School to work transitions: A study of school-industry partnerships in small and medium enterprises in SouthEast Queensland. The transition from school to work in contemporary times is difficult due to changes in school, work and society. The Gold Coast region represents a unique region where there are above national and state average completions of traineeships. This project investigates the forms of school-to-work traineeships in the region in order to identify elements of best practice, and t ....School to work transitions: A study of school-industry partnerships in small and medium enterprises in SouthEast Queensland. The transition from school to work in contemporary times is difficult due to changes in school, work and society. The Gold Coast region represents a unique region where there are above national and state average completions of traineeships. This project investigates the forms of school-to-work traineeships in the region in order to identify elements of best practice, and to propose benefits and costs to key stakeholders including youth, employers and schools. The project's significance lies in its documentation of key industry and school partnerships in terms of cognitive, social and economic benefits for the long-term sustainability of youth and employment. Read moreRead less
Addressing the teacher exodus: Enhancing early career teacher resilience and retention in changing times. This research will produce new knowledge, strategies, models and recommendations that will help to keep early career teachers in the profession in regional, rural and remote areas. In doing so it will address the problem of teacher shortage that is currently threatening the nation's educational, economic and social outcomes. The research outcomes will have particular credibility at the natio ....Addressing the teacher exodus: Enhancing early career teacher resilience and retention in changing times. This research will produce new knowledge, strategies, models and recommendations that will help to keep early career teachers in the profession in regional, rural and remote areas. In doing so it will address the problem of teacher shortage that is currently threatening the nation's educational, economic and social outcomes. The research outcomes will have particular credibility at the national level because they will be the result of dialogue and collaboration across three universities and six industry partners who are the key stakeholders in teacher employment in two states. In addition, the collaborative approach will facilitate implementation of recommendations at the local, state and national levels.Read moreRead less
Effective Implementation of Pedagogical Reform. A central challenge faced by nations around the globe is how to maximise the quality of teaching, since the quality of teaching itself is the main contributor to student achievement. Building on an internationally recognised model for Quality Teaching, this collaborative project promises to advance national initiatives in improving teaching quality and improve Australia's international status in the provision of quality education for all school stu ....Effective Implementation of Pedagogical Reform. A central challenge faced by nations around the globe is how to maximise the quality of teaching, since the quality of teaching itself is the main contributor to student achievement. Building on an internationally recognised model for Quality Teaching, this collaborative project promises to advance national initiatives in improving teaching quality and improve Australia's international status in the provision of quality education for all school students.Read moreRead less
New Ways of Doing School: Mixing story and technology to generate innovative learning, social and cultural communities. This project brings together academic, social and educational expertise and strong partnership networks of UTS, the Exodus Foundation, and the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning. Indigenous and mainstream educators collaborate to develop new perceptions of school and learning through creative mixes of story arts and multimedia technologies. Too often, the imaginations of ....New Ways of Doing School: Mixing story and technology to generate innovative learning, social and cultural communities. This project brings together academic, social and educational expertise and strong partnership networks of UTS, the Exodus Foundation, and the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning. Indigenous and mainstream educators collaborate to develop new perceptions of school and learning through creative mixes of story arts and multimedia technologies. Too often, the imaginations of the disenfranchised young are recruited into antisocial causes. This project seeks to build positive learning and social communities across remote and targeted urban regions, with a specific focus on, but not limited to, Indigenous children. The broad aim is to improve the lived experience of all Australians.Read moreRead less
Enhancing Wellbeing and Learning in Middle Years Classrooms. Meaningful engagement in schooling promotes academic learning, social emotional wellbeing and healthy futures for young people. Achieving the positive engagement of all adolescent students in schooling is a significant educational challenge for Australia. This research project recognises that strong, caring and positive teacher-student relationships are critical to student engagement in Middle Years classrooms. The project will inve ....Enhancing Wellbeing and Learning in Middle Years Classrooms. Meaningful engagement in schooling promotes academic learning, social emotional wellbeing and healthy futures for young people. Achieving the positive engagement of all adolescent students in schooling is a significant educational challenge for Australia. This research project recognises that strong, caring and positive teacher-student relationships are critical to student engagement in Middle Years classrooms. The project will investigate the application of an evidence based framework of strategies and a professional learning model to support teachers in the promotion of positive learning relationships. The project will trial measures that could increase teacher capacity to promote learning and wellbeing through positive relationships.Read moreRead less
