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
Improving middle leading practices in schools to enhance student learning. This project aims to understand how middle leaders in schools can build teacher capacity to positively influence student learning. With Australian students falling behind their peers internationally, improving academic results is a national imperative. School-based professional learning for teachers is key to achieving that, and middle leaders are recognised as important facilitators of such learning. Using practice-based ....Improving middle leading practices in schools to enhance student learning. This project aims to understand how middle leaders in schools can build teacher capacity to positively influence student learning. With Australian students falling behind their peers internationally, improving academic results is a national imperative. School-based professional learning for teachers is key to achieving that, and middle leaders are recognised as important facilitators of such learning. Using practice-based methodology, the project will study how their implementation of professional learning impacts on classroom teaching and student outcomes. The anticipated results will enable the development of practices to inform a charter of middle leadership best practice for improving teaching and learning in Australian schools. Read moreRead less
Educational leadership and turnaround literacy pedagogy. This project will provide new ways of thinking about school reform for improving literacy achievement in high poverty contexts. The project will examine the ways in which new forms of educational leadership are developing in South Australian public schools and its effects on school culture, pedagogy and student literacy learning.
Out-of-field Teaching: Sustaining Quality Practices Across Subjects. Teaching out-of-field (teaching a subject without qualifications) is a rising concern internationally, and is linked to attrition, stress, and reduced student learning outcomes. With a comparatively high percentage of out-of-field teachers, Australia is exposed to significant social, economic and educational costs. Through the development of longitudinal case studies, this project investigates the changing landscape of teacher ....Out-of-field Teaching: Sustaining Quality Practices Across Subjects. Teaching out-of-field (teaching a subject without qualifications) is a rising concern internationally, and is linked to attrition, stress, and reduced student learning outcomes. With a comparatively high percentage of out-of-field teachers, Australia is exposed to significant social, economic and educational costs. Through the development of longitudinal case studies, this project investigates the changing landscape of teacher perceptions and practices over three years, within school institutional cultures relating to teacher assignment, support, and out-of-field mathematics and science teaching. Outcomes of the project will aim to inform the development of system and school policy and practice, in dealing with this internationally pervasive issue.Read moreRead less
Ethical leadership: a collaborative investigation of equity-driven evidence-based school reform. The purpose of this project is to establish partnerships with school leaders and teachers to develop inclusive and ethical curricular and pedagogic practice that will improve all students learning outcomes. This will be achieved by school-university research networks and school-school partnerships where knowledge will be generated and shared.
Characteristics of successful schools for Indigenous students' achievement. This project seeks to identify the characteristics of schools that are helping Indigenous students’ to achieve their potential. Achieving good educational outcomes for Indigenous students is important for Australia’s future prosperity. While the success of a school is largely driven by principals and teachers, there are other characteristics (eg school ethos, curriculum, policy, community engagement, and physical enviro ....Characteristics of successful schools for Indigenous students' achievement. This project seeks to identify the characteristics of schools that are helping Indigenous students’ to achieve their potential. Achieving good educational outcomes for Indigenous students is important for Australia’s future prosperity. While the success of a school is largely driven by principals and teachers, there are other characteristics (eg school ethos, curriculum, policy, community engagement, and physical environment) that contribute to student educational success and also their active citizenship, life-long learning, and creative community participation. The project plans to use a mixed-methods study to identify and explore these characteristics. The outcomes of the project may inform school policies and practices to support Indigenous students.Read moreRead less
Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. This project aims to inform strategies to better attract, prepare, recognise, support and retain a high quality workforce, by investigating the complexity of early childhood educators’ work. Seemingly entrenched workforce shortages threaten the objectives that governments and families seek through investment in early childhood education. Popular imag ....Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. This project aims to inform strategies to better attract, prepare, recognise, support and retain a high quality workforce, by investigating the complexity of early childhood educators’ work. Seemingly entrenched workforce shortages threaten the objectives that governments and families seek through investment in early childhood education. Popular images of work with young children as easy and instinctual, or of teaching as only school based, mislead potential workforce entrants and erode the status of educators, leading to attrition. This project’s audit and description of exemplary educators’ work, across each level of mandated qualification, will inform strategies to sustain a high quality early childhood workforce into the future.Read moreRead less
Impact of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard to staff schools. This project aims to investigate the lived experiences of teachers in a time of unprecedented teacher shortages. While previous studies have examined the causes of teacher shortages, the project is significant in its review of the issues of teacher retention focusing instead on those teachers who remain. By addressing the problem of retention this way, the expected outcomes of this project include developing a much deepe ....Impact of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard to staff schools. This project aims to investigate the lived experiences of teachers in a time of unprecedented teacher shortages. While previous studies have examined the causes of teacher shortages, the project is significant in its review of the issues of teacher retention focusing instead on those teachers who remain. By addressing the problem of retention this way, the expected outcomes of this project include developing a much deeper understanding of how educational systems, as well as individual schools, can support those teachers remaining in the profession. This will provide significant benefits such as informing policy on how to facilitate greater teacher retention at a time when maintaining support for a declining teaching workforce is urgent.
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Learning-rich leadership for quality improvement in early education. This project aims to establish Australia's first evidence base to inform quality improvement in early childhood education services through the development of educational leaders. Effective leadership is essential to ensuring the effective implementation of the Australian government's national quality standards for early childhood education. A new theory of 'learning-rich' leadership for quality improvement will be developed to ....Learning-rich leadership for quality improvement in early education. This project aims to establish Australia's first evidence base to inform quality improvement in early childhood education services through the development of educational leaders. Effective leadership is essential to ensuring the effective implementation of the Australian government's national quality standards for early childhood education. A new theory of 'learning-rich' leadership for quality improvement will be developed to influence leadership education in the early childhood sector. Expected outcomes from this project have potential benefits for the increased effectiveness in service quality for early childhood education.Read moreRead less
Shifting the Culture of Out-of-field Professional Education for Teachers. This project aims to model an education system that would diversify the expertise of teachers as part of attending to long-term teacher shortage. It responds to a pressing national need for a system of valued and accessible professional education (PE) for out-of-field teachers. The project draws on perspectives from schools, governments and PE providers to expose current practices, cultural norms, and policies; propose an ....Shifting the Culture of Out-of-field Professional Education for Teachers. This project aims to model an education system that would diversify the expertise of teachers as part of attending to long-term teacher shortage. It responds to a pressing national need for a system of valued and accessible professional education (PE) for out-of-field teachers. The project draws on perspectives from schools, governments and PE providers to expose current practices, cultural norms, and policies; propose an 'ideal' PE ecosystem that values re-specialisation in the core subjects; and develop principles to inform policy and practice needed to attain this ideal. The evidence-based framing of PE will inform efforts by schools, PE providers and policy makers to sustain a highly capable, adaptive and specialised teaching workforce.Read moreRead less