Tertiary education is now accessible even to those who appear unlikely "ex ante" to succeed in jobs requiring post-high school education. Institutions that have broadened access to their programs must rely on two things to protect the quality of the degrees they award: selection mechanisms operating during students' tenure, and effective…

This article uses a historical lens to illuminate literacy teaching as it is constructed in two recent reports, "Teaching Reading" and "In Teachers' Hands". In surveying these texts alongside 19th-century sources, we show that an autonomous view of literacy has always held sway, along with a primary focus on reading. Parents'…

Academic and disciplinary modes of identity are arguably the constituent elements of scholarly cultures (Hall 2002; Shulman 2004). Such elements are a crucial "point of entry" for change projects. Many change projects inherently involve the imposition of constraints and demands for change on academics. This paper seeks to explore the…

In this paper I argue that values of democracy and social justice in education would seem to have been displaced in recent decades by managerialist norms that are linked to the presumed needs of business and the economy of the nation. I am concerned that conceptualizations of the nature and purpose of education, and of the roles of teachers, are…

Recent moves in Australia to institute a national curriculum emanated from federal governments of ostensibly different political persuasions in the period from 2003, building on developments that go back over 25 years. This article traces continuities and new developments, meditating on two questions: whether the current moves are politically…

This research paper is about the role of the principal in enabling teacher leadership for pedagogical innovations and school improvement studied in two Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools (IDEAS) schools in Singapore and Australia over a 3-year period from 2005 to 2007. The research reported is based on the developing…

In his examination of successful innovation and change in education in many settings, Fullan (2001) identifies the three broad options for effecting change that public authorities have at their disposal. They can seek to bring about change through imposing accountability (system-wide or targeted), or through providing incentives (either…

Fully online courses are becoming progressively more popular because of their "anytime anywhere" learning flexibility. One of the ways students interact with each other and with the instructors within fully online learning environments is via asynchronous discussion forums. However, student engagement in online discussion forums does not…

Attracting and retaining effective education leaders and teaching staff for regional, rural and remote schools in Australia is a major sustainability and quality issue facing every State and Territory. It is also a major concern in pre-service teacher education, particularly for those universities which have a commitment to rural and regional…

There has been an increase in the number of postgraduate students who have published papers from their research before submitting their theses. In this study we report on the experiences in this respect of 58 recent postgraduates, one-third of whom were non-native speakers of English. 32 of these 58 students (55 per cent) had published papers…

By reporting suspected child abuse and neglect, teachers can make an important contribution to the early detection and prevention of abuse. However, teachers are sometimes reluctant to report their suspicions. This study investigated the determinants of teachers' reporting behaviour using concepts from the Integrated Change Model. Self-report data…

The influences that shape beginning teachers' professional identity have been described as part of a changing landscape (Connelly and Clandinin, 1999). When pre-service teachers transition into the role of beginning in-service teachers the landscape changes dramatically. Aspects or features of the landscape that were once familiar may be confirmed…

This paper examines how the process of scaffolding students to solve their social issues developed mature participation for both the teacher and students. A sociocultural perspective framed the research as the underlying assumption is that students learn from each other, mediated by the teacher or more capable peers. The study provides evidence…

In this paper, the findings of a study investigating four-year-old children's perspectives on the roles that male and female teachers fulfil in a kindergarten setting are presented. The purpose of this study was to discover if the gender of a teacher impacts on children's perspectives of their teachers' roles and whether boys' and girls'…

Purpose: There is much hype about academics' attitude to Wikipedia. This paper seeks to go beyond anecdotal evidence by drawing on empirical research to ascertain how academics respond to Wikipedia and the implications these responses have for the take-up of Web 2.0+. It aims to test the hypothesis that Web 2.0+, as a platform built around the…