Submission to Queensland Law Reform Commission WP 73 Review of Child Protection Mandatory Reporting Laws for the Early Childhood Education and Care Sector

In 2015 the QLRC is conducting an inquiry into whether to extend legislative mandatory reporting duties for physical abuse and sexual abuse to early childhood education and care practitioners. The current legislation does not require these practitioners to report suspected cases of significant harm from physical or sexual absue to child welfare agencies. Based on the literature, and a multidisciplinary analysis, our overall recommendation is that we endorse the extension to selected early childhood education and care practitioners of Queensland’s current mandatory reporting duty in the Child Protection Act 1999 s 13E.

Making Sense of Mass Education, 2nd Edition

Making Sense of Mass Education provides an engaging and accessible analysis of traditional issues associated with mass education. The book challenges preconceptions about social class, gender and ethnicity discrimination; highlights the interplay between technology, media, popular culture and schooling; and inspects the relevance of ethics and philosophy in the modern classroom. This new edition has been comprehensively updated to provide current information regarding literature, statistics and legal policies, and significantly expands on the previous edition's structure of derailing traditional myths about education as a point of discussion. It also features two new chapters on Big Data and Globalisation and what they mean for the Australian classroom. Written for students, practising teachers and academics alike, Making Sense of Mass Education summarises the current educational landscape in Australia and looks at fundamental issues in society as they relate to education.

Education academics: Rules of engagement

Professor Carol Nicolls suggests that academics and postgraduate students in education should be consciously positioned to influence current and future policy. Through their research they could be contributing to the foundations for building the evidence base for good policy in education, and through their research and scholarship, be seen, where necessary, to publicly challenge the status quo in policy both now and in the future. All of this is more likely to ensure that we achieve the very best outcomes for all in education in Australia.

The politics of race, class and special education: The selected works of Sally Tomlinson

Upon reading this esteemed collection of Sally Tomlinson’s works, published in Routledge’s prestigious World Library of Educationalists series, I was struck by three things. First, Sally is one of only three women among the 26 scholars whose collections have been published in this series to date, and the only scholar researching questions relating to disability and special education. Second, her early work on the sociology of special education Tomlinson, 1982) is just as pertinent today as her most recent research on the political scapegoating of low-attainers in a global knowledge economy (Tomlinson, 2012). Third, I was reminded of the extent to which her research has both inspired and guided me as I now grapple with the same research problems, albeit in a different country and at a different time, but always from a similar sociological standpoint (Graham & Jahnukainen, 2011; Graham & Sweller, 2011; Graham, 2012; Graham, 2014; Graham, Van Bergen & Sweller, 2014). Not surprisingly, the phrase that kept echoing through my head as I read through the 11 chapters chronicling a rich and immensely productive academic career was: ‘history repeats’. And, throughout the book are numerous examples and observations as to why it does. To paraphrase, the answer is power, status and politics.

An exploratory investigation of the practice of assessment for learning in Vietnamese higher education: Three case studies of lecturers' practice

In response to limited research conducted on the practice of assessment for learning (AfL) in higher education and in Asian educational settings, this qualitative study, using sociocultural theories of learning and a multiple case study approach, investigates how AfL was implemented by three lecturers in one Vietnamese university. Findings revealed that the lecturers engaged with AfL principles and practices to some extent. However, despite the lecturers' significant efforts, Vietnamese sociocultural factors such as respect for harmony, hierarchy, and examination-oriented learning, impacted on their practice of AfL. This study therefore argues that AfL requires adaptation for it to be effective in the Vietnamese tertiary context.

Ethical education for a multicultural society: A sociological study of the potential of purpose-written curricular resource materials

Multicultural social policies were formulated in Australia during the 1970s in response to challenges that had arisen the wake of a large-scale immigration program. Given recent intensification and diversification of immigrant intakes, however, understandings of multiculturalism have been contested repeatedly while new social demands have been made of the policy. In this context, questions have been raised about the adequacy of multicultural ethical education in Australian schools. These concern not only the type of ethics taught, but also the emphasis placed on ethics per se. This study emerges out of this context to look at the utility of using purpose-written philosophical materials– specifically, immigration-themed materials written by advocates of philosophy for children – for development of ethical understanding in multicultural Australia.

Emotional climate of a pre-service science teacher education class in Bhutan

This study explored pre-service secondary science teachers’ perceptions of classroom emotional climate in the context of the Bhutanese macro-social policy of Gross National Happiness. Drawing upon sociological perspectives of human emotions and using Interaction Ritual Theory this study investigated how pre-service science teachers may be supported in their professional development. It was a multi-method study involving video and audio recordings of teaching episodes supported by interviews and the researcher’s diary. Students also registered their perceptions of the emotional climate of their classroom at 3-minute intervals using audience response technology. In this way, emotional events were identified for video analysis. The findings of this study highlighted that the activities pre-service teachers engaged in matter to them. Positive emotional climate was identified in activities involving students’ presentations using video clips and models, coteaching, and interactive whole class discussions. Decreases in emotional climate were identified during formal lectures and when unprepared presenters led presentations. Emotions such as frustration and disappointment characterized classes with negative emotional climate. The enabling conditions to sustain a positive emotional climate are identified. Implications for sustaining macro-social policy about Gross National Happiness are considered in light of the climate that develops in science teacher education classes.

