Creating (in) capacity : teachers in globalized education policies

The relationship between education and globalization stands largely unexamined from teachers’ perspectives. By focusing on the teachers, as axiomatic to educational and pedagogical change, teachers feature in education policy and through their plight, the paper explores and challenges ideas that displacing teachers from input into educational reforms facilitates progressive implementation of new education. Demonstrating teachers' displacement from the policy making process becomes evident through the use of computer assisted qualitative research examining and drawing inference from textual evidence. Using text analysis focuses on teachers' work and how it is shaped and represented. On a policy continuum beginning from the policy makers and leading towards the policy takers, the way that teachers are represented in education policy demonstrates their limited capacity to influence policy making. By examining how teachers and their work are thus defined in macro policies, the intension is to raise concerns about the uncontested way that globalization driven educational reforms have entered the discourse of educational policy and the implications for educators. Educational policy advocates teachers’ critical role yet blurs teachers' participative capacity and leads towards the conclusion that policy obscures teachers’ agency in order to ensure that teachers are objects of policy rather than integral to policy making.

Practice chains of production and consumption : mediatized practices across social fields

The argument developed in this paper is that a focus on practice provides some resolutions to methodological problems facing Bourdieuian scholarship in education. In order to develop Bourdieu's work on practice to account for the interactions between practices, this paper presents a conceptualization of practice as chains of production and consumption. The first part of the paper reviews the account of practice offered by Bourdieu both embedded in practice games and as field effects. The second part of the paper introduces practice chains of production and consumption as a way to conceptualize practice by drawing on a case involving print journalists' involvement with policy makers over the course of an Australian policy review. The final section presents a discussion of this conceptualization and highlights the potential of the concept for further research in understanding the processes of educational policy development.

The mediatization of the knowledge based economy : an Australian field based account

This paper presents an empirical account of mediatization from a Bourdieuian perspective, based on the development of a number of new concepts, such as cross-field effects and the rescaling of such effects as linked to processes of globalization. Built on an Australian empirical case relating to educational policy and the knowledge based economy, this paper argues that mediatization can be understood in relation to the cross-field effects of different fields of journalism on subsequent fields, which have their genesis in forms of practice that cross different social fields. Specifically, the case analysis details interactions between the field of print journalism and the field of policy over the course of an Australian science capability review, chaired by the then chief scientist, Dr Robin Batterham, which led to Australia adopting a national version of the knowledge economy. The empirical case also leads us to consider the impact of both global and national fields of journalism on fields of educational policy in relation to mediatization.

The subjective wellbeing of high-school students : validating the personal wellbeing index—school children

The Personal Wellbeing Index—School Children (PWI-SC) is designed as a parallel form of the adult PWI-A, to measure subjective wellbeing. This study examines the psychometric properties of the PWI-SC. Data from 351 students, aged between 12 and 20 years, were collected by two independent studies over the years 2005–2006. Using the combined data, the results indicate good psychometric properties for the PWI-SC. It is also found that females have higher SWB but that both genders show an age-related decline in SWB from early to mid adolescence. Notably, School satisfaction meets the criteria for a new domain for the PWI-SC and should be considered for inclusion in a future revision of the scale. The use of the PWI-SC in schools can provide important information for the development of educational policy.

Standards-based accountability : reification, responsibility and the ethical subject

Over the last two decades, teachers in Australia have witnessed multiple incarnations of the idea of ‘educational accountability’ and its enactment. Research into this phenomenon of educational policy and practice has revealed various layers of the concept, particularly its professional, bureaucratic, political and cultural dimensions that are central to the restructuring of educational governance and the reorganization of teachers’ work. Today, accountability constitutes a core concept of neoliberal policy-making in education, both fashioning and normalizing what counts as teacher professionalism in the ‘audit society.’ This article focuses specifically on the recent introduction by the Australian Federal Government of standardised literacy testing in all states across Australia, and raises questions about the impact of this reform on the work practices of English literacy teachers in primary and secondary schools. We draw on data collected as part of a major research project funded by the Australian Research Council, involving interviews with teachers about their experiences of implementing standardised testing. The article traces the ways in which teachers’ work is increasingly being mediated by standardised literacy testing to show how these teachers grapple with the tensions between state-wide mandates and a sense of their professional responsibility for their students.

