Socially Responsible Indicators for Policy, Practice and Benchmarking in Service Organisations. The Australian Government, while attempting to limit the spiralling costs of the welfare state, has encouraged market principles and practices in service organisations. This has raised value dilemmas and administrative tensions for education and welfare organisations who, while committed to social justice and social responsibility, have to operate efficiently and effectively. This research aims, thr ....Socially Responsible Indicators for Policy, Practice and Benchmarking in Service Organisations. The Australian Government, while attempting to limit the spiralling costs of the welfare state, has encouraged market principles and practices in service organisations. This has raised value dilemmas and administrative tensions for education and welfare organisations who, while committed to social justice and social responsibility, have to operate efficiently and effectively. This research aims, through the identification and analysis of tensions between social and economic value orientations in the workplace, to develop a values framework and key socially responsible indicators for the improvement of policy, decision making and practice within the Industry Partners and the wider service sectors.Read moreRead less
Learning about social and moral values for active citizenship: Educational policy and practice in early education. It is economically sound to invest in quality early education programs to ensure productive engagement for individuals in society. In particular, the early years are considered to be a significant period for learning moral and social values necessary to ensure a tolerant and cohesive society. This study will provide an evidence base for how educational policy and practice, informed ....Learning about social and moral values for active citizenship: Educational policy and practice in early education. It is economically sound to invest in quality early education programs to ensure productive engagement for individuals in society. In particular, the early years are considered to be a significant period for learning moral and social values necessary to ensure a tolerant and cohesive society. This study will provide an evidence base for how educational policy and practice, informed by teacher beliefs, do (or do not) support children's moral and social learning about active citizenship.Read moreRead less
Investigating standards-driven reform in assessment in the middle years of schooling. This project addresses the Australian Government's call for standards-referenced reporting of student achievement. Its focus on standards, teacher judgement, and inclusion ensures that the project is responsive to the diversity of student cohorts, including those in rural and remote areas. Reliable teacher judgement and clear reporting are vital in ensuring timely interventions for students at educational risk ....Investigating standards-driven reform in assessment in the middle years of schooling. This project addresses the Australian Government's call for standards-referenced reporting of student achievement. Its focus on standards, teacher judgement, and inclusion ensures that the project is responsive to the diversity of student cohorts, including those in rural and remote areas. Reliable teacher judgement and clear reporting are vital in ensuring timely interventions for students at educational risk and for accelerated provision for high performing students. This project is significant as it will provide a large-scale evidential base of how teachers judge and moderate quality. Australia's social well being and economic international competitiveness hinge on maximising outcomes for all students.
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Schooling the nation in an age of globalization: National curriculum, accountabilities and their effects. The research will contribute to the development of Australia's human capital through the enhancement of knowledge concerning the policy settings necessary at national and state systemic levels for achieving higher quality and more equitable student outcomes. The research will advance understandings of how education federalism can best be utilized to achieve such outcomes. Analyses of NAPLAN ....Schooling the nation in an age of globalization: National curriculum, accountabilities and their effects. The research will contribute to the development of Australia's human capital through the enhancement of knowledge concerning the policy settings necessary at national and state systemic levels for achieving higher quality and more equitable student outcomes. The research will advance understandings of how education federalism can best be utilized to achieve such outcomes. Analyses of NAPLAN and PISA data will also provide policy and practice relevant knowledge for systems and for schools. The project will strengthen Australia's research capacity in education policy studies and its reputation in the academic field, and contribute to improved research-based policy making in education.
