Education Commons^™

Vocational Teacher Education In An Era Of Change: The United States Experience, Curtis R. Finch

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The focus of more recent educational reform in the United States has been on student achievement. As educators began to work with new reform they quickly realized that success depended on the preparation of quality teachers. This article focuses on vocational teacher education which like other teacher education areas has for some time been involved with the educational reform movement in the United States. Historical and philosophical contexts for vocational teacher education are first presented, followed by a discussion of their impact on vocational teacher education and relationships to current reform. Promising new directions for the preparation of vocational teachers …

Changing Tafe In New Times, Clive Chappell

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teachers and managers in Technical and Further Education have experienced radical changes to their work over the last decade. They have experienced the policy driven imperative of governments to insert the market form into the operations of the public sector including education. The policies of new vocationalism have not only changed the institution of TAFE but have placed different demands and different expectations on personnel working in this sector Debate over government reforms to VET has commonly revolved around problems to do with their implementation or have foregrounded issues to do with the professional competence of teachers in the new …

Staff Development In The V.E.T. Sector: Case Studies Of Two Providers, Erica Smith, Tom Lowrie

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores attitudes about and practices in staff development within two providers of' vocational education and training, focussing in particular on staff development in competency-based training (CBT). A general overview of staff development in the VET sector is provided, together with a brief discussion of the nature of CBT and an indication of some of the controversy which was associated with its introduction. Staff development in the two organisations is discussed in some detail, and it is suggested that some of the differences in staff development practices may be ascribed to variations in size and in organisational culture.

Hagan, J., Mcquilton, J., And Carter, H. (1997). Dispossessed, Diggers And Democrats: Australia 1788 1880s. Wollongong: Department Of History And Politics And Centre For Educational Development And Interactive Resources, University Of Wollongong., Peter Reynolds, Mark Brogan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Armour, K. And Jones, R. (1998). Physical Education Teachers' Lives And Careers. Pe, Sport And Educational Status. London: Falmer Press. Paper Back; 154 Pp; Isbn 0 7507 817 4, Ken Alexander

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Portfolio Assessment In Vocational Education: The Assessor's View, Zita M. Wagner

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Portfolio assessment has been traditionally used in art, design, music, writing and dance programs. However in recent years the use of portfolio assessment in vocational education has expanded to include many different subject areas such as economics, business, nursing, human resources, mathematics and engineering. As an assessment tool the portfolio has much to offer in terms of involving students in the assessment process and in documenting their achievements. From the assessor's point of view, the use of portfolios for assessment raises issues of reliability, the time consuming nature of assessment, objectivity and authenticity of the work. In this paper twentyfour …

Which Components Of Instruction Influence Student Interest?, James A. Athanasou, Kathy Petoumenos

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated how subject interest is related to components of instruction, the nature of the subject and/or student factors. Students (N=524) from over 30 technical and further education colleges completed a survey on aspects of teaching and their interest in a subject. Student ratings of the 12 components of instruction and subject interest were uniformly positive. The overall average of the 12 questions on different aspects of teaching was 3.3 (ratings ranged from I to 4). This correlated 0.46 with the rating of subject interest. There was no significant effect of age, gender, being in the first or later …

The Professional Education Of Youth Workers: A Role For Teacher Education?, Vivienne Watts, Michael Garbutcheon Singh

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper suggests that education faculties are ideally placed to develop, initiate, coordinate the initial educational needs of youth workers, and to prepare teachers to collaborate with other agencies in responding to the needs of youth. Consequently, a role for teacher education exists in the design and development of courses for the initial educational needs of youth workers, to coordinate the implementation of those courses, and to prepare both prospective and practising teachers for a role in responding to youth problems. This extended role for education faculties is new and the result of changing societal and environmental factors currently facing …

An Investigation Of The Decision Making Strategies Of Learning Disabled (Ld) And Non Disabled (Nld) Adult Students Using Information Processing Theory: Implications For Educators., Alison Fulmer

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated the decision making strategies of learning disabled (LD) and non-leaming disabled (NLD) adult students using the information processing model outlined by Kolligian and Stemberg (1987) and process tracing analysis. As predicted by Kolligian and Sternberg (1987), LD adult students were unable to selectively encode the problem or make selective comparisons and combinations of the dimensions; that is, they did not use "skilled omission". LD adult students searched exhaustively, used more information and demonstrated less variability in their search patterns than their non disabled peers. These strategies imply the use of compensatory decision models (e.g. additive model in …

Cunningham, George K. (1998). Assessment In The Classroom: Constructing And Interpreting Tests. London: Falmer Press. Vii + 225 Pages. , John R. Godfrey

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Gough, A. (1997). Education And The Environment. Policy, Trends And The Problems Of Marginalisation. Melbourne: The Australian Council For Research Ltd, 204 Pages., Geoff Lumis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

