The voices of students about the early days of Indigenous-controlled adult education providers are hard to find. In historical research for Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd (Tranby) and the University of Technology Sydney, 17 former participants in Tranby courses, from 1980 to 2000, gave in-depth interviews, which were analysed alongside…

Very few professional areas in Australia attract as much political, media and community attention as teaching, and by association, few areas of professional training attract as much attention as initial teacher education. Recently, the Next Steps: Report of the Quality Teacher Education Review (Department of Education, Skills and Employment, 2022)…

This article explores the social and historical formation of 'successful' refugee students' learning practices utilising in-depth, critical incident interviews with primary school aged, refugee-background students in Australia. Employing a practice lens, this article firstly explores the informal learning practices the students identify from their…

This paper reports findings from a study of early career teachers (ECTs) in Western Australia. The aim of this study was to investigate the professional learning activities of ECTs and the perceived impact of these on their professional development. Data were gathered via two online surveys and interviews. Findings reveal that ECTs participated in…

Science education is crucial to young children's discovery and understanding of the world around them. This third edition of Science in Early Childhood has been substantially updated to include the most current research, bringing together an author team of respected science education researchers from across Australia. New chapters address changing…

Learning is most effective when intrinsically motivated through personal interest, and situated in a supportive socio-cultural context. This paper reports on findings from a study that explored implications for design of interactive learning environments through 18 months of ethnographic observations of people's interactions at "Hack The…

The idea of "going to university" is integrally tied to the concept of the university campus as a physical place. The campus is both the location in which learning occurs and a place that gives meaning to the learning experience. It is a setting that provides the opportunity for social and intellectual engagement with a scholarly…

This article reports on an inquiry into ecological understanding and the professional practice of a selection of teachers in alternative and/or independent non-systemic schools in Australia, Canada and the United States. Through a reflective, participatory framework, based on the premise that it is one thing to observe "an ecology",…

This paper explores the occurrence of geographical inquiry in the Australian curriculum since Geography became a high school subject in 1911. In this historical overview, I reflect upon my own experiences of undertaking geographical inquiry during the 1970s and 1980s. Primary school geographical inquiry experiences can be virtually non-existent…

A study examined the characteristics of the learning process when it is facilitated by computer-mediated communication in nonformal learning contexts. In this paper, learning is defined as the transformation of experience through reflection, conceptualization, and action. Such experiential learning often occurs in dialogue with others.…

A study explored the role of the workplace trainer in the building of training/learning cultures in workplaces in Australia. Following a literature review, stage 1 data collection involved observations and interviews in 18 enterprises in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia where trainers were facilitating learning with one or two…

The factors driving learning cultures within organizations were examined in case studies of seven organizations in New South Wales and South Australia. The seven organizations represented the pharmaceutical manufacturing, community services and health, agriculture, information technology, and local government sectors. In some cases, organizations'…

Research on changes and issues in workplace learning in Australia over the past 6 years was reviewed. Special attention was paid to four topics: importance of learning in the workplace; nature of workplace learning; factors affecting the quality of workplace learning; and recognition of workplace learning. Selected findings were as follows: (1)…

This book contains 16 papers on learner support in distance education in an international context. The following papers are included: "Constructivism or Confucianism? We Have the Technology, Now What Shall We Do With It?" (Louise Aylward); "Exploring Informal Study Groups in a South African Teacher Education Programme" (Carol…

We reflect on methodological issues arising in two of our own research projects as a form of practice, as a way of engaging in a praxis of project research. The projects chosen for this purpose are themselves concerned with teacher education and curriculum development in environmental education: they include participatory "reflective…