In late 2011, the author was approached by Garry Collins, the president of ETAQ, to deliver a keynote for ETAQ for their first meeting in March 2012. The reflections presented in this article have been drawn from the transcript of that presentation. The reflections focus mainly on implementing the Australian curriculum--English. (Contains 1 note.)

Over the past 25 years, the Australian workforce has become more casualised, with approximately one-quarter of the workforce in casual employment today. One of the highest users of casual employees is the higher education sector, where casual academics (referred to as sessionals in the Australian context) are estimated to account for 50% of the…

This study builds on a previous pilot study conducted by Alkharusi, Aldhafri, Alnabhani, and Alkalbani (2012) to explore educational assessment attitudes, competence, knowledge, and practices of in-service teachers in the Sultanate of Oman. The present study extends the previous pilot study by surveying a larger sample of in-serivce teachers…

School-based instructional coaching is an increasingly popular approach to professional development used to support in-service learning for teachers. However, little is known about the cost of coaching. The following study aims to fill this gap. First, the study describes a framework for measuring the cost of an instructional coaching program;…

Massive Open Online Courses ("MOOCs") are free, online courses offered by institutions of higher education to individual users across the world, and in the vast majority of cases, without any admissions criteria. MOOCs are popular with individuals because they offer unprecedented, free access to the best institutions in the world that…

Sixty years after "Brown v. Board of Education," retention trends indicate that there is a Black teacher shortage. Research shows that Black teachers' retention rates are often lower than the retention rates of White teachers. Black teachers report low salaries, lack of administrative support, and other school variables as reasons for…

This article is based on a case study conducted within the National Research University Higher School of Economics (NRU HSE) that examined the identity fragmentation of academic professionals in the context of current educational and academic reforms in Russia. Seven hundred and five professors were surveyed for the study, which focused on…

Math and reading teachers who also coach athletics in the public school system are challenged to balance the responsibilities that come with fulfilling dual occupational roles. While many studies have examined teacher-coaches' stress levels and job perception in the context of role strain, there is no evidence of how student achievement in tested…

Research on the teaching profession in Russia shows that teachers continue to be among the lowest paid specialists. Despite this, recruitment is possible since teachers find the yearly schedule attractive, and this compensates somewhat for lower salaries. There is concern, though, about the conditions of their work and the inadequate amount of…

This paper examines collaboration between general and special education teachers in mainstream schools in Jordan from their own points of view. It explores the extent to which teachers work collaboratively throughout the different stages of the special educational programs of students with special needs (i.e. referral, assessment, planning, and…

Since 1994, the eyes of the world have been on South Africa, observing with interest the societal reconstruction project, upon which the country had embarked. In this project, higher education is both the terrain and the perceived instrument of change. In this higher education system and its mission, the academic profession is pivotal--especially,…

Social work education programs rely heavily on adjunct instructors, as do most academic institutions. This article adds to existing literature on adjuncts by focusing on the unique issues in social work education, using social work values and ethics as a focus. The benefits and detriments for adjuncts, programs, and students in schools of social…

Inclusive education has been introduced through a number of policy developments in Malaysia over the last 10 years but there is little research investigating the extent and nature of inclusive education for preschoolers with special educational needs (SEN). This study surveyed both regular and special education teachers in Malaysian integrated…

Adjunct faculty make up a large contingent of faculty teaching in today's colleges and universities. In fact, the use of adjunct faculty allows these institutions to fulfill their educational missions. Much is written in the popular press and in periodicals dedicated to higher education about adjunct faculty. While some of this is accurate, a…

A student's education is as good as the teacher who provides it. People are insane to put students into the care of teachers who are not cared for themselves; in doing this they drive quality teachers away from the profession, and those