An Australian Mentoring Program For Beginning Teachers: Benefits For Mentors, Sally Murray, Jane Mitchell, Rosie Dobbins

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Mentoring programs for beginning teachers originated as response to the problems faced by novices in their transition from higher education to professional practice. However, with the spread of mentoring there has been increasing interest in the benefits of such programs for both novices and their teachers mentors. In the United States, where mentoring is a mass phenomenon, many programs provide mentors with formal training on topics such as communication, effective teaching, and theories of adult learning. Some provide rewards in the form of remuneration and/or professional credentials. The face to face mentoring experience itself is considered to provide many benefits …

An Analysis Framework For Reflective Writing, Glenda C. Evans, Carmel Maloney

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

One challenge in teacher education is to provide strategies and processes which equip student teachers to examine, critique and evaluate their own understanding and beliefs about teaching. A strategy that has received considerable attention in the literature is journal writing. This paper reports the development of an analysis framework to interpret student teachers' journal writing. Data were drawn from interactive journals written by three students participating In an alternative teacher education programme. Analysis of the journals revealed that students used their journals to revisit their experiences and to reflect on their actions. The analysis enabled us to identify differences in …

L.D. And D.P. Newton (1998). Coordinating Science Across The Primary School, London: The Falmer Press, 121 Pages., Geoff Lumis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

O'Neill, J. (Fa) (1997), Teacher Appraisal In New Zealand Beyond The Impossible Triangle, Palmerston North, Nz, Erdc Press Massey University, 146 Pp., Peter Roberts

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Freire, P. (1997) Pedagogy Of The Heart, New York, Continuum, 141 Pp., Isbn 0 8264 1039 1, Peter Roberts

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Freire, P. (1998) Teachers As Cultural Workers: Letters To Those Who Dare Teach, Boulder, Westview Press, 100 Pp., Isbn 0 8133 2304-5, Peter Roberts

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Principles And Practices Of Esl Teachers: A Study Of Adults And Children, Michael P. Breen, Bernard Hird, Marion Milton, Rhonda Oliver, A. Thwaite

Research outputs pre 2011

The study reported here aimed to identify the particular practices and uncover the particular principles of a group of ESL teachers. Some of the teachers were working with adult learners and some were working with young children. The research aimed to answer three main questions:

1. What are the classroom practices of this group of language teachers?

2. What principles do they identify as underlying their work in the classroom?

3. What is the relationship between the principles they held and the practices they adopted?

The study also aimed to find out if there were similarities or differences between teachers …

How Schools In Western Australia Are Responding To The Pressures Of Accountability In Mathematics Education, Lynne Messenger

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Western Australian primary schools have responded to the Education Department's call for school accountability in many areas of the school accountability. This study focuses on the endeavours that schools have made to demonstrate their accountability in the subject area of Mathematics. The document "Improving and Reporting Schools' Performance" was made available to all state primary schools at the beginning of the 1996 school year as part of the Student Outcome Statement package. However, only a small number of primary schools have used the Student Outcome Statements in Mathematics in the National Professional Development Program trial conducted by the Commonwealth Department …

A Comparative Study Of Controversy In The Education Systems Of Western Australia, Victoria And New Zealand: Community Participation In Government Schools 1985-1993, Anne M. Coffey

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The release of Better Schools in Western Australia: A Programme for Improvement (1987), in line with other public sector agency reforms; contained a prescription for the restructuring of the Education Department of Western Australia from 11 bureaucratic to a corporate management system of school administration. These changes were intended to render the education system, and especially schools more flexible, responsive and accountable. Among the proposals for educational restructuring was a new opportunity for community participation through ''school based decision making groups." Contemporaneously, the education systems in Victoria and New Zealand were undergoing similar reforms. The research agenda for this thesis …

Aiswa Literacy Working Party (Project No.3): A Review Of The Establishment Of Databases For Literacy Achievement, Judith Rivalland, Adrienne Huber

Research outputs pre 2011

Project Three of the AISWA Literacy Research Project reviewed the establishment of databases in Literacy achievement at a systems and schools level with a view to providing resource information for schools. The purpose of Project Three was to provide information to facilitate schools' ability to respond to requests for evidence of literacy achievement. This report begins with a summary of the history of the national, state and territories move to outcomes based learning over the past decade. In 1993, the responsibility for implementing this change was given to the states and territories which has resulted in great variation across Australia. …

Australian Aboriginal Students In Higher Education, Ian Malcolm, Judith Rochecouste

Research outputs pre 2011

One of the striking features of Australian higher education over the last ten years has been the marked increase in participation by Indigenous Australians. In a National Review of Education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, carried out in 1994, it was noted that the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students had more than doubled between 1988 and 1993 (National Review of Education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 1994:28-29). Indigenous Australians constitute 1.6 per cent of the population of Australia and in 1993 some 5,578 indigenous people were attending Australian public universities, which is 1.3% …

Regional Libraries Online Project : Survey, Glenn Watkins, Kitty Delaney, Gail Woods

Research outputs pre 2011

The Library and Information Service of Western Australia (LISWA) implemented their Regional Libraries Online Project in 1997 to provide public Internet access to 11 regional libraries in Western Australia. This report highlights major trends and issues that arose during the implementation of the project...

