant that users are more connected to their devices than ever before. This has led to use while driving despite the illegality of this behaviour. In this research, three mobile phone use behaviours were investigated: making/receiving calls; creating/sending text messages, and accessing social media. Through application of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), an online survey was developed. Five hundred and fifty-nine university students including 193 young respondents (aged 17 – 25) responded to investigate attitudes, subjective norms, …

Does Facial Physiognomy In The Context Of Anoccupational Safety And Health Message Predict Outcomes?, Ian Parker

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Physiognomy, the practice of looking to another person’s outward facial appearance to unmask the inner character of that person, has had a diverse historical impact within art, medicine, theology, anthropology, law, criminology, political history, psychology, psychiatry, and popular culture, since it was conceptualised in Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C (Physiognomy, 1999-2009, 2009a). Aristotle, the prominent Greek philosopher, penned many chapters on physiognomic properties and touched upon strength/weakness, genius/stupidity, and other trait characteristics and their opposites in so far as such characteristics were associated with facial form (Physiognomy, 2006, 2009b).

In more modern times, facial recognition and evaluation …

Apology Effectiveness: The Impact Of Prior Wrongful Behaviour And Voluntariness Of Apologies Within Juvenile Justice, Isolde Larkins

Theses : Honours

The justice system diverts young offenders away from further contact through restorative justice processes. Juvenile justice conferencing allows for the goals of restorative justice to be met, including meeting the needs of victims and offenders. Apologies, when offered by offenders to victims within a conferencing setting, can assist with meeting these restorative goals. Apologies, however, need to be effective to have the desired outcome. Several variables influence the effectiveness of apologies, including the perceived voluntariness of apologies, with prompted apologies reducing apology effectiveness. The reduced effectiveness of prompted apologies might be an issue during conferencing as some offenders are prompted …

Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio: A Case Study Of ‘Tactics’ And Teenage Identity In Perth, Wa, 1955-1960, Lorna Baker

Theses : Honours

Post-war Australia was a time of celebration, of prosperity, abundance and consumerism. The booming economic and technological forces within Australia propelled the rise of popular culture and led to a transformation of traditions and identities. Most notable of these transformations was that of youth culture. The rise of the teenager, as a category of person and a consumer of culture, had an impact on the social interactions of many communities. At the same time, new technologies combined with newfound prosperity meant that popular culture, such as music, was available to all and radio became a prominent feature of everyday life. …

A Survey To Investigate The Participation Of Female Jazz-Trained Instrumentalists At Waapa And In Perth’S Professional Music Scene, Talya Valenti

Theses : Honours

Traditionally, men have dominated jazz music in terms of participation and professional acknowledgement, but even in present times, female instrumentalists remain under-represented in jazz performance and education. Various studies such as Kathleen M. McKeage’s Gender and Participation in Undergraduate Jazz Ensembles: A National Survey and Erin L. Wehr’s Understanding the Experiences of Women in Jazz: A Suggested Model, have produced statistics that illustrate the low participation of female instrumentalists in jazz, and have also provided social-psychological theories to explain why these patterns continue to prevail.

As a working jazz-trained female instrumentalist myself, I have noticed the under-representation of female jazz …

Assessing Alexithymia: Psychometric Properties And Factorial Invariance Of The 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale In Nonclinical And Psychiatric Samples, David Preece, Rodrigo Becerra, Ken Robinson, Justine Dandy

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure the three components of alexithymia; difficulty identifying feelings in the self (DIF), difficulty describing feelings (DDF), and externally orientated thinking (EOT). We examined the scale’s psychometric properties in Australian nonclinical (N = 428) and psychiatric (N = 156) samples. In terms of factorial validity, confirmatory factor analyses found the traditional 3-factor correlated model (DIF, DDF, EOT) to be the best and most parsimonious solution, but it did not reach adequate levels of goodness-of-fit in either sample. Several EOT items loaded poorly on their intended factor, …

Chinese Outbound Travel: Understanding The Socioeconomic Drivers, Songshan (Sam) Huang, Xiang Wei

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study used a national sample (N = 36,490) of Chinese urban residents to examine the relationship between outbound travel intention and some key demographic, economic, and geographic variables. Findings indicate that education, income, and paid vacation days significantly predicted outbound travel intention. Compared to residents in Tier-4 cities in China, those in Tier-1, -2, and -3 cities had higher probability of choosing outbound travel by 13.1%, 30.9%, and 15.3%, respectively. This study draws meaningful connections between Chinese outbound tourism and the social and economic realities in China and offers an alternative approach to understanding Chinese outbound tourism.

