Education Commons^™

‘We All Went In With An Open Mind’: Possibilities Of Professional Experience As A Catalyst For Engaging With Graduate Standards 1.4 & 2.4., Peta Salter

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: Evolving discourses in Australia have resulted in an increasing focus on teachers’ abilities to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Political concerns with achievement gaps and national education policy that require teachers to engage with curriculum priorities and professional standards that focus on strategies for teaching and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have contributed to this move. This paper reports on efforts to develop preservice teachers’ engagement with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers during professional experience in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school community. These findings highlight the complexity of challenging pre-existing …

“I Love The Way We Do It In Early Childhood”: Influence Of An Enhanced Kindergarten Placement On Preservice Teachers’ Career Choices, Deborah Moore, Anne-Marie Morrissey, Katherine A. Bussey

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Encouraging pre-service teachers to perceive early childhood teaching as an inherently attractive career option remains an issue in the early childhood profession in Australia. Following a Research by Design methodology with iterative modifications, this paper uses a professional identity theoretical lens to analyse survey and interview data from 37 pre-service teachers involved in an enhanced early childhood professional placement program used to foster professional relationships through workshops, intentional mentoring and time for professional conversations. Four themes identified factors in pre-service teacher decision making: an emotional connection to early childhood education; a positive attitude to early childhood pedagogy; differences in working …

Student Teachers As Readers: The Reading Experiences And Reading Pedagogy Of Finnish And British Student Teachers, Juli-Anna Aerila, Merja Kauppinen, Teresa Cremin, Mari Siipola, Sarah Jane Mukherjee, Johanna Lähteelä

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

As the pedagogy of teachers depends partly on their earlier life experiences, investigating the prior reading practices of student teachers is crucial. This study investigated Finnish and English student teachers’ (N = 353) own reading, the importance of their own reading to their reading pedagogy, and the relationship of these to teachers’ content knowledge of reading pedagogy. The data were collected via an online questionnaire and analysed via quantitative methods. According to the findings, nearly all the student teachers enjoy reading, have a positive attitude towards reading, and consider the teachers’ own reading important for the pedagogy they implement. However, …

Exploring The Re-Legitimisation Of Messages For Health And Physical Education Within Contemporary English And Welsh Curricula Reform, J. Stirrup, David Aldous, S. Gray, R. Sandford, O. Hooper, S. Hardley, A. S. Bryant, N. R. Carse

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper explores how messages for health and PE ([H]PE) within English and Welsh curricula are being re-legitimised through distinct performance and competence pedagogic models. Drawing upon Bernstein’s sociology of knowledge (Bernstein, 1996. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique. Taylor and Francis; 2000. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research and critique (revised ed.). Rowman and Littlefield) data was generated through a deductive content analysis of the contemporary statutory English National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) and the new Curriculum for Wales (CfW), Health and Well-Being Area of Learning and Experience (HWB-AoLE). Findings illustrate how the current English …

Improving The Reading Skills Of Struggling Secondary Students In A Real-World Setting: Issues Of Implementation And Sustainability, Susan Main, Susan Hill, Annamaria Paolino

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Reading difficulties have been associated with limited academic success and related social-emotional outcomes including anxiety and low motivation. Recent research on the educational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that children with poor reading skills were disproportionally disadvantaged. This growing number of students experiencing reading difficulties will require effective implementation of strategies to prevent long-term disadvantage, including in the challenging context of secondary schools where teachers are unfamiliar with reading instruction and constrained by timetabling of subjects and teachers. This research examined whether a Direct Instruction programme could be implemented with fidelity in the real world of a secondary school …

An Investigation Into The Role Of Innovative Learning Environments In Fostering Creativity In Secondary Visual Arts Programmes In Ghana, Enock Swanzy-Impraim, Julia E. Morris, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Andrew Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Innovative learning environments (ILEs) have been regarded as one of the contributing factors that facilitate creativity in learners. At the pre-tertiary level of education, Ghana has recently undergone educational reform that sees creativity being added as a key goal for education, but it is unknown if teachers' practices within current educational facilities can support the enactment of this goal. The multi-site qualitative case study explores the secondary visual arts learning environments within the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis in Ghana. Interviews and observations were used as instruments for data collection with 16 visual arts teachers. This study confirmed two categories of environments that …

