A considerable body of research suggests that knowledgeable and skilled educators are key to the quality of early childhood services. However, the skills and knowledge of educators is subject to being underestimated and contested. In response, the Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work Study has been designed to bring to light the distinctive…

Classrooms have become increasingly diverse places where students from various backgrounds share their learning experiences. To promote inclusive school settings for all, building teacher capacity for inclusive teaching represents a key policy area. Education systems need to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared for inclusive teaching and…

Formative assessment is about strengthening student learning and can dramatically improve student achievement when it guides changes in day-to-day classroom practice. Any attempt to understand formative assessment must therefore be grounded in a notion of learning, which this paper approaches from a constructivist/experiential perspective.…

The new Australian Curriculum includes among its three cross-curriculum priorities a focus on Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia. The Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA)'s Science Teachers Exchange--JAPAN program provides teachers with direct, personal insight into one of Australia's key Asian neighbours.

Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) on the Sunshine Coast is growing rapidly. It has expanded from one inaugural Year 8 class in 2012 to the current state of play with the involvement of over 3,000 CASE students from eleven Sunshine Coast State High Schools. It is being taught by more than seventy CASE teachers with…

This document explains the VET Applied Research Developmental Framework, created as part of a project that explored how the vocational education and training (VET) sector could broaden its engagement in Australia's research and development (R&D) and innovation systems. Achieving this engagement will rely significantly on building the…

Education professionals, regardless of their specialist area, are broadly aware of the importance of numeracy. Internationally, definitions of numeracy (known elsewhere as mathematical literacy or quantitative reasoning), describe "an individual's capacity to formulate, employ and interpret mathematics in a variety of contexts... reasoning…

This paper describes in detail a successful training program developed for sessional (part-time or nonpermanent) laboratory demonstrators employed in the Electrical Engineering Department of an Australian university. Such demonstrators play an important role in teaching practical concepts and skills in engineering. The success of the program…

This article provides an insight into the development of primary geography since the inception of the national curriculum in England in the late 1980s. It is hoped this is informative as the "Australian Curriculum: Geography Foundation to Year 12" is introduced to and implemented in primary schools. It draws out various matters which…

An integrated approach to assessment afforded pre-service teachers the opportunity to learn about a local sustainability issue through three learning areas: science and technology, the arts and studies of society and environment (SOSE). Three sustainability issues chosen by the pre-service teachers are presented in this paper highlighting the…

As they complete their teacher education degrees, Graduate Teachers should possess knowledge and skills to plan for, and manage, learning programs for their students. Their graduate competencies include designing lessons that meet the requirements of curriculum, assessment and reporting. As they embark on a teaching career that moves them forward…

As part of a large research and professional development project funded by the Catholic Education Office Melbourne (CEOM), called "Contemporary Teaching and Learning of Mathematics," the ACU team has been leading demonstration lessons. There is certainly not universal agreement on the worth of demonstration lessons in the mathematics…

Academics in an engineering school at an Australian university participated in peer observation of a teaching program using a partnership approach. The present case study explains and discusses program aims, design, process and outcomes. The success of the program was dependent on four critical elements: educational leadership; a staged,…

This paper discusses how ePortfolios, initially introduced to students in a Music Education degree program on a trial basis, are subsequently being integrated into subjects of this degree program. Discussion includes staff perspectives, and covers the varying ways ePortfolio components are utilised in a range of subject areas, issues staff…

This forum article describes a postgraduate certificate teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) program with a strong linguistics orientation and argues that such a program provides novice language teachers with knowledge and skills superior to those of programs which focus more on methodology and practicum experience and less on…