Education Commons^™

Victorian Teacher Supply And Demand Report 2012 And 2013, Paul R. Weldon, Chandra Shah, Glenn Rowley

Dr Paul Weldon

This report provides forecasts of the supply and demand for teachers in Victoria from 2014 to 2020. The teaching workforce includes all teachers from K to 12. This is the tenth in the series of such reports, the first of which was released in 2001. Unlike previous reports, this one includes a section on Early Childhood and has more extensive analysis of the future demand for teachers in the state.

Spiritual And Religious Capabilities For Catholic Schools, Christine Mcgunnigle, Chris Hackett

Christine McGunnigle

The Australian Curriculum articulates the role of general capabilities across all learning areas in the schooling years. The function of these general capabilities is to ensure that students have the dispositions and skills that provide for deep learning and the ability to function successfully in the 21^st Century. Within Catholic schools, these same general capabilities apply. Catholic schools, in recognising the mission of the Church, are however, called to ensure that not only are students able to participate in the 21^st Century context, but that they are able to evangelise through the integration of faith, life and culture. …

Improving The Mathematical Content Knowledge Of Pre-Service Middle School Teachers, Gregory Hine

Gregory S.C. Hine

The tertiary training of pre-service teachers is pivotal in their professional preparation and formation as qualified educators. Multiple authors posit that teachers require a development of pedagogical content knowledge, or knowing a variety of ways to present mathematical content and to assist students to deepen their understanding (Chick, 2012; Shulman, 1987). Emerick, Hirsch and Berry (2003) argue that high quality teachers must possess appropriate mathematical content knowledge, and must also possess considerable background in communicating effectively to students. There are two aims of this educational research. The first is to investigate the self-perceptions of pre-service middle school teachers enrolled in …

Teaching In Northwestern China Under A Market Economy: Opportunities And Challenges, Gulbahar H. Beckett

Gulbahar Beckett

This article discusses a case study that explored the impacts of a market economy on some Northwestern Chinese teachers’ working and living conditions as well as opportunities and challenges the new economy presented from teachers’ perspectives. Analysis of surveys, interviews, and documents revealed that the participants believed they had benefited from the market economy, citing pay raises as well as improved working and living conditions. Participants thought opportunities under the market economy included additional earnings as well as improved national and international professional development. However, the participants found the shift from the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy to a more student-centered approach …

Conceptualising Changes To Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge Of How To Best Facilitate Learning In Mathematics: A Tpack Inspired Initiative, Frank G. Bate, Lorraine Day, Jean Macnish

Jean MacNish

In 2010, the Australian Commonwealth government initiated an $8m project called Teaching Teachers for the Future. The aim of the project was to engage teacher educators in a professional learning network which focused on optimising exemplary use of information and communications technologies in teacher education. By taking part in this network, participants were afforded opportunities to transform their practice through a range of localised initiatives that applied information and communications technologies to the art and science of teaching and learning. One of these initiatives involved re-engineering a university mathematics unit targeted at pre-service teachers. Information and communications technologies were purposefully …

Conceptualising Changes To Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge Of How To Best Facilitate Learning In Mathematics: A Tpack Inspired Initiative, Frank G. Bate, Lorraine Day, Jean Macnish

Lorraine Day

In 2010, the Australian Commonwealth government initiated an $8m project called Teaching Teachers for the Future. The aim of the project was to engage teacher educators in a professional learning network which focused on optimising exemplary use of information and communications technologies in teacher education. By taking part in this network, participants were afforded opportunities to transform their practice through a range of localised initiatives that applied information and communications technologies to the art and science of teaching and learning. One of these initiatives involved re-engineering a university mathematics unit targeted at pre-service teachers. Information and communications technologies were purposefully …

Using Video To Develop Skills In Reflection In Teacher Education Students, Anne M. Coffey

Anne Coffey

Teacher education students confront the challenging task of acquiring a unique and complex set of skills during their courses. These skills are acquired through the study of education theory together with practical experience in the classroom. Perhaps one of the most important skills that students quickly need to develop is that of reflective practice. It is only through a critical and detailed analysis of their performance that strengths and weaknesses can be ascertained and addressed. Video has been used as a tool in teacher education for many years and provides a means by which a teaching episode can be captured …

Service-Learning: A Valuable Means Of Preparing Pre-Service Teachers For A Teaching Practicum., Anne Coffey, Shane Lavery

