Teachers recruited to a cohort study in 1978 were interviewed to elicit their views on issues surrounding the education system and teaching profession. Qualitative data were derived from a semi-structured interview and quantitative data included a self-report measure of temperament and character. The findings highlight a "mismatch"…

This paper investigates the effects of a sustained professional development project in South Australia in which a small group of preschool educators worked with the authors to develop their own knowledge and skills in facilitating young children's mathematical learning. Through the development of an approach to pedagogy that linked the mandated…

This discussion paper provides a rationale for the development of professional teaching standards in Australia. It is the result of a 2000 national forum on professional teaching standards held in Melbourne, Australia, which included 150 educators who explored contemporary issues associated with such standards and constructed a framework for…

Describes and evaluates parents of young handicapped children. Presents a rationale for the involvement of parents in the education of their children and argues that parents can acquire basic teaching skills to work effectively with their children at home. (JOW)

This report comprises a literature review whose purpose is to contextualize current language, literacy and numeracy delivery in Australia, in order to provide a framework for consideration of the current and future professional development needs of the language, literacy and numeracy teaching workforce. The information derived from this literature…

Describes a case study of exemplary mathematics teaching in an Australian first-grade classroom. Highlights a teacher's ability to integrate different subject areas, flair for communication, concern for children, and skills in capitalizing on unexpected situations. (RJC)

In this paper, we describe part of an Australian national research project that aimed to find out how well prepared beginning teachers are to teach literacy. A majority of beginning teachers participating in a series of national surveys and focus group meetings were confident about their personal literacy skills, their conceptual understandings of…

It is hypothesized that certain mental structures are related to certain teaching skills. These structures are identified as combinatorial logic, essential to planning lessons, and hypothetical reasoning, an important aid in analyzing lessons. These formal thinking abilities should result in greater improvement during practice and later teaching.…

Describes how a content area reading program was introduced to two country high schools and the steps taken to encourage its dissemination into neighboring schools. (RBW)

More than 1,000 New South Wales adults are being helped to overcome illiteracy in a program aimed at teaching them reading and writing which was introduced into the Evening Colleges of the New South Wales Education Department in Mid-1972. (WL)

Background: Over the past 20 years, a number of researchers have expressed concern over the lack of confidence and qualifications of primary school teachers to teach PE. Evidently, the influence of personal school PE experiences may play an important role in the development of teachers' confidence to appropriately teach PE. Most research that has…

Although there is a general consensus that teachers are important for student learning, there is little discussion of the process by which teachers are employed by schools: the teacher labour market. We argue, based on a mix of a priori and inductive reasoning, that inflexible attitudes about comparative wages have contributed toward chronic…

This document reports on a 2001 Australian summit on teacher standards, quality, and professionalism. This invitational activity included approximately 50 senior policymakers, researchers, and practicing teachers who participated in two workshops involving international experts. They identified where the profession should be in relation to…

A research project attempted to obtain data regarding the characteristics and background of provisionally-registered teachers in Queensland, Australia. Board of Teacher Education reports on 3,334 provisionally-registered teachers between December 1982 and July 1984 were analyzed in regard to: demographic characteristics such as age, sex,…

Described are four studies: three investigate how context affects classroom processes, and one studies the effects of training supervising teachers in the same skills needed by student teachers. (GW)