Teaching secondary school mathematics : research and practice for the 21st century

For the last decade or so, educational policy makers and researchers in many countries have been calling for significant changes to the way mathematics is taught in secondary schools. Australian mathematics curriculum documents now promote learning goals that go beyond mastery of a pre-determined body of knowledge and procedures - the traditional emphasis on facts, skills, formulae - to include mathematical reasoning and problem solving, communication, and real world applications. There is also pressure to move away from over-reliance on teacher-centred practices such as exposition and individual seatwork, towards activities that promote learners' involvement in constructing, applying, and evaluating mathematical ideas. Further impetus for reform comes from research recommending that if learners are to develop mathematically powerful forms of thinking and habits of mind, then classrooms should immerse them in the authentic practices of the discipline by supporting a culture of collaboration and sense-making. Teaching Secondary School Mathematics - incorporates recent developments in research and practice and applications to teaching mathematics in Australian secondary schools. Covering such areas as curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; teaching mathematical content; equity and diversity in the classroom; and professional and community engagement, it is an invaluable resource for all practising and pre-service mathematics teachers.

Closing the emergency facility: Moving schools from literacy triage to better literacy outcomes

This article focuses on the tensions between national and international testing, educational policy and professionalism for middle school English teachers. I argue that state and federal government(s) are responding to the impact of Australia's falling results on the international testing in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) through the usage of their own testing program, the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The publication of NAPLAN results on the MySchool website in a searchable and comparable form has been detrimental to many schools and has pushed these schools into "emergency mode", as they struggle to improve their scores. At the same time, the results from recent PISA examinations reveal extensive inequities in educational outcomes across Australia, as well as some consistent general trends in the Australian data. I use the metaphor of the hospital emergency department to explore this situation. Drawing on Sahlberg's (2011) notion of the Global Educational Reform Movement (GERM), I explore this metaphor becoming a pandemic. I draw on Gillborn and Youdell's (2000) usage of educational triage and cast different and multiple educational professionals playing the role of the triage nurse-the alternate federal and state government education ministers responding to international and state test results in triage; and principals of poor performing schools operating their school as though it is an emergency department; poor literacy results triaged Code Red receiving immediate focus and attention, but "treated" in terms of immediate survival and a focus on basic skills. I argue that the international testing provides better markers for how we are doing as a nation, and what might be done to improve our international standing with respect to our literacy scores. I argue that true gains in literacy and the development of more complex literacy skills are not made through triaging literacy through an emergency department, but through a long-term focus on school redesign.

Innovating from the inside: teacher influence and the 'promisingness' of digital learning environments

In line with global trends, Australian educational policy emphatically recognises the need for contemporary learners to be digitally literate, with provision of 'one-to-one' devices to individual learners in schools a major implementation strategy. However, without teacher commitment, the benefits of such investment in one-to-one programs are undermined and the devices themselves are under-utilised. Too often, the focus on hardware is not accompanied by insight into the organisational learning and change required in pedagogical practices. In the knowledge that curriculum and pedagogical renewal rests squarely with teachers and leaders rather than with technological hardware and software per se, this article draws on outcomes/findings from a school/university ethnographic collaboration which closely explored the introduction of a school-funded, one-to-one netbook program in a school excluded from a state-wide initiative. It seeks to make visible the often overlooked work of teachers as members of learning organisations through a narrative of change. The narrative focuses on teacher agency and capacity to mobilise a school community to commit to a vision of; no-blame risk taking; collective professional learning; the power of purpose and passion; leadership in the face of government practice which disempowered teachers and disadvantaged students; and the development of an innovation 'from the inside'.

