Comparing mentors’ reports on their own mentoring of primary preservice teachers

Implementing the Australian Curriculum will require targeting both teachers and preservice teachers as enactors of reform. Classroom teachers in their roles as mentors have a significant role to play for developing preservice teachers. What mentors do in their mentoring practices and what mentors think about mentoring will impact on the mentoring processes and ultimately reform outcomes. What are mentors’ reports on their mentoring of preservice teachers for teaching science and mathematics? This quantitative study presents mentors’ reports on their mentoring of primary preservice teachers (mentees) in mathematics (n=43) and science (n=29). Drawing upon a previously validated instrument (Hudson, 2007), this instrument was amended to allow mentors to report on their perceptions of their mentoring. Mentors claimed they mentored teaching mathematics more than science. However, 20% or more indicated they did not provide mentoring practices for 25 out of 34 survey items in the science and 9 out of 34 items in the mathematics. Educational reform will necessity mentors to be educated on effective mentoring practices for mathematics and science so the mentoring process can be more purposeful. Indeed, mentors who have knowledge of such practices may address the potential issues of more than 20% of mentees not receiving these practices. To ensure the greatest success for an Australian Curriculum mentors may need professional development in order to assist mentees’ development into the profession.

Primary students’ interpretation of maps : gesture use and mapping knowledge

Maps are used to represent three-dimensional space and are integral to a range of everyday experiences. They are increasingly used in mathematics, being prominent both in school curricula and as a form of assessing students understanding of mathematics ideas. In order to successfully interpret maps, students need to be able to understand that maps: represent space, have their own perspective and scale, and their own set of symbols and texts. Despite the fact that maps have an increased prevalence in society and school, there is evidence to suggest that students have difficulty interpreting maps. This study investigated 43 primary-aged students’ (aged 9-12 years) verbal and gestural behaviours as they engaged with and solved map tasks. Within a multiliteracies framework that focuses on spatial, visual, linguistic, and gestural elements, the study investigated how students interpret map tasks. Specifically, the study sought to understand students’ skills and approaches used to solving map tasks and the gestural behaviours they utilised as they engaged with map tasks. The investigation was undertaken using the Knowledge Discovery in Data (KDD) design. The design of this study capitalised on existing research data to carry out a more detailed analysis of students’ interpretation of map tasks. Video data from an existing data set was reorganised according to two distinct episodes—Task Solution and Task Explanation—and analysed within the multiliteracies framework. Content Analysis was used with these data and through anticipatory data reduction techniques, patterns of behaviour were identified in relation to each specific map task by looking at task solution, task correctness and gesture use. The findings of this study revealed that students had a relatively sound understanding of general mapping knowledge such as identifying landmarks, using keys, compass points and coordinates. However, their understanding of mathematical concepts pertinent to map tasks including location, direction, and movement were less developed. Successful students were able to interpret the map tasks and apply relevant mathematical understanding to navigate the spatial demands of the map tasks while the unsuccessful students were only able to interpret and understand basic map conventions. In terms of their gesture use, the more difficult the task, the more likely students were to exhibit gestural behaviours to solve the task. The most common form of gestural behaviour was deictic, that is a pointing gesture. Deictic gestures not only aided the students capacity to explain how they solved the map tasks but they were also a tool which assisted them to navigate and monitor their spatial movements when solving the tasks. There were a number of implications for theory, learning and teaching, and test and curriculum design arising from the study. From a theoretical perspective, the findings of the study suggest that gesturing is an important element of multimodal engagement in mapping tasks. In terms of teaching and learning, implications include the need for students to utilise gesturing techniques when first faced with new or novel map tasks. As students become more proficient in solving such tasks, they should be encouraged to move beyond a reliance on such gesture use in order to progress to more sophisticated understandings of map tasks. Additionally, teachers need to provide students with opportunities to interpret and attend to multiple modes of information when interpreting map tasks.

