Secondary English in the Australian curriculum: Tasmanian teachers’ perceptions of implementation – a conceptual overview

Australian school curricula are currently being reformed with the nation-wide introduction of the Australian Curriculum, designed to bring national subject content and assessment standard conformity through the detailing of the “core knowledge, understanding, skills and general capabilities [that are deemed] important for all Australian students” (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2008). The reform and implementation of any curriculum requires well- structured planning, and at the school level, curriculum implementation requires the input of teachers – the frontline stakeholders. Research suggests that the implementation of a new curriculum requires concentrated support to ensure that teachers are able to work and progress through professional learning effectively (Mulford, 2008; Australian Curriculum Coalition, 2010). This chapter is presented in two parts: a discussion about the incoming Australian Curriculum: English, and an outline of a proposed qualitative case study that will examine English teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: English in Tasmania.

Exploration of the Australian Early Development Index for children with language backgrounds other than English

The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is a teacher-administered measure that indicates if children are starting school with the developmental capacity to take advantage of the school learning environment. A key question that arises for schools, communities, and policy makers is how valid the AEDI is for children from a Language Background Other Than English (LBOTE). This study investigated how adequately the AEDI captures the cultural variety of different behaviours and different ways of learning. The study also examined the cultural inclusivity and relevance of the AEDI materials (e.g., teacher training guidelines; administration manual). Ten focus groups (n=84) and various community consultations were conducted with early childhood education and development professionals, representing key service providers, and school personnel. The findings from these studies led to the following recommendations: For LBOTE children, the AEDI should ideally be completed in collaboration, for example, between the child’s teacher and a multicultural consultant. The teacher guidelines for the AEDI need to be enhanced with respect to issues pertaining to LBOTE children, and the AEDI should include additional domains, such as cultural competence and home based/first language skills. Finally, teacher preparation and the AEDI administration guidelines need to clarify and emphasize the intent of the AEDI.

A systematic review of how researchers characterize the school environment in determining its effect on student obesity

BACKGROUND: Obesity in early childhood is a robust predictor of obesity later in life. Schools provide unparalleled access to children and have subsequently become major intervention sites. However, empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of school-based interventions against childhood obesity is of limited scope and unknown quality. The aim of this systematic review is to critically assess how researchers have characterized the school environment in determining its effect on childhood weight status in order to improve the quality and consistency of research in this area. We conducted a narrative review with a systematic search of the literature in line with PRISMA guidelines (2009). Original peer-reviewed research articles in English were searched from Medline, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases from earliest record to January 2014. We included empirical research that reported at least one measure of the primary/elementary school environment and its relationship with at least one objective adiposity-related variable for students aged 4-12 years. Two authors independently extracted data on study design, school-level factors, student weight status, type of analysis and effect. RESULTS: Five studies met the inclusion criteria. Each study targeted different parts of the school environment and findings across the studies were not comparable. The instruments used to collect school-level data report no validity or reliability testing. CONCLUSIONS: Our review shows that researchers have used instruments of unknown quality to test if the school environment is a determinant of childhood obesity, which raises broader questions about the impact that schools can play in obesity prevention.

Is the frame broken? Seeking new metaphors for textual study in English

This article draws from a doctoral study of how female teachers design English curriculum around girls’ popular culture in a contemporary coeducational secondary setting and focuses on how English teachers contemplate the study of texts in the space of school-based curriculum planning. The article presents an argument for reflexivity around how we create both texts and identity through curriculum design; it advocates the pursuit of new metaphors for contemplating the study of text that might challenge models of education as delivery in a neoliberal imaginary, where curriculum design is depicted as the anonymous and rational articulation of aims and pedagogy to achieve outcomes.

Personality and English as a foreign language learning in Aceh: a sociocultural approach

 This study explores the reciprocal relationship between personality and foreign language classroom learning from sociocultural perspectives. The findings indicate that personality and previous life experience impacted on the participants’ responses to the classroom communicative events in complex ways. Self-development occurred depending on the way participants utilized events and social circumstances.

Folktales as a medium of teaching English: two primary schools in Solo, Indonesia

 The findings of this case study research showed that the use of Indonesian folktales in English translation along with its illustrations for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in two primary schools in Solo Indonesia seemed to be applicable in developing students’ EFL basic skills and students’ recognition of local cultural knowledge simultaneously.

Enhancing English language learners’ text understanding through metaphor awareness

 The study examined awareness of metaphor as a tool to enhance English language learners’ understanding of texts with embedded metaphors. Findings revealed that an enhanced awareness of metaphor, as indicated by greater use of the metalanguage of metaphor, longer turns conversation and reflective journals, helped them get deeper text meaning.

Attitudes to animal dilemmas: an exploratory comparison between Mexican and English children

This research explores some of the factors that influence the relations about empathy and /or rejection that children establish towards some animal species. The role that school has within the social context in these dynamics was considered. Attitudes of young children (aged 7 to 9) from Mexico and England towards specific animal species, examining attitudinal differences not only between cultures, and educational systems, but between species have been compared. Ecological dilemmas involving animals are used as a method to analyse children’s constructions of the environment in the field of moral development and conservation. Children expressed more negative attitudes towards spiders and snakes, than towards monkeys and birds. Although these attitudes in themselves are not surprising, the material in this study provides new information on how young children construct their moral ideas on conservation matters through the used of ecological dilemmas. Children’s reactions vary according to culture, experience, affiliation for a particular animal and school ethos.

The correlates of after-school sedentary behavior among children aged 5-18 years: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Children and adolescents spend a large proportion of the after-school period in sedentary behaviors (SB). Identifying context-specific correlates is important for informing strategies to reduce these behaviors. This paper systematically reviews the correlates of children's and adolescents' after-school SB.