Anne Coffey

Abstract The use of service-learning as a teaching methodology is in its infancy within Australian tertiary institutions. Parker et. al., (2009) noted that, until recently, community service-learning has been under-utilised within the Australian higher education system. Within teacher education programs, service-learning has been used primarily as a means of providing real-life experiences for pre-service teachers as well as developing their personal and professional skills. The research conducted in this study focused on ways involvement in a service-learning experience could contribute to the preparation of pre-service secondary teachers for their first teaching practicum. The participants included Bachelor of Education, Master of …

Service-Learning: A Valuable Component Of Pre-Service Teacher Education, Dianne J. Chambers, Shane Lavery

Dianne Chambers

There is recognition that involvement in service-learning can impact positively on the development of pre-service teachers professionally, culturally and academically (Billig & Freeman, 2010; Anderson, 1998). This article explores and describes the experiences of pre-service teachers in the School of Education at the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) who are undertaking two service learning units as part of their teacher education. This research is based on qualitative data collected from pre-service teachers on completion of their service learning units. Initially, service-learning as a concept is explored with particular reference to four basic elements identified in the literature (Jacoby, 1996; …

Two Book Reviews, Richard G. Berlach

Richard Berlach

Crowley, S. (2003). Getting the Buggers to Behave (2nd ed.). NY: Continuum.

McLeod, J., & Reynolds, R. (2003). Planning for Learning. Tuggerah, Australia: Social Science Press.

Spiritual And Religious Capabilities For Catholic Schools, Christine Mcgunnigle, Chris Hackett

Chris Hackett

The Australian Curriculum articulates the role of general capabilities across all learning areas in the schooling years. The function of these general capabilities is to ensure that students have the dispositions and skills that provide for deep learning and the ability to function successfully in the 21^st Century. Within Catholic schools, these same general capabilities apply. Catholic schools, in recognising the mission of the Church, are however, called to ensure that not only are students able to participate in the 21^st Century context, but that they are able to evangelise through the integration of faith, life and culture. …

Aboriginal Early Childhood Education: Why Attendance And True Engagement Are Equally Important, Jacynta Krakouer

Jacynta Krakouer

The Australian government has increasingly recognised the importance of quality early childhood education (ECE) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, as noted in a variety of policy documents such as the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Closing the Gap targets of the Rudd government in 2008, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan 2010-2014, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy 2015 (Tye, 2014; Dreise & Thomson, 2014; Education Council, 2015). However, the focus in Aboriginal ECE is still on improving access to, and attendance at ECE centres in Australia rather than highlighting the reasons …

"I Second That Emotion": Minding How Plagiarism Feels, Ann E. Biswas

Ann E. Biswas

It stands to reason that when writing teachers believe their students have plagiarized, they will experience strong emotions that impact their relationships with students, their pedagogy, and their sense of professional identity. Far from being a threat to reason, understanding and acknowledging writing teachers’ emotional responses to plagiarism can lead to a deeper wisdom of its true impact. By examining the literature on emotion from psychology, sociology, education, and writing studies as well as findings from a pilot study of writing teachers’ emotional responses to plagiarism, this article argues that the work involved in managing the emotions of plagiarism reflects …

Investigating Vocabulary And Reading Strategies With Middle Grades English Language Learners: A Research Synthesis, Brooke Kandel-Cisco, Yolanda Padrón

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Recent data indicate that many adolescent English language learners (ELLs) comprehend English texts at only a limited literal level. The purpose of this research synthesis was to systematically identify and describe the research related to the English reading comprehension of middle grades ELLs while also making practical connections to instruction. Parameters were established to determine whether the collected research studies met the purpose of the synthesis and the standards for quality research, using the guiding principles for scientific research set forth in the National Research Council’s Scientific Research in Education. Three themes emerged across the 11 identified studies: (a) the …

Using A Resiliency Perspective To Inform Bilingual Teachers’ Classroom Inquiry, Brooke Kandel-Cisco, Yolanda Padrón

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Recent research has established the importance of teacher quality in the academic success or failure of students (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Sanders, Wright, & Horn, 2004) and policy initiatives, such as NCLB, have propelled the issue of teacher quality to the forefront of educational reform in the U.S. While No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been successful in establishing minimum teacher quality standards for general educators, the act has failed to highlight the importance of quality for teachers of second language learners (Nieto. 2003). Teacher quality is especially impo1tant for second language learners. both because of the pedagogic and Iinguistic complexities inherent …

What The Staff In Australia’S Schools Surveys Tell Us About Teachers Working In School Libraries, Paul R. Weldon

