Commentary : "Our reflections on identity, gender and transforming action"

This paper explores the cultural interplay between Indigenous women from one geographic locality being on and within the locality of the women of another locality – in this case, Whakatāne, Aotearoa. The authors consider identity, gender and place within the processes of transformation and decolonisation. They argue that women need to be involved in ways that restore their power as women and ensure their rightful place. The authors draw on the female ancestor Wairaka and her courage to argue that Indigenous women need to respond, change and adapt to the places in which they live. They argue that decolonisation needs to include action and possibilities for Māori and Indigenous Australian women.

Learning English in an English speaking world : examining opportunities for intercultural understandings and connectedness through representations of identities in English language textbooks

With the recognition that language both reflects and constructs culture and English now widely acknowledged as an international language, the cul-tural content of language teaching materials is now being problematised. Through a quantitative analysis, this chapter focuses on opportunities for intercultural understanding and connectedness through representations of the identities that appear in two leading English language textbooks. The analyses reveal that the textbooks orientate towards British and western identities with representations of people from non-European/non-Western backgrounds being notable for their absence, while others are hidden from view. Indeed there would appear to be a neocolonialist orientation in oper-ation in the textbooks, one that aligns English with the West. The chapter proposes arguments for the consideration of cultural diversity in English language teaching (ELT) textbook design, and promoting intercultural awareness and acknowledging the contexts in which English is now being used. It also offers ways that teachers can critically reflect on existing ELT materials and proposes arguments for including different varieties of Eng-lish in order to ensure a level of intercultural understanding and connect-edness.

L1 Learning Strategy Instruction does make a difference in EFL listening: An empirical study.

In language learning, listening is the basic skill which learners should begin to develop other skills, namely speaking, reading and writing. This sequence of language learning in most English as Foreign Language (EFL) settings goes against the stream, learning first reading and writing and later listening and speaking. This study investigates the effects of cognitive, process-based approach to instructing EFL listening strategies over 11 weeks during a semester in Persian (L1). Lower intermediate female participants (N = 50) came from a couple of EFL classrooms in an English Language Institute in Iran. The experimental group (n = 25) listened to their classroom activities using a methodology that led learners through four cognitive processes (guessing, making inference, identifying topics and repetition) in Persian was basically successful in EFL listening. The same teacher taught the control group (n = 25), which listened to the same classroom listening activities without any guided attention to the learning strategy process in Persian. A pre and post listening test made by a group of experts in the language institute tracked any development in light of cognitive learning strategy instruction in EFL listening through L1. The hypothesis was that the experimental group received the guided attention in L1 during the classroom listening activities made greater gains and was verified despite the partial improvement of the control group.

Reading students’ representations

Students’ text, symbols, and graphics give teachers a glimpse into mathematical thinking associated with investigating the Peas problem.

Are alphabetic language-derived models of L2 reading relevant to L1 logographic background readers?

In this paper, we argue that second language (L2) reading research, which has been informed by studies involving first language (L1) alphabetic English reading, may be less relevant to L2 readers with non-alphabetic reading backgrounds, such as Chinese readers with an L1 logographic (Chinese character) learning history. We provide both neuroanatomical and behavioural evidence from Chinese language reading studies to support our claims. The paper concludes with an argument outlining the need for a universal L2 reading model which can adequately account for readers with diverse L1 orthographic language learning histories.

The development of the graphics-decoding proficiency instrument

The Graphics-Decoding Proficiency (G-DP) instrument was developed as a screening test for the purpose of measuring students’ (aged 8-11 years) capacity to solve graphics-based mathematics tasks. These tasks include number lines, column graphs, maps and pie charts. The instrument was developed within a theoretical framework which highlights the various types of information graphics commonly presented to students in large-scale national and international assessments. The instrument provides researchers, classroom teachers and test designers with an assessment tool which measures students’ graphics decoding proficiency across and within five broad categories of information graphics. The instrument has implications for a number of stakeholders in an era where graphics have become an increasingly important way of representing information.

Learning to lead : a social justice perspective on understanding elementary teacher leadership in Papua New Guinea

Leadership in elementary education is currently recognized as a political imperative in Papua New Guinea (PNG), as the nation develops strategies towards equitable access to schooling. One recent initiative aimed at building educational leadership was an intensive Australian Leadership Award Fellowship (ALAF) program funded by AusAID, involving a group of 10 teacher trainers from PNG. As part their involvement participants completed self-authored journal entries at the beginning and end of the leadership program. Participants were also involved in focus groups after completion of the initiative. Referring to the experiences of these teacher trainers, this paper draws on Nancy Fraser’s (2005, 2008) social justice framework to examine participants’ views of what constituted effective leadership in elementary education in PNG and how these views may have changed throughout the ALAF program. Key findings of this study included participants’ emphasis on relationships and valuing people in elementary education leadership contexts, participants’ concern about economic/financial barriers to effective leadership in the PNG context and participants’ perception of research as a way to support leadership roles.

