Postgraduate teachers' commitment to teach Aboriginal studies in Australian schools

This study was commissioned by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) under its Education Innovation Program (EIP). The project goals were supported by the NSW Teachers Federation, NSW Primary Principals' Association; NSW Department of Education and Training (NSW DET); NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc.; the Aboriginal Studies Association; and the Australian Council of Deans of Education. This paper presents the findings emanating from the qualitative component of the study. The qualitative component of this project followed and elaborated on the quantitative study which aimed to: a) critically evaluate the impact of preservice primary teacher education Aboriginal Studies courses on practising teachers' self-perceived abilities to appreciate, understand and effectively teach Aboriginal Studies, Aboriginal perspectives, and Aboriginal children in Australian schools; b) compare and contrast the self-perceptions of teachers who had undertaken a core or elective course in Aboriginal Studies in their initial teacher education course with the self-perceptions of teachers who had not undertaken such courses; c) characterise participating teachers' initial teacher education courses in relation to the Aboriginal Studies content covered; and d) identify teachers' perceptions of useful structure and content to consider including in future teacher education courses. The responses from telephone interviews with teachers in schools and responses to open-ended questions in surveys are discussed. The findings identify congruence and dissonance in the areas of: the contribution of preservice teacher education; benefits of preservice Aboriginal Studies for students in schools; the place of Aboriginal Studies in schools and the curriculum; Aboriginal Studies and student ethnicity; strategies for teaching Aboriginal Studies; and the content of preservice courses.

Assessing cost-effectiveness in obesity : active transport program for primary school children— TravelSMART schools curriculum program

Background: To assess from a societal perspective the cost-effectiveness of a school program to increase active transport in 10- to 11-year-old Australian children as an obesity prevention measure.
Methods: The TravelSMART Schools Curriculum program was modeled nationally for 2001 in terms of its impact on Body Mass Index (BMI) and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) measured against current practice. Cost offsets and DALY benefits were modeled until the eligible cohort reached age 100 or died. The intervention was qualitatively assessed against second stage filter criteria (‘equity,’ ‘strength of evidence,’ ‘acceptability to stakeholders,’ ‘feasibility of implementation,’ ‘sustainability,’ and ‘side-effects’) given their potential impact on funding decisions.
Results: The modeled intervention reached 267,700 children and cost $AUD13.3M (95% uncertainty interval [UI] $6.9M; $22.8M) per year. It resulted in an incremental saving of 890 (95%UI –540; 2,900) BMI units, which translated to 95 (95% UI –40; 230) DALYs and a net cost per DALY saved of $AUD117,000 (95% UI dominated; $1.06M).
Conclusions: The intervention was not cost-effective as an obesity prevention measure under base-run modeling assumptions. The attribution of some costs to nonobesity objectives would be justified given the program’s multiple benefits. Cost-effectiveness would be further improved by considering the wider school community impacts.

Leadership narratives : women leaders in independent schools, Victoria 2004-2008

This thesis investigates the professional work narratives of twelve women Junior Heads and the influence of dominant leadership discourses on shaping leadership identities. Leadership narratives reveal how power and agency are negotiated through discourses of paradox, idealism and dissent. These discourses were used by the women as positioning strategies to discursively navigate ambiguity and contradiction arising from the micro-politics of power relationships and gendered discourses within their situated practice.

Using action research to improve the quality of teaching in basic education in remote schools in PNG.

This paper discusses the use of action research with teachers in remote primary schools in PNG to provide sustainable professional learning to help improve the quality of schooling. It arises from an ADRA research project being undertaken by the authors. The paper describes the project’s research design and its implementation to investigate the introduction, implementation and feasibility of teachers using action research to solve their own problems related to providing basic education in remote communities. If successful, action research may prove to be an effective approach to sustaining professional learning communities in locations where traditional approaches and means of professional development are difficult or impossible to sustain.

The paper describes the research team’s approach to identifying and engaging schools in remote districts of Western and East Sepik provinces, surveying teachers in those districts about their professional learning needs and circumstances, identifying schools to trial action research, and to undertake the fieldwork to implement action research and to study its implementation. The teachers’ experiences with using action research are presented in the context of their particular research topics chosen for their school. To date, the findings suggest that teachers can use action research to help them improve the quality of the education they provide for children. However, the initiation and sustainability of such an action research approach is influenced by the capacities and commitment of head teachers and standards officers, in particular, valuing and understanding reflective practice and action research for professional learning in school communities.