Student autonomy enhancing science learning : Observations from a Primary Connections implementation

This case study involved a detailed analysis of the changes in beliefs and teaching practices of teachers who adopted the Primary Connections program as a professional development initiative. When implementing an inquiry-based learning model, teachers observed that their students learnt more when they intervened less. By scaffolding open-ended nquiries they achieved more diverse, complex and thorough learning outcomes than previously achieved with teacher-led discussions or demonstrations. Initially, student autonomy presented erceived threats to teachers, including possible selection of topics outside the teachers’ science knowledge. In practice, when such issues arose, resolving them became a stimulating part of the earning for both teachers and students. The teachers’ observation of enhanced student learning became a powerful motivator for change in their beliefs and practices. Implications for developers of PD programs are (1) the importance of modeling student-devised inquiries, and (2) recognising the role of successful classroom implementation in facilitating change.

Young people’s aspirations for education, work, family and leisure

Young people are arguably facing more ‘complex and contested’ transitions to adulthood and an increasing array of ‘non-linear’ paths. Education and training have been extended, identity is increasingly shaped through leisure and consumerism and youth must navigate their life trajectories in highly individualised ways. The study utilises 819 short essays compiled by students aged 14–16 years from 19 schools in Australia. It examines how young people understand their own unique positions and the possibilities open to them through their aspirations and future orientations to employment and family life. These young people do not anticipate postponing work identities, but rather embrace post-school options such as gaining qualifications, work experience and achieving financial security. Boys expected a distant involvement in family life secondary to participation in paid work. In contrast, around half the girls simultaneously expected a future involving primary care-giving and an autonomous, independent career, suggesting attempts to remake gendered inequalities

Wellness education : an integrated theoretical framework for fostering transformative learning

