Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100994
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,882.00
Summary
Philanthropy in Australian Public Schooling. Philanthropic involvement in schooling is prevalent, yet there is no academic research that investigates the substantive consequences of this development in Australian public schooling. The aim of this project is to develop new knowledge in education sociology of how philanthropy is influencing practices of school governance and contributing to systemic inequity within the public school system. The project seeks to build the capacity of education stak ....Philanthropy in Australian Public Schooling. Philanthropic involvement in schooling is prevalent, yet there is no academic research that investigates the substantive consequences of this development in Australian public schooling. The aim of this project is to develop new knowledge in education sociology of how philanthropy is influencing practices of school governance and contributing to systemic inequity within the public school system. The project seeks to build the capacity of education stakeholders to critically evaluate public school privatisation. Further, it hopes to inform sociological theories of what post-Welfare democracies are, and what the state's role ought to be in the public provision of schooling, particularly in relation to equitable school funding arrangements.Read moreRead less
The commercial provision of schooling and its implications for Australia. This project aims to identify modes of commercial provision of schooling around the globe and the policy networks and changing forms and practices of the state that help this provision. The integration of public schooling and corporate investment has become relatively commonplace around the world, yet there is no academic research on how this phenomenon could affect Australia. The project expects to show how commercial pro ....The commercial provision of schooling and its implications for Australia. This project aims to identify modes of commercial provision of schooling around the globe and the policy networks and changing forms and practices of the state that help this provision. The integration of public schooling and corporate investment has become relatively commonplace around the world, yet there is no academic research on how this phenomenon could affect Australia. The project expects to show how commercial provision of schooling creates relationships between governments and private companies and the implications of this commercial provision for equitable and democratic schooling in Australia.Read moreRead less
Getting a job: vocationalism, identity formation and schooling in communities at disadvantage. This research will use young people's stories to investigate the barriers and obstacles to getting a job, and from their vantage point, identify the educational, policy and practice contexts that need to be created and more widely sustained in order to assist their career aspirations and life chances.
Data infrastructures, mobilities and network governance in education. Multiple data sets now drive education systems and schools. This project aims to investigate the role of data infrastructures in education policy, in schools, systems, nations and globally. The project will examine four related policy contexts in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States of America) and the data mobilities flowing from the release of Programme for International Student Assessment ....Data infrastructures, mobilities and network governance in education. Multiple data sets now drive education systems and schools. This project aims to investigate the role of data infrastructures in education policy, in schools, systems, nations and globally. The project will examine four related policy contexts in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States of America) and the data mobilities flowing from the release of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015. New knowledge is expected to be developed on the concepts of data infrastructure and data mobility; how data create new spatialised modes of educational governance; and how relations between governments, Non-Government Organisations and corporations are reconfigured through data use. The project is expected to provide new evidence on how educational data affect education governance, policy making and policy enactment across geographical scales.Read moreRead less
Technologies of performance, technologies of governance: the bane, benefits, ethics and future of performance measurement in government. This study examines governments' increasing use of performance management and the complex ways this is transforming schools, universities, health and welfare services. It aims to improve service performance by identifying problems areas and engaging wider public perspectives.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100513
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$407,391.00
Summary
Venture philanthropy in public education: governance, policy and practice. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of philanthropic public-private partnerships to improve equity in public education, focusing on school resourcing and achievement gaps. By engaging directly with public school communities and policy actors, the study examines how newly-emerging venture philanthropic partnerships may be reorientating traditional governance, driving incentivist policy and influencing prac ....Venture philanthropy in public education: governance, policy and practice. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of philanthropic public-private partnerships to improve equity in public education, focusing on school resourcing and achievement gaps. By engaging directly with public school communities and policy actors, the study examines how newly-emerging venture philanthropic partnerships may be reorientating traditional governance, driving incentivist policy and influencing practice at school, state and Commonwealth level. Whilst venture philanthropy has grown at unprecedented levels globally, a benefit of this study is to improve understanding of national benefits and risks of philanthropic public-private partnerships in public schools and innovative solutions for enduring equity problems.Read moreRead less
Innovative measurement approaches to optimise the comparability of large-scale and high-stakes performance assessments. Over 1.2 million Australian school children participate in national and high-stakes state assessments each year. This project aims to produce improved and novel methods for assessing students using open-ended tasks so that educators can more accurately compare students’ achievements and track their progress. In turn, this aims to support decision makers to enable better educati ....Innovative measurement approaches to optimise the comparability of large-scale and high-stakes performance assessments. Over 1.2 million Australian school children participate in national and high-stakes state assessments each year. This project aims to produce improved and novel methods for assessing students using open-ended tasks so that educators can more accurately compare students’ achievements and track their progress. In turn, this aims to support decision makers to enable better educational outcomes. The investigators aim to refine a rubric used in the National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) so that Writing assessments are as accurate and comparable as possible. Methods also aim to be designed to enable more accurate and comparable assessments of Australian children in areas not covered by NAPLAN such as History and The Arts.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
Punish them or engage them? Identifying and addressing productive and unproductive student behaviours in South Australian schools. This project will provide a contemporary understanding of productive and unproductive student behaviour, which is a key educational concern in Australia. Evidence will be obtained to inform educational decisions to engage and promote positive student behaviour and improve academic achievement.
School principals’ diminishing wellbeing. School principals’ diminishing wellbeing. This project aims to investigate the effect of State Education Departments’ policy interventions designed to improve school principals’ flagging wellbeing. Increasing competition, accountability and public scrutiny make principals stressed; since their influence on students is second only to teachers’, this threatens Australia’s socioeconomic outcomes. The project will map policy interventions to changes in princ ....School principals’ diminishing wellbeing. School principals’ diminishing wellbeing. This project aims to investigate the effect of State Education Departments’ policy interventions designed to improve school principals’ flagging wellbeing. Increasing competition, accountability and public scrutiny make principals stressed; since their influence on students is second only to teachers’, this threatens Australia’s socioeconomic outcomes. The project will map policy interventions to changes in principals’ motivation and wellbeing, and share information about the most productive and cost effective interventions with key stakeholders across Australia. This research could reverse the declining wellbeing of Australia’s school leaders.Read moreRead less