Children with disability continue to experience disadvantage in their school lives; thus, the question of what makes up an optimal school life, and whether this is different for children with disability, becomes critical. This paper reports on research into parental views about an optimal school life and the usefulness of Social Role Valorization…

As a lens through which to read and understand a subject area and its curriculum content and issues, a sociocultural perspective is a recent and arguably significant change for the Health and Physical Education (HPE) Key Learning Area (KLA) in Australia. Its significance lies, first, in the fact that it seems to represent a notable departure from…

This paper reveals how the provision of teacher professional development is conceptualised within the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme (AGQTP) policy text and its predecessors, and uses these texts to infer the nature of the production practices associated with the development of these policies. The paper argues that multiple…

This monograph examines the nature of ethnicity as a general feature of human society, as it functions in Australia, and how it is used in the development of policy on multicultural education in Australia. Three influential accounts of ethnicity are examined, and it is argued that, although different, the theories share common problematics and…

The theme and topic of students with special needs should be examined from social theoretical platforms, rather than special education frameworks; a sociopolitical approach based on discourse theorizing is especially useful. Recent research shows that the students with special needs concept is an invalid approach to educational equity. Includes 63…

This paper offers a critique of Evers' and Lakomski's 1991 book, "Knowing Educational Administration," and their discussion of neo-Marxist and critical theory. This paper argues that the science of educational administration is a historically contingent product of particular social forces and interests at a particular time. The kind of…

This monograph, one in a series on theory and educational issues in Australia, explores links between education and political and economic structures. Two sections provide an analysis of an education-work program and five readings. The Transition Education Program is described as a government response to the 1979 economic crisis. The policy and…

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…