Purpose: Faced with increasing systemic constraints and pressures, secondary school English teachers often implement transactional approaches to pedagogy and curriculum aimed at improving student results on external exams, which are then used to rank schools. Despite the pressure to teach this way, teachers acknowledge the power of literature,…

Based on a sample of over 3000 primary and secondary school students located in regional and rural schools in Tasmania (Australia) this research had three aims: (1) to identify students' self-perceptions of schooling with a focus on high school completion (referred to as school retention); (2) to determine if gender, socio-economic factors, level…

Based on a sample of over 3000 primary and secondary school students located in regional and rural schools in Tasmania (Australia) this research had three aims: (1) to identify students' self-perceptions of schooling with a focus on high school completion (referred to as school retention); (2) to determine if gender, socio-economic factors, level…

This paper presents the results of a study aimed at investigating how and why secondary school students use spelling and grammar checkers to aid them in their English writing. The study was a result of close observation over many years of how some students use computers effectively to support their writing, while others make just as much use of…

A study of 663 Australian high school students investigated student perceptions of their own academic performance and effort in comparison with opposite-sex students, in mathematics and English. For English, females compared their performance favorably, males unfavorably, with opposite perceptions of effort made. However, such differences were not…

This study examined whether U.S., Australian, and Swedish grade 9 male and female students' beliefs about themselves as learners of mathematics and English/Swedish differed. The cohort of grade 9 students from one coeducational school in each country participated in the study. Questionnaires were distributed in the three countries and contained…

Describes the interaction in an Australian tenth year English class. Discusses the perceptions of three of the students, sometimes as spectator and sometimes as participant. Recounts the teacher's thoughts as she composed the curriculum, then speculates on teaching as science and art, observing the many disciplines inherent to English instruction.…

Includes two articles that deal with constructivism: one discusses constructivism and the use of computers in teaching language arts, particularly writing; and the other discusses constructivism and the use of laptop computers in an Australian primary school to help restructure the curriculum. (23 references) (LRW)

Part of the Australian "Reading Around Series," this document offers a set of guidelines for fostering cooperative learning in a language arts classroom. The problems with competitive and/or individual learning, and the reasoning behind cooperative learning, are presented in the first section of the document. The second section outlines…

Classroom management is a topic of enduring concern for teachers, administrators, and the public. It consistently ranks as the first or second most serious educational problem in the eyes of the general public, and beginning teachers consistently rank it as their most pressing concern during their early teaching years. Management problems continue…