Dr Paul Weldon

This report analyses the 2007, 2010 and 2013 Staff in Australia's Schools (SiAS) survey results to produce profiles of primary and secondary teachers who are working in a library role. It compares the findings about numbers of teachers working in a library role with the overall teacher cohort in terms of location, school sector and socio-economic status of schools. It also profiles teachers working in a library role in terms of their average age, gender, level of tertiary study and basis of work. It makes particular mention of early career teachers in libraries and teachers working out of field in …

Working The System: A Model For System-Wide Change In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Jo-Anne Ferreira, Lisa Ryan

Associate ProfessorJo-Anne Ferreira

This paper reports on a study undertaken to identify the strategies and models used to facilitate curriculum change within teacher education institutions. Findings indicate three main approaches, which we name the ‘resource development’, ‘action research’ and ‘contextual change’ models. A new model that combines the best features of each is proposed. In this paper we provide a brief overview of the three models, a rationale for the new model being proposed, and a discussion of the systems theory concepts underpinning the model. It is our contention that the Mainstreaming Change model provides a structure for change to occur simultaneously at …

The Cu Online Handbook: Teaching Differently, Create And Collaborate, Patrick R. Lowenthal, David Thomas, Anna Thai, Brian Yuhnke, Susan Giullian, Donna Sobel, Connie L. Fulmer, Phil Antonelli, Laura Summers, Joanna C. Dunlap, Ellen Stevens, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Patrick R. Lowenthal, Brent G. Wilson, Farah A. Ibrahim

Joanna Dunlap

No abstract provided.

Problem-Based Learning And Self-Efficacy: How A Capstone Course Prepares Students For A Profession, Joanna C. Dunlap

Joanna Dunlap

Problem-based learning (PBL) is apprenticeship for real-life problem solving, helping students acquire the knowledge and skills required in the workplace. Although the acquisition of knowledge and skills makes it possible for performance to occur, without self-efficacy the performance may not even be attempted. I examined how student self-efficacy, as it relates to being software development professionals, changed while involved in a PBL environment. Thirty-one undergraduate university computer science students completed a 16-week capstone course in software engineering during their final semester prior to graduation. Specific instructional strategies used in PBL--namely the use of authentic problems of practice, collaboration, and reflection--are …

Literature Review Relating To The Current Context And Discourse Surrounding Indigenous Early Childhood Education, School Readiness And Transition Programs To Primary School, Jacynta Krakouer

Jacynta Krakouer

Since the educational experiences of Aboriginal Australians are often framed from a ‘deficit’ perspective, whereby the failures of Indigenous people to engage with the mainstream educational system are seen as the ‘problem’, an alternative approach to Indigenous early childhood education discourse is preferable. This alternative approach highlights the strengths that many Aboriginal children possess when commencing school, strengths that may result from Indigenous child-rearing practices. Consequently, this literature review utilises a strengths-based perspective for Aboriginal early childhood education and school readiness, noting that Aboriginal children are frequently expected to adapt to a foreign educational system whereby school expectations differ from …

Integration Of Social, Behavioral, And Academic Initiatives: Part I, Hank Bohanon, Meng-Jia Wu

Hank Bohanon

Many schools are working towards improving their overall social and behavioral climate. This endeavor is undertaken for its own sake, and in the anticipation it will improve academic performance for students. School climate has been related to a lack of connection and commitment on the part of students towards the school, discipline problems, and dropping out (Zins & Elias, 2007). There appear to be at least three predominant schoolwide initiatives to frame improving school climate: Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS), Response to Intervention (RtI), and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).

Integration Of Social, Behavioral, And Academic Initiatives: Part Ii, Hank Bohanon, Meng-Jia Wu

Hank Bohanon

In part one of this series we discussed the connections among Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), and Response to Intervention (RtI). Specifically, we compared the processes and fidelity components of these approaches. We attempted to highlight the similarities in systems, practices, and data for each approach, with the understanding that nuances could found within the practices of each. The following section provides specific examples of the overlap in these approaches; the integration of systems, practices, and data; and factors related to core instruction.

Becoming A Liaison Librarian: Embedded In Academia, Debbie Morrow

Debbie Morrow

Social Physique Anxiety And Body Image Of Middle School Youth: A Longitudinal Study (Fffa2016-Web.Pdf), Mary Jo Maccracken, Robert E. Stadulis

Dr. Mary J. MacCracken

Reasoning About Race And Pedagogy In Two Preservice Science Teachers: A Critical Race Theory Analysis, Douglas B. Larkin, Tanya Maloney, Gail M. Perry-Ryder

Douglas B. Larkin