Mapping The Leap: Differences In Quality Improvement In Relation To Assessment Rating Outcomes, Belinda Davis, Rosemary Dunn, Linda J. Harrison, Manjula Waniganayake, Fay Hadley, Rebecca Andrews, Hui Li, Susan Irvine, Lennie Barblett, Maria Hatzigianni

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: Australia’s National Quality Standard (NQS) outlines the criteria to assess the quality of early childhood services. A four-point rating scale: (i) Exceeding NQS; (ii) Meeting NQS; (iii) Working Toward NQS; and (iv) Significant Improvement Required is applied to services following a regular assessment and rating process. Settings rated as Working Toward are reassessed within 12 months. Most settings achieved a one-step improvement in this Time 2 reassessment, moving to a Meeting rating but some settings made a two-step improvement, moving to an Exceeding rating. The QIP is a key document used by authorities to assess the quality of a …

What Do Mathematics Lessons Look Like? Analyses Of Primary Students’ Drawings, Benjamin Rott, Laura Barton, Vesife Hatisaru

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The use of student drawings to assess their experiences and beliefs about teaching and learning of mathematics has become almost a regular research method – especially when working with young students who may not express themselves well, for example, in self-report questionnaires. These methods, nevertheless, need to be improved regarding their objectivity and validity. By building on the existing research, in this study, we focus on objectivity and validity issues in drawing-based methods. We use a drawing-based instrument: Draw A Mathematics Classroom (DAMC) and present 104 fourth-grade students to draw a picture of their regular mathematics lessons. We especially aim …

Invisible Women: Gender Representation In High School Science Courses Across Australia, Kathryn Ross, Shanika Galaudage, Tegan Clark, Nataliea Lowson, Andrew Battisti, Helen Adam, Alexandra K. Ross, Nici Sweaney

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The visibility of female role models in science is vital for engaging and retaining women in scientific fields. In this study, we analyse four senior secondary science courses delivered across the states and territories in Australia: Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Physics. We compared male and female representation within the science courses by examining the mentions of male and female scientists along with the context of their inclusions in the syllabuses. We find a clear gender bias with only one unique mention of a female scientist. We also find a clear Eurocentric focus and narrow representation of scientists. This bias …

Creativity And Initial Teacher Education: Reflections Of Secondary Visual Arts Teachers In Ghana, Enock Swanzy-Impraim, Julia E. Morris, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Andrew Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The development of creativity through learning is a significant part of Ghana's pre-tertiary education system framework. Achieving the successful implementation of creativity from policy to practice in schools relies on teachers in the local school system, who are shaped by their past teaching experiences and the training they have received during initial teacher education (ITE). Using interviews and observation data, this case study explored 16 secondary visual arts teachers' experiences and reflections on their training in relation to creativity and its impact on their current practice. Five themes emerged from an inductive analysis: containment, free expression, self-directed learning, replication of …

Plans To Pedagogy Activity Report Phase Two: What Impact Does ‘Innovative’ Furniture Have On Student Engagement And Teacher Practices?, Julia Morris, Wesley Imms

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Phase Two of this project, conducted during the 2021 academic year, repeated an A-B-A withdrawal design to rotate (across terms 2, 3, and 4) the furniture in 4 primary school classrooms from innovative to traditional furniture arrangements.¹ A fifth classroom with innovative furniture was used as a control. Three-weekly repeated measures were taken across the terms of: (1) characteristics impact students’ engagement, namely creative thinking, peer support and risk taking, (2) teachers’ observed actions in their classrooms, and (3) photographs by students of their preferred furniture item/s, with annotations explaining this preference. Once-a-term measures included (4) structured teacher interviews …

Teaching Writing In Primary Education (Grades 1–6) In Australia: A National Survey, Anabela De Abreu Malpique, Debora Valcan, Deborah Pino-Pasternak, Susan Ledger

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Providing adequate writing instruction and practice in schools is an essential cornerstone of writing development and it affords a diagnostic approach for teachers. But what writing instruction is being practiced in Australian primary schools? The aim of this study was to survey a sample of teachers (n = 310) about their instructional practices for writing and their preparation and self-efficacy to teach writing. The majority of the teachers surveyed indicated they allocated on average less than three hours per week for writing practice in their classrooms, with findings further showing a large variability in the frequency of writing practice ranging …

