This paper reports on part of a longitudinal project investigating the formation of preservice secondary mathematics teachers' identities at one Australian university. Given that school-based placement experiences impact teacher identity development, the Flourishing Mathematics Teacher (FMT) project focuses on this experience and aims to identify…

This paper will consider how short-term contracts function as a technology for governing a new generation of teachers in Australia. It will proceed from Foucault's understanding that neoliberal modes of power seek to 'guide' or shape the conduct of the governed. In particular, the paper will consider how the short-term contracts implicate…

In this research paper, I present the reasons why senior secondary students elect not to enrol in a higher mathematics course. All Year 11 and Year 12 mathematics students within Western Australian secondary schools were invited to participate in an online survey comprised chiefly of qualitative items. The key reasons espoused by students include…

Market orientation has been investigated in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in countries around the world and is defined as an orientation towards the market, putting focus on the customers. Past studies have shown a positive link between market orientation and organizational performance; and also that adopting market orientation…

Transitioning to university is recognised as a challenging endeavour for commencing students. For commencing Computer Science students specifically, evidence suggests a link between poor performance in introductory technical courses, such as programming, and high attrition rates. Building resilience in students, particularly at the start of their…

Collaboration between mathematicians and mathematics educators may provide a means of improving the quality of pre-service teacher education for prospective teachers of mathematics. Some preliminary findings of a project that investigates this type of interdisciplinary collaboration, both within and across institutions, are reported on in this…

The mathematics curriculum leader plays an important role in leading the mathematics curriculum in primary schools. They experience successes and face challenges associated with this leadership role. The perceptions that 25 mathematics leaders held about the successes and challenges they experienced whilst participating in a school mathematics…

This paper reports on the experiences of newcomers at the 36th Annual MERGA Conference. The paper applies Wenger's (1998) social learning theory to explore the kinds of feedback that might assist newcomers. Questionnaire responses to describe the experience of ten newcomers and interview responses from five of the ten are reported. The…

Staff in Special Schools are seldom the focus of research, yet work with a student group some might consider demanding and stressful. Staff who work in Catholic special Schools are under-represented in the academic literature. The motivation and efficacy of Special School staff were studies in 7 Catholic Special Schools. These staff were observed…

This paper seeks to compare the reflective writings of two cohorts of students (Year 4/5 and Year 8/9) participating in mathematical modelling challenges. Whilst the reflections of the younger cohort were results oriented, the older cohort's reflections spoke more to the affective domain, group processes, the use of technology and the acquisition…

The majority of newly qualified teachers in New South Wales, Australia, begin their careers as casual teachers in fragmented employment contexts which make it difficult to build on the knowledge base gained at university through continuous, and continuously evaluated, practice in a classroom. This study explored the experiences of early career…

Communities of practice challenge the traditional notion of learning as receiving knowledge which is essentially disembodied from practice. A community of practice is grounded by two central tenets: essentially that learning is situated, and that practice is made meaningful through reflection with others who engage in the shared experience. In…

High turnover of rural practitioners is common among a range of human service professions in Australia. A longitudinal study surveyed 123 newly appointed rural social workers who had relocated to their new rural positions, using the same questionnaire every 3 months during an 18-month period. The study aimed to investigate rural recruitment and…

This paper outlines contexts, features, and trends of contemporary educational environments and educational change, describing findings from an international study that explored, benchmarked, and compared teacher and administrator career satisfaction, motivation, and mental health. The Teacher 2000 Project identified sources and strength of…

This paper presents the findings of a three-way comparison of teachers and school administrators in Australia, England, and New Zealand. The Teacher 2000 Project examined teachers' feelings about and reactions to teaching. Researchers used a seven section, self-report questionnaire that included items on demographics, orientation to teaching,…