Individual, Institutional and Community 'Capacity Building' in a Cluster of Disadvantaged Schools and their Community. It is no longer ethically, socially or economically acceptable to have significant and growing proportions of the school population that are alienated, marginalised and excluded from a satisfying and rewarding educational experience. The national and community benefits for Australia expected from this research will be a better understanding of, and possibly alleviation of, the s ....Individual, Institutional and Community 'Capacity Building' in a Cluster of Disadvantaged Schools and their Community. It is no longer ethically, socially or economically acceptable to have significant and growing proportions of the school population that are alienated, marginalised and excluded from a satisfying and rewarding educational experience. The national and community benefits for Australia expected from this research will be a better understanding of, and possibly alleviation of, the structural educational impediments that operate on disadvantaged individuals, institutions and communities. It is in the national interest to have a society in which all its members, not just the privileged, gain lifelong benefit from a rewarding schooling experience.Read moreRead less
Enhancing School Retention: School and Community Linkages in Regional/Rural Western Australia. One of the most intractable issues confronting schools, communities and education systems in Australia, is how to create and sustain the conditions to retain young people for twelve years of schooling, particularly in regional/rural areas. This project will ethnographically map, investigate and describe a small number of schools and communities that have improved their levels of school retention. A Pr ....Enhancing School Retention: School and Community Linkages in Regional/Rural Western Australia. One of the most intractable issues confronting schools, communities and education systems in Australia, is how to create and sustain the conditions to retain young people for twelve years of schooling, particularly in regional/rural areas. This project will ethnographically map, investigate and describe a small number of schools and communities that have improved their levels of school retention. A Profile of Conditions Supporting Improved Retention will be developed and validated using an action research process. Finally, a set of materials focussing on the conditions promoting school retention, will be developed for wider use by schools and communities.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0211588
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$120,000.00
Summary
The Classroom Learning Laboratory. A facility is proposed to support the collection, configuration, storage and analysis of data (particularly video data) related to learning and teaching in classrooms. The Co-Applicants currently direct major projects at all levels of institutionalised education from early-years to tertiary, particularly in mathematics and technology education. The facility will provide the infrastructure for several large-scale projects involving many researchers and in the l ....The Classroom Learning Laboratory. A facility is proposed to support the collection, configuration, storage and analysis of data (particularly video data) related to learning and teaching in classrooms. The Co-Applicants currently direct major projects at all levels of institutionalised education from early-years to tertiary, particularly in mathematics and technology education. The facility will provide the infrastructure for several large-scale projects involving many researchers and in the long-term has the potential to catalyse new activity by educational researchers throughout Australia and significant overseas collaborative involvement. The proposed facility addresses a growing need locally, nationally, and internationally, offering both data storage and efficient access for analysis.Read moreRead less
Vocational Education and Training in Schools: Cultural Resistance and the Academic Tradition. This study seeks to relate how well different models of VET in Schools delivery (in different settings) work towards achieving the objectives of improved participation, more effective transitions and engagement of reluctant learners. It also seeks to assess how effectively the different ways of delivering VET are meeting governments' objectives to build Australia's skills base and provide young people w ....Vocational Education and Training in Schools: Cultural Resistance and the Academic Tradition. This study seeks to relate how well different models of VET in Schools delivery (in different settings) work towards achieving the objectives of improved participation, more effective transitions and engagement of reluctant learners. It also seeks to assess how effectively the different ways of delivering VET are meeting governments' objectives to build Australia's skills base and provide young people with effective pathways. This study will provide education and training systems with valuable data on the effectiveness of this major policy innovation for different student groups. It will do so by analysing three major school leaver data-bases, followed up by qualitative studies in 12 schools in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.Read moreRead less
Academic Curriculum and School Setting : How school subjects live different lives in different schools. What is it about some schools that enables success to occur even in the most unlikely settings? This project will investigate differences in how the senior school subjects of mathematics, English and chemistry are 'delivered' in particular settings, despite curricula that are centrally determined and examined. It will explore the impact of factors such as school organisation, teaching and asse ....Academic Curriculum and School Setting : How school subjects live different lives in different schools. What is it about some schools that enables success to occur even in the most unlikely settings? This project will investigate differences in how the senior school subjects of mathematics, English and chemistry are 'delivered' in particular settings, despite curricula that are centrally determined and examined. It will explore the impact of factors such as school organisation, teaching and assessment methods, teaching resources and student background characteristics on students' experience of, and success in, these subjects. This project will identify the changes in curricula, school organisation and teaching needed for more students to successfully complete their senior secondary education.Read moreRead less
