Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. This project aims to inform strategies to better attract, prepare, recognise, support and retain a high quality workforce, by investigating the complexity of early childhood educators’ work. Seemingly entrenched workforce shortages threaten the objectives that governments and families seek through investment in early childhood education. Popular imag ....Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. This project aims to inform strategies to better attract, prepare, recognise, support and retain a high quality workforce, by investigating the complexity of early childhood educators’ work. Seemingly entrenched workforce shortages threaten the objectives that governments and families seek through investment in early childhood education. Popular images of work with young children as easy and instinctual, or of teaching as only school based, mislead potential workforce entrants and erode the status of educators, leading to attrition. This project’s audit and description of exemplary educators’ work, across each level of mandated qualification, will inform strategies to sustain a high quality early childhood workforce into the future.Read moreRead less
Research capacity-building: the development of Australian PhD programs in national and emerging global contexts. PhD programs in universities are the principal means by which new researchers are prepared for work in the knowledge economy. This project develops a comprehensive coded database of every PhD awarded in Australia since the first programs in the 1940s. It the will study fourteen different PhD programs that have developed during this period in four universities. The project focuses on ....Research capacity-building: the development of Australian PhD programs in national and emerging global contexts. PhD programs in universities are the principal means by which new researchers are prepared for work in the knowledge economy. This project develops a comprehensive coded database of every PhD awarded in Australia since the first programs in the 1940s. It the will study fourteen different PhD programs that have developed during this period in four universities. The project focuses on how these programs develop research capacity within disciplines and how these are related to the changing social, cultural and economic needs of Australia. The project will assist in planning future PhD programs and research capacity development.Read moreRead less
Assessing new learning spaces: learning, governance and outcomes. Supporting learning amongst 'at risk' individuals is an urgent global challenge, given changes in work and society. New learning spaces are emerging in response. They target the 30% of Australians not served by traditional education and training. New learning spaces are based in social partnerships. They offer distinctive learning relationships, and scope for localised governance and decision-making. They promise enhanced life cha ....Assessing new learning spaces: learning, governance and outcomes. Supporting learning amongst 'at risk' individuals is an urgent global challenge, given changes in work and society. New learning spaces are emerging in response. They target the 30% of Australians not served by traditional education and training. New learning spaces are based in social partnerships. They offer distinctive learning relationships, and scope for localised governance and decision-making. They promise enhanced life chances for individuals and improved community-building. This project will (1) build theory to understand new learning spaces; (2) document how they reshape learning relations and practices; and (3) assess claims that they improve learning, governance and outcomes.Read moreRead less
Improving Regional Low SES Students' Learning and Wellbeing. This study aims to address the learning and wellbeing needs of over 7000 predominantly low socio-economic status students in regional Australia by researching the conditions that enable refinement and extension of a successful curricular and wellbeing program. The current low educational performance of this student cohort has significant negative effects on individual employment prospects and broader national productivity. Their under- ....Improving Regional Low SES Students' Learning and Wellbeing. This study aims to address the learning and wellbeing needs of over 7000 predominantly low socio-economic status students in regional Australia by researching the conditions that enable refinement and extension of a successful curricular and wellbeing program. The current low educational performance of this student cohort has significant negative effects on individual employment prospects and broader national productivity. Their under-achievement and disengagement from schooling also contribute to many antisocial, harmful short-and long-term outcomes for individuals, with significant health and other costs to the broader community. Outcomes from the project have the potential to improve these current outcomes and to be applicable to similar settings.Read moreRead less
Working students: reconceptualising the doctoral experience. Doctoral education is traditionally conceptualised in policies and practices as about young, full-time students with no work or related commitments. However, nowadays, doctoral candidates constitute a diverse population working in various institutional, community and industry sites. Government, universities and students' associations need to reconceptualise contemporary doctoral candidates' working relationships to enhance doctoral edu ....Working students: reconceptualising the doctoral experience. Doctoral education is traditionally conceptualised in policies and practices as about young, full-time students with no work or related commitments. However, nowadays, doctoral candidates constitute a diverse population working in various institutional, community and industry sites. Government, universities and students' associations need to reconceptualise contemporary doctoral candidates' working relationships to enhance doctoral education and to realise its full potential in society. Using quantitative and qualitative approaches, the project breaks new ground through two related comprehensive and systematic studies of the doctoral-working experiences of full-time and part-time students. It will generate new conceptual frameworks, and tools for data collection and analysis.Read moreRead less
