Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Developing Culturally Competent Teachers: An International Student Teaching Field Experience, Michelle Salmona, Margaret Partlo, Dan Kaczynski, Simon N. Leonard

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study offers a theoretical construct for better understanding how experiential learning enables student teachers to acquire social and cultural variation skills, develop cultural empathy in the K-12 classroom, and the transference of these skills to new educational situations. An Australian and United States research team used a phenomenological approach to explore the connections between the skills student teachers acquire and the application of these newly developed skills to professional practices. Participants were a group of United States pre-teachers who enrolled in a 5 week teaching experience in Australia. Findings show that participation in cultural based events is part of …

Book Review: Smyth, J., Down, B., Mcinerney, P. & Hattam, R. (2014). Doing Critical Educational Research: A Conversation With The Research Of John Smyth. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., Christine Cunningham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This is a book review for

Smyth, J., Down, B., McInerney, P. & Hattam, R. (2014). Doing critical educational research: A conversation with the research of John Smyth. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.

Inquiry-Based Learning In Teacher Education: A Primary Humanities Example, Lou Preston, Kate Harvie, Heather Wallace

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Inquiry-based learning features strongly in the new Australian Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum and increasingly in primary school practice. Yet, there is little research into, and few exemplars of, inquiry approaches in the primary humanities context. In this article, we outline and explain the implementation of a place-based simulation as a vehicle for inquiry in a humanities subject in a teacher education course. Preliminary findings of surveys of pre-service teachers conducted pre and post the implementation of the inquiry model suggest increased engagement and enhanced learning outcomes. Further analysis is required in order to determine the depth of pre-service teachers’ …

Autoethnography And Teacher Education: Snapshot Stories Of Cultural Encounter, Maureen F. Legge

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this paper I discuss how I framed and wrote an autoethnographic personal narrative of my lived experience as a New Zealand physical education teacher educator in the presence of two cultures, Māori and Pākehā. Central to my qualitative study was writing as a method of inquiry. Using this method I wrote a series of descriptive ‘snapshot stories’ derived from field experiences, over an 11 year period, that involved close and prolonged encounters with physical education teacher education (PETE) students in tertiary classrooms and 4 day marae stays. The storied accounts served as data for self-reflexivity about my role as …

Teaching Aboriginal Curriculum Content In Australian High Schools, Sarah Booth

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many misconceptions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders stem from Australia’s period of colonisation in the 18th and 19th centuries when Indigenous people were believed to be inferior by European settlers. It is disturbing that after 200 years these negative ideas still exist and are often perpetuated through the mass media. Even though schools are well positioned to challenge these colonial values; unfortunately there are many factors which affect the depth and quality of teaching Aboriginal content, such as culture, history and contemporary issues.

The government has aimed to disperse the inconsistencies associated with teaching Aboriginal perspectives by implementing a …

Reconciling Dilemmas Of Social Justice In Literacy Lessons: A Case Study Of Preservice Primary Teachers, Beryl Exley, Annette Woods, Joanne Lunn, Sue Walker, Chrystal M. Whiteford Ms

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Literacy is promoted as one factor in overcoming disadvantage. In this paper, we employ Fraser’s (1997 & 2008) framing of social justice in order to analyse the disparate agendas of literacy education for improved outcomes in national policy. We do this to better understand the dilemmas confronting preservice teachers as they prepare to become teachers in complex education contexts. We then examine what 20 preservice primary teachers say about social justice in interview responses to a scripted scenario. Our findings demonstrate that most preservice teachers are trying to demonstrate that they have a well-placed commitment to teaching for social justice, …

Citizenship Education In The Social Science Subjects: An Analysis Of The Teacher Education Curriculum For Secondary Schools, Aaron T. Sigauke

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Citizenship education is widely acknowledged as a necessary part of the school curriculum for various reasons. For young people, it is assumed that citizenship can best be learnt through the school curriculum. This means that teachers need to thoroughly understand what citizenship means and how to pass this knowledge on to students.

