Engaging teachers : towards a radical democratic agenda for schooling

Engaging Teachers' makes a deliberate attempt to reclaim the education discourse captured by new right politics and connect it with a radical democratic agenda for schooling. On its agenda are education markets, policy, leadership, professionalism, and communities. Engaging with these is conceived on at least two levels. First, as an invitation to teachers to become involved in reconstructing schooling for socially just purposes and in democratic ways. From this perspective, the politics of engagement is not simply a matter of acquiescence or resistance but is informed by a commitment to generate alternatives: teachers, parents and students making things happen rather than having things done to them. Also signalled is an intent to work collectively, exploring and acting on common interests and across uncommon ground. Second, the book also celebrates teachers engaging in these reconstructive efforts in attractive and meaningful ways. The attraction is decisions about schooling made by those they affect as well as decisions that are meaningful because they engage the interests of all.

Democratic educational leadership in contemporary times

This article seeks to identify the economic and social conditions confronting officially designated education leaders and to set out the parameters for how they might respond. Specifically, it suggests that education leaders are currently faced with changing bases of social cohesion, changing instruments of (economic) control and changing forms of organisation. Informed by these changing conditions and by a recognitive view of social justice (Young 1990; Gale and Densmore 2000), the article makes a case for educational leadership that is characterised by distinctly democratic directions and influences. In particular, democratic leaders are seen as those that enable the formation of social, learning and culturally responsive public educational institutions, in part by enabling contextually-specific struggles to determine what is needed, and by developing a politically informed commitment to justice for all.

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.

UnAustralian values

The 9 Australian Values promoted in the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools have been developed with emphasis on valuing cultural and religious diversity, tolerance and inclusion. The document states:

These shared values such as respect and ‘fair go’ are part of Australia’s common democratic way of life, which includes equality, freedom and the rule of law. They reflect our commitment to a multicultural and environmentally sustainable society where all are entitled to justice (DEST, 2005:4).

It would follow that UnAustralian Values of exclusion, ignorance, disrespect and dishonesty, synonymous with a resurgence of narrow nationalism and intolerance for cultural and religious diversity, are in conflict with Australian Values. However many public figures seem to have confused UnAustralian with Australian Values and the socalled ‘Values Debate’ has largely ignored the actual content of the 9 Australian Values promoted in the National Framework for Values Education. Something is amiss in UnAustralia. This paper aims to examine this discrepancy.

Developing a culturally-specific peace curriculum for Vietnamese primary schools : a case study of participatory action research in cross-cultural design

In 2003 the International Conflict Resolution Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia, produced a primary school teaching manual for UNESCO Vietnam in consultation with ASP schoolteachers and principals. The finished manual included lessons plans and materials for a five year, 50 lesson peace education course. The Manual is one of the first examples of a systematic core national curriculum in peace education worldwide.

Development of the Teaching Manual posed a number of challenges including differences in language, culture, government and education system. To meet these challenges, a Participatory Action Research approach was central in the project’s development and curriculum design. This case study is offered as a model for effective cross-cultural curriculum development of peace education materials. In particular, the creation of a systematic core course in peace education and the use of UNESCO’s peace keys are outlined as innovative aspects of the project.