Professional Standards and Portfolio Development for Primary and Secondary School Teachers of History. The project's aim is to improve the professional performance, career paths and status of teachers of history in order to enhance the development of historical literacy in Victorian and other Australian schools. At the same time the project will advance priority areas in the Victorian and the Commonwealth Government's educational agenda through specific outcomes which will include improving the ....Professional Standards and Portfolio Development for Primary and Secondary School Teachers of History. The project's aim is to improve the professional performance, career paths and status of teachers of history in order to enhance the development of historical literacy in Victorian and other Australian schools. At the same time the project will advance priority areas in the Victorian and the Commonwealth Government's educational agenda through specific outcomes which will include improving the quality and the status of teaching and the quality of the teaching generally and learning of history in all Victorian and other Australian schools as indicated in the Commonwealth Government's National History Project.
Read moreRead less
Scaffolding numeracy in the middle years: an investigation of a new assessment-guided approach to teaching mathematics using authentic assessment tasks. The project will investigate the efficacy of a new assessment-guided approach to improving student numeracy outcomes in Years 4 to 8. The project adds to existing knowledge through the development of a learning and assessment framework for multiplicative thinking and rational number in a form and language accessible to teachers. The project is i ....Scaffolding numeracy in the middle years: an investigation of a new assessment-guided approach to teaching mathematics using authentic assessment tasks. The project will investigate the efficacy of a new assessment-guided approach to improving student numeracy outcomes in Years 4 to 8. The project adds to existing knowledge through the development of a learning and assessment framework for multiplicative thinking and rational number in a form and language accessible to teachers. The project is innovative in that it will develop and use authentic assessment tasks, as opposed to written tests or individual interviews, to identify learner's needs in terms of the framework and inform subsequent teaching. This represents a significant contribution to the Commonwealth's goal of improving numeracy outcomes for all.Read moreRead less
School-University e-Learning research partnerships for scaling up innovation. Despite optimism about new technologies for learning, e-learning innovation has been slow to scale up. This project tests a novel research strategy for engaging schools sustainably with e-learning. Teams of students (school and university), teachers (including beginning teachers), community members, consultants and e-learning researchers are constituted, in schools, to identify, collaboratively, hard-to-learn (technolo ....School-University e-Learning research partnerships for scaling up innovation. Despite optimism about new technologies for learning, e-learning innovation has been slow to scale up. This project tests a novel research strategy for engaging schools sustainably with e-learning. Teams of students (school and university), teachers (including beginning teachers), community members, consultants and e-learning researchers are constituted, in schools, to identify, collaboratively, hard-to-learn (technology-and-science) concepts and effective teaching approaches, develop ways of exploiting new media to teach such concepts and scale up their solutions within and beyond their schools. Re-conceiving the problem so students and teachers gain equity as e-learning researchers yields a model for scholarly, future-oriented educational renewal.Read moreRead less
Addressing the teacher exodus: Enhancing early career teacher resilience and retention in changing times. This research will produce new knowledge, strategies, models and recommendations that will help to keep early career teachers in the profession in regional, rural and remote areas. In doing so it will address the problem of teacher shortage that is currently threatening the nation's educational, economic and social outcomes. The research outcomes will have particular credibility at the natio ....Addressing the teacher exodus: Enhancing early career teacher resilience and retention in changing times. This research will produce new knowledge, strategies, models and recommendations that will help to keep early career teachers in the profession in regional, rural and remote areas. In doing so it will address the problem of teacher shortage that is currently threatening the nation's educational, economic and social outcomes. The research outcomes will have particular credibility at the national level because they will be the result of dialogue and collaboration across three universities and six industry partners who are the key stakeholders in teacher employment in two states. In addition, the collaborative approach will facilitate implementation of recommendations at the local, state and national levels.Read moreRead less
Renewing Rural Teacher Education: Sustaining Schooling for Sustainable Futures. We face a national crisis in attracting and retaining teachers and other professionals to rural areas. There is a projection of teacher shortfall which will affect all schools with significant numbers of the current aging teacher workforce expected to retire in the next five years. This shortfall will be most felt in rural schools and communities, as traditionally these are the schools identified as harder to staff. ....Renewing Rural Teacher Education: Sustaining Schooling for Sustainable Futures. We face a national crisis in attracting and retaining teachers and other professionals to rural areas. There is a projection of teacher shortfall which will affect all schools with significant numbers of the current aging teacher workforce expected to retire in the next five years. This shortfall will be most felt in rural schools and communities, as traditionally these are the schools identified as harder to staff. Students in rural, regional and remote Australia have the right to an equitable and quality education, and it is an imperative for all education stakeholders to ensure that they have access to it.Read moreRead less
