The value of foreign language education at the elementary school level for Australia is discussed from two perspectives: its contribution to tolerance of cultural diversity within Australian society and its contribution to Australia's role in the global society. Reference is made to a variety of studies and commission reports. First, the…

This paper reports on a qualitative research study exploring the socialisation experiences of immigrant secondary mathematics teachers practising in Australia. Teacher perception of differences in the ways their respective home and the Australian (host) cultures value aspects of mathematics teaching and learning was observed to lead to dissonance.…

Australian aboriginal unemployment stands at somewhere between 45 percent and 80 percent, a situation caused, according to certain observers, by aboriginal attitudes and values regarding work and by educational disadvantage, not by anything in the working environment. According to this view, aborigines are said to be lacking in motivation, to…

This paper reports on the objectives and specifications of an "educative leadership" project that aims to synthesize experience, research, and theory and to develop complementary inservice and postgraduate learning materials. Researchers and theorists are now addressing the lack of philosophical machinery in educational administration.…

The high levels of juvenile crime in Australian society are reflected in the schools. This paper suggests a number of issues and concepts on juvenile misbehavior which should be of interest to educators. Due to rapid changes, there is less agreement on the foundational principles of culture. It is argued that educators need to help society…

This paper argues that a major review of the theory of educational administration is required if it is to regain a credible role in academic and practical circles. The argument, which considers the case of regional directors in Victoria, Australia (a role similarly endangered on present assumptions and trends), has four major parts. First is a…

This brief address was given by a Australian dairy farmer, who served as a parent representative on a committee of teachers at a local school. The speaker draws his observations from his experience "bridging the gap" between teachers' understanding of school operations and the views of rural parents. Rural values, or "peasant…

This paper argues that present institutional settings in rural Australia are inadequate for bringing about a culture that is fair and inclusive. A vision for rural Australia based predominantly on a market economy and its attendant policies and institutions allows the "means" (the market) to determine the ends and may lead to an…

This collection of papers delivered at a conference on accountability held at Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education in Australia examines the meaning of accountability in education for teachers, lecturers, government, parents, administrators, education authorities, and the society at large. In Part 1, W. G. Walker attempts to answer the…

Equal access to education is not enough to guarantee that all students are receiving the same quality education. Curricular knowledge does not exist value-free; it is affected by the context in which it exists--with teachers, school officials, syllabus committees, and education policymakers, among others, influencing the social process through…