A Tale of six cities: Explaining social inequality in secondary school systems: an international comparative study. Australia is frequently compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries as 'only average' in equity. But why? League tables don't explain this and commentators are vague. What good are comparisons if they don't improve student outcomes through better understanding and better policies? This study shows why inequality persists in six cou ....A Tale of six cities: Explaining social inequality in secondary school systems: an international comparative study. Australia is frequently compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries as 'only average' in equity. But why? League tables don't explain this and commentators are vague. What good are comparisons if they don't improve student outcomes through better understanding and better policies? This study shows why inequality persists in six countries. It highlights the role of curriculum as a vehicle for distinguishing between students in more or less sharp ways and of selective schooling as a vehicle for gaining access to the most discriminating paths in the curriculum. It points to ways in which schooling can operate more equitably without sacrificing quality.Read moreRead less
University position-taking strategies in the global environment: a cross-country study of the Asia-Pacific region. Much of Asia is developing, modernising and globalising at a rapid pace. Higher education, science and research are central and are growing even more rapidly. The Asia-Pacific has great long-term geo-strategic significance for Australia, including education exports which earn $7 billion per year in the region. Our capacity to understand, to cooperate with and to compete with Asian u ....University position-taking strategies in the global environment: a cross-country study of the Asia-Pacific region. Much of Asia is developing, modernising and globalising at a rapid pace. Higher education, science and research are central and are growing even more rapidly. The Asia-Pacific has great long-term geo-strategic significance for Australia, including education exports which earn $7 billion per year in the region. Our capacity to understand, to cooperate with and to compete with Asian universities within the worldwide field of higher education will closely affect our future. This project provides the first hard data on the global operations of leading universities in ten Asian nations and will be of value to government, business and education.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354625
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
An Educational Research Alliance for the 21st Century: exploring the interconnected relationships between new identities, new technologies and new pedagogies.
. This Initiative creates an Educational Research Alliance (ERA) between three strong research domains in order to address the problem of how best to educate current and future generations in contemporary times. These domains have previously focused independently on new identities, new technologies, and new pedagogies and each has achie ....An Educational Research Alliance for the 21st Century: exploring the interconnected relationships between new identities, new technologies and new pedagogies.
. This Initiative creates an Educational Research Alliance (ERA) between three strong research domains in order to address the problem of how best to educate current and future generations in contemporary times. These domains have previously focused independently on new identities, new technologies, and new pedagogies and each has achieved significant but localised results. Examining the interconnections and relationships between these domains is necessary to promote the kind of scholarly innovation able to facilitate the creation of truly relevant, responsive, futures-oriented educational systems.
In taking up this challenge ERA adopts a cross-generational and cross-disciplinary approach to assembling an international research network.
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Tertiary education and social capital in Victoria: the effects of the new economy courses in Business and IT. Over one third of tertiary students are enrolled in the fast-growing new economy disciplines in business studies and IT. In partnership with the Victorian government, this project studies the contribution of business and IT courses to social capital, the collaborative networks that underpin economic innovation and sustainable community. The research will survey and interview Victorian 15 ....Tertiary education and social capital in Victoria: the effects of the new economy courses in Business and IT. Over one third of tertiary students are enrolled in the fast-growing new economy disciplines in business studies and IT. In partnership with the Victorian government, this project studies the contribution of business and IT courses to social capital, the collaborative networks that underpin economic innovation and sustainable community. The research will survey and interview Victorian 1500 graduates from 12 higher education and VET institutions (6 rural); and survey and interview employers and community leaders. The research will inform Victoria's education policy and Growing Victoria Together strategy, and encourage tertiary institutions throughout Australia to strengthen their contribution to social capital.Read moreRead less
Responsibility for knowledge generation in Australian and Korean mathematics classrooms: Beyond the teacher-centred/student-centred dichotomy. We need to reconcile the apparent differences in instructional practice between well-taught 'Asian' and well-taught 'Western' mathematics classrooms. If this can be achieved then best practice in one tradition can inform best practice in the other. An analytical approach based on the distribution of responsibility for knowledge generation is applied to we ....Responsibility for knowledge generation in Australian and Korean mathematics classrooms: Beyond the teacher-centred/student-centred dichotomy. We need to reconcile the apparent differences in instructional practice between well-taught 'Asian' and well-taught 'Western' mathematics classrooms. If this can be achieved then best practice in one tradition can inform best practice in the other. An analytical approach based on the distribution of responsibility for knowledge generation is applied to well-taught classrooms in Australia and Korea in order to accommodate the effective practices of competent teachers in both traditions within the same explanatory framework. Only then will teachers in one tradition have access to effective practice in the other tradition in a form likely to sustain culturally-appropriate adaptation. The benefits to Australian schools will be considerable.Read moreRead less