Educating scientists in context: a Namibian case study

Education and science have both been hailed as keys to development and ‘progress’ in the 20th century, which implies that science education in particular will open doors to such outcomes. However, the internationalisation of scientific work and the transnational science and technology industry may ensure that few benefits are experienced by a poor country. The innovative approaches of one institution in the education of scientists in Namibia is examined. It shows the possibilities of context-based science education to produce scientists capable of practical problem-solving, and the value of scientific partnership-building for sustainable development. This raises issues about the broader conceptual framework linking education, science and development.     

Educating for Uncertainty in a Changing World: Issues within an Australian remote indigenous context

Following the theme of 'educating for uncertainty in a changing world', this article delves into some of the issues that emerge for remote area indigenous Australians when change, cultural maintenance and an uncertain future collide. As a minority culture living alongside a Western colonizing culture, indigenous Australians confront a range of issues. This is particularly the case, as this paper argues, in the field of vocational education and training (VET). By discussing the establishment of the current VET system developed for a 'mainstream' context, and contrasting this to the remote area context, the article highlights the differences between the two and provides a basis for understanding the issues that arise. A discussion of the current social and political milieu furthers an understanding of these issues, which coalesce around the notions of control and access. It is apparent that these key notions remain pivotal if remote indigenous Australians are to educate for uncertainty in a changing world.     

Constructing inclusive education in a neo‐liberal context: Promoting inclusion of Arab‐Australian students in an Australian context

School systems are a major social change agent capable of challenging social inequalities and economic disadvantages. Yet, while schools in Australia are being confronted with increasingly culturally diverse populations as well as an increasing focus on student retention, this transformative role is increasingly being played out in a broader educational context that has been found to replicate rather than challenge patterns of social inequality. Successive governments in Australia have responded to this context with a raft of policy initiatives. This paper, based on three‐year longitudinal research undertaken in the city of Melbourne, outlines this policy context and introduces the theoretical approach that underpins its innovative approach to managing cultural diversity in educational institutions. It argues for, and presents, a multidimensional model for managing cultural diversity in schools, one that provides the tools for transformative practices to be undertaken to effect positive change in school environments for the benefit of all students.     

Conceptualizing curriculum management in an effective secondary school: a Western Australian case study

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the linkages between management processes and the curriculum using an academically effective secondary school as a case study. The aims of the study are twofold. First, in view of the acknowledged importance governments and others place on the quality of school leadership and management on the one hand and curriculum, teaching and learning reforms on the other, there is a need for empirical data as to how school leaders and managers work to secure improvements in curriculum, teaching and learning. This study purports to provide such data. The second aim acknowledges the need to develop conceptual frameworks and data collection instruments as aids to better understanding of complex relationships within school organizations.two deputy principals do play an indirect and important part in promoting academic performance by reinforcing school values in a wide variety of ways. Third, curriculum management is the responsibility of senior teachers and there is tight linkage between both senior teachers and teachers and high quality teaching and learning. Finally, the loose linkage between departments, and also between departments and senior management, provides little opportunity for a school‐wide approach to curriculum matters. It is evident that a whole‐school curriculum management perspective is absent in this school.     

Educational psychologists and children in care: practices and issues

The aims of this study were to examine the extent and nature of educational psychologist (EP) work related to children in care in five local authority educational psychology services in the south‐west region. The study involved an initial internet‐based questionnaire for the 107 EPs in these services (86% response rate), followed up by in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with four EPs in each service. This paper reports some of the findings from this study that show the range of EP work and their roles in regard to children in care. It also examines the kinds of issues and tensions experienced by EPs in their multi‐agency work with regards to children in care. The paper concludes with a brief summary of relevant recommendations arising from the findings.     

More than experiential learning or volunteering: a case study of community service learning within the Australian context

Community service learning is the integration of experiential learning and community service into coursework such that community needs are met and students gain both professional skills and a sense of civic responsibility. A critical component is student reflection. This paper provides an example of the application of community service learning within an undergraduate health unit at the Queensland University of Technology. Based on survey data from 36 program participants, it demonstrates the impact of CSL on student outcomes. Results show that students benefited by developing autonomy through real world experiences, through increased self‐assurance and achievement of personal growth, through gaining new insights into the operations of community service organisations and through moving towards becoming responsible citizens. Students expect their CSL experience to have long‐lasting impact on their lives, with two‐thirds of participants noting that they would like to continue volunteering as part of their future development.     

