Young people's narratives of socio-economic disadvantage and educational opportunities in contexts of place-based interventions. Society and individuals suffer when young people from disadvantaged areas become disengaged from school. This project will inform educational policy by generating knowledge from young people about the resources they use to make educational decisions.
Data-smart schools: enhancing the use of digital data in secondary schools. This project aims to investigate the use of digital data in schools to identify ways to improve its capture and use. Masses of digital data are generated within schools every day, but despite its potential, this data remains poorly used and understood. The project intends to work with school communities in order to develop innovative data tools and techniques that make more effective use of the data. The project will pro ....Data-smart schools: enhancing the use of digital data in secondary schools. This project aims to investigate the use of digital data in schools to identify ways to improve its capture and use. Masses of digital data are generated within schools every day, but despite its potential, this data remains poorly used and understood. The project intends to work with school communities in order to develop innovative data tools and techniques that make more effective use of the data. The project will provide new insights into the technical, informatics, organisational and social issues surrounding the (re)use of digital data in schools and the development of digital data ‘best practice’ models. This project should provide benefits in terms of improved teaching and learning, parent engagement and use of infrastructure investment.Read moreRead less
A socio-cultural analysis of eating disorders among pre-teen boys and girls. This project tackles the tough question of why there has been a dramatic increase in eating disorders amongst very young boys and girls by examining the social conditions of children's lives in contemporary Australia. The findings will provide important information for policy makers, educators and clinicians working with children and families.
Pathways to work engagement, wellbeing and positive teaching among mid-career teachers: The role of personal and workplace resources. Teaching is a highly demanding, yet rewarding career for many. It is also a decidedly stressful occupation associated with high burnout. By following a large sample of teachers recruited ten years earlier into their mid-career, this project investigates the coping and motivational resources that keep them engaged, allowing them to thrive personally and professiona ....Pathways to work engagement, wellbeing and positive teaching among mid-career teachers: The role of personal and workplace resources. Teaching is a highly demanding, yet rewarding career for many. It is also a decidedly stressful occupation associated with high burnout. By following a large sample of teachers recruited ten years earlier into their mid-career, this project investigates the coping and motivational resources that keep them engaged, allowing them to thrive personally and professionally in different kinds of school environments, versus pathways that predict to burnout, ill-being and negative teaching behaviours. Selected subgroups who were most at risk and most positively engaged earlier in their career will be the focus of longitudinal case studies to uncover more nuanced processes promoting positive and negative pathways.Read moreRead less
Making a digital difference? An investigation of new technologies in secondary schools. This project addresses the long-standing question of why digital technologies have largely failed to have a consistent impact on the core processes of schools and schooling. The overarching aim of the project, therefore, is to identify the socio-technical adjustments that might be made within schools to facilitate ‘better’ uses of digital technology. Using an innovative combination of large-scale surveying, i ....Making a digital difference? An investigation of new technologies in secondary schools. This project addresses the long-standing question of why digital technologies have largely failed to have a consistent impact on the core processes of schools and schooling. The overarching aim of the project, therefore, is to identify the socio-technical adjustments that might be made within schools to facilitate ‘better’ uses of digital technology. Using an innovative combination of large-scale surveying, in-depth ethnographic study and critical participatory design, the project will: provide rich insights into why digital technologies are often not being used to their full potential in schools; and actively collaborate with school communities in experimenting and constructing alternatives.Read moreRead less
Which children develop severely disruptive school behaviour? By systematically tracking 250 children through the first six years of school, this project aims to identify factors contributing to the development, perpetuation and exacerbation of disruptive school behaviour. Disruptive student behaviour has been identified as one of the most significant issues confronting Australian schools. Yet common educational responses often inflame rather than reduce problem behaviours. The project aims to pr ....Which children develop severely disruptive school behaviour? By systematically tracking 250 children through the first six years of school, this project aims to identify factors contributing to the development, perpetuation and exacerbation of disruptive school behaviour. Disruptive student behaviour has been identified as one of the most significant issues confronting Australian schools. Yet common educational responses often inflame rather than reduce problem behaviours. The project aims to produce new knowledge about how best to address those factors in the early years while student attitudes and behaviour are still relatively malleable.Read moreRead less
Designing Australian schools: a spatial history of innovation, pedagogy and social change. This project will provide understanding of the design, educational and environmental motivations underpinning modern Australian schools in the twentieth-century, thus informing current ideas about the school as a centre of the broader social and local community fabric.
Knowledge building in schooling and higher education: policy strategies and effects. Should school and university programs in Australia emphasise learning outcomes and competencies, or maintain a high subject-based focus? This project investigates what is happening in history, science and in 'graduate attributes' across the learning cycle to shed new light on knowledge-building in a period of rapid global knowledge change.
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
School retention through alternative schooling: towards a socially just approach to education. This project is concerned with how mainstream schools may become more socially just and inclusive of all young people through an analysis of alternative schools specifically designed for this purpose. Such a concern is critical for lifting school retention rates of marginalised young people and improving practices in all schools.