EFL teachers' professional dilemmas with moral curriculum reform in Indonesia

This project explored how EFL teachers working in different sectors in Indonesia experienced moral education reform. Teachers working in either state schools or Islamic private schools were interviewed and their classes were observed. The thesis indicated that systemic investment in teachers' professionalism contributed to teachers' emerging dilemmas and their resolutions. Teachers in the better resourced state sector reported more dilemmas related to the implementation of the reform and resolved these dilemmas by using professional judgement, while teachers in the less resourced sector reported dilemmas related to their context and failed to implement the curriculum.

NAPLAN, achievement gaps and embedding Indigenous perspectives in schooling: Disrupting the decolonial option

In 2004, the Queensland State Government rolled out the Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Schooling (EATSIPS) program. The policy was relaunched in 2009. This initiative aimed to improve Indigenous student learning outcomes, improve relationships between schools and Indigenous communities, and to develop a deeper understanding and respect for traditional and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures amongst all students (EATSIPS 2011: 13). We are interested in the social justice possibilities of EATSIPS and its potential contribution to Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. We are also interested in whether schooling practices informed by EAT-SIPS could reflect decolonising opportunities. This point is illustrated by the fact that, from 2009, it was mandatory for all state-school teachers to undergo professional development in EATSIPS, and all state schools underwent an EATSIPS audit of their policy, curriculum and pedagogical practices...

The political economy of food in schools : the case of Queensland State education

Food in schools is typically understood from a biomedical perspective. At practical, ideational and material levels, whether addressed pedagogically or bureaucratically, food in schools is generally considered from a natural sciences perspective. This perspective manifests as the bioenergetic principle of energy in versus energy out and appears in policy focused on issues such as obesity and physical activity. Despite the considerable literature on the sociology of food and eating, little is understood about food in schools from a sociological perspective. This oversight of one of the most fundamental requirements of the human condition--namely, food--should be of concern for educators. Investigating food through a political economy lens means understanding food in schools as part of broader economic, political, social and cultural conditions. Hence, a political economy of food and schooling is concerned with the formation of ideas about food relative to political, economic, and cultural ideologies in social practice. From a critical sociology study of food messages students receive in the primary school curriculum, this paper reports on some of the official food messages of an Australian state's education policy, as a case to highlight the current political economy of food in Australia. It examines the role of the corporate food industry in the formation of Australian food policy and how that policy created artefacts infused with competing messages. The paper highlights how food and nutrition policy moved from solely a health concern to incorporate an economic dimension and links that shift with the quality of food available in Queensland schools.

Engaging with the promises of education : African refugee students in Australian secondary schools

The research reported in this paper investigated the engagement of students who arrived in Australian secondary schools as refugees from Africa. Enrolment of large cohorts of refugees from Africa is a relatively new phenomenon in the English-speaking West. The literature provides evidence that emotional engagement with the promises of schooling is strong for many of the young African refugees. Students envision successful professional careers as doctors, engineers, lawyers, and IT experts; they envision returning to their country as professionals able to help the people. The question investigated in this paper is: How does schooling in Australia impact on young African refugees’ education and career aspirations? Engagement is understood in Bourdieuian terms as dispositions to be and to become an educated person. This is a disposition which entails fundamental belief in the value of the stakes of schooling. The data analysed in the paper were produced in a study undertaken in the state of Queensland where 5000 of the 39 000 African refugees who have arrived in Australia since 2000 have settled. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students and their parents and teachers after arrival in an intensive language school, and then after transition to a regular secondary school. The findings show both the durability and malleability of educational dispositions in conditions of dramatic social change occasioned by refugee experience. Engagement in the stakes of schooling is both built and eroded as students flee their homelands for countries of refuge. Previously unimaginable educational dreams are possible for some; but for others, long-held dreams become unattainable. The paper concludes with recommendations for better supporting young people through this re-shaping of self.

