Career change teachers: Addressing teacher shortages in Australia . Australia is facing a teacher shortage crisis. Consequently, there have been concerted efforts by governments to attract people into teaching from other sections of the workforce. However, career change teachers often do not stay longer than five years in the profession. There is little evidence on how their retention can be enhanced. This project aims to better understand the differing motivations and experiences of these teach ....Career change teachers: Addressing teacher shortages in Australia . Australia is facing a teacher shortage crisis. Consequently, there have been concerted efforts by governments to attract people into teaching from other sections of the workforce. However, career change teachers often do not stay longer than five years in the profession. There is little evidence on how their retention can be enhanced. This project aims to better understand the differing motivations and experiences of these teachers from diverse backgrounds, and to determine how they can be better prepared and supported through their early years of teaching. A clear benefit of this project will be the longer term success for career change teachers and their schools and will ensure young people are not disadvantaged by high teacher turnover. Read moreRead less
Out-of-field Teaching: Sustaining Quality Practices Across Subjects. Teaching out-of-field (teaching a subject without qualifications) is a rising concern internationally, and is linked to attrition, stress, and reduced student learning outcomes. With a comparatively high percentage of out-of-field teachers, Australia is exposed to significant social, economic and educational costs. Through the development of longitudinal case studies, this project investigates the changing landscape of teacher ....Out-of-field Teaching: Sustaining Quality Practices Across Subjects. Teaching out-of-field (teaching a subject without qualifications) is a rising concern internationally, and is linked to attrition, stress, and reduced student learning outcomes. With a comparatively high percentage of out-of-field teachers, Australia is exposed to significant social, economic and educational costs. Through the development of longitudinal case studies, this project investigates the changing landscape of teacher perceptions and practices over three years, within school institutional cultures relating to teacher assignment, support, and out-of-field mathematics and science teaching. Outcomes of the project will aim to inform the development of system and school policy and practice, in dealing with this internationally pervasive issue.Read moreRead less
Learning-rich leadership for quality improvement in early education. This project aims to establish Australia's first evidence base to inform quality improvement in early childhood education services through the development of educational leaders. Effective leadership is essential to ensuring the effective implementation of the Australian government's national quality standards for early childhood education. A new theory of 'learning-rich' leadership for quality improvement will be developed to ....Learning-rich leadership for quality improvement in early education. This project aims to establish Australia's first evidence base to inform quality improvement in early childhood education services through the development of educational leaders. Effective leadership is essential to ensuring the effective implementation of the Australian government's national quality standards for early childhood education. A new theory of 'learning-rich' leadership for quality improvement will be developed to influence leadership education in the early childhood sector. Expected outcomes from this project have potential benefits for the increased effectiveness in service quality for early childhood education.Read moreRead less
Innovative learning environments and teacher change. This project aims to bridge a gap between the educational potential of innovative learning environment designs, and their actual performance. Currently, multi-modal technology-enabled spaces are not producing demonstrable benefits for students. Many teachers resist altering their mindset about how students learn effectively in these spaces and thus how teachers should teach differently. The project aims to work with schools, government and ind ....Innovative learning environments and teacher change. This project aims to bridge a gap between the educational potential of innovative learning environment designs, and their actual performance. Currently, multi-modal technology-enabled spaces are not producing demonstrable benefits for students. Many teachers resist altering their mindset about how students learn effectively in these spaces and thus how teachers should teach differently. The project aims to work with schools, government and industry to analyse the relationships between quality teaching and effective use of innovative learning environments. The new understanding gained through the project is expected to guide developments in pedagogy, policy and design and to produce strategies to improve learning in schools across Australia and New Zealand.Read moreRead less
Women in the scientific research workforce: identifying and sustaining the diversity advantage. This project, anchored in the strategically important fields of biomedical research and chemistry related industries, will use longitudinal data analysis and industry case studies to extend knowledge of gender differences in scientific career paths and critical career transitions. This will produce a body of Australian data that will allow benchmarking and theory development against comparable, recent ....Women in the scientific research workforce: identifying and sustaining the diversity advantage. This project, anchored in the strategically important fields of biomedical research and chemistry related industries, will use longitudinal data analysis and industry case studies to extend knowledge of gender differences in scientific career paths and critical career transitions. This will produce a body of Australian data that will allow benchmarking and theory development against comparable, recent international studies and provide industry with tools to build and sustain diversity.Read moreRead less
Creating the conditions for collective impact: transforming the child serving system in disadvantaged communities. No one institution can close the gap in child wellbeing and school achievement between poor and affluent areas. This project will draw schools, child serving agencies and community members into coalitions in disadvantaged areas to build, test and evaluate an integrated 'backbone support system' designed to foster healthy development of the whole child.