Mobile teachers, teacher identity and international schooling

Mobile Teachers, Teacher Identity and International Schooling focuses on the increased mobility of teachers and curriculum and what it means for the expansion of international schooling. In the early 21st century, educational institutions have been transformed by technological innovation and global interconnectivity. The demographic, ideological, economic and cultural flows that integrate local and global interconnections have consequences for the ways in which educational policy, theories and practice can be understood and take place locally. The everyday lives of practitioners, parents and students; the institutions in which they are educated and work; and the sociocultural and ideological contexts in which they work, are all consequently changing. The manifestation of these changes – as evident in the work and lives of teachers within specific cultural contexts and education systems; in their implications for educational theory and methodology; and their consequences for policy, programs, practice and research in education – are the focus of this book.This book explores the mobility of curriculum, pedagogies, ideas and people that represent and mediate the impact of Global uneven flows and movements through, in, and for school education, and the concepts and practices which frame that transformation. The particular focus of the book is on how these flows inform the ways individuals negotiate their identities, cultures and languages in different national and educational contexts. Education systems and the educational experiences offered by schools are being reconfigured due to multiple pressures. What do these moves to mobilise and to work transnationally mean in terms of educational provision, possibilities and practice?

Improving schools: productive tensions between the local, the systemic and the global

This unique book explores school improvement policy – from its translation into national contexts and school networks to its implementation in leader and teacher practices in individual schools and classrooms within this network of schools and its impact on students’ learning. It draws on multiple conceptual and theoretical resources to explore the complexities attached to a school improvement process in a network of schools in Australia. These conceptual and theoretical resources include discourse, practice, representation and network, concepts common to both policy research as well as studies of leadership and classroom practice. They lead to a more detailed understanding of the intersections between educational policy and intervention processes, and the complex reality of school processes and teaching practices. In the book we trace the implementation of school improvement policies through its multiple phases, levels and contexts. Our data-collection and analysis methods draw on a variety of perspectives in the way different players perceive their roles and the nature of the initiative and the ways in which these intersect. The research findings are used to seek productive approaches to school improvement that combine policy integrity with local flexibility. The book contributes to the school improvement literature through its exploration of tensions between global and systemic settings and local practices and histories.

The graduate teacher workforce: shaping teacher quality

This paper presents findings from an Australian large-scale longitudinal study designed to generate an evidentiary basis for policy decisions regarding teacher education and beginning teaching. The Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education (SETE) study investigated the career progression of graduate teachers from teacher education into teaching employment, tracking their perceptions over time on the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher education programs and their experience of beginning teaching. This paper examines notions of ‘preparedness’ and ‘effectiveness’ during the first years of teaching. We think of preparedness and effectiveness in terms of the graduate teachers’ attitudes and beliefs (Löfström & Poom-Valickis, 2013) about their own preparedness and effectiveness in relation to context (Alton-Lee, 2003) and personal qualities and variables (Beijaard, Verloop, & Vermunt, 2000). The findings support the established view that learning to teach is a continuum involving initial teacher education, induction into the profession and then ongoing professional learning and development (e.g. Conway, Murphy, Rath, & Hall, 2009; Putnam & Borko, 2000). But SETE data shows that this is not linear and that preparedness and effectiveness are not related in ways commonly reflected in the storylines of teacher education entrenched in the schooling and educational policy discourses in Australia. The longitudinal components of the quantitative and qualitative data highlight graduate teachers’ changing perspectives on the effectiveness of their teacher education in preparing them for the diverse contexts in which they begin teaching and their sense of effectiveness as beginning teachers. In respect to thinking about ‘being prepared’ and ‘being effective’, this study furthers the international debate on what matters in the field of teacher education and teacher education research.