This paper examines the nature of civics and citizenship education offered in the social sciences teacher education program at a teacher education institution in Australia. It analyses ten social science subject syllabuses to find out how pre-service teachers are trained about teaching citizenship education in schools when they …

The Curriculum For English Language Teacher Education In Australian And Vietnamese Universities, Minh Hue Nguyen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper examines the curricula for English language teacher education in two universities, one in Australia and the other in Vietnam. Specifically, it analyses the structures of the two curricula, compares and contrasts them, and examines how the development of the curricula was shaped by distinctive contextual factors. Sources of data include relevant literature, policy and curriculum documents, and interviews with curriculum developers from the two universities. Analysis of data revealed great variation across and within the two curricula in terms of structure and content. Findings also reveal specific contextual factors that influenced the development of the curricula. Although the …

Creating Cultural Empathy And Challenging Attitudes Through Indigenous Narrative Project, Toni Wain, Moira Sim, Colleen Hayward, Juli Coffin, Donna Mak, Cobie Rudd

eCULTURE

The gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is too large to ignore. This has been attributed to social and economic disadvantage, access to health care and lack of cultural appropriateness of health services and providers. Creating culturally secure healthcare requires that we explore new ways for health professionals to relate to Aboriginal people. This article describes the development, implementation and early results from the Creating cultural empathy and challenging attitudes though Indigenous narrative project. The purpose of the project is to collect and trial narrative resources to engage students in stories of Indigenous people’s perceptions and experience …

Literacy Coaching Roles In Diverse Contexts Of Teaching And Learning: New Ways Of Working, Lisa J. Van Leent, Beryl Exley

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

As the demands placed on the literacy coach have evolved, so too have the roles of these educational providers who are often responsible for working with school teams to turn around student performance on standardized literacy tests. One literacy coach based in a Queensland primary school recounts her experiences via open-ended interview over a two year period. We offer a theorisation of the newways of working as a literacy coach in a context of teaching and learning marked by diversity.

Chinese Students' Perceptions Of Their Creativity And Their Perceptions Of Western Students' Creativity, Bingxin Wang, Kenneth M. Greenwood

Research outputs 2013

This paper applies the Four C Model of Creativity ('Big-C, little-c, mini-c and Pro-c') to determine Chinese students' perceptions of their own creativity and their perceptions of Western students' creativity. By surveying 100 Chinese students and interviewing 10 of them, this paper discovered that Chinese students generally perceived their creativity to be less than that of Western students. Differences on mini-c and Pro-c were larger in the direction of Western students being superior, and the items that differed in the opposite direction and those which did not differ were part of the subset of little-c items. The perceived superiority of …

The Influence Of An Activity-Based Explicit Approach On The Turkish Prospective Science Teachers’ Conceptions Of The Nature Of Science, Suat Celik, Samih Bayrakceken

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an activity-based explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction undertaken in the context of a “Science, Technology and Society” course on the prospective science teachers’ (PSTs’) understandings of NOS. In this course, social science based inquiry activities were used to as a context to lead reflection and explicit discussions and project based learning approach (PBL) was used to model an active student centred NOS teaching and learning. Participants were 36 senior PSTs. An adopted form of VNOS questionnaire along with semi-structured interviews was used to assess participants’ conceptions before and …

Lessons For Teachers: What Lower Secondary School Students Tell Us About Learning A Musical Instrument, Geoffrey Lowe

Research outputs 2012

In this study I set out to investigate why many students drop out from elective instrument programmes, particularly in lower secondary school. I examined the values and beliefs a sample of students in their first year in secondary school attach to learning an instrument, and the impact of the instrument lesson upon these values and beliefs. Forty-eight year 8 students (aged 12-13) from the Perth metropolitan area participated in eight focus groups. The study found that, while participants had strong cognitive and affective reasons for learning, their competence beliefs were fragile, due in part to the dislocation associated with the …

Putting ‘Maori’ In The Mainstream: Student Teachers' Reflections Of A Culturally Relevant Pedogogy, Steven S. Sexton

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on student teachers experiences of an education program that was explicitly designed to be grounded in both Kaupapa Māori and mainstream pedagogy. This program started from the Kaupapa Māori view to be Māori as Māori. This was then supported by mainstream epistemology of New Zealand focused good teaching practice. A Kaupapa Māori approach was taken in this qualitative study that used participant driven spiral discourse. The paper suggests that this combined Kaupapa Māori and mainstream approach allowed these student teachers to find their place in education. Conclusions suggest that a culturally relevant pedagogy modeled as good teaching …

Locating Child Protection In Preservice Teacher Education, Kerryann Walsh, Louise Laskey, Elspeth Mcinnes, Ann Farrell, Ben Mathews, Freda Briggs

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A recent report delivered by the Australian Centre for Child Protection has highlighted the need for empirical evidence of effective pedagogies for supporting teaching and learning of child protection content in Australian teacher education programs (Arnold & Maio-Taddeo, 2007). This paper advances this call by presenting case study accounts of different approaches to teaching child protection content in University-based teacher education programs across three Australian States. These different cases provide a basis for understanding existing strategies as an important precursor to improving practice. Although preschool, primary and secondary schools have been involved in efforts to protect children from abuse and …