Redefining the Ageing Workforce in Local Governments: Mapping Aspirations of Older/Blue Collar Workers with Organisational Training and Development Interventions. The major aim is to understand the aspirations of older, blue collar workers and have them remain active and productive in the workforce in the face of a changing occupational structure in local government, especially in rural and remote areas. This project is significant as it addresses two national research priorities - ageing produc ....Redefining the Ageing Workforce in Local Governments: Mapping Aspirations of Older/Blue Collar Workers with Organisational Training and Development Interventions. The major aim is to understand the aspirations of older, blue collar workers and have them remain active and productive in the workforce in the face of a changing occupational structure in local government, especially in rural and remote areas. This project is significant as it addresses two national research priorities - ageing productively and strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric. Expected outcomes include developing a methodology to 'map' worker aspirations, dispositions and competencies; provision of a model for designing new/alternative job types; guidelines for implementing changes to workforce planning and empirical data on which to base policy/workforce change.Read moreRead less
Improving middle years mathematics and science: The role of subject cultures in school and teacher change. Student disengagement with mathematics and science in the middle years of schooling, and the low retention rates into these areas in upper years, is of national concern. This project investigates the role of mathematics and science knowledge, and school subject cultures, in mediating change processes in the middle years. It builds on a highly successful change model developed for science te ....Improving middle years mathematics and science: The role of subject cultures in school and teacher change. Student disengagement with mathematics and science in the middle years of schooling, and the low retention rates into these areas in upper years, is of national concern. This project investigates the role of mathematics and science knowledge, and school subject cultures, in mediating change processes in the middle years. It builds on a highly successful change model developed for science teaching and learning in Victoria to investigate how generic conceptions of teacher pedagogy
and school change intersect with subject matter knowledge and traditions in the closely related areas of mathematics and science. The findings will inform future school change projects.Read moreRead less
Learning and mentoring in high performance sports coaching. Effective coaching is held responsible for Australia's international sporting performance. Yet little is known about how best elite sports coaches learn effective and innovative high-performance coaching practices. This project aims to identify and contribute to effective elite sport coaching development in Australia. This will be achieved through understanding how best current elite coaches learn through their coaching work. Implicatio ....Learning and mentoring in high performance sports coaching. Effective coaching is held responsible for Australia's international sporting performance. Yet little is known about how best elite sports coaches learn effective and innovative high-performance coaching practices. This project aims to identify and contribute to effective elite sport coaching development in Australia. This will be achieved through understanding how best current elite coaches learn through their coaching work. Implications here extend across sport and to other domains of human activity. The contribution of sport to Australian national identity is well established and the economic benefit of sport and more specifically sporting success in Australia is also well recognised.Read moreRead less
Predicting progress: A longitudinal study of the social behaviour, numeracy and literacy of children in the Queensland preparatory trial. High quality early education has been shown to improve later school performance. By identifying factors that affect literacy, numeracy and social behaviour in the early years, this project contributes to improvements in literacy and numeracy outcomes for children and increased levels of pedagogical expertise for teachers. Children will have better chances of a ....Predicting progress: A longitudinal study of the social behaviour, numeracy and literacy of children in the Queensland preparatory trial. High quality early education has been shown to improve later school performance. By identifying factors that affect literacy, numeracy and social behaviour in the early years, this project contributes to improvements in literacy and numeracy outcomes for children and increased levels of pedagogical expertise for teachers. Children will have better chances of achieving essential standards in literacy and numeracy, especially in rural, remote, Indigenous, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities. National benefits include contributing to life long learning and improving the life chances of young children. Read moreRead less
Productive Partnerships for Teaching Quality: Quality Improvement, School-Community Practice and Teacher Education in and for Rural and Remote Settings. This project aims to develop a partnership between two teacher-education institutions and eleven school districts in NSW, in researching quality improvements in teaching for rural and remote areas. These areas and their communities, including schools, are clearly under pressure, given global economic developments. Using various forms of data ana ....Productive Partnerships for Teaching Quality: Quality Improvement, School-Community Practice and Teacher Education in and for Rural and Remote Settings. This project aims to develop a partnership between two teacher-education institutions and eleven school districts in NSW, in researching quality improvements in teaching for rural and remote areas. These areas and their communities, including schools, are clearly under pressure, given global economic developments. Using various forms of data analysis, case-studies, interviews, Web-networks and school-based action research, the project will identify successful strategies for building rural teacher and community capacity, improving educational outcomes for all children, and appropriately preparing and retaining teachers for rural schools. The project will make recommendations for general educational policy and practice and for teacher education.Read moreRead less