The purpose of this study was to discover the dissatisfactions for Australian beginning physical education (PE) teachers. Qualitative data yielded five main categories underpinning teacher dissatisfaction: lack of status, repetitive nature of PE work, limited decision making, personal and professional surveillance, and unprofessional staff-room…

This study examined the needs of beginning early childhood teachers in their first year of work in primary schools, kindergartens, or child care centers in Australia. The study surveyed teachers in 1988, 1989, and 1990; this paper discusses the results from the 1990 survey. Subjects were 31 teachers who responded to a questionnaire that concerned…

This report presents recommendations of the Queensland Board of Registration's Induction Working Party, whose mission was to study the role of induction in the professional development of beginning teachers. The terms of reference of the Working Party were: to advise the board on possible approaches to the systematic development and implementation…

This report deals with the follow-up stage of a longitudinal study which examined socialization into teaching as reflected by teachers' attitudes towards the control of students. Preservice secondary school teachers were observed in their final year of training, and, in 1978, this "five years later" follow-up was conducted, investigating…

In regional, rural, and remote areas of Australia, geographic and professional isolation take their toll on professionals, particularly in the first 5 years of practice. The attraction and retention of human service professionals and paraprofessionals in regional Australia is a significant problem affecting the sustainability and social cohesion…

This paper reviews research that has been done in Australia on teacher education in the past decade. It presents some perspectives on the potential of that research to inform practice and to improve the process of teacher education. The research projects studied included preservice education, the induction of beginning teachers, and the…

Beginning teachers experience an initial, marked socialization adjustment, then enter a plateau phase during which they internalize the values of the teaching subculture. Among beginning teachers, males appear to be more custodial in their approach than females, and teachers of science and practical subjects more custodial than teachers of…

This paper reports on a study that investigated the pedagogical practices and beliefs of pre-service and beginning teachers in integrating technology into the teaching of secondary school mathematics. A case study documents how one teacher's modes of working with technology changed over time and across different school contexts, and identifies…

The aim of this study was to identify the best way to prepare and give support to Western Australian teachers when they assume their first appointments. Subjects included 15 percent of all new teacher appointments in the state of Western Australia in 1977. These were interviewed personally, as were their principals and superintendents. The…

This paper reports on a longitudinal case study of an elementary teacher during her transition from preservice to inservice teaching. Bandura's (1995) concept of self-efficacy belief is used as a framework for presenting the findings of the study. The subject's experiences in science teaching provided information about her competency as a teacher,…

Elementary teachers' attitudes towards science and their confidence to teach it have for some time been identified as important in determining both the quality and quantity of science taught to children. Attitudes and confidence are influenced greatly by the teachers' own experiences as learners of science. This paper reports on a longitudinal…

A beginning teacher appointed to a remote Aboriginal school in the Northern Territory (Australia) describes experiences that led him to question his worth as a teacher, including social and professional isolation, his idealistic expectations of becoming a teacher, and difficulties in teaching students of various ages and academic levels. (LP)

Presents the story of a beginning teacher's experiences in an Australian aboriginal community school to illustrate the challenge of teaching children who are culturally unfamiliar to the teacher. Implications are drawn for teacher education; selection, appointment, and appraisal of teachers; support structures for teachers; and official curriculum…

Analysis of current Australian educational policy and practice and interviews with 24 teachers newly appointed to small rural schools in Australia indicates a need for specialized training for rural teachers and the development of specific rural staffing policies and selection practices. (LP)

Despite the diversity of cultural settings within which it is now being implemented, research on Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) is yet to address the impact of culture on teaching and learning. With its growth in Asia, in places such as Singapore and Hong Kong that are culturally distinct from western settings, this seems to be an area of…