Philosophy For Teenagers: Finding New Relevence In Old Concepts, Andrea Monteath

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In 2008, the Curriculum Council of Western Australia launched a formal curriculum of philosophy and ethics education for upper secondary students. This thesis is a writing project that provides a new teaching text in support of this course. The thesis is composed of two components, a creative project and an essay. The creative project is a work of non-fiction entitled, Philosophy for Teenagers: Finding New Relevance in Old Concepts, and has been researched and designed employing the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Philosophy and Ethics course model. Philosophy for Teenagers aims to provide an innovative introduction to concepts such …

Engaging The Community In University Teaching: A Cultural Approach To Sustainability Of Effective Learning, Nonofo Losike-Sedimo, Bathsheb Mbongwe

EDU-COM International Conference

This paper revisits levels of education and sustainable development implementation in university teaching. It suggests tapping expertise in local communities as a social responsibility for sustainability of student‘s human development success. Where success is measured by the students‘self-actualization progress. Student success, qualitative growth, or acquired capacities is seen as a prerequisite for sustainable development. We take a reformist point of view of sustainability. We look at issues of human behaviour, cognition and negotiation over preferred futures, under a given social policy and education act. Sustainability here is viewed as an inherently normative concept, rooted in real world problems with very …

Higher Education And The Challenge Of Growth And Sustainability, Arsalan Ghorbani Sheikhneshin

EDU-COM International Conference

The first part of this paper explains the linkage among higher education, internationalization, development and social justice. The paper argues that universities are institutions that, in all societies, have performed basic functions which result from the particular, combination of cultural and ideological, social and economic, educational and scientific roles that have been assigned to them. They are multi-purpose or multi-product institutions, which contribute to the generation and transmission of ideology, the selection and formation of elites, the social development and educational upgrading of societies, the production and application of knowledge and the training of the highly skilled labour force. This …

Expanding The Ecological Consciousness Of Social Work Students: Education For Sustainable Practice, Peter Jones

EDU-COM International Conference

Social work has a long tradition of being explicitly concerned with the ‗person-in-environment‘, recognising the need to take account of context when working to address disadvantage and maximise wellbeing. This concern with environment, and indeed with the concept of sustainability has, however, been focused primarily on the social rather than the ecological (Coates 2003; Besthorne & McMillen 2002). At a time when increasing attention is being paid to the importance of promoting education about, and for, sustainability in higher education (Sipos, Battisti & Grimm 2008; Wright 2002; Thomas 2004), the social work profession also needs to begin engaging in a …

The Development Of Community Business Networks Of Sanpapao, Nongyeang And Sunnameng Sub-Districts In Amphoe Sansai, Chiang Mai To Strengthen Sustainability, Preeda Srinaruewan, Jumnien Boonmark, Donragorn Kwankam, Sunnee Thechathakerng

EDU-COM International Conference

The study aimed to probe the characteristics of community, and community businesses and their development through a co-learning process between researchers, communities, and their alliances. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) was used as a tool to analyse response from 80 members of 10 community business groups in Amphoe Sansai, Chiangmai. Participants included professors, students, communities and alliance organizations to participate in identifying issues and their underlying cause in addition to developing and implementing an action plan based on the experience of the participants. The results indicated there was a disconnect between the local wisdom and technology which led to the …

Implementation Of Generic Skills In The Curriculum, Sulaiman Yassin, Fauziah Abu Hasan, Wan Amin, Nur Amiruddin

EDU-COM International Conference

In many cultures and countries including Malaysia, the issue of incorporating generic skills into the curriculum taught to students in higher learning institutions has gained momentum in recent years. The raison d'être to inculcate generic skills among students is to enable the country to meet human resource requirements which will be more competitive in the advent of a borderless world. Growing concerns of the employability of graduates and the expansion in the size and diversity of student populations also form the basis to implement the generic skills program in universities. All undergraduate programs offered in public higher learning institutions in …

Reducing The Effects Of Bullying Among Aboriginal Children Living In Rural Western Australia: Annual Report, Child Health Promotion Research Unit, Edith Cowan University

Research outputs pre 2011

It is unknown how Aboriginal children and adults conceptualize childhood bullying and what school/community intervention programs are appropriate. The Solid Kids, Solid Schools project will use a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to develop culturally informed and determined understandings of bullying among Aboriginal children. These understandings can then be used to formatively develop a sustainable school and community-based bullying prevention and reduction program with strategies identified by Aboriginal people for use in schools in the Yamaji region or Midwest, Murchison Education District of Western Australia.