Teenagers Learn Through Play Too: Communicating High Expectations Through A Playful Learning Approach, Olivia Johnston, Helen Wildy, Jennifer Shand

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Play-based learning is an approach used in early childhood education that is well supported by research on its varieties and effectiveness for young children’s learning. Play-based learning meets the developmental needs of young children, but new research presented in this paper suggests that teenagers learn through play too. The experience of 25 Year 10 students in three Western Australian government schools was drawn upon to generate grounded theory about how students experience their teachers’ expectations of them, which included findings that playful learning approaches communicated high teacher expectations. The students were shadow-studied in their classrooms and interviewed at the end …

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Common Errors In Meta-Analyses And Meta-Regressions In Strength & Conditioning Research, Daniel Kadlec, Kristin L. Sainani, Sophia Nimphius

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background and Objective:

Meta-analysis and meta-regression are often highly cited and may influence practice. Unfortunately, statistical errors in meta-analyses are widespread and can lead to flawed conclusions. The purpose of this article was to review common statistical errors in meta-analyses and to document their frequency in highly cited meta-analyses from strength and conditioning research.

Methods:

We identified five errors in one highly cited meta-regression from strength and conditioning research: implausible outliers; overestimated effect sizes that arise from confusing standard deviation with standard error; failure to account for correlated observations; failure to account for within-study variance; and a focus on within-group …

Educational Leaders’ Perceptions Of Stem Education Revealed By Their Drawings And Texts, Vesife Hatisaru, Garry Falloon, Andrew Seen, Sharon Fraser, Markus Powling, Kim Beswick

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study explored school principals' and teacher educators' perceptions of STEM education based on how they described STEM as a discipline, their understanding of the nature of teaching and learning of STEM, and the capabilities of a STEM-educated person. Data were generated through the Draw a STEM Learning Environment (D-STEM) instrument comprising drawn and written descriptions where participants drew a picture of a STEM learning environment and completed five prompt statements about what STEM is and how an individual develops personal STEM capability. The Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) specialization codes were used for data analysis (198 individual response items in …

Raising Primary School Boys' And Girls' Awareness And Interest In Stem-Related Activities, Subjects, And Careers: An Exploratory Case Study, Natalie Mcmaster, Michael David Carey, David Allen Martin, Janet Martin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Internationally, there is an under-supply of intellectual capital to provide for STEM-related employment. One contributing factor is the low number of female students selecting STEM school subjects and careers. Despite the literature recommending students engage in STEM activities earlier, many initiatives are not implemented until high school. This paper reports on an Australian project named MindSET-do which provided students with early positive STEM experiences prior to high school to raise awareness of, interest in, and aspirations for STEM-related subjects and careers. The case study surveyed n = 107 Year 6 boys’ and girls’ interests, ability beliefs and expectations in STEM …

A Model For Children’S Digital Citizenship In India, Korea, And Australia: Stakeholder Engagement Principles, Emma Jayakumar, Kylie Stevenson, Harrison See, Yeonghwi Ryu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This white paper communicates research activities and findings investigating digital safety and digital citizenship through multistakeholder collaborations in three countries—India, South Korea, and Australia. Performed by an Edith Cowan University-based research team from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, supported by the LEGO Group, this research additionally responds to many recent policy and practice reviews arguing for institutional and policy engagement in the Asia Pacific (APAC) that build children’s digital safety, literacy and citizenship. These include the UNESCO data-driven report, Digital Kids Asia Pacific (DKAP): Insights into children’s digital citizenship (UNESCO, 2019), an earlier UNESCO review of …

A Systematic Literature Review Of Between-Class Ability Grouping In Australia: Enduring Tensions, New Directions, Olivia Johnston, Becky Taylor

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Ability grouping of students into separate classes within a school can be called ‘between-class ability grouping’. This practice has persisted in Australia despite evidence that it is socially inequitable and does not improve academic outcomes. A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature about between-class ability grouping in Australia from 2012-2022 reveals only N=28 papers that meet the inclusion criteria. These papers are critiqued and synthesised into four main findings that characterise Australian research about between-class ability grouping from 2012-2022. The findings reveal a lack of substantive inquiry with most studies having limited scope and drawing on outdated or overly generalised data. …

