Mandated literacy assessment and the reorganisation of teachers' work. The study will inform practitioners, teacher educators and educational policy-makers about the ways that teachers' work is being changed by the introduction of mandated standardised assessment and reporting processes. The research will provide insights into the ways in which teachers need to adapt standardised processes and policies to account for the varied student and community populations they serve. This is significant fo ....Mandated literacy assessment and the reorganisation of teachers' work. The study will inform practitioners, teacher educators and educational policy-makers about the ways that teachers' work is being changed by the introduction of mandated standardised assessment and reporting processes. The research will provide insights into the ways in which teachers need to adapt standardised processes and policies to account for the varied student and community populations they serve. This is significant for educational policy as recent international studies of students' literacy performance suggest Australia is lagging in terms of equity for low SES students. Read moreRead less
Structural relations of loners' loneliness and antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents: building a conceptual model for effective intervention. This is the first research project to develop a conceptual model of loneliness and detached a-loneness to explain the contribution of loneliness to childhood and adolescent antisocial behaviour. The outcome will be a school-based web delivered program which will have a major impact on promoting the healthy development of young Australians.
Early career teacher induction: Supporting precarious teachers. This project aims to investigate the ways in which Australian induction policies support precariously employed early career teachers to effectively manage student classroom behaviour. This project expects to generate new knowledge of workforce development and induction experiences of early career teachers employed on casual and short-term contracts. Expected outcomes of this project include alternative policy and practice recommenda ....Early career teacher induction: Supporting precarious teachers. This project aims to investigate the ways in which Australian induction policies support precariously employed early career teachers to effectively manage student classroom behaviour. This project expects to generate new knowledge of workforce development and induction experiences of early career teachers employed on casual and short-term contracts. Expected outcomes of this project include alternative policy and practice recommendations to support the transition of insecure replacement teachers within the profession. The benefits of this research include, improving teachers’ classroom management practices; the retention of new teachers; improving teacher workforce development; and building a healthier education system. Read moreRead less
Leading and learning: Developing ecologies of educational practice. This study contributes to the continuing development of the theory of teacher professional development and leadership. This has the potential to contribute directly to social, political, environmental and economic growth and development of Australia through educational outcomes.
Researching teachers' funds of knowledge and teaching repertoires in relation to student diversity. Diversity in the Australian community has been recognised as a valuable national asset. This project will provide insight into how classrooms can be formed to value diversity among students and provide learning opportunities for all students whatever their background or needs. Students' experiences within schools provide them with a blueprint of the way communities operate, particularly in terms o ....Researching teachers' funds of knowledge and teaching repertoires in relation to student diversity. Diversity in the Australian community has been recognised as a valuable national asset. This project will provide insight into how classrooms can be formed to value diversity among students and provide learning opportunities for all students whatever their background or needs. Students' experiences within schools provide them with a blueprint of the way communities operate, particularly in terms of how inclusion and exclusion are decided, how conflicts are dealt with, and how consensus between members of a group can be built. This project will help clarify how inclusive communities for students and teachers are formed and managed over time. Read moreRead less
Beyond global discourses of data: Storying learning in marginalised schools. Globally, Australian school education is seen as under-performing. Consequently, attention to data, particularly numeric and standardised test data, in schools have become pervasive. This project aims to understand how teachers and educators in schools and school systems actually engage with a broader conception of data for enhanced learning, on a truly global scale, particularly in schools serving struggling communiti ....Beyond global discourses of data: Storying learning in marginalised schools. Globally, Australian school education is seen as under-performing. Consequently, attention to data, particularly numeric and standardised test data, in schools have become pervasive. This project aims to understand how teachers and educators in schools and school systems actually engage with a broader conception of data for enhanced learning, on a truly global scale, particularly in schools serving struggling communities. This project will reveal the myriad ways educators in diverse settings - England, Australia, Singapore and Bangladesh - engage with data. The project will re-conceptualise how data are understood globally, and will provide significant benefits including informing education policy-making and improving teaching practices.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
Educating preservice teachers to teach diverse learners. This project aims to investigate links between teacher educators’ reflexive decision making and the preparation of teachers for teaching in socially and culturally diverse Australian classrooms. The project takes a transdisciplinary approach, bridging the fields of epistemic cognition and reflexive decision making, to explore how rigorous teaching can be enacted in socially and culturally diverse classrooms. Expected outcomes include enh ....Educating preservice teachers to teach diverse learners. This project aims to investigate links between teacher educators’ reflexive decision making and the preparation of teachers for teaching in socially and culturally diverse Australian classrooms. The project takes a transdisciplinary approach, bridging the fields of epistemic cognition and reflexive decision making, to explore how rigorous teaching can be enacted in socially and culturally diverse classrooms. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity of those preparing future teachers for new classroom conditions, which will provide benefits for a quality teaching workforce.Read moreRead less
Shifting the Culture of Out-of-field Professional Education for Teachers. This project aims to model an education system that would diversify the expertise of teachers as part of attending to long-term teacher shortage. It responds to a pressing national need for a system of valued and accessible professional education (PE) for out-of-field teachers. The project draws on perspectives from schools, governments and PE providers to expose current practices, cultural norms, and policies; propose an ....Shifting the Culture of Out-of-field Professional Education for Teachers. This project aims to model an education system that would diversify the expertise of teachers as part of attending to long-term teacher shortage. It responds to a pressing national need for a system of valued and accessible professional education (PE) for out-of-field teachers. The project draws on perspectives from schools, governments and PE providers to expose current practices, cultural norms, and policies; propose an 'ideal' PE ecosystem that values re-specialisation in the core subjects; and develop principles to inform policy and practice needed to attain this ideal. The evidence-based framing of PE will inform efforts by schools, PE providers and policy makers to sustain a highly capable, adaptive and specialised teaching workforce.Read moreRead less
Educating for healthy citizens: the health work of teachers in Australian schools. Teachers promote students health every day in many ways, such as performing periodic health checks, teaching health education lessons, or leading pastoral care. This project looks at what, and how much, health work teachers undertake and how prepared they are to do this work.