Aiswa Literacy Project B P-3 Assessment : Teachers Developing Effective Literacy Assessment Strategies, Judith Rivalland

Research outputs pre 2011

This project originated from recommendations from Phase 1 in the development of the National Literacy Plan for the Association of Independent Schools. These recommendations included the need for a systematic approach to literacy assessment and teaching. The current project aimed to address this situation. The primary purposes of the project were: to explore how teachers can best improve outcomes for children by understanding assessment measures more effectively; to provide time for reflection and discussion about what participating teachers find out from using the assessment procedures; to explore how this knowledge will help teachers select appropriate teaching for all children, particularly …

Research In Mathematics Education: A Contemporary Perspective, Alistair Mcintosh (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

The twelve chapters in this book-all but two written by researchers in Australian universities-provide ample evidence of the impressive contributions currently being made by Australia to research in mathematics education. The authors' fields of inquiry are diverse: they include discussion of the roles of language and imagery, problem posing and problem solving, students' beliefs and students' thinking, gambling and mental computation. T!1eir methodologies are no less diverse, incorporating descriptions of both quantitative and qualitative research projects, including action research in classrooms, theoretical perspectives and the development of theoretical models, reviews of research, surveys, clinical interviews and descriptions of new research …

The Language And Literacy Skills And Behaviours Of Two Middle Primary Severely To Profoundly Hearing Impaired Students In The School Environment, Renee M. Kinsman

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Much research has shown that the hearing impaired population typically achieve only very low levels of literacy. Many researchers have examined the language and literacy deficits of the hearing impaired population in order to explain this. Nevertheless, a recent study has shown that hearing impaired children's preschool language and literacy development may occur along a similar pathway to that of their hearing peers. The present study aimed to investigate the language and literacy skills, behaviours and interactions of two severely to profoundly hearing impaired middle primary boys in the context of their mainstream school. Both qualitative and quantitative data sources …

Parent Involvement In A Year One In-Class Reading Practice Program, Sheelagh Tillotson

Theses : Honours

Parents play a crucial role in their children's literacy development, and their influence on early reading attitudes is profound. Many successful programs have been developed in England, US, Australia and New Zealand to involve parents in assisting their children's reading both at home and at school, but research has also shown that there are a number of difficulties associated with instigating classroom-based programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate an existing, classroom-based reading practice program involving parents and to analyse how and whether it was successful for each participating group: that is parents, students and the teacher. The …

An Investigation Into How Year Two Children Use Drawing And Writing Together To Produce A Narrative, Kelly J. Joice

Theses : Honours

This study was designed to investigate how Year Two children use drawing and writing together to produce a narrative. The participants in this study were one class from a metropolitan, co-educational, independent school. A qualitative descriptive case study approach was selected for this investigation. The researcher collected data by conducting four sessions in which the participants were given the opportunity to write and draw together to produce a narrative. The narrative written and drawn documents were then organised into categories. Each of these categories indicated the common relationships between drawing and writing evident in the children's work. The results of …

The Effectiveness Of Using Drama In Presenting Spiritual Material To School Students, Geoff Pollard

Theses : Honours

This thesis is concerned with determining the effectiveness of using drama in presenting spiritual material to school students. As a performer in schools I often wondered if the "magic" of the stage was what the students identified with or whether in addition they were also understanding and learning spiritual truths. As an undergraduate religious student I was exposed to the research of Goldman who concluded that Scripture teaching in Primary Schools should be minimised because he believed the students were incapable of understanding parables and miracles. I looked back on my school performance years and the warm reception given to …

Skill Acquisition And Transfer : The Effect Of Practice On Performance, Tracy Piani

Theses : Honours

This study was designed to examine the effect of amount of training on the specificity of skill acquisition and transfer. Within the theoretical framework of two contemporary theories of skill acquisition, Anderson's ACT" theory (1982, 1987), and Logan's Instance theory of automisation (1988, 1990), the study extends research by Greig and Speelman (in press) that demonstrated skills can be both general (i.e., can apply beyond the training experience) and specific (i.e., are limited to training experiences). The experiment was divided into training and transfer phases. The amount of practice in the training phase was manipulated across three experimental conditions, with …