Incorporation Of Community Resources In Teaching Social Studies In Junior High Schools: A Case In The Adentan District Of The Greater Accra Region Of Ghana, Ronald Osei Mensah, Enock Swanzy-Impraim, Da-Costa Marfo, Pearl Adiza Babah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Social studies education constitutes a diverse aspect of the human ecosystem that needs external resources to enable effective tuition and learning in the classroom. Using external resources has been a significant challenge for Ghana’s junior high school teachers. Given this, the study explored the integration of community resources in teaching social studies in a selected junior high school in the Adentan District in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It investigated the factors that militate against using community resources and assessed how these problems could be resolved. The study made use of the random sampling technique, with a sample size …

Student Motivations, Perceptions And Opinions Of Participating In Student Evaluation Of Teaching Surveys: A Scoping Review, Daniel Sullivan, Richard Lakeman, Debbie Massey, Dima Nasrawi, Marion Tower, Megan Lee

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Several times each year the teaching performance of academics at higher education institutions are evaluated through anonymous, online student evaluation of teaching (SET) surveys. Universities use SETs to inform decisions about staff promotion and tenure, but low student participation levels make the surveys impractical for this use. This scoping review aims to explore student motivations, perceptions and opinions of SET survey completion. Five EBSCO® databases were searched using key words. Thematic analysis of a meta-synthesis of qualitative findings derived from 21 papers identified five themes: (i) the value students’ place on SET, (ii) the knowledge that SET responses are acted …

Benefits Of Work-Integrated Learning For Students, Denise Jackson, Elizabeth J. Cook

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The authors aim to assist work-integrated learning (WIL) stakeholders in identifying and understanding the broad range of evidenced benefits for engaging in WIL. The chapter features a synthesis of empirical higher education research on the benefits of WIL across various dimensions of student employability. The introduction briefly considers the meaning of WIL and employability, as both are considered in this chapter, and discusses the scope and framing of the synthesis informed by a review of the relevant literature. The gathered literature is summarized in tabular form across the dimensions of employability and then discussed through the lens of Tomlinson’s graduate …

Exploring Creative Pedagogical Practices In Secondary Visual Arts Programmes In Ghana, Enock Swanzy-Impraim, Julia E. Morris, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Andrew Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Secondary visual arts education provides learners with opportunities to develop critical thinking, and their creative potential, as part of their personal growth. This development happens when visual arts teachers actively integrate creative pedagogies to target creative thinking in learners. Ghana's 2019 National Pre-tertiary Curriculum Framework has added creativity as one goal for all learners. This research study explores teachers' perceptions and use of creative pedagogies as part of implementing this creativity into their teaching. A multi-site qualitative case study was conducted in government secondary schools within Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, and data were gathered from interviews and participant observations. The 16 cases …

Performing Feminist Research: Creative Tactics For Communicating Covid-19, Gender, And Higher Education Research, Jo Pollitt, Emily Gray, Mindy Blaise, Jacqueline Ullman, Emma Fishwick

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Presenting research findings outside of the form of a traditional research report requires different modes of making and communicating. This paper offers an account of how The #FEAS Report, a satirical news video, was made to communicate the findings from interviews and a survey as part of the mixed-methods study, Sexism, Higher Education, and COVID-19: The Australian Perspective to a wider public. Three creative tactics for research communication were used: DIY aesthetics, humour, and situated bodies. These communication tactics enabled the researchers to think differently about what research findings mean, and how to articulate them in ways that are intelligible. …

Who Is Leading The Early Years? An Investigation Of Early Childhood Pedagogical Leadership In School Settings, Amie L. Fabry

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The early years of primary school in Western Australian is a complex space fraught with confusion and challenge as teachers experience competing demands on their pedagogical practice. In the early years, Kindergarten (starting at 3 1/2 years) through to Year 2 are mandated to use the Principles and Practices of the Early Years Learning Framework and are school audited on a modified form of the National Quality Standard. However, Kindergarten and Pre-primary teachers report concerns about the pushed down curriculum and the impact that pressure for academic achievement and formal learning is having on their pedagogy. Early childhood pedagogical leadership …

Inclusive Communities? Collaborative Communication Practices Between Stakeholders Supporting Secondary Students On The Autism Spectrum, Christina R. Holly

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Communication is vital for effective partnerships and quality relationships between stakeholders supporting secondary students on the autism spectrum (AS) who experience many challenges upon their transition to secondary school: multiple teachers, diverse student cohorts, unstructured breaks, noisy classrooms and unpredictable changes to routines. Successful outcomes for students are more likely if supporting stakeholders collaborate with open communication channels.