Optimum Wellness involves the development, refinement and practice of lifestyle choices which resonate with personally meaningful frames of reference. Personal transformations are the means by which our frames of reference are refined across the lifespan. It is through critical reflection, supportive relationships and meaning making of our experiences that we construct and reconstruct our life paths. When individuals are able to be what they are destined to be or reach their higher purpose, then they are able to contribute to the world in positive and meaningful ways. Transformative education facilitates the changes in perspective that enable one to contemplate and travel a path in life that leads to self-actualisation. This thesis argues for an integrated theoretical framework for optimum Wellness Education. It establishes a learner centred approach to Wellness education in the form of an integrated instructional design framework derived from both Wellness and Transformative education constructs. Students’ approaches to learning and their study strategies in a Wellness education context serve to highlight convergences in the manner in which students can experience perspective transformation. As they learn to critically reflect, pursue relationships and adapt their frames of reference to sustain their pursuit of both learning and Wellness goals, strengthening the nexus between instrumental and transformative learning is a strategically important goal for educators. The aim of this exploratory research study was to examine those facets that serve to optimise the learning experiences of students in a Wellness course. This was accomplished through three research issues: 1) What are the relationships between Wellness, approaches to learning and academic success? 2) How are students approaching learning in an undergraduate Wellness subject? Why are students approaching their learning in the ways they do? 3) What sorts of transformations are students experiencing in their Wellness? How can transformative education be formulated in the context of an undergraduate Wellness subject? Subsequent to a thorough review of the literature pertaining to Wellness education, a mixed method embedded case study design was formulated to explore the research issues. This thesis examines the interrelationships between student, content and context in a one semester university undergraduate unit (a coherent set of learning activities which is assigned a unit code and a credit point value). The experiences of a cohort of 285 undergraduate students in a Wellness course formed the unit of study and seven individual students from a total of sixteen volunteers whose profiles could be constructed from complete data sets were selected for analysis as embedded cases. The introductory level course required participants to engage in a personal project involving a behaviour modification plan for a self-selected, single dimension of Wellness. Students were given access to the Standard Edition Testwell Survey to assess and report their Wellness as a part of their personal projects. To identify relationships among the constructs of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), Wellness and Student Approaches to Learning (SAL) a blend of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and analyse data was formulated. Surveys were the primary instruments for acquiring quantitative data. Sources included the Wellness data from Testwell surveys, SAL data from R-SPQ surveys, SRL data from MSLQ surveys and student self-evaluation data from an end of semester survey. Students’ final grades and GPA scores were used as indicators of academic performance. The sources of qualitative data included subject documentation, structured interview transcripts and open-ended responses to survey items. Subsequent to a pilot study in which survey reliability and validity were tested in context, amendments to processes for and instruments of data collection were made. Students who adopted meaning oriented (deep/achieving) approaches tended to assess their Wellness at a higher level, seek effective learning strategies and perform better in formal study. Posttest data in the main study revealed that there were significant positive statistical relationships between academic performance and total wellness scores (rs=.297, n=205, p<.01). Deep (rs=.343, n=137, p<.01) and achieving (rs=.286, n=123, p<.01) approaches to learning also significantly correlated with Wellness whilst surface approaches had negative correlations that were not significant. SRL strategies including metacognitive selfregulation, effort, help-seeking and critical thinking were increasingly correlated with Wellness. Qualitative findings suggest that while all students adopt similar patterns of day to day activities for example attending classes, taking notes, working on assignments the level of care with which these activities is undertaken varies considerably. The dominant motivational trigger for students in this cohort was the personal relevance and associated benefits of the material being learned and practiced. Students were inclined to set goals that had a positive impact on affect and used “sense of happiness” to evaluate their achievement status. Students who had a higher drive to succeed and/or understand tended to have or seek a wider range of strategies. Their goal orientations were generally learning rather than performance based and barriers presented a challenge which could be overcome as opposed to a blockage which prevented progress. Findings from an empirical analysis of the Testwell data suggest that a single third order Wellness construct exists. A revision of the instrument is necessary in order to juxtapose it with the chosen six dimensional Wellness model that forms the foundation construct in the course. Further, redevelopment should be sensitive to the Australian context and culture including choice of language, examples and scenarios used in item construction. This study concludes with an heuristic for use in Wellness education. Guided by principles of Transformative education theory and behaviour change theory, and informed by this representative case study the “CARING” heuristic is proposed as an instructional design tool for Wellness educators seeking to foster transformative learning. Based upon this study, recommendations were made for university educators to provide authentic and personal experiences in Wellness curricula. Emphasis must focus on involving students and teachers in a partnership for implementing Wellness programs both in the curriculum and co-curricularly. The implications of this research for practice are predicated on the willingness of academics to embrace transformative learning at a personal level and a professional one. To explore students’ profiles in detail is not practical however teaching students how to guide us in supporting them through the “pain” of learning is a skill which would benefit them and optimise the learning and teaching process. At a theoretical level, this research contributes to an ecological theory of Wellness education as transformational change. By signposting the wider contexts in which learning takes place, it seeks to encourage changing paradigms to ones which harness the energy of each successive contextual layer in which students live. Future research which amplifies the qualities of individuals and groups who are “Well” and seeks the refinement and development of instruments to measure Wellness constructs would be desirable for both theoretical and applied knowledge bases. Mixed method Wellness research derived and conducted by teams that incorporate expertise from multiple disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, education, and medicine would enable creative and multi-perspective programs of investigation to be designed and implemented. Congruences and inconsistencies in health promotion and education would provide valuable material for strengthening the nexus between transformational learning and behaviour change theories. Future development of and research on the effectiveness of the CARING heuristic would be valuable in advancing the understanding of pedagogies which advance rather than impede learning as a transformative process. Exploring pedagogical models that marry with transformative education may render solutions to the vexing challenge of teaching and learning in diverse contexts.

Locating child protection in preservice teacher education

A recent report delivered by the Australian Centre for Child Protection has highlighted the need for empirical evidence of effective pedagogies for supporting teaching and learning of child protection content in Australian teacher education programs (Arnold & Maio-Taddeo, 2007). This paper advances this call by presenting case study accounts of different approaches to teaching child protection content in University-based teacher education programs across three Australian States. These different cases provide a basis for understanding existing strategies as an important precursor to improving practice. Although preschool, primary and secondary schools have been involved in efforts to protect children from abuse and neglect since the 1970s, teacher education programs, including preservice and inservice programs, have been slow to align their work with child protection agendas. This paper opens a long-overdue discussion about the extent and nature of child protection content in teacher education and proposes strategies for translating research into practice.