Creating Culturally Respectful Primary Schools: Enhancing Relationships through Strategic Professional Learning. A critical issue facing Australian school communities is how to best support teachers to build sustainable whole school approaches to respecting cultural diversity in times of increasing tension about Australia's multiculturalism. This project will investigate an innovative professional learning program to build teacher capacity to help children to think about and respond to differenc ....Creating Culturally Respectful Primary Schools: Enhancing Relationships through Strategic Professional Learning. A critical issue facing Australian school communities is how to best support teachers to build sustainable whole school approaches to respecting cultural diversity in times of increasing tension about Australia's multiculturalism. This project will investigate an innovative professional learning program to build teacher capacity to help children to think about and respond to differences constructively and to creatively problem solve ways to meet diverse needs. Outcomes will include policy and practice recommendations for the national education sector policy about how primary schools can contribute to wider social cohesion through the development of inclusive and culturally respectful school communities.Read moreRead less
Building community capital to support sustainable numeracy education in remote locations. Numeracy for all is a national policy priority. It enables students to make choices that lead to healthy, productive and fulfilling lives for themselves and their communities. Despite some improvements, the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous achievement on territory-wide assessments of numeracy is growing. Indigenous elders believe their children and grandchildren have less literacy and numeracy ski ....Building community capital to support sustainable numeracy education in remote locations. Numeracy for all is a national policy priority. It enables students to make choices that lead to healthy, productive and fulfilling lives for themselves and their communities. Despite some improvements, the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous achievement on territory-wide assessments of numeracy is growing. Indigenous elders believe their children and grandchildren have less literacy and numeracy skills than they do. As a consequence, new, more effective, and sustainable ways to improve Indigenous numeracy education are urgently needed. The proposed research will address this need by exploring a model for building community capital to support sustainable numeracy education in remote locations.Read moreRead less
Children, on-line learning and authentic teaching skills in primary education. The main aim of this project is to identify the authentic skills and strategies adopted by teachers of online learning programs in rural and urban locations. By studying teaching and learning behaviours in primary education we seek to match best practice in teaching with quality online learning outcomes. ICT experts acknowledge the urgency of this knowledge. Without clear indicators for teachers we run the risk of mis ....Children, on-line learning and authentic teaching skills in primary education. The main aim of this project is to identify the authentic skills and strategies adopted by teachers of online learning programs in rural and urban locations. By studying teaching and learning behaviours in primary education we seek to match best practice in teaching with quality online learning outcomes. ICT experts acknowledge the urgency of this knowledge. Without clear indicators for teachers we run the risk of mismatched traditional techniques and minimising teaching effectiveness. The expected outcomes will be benchmarked data linking numeracy and literacy standards with best practice in on-line teaching, and an accompanying interactive web based professional development package grounded in theory.Read moreRead less
An Investigation into Strategies for using Information and Communication Technologies to Address Educational Disadvantage Resulting from Prolonged School Absence. A framework of information and communication technolgy (ICT) types and uses relating to accessibility problems caused by illness and recuperation will be developed. Working with 30 secondary students from a major children's hospital, teachers and hospital educators, the researchers will develop, implement and evaluate communications st ....An Investigation into Strategies for using Information and Communication Technologies to Address Educational Disadvantage Resulting from Prolonged School Absence. A framework of information and communication technolgy (ICT) types and uses relating to accessibility problems caused by illness and recuperation will be developed. Working with 30 secondary students from a major children's hospital, teachers and hospital educators, the researchers will develop, implement and evaluate communications strategies, support structures and continuing professional development programs for effective elearning. Outcomes will aid students whose education is disrupted through illness and absence, with consequential benefits to them, the community and nation. This project focuses on students absent due to illness or accident, but has potential benefit for other students absent from school for extended periods.Read moreRead less
Accessing the cultural conversation: investigating participation and non-participation of young people as audiences of live theatrical performances in Australia. In order to promote the healthy development of young Australians, where health in middle and late childhood is crucial (National Research Priority 2) a thriving arts sector is essential. For young people to see themselves as real participants in civic engagement with their society not as a marginalised group but as a legitimate sub-grou ....Accessing the cultural conversation: investigating participation and non-participation of young people as audiences of live theatrical performances in Australia. In order to promote the healthy development of young Australians, where health in middle and late childhood is crucial (National Research Priority 2) a thriving arts sector is essential. For young people to see themselves as real participants in civic engagement with their society not as a marginalised group but as a legitimate sub-group of society, they need access to active participation in the cultural conversation, including live theatrical performance. For this, the arts community, policy makers and arts educators need to better understand young people's engagement with the major providers of theatre, and what factors inhibit or exclude them.Read moreRead less