This qualitative two-phase study is underpinned by the value-creation framework for social learning, developed by Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner (2020), which emphasises that all community members, regardless of their perceived community competence or experience, can add value to forming community solutions. Phase One …

No Time For Silence, Just Repeat After Me: A Three Study Perspective On Teacher And Child Interactions Over Time, Gillian Kirk, Marianne June Knaus, Beverley Adkin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper examines data from three separate studies on teacher-child interactions for evidence of verbal and non-verbal semiotic resources across different times and contexts. Each study utilised qualitative methodologies, employing observations guided by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System manual and teacher semi-structured interviews. Sociocultural perspectives frame the examination of teacher-child mediations of socially and culturally derived semiotic notions and are used to conceptualise findings. Critical Discourse Analysis highlighted how language and silences in interactions contribute to power structures. The study found that while time and context cannot be causal to change, they do correlate with an increasing focus on literacy …

Rethinking Adolescent School Nutrition Education Through A Food Systems Lens, Margaret Miller, Donna Barwood, Amanda Devine, Julie Boston, Sandra Smith, Martin Masek

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

BACKGROUND: Obesity-driven nutrition education in schools does not appear to result in healthier adolescent food choices. This study explored food systems as an alternative pedagogical approach to engage students in nutrition education. METHODS: After playing a food systems computer game, 250 13- to 16-year-old students in 5 Western Australian secondary schools, participated in group discussions to distinguish learning and interests in food systems. Discussion records were thematically coded using constant comparative analysis. RESULTS: Students reported crop growth, food production and food waste, healthier food choices, and food systems as knowledge outcomes of game play. They requested additional content on food …

The International Framework For School Health Promotion: Supporting Young People Through And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Joseph J. Scott, Lynette Vernon, Alexandra P. Metse

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

BACKGROUND: The worldwide COVID-19 government restrictions imposed on young people to limit virus spread have precipitated a growing and long-term educational and health crisis. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORY: This novel study used Sen's Capabilities Approach as a theoretical framework to examine the current health and educational impacts of COVID-19 on youth, referencing emerging literature. The objective was to inform the design of an internationally relevant framework for school health promotion to support young people through and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Mapping of existing health resources, internal/external conversion factors and capabilities were used to identify classroom, school and system level strategies …

The Toy Brick As A Communicative Device For Amplifying Children’S Voices In Research, Kylie J. Stevenson, Emma Jayakumar, Harrison See

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article arises from recent industry-partner research between the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, the LEGO Group, and Edith Cowan University (ECU), examining new ways of communicating children’s perspectives of digital citizenship to policy makers and industry in a project called Digital Safety and Citizenship Roundtables: Using Consultation and Creativity to Engage Stakeholders (Children, Policy Influencers, Industry) in Best Practice in India, South Korea, and Australia. We posed the research question: What are children’s everyday experiences of digital citizenship in these countries, and how might these contribute to digital citizenship policy and practice? In research roundtables, we …

Conversations With Rain: Proposing Poetic And Non-Linear Interpretation Strategies In The Art Gallery, Lilly Blue, Jo Pollitt, Mindy Blaise

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Conversations with Rain aims to disrupt conventional socio-constructivist and cognitive notions of the child familiar in museum settings by rethinking children’s relations with art objects and weather worlds. Our rationale suggests that poetic and non-linear interpretation strategies, combined with artist studio practices that heighten presence and attention, expand the potential of more porous entanglements for children with the world, and potentially transform our climate futures. Disrupting didactic Gallery programming and environmental ‘learning about’ practices, we propose responsive, participatory, multisensory, open-ended, and poetic opportunities that recognise the unfixed, iterative, and tacit knowledges of the child. Building a body of research through …