Samoa’s education policy: Negotiating a hybrid space for values

This paper analyses the education policy of Samoa to examine the values that are presented within as relevant to the education system. Drawing on the theory of postcolonialism and globalization, we illustrate how the global and local interact within the education policy to create a hybrid, heterogeneous mix of values and, while the policy acknowledges the significance of Samoan values, it is principally directed towards universal values being incorporated into the education system. We undertake a critical policy analysis to illustrate how the hybrid set of values are indicative of a neo-colonial discourse and argue that universal values are required, however, these need to be equally matched with local Samoan values for the education policy to be highly relevant, authentic and applicable to the Samoan education context.

Understandings of higher education curriculum in Vietnam

The Vietnamese higher education context is characterised by state control including the state’s development of curriculum frameworks and materials. Institutional autonomy has been ratified by the government, however, in practice universities seem to have little control over curriculum. In order for universities to develop more ownership of curriculum, it is necessary to explore the foundational understandings of curriculum held by stakeholders. Thus, this paper explores the understandings of curriculum expressed by a group of senior staff, academics and students at a Vietnamese university. We found a diversity of understandings that tended to be product-focused, teacher-focused and textbook-driven. We propose that our findings can be used as a starting point for developing more innovative and student-focused understandings of curriculum.

Theories of moral education and implementation in Indonesia: Re-energizing cultural identity and addressing future challenges

School is regarded as a site of moral training for the younger generation to encounter nation’s future challenges as well as to re-energize nation’s cultural identity. The more competitive global society led by free market trade in terms of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), requires the school to adapt and change its curriculum more frequently. Like many other countries, Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture has introduced and nurtured universal values and traditional values respectively through school curriculum reforms to develop students’ ability to participating in global society. This paper will describe classical and contemporary theories related to moral education that have been implemented in Indonesia’s school curriculum and school activities. The theories developed by Durkheim, Alastair MacIntyre, and Basil Bernstein will be discussed. This includes explaining how far the theories have been adopted in Indonesia and how the approaches are currently being used in Indonesian schooling. This paper suggests despite the implementation of those theories in Indonesian schools, the government needs to optimise the operation of those theories to gain significant outcomes.

Engaging in online postgraduate education as means of professional learning

With enrolments in higher education becoming a competitive market, through the removal of caps in 2012, the equitable access to postgraduate education is raised. Postgraduate education, provided through higher education institutions, is an important aspect of career development for professionals. Professionals working outside of the metropolitan area are increasingly seeking postgraduate education opportunities that will be delivered online, at a distance. In this research study, data collected from the teaching profession, has culminated in a model that will ultimately improve access to professional learning. This research paper aims to highlight the important role that higher education providers play in the delivery of postgraduate education to professionals working in regional and remote areas of Australia. Although this paper focuses on the realm of education, the model of connectedness, where synchronous and asynchronous technologies are used, can be adapted and applied to any profession that requires equitable access to professional learning.

Investigating early childhood teachers’ understandings of and practices in education for sustainability in Queensland: A Japan-Australia research collaboration

In a study undertaken in Queensland, Australia, analysis of a survey that included both qualitative and quantitative questions revealed that, like their Japanese counterparts, early childhood teachers do not have well-developed ideas and practices in education for sustainability (EfS). Instead, they mainly practise traditional nature-based activities, such as gardening or playing outdoors, and teaching about resource conservation through books, posters or fact sheets. Teachers’ understandings of nature education, environmental education, and education for sustainability seem to influence their educational practices. Deeper understandings about sustainability are necessary to extend beyond such traditional practices. Even though national curriculum frameworks and guidelines point to the importance of sustainability within early childhood curriculum, these appear to be insufficient in strengthening early childhood teachers’ ideas of sustainability and how to practise it effectively. We suggest that it would be beneficial for early childhood teachers, both preservice and inservice, to have professional development opportunities that build deeper understandings of sustainability and its implementation in their settings.

Re-thinking discourses of teacher professionalism in early childhood education: An Australian perspective

The professionalism of early childhood teachers has been the subject of increasing attention globally for over a decade (Moss, 2006; Osgood, 2012; Urban, 2010. In order to understand ways pre-service early childhood teachers make sense of professionalism, this chapter examines some of the discourses of early childhood teacher professionalism, and focuses on qualifications as one way in which being professional is discursively produced. In particular, the chapter makes visible some of the discursive tensions involved in student intentions to pursue careers in primary school teaching/specialist early childhood teacher in primary school, rather than in the child care sector. In doing so, it makes visible some of the effects of particular discourses of professionalism and the ways they may be taken up by students as they make important career decisions.

Creating physical education in remote Australian schools: Overcoming the tyranny of distance through communities of practice

This paper reports on a qualitative case study undertaken in a remote part of Queensland, Australia. While there is some modest agreement about the capacity of contemporary information technologies to overcome the problems of schooling in areas of extreme remoteness, generally, children educated in such contexts are considered to be disadvantaged. The experiential areas of the curriculum, which often require specific teaching expertise, present the greatest challenge to teachers, and of these, physical education is perhaps the most problematic. This research reports on a case study of three remote Queensland multi-age primary (elementary) schools that come together to form a community of practice to overcome the problems of teaching physical education in such difficult circumstances. Physical education is constructed in these contexts by blurring the school and community boundaries, by contextualizing the subject content to make it relevant, and by adjusting the school day to accommodate potential physical education experiences. Each community gathers its collective experience to ensure the widest possible experiences are made available for the children. In doing so, the children develop a range of competencies that enable seamless transition to boarding high schools.