Extreme science and engineering : a higher education widening participation initiative at QUT

The QUT Extreme Science and Engineering program provides free hands-on workshops to schools, presented by scientists and engineers to students from prep to year 12 in their own classrooms. The workshops are tied to the school curriculum and give students access to professional quality instruments, helping to stimulate their interest in science and engineering, with the aim of generating a greater take up of STEM related subjects in the senior high school years. In addition to engaging students in activities, workshop presenters provide role models of both genders, helping to breakdown preconceived ideas of the type of person who becomes a scientist or engineer and demystifying the university experience. The Extreme Science and Engineering vans have been running for 10 years and as such demonstrate a sustainable and reproducible model for schools engagement. With funding provided through QUT’s Widening Participation Equity initiative (HEPPP funded) the vans which averaged 120 school visits each year has increased to 150+ visits in 2010. Additionally 100+ workshops (hands-on and career focused) have been presented to students from low socio-economic status schools, on the three QUT campuses in 2011. While this is designed as a long-term initiative the short term results have been very promising, with 3000 students attending the workshops in the first six months and teacher and students feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Australian children with special health care needs: Social-emotional and learning competencies in the early years

This study examined the relationship between special health care needs and social-emotional and learning competence in the early years, reporting on two waves of data from the Kindergarten Cohort of Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Six hundred and fifty children were identified through the 2-question Special Health Care Needs Screener as having special health care needs. Children with special health care needs were more likely to be male, to have been of low birth weight, to be taking prescription medications, to be diagnosed with a specific health condition and to be from families where the mother was less well educated. These children scored significantly lower on teacher-rated social-emotional and learning competencies prior to school compared to a control group of children without special health care needs. Multiple regression analyses indicated that being identified with a special health care need prior to school predicted lower social-emotional and learning competencies in the early years of school. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for policy and practice.

Resourcing Early Learners : New Networks, New Actors

The landscape of early childhood education and care is changing. Governments world-wide are assuming increasing authority in relation to child-rearing in the years before school entry, beyond the traditional role in assisting parents to do the best they can by their children. As part of a social agenda aimed at forming citizens well prepared to play an active part in a globalised knowledge economy, the idea of ‘early learning’ expresses the necessity of engaging caregivers right from the start of children’s lives. Nichols, Rowsell, Rainbird, and Nixon investigate this trend over three years, in two countries, and three contrasting regions, by setting themselves the task of tracing every service and agent offering resources under the banner of early learning. Far from a dry catalogue, the study involves in-depth ethnographic research in fascinating spaces such as a church-run centre for African refugee women and children, a state-of-the-art community library and an Australian country town. Included is an unprecedented inventory of an entire suburban mall. Richly visually documented, the study employs emerging methods such as Google-mapping to trace the travels of actual parents as they search for particular resources. Each chapter features a context investigated in this large, international study: the library, the mall, the clinic, and the church. The author team unravels new spaces and new networks at work in early childhood literacy and development.

Books, toys and tablets : playing and learning in the age of digital media

Introduction During a recent study of how parents source information about children‘s early learning, one of us made our first serious foray into a local store licensed to the global chain Toys'R' Us. While walking the aisles, closely observing layout, signage and stock, several things became obvious. Firstly, large numbers of toys were labeled'educational'. Secondly, many toys in that category were intended for children under the age of two years. These were further differentiated as intended for 'babies' or 'infants', and sub-categorized on packaging or shelving using even smaller age increments (e.g. 0-3 months, 12-18 months, and so on). Thirdly, many products were labeled as 'interactive' and 'learning' toys that promised to assist children‘s early learning and development. The activation of some of these toys relied on embedded computer chip technology and promised to 'connect' children with the home television, computer and the Internet. These products were hybrids between a toy and a platform for digital media interaction. Closer inspection of toy packaging and other promotional material suggested that industry had begun to invest heavily in developing highly differentiated children‘s markets for products that yoked together concepts of learning and development, the 'fun toy' that incorporates digital technology, and offline- and online participation. In this chapter we explore the growth of this contemporary cultural phenomenon that now connects books, toys and mobile digital media with children‘s play and learning.

Choosing work and care : four Australian women negotiating return to paid work in the first year of motherhood

Australian women make decisions about return to paid work and care for their child within a policy environment that presents mixed messages about maternal employment and child care standards. Against this background an investigation of first-time mothers’ decision-making about workforce participation and child care was undertaken. Four women were studied from pregnancy through the first postnatal year using interview and diary methods. Inductive analyses identified three themes, all focused on dimensions of family security: financial security relating to family income, emotional security relating to child care quality, and pragmatic security relating to child care access. The current policy changes that aim to increase child care quality standards in Australia present a positive step toward alleviating family insecurities but are insufficient to alleviate the evidently high levels of tension between workforce participation and family life experienced by women transitioning back into the workforce in Australia.

Evidence based practice

An integral part of teaching and a principle underpinning professional practice in the early years is the importance of reflecting on and researching our own practice. For example, in Australia, the Early Years Learning Framework: Belonging, Being and Becoming identifies “ongoing learning and reflective practice” (DEEWR, 2009, p. 13) as one of the five principles distilled from theories and research evidence that underpin professional practice in the early years. Recognising teaching as encompassing the role of researching pedagogical practice highlights that teaching is not simply practical or procedural but requires intellectual work. This chapter details evidence based practice (EBP) in early years education and highlights four questions: 1. What is evidence based practice?; 2. What evidence do I draw on?; 3. How might I discern relevant evidence?; and 4. What is my part in generating research evidence?

‘They get fed up with playing.’ Parents’ views on play-based learning in the Preparatory Year

Within early childhood education two ideas are firmly held: play is the best way for children to learn and parents are partners in the child’s learning. While these ideas have been explored, limited research to date has investigated the confluence of the two - how parents of young children view the concept of play. This paper investigates parents’ views on play by analysing the views of small group of parents of Prep Year children in Queensland, Australia. The parents in this study held varying definitions of what constitutes play, and complex and contradictory notions of its value. Positive views of play were linked to learning without knowing it, engaging in hands-on activities, and preparation for Year One through a strong focus on academic progress. Some parents held that Prep was play-based, while others did not. The complexities and diversity of parental opinion in this study echo the ongoing commentary about how play ought to be defined. Moreover, the notion that adults may interpret play in different ways is also reflected here. The authors suggest that for early childhood educators these complexities require an ongoing engagement, debate and reconceptualisation of the place of play in light of broader curricular and socio-political agendas.