Career change teachers: Addressing teacher shortages in Australia . Australia is facing a teacher shortage crisis. Consequently, there have been concerted efforts by governments to attract people into teaching from other sections of the workforce. However, career change teachers often do not stay longer than five years in the profession. There is little evidence on how their retention can be enhanced. This project aims to better understand the differing motivations and experiences of these teach ....Career change teachers: Addressing teacher shortages in Australia . Australia is facing a teacher shortage crisis. Consequently, there have been concerted efforts by governments to attract people into teaching from other sections of the workforce. However, career change teachers often do not stay longer than five years in the profession. There is little evidence on how their retention can be enhanced. This project aims to better understand the differing motivations and experiences of these teachers from diverse backgrounds, and to determine how they can be better prepared and supported through their early years of teaching. A clear benefit of this project will be the longer term success for career change teachers and their schools and will ensure young people are not disadvantaged by high teacher turnover. Read moreRead less
Investigating the effectiveness of teacher education for early career teachers in diverse settings: a longitudinal study. This project investigates the effectiveness of teacher education programs in Victoria and Queensland in preparing teachers for the variety of school settings in which they begin their careers. The findings will inform state and national policy, as well as the work of professional regulation authorities and teacher education providers.
Intercultural understanding in primary and secondary schools. What facilitates or impedes intercultural understanding in children, adolescents and schools? How can this be addressed? How can we know what makes a difference? This project answers these questions at the individual, school and national level using a novel cultural systems approach and methodological and technological innovations.
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
Pacific Islanders in regional Victoria: visitors, migrants and overstayers. This project aims to understand the socio-economic situation of Pacific Islanders living in regional Victoria, including visitors, permanent residents, seasonal workers and undocumented migrants. The aim is to investigate the impact of these different statuses on access to public services, interactions within and across ethnic groups, and trans-local and transnational practices. Working with partner organisations involve ....Pacific Islanders in regional Victoria: visitors, migrants and overstayers. This project aims to understand the socio-economic situation of Pacific Islanders living in regional Victoria, including visitors, permanent residents, seasonal workers and undocumented migrants. The aim is to investigate the impact of these different statuses on access to public services, interactions within and across ethnic groups, and trans-local and transnational practices. Working with partner organisations involved with migrant populations in the area, the project seeks to shed new light on Australian regional migration and bring marginalised regional populations into discussions of migration and transnationalism. Intended outcomes include scholarly publications, policy-focused reports and an open access project website.Read moreRead less
Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. This project will examine what attracts or deters potential, future and practising teachers of the sciences and mathematics, by focusing on current teachers, school and university students in Queensland. Promises of a technological revolution and rapid economic development will be hollow if students do not study sciences and mathematics, and there are too few qu ....Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. This project will examine what attracts or deters potential, future and practising teachers of the sciences and mathematics, by focusing on current teachers, school and university students in Queensland. Promises of a technological revolution and rapid economic development will be hollow if students do not study sciences and mathematics, and there are too few qualified teachers. This project will identify where to intervene in the science and mathematics teacher supply pipeline, and policy levers to attract and sustain quality teachers. The project is expected to uncover what attracts or deters teachers of science and mathematics—disciplines essential to industry innovation, a skilled workforce and productivity growth.Read moreRead less
Improved student outcomes through positive classroom management. The return on national investment in improving teacher quality is high. Research shows that teacher classroom practice overwhelmingly outweighs student background factors, as well as class size, spending levels and teacher salaries in explaining variation in student achievement. Developing teachers' skills and a strong sense of efficacy in classroom management reduces both teacher and student stress and student distraction. This ma ....Improved student outcomes through positive classroom management. The return on national investment in improving teacher quality is high. Research shows that teacher classroom practice overwhelmingly outweighs student background factors, as well as class size, spending levels and teacher salaries in explaining variation in student achievement. Developing teachers' skills and a strong sense of efficacy in classroom management reduces both teacher and student stress and student distraction. This makes a substantial contribution to improving academic outcomes for students, reducing rates of drop-out and exclusion, and reduces the cost to the nation of a high rate of attrition from the teaching profession. Findings will have implications for achieving sustainable change in professional practice more broadly.Read moreRead less
Creating Culturally Respectful Primary Schools: Enhancing Relationships through Strategic Professional Learning. A critical issue facing Australian school communities is how to best support teachers to build sustainable whole school approaches to respecting cultural diversity in times of increasing tension about Australia's multiculturalism. This project will investigate an innovative professional learning program to build teacher capacity to help children to think about and respond to differenc ....Creating Culturally Respectful Primary Schools: Enhancing Relationships through Strategic Professional Learning. A critical issue facing Australian school communities is how to best support teachers to build sustainable whole school approaches to respecting cultural diversity in times of increasing tension about Australia's multiculturalism. This project will investigate an innovative professional learning program to build teacher capacity to help children to think about and respond to differences constructively and to creatively problem solve ways to meet diverse needs. Outcomes will include policy and practice recommendations for the national education sector policy about how primary schools can contribute to wider social cohesion through the development of inclusive and culturally respectful school communities.Read moreRead less
Incentivising On Country Aboriginal Employment: Anangu Futures. . This project aims to investigate the changing face of cultural tourism in central Australia and examine pathways towards sustainable aboriginal employment in and around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The project is significant because it brings together Aboriginal community members, industry and government stakeholders to identify micro-business opportunities, youth training initiatives, better relations across cultural divides, ....Incentivising On Country Aboriginal Employment: Anangu Futures. . This project aims to investigate the changing face of cultural tourism in central Australia and examine pathways towards sustainable aboriginal employment in and around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The project is significant because it brings together Aboriginal community members, industry and government stakeholders to identify micro-business opportunities, youth training initiatives, better relations across cultural divides, and the economic value of Aboriginal knowledge. Outcomes include a model for sustainable Aboriginal employment in remote and very remote contexts, and the development of culturally relevant and sustainable governing guidelines for regional investment. Benefits include more sustainable jobs for Aboriginal people.Read moreRead less
Angulimala walks - from understanding violence in Cambodia to building cultural competence in Australian international development. The purpose of this project is to make sure that people affected by violence in formerly war-torn countries like Cambodia (including those who migrated to Australia) are helped in culturally appropriate ways. The project will lead to a framework for 'cultural competence' to be used by Australia's international development and health sectors.