Academic Language and Learning (ALL) is a relatively recent practice field known in Australian Higher Education as Academic Skills Advising or Student Support. Changing social, political and economic circumstances shape ALL work in complex and contradictory ways. Of crucial current significance are discourses calling for education to become an…

Corruption and malpractices in higher education are today a major concern in nearly all higher education systems worldwide. It is a multifaceted phenomenon and has become particularly visible in the academic domain. This paper represents an exploration of the possible role that quality assurance can play in addressing corruption and malpractices.…

This paper provides a detailed account of the Queensland education system's engagement with reforming curriculum, pedagogies and assessment. In so doing, it responds to the University College London's Institute of Education report on "high-performing" jurisdictions, of which Queensland, Australia, was identified as one. In this report,…

Australia's schooling systems, like many around the globe, are currently pursuing a 'school improvement' policy agenda. Schools, and school leaders, are under pressure to improve student achievement as measured through high-stakes testing, the results of which are often publicised with little contextual information attached. Research has…

The Skills for Jobs White Paper and funding and accountability consultation set out the Government's plans to introduce a greater focus on the outcomes of learning, including a new Skills Measure that looks at the employment and other outcomes that learners achieve. Will this give colleges and providers greater freedom to deliver for learners, or…

This paper provides an overview of recent research on the factors that drive the performance of registered training organisations (RTOs), with a view to identifying areas for future research. Initially it explores the drivers of RTO performance; then discusses findings from available literature from Australia and from overseas, and discusses some…

Standards-based education reforms and intensified accountability regimes are now a feature of most countries' agendas to improve the quality of their teaching workforces. One of the direct consequences of these reforms is a requirement that teachers demonstrate their ongoing participation in forms of professional development or professional…

The introduction of new accountabilities and techniques of government for the purposes of educational reform have created new complexities and tensions for school leadership. Policies such as the publishing of league tables in the UK, high stakes testing in the US and the introduction of the "My School" website in Australia are…

Schools are now situated within a dominant public policy regime that is demanding compliance and standardisation, at a time when the achievement of success for all students demands a capacity at the school level to design and deliver an approach that embeds "an ongoing process of professional learning for teachers" (Caldwell, 2014, p.…

This paper investigates increases in the identification of special educational needs in the New South Wales (NSW) government school system over the last two decades, which are then discussed with senior public servants working within the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC). Participant narratives indicate deep structural barriers to…

This paper presents interview data from research conducted in two public high schools in the state of Queensland, Australia. The research was concerned with exploring issues of equity and diversity. Both schools had recently converted to "independent" status within a new state policy reform--the Independent Public Schools initiative.…

Historically, school leaders have occupied a somewhat ambiguous position within networks of power. On the one hand, they appear to be celebrated as what Ball (2003) has termed the "new hero of educational reform"; on the other, they are often "held to account" through those same performative processes and technologies. These…

Research reports teachers around the world currently face major challenges to their professional agency. They face numerous pressures from accountability measures operating in the highly politicised field of literacy education and standardised testing. At the same time international research encourages teachers to design rich assessment tasks…

The promise of higher education remains elusive for many Indigenous students in Australia. To date, institutional efforts to improve the persistence and retention of Indigenous students have been largely piecemeal, poorly integrated and designed to remediate skill deficits. Yet, market-led expansion of Australian higher education is driving…

The role of the English teacher in Australia is constantly being negotiated and with every ideological development teachers are positioned to question their professional values and practices. Much attention has been afforded to this discussion. The purpose of this paper is to (a) provide an analysis of the evolution of the art of being an English…