This paper provides an account and a critique of the rise of the contemporary policy as numbers phenomenon and considers its effects on policy and for educational research. Policy as numbers is located within the literatures on numbers in politics and the statistics/state relationship and, while recognising the longevity of the latter…

In the field of education much has been made of the need for academics to engage more closely with policy-makers and practitioners in the process of knowledge production and research uptake. This paper reports results from a survey of academic educational researchers in Australia on their experience of research uptake and engagement with…

Six academics at a regional university in Australia engaged in collaborative research examining their teaching and learning practices, their current understandings and beliefs about teacher education pedagogy and, specifically, the online teaching and learning environments. This collegial self-study project was guided by the goal of achieving…

In this paper, the author reflects, both as an academic researcher and as a senior practitioner, on the experience of competency-based training (CBT) in the Australian vocational education and training system. She seeks to draw conclusions about the Australian experience using a typology drawn from the academic literature which focuses on the…

This article presents the author's reflection on his experiences of teacher evaluation implemented in South Africa and his interest in researching this contentious topic in South Australia. He is of the opinion that his research will serve as a source of knowledge generation to teachers with respect to: a) "greater personal, professional and…

This paper draws from the ARC Discovery project called "Moving Ideas: Mobile Policies, Researchers and Connections in the Social Sciences and Humanities--Australia in the Global Context" (2006-2009). This project explored the ways that ideas travel and how knowledge transforms through travel. One aspect of the study was the critical…

The author's academic journey in learning to mentor and be co-mentored involved three rites of passage. In this reflective essay (invited paper), the author acknowledges his most influential co-mentors--former dissertation supervisees and long since colleagues--who helped form the "we" that is him. The first phase coincided with a…

The outcomes of educational systems continue to lag far behind expectations at all levels, primary, secondary, and tertiary. Meanwhile, the sheer amount of educational research published in refereed journals has expanded enormously. There is an obvious disconnect between the educational research papers published in professional journals or…

Looking in classrooms is one of the most basic requirements of school improvement, and yet it is one of the least practised skills of teachers and one of the most contentious methods of educational researchers. When it does occur, it is difficult to agree on what to look for and even more difficult to agree on what is seen. This paper outlines an…

This paper reports on the use of a reflective technique that incorporated video-stimulated recall to encourage reflection on practice. The author videotaped a series of mathematics lessons conducted by an experienced teacher, which were then collaboratively viewed and discussed, with the aim being to bring about changes in the teacher's practice.…

In 2005, the Library at UNSW began a comprehensive restructuring process that fundamentally changed the provision of services to its academic community. A primary aim of this process was to increase flexibility of service development and delivery and so to improve research support. The motivation for reformed services arose from considerations…

The increasing number of higher degree research students from China in the universities of multicultural Australia as elsewhere has added to the mounting interest in pedagogies of postgraduate supervision. This paper explores the proposition that efforts to articulate Chinese ideas through research in, for and about Australia have to negotiate…

In March 2004, Stephen Ball and others presented a symposium at the conference of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) on the necessity of theory in educational research. Like Ball, I have observed that theory, not just social theory, is a difficult space and one that divides researchers (those comfortable with theory and those less…

This article presents descriptive insights into how a national research team located in three Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia), is able to maintain a sustained, cohesive approach to achieving the project's aim. The initial section of the article introduces each team member prior to discussing the importance of…

Reforming schooling to enable engagement and success for those typically marginalised and failed by schools is a necessary task for educational researchers and activists concerned with injustice. However, it is a difficult pursuit, with a long history of failed attempts. This paper outlines the rationale of an Australian partnership research…