Comprehension as social and intellectual practice : rebuilding curriculum in low socioeconomic and cultural minority schools

This article reframes the concept of comprehension as a social and intellectual practice. It reviews current approaches to reading instruction for linguistically and culturally diverse and low socioeconomic students, noting an emphasis on comprehension as autonomous skills. The Four Resources model (Freebody & Luke, 1990) is used to make the case for the integration of comprehension instruction with an emphasis on student cultural and community knowledge, and substantive intellectual and sociocultural content in elementary school curricula. Illustrations are drawn from research underway on the teaching of literacy in primary schools in low SES communities.

Cultivating teachers’ beliefs, knowledge and skills for leading change in schools

Australian policy initiatives and state curriculum reform efforts affirm a commitment to address student disengagement through the development of inclusive school environments, curriculum, and pedagogy. This paper, drawing on critical social theory, describes three Australian projects that support the cultivation of teachers’ beliefs, knowledge and skills for critical reflection and leading change in schools. The first project reports on the valued ethics that emerged in pre-service teacher reflections about a Service-learning Program at a university in Queensland. The second project reports on a school-based collaborative inquiry approach to professional development with a focus on literacy practices. The final project reports on an initiative in another university in Victoria, to operationalise pedagogical change and curriculum renewal in Victoria, through the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PoLT). These case studies illustrate how critical reflection and development of beliefs, knowledge and skills can be acquired to better meet the needs of schools.

Enabling 21st century learning spaces : practical interpretations of the MCEETYA Learning Spaces Framework at Bounty Boulevard State School, Queensland, Australia

While the Queensland and Australian Governments have recognised the importance of new spaces for teaching and learning, particularly with the Rudd Government's Building the Education Revolution, the practical implementation of new spaces is largely left to schools and even individual teachers. This article proposes a theory for the consideration of 21st century learning spaces in relation to the learner, desired knowledge and understanding, digital technology and digital pedagogy. New and emerging learning spaces at Bounty Boulevard State School are analysed and critiqued through an analysis of the guiding principles offered by the 'Learning in an Online World: Learning Spaces Framework' (MCEETYA, 2008) publication, including flexibility, inclusivity, collaboration, creativity and efficiency. The argument put forward in this article is that 21st century learning spaces can be enabled while acknowledging barriers of resourcing and current ICT infrastructure.

A case of intention deficit disorder? ICT policy, disadvantaged schools, and leaders

Since the mid-1990s, government policies in the USA, Canada, England, and Australia have promoted the need to produce an ICT skilled workforce in order to ensure national competitiveness in globalised economic conditions. In this article, we examine the ways in which these policy intentions in 1 state in Australia were translated into a techno-determinist and technocentric plan which focused primarily on getting wired up and connected. We summarise the findings from 2 projects: an investigation of a state-wide principals' professional development programme and an action research study investigating literacy, educational disadvantage, and information technologies. We found significant differences in the distribution of the physical and human capabilities between schools which made the task of engaging with ICT harder for some than others. Nevertheless, we suggest that some school leaders did develop innovative practice. We suggest that policy deficits made it difficult for school leaders to grapple with the dimensions of and debates about the kinds of educational changes that schools and school systems should be making. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.

Where does it say I have to do that? How can secondary schools enact assessment policy for students with disabilities

This paper describes effective ways secondary school leaders can enact curriculum policy, particularly assessment practices, to support learning for students with disabilities in mainstream schools. Assessment for learning (AfL) as a pedagogic practice, has gained recent importance through inclusion in curriculum policy in Queensland, Australia. AfL is the frequent assessment of student progress that identifies learning needs and informs future teaching and learning. Assessment of student progress of the standards based curriculum has provided challenges for schools attempting to meet the needs of “all” learners. This paper highlights findings of a small case study to model successful leadership practices used in an inclusive secondary school to improve achievement of students with disabilities through assessment. Successful leadership practices that can be generalized to improve achievement of all learners include making sense of policy for staff; developing staff common and shared beliefs and actions; organizing professional learning opportunities and arranging collaborative curriculum planning and co-teaching.

