Puncturing notions of precarity through critical educational research on young lives in Australia: towards a critical ethnography of youth

This papers deals in a polemical fashion with what is arguably one of the most contentious issues in education – the disengagement of increasing numbers of young people from schooling. It makes the argument that what is occurring is that global forces are conspiring to position young people as a form of ‘social waste’ and that allowing them to be unproblematically portrayed as constituting a precariat is an over-simplification if not a misrepresentation. In making the case for a different approach, conceived in terms of a critical ethnography of student disengagement, the paper invokes a political economy approach in which learning is seen as a political act engaged in by young people. The paper concludes with a series of propositions intended to provide a different and more critically ethnographic inflection on what is occurring.     

A coaching partnership: resource teachers and classroom teachers teaching collaboratively in regular classrooms

The purpose of this study was to determine how resource teachers (n = 13) and classroom teachers (n = 12) experience a coaching partnership, in which both teachers work in the regular classroom to support students with special educational needs. The focus of the partnerships was to build classroom teacher capacity around inclusionary practices. Classroom teachers and resource teachers completed questionnaires about the partnerships and their impact. Results indicated that both groups of teachers found the partnerships to be valuable. The partnerships were supported by coaching principles, as well as relationship, attitudes, understanding of students, and time spent together. Benefits of the model included increased support for students; increased learning for students; learning of different approaches, for classroom teachers and resource teachers; shared responsibility for students, between classroom and resource teachers; feeling more valued, for resource teachers; and seeing a model of collaboration, for students, teachers and the community.     

Roll out the computer,then the presses!

No school can afford to lose parents into the cracks. An early education teacher must perform double duty, teaching the students and at the same time communicating with parents in such a way that they become involved in their child's education. An easy way to communicate with parents is with a weekly, biweekly, or monthly newsletter. This can be accomplished with the computer and a desktop publishing program. No longer do you need to spend hours typing or handwriting a newsletter. You can invest in a desktop publishing program that meets your needs.Lillian Krause has taught public kindergarten for the past 15 years, presently at the Federal Way, Washington, Public Schools.     

Looking Beyond the Valley: A Five-Year Case Study of Course Innovation

Longitudinal changes in student course evaluations throughout the process of implementing information technology-enhanced delivery of a veterinary immunology course were examined. Student ratings of almost all aspects of the course and instruction declined significantly during the five-year period of technology implementation and then recovered to and exceeded their previous levels after the technology was fully implemented. This finding is discussed within the context of the educational change and innovation literature. Understanding how course innovations affect student evaluations over time is essential to avoid penalizing innovators for predictable, temporary declines in student ratings of course quality during the implementation of innovations.     

Religion and primary school choice in Ireland: school institutional identities and student profile

Ireland’s demographic profile has changed significantly in the past 20 years, being now characterised by increasing cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. However, primary schooling in Ireland has remained highly denominational, mostly Roman Catholic, in nature, with a small number of minority faith schools and multi-denominational schools. This paper describes the nature of the Irish primary educational system and addresses the implications of its institutional structure and school institutional identity for school choice. In so doing, it draws on the national Growing Up in Ireland study, and documents the role of socio-cultural and religious factors in the choice of primary school.