School system as axiological medium : the state's primary macro-proposing context and its expanding moral role in Australia

This paper analyses the Australian Values Education Program (VEP) within the framework of late-classical political economy. using analytical methods from systemic functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis, we demonstrate that the VEP is an unwitting restatement of the principles of ideology as developed by the likes of Destutt de Tracy and the Young Hegelians. We conclude that the sudden shock of globalisation and the post-national cultures this has entailed is in many ways similar to the shock of formal nationalism that emerged in the late-Seventeenth and early- Eighteenth centuries. The overall result of the VEP for the Australian school system is a massive procedural burden that is unlikely to produce the results at which the program is aimed.

Book Review: "Rethinking Learning in Early Childhood Education" written by Nicola Yelland, Libby Lee, Maureen O’Rourke & Cathie Harrison

There is a growing body of work that responds to the impact of the rapid uptake of information and communication technology (ICT) on education (Buckingham, 2003; Cheung, 2003; Cuban, 2003; Leung, 2003; Prensky, 2005; Green & Hannon, 2007; Brooks-Gunn & Donahue, 2008; Lyman et al, 2008). Mostly, this work has been positioned in the context of upper-primary or secondary classrooms. More recently, there has been a growing call for research about the impact of ICT on the early years or in early childhood contexts. This text initiates a response to that call. The authors concur that today’s children are a generation who create, learn, work, play and communicate very differently from their parents and teachers (Buckingham, 2003), and that classroom activity needs to reflect this difference.

Primary students' performance on map tasks : the role of context

This study investigated the longitudinal performance of 583 students on six map items that were represented in various graphic forms. Specifically, this study compared the performance of 7-9-year-olds (across Grades 2 and 3) from metropolitan and non-metropolitan locations. The results of the study revealed significant performance differences in favour of metropolitan students on two of six map tasks. Implications include the need for teachers in non-metropolitan locations to ensure that their students do not overly fixate on landmarks represented on maps but rather consider the arrangement of all elements encompassed within the graphic.

Implementing dance in a Queensland primary school : a descriptive case study

This research documents and analyses the modes of implementation of the Dance component of The Arts Essential Learnings in a Queensland school. The research identifies what makes good practice in dance education and the multiple modes of implementation that support this practice. The primary purpose of this research is to describe the factors that influence dance education, as it is delivered, in a Queensland primary school to inform the development of further support for primary teachers and to improve the quality of dance education in Prep -7 schooling. The literature review investigates dance education both in Queensland, Australia and internationally, identifying current issues related to the delivery of dance in a primary school environment including barriers to implementation of dance, authentic learning and integrated approaches to learning. Based on Engestrom.s reformulation of Vygotsky.s theory of socially mediated learning, the implementation of dance education curriculum was explored through descriptive case study method. The case study was conducted in a regional Queensland school identified as delivering the dance curriculum in a variety of ways. The research project provided opportunities to observe, document and analyse how teachers deal with pedagogical dilemmas and solve logistical problems associated with teaching the dance component of the Arts curriculum in this school. Teachers. practices were contextualised through investigation of the whole school context of dance curriculum development. The findings revealed a range of teaching approaches that influenced teachers. interpretation and children.s experience of the dance curriculum. The features of a supportive whole school and cultural environment for dance were identified. These have been captured in a reworked version of Engestrom.s Second Generation Activity Theory that can be applied to the implementation of dance education in primary schools.

The differential recognition of children’s cultural practices in middle primary literacy classrooms

This paper argues that teachers’ recognition of children’s cultural practices is an important positive step in helping socio-economically disadvantaged children engage with school literacies. Based on twenty-one longitudinal case studies of children’s literacy development over a three-year period, the authors demonstrate that when children’s knowledges and practices assembled in home and community spheres are treated as valuable material for school learning, children are more likely to invest in the work of acquiring school literacies. However they show also that whilst some children benefit greatly from being allowed to draw on their knowledge of popular culture, sports and the outdoors, other children’s interests may be ignored or excluded. Some differences in teachers’ valuing of home and community cultures appeared to relate to gender dimensions.