Internationalising the curriculum in Australian schools

In the Australian educational context, the International Baccalaureate Diploma has had a measurable effect on both state and independent schools. This globally recognised international program has fostered and encouraged national curriculum innovation through standardization in assessment, criteria based reporting, content rich staff development and whole school change.

Interrogating the ethics of literacy intervention in Indigenous schools

Recognising that literacy is fundamental to the educational success of Indigenous students, this essay reviews current literacy intervention programs from a social justice perspective. It reveals the tension between policies and initiatives that have addressed the two key rights of Indigenous people – the right to access mainstream knowledge and language through the provision of empowering education and the right to sustain their own languages and cultures through culturally responsive education. In particular, the essay focuses on the National Accelerated Literacy Program (NALP) – a large-scale initiative supported by the former Liberal and the current Labour government in 2004-2008. A spin-off from NALP has been the formation of the Accelerated Literacy Consultants’ Network that provides professional development sessions in Accelerated Literacy and literacy education more broadly to teachers from Aboriginal Independent Community Schools across Australia. The essay questions the view of justice in the NALP’s theoretical and pedagogical design and its effects on teaching and learning in Aboriginal schools. The paper, then, discusses the primacy of ethics in literacy education in order to make it more hospitable and responsive to cultural-linguistic differences.

Parent participation in disadvantaged schools : moving beyond attributions of blame

Although facilitating community participation in disadvantaged schools can be difficult, this article argues that, given the structuring of schooling in contemporary western democracies, it is even more difficult than we might imagine. Drawing on Bourdieu, we attempt to elucidate the complex relations between schooling and socio·cultural contexts which can lead to inequalities of opportunity for parent participation in schooling and which work to maintain disadvantage for marginalised students. Recognitive justice, with its positive regard for social difference and centrality of social democratic processes, offers us another way of advancing this discussion beyond simplistic attributions of blame. In particular, a polities of recognition is concerned with opening up the processes of schooling to groups who often have been excluded. This article uses interview data from a small Australian secondary school located in a regional community with high welfare dependency and a large indigenous population.

Rethinking social justice in schools : how will we recognize it when we see it?

The dialogue of this paper operates at two levels. First, it seeks to rethink the various perspectives on social justice evident in the academic literature, reviewing what is collectively known about it and where current thinking is taking and/or should be taking us. Second, it reports on research concerning the schooling of students with disabilities or, more accurately, research concerning the practices of teachers in relation to the inclusion of students with disabilities within ‘mainstream’ classrooms. These two discussions come together through their collaborative interest in recognizing social justice when they ‘see’ it; the data from the research are used to inform the theory it illustrates and the theory is used to explain teachers' practices. In this critical sense it is more than a dialogue, with its parts dialectically related. The paper's critique also extends to questioning whose interests are served (and whose are not) by various social justice perspectives and their applications to schooling. It concludes that ‘a critical theory of social justice must consider not only distributive patterns, but also the processes and relationships that produce and reproduce those patterns’ (Young 1990: 241).

Schools and teachers supporting student open investigations

This paper draws on a study of the BHP Billiton Science Awards to explore the ways in which open investigation work occurs in schools. The research used interviews with teachers and students and state organisers to develop a picture of what happens on the ground in running student open investigations, and to trace how schools have built a culture of investigation. The paper explores how schools develop and maintain practices that effectively support students' engagement in open investigation work in Science.

Growing community : the impact of the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden program on the social and learning environment in primary schools

This article presents results from a mixed-method evaluation of a structured cooking and gardening program in Australian primary schools, focusing on program impacts on the social and learning environment of the school. In particular, we address the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program objective of providing a pleasurable experience that has a positive impact on student engagement, social connections, and confidence within and beyond the school gates. Primary evidence for the research question came from qualitative data collected from students, parents, teachers, volunteers, school principals, and specialist staff through interviews, focus groups, and participant observations. This was supported by analyses of quantitative data on child quality of life, cooperative behaviors, teacher perceptions of the school environment, and school-level educational outcome and absenteeism data. Results showed that some of the program attributes valued most highly by study participants included increased student engagement and confidence, opportunities for experiential and integrated learning, teamwork, building social skills, and connections and links between schools and their communities. In this analysis, quantitative findings failed to support findings from the primary analysis. Limitations as well as benefits of a mixed-methods approach to evaluation of complex community interventions are discussed.