Prosper: A new framework for positive education

Positive psychology is the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to optimal flourishing in people, groups and organisations. This paper outlines the PROSPER framework, an organising tool for the implementation of Positive Education, a relatively new direction which represents the application of Positive Psychology research to educational contexts. The word ‘PROSPER’ communicates the purpose of the framework and is also an acronym that highlights the seven key elements that have been identified as contributing to wellbeing: Positivity, Relationships, Outcomes, Strengths, Purpose, Engagement, and Resilience. Confirmatory data on the usefulness of the PROSPER framework, obtained through surveys conducted with researchers from the Institute of Positive Psychology and Education (ACU) and fifty-four educators from four different schools, is presented and discussed. A rationale for the inclusion of the seven components is provided and the PROSPER framework is then further supported by reference to the evidence-informed school and classroom practices that contribute to student wellbeing and achievement and help to build schools as enabling institutions.

International student mobility and its impact on the Australian private VET sector

In recent years governments have legitimated neoliberal educational policy reforms such as the internationalization and commercialization of education through mobilising the discourses of globalization and the knowledge economy. In Australia for instance, a raft of policy initiatives over the last two and a half decades (beginning in the early 1990s) targeted full-fee paying international students prompting a surge in international student enrolments and a burgeoning private vocational education and training (VET) sector for international students. Drawing on a study of situated realities influencing international students in private VET providers in Melbourne Australia, this chapter analyses, from training managers’ and quality assurance auditors’ perspectives, the impact of international student mobility on the private VET sector. The chapter also utilises the notion of social structure as systems of human relations amongst social positions to examine how international student mobility has led to shifts in VET manager and quality assurance auditors’ perceptions and practices outside the boundaries of the education sector, particularly how private VET providers and international students are represented. In this instance by reforming the VET sector, governments change conventional characteristics through which people relate and the relationships that bind them with intended and unintended consequences. The findings suggest that whilst VET policy posits an easy and ready association between the needs of capital and the development of the workforce, this association is highly contestable and problematic as it can lead to negative student learning outcomes.

Inclusive schooling policy : an educational detective story?

Since the publication of the Salamanca statement (UNESCO 1994), inclusive schooling has formed a growing part of the deliberations of the special education community. Inclusive schooling research in Australia in the main continues to reproduce traditions of the special education field, emphasising the dominant psychological perspectives that have been superimposed on inclusive education discourses. At the fifth International Congress of Special Education (ISEC 2000) held in Manchester, ‘the death knell of the concept of special education’ (ISEC 2000) was announced. The concept proposed by Mike Oliver, Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Greenwich, asserts an end to understandings of diversity dependent on medical, psychological and charity-based discourses. From a recent study of inclusive schooling policy, and drawing from poststructuralist methodology, I suggest an approach to research, policy development and practice that questions traditionalist theorising in the special education field. Reflecting on the implementation of the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities Policy (DECCD 1995) in the Tasmanian government school system, I outline my alignment with Oliver’s view and highlight how questions of epistemology and reconstructions of research methodologies are central to rethinking understandings of difference. I also illustrate a methodological orientation that offers possibilities for a different science to take place, thereby understanding diversity as multiple and contradictory – and beyond the single ‘detective story’ (Gough 1998) of the medical, psychological and charity-based discourses that circulate in schools as the populist conceptions of ‘inclusion’.

Is it only 'what works' that 'counts' in new knowledge economies? Evidence-based practice, educational research and teacher education in Australia

Recent texts on globalisation and education policy refer to the rapid flow of education policy texts producing or responding to common trends across nation states with the emergence of new knowledge economies. These educational policies are shaping what counts as research and the dynamics between research, policy, and practice in schools, creating new types of relationships between universities, the public, the professions, government, and industry. The trend to evidence-based policy and practice in Australian schools is used to identify key issues within wider debates about the ‘usefulness’ of educational research and the role of universities and university-based research in education in new knowledge economies.