Inquiry teaching in primary science : a phenomenographic study

In spite of having a long history in education, inquiry teaching (the teaching in ways that foster inquiry based learning in students) in science education is still a highly problematic issue. However, before teacher educators can hope to effectively influence teacher implementation of inquiry teaching in the science classroom, educators need to understand teachers’ current conceptions of inquiry teaching. This study describes the qualitatively different ways in which 20 primary school teachers experienced inquiry teaching in science education. A phenomenographic approach was adopted and data sourced from interviews of these teachers. The three categories of experiences that emerged from this study were; Student Centred Experiences (Category 1), Teacher Generated Problems (Category 2), and Student Generated Questions (Category 3). In Category 1 teachers structure their teaching around students sensory experiences, expecting that students will see, hear, feel and do interesting things that will focus their attention, have them asking science questions, and improve their engagement in learning. In Category 2 teachers structure their teaching around a given problem they have designed and that the students are required to solve. In Category 3 teachers structure their teaching around helping students to ask and answer their own questions about phenomena. These categories describe a hierarchy with the Student Generated Questions Category as the most inclusive. These categories were contrasted with contemporary educational theory, and it was found that when given the chance to voice their own conceptions without such comparison teachers speak of inquiry teaching in only one of the three categories mentioned. These results also help inform our theoretical understanding of teacher conceptions of inquiry teaching. Knowing what teachers actually experience as inquiry teaching, as opposed to understand theoretically, is a valuable contribution to the literature. This knowledge provides a valuable contribution to educational theory, which helps policy, curriculum development, and the practicing primary school teachers to more fully understand and implement the best educative practices in their daily work. Having teachers experience the qualitatively different ways of experiencing inquiry teaching uncovered in this study is expected to help teachers to move towards a more student-centred, authentic inquiry outcome for their students and themselves. Going beyond this to challenge teacher epistemological beliefs regarding the source of knowledge may also assist them in developing more informed notions of the nature of science and of scientific inquiry during professional development opportunities. The development of scientific literacy in students, a high priority for governments worldwide, will only to benefit from these initiatives.

The current context of Queensland primary teacher engagement with professional learning through professional associations

Engaging Queensland primary teachers in professional associations can be a challenge, particularly for subject-specific associations. Professional associations are recognised providers of professional learning. By not being involved in professional associations primary teachers are missing potential quality professional learning opportunities that can impact the results of their students. The purpose of the research is twofold: Firstly, to provide a thorough understanding of the current context in order to assist professional associations who wish to change from their current level of primary teacher engagement; and secondly, to contribute to the literature in the area of professional learning for primary teachers within professional associations. Using a three part research design, interviews of primary teachers and focus groups of professional association participants and executives were conducted and themed to examine the current context of engagement. Force field analysis was used to provide the framework to identify the driving and restraining forces for primary teacher engagement in professional learning through professional associations. Communities of practice and professional learning communities were specifically examined as potential models for professional associations to consider. The outcome is a diagrammatic framework outlining the current context of primary teacher engagement, specifically the driving and restraining forces of primary teacher engagement with professional associations. This research also identifies considerations for professional associations wishing to change their level of primary teacher engagement. The results of this research show that there are key themes that provide maximum impact if wishing to increase engagement of primary teachers in professional associations. However the implications of this lies with professional associations and their alignment between intent and practice dedicated to this change.

A communitarian theory of the education rights of students with disabilities

There is a lack of writing on the issue of the education rights of people with disabilities by authors of any theoretical persuasion. While the deficiency of theory may be explained by a variety of historical, philosophical and practical considerations, it is a deficiency which must be addressed. Otherwise, any statement of rights rings out as hollow rhetoric unsupported by sound reason and moral rectitude. This paper attempts to address this deficiency in education rights theory by postulating a communitarian theory of the education rights of people with disabilities. The theory is developed from communitarian writings on the role of education in democratic society. The communitarian school, like the community within which it nests, is inclusive. Schools both reflect and model the shape of communitarian society and have primary responsibility for teaching the knowledge and virtues which will allow citizens to belong to and function within society. Communitarians emphasise responsibilities, however, as the corollary of rights and require the individual good to yield to community good when the hard cases arise. The article not only explains the basis of the right to an inclusive education, therefore, but also engages with the difficult issue of when such a right may not be enforceable.