Socio‐scientific issues in science education: implications for the professional development of teachers

This paper offers a critique of existing models of continuing professional development (CPD) courses for science teachers in the light of recent thinking about the nature of the subject (in particular, the arguments associated with ‘post‐normal science’) and the challenges presented by the teaching of controversial socio‐scientific issues (especially topics like bio‐technology and genetic modification). An analysis of the outcomes and limitations of an ‘up‐date/top‐down’ kind of CPD is used to argue that future forms of effective CPD must involve teachers in reflecting on the scientific, the social and the pedagogical dimensions to ‘new science’, and the relationships between them in the interests of improved classroom learning.     

Concurrent validity of the PPVT-R with the K-ABC for learning problem children

This study examined the concurrent validity of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with 47 students referred for learning difficulties. A comparison of the correlations of each of the criterion measures from the K-ABC global scales showed a more substantial relationship between the PPVT-R standard score and the K-ABC Achievement scale than with other K-ABC scales. In an effort to further examine the relationship between the PPVT-R and the K-ABC, a stepwise multiple regression was calculated, with the standard scores of the K-ABC global scales serving as the predictor variables of the PPVT-R. This analysis indicated that the K-ABC Achievement global scale was the only significant predictor of the PPVT-R. Implications for practitioners were discussed.     

Use of social web technologies by international and domestic undergraduate students: implications for internationalising learning and teaching in Australian universities

Much research into the use of online information and communication technologies for the internationalisation of learning and teaching has focused on established web technologies. This paper considers the possible internationalisation implications of existing uses of social software, also known as Web 2.0 technologies, which are now widely available inside and outside of formal education settings. The paper reports on two studies: the first, conducted at a large Australian university, investigated differences between international and domestic undergraduate students’ (n = 1973) use of web‐based technologies and tools; the second investigation reports on interviews with eight Australian and eight Singaporean university students about their use and perceptions of blogs and blogging. The findings from two studies provide new evidence of both cultural similarities and cultural differences in aspects of young university students’ use of social software for communication and content creation. Discussion and conclusions draw out factors to be considered in planning to implement new uses of social software among culturally and linguistically diverse students of the Net Generation, in Australia and more generally.     

Inclusive academic language teaching in New Zealand: history and responses

Meeting the educational needs of a linguistically diverse population is a challenge for many countries. This is a particular challenge for New Zealand (NZ) which, until the 1980s, had a White Immigration Policy. The last 30 years have seen NZ become a full member of the Asia Pacific Region and move from being a mostly homogenous society to one of the most heterogeneous. This article explores the historical context of education and migration and current initiatives for inclusive academic language teaching (IALT) in NZ. IALT is a teacher-development approach recently developed for multilingual Europe by the European Core Curriculum for Mainstreamed Second Language Teacher Education. The approach rests on principles of acknowledgement of first language and culture, inclusivity and teachers having specialized knowledge of the academic language requirements of their subjects. This analysis seeks to show that knowledge, policy and practices that were once at the margins of the education system must now be central and will benefit all students, particularly those from diverse backgrounds.     

‘You’re actually the problem’: manifestations of populist masculinist anxieties in Australian higher education

In 2016 the world witnessed a consolidation of a western brand of political ‘populist authoritarianism’ that is anti-globalisationalist and creates ‘shared objects of loathing’ in the popular imagination. This article engages with the implications of this affective and masculinist ‘post-truth’ era for higher education and analyses the narratives of teacher educators who teach compulsory classes based on inclusion and diversity. The article uses the work of feminist, Indigenous and queer theorists to explore gendered responses to pedagogical encounters recounted in the data. We offer a reading of these experiences that links white male objections, particularly around the teaching of gender and race, to the growth of neoconservatism that precipitated the contemporary rise of populist authoritarianism. The pedagogical encounters we explore reflect the notion that the Australian white male is a figure who is brought undone by allowing the subaltern to speak.