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New media voices in the Australian values debate. Long standing policy debates about Australian values have been reinvigorated in the context of a global war on terror. The Federal Government has identified Australian values as being central to the nation's security. Cultures are defined by their values, and media systems are the means by which they produce and propagate value systems. Safeguarding Australia means having coherent ways to teach identifiable, desirable, and relevant values. This p ....New media voices in the Australian values debate. Long standing policy debates about Australian values have been reinvigorated in the context of a global war on terror. The Federal Government has identified Australian values as being central to the nation's security. Cultures are defined by their values, and media systems are the means by which they produce and propagate value systems. Safeguarding Australia means having coherent ways to teach identifiable, desirable, and relevant values. This project investigates Australian values in education by identifying which institutions and traditions most influence Australian youth and how these influences are played out in new media forums such as YouTube and MySpace.Read moreRead less
Sustainable models of teacher information and communication technology (ICT) professional development that empower multiliterate classroom practices. New concepts like 'multiliteracy', 'rich tasks' and 'repertoires of practice' as identified by recent education documents such as "The New Basics" and "Literate Futures" (Education Queensland 2000a & 2000b) require new teaching practices that demand advanced levels of information and communication technology (ICT) interaction. Such involvement wi ....Sustainable models of teacher information and communication technology (ICT) professional development that empower multiliterate classroom practices. New concepts like 'multiliteracy', 'rich tasks' and 'repertoires of practice' as identified by recent education documents such as "The New Basics" and "Literate Futures" (Education Queensland 2000a & 2000b) require new teaching practices that demand advanced levels of information and communication technology (ICT) interaction. Such involvement with ICT requires new models of teacher ICT professional development that have a well researched foundation based on their transformative realities and long term sustainability. This project will establish a conceptual understanding of what is required of teachers for 'multiliterate' learning and develop a professional development model that has as its goal 'multiliterate' student outcomes.Read moreRead less
Equity and access: analysing the level and pattern of funding of teaching and learning resources in Australian schools. The project will develop indicators and evidence of best practice that will enable educators and schools to make improved and more informed decisions on how to support learners in the provision of teaching and learning resources.
Enhancing Distance Learning Programs: Using Information and Communication Technologies for Students in Rural Locations. The review of the Virtual Schooling Service in Queensland (2002) found that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) follows a content transmission model from producer to user. The 'cultural factors' that promote mediation and negotiation of subject matter are absent. The research partners propose to identify how cultural factors involved in 'information age' ....Enhancing Distance Learning Programs: Using Information and Communication Technologies for Students in Rural Locations. The review of the Virtual Schooling Service in Queensland (2002) found that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) follows a content transmission model from producer to user. The 'cultural factors' that promote mediation and negotiation of subject matter are absent. The research partners propose to identify how cultural factors involved in 'information age' education can be 'delivered' through ICT for rural secondary students. The research will capture the potential of ICT to provide isolated students access to a wider curriculum consistent with contemporary educational thinking, thereby reducing rural educational disadvantage and minimising the loss of human resources.Read moreRead less
Enhancing quality in long day care: Investigating professional beliefes and practices of child care workers. The Commonwealth Government's National Agenda for Early Childhood recognises the importance of quality of staff in children's services to ensure overall program quality. This research focuses on the vocational training for child care workers. It advances knowledge about how contextual and personal factors contribute to the development of epistemological beliefs about teaching in early ed ....Enhancing quality in long day care: Investigating professional beliefes and practices of child care workers. The Commonwealth Government's National Agenda for Early Childhood recognises the importance of quality of staff in children's services to ensure overall program quality. This research focuses on the vocational training for child care workers. It advances knowledge about how contextual and personal factors contribute to the development of epistemological beliefs about teaching in early education that enables child care workers to become more critical and reflective practitioners. The research recognises the directions of the National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training, 2004 -2010 which emphasise that vocational education needs to provide skills and knowledge which enhance employability and lifelong learning.Read moreRead less
Countering the bullies : action research on policy change and teacher re-education through innovative and pro-active techniques in schools. Bullying is a major and intractable problem of contemporary schooling. Systemic policy is reactive and imposed on teachers and students. This project aims to effect change by implementing and evaluating an innovative, grass-roots, whole-school approach to bullying through the normal curriculum which empowers teachers and students to address bullying pro-ac ....Countering the bullies : action research on policy change and teacher re-education through innovative and pro-active techniques in schools. Bullying is a major and intractable problem of contemporary schooling. Systemic policy is reactive and imposed on teachers and students. This project aims to effect change by implementing and evaluating an innovative, grass-roots, whole-school approach to bullying through the normal curriculum which empowers teachers and students to address bullying pro-actively. The proposed use of action research places the responsibility for confronting bullying in the hands of the school community. The major outcome will be a system-wide and eventually nation-wide redefinition of bullying policy, and revised structures and practices in schools for bullying management by an alliance of teachers and students.Read moreRead less