Social justice and curriculum renewal for Samoan students: an Australian case study

This paper examines the construction of ‘socially just’ curriculum renewal initiatives for Samoan students in a low socio-economic secondary school. Basil Bernstein's concept of recontextualization is used to investigate the implementation of Queensland's Social Justice Strategy at the school level. Interview data provided by the school's first two ‘social justice coordinators’ is analysed, focussing on the categorizations of students and discourses operative within the reform initiatives. Shifts in what counted as socially just curriculum for Samoan students are documented. The focus is on the varying strength of the boundaries of cultural categories (i.e. ‘Samoan’) and on tensions over the emphasis on the cultural knowledge of community representatives and the professional knowledge of school educators. The findings make explicit implications for the distribution of discursive resources to the Samoan students and, hence, life chances in a world in which English is a tool needed by young Australians irrespective of their cultural background.     

Examining how teachers judge student writing: an Australian case study

This paper reports a 3‐year (1999–2001) Australian study of teacher judgement of student writing. It analyses teachers' talk to discover how they arrive at such judgements. It focuses on the processes teachers use as they read and appraise student writing, as distinct from judgements recorded as numerical or letter grades. It identifies and discusses a set of data‐based indexes the teachers rely on to constitute their judgement. In so doing, the ‘global’ standard‐setting of external assessment (judging the quality of student work against stated standards), and the ‘local’ of teacher judgement (based on the richness of what teachers bring to the task) are reconsidered. This study notes how teacher judgement of student coursework may be intertwined with and shaped both by officially authorized curriculum materials, syllabus documents, and assessment practices, and by other essentially private, local ways of knowing.     

Commercialization of research: a case study of Australian universities

Research commercialization is a crucial aspect of technological innovation and is a complex socio‐economic and technological process. This paper explores the commercialization of university research, drawing on an empirical study of the development of research commercialization by Australian universities. The study addresses three main research questions: (i) What are the recent major policy changes affecting the commercialization of university research in Australia? (ii) How much have Australian universities done in research commercialization over the past few years? (iii) What are the key barriers to the achievement of higher levels of commercialization in university research? The findings of this study show that there are two fundamental issues that universities have to address: (i) adequate financial support from governments, industries, and other stakeholders; and (ii) effective innovation management with academic entrepreneurship. Because the issues and problems covered in this study are common to many countries, the study has international applications and provides policymakers and practitioners with valuable information to assist them in the development of organizational strategies in the commercialization of innovative university research.     

Responses to Educational Television: a case‐study

The paper focuses on the need to evaluate responses to educational television despite the difficulties involved. Case‐study and survey methods were used in one Local Education Authority and responses to a documentary schools' broadcast by 129 pupils in four schools examined in detail. Pupils who engaged in spoken or written follow‐up activities to the programme were more prone to change attitudes as a result when compared with a control group who experienced no follow‐up. Greater tentativeness was shown by the group engaging in extensive follow‐up (talking and writing) and this group also achieved higher essay marks than pupils who had not engaged in discussion follow‐up. Implications for classroom practice in relation to ETV are considered.     

Australian higher education third party arrangements: an independent institute case study

Tertiary Education and Management - The marked increase in transnational higher education third party arrangements in recent years represents globalizing forms of education. Third party...     

Educational Homogeneity in French Primary Education: a double case study

This paper reports evidence from an ethnographic study of two primary schools in a large town in Northern France. The schools are located in markedly different socio‐economic settings. One is in an affluent area near the centre while the other is situated on a run down municipal housing estate on the outskirts in an officially designated educational priority zone. Despite their widely divergent social situations the two schools are strikingly similar and can be seen to be providing homogeneous educational experience for two socially heterogeneous populations. In the second half of the paper the notion of ‘national context’ is explored and its usefulness as an explanatory theoretical concept for analysing this educational homogeneity is suggested.     

The Concerns of Mainstream Teachers: Coping with inclusivity in an Australian context

Throughout the past two decades there has been a move away from educating children with disabilities in segregated schools to adopting a more inclusive approach within mainstream schools in all jurisdictions in Australia. This research identifies the concerns of 228 regular class teachers in Western Australia who have all been involved with the inclusion of a child with an intellectual disability in their classrooms. Seven categories of concerns are investigated together with the use and effectiveness of a range of coping strategies. Demographic differences in age, year level being taught, qualifications, teaching experience and previous involvement with inclusion were found regarding concerns about inclusion. The discussion focuses on the relevance of professional development and the need to ensure that it targets the specific concerns of teachers, focusing on the coping strategies recognised as being most useful in order to provide optimal conditions for success.     

