Education Commons^™

Preparing Australian Special Educators: Courses And Content, Jennifer Stephenson, Rahul Ganguly, Coral Kemp, Catherine Salisbury

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: The characteristics and content of post-graduate courses in special and/or inclusive teacher education in Australian universities were examined using publicly available material on university websites. Content analysis was guided by a set of content area elements covering desirable skills and knowledge for special educators that were identified in the Australian literature. The presence or absence of these content elements in each course and in core or elective units was coded for 28 courses from 21 universities. All or most courses covered generic content such as teaching strategies and evaluating and using research. However, more specialist content, such as explicit …

Does The Atar Predict Pre-Service Teacher Capacity For Inclusive Classroom Practice?, Greg Auhl, Alan Bain

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this study, we examined whether the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) predicted pre-service teachers' schema development for inclusive classroom teaching. Where previous studies have employed grade point average (GPA) as a criterion measure, this study employed a validated measure linked to standards-based classroom practice. The study was conducted in the final semester of the teacher education programs at three Australian universities. The results showed the explanatory power of the ATAR was close to zero for the students studied. The implications of the findings for teacher education and for using the ATAR as an indicator of teacher quality are discussed.

Making A Difference To The Student Experience Through Purposeful Course Design, Lucia Zundans-Fraser, Alan Bain

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The study described examines the student experience in a graduate inclusive education course purposefully designed to address areas of need identified. These include the need for theory to underpin course design, the need for collaborative practice, and the need to reduce the theory-to-practice gap. Throughout their enrolment and after course completion, feedback from students is presented and examined in order to determine whether these needs have been met through the design of the course. Findings suggest that the organisation of learning materials, embedded capacity-building skills, and the practical applicability of course content was highly regarded by students and contributed to …

Mindfulness-Based Approaches For Young People With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Their Caregivers: Do These Approaches Hold Benefits For Teachers?, Rebekah Keenan-Mount, Nicole J. Albrecht, Lea Waters

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Parents and teachers who care for and educate young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face unique challenges associated with their roles. In this review we investigated the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing stress and increasing positive behaviours in young people with ASD and their caregivers: parents and teachers. Nine studies on the topic were located, showing that the research base in this field is in the infancy stage. Each study illuminated the transformational change caregivers and young people experience after practicing mindfulness training (MT). The results also highlighted the interdependent relationship between the caregivers’ level of mindfulness and …

A School System And University Approach To Reducing The Research To Practice Gap In Teacher Education: A Collaborative Special Education Immersion Project, Christine R. Grima-Farrell, Jan Long, Robyn Bentley-Williams, Cath Laws

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This research is a response to the call for more effective practice based knowledge on ways to build inclusive cultures that assist the translation of research-to-practice. It reports on the factors identified in literature as being significant to the successful translation of research-to-practice and seeks to identify important sources of influence from an undergraduate teacher perspective.

By investigating a collaborative school system and university generated Special Education Immersion Project, specifically designed for undergraduate teachers, a number of factors are presented as contributors to the gap between research and practice. They include the importance of linkages between teacher preparation programs and …

Does Study Of An Inclusive Education Subject Influence Pre-Service Teachers' Concerns And Self-Efficacy About Inclusion?, Stuart Woodcock, Brian Hemmings, Russell Kay

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Survey data were collected from pre-service teachers studying at a large regional Australian university. These data were examined with the purpose of determining whether pre-service teachers’ views (and concerns) about inclusion and their confidence to teach in inclusive classrooms had changed as a result of studying an inclusive education subject and undertaking a practicum linked to that subject. The results of an analysis based on mean values indicated that the various concerns, namely, resources, acceptance, workplace, and academic standards, did not change markedly as a consequence of the subject and practicum experiences. This analysis also showed a hierarchy of concerns …