Examining play-based approaches to teaching and learning in early childhood education and care. Children's learning in pre-school settings is important to their current and later educational success. This project offers a significant opportunity to examine how teachers teach, and children learn, through different approaches to play. It is anticipated that the conceptually-sustaining approach to play will support children's learning outcomes more so than other forms of play. Knowing about this ap ....Examining play-based approaches to teaching and learning in early childhood education and care. Children's learning in pre-school settings is important to their current and later educational success. This project offers a significant opportunity to examine how teachers teach, and children learn, through different approaches to play. It is anticipated that the conceptually-sustaining approach to play will support children's learning outcomes more so than other forms of play. Knowing about this approach to play will help teachers better understand the relationship between teaching, play and learning, instead of focussing only on play and learning. This will also help the field interpret the forthcoming Australian Early Years' Learning Framework, which advocates for the role of play in early childhood education.Read moreRead less
Would more highly-qualified teachers and trainers help to address quality problems in the Australian vocational education and training system? This project examines whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers would improve quality in the VET system. Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Austr ....Would more highly-qualified teachers and trainers help to address quality problems in the Australian vocational education and training system? This project examines whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers would improve quality in the VET system. Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Australian industries. Most VET teachers are qualified only to a Certificate IV level. A more highly qualified VET teaching workforce is likely to lead to improvements in quality; however there is currently no firm evidence to establish this link, as the 2011 Productivity Commission report on the VET workforce pointed out. This project aims to provide much-needed evidence to guide policy.Read moreRead less
New play pedagogies for teaching and learning in the early years. Traditional play-based learning in early childhood education cannot account for new play: very young children's everyday play with technologies, digital media and popular culture. This project uses a recently developed web-mapping tool to create a pedagogical approach to new play. The pedagogical approach to new play comprises teaching practices and learning outcomes that capitalise on the educational potential of children's every ....New play pedagogies for teaching and learning in the early years. Traditional play-based learning in early childhood education cannot account for new play: very young children's everyday play with technologies, digital media and popular culture. This project uses a recently developed web-mapping tool to create a pedagogical approach to new play. The pedagogical approach to new play comprises teaching practices and learning outcomes that capitalise on the educational potential of children's everyday play with technologies, digital media and popular culture. It aims to enable teachers to work from a theorised and empirically validated perspective for connecting young children's everyday play with technologies, digital media and popular culture artefacts to their 21st century learning needs.Read moreRead less
The impact of urban vertical schools on students’ capability and wellbeing. Urban vertical schools are new types of schools in Australia. There are no evidence-based Australian precedents to guide designers or educators, no formal knowledge sharing processes that draw on experiences of pioneers, and little understanding of what these spaces mean for student capability and wellbeing. This evaluative case study will bring together evidence from designers, educators and students in three newly buil ....The impact of urban vertical schools on students’ capability and wellbeing. Urban vertical schools are new types of schools in Australia. There are no evidence-based Australian precedents to guide designers or educators, no formal knowledge sharing processes that draw on experiences of pioneers, and little understanding of what these spaces mean for student capability and wellbeing. This evaluative case study will bring together evidence from designers, educators and students in three newly built urban, vertical schools. Project findings will point to inclusive principles for designing and leading in physical, digital and social school spaces to maximise student wellbeing and capability. Insights into student experiences in urban, vertical school spaces will have value for infrastructure spending in all schools.Read moreRead less
National and global public goods in higher education. This project will compare case studies in Australia, the United Kingdom, central Europe and China to clarify the definition, measurement and creation of public (social and community) benefits in higher education, including global benefits. It will inform government policies and institutional and philanthropic strategies designed to maximise those public benefits.