According to the funding proposal a Steering Committee was established to provide project …

A Self-Assessment Tool To Help Learners Develop Teamwork Skills, Mark Mcmahon, Joseph Luca, Christina John

Research outputs pre 2011

Teamwork skills and the ability to effectively collaborate with peers continue to be hailed as essential skills by employers and higher education funding authorities, and many employers require new graduates to demonstrate these skills as part of the selection criteria. How then can we prepare graduates for this employment market that actively assesses teamwork and other generic skills such as communication, problem solving and leadership skills? This paper outlines the self-assessment component of an on-line learning tool designed to help students develop understandings of themselves and their skill levels. These results are used to help select team roles and provide …

Explorations In Metacognition: The Design, Development, And Implementation Of An Online Teamwork Tracking Environment, Mark Mcmahon, Joseph Luca

Research outputs pre 2011

Research shows that both metacognitive and cognitive strategies are needed for successful learning. In this study, an online tool was developed with a view to help students working in teams reflect on their learning strategies through a process of planning, monitoring and evaluation. An evaluation of the tool was administered at the end of the semester that showed the students valued the tool for tracking their teamwork, but weren’t so convinced it help them plan, monitor and evaluate their learning. These results are discussed, and recommendations are made for improvement using a design-based research approach.

Producing Graduates With Essential Generic Skills: A Model For Teaching And Learning, Joseph Luca, Deanna Heal

Research outputs pre 2011

Higher education institutions are under increasing pressure from government, industry and business organizations to equip students with required discipline based skills as well as generic skills. At the same time universities are experiencing cuts in resources and increased competition for student numbers. Within this environment, there is much uncertainty as to how to effectively prepare students for the university/industry nexus. This paper investigates the effectiveness of a teaching and learning model designed with the key aim of helping promote students' employability prospects. The model focuses on providing activities that identify, and help improve students' job-specific and generic skills. In this …

Advertising Practioners’ Educational Prerequisites: Differentiating The Needs Of Creatives From Non Creatives, Katherine Toland Frith, James Chen, Malcolm Chung

EDU-COM International Conference

Singapore‘s advertising industry is one of the clusters identified as an important growth area in the country‘s creative economy. The growth of the media industry, in particular the advertising industry has thus added urgency to call for higher institutions in Singapore to help nurture a pool of creative manpower by providing a well-rounded and comprehensive relevant education on advertising. An effective education policy is therefore a prime instrument in facilitating developments in this industry. A joint research initiative was conducted with the participation of a few advertising companies in Singapore. These included both creative agencies as well as media buying …

Engaging Diversity At An Australian University: Chinese International Students' Perceptions Of Their Social Experience While Studying In Australia, James Cross

EDU-COM International Conference

Increasing diversity of student populations at Australian universities has raised research attention on how international students are coping with their academic and social life. A research project conducted with Chinese students studying at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia in 2005 revealed various cultural and equity issues which impact on the Chinese international students' academic and social experiences in Australia. This paper focuses on the social aspects of the findings from this study. It was found that most Chinese students reported poor social life and interaction with local and other international students on and off campus. Developing friendship with …

Attitudes Of Lower Secondary School Students Toward Social Studies At An Independent School : A Case Study, Diane M. Hobbs

Theses : Honours

There is a dearth of research on student attitudes toward social studies, especially in Western Australian secondary schools. The purpose of this case study was twofold. Firstly it was to determine the attitudes of lower secondary school students toward social studies at one Independent high school in the Perth metropolitan area. Secondly, it was to investigate the factors that influence student attitudes toward social studies. The case study school was selected as a convenience sample. A total of 203 students from Years 8, 9, and 10 completed a questionnaire designed to determine attitudes toward social studies and to identify factors …

The Influence Of Gender-Role On Upper Primary School Students' Graphic Representations, Tamara Frederiks

Theses : Honours

The aim of this research was to study the effect of gender-rule on Year Six students' graphic representations completed during a visual transformation task. The influence of gender on learning has become a significant issue in primary schools and research in the area is needed to inform teachers about gender differences. The significance of the issue relates to the equality of opportunity for girls and boys in the classroom. Drawings are of significance because they provide teachers and parents with a glimpse of the developing child in terms of his or her creative and mental growth, feelings, emotions and world-view. …

What Are The Important Elements Of The Pre-Primary Curriculum? : The Views Of Parents And Teachers, Ann Hyde

Theses : Honours

The delivery of pre-primary education in Western Australia has undergone dramatic and rapid change since its tentative beginnings in 1911. During the 1990's we have seen the most tumultuous period of change with the implementation of the government's Good Start Program. It is timely that we investigate what the primary stakeholders expect from pre-primary programs. Are parents and teachers expecting the same things? Is there harmony between the curriculum of the home and the school? This study addressed these questions. A survey was conducted, involving 150 parents and 60 teachers (30 pre-primary teachers and 30 year one teachers). Schools were …