In Australia, like many western countries, there has been a convergence of education policy around a set of utilitarian and economistic approaches to vocational education and training in schools. Such approaches are based on the assumption that there is a direct relationship between national economic growth, productivity and human capital…

Within the specific context of "The Australian Curriculum: The Arts", this paper explores how teachers of the Arts and teacher educators encounter and enact curriculum change. Adopting Ewing's notion that curriculum is a complex web of varying stories and storylines that are impacted on by teachers' underlying philosophy, we suggest that…

This article examines the perspectives of senior academics on internationalisation of higher education across three countries: England, Czech Republic and Australia. In particular, it investigates the perspectives and experiences of academics in a range of leadership positions in university faculties and schools. The research utilises a critical…

Of issue in this paper are the ways in which different forms of narrative may be of value in undertaking research in potentially thorny situations. The project that inspired this paper saw 30 Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (PESP) Early Career Academics (ECAs) from more than 20 universities across Australasia, North America and Europe,…

The author, a school principal with significant classroom responsibilities recounts his journey towards authenticity as an independent teacher-researcher. His career as a researcher began in the scientific-knowledge tradition and then moved into the practical-knowledge tradition. He describes how Donald Schön, the father of reflective practice,…

Distance education (DE) in social work programs and studies on its comparable effectiveness with face-to-face education continue to increase. Yet not all faculty are convinced of the results, and this study explores why. Three case studies indicate that reservations center on valuing the process of learning and nonverbal communication. Issues…

Extensive linguistic research and theorising relating to maintaining the family heritage, as bilingual or multilingual family in differing language contexts, is currently available. Substantial research beneficially explores approaches to multilingual parenting, outcomes for individuals through parent and child perspectives, among linguistic and…

The current study investigated the influence of a play-based curriculum on the development of pretend play skills and oral language in children attending their first year of formal schooling. In this quasi-experimental design, two groups of children were followed longitudinally across the first 6 months of their first year at school. The children…

Insider-researchers are said to enjoy many advantages during the interview process that help them to access the innermost thoughts of participants. As a Chinese doctoral student interviewing other Chinese doctoral students, I assumed I was an insider. However, my experiences proved otherwise, as I oscillated between insider and outsider positions.…

This paper seeks to gain a better understanding of religious education coordinators (RECs) in contemporary Catholic schools. This is done by using life history narratives to explore how participants came to be RECs. This study takes place in a wider cultural context that sees strong religious commitment, manifested by taking leadership positions…

The journey from VET practitioner to academic researcher is not an easy one, especially for VET teachers whose educational research training in action and ethnographic research have been inculcated through years of practice. This paper discusses the highlights of the journey from practitioner to practitioner researcher including a discussion of…

This article outlines a qualitative narrative inquiry study conducted within Australia that focused on a group of female students commencing university, all of whom were the first in their family to pursue higher education. During 1 year of academic study, 17 women participated in periodic interviews as each moved through the year. By following…

Career guidance clients are seeking to craft new identities that better position them in their careers. The focus of the present article is on narrative career counselling's potential contribution in providing a meaningful and useful experience for career guidance clients. To illustrate the potential of narrative career counselling, the story…

In this paper, we draw on pro-feminist, anti-essentialist espistemological and theoretical frameworks, in conjunction with adopting autoethnographic narratives, both to provide critical insight into and contextualize the particular testimony and witnessing of our own personal involvement in the gendering of a government-commissioned research…

This article was written as an auto ethnography, which allowed for a complex and personal exploration of professional standards, teachers' professional identities, neoliberal reforms, and approaches to literacy and creativity. This article reflects on a practicum which involved teaching Romeo and Juliet to two year nine classes at an all boys'…