Presents an action-research study of student scientific literacy that is analyzed by two metaphors of learning: students working in science as if they follow recipes, and students working in science as if they devise recipes. Considers the usefulness of the metaphors as a framework to provide common ground for otherwise divergent views on…

Presents material from two first-year teachers' case writings and discussions about teaching writing which resulted in a "linguistic event," an opportunity to construct new knowledge about teaching. Claims the teachers were able to reflect on concerns in depth, validate each other's practice, and explore the value of talking and writing…

Examines how early childhood teachers in one Australian state use child observations. Argues that the current economic/political climate has produced changes for early childhood settings and that how teachers respond to changes regarding child observation depends on their work context. Suggests that the purpose of observation is changing and that…

Presents seven attributes of democracy (equality, important knowledge, nature of authority, inclusiveness, participatory decision making, rights, and an optimal environment). Students learn to be responsible citizens in situations where they can exercise ever-increasing power and where they have very little power. (Contains 65 references.) (MLH)

Practitioner research is defined as systematic inquiry-based efforts directed towards creating and extending professional knowledge and associated understandings of professional practice. A review of "primary research" articles published in the "Australian Journal of Early Childhood" revealed that only a small number involved…

Ethical issues are fundamental in the planning and implementation of classroom research. This paper describes issues that arose as the researcher considered the ethical implications of a classroom research project studying teaching and learning issues in a grade 10 science classroom in Australia. Ethical issues were related to the relationships…

Describes the experiences of a group of university colleagues working with middle schools in an Australian collaborative research project on authentic assessment, focusing on the tensions that arose from the diverse expectations of the schools, the particular project, the university, and the academics, and describing how the project supported and…

Describes an Australian study designed to promote professional growth of beginning elementary teachers through participatory action research. Beginning teachers collaborated with university faculty, forming action research groups which focused on specific aspects of teaching. Data from teacher journals, reports, and meetings indicated that…

This paper reports the findings of a project--'Lifelong learning and teacher education'-- undertaken by the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Australian Catholic University, under the auspices of the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. The study was designed to investigate the operationalization of lifelong learning…

Discusses teachers' involvement in research on teaching, examining Australian research and professional development on Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL). An evaluation framework to facilitate cross-case and cross-context analysis of such research is proposed, recommending that TESOL researchers first characterize TESOL professional…

This paper provides the material for an interview/discussion of the teacher as researcher involved in a self-study of his own teaching activity. Opening sections describe the original self-study conducted by a teacher over the course of the 1993 school year while teaching secondary school math and science in Australia. These sections also briefly…

This paper offers a current overview and a commentary on the current state and future directions of research in second language learning. It begins by outlining the ways perceptions of the world influence research and teaching. It then explores the contexts in which one individual has explored learning in second languages. Then an opinion is…

Socially critical action research in education can be defined as being strategic and critical pedagogic action on the part of classroom teachers aimed at increasing social justice. Five characteristics of socially critical action research are examined: participation, direction, consciousness, constraints, and outcomes. (IAH)

The fact that children growing up in poverty are likely to be in the lower ranges of achievement on standardised literacy tests is not a new phenomenon. Internationally there are a myriad of intervention and remedial programmes designed to address this problem with a range of effects. Frequently, sustainable reforms are curtailed by deficit views…

Describes a teacher-researcher's investigation into barriers to student adoption of an alternative referent for learning and its consequential learning strategies in an 11th-grade chemistry class. Suggests that various contextual factors influenced students' willingness to adopt the alternative referent, and that students' beliefs, trust of the…