Retention In A Bachelor Of Education (Early Childhood Studies) Course: Students Say Why They Stay And Others Leave, Gillian Kirk

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The literature suggests that student attrition at the university level has been of growing concern in many countries. Student attrition has a number of implications for universities, chief amongst them are losses to revenue and investment in higher education. While many studies have examined causes for attrition from an institutional perspective, this study examines how the Bachelor of Education (Early childhood studies) that sits within the School of Education can support the retention of students from the students’ perspectives. Using a qualitative methodology that recorded up to 40 hours of interviews with 20 students provided insights into why they stay …

Impact Of Positive Education Psychology On The First-Year Student Experience, Anna Golab, Denise Gengatharen, Ferry Jie, Reza Kiani Mavi, Catherine Moore, Magdalena Korecki

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Positive Psychological Interventions (Positive Education) uses a multidimensional approach that includes fostering beliefs and developing a growth mindset to reduce anxiety and psychological distress and improve well-being. Positive education has been shown to improve secondary students’ engagement, well-being and self-efficacy, impacting achievement. Seligman’s (2011) PERMA framework with its elements of positive emotions, engagement, relationship, meaning and accomplishment has been successfully used to assess positive education strategies in schools. However, the model has not been tested at the tertiary level. We used the PERMA model framework to create a survey that was suitable for the tertiary level and implemented positive education …

Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives Of Growth Mindset: Developing Agency In Children, Fiona Boylan, Lennie Barblett, Marianne J. Knaus

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The integration of mindset theory into classrooms can assist children in optimizing academic achievement, increasing their agency for learning. The development of a growth mindset allows children to exercise autonomy over their learning, helping them to develop positive lifelong learning habits for the twenty-first century. This paper explores early childhood teachers’ perspectives of mindset and the role of a growth mindset in developing children’s agency for learning. Despite increasing research in this field, little is known about the perspectives that early childhood teachers have of mindset. This paper reports on the data from a study that describes teachers’ perspectives towards …

Robotic Telescopes And Student Research In The School Curriculum Around The Oecd Countries, Saeed Salimpour, Sophie Bartlett, Michael Fitzgerald, Ross Cutts, C. Renee James, Scott Miller, Lena Danaia, Sergio Cabezon, Michel Faye, Cyrille Baudouin, Diana Birkenbauma, Sara Anjos, Qixuan Wu, Hye-Eun Chu, Eileen Slater

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The aim of this paper is to explore the presence and possible incorporation of inquiry-based learning approaches using Robotic Telescopes and Student Research in the regular science curriculum. This study uses preliminary findings from an extensive ongoing study, which is currently reviewing the extent of astronomy content in the school curriculum of the 35 member countries from the OECD in addition to two emerging nations in modern astronomy – China and South Africa, which are not part of the OECD. Analysis of curriculum documents from 28 OECD countries, including China and South Africa, reveals that although there is a prevalence …

The Photographic Other: Paradox In The Cathexis Of Longing, Alex Cilla Bradley

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A photographic and written examination of paradox in relation to the photograph

This research aims to illuminate the relationship between paradox and photography, elaborated via Julia Kristeva’s notion of the abject. Paradox is considered in relation to photography in terms of repeated and unresolved debates about the status of the photograph as either an ‘index of reality’ (Bate, 2004, p. 1) or as a sign. The significance of this research lies in its re-motivation of abjection in terms of paradox, not in order to resolve such debates but, rather, to illuminate the importance of such unresolved contradictions in terms of …

Holistic Health: Shaping Women’S Experiences Of Positive Body Image, Helen Elizabeth Monks

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This PhD thesis seeks to contribute to a nuanced understanding of positive body image and how it is expressed among a group of women participating in holistic health culture in a modern Western society. Qualitative data were collected from in-depth ethnographic interviews with 25 women in Perth, Western Australia, to illuminate an understanding of their holistic health beliefs and practices, perceptions of appearance and health ideals, as well as their understandings of positive body image. Thematic analysis of the data through Nvivo revealed several overarching themes, demonstrating how certain aspects of holistic health culture may encourage or dissuade the development …

Comparative Pairs Judgements For High-Stakes Practical Assessments, Hendrati Nastiti

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Assessment of practical tasks, as opposed to that of theoretical tasks, has been considered to be problematic, mainly because it is usually resource intensive and the scoring is subjective. Most practical tasks need to be assessed on site or involve products that need to be collected, stored, or transported. Moreover, because practical tasks are generally open-ended, and therefore subjective, there is concern over the reliability of the scores. In high-stakes assessment, these problems are even more challenging. There is a need for an assessment method that could overcome these problems. In this study, such a method that will be referred …

Breathing New Life: Investigating Ways To Improve The Mental Health Of People Living With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease In Western Australia, Tina Phan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Anxiety and depression are common comorbidities in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), contributing to greater morbidity and mortality in an already vulnerable population. Despite the prevalence, few recommendations exist in global management guidelines for the detection and treatment of these comorbidities, reflecting the limited literature available on effective strategies for dealing with mental health issues in COPD populations. There is promising evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) improves mental health outcomes in people with COPD. However, investigational studies have commonly reported participants’ lack of transport, lack of time and illness as barriers to recruitment and successful completion. This …