Academic achievement among recently arrived Chinese adolescent migrants: The role of social support, school belonging, and acculturative stress

Factors contributing to academic achievement among recently arrived Chinese adolescents in Australia remains relatively underexplored. Previous studies focused on Asian migrants, including Chinese, but did not distinguish Chinese from other Asian migrants. The current study specifically looks at Chinese migrants who have recently arrived as opposed to Asian migrants. This study aims to explore the role of social support, school belonging, and acculturative stress on academic achievement of recently arrived Chinese adolescents (n = 55). Questionnaires were administered to this sample. The results indicated that school belonging, interestingly, was negatively associated with academic achievement. Perceived social support and acculturative stress were not significantly associated with academic achievement. The findings provide insights into risk and protective factors influencing academic achievement of Chinese migrants. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Early school-based parent involvement, children’s self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An Australian longitudinal study

Parent involvement is widely accepted as being associated with children’s improved educational outcomes. However, the role of early school-based parent involvement is still being established. This study investigated the mediating role of self-regulated learning behaviors in the relationship between early school-based parent involvement and children’s academic achievement, using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (N = 2616). Family socioeconomic position, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, language background, child gender and cognitive competence, were controlled, as well home and community based parent involvement activity in order to derive a more confident interpretation of the results. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that children’s self-regulated learning behaviors fully mediated the relationships between school-based parent involvement at Grade 1 and children’s reading achievement at Grade 3. Importantly, these relationships were evident for children across all socio-economic backgrounds. Although there was no direct relationship between parent involvement at Grade 1 and numeracy achievement at Grade 3, parent involvement was indirectly associated with higher children’s numeracy achievement through children’s self-regulation of learning behaviors, though this relationship was stronger for children from middle and higher socio-economic backgrounds. Implications for policy and practice are discussed, and further research recommended.

Imagination for inclusion: Shared understandings across diverse contexts of educational practice

This chapter explores inclusive education as a social imaginary; that is, a common understanding that has become a global perspective. We trace the roots of inclusive education in early movements for social justice and the development of special education and note that these two domains continue to be seen in the ongoing tensions within the practice of inclusive education. We conclude that although much has been achieved in opening up greater opportunities for all children and young people to participate in and engage with education, there is still much work to be done. Creative imagining, discursive dialogue, and courageous actions in breaking down barriers in schools and communities will strengthen the local and global social imaginary of inclusive education, thus affording even greater opportunities for all children and young people regardless of any categorisation that may have been applied to their differences.

The inclusion of geography in TIMSS: Can consensus be reached?

An initial call by the editors of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education (IRGEE) prompted a study about the inclusion of geography in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tests. This study found that the geography education community were overwhelmingly in favour of such a move, believing that the information collected would be valuable in enhancing learning outcomes through its impact on research, policy and teaching practice (Lane & Bourke, 2016). However, a number of questions about the development and implementation of this assessment were posed. This paper addresses two of these questions: (1) What is the global geographical education community’s views about Grades 4 and 8 as target year levels for the assessment?; and, (2) What types of knowledge and cognitive dimensions would they like to see assessed? Based on these findings, the overarching key question that requires further discussion is: Can there be some degree of consensus in terms of what should be assessed and how the test should be implemented?

Social Living Labs for Digital Participation: Designing with Regional and Rural Communities [workshop proceedings]

“Fostering digital participation through Living Labs in regional and rural Australian communities,” is a three year research project funded by the Australian Research Council. The project aims to identify the specific digital needs and practices of regional and rural residents in the context of the implementation of high speed internet. It seeks to identify new ways for enabling residents to develop their digital confidence and skills both at home and in the community. This two-day symposium will bring together researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to discuss design practices in social living labs that aim to foster digital inclusion and participation. Day one will consist of practitioner and research reports, while day two will provide an opportunity for participants to imagine and design future digital participation strategies. Academic participants will also have an opportunity to contribute to a refereed edited volume by Chandos Publishing (an imprint of Elsevier).