METHODS: A computerized literature search was performed in October 2015 for peer-reviewed original research journal articles published in English before October 2015. Eligibility criteria included: 1) sample aged 5-18 years; 2) quantified the amount of SB or component of this that the children/adolescents were performing after school; 3) a measure of SB as the dependent outcome; and 4) the association between potential correlates and after-school SB.

RESULTS: Data were synthesized in October 2015. Thirty-one studies met the eligibility criteria: 22 studies among children (≤ 12 years), six among adolescents (>12 years), two had a combined sample of children and adolescents and one cohort followed children from childhood to adolescence. Findings were separated by after-school location i.e. after-school programs (n = 4 studies) and unidentified locations (n = 27). There was insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on all but two of the 58 potential correlates: sex and age. Among children at unidentified locations there was a null association between sex (male) and overall after-school SB, a null association between sex (male) and after-school TV viewing, a positive association between age and overall after-school SB and an inconsistent association between age and after-school TV viewing. No correlates of after-school sedentary behaviour while at after-school programs were identified.

CONCLUSIONS: Only two correlates have been investigated frequently enough to determine an overall association; neither correlate is modifiable. Due to the lack of consistent investigation of potential correlates, further evidence is required to accurately identify potential intervention targets.

English as an additional language teachers, policy enactments and intercultural understanding

The literature on policy enactment identifies the pivotal role played by school leaders and classroom teachers in response to attempts to implement reforms of current practices. An intersection of teachers’ personal and professional domains, such as enactment of National Curriculum priorities that identify intercultural understanding as a cross-curricular general capability embedded across learning areas, invests individual teachers’ attitudes and beliefs with additional significance. As local policy actors at the centre of this policy mix, teachers of EAL are presented with opportunities to play important roles in reconceptualising understandings of difference that resist categorisation and promote intercultural understanding. We argue that teachers’ beliefs and their attitudes to classroom linguistic and cultural diversity may be shaped significantly by their interaction with broader policy discourses, and that these are reflected in enactments—as opposed to implementations—of intercultural understanding policy in classrooms.

What influences urban Indian secondary school students' food consumption? - a qualitative study

Indian adolescents' over reliance on foods such as nutrient-poor snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages and take-away foods puts them at significant risk of obesity and several diet-related chronic diseases. Therefore, the factors that influence their dietary behaviours need to be better understood in order to develop effective nutrition promotion strategies. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to investigate adolescents', parents', teachers', and school principals' perceptions of the main influences on adolescent eating behaviours. Fifteen adolescents aged 14-15 years, 15 parents, 12 teachers and 10 principals from 10 private English-speaking schools in Kolkata, India, participated in semi-structured interviews. The digitally-recorded conversations were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. The 52 interviews revealed a number of factors that may influence adolescents' eating habits including parent and peer influences, home and school food environments, and the mass media. Emerging evidence suggests that future health and nutrition promotion interventions need to target the different influences on Indian teenagers' food consumption.

A systematic review of the prevalence of sedentary behavior during the after-school period among children aged 5-18 years

BACKGROUND: Independent of physical activity levels, youth sedentary behaviors (SB) have negative health outcomes. SB prevalence estimates during discretionary periods of the day (e.g., after-school), inform the need for targeted period-specific interventions. This systematic review aimed to determine children's and adolescents' SB prevalence during the after-school period.

METHODS: A computerized search was conducted in October 2015 (analysed November 2015). Inclusion criteria were: published in a peer-reviewed English journal; participants aged 5-18 years; measured overall after-school sedentary time (ST) objectively, and/or specific after-school SBs (e.g., TV viewing) objectively or subjectively; and provided the percentage of the after-school period spent in ST/SB or duration of behavior and period to calculate this. Where possible, findings were analyzed by location (e.g., after-school care/'other' locations). The PRISMA guidelines were followed.

RESULTS: Twenty-nine studies were included: 24 included children (≤12 years), four assessed adolescents (>12 years) and one included both; 20 assessed ST and nine assessed SB. On average, children spent 41% and 51% of the after-school period in ST when at after-school care and other locations respectively. Adolescents spent 57% of the after-school period in ST. SBs that children and adolescents perform include: TV viewing (20% of the period), non-screen based SB (including homework; 20%), screen-based SB (including TV viewing; 18%), homework/academics (13%), motorised transport (12%), social SB (9%), and screen-based SB (excluding TV viewing; 6%).

CONCLUSION: Children spent up to half of the after-school period in ST and this is higher among adolescents. A variety of screen- and non-screen based SBs are performed after school, providing key targets for interventions.

'A chart for further exploration and a kind of rallying call': James Moffett and english curriculum history in Victoria

Both James Britton and James Moffett were keynote speakers at the Sydney International Federation for the Teaching of English conference in 1980 - a fact reflective of the wide recognition and acceptance of their work and influence throughout Australia by that time. In Victoria, Moffett's writings became known initially through teacher education, in particular at the University of Melbourne and the State College of Victoria, Rusden, then through the visits and writing of figures from the London Institute and others, and through the State and national English teaching association, the Australian Association for the Teaching of English. In the 1970s, Moffett's influence in Victoria came rather through the mix of his vision and writing, both theoretical and practical, in conjunction with others in Australia and elsewhere. This paper takes two separate but related sites or moments in English education in the 1970s in the Australian city of Melbourne, Victoria, as instances of the permeating influence of Moffett's work - in conjunction with leading figures from the London School associated with the 'New' English' - on education discourses and practice in that State's English curriculum history. It concludes with a consideration of the ways in which Moffett's work might still act as a 'rallying call' today.