Concerns have been raised about the impact Australia's national standardised testing, the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), has upon the well-being of students, parents and teachers. To date, research evidence is unclear as to the level and extent of emotional distress experienced by stakeholders during testing. Despite…

The purpose of this study was to investigate Australian physical education (PE) teachers' career intentions and factors influencing their intentions. A sample (N = 234) of Western Australian PE teachers responded to a questionnaire determining PE teachers' work and the primary motivators for intention to leave the profession. Half (51.3%) of the…

The lived experiences of novice teachers in out-of-field positions influence future career decisions and impact on their journey towards being competent and experienced practitioners, conversely their "life-world" is often misunderstood. The purpose of the study reported in this article is to investigate the lived experiences of these…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify threshold concepts that are the essential conceptual content of finance programmes. Design/Methodology/Approach: Conducted in three stages with finance academics and students, the study uses threshold concepts as both a theoretical framework and a research methodology. Findings: The…

This paper provides insights into teacher and school-based administrators' responses to policy demands for improved outcomes on high-stakes, standardised literacy and numeracy tests in Australia. Specifically, the research reveals the effects of the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), and associated policies, in the state…

This paper presents results of an investigation exploring the experience and functionality of positive feelings and emotions in learning and teaching. The role of emotions in learning is receiving increasing attention; however, few studies have researched how university students and academics experience and perceive positive emotions. A prototype…

This article investigates early childhood educators' perceptions of advocacy in raising the professional status with multiple stakeholders in diverse contexts. The article reports on findings from a phenomenological study investigating the perceptions of 12 educators working full time in long-day-care settings across Sydney, New South Wales (NSW),…

This study investigated the ability of primary school teachers to recognise and refer children with anxiety symptoms. Two hundred and ninety-nine primary school teachers completed a questionnaire exploring their recognition and referral responses to five hypothetical vignettes that described boys and girls with varying severity of anxiety…

The "Let's Count" pilot early mathematics program was implemented in five early childhood educational contexts across Australia during 2011. The program used specifically formulated materials and workshops to enlist the assistance of early childhood educators to work with parents and other family members of children in their settings to…

Although numerous studies have been conducted on conceptions of teaching, research extending this investigation into conceptions of teaching using eLearning is rare. This study employed a phenomenographic approach to investigate what university teachers think eLearning is good for in their teaching. Four qualitatively different ways of conceiving…

Ongoing and rapid change is having a significant impact on the social and cultural contexts of assessment in higher education. Change and innovation have been driven not only by advances in our knowledge of effective practice but also by government policies, the latter often resulting in uncertainty regarding the freedoms and responsibilities of…

In view of the fact that diversity in higher education has increased, it has become critical to deal with the needs of non-traditional students, and especially the students underprepared for the demands of higher education. In an attempt to address this issue and answer the question, "How can underprepared students be encouraged to become…

The concept of diversity has been part of the Australian government's higher education agenda for several years, but empirical studies on the actual state of diversity in the sector are limited. This situation raises questions regarding the factual basis for the policy claims made. With this in mind, this paper seeks to assess the degree of…

The National Review of School Music Education has systematically documented the variations in quality and accessibility of school music education in Australia. Rural and remote schools were found to be particularly vulnerable to relatively poorer quality and accessibility. These findings were not new; they echoed similar observations made by…

In the literature, student self-assessment as a practice and as a goal in higher education is generally emphasized for academics. This paper reports a study that investigates what academics emphasize in their experiences of student self-assessment. The investigation focused on the different ways academics described their understanding and practise…