This occasional paper provides the views of 17 "thought leaders" in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. Their insight and opinions were sought to inform a larger research project focused on the student entitlement reforms that were introduced into the national VET system from 2012. These individuals offered a…

National education reform agendas are increasingly prevalent in school systems around the world. Whilst we have a substantial body of research exploring the ways in which schools manage change agendas, there is less discussion of the impacts these agendas may have on beginning teachers and their retention in the profession. Here I report on a…

This article provides an overview of the Education Meets Play study that will investigate early childhood educators' use of play-based learning, now mandatory under the "National Quality Standard". By building on what can be gleaned about educators' approaches to play-based learning prior to the implementation of the "Early Years…

In this time of national curriculum re-thinking, tertiary institutions are positioned to create opportunities amongst pre-service teachers for the cultivation of knowledge, skills and understandings concerning cultural diversity in music education. The demographic profile of the State of Victoria is the most culturally diverse in Australia and the…

The Australian Government has recently committed to the development of an integrated system of assuring national quality standards for Australian childcare and preschool services (Australian Government, 2008). This article addresses two fundamental issues relating to the development of an integrated system as it applies to Indigenous children's…

Presents an interview with Allan Luke, current editor of "The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy," and Deputy Director General of Education for Queensland. Discusses several reform projects--Education 2010 (a futures-oriented analysis and philosophy for Queensland Schools); The New Basics ( a new curriculum/pedagogy/assessment…

The impact of electronic commerce (e-commerce) on Australia's National Training Framework (NTF) was studied for the purpose of forecasting future demand for training in areas related to e-commerce and identifying appropriate responses by the NTF committee. The following were among the study's main data collection activities: reviews of the…