Indigenous studies in all schools

Cherbourg State School is approximately 300 km northwest of Brisbane. It is situated in an Aboriginal community at Cherbourg with approximately 250 students. At the Cherbourg State School, the aim was to generate good academic outcomes for all students from kindergarten to Year 7 and to nurture a strong and positive sense of what it means to be Aboriginal in today's society. In this paper, I will discuss modernism and postmodernism in indigenous studies and how this has impacted on the design and development of the Indigenous Studies Programme at the Cherbourg State School. The programme was designed to provide students with the opportunity to learn about the history of Indigenous people from Indigenous voices and provide an understanding of the impact of invasion and the consequences on the lives of Indigenous people, in the past and present. The stories from the elders and members of their own community provided knowledge that allowed students to challenge Aboriginal identity by taking on existing perceptions so that they could be better processed and understood.

Exceptional teachers for disadvantaged schools

A major issue facing Australia is addressing an education system that OECD’s data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show is of high quality, but low equity. In other words, while Australian schools score relatively high in terms of international benchmarks related to quality, the same cannot be said in relation to indicators of social background or socioeconomic status (SES). The federal and state responses to this dilemma can be found in a coordinated national agenda targeting social inclusion. Two key policy areas within this agenda relate directly to the Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools Project (ETDS). These are the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP) and the National Partnership Agreements on Low Socio-economic Status School Communities and Improving Teacher Quality.

Front page schools, back page schools : a case study of factors perceived to affect academic performance in five Papua New Guinea secondary schools

Papua New Guinea has reformed its colonial established education system and made huge investments with the help of donors to achieve equal access and quality education for all its citizens. Despite this national aspiration and these policy reforms and investments, secondary schools that enrol grade 9 students who are relatively equal in education ability show huge disparities in their grade 10 academic performances. This study examined perceptions of students, teachers and principals regarding factors affecting the disparity in academic performance in the context of a developing country. The central question for the study is: What are the perceptions of students and teachers of the factors that affect disparities in secondary schools' academic performance? This qualitative case study involved two high and three low academic performing secondary schools in Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Primary data were collected through focus groups and semi-structured interviews involving 112 participants. Students and teachers are key participants in this study, as it intends to find out the realities of schools, yet they are an under-researched group. A postcolonial and sense of community conceptual framework was developed for the analysis of the participants. perceptions. In addition, scholarship on school effectiveness and equity in education informed the interpretation of the findings. Three themes were evident in participants. views. First, participants expressed their view that differences in academic performance were related to the adequacy and equitability of resources. The inequities in resource inputs led some of them to coin the metaphor of .back page and front page. schools. Second, many expressed the view that deficiencies in implementing bilingual education, given the difficulty of catering for 800 vernacular languages, contribute to poor English proficiency and subsequent poor academic performance. Finally, participants believed that, in order to have a positive school culture, it is necessary for educators to recognise and respect contemporary students. identities, communal/tribal membership and needs. This study has implications for national education policy on resource allocation to address equality and equity, bilingual education and teacher education. Moreover, as the study found that high academic performance in this context is also influenced by intra-school social relationships, these relationships need to be nurtured. When appropriately nurtured, they become an important factor in sustaining quality education for all secondary school students. This thesis has laid the foundations for further research and invites further investigations into policy and implementation of school reforms aimed at improving academic achievement.

Strengthening Australia's schools through corporate federalism?

The federal policy document, 'Strengthening Australia's Schools' (SAS), signified a new approach to commonwealth-state relations in schooling policy making--corporate federalism. Corporate federalism extended the application of neocorporatist strategies for managing and responding to crisis (here, in particular, Australia's worsening national and international economic situation) from the private to the public sector. The paper documents and evaluates the rationale for corporate federalism in SAS. Some possible future developments within federalism and schooling policy are also considered.

The inclusion lottery : who's in and who's out? Tracking inclusion and exclusion in New South Wales government schools

The last few decades have witnessed a broad international movement towards the development of inclusive schools through targeted special education funding and resourcing policies. Student placement statistics are often used as a barometer of policy success but they may also be an indication of system change. In this paper, trends in student enrolments from the Australian state of New South Wales are considered in an effort to understand what effect inclusive education has had in this particular region of the world.