Educational assessment and accountability: a New Zealand case study

This paper discusses the increasing use of assessment as a market signal and as an index of educational accountability. It is argued that assessment policies in New Zealand reflect an uneasy balance between the interests of the new right and more progressive educationists. These influences are examined using three largely contradictory models of educational accountability (professional, market and management). Each model reflects a range of epistemological and ideological assumptions. Thus student assessment serves different and largely conflicting purposes. The paper uses a recent New Zealand policy document (Tomorrow's Standards) to examine the interaction of each model. It is argued that through a failure to state clearly the purpose of assessment, educational reform in this area is overly concerned with the means rather than the ends of education. This has important implications for student motivation and learning. The paper concludes with a comment on current policy development and concludes that some recent initiatives provide the hope that a system of assessment that is both meaningful and relevant to individual learners may be developed.     

A framework to support group essay writing in English for Academic Purposes: a case study from an English-medium instruction context

In English for academic purposes courses, group oral presentations are quite common but essay writing tends to be seen as an individual endeavour, albeit with scope for peer review. This article discusses action research reflecting on student perceptions of a framework to support students through a semester-long collaborative essay assignment in an English-medium instruction university in Macau. The framework presented incorporates collaborative and individual assignment tasks, assisted by information and communications technology, to support the collaborative process and facilitate the assessment of the individual within the group. Even though writing in a group may take more time and effort, it is viewed favourably by the majority of students due to the additional learning gains to be made by writing collaboratively, including the increased quality of ideas and the social interactions (face-to-face and online) required to come to agreement.     

Teacher professional learning as a social practice: an Australian case

Abstract

Framing professional learning as a social practice underscores the interplay between subjective meaning systems and objective conditions of the social space where learning occurs. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social practice, and methodologically guided by critical realism, the paper identifies what constitutes effective teacher professional learning through mentoring. The empirical focus of the paper is an Early Childhood teacher mentoring programme in the state of Victoria, Australia. The findings show that: (a) relevant circumstances that make teacher professional learning a necessity are associated with individual aspirations and systemic requirements; (b) collegial relationships and critical deliberation constitute meaningful learning experiences; and (c) teacher learning takes place in the domains of professional dispositions, pedagogical knowledge and social capital. The implication is that in designing professional development programmes such as mentoring, it is important to take teachers’ contexts of practice into account; conceptualise learning as a socially situated practice; and recognise the value of teachers’ lived experiences as a locus of deliberation and learning.     

Literacy for All: Findings from an Australian study

This article summarises some of the major findings of a study published in 2000 for the Commonwealth government of Australia. It argues that school systems in Australia are moving towards the goal of literacy for all and suggests some of the factors that are and may be contributing to its achievement.     

Discipline context shapes meaningful teaching: a case study of academic law

The relationship between academic disciplines and teaching has been thoroughly investigated. However, most studies define disciplines by their epistemological properties and thereby overlook contextual and local interpretations of disciplines. This case study, based on in-depth interviews with nine academic lawyers, examines the interrelatedness between discipline, teaching and context. It identifies discipline characteristics and shared understandings of teaching in a specific context. The results imply that teaching is shaped by its disciplinary context and thus support literature stating that discipline matters for teaching. However, the analysis also reveals that discipline does not easily translate into teaching. The study emphasises local differences – what is perceived meaningful for law teachers in one context differs in others. Thus, this study dismisses the notion of disciplines as unitary entities. Further, the article discusses the dangers of categorising statements about teaching without considering context.     

Assessment moderation in an Australian context: processes,practices, and challenges

Moderation is a quality assurance process that plays a central role in the teaching, learning, and assessment cycle in higher education. While there is a growing body of research globally on teaching, learning, and, to a lesser degree, assessment in higher education, the process of moderation of assessment has received even less attention. In a context of heightened accountability and greater transparency in the tertiary sector, the formalising of moderation processes has not been a part of established practice. In light of these changes, the purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and investigate current marking and moderation processes and practices operating within one faculty in a large urban university in eastern Australia to gain insight into the challenges to effective moderation. The findings suggest the need for moderation to be considered holistically as an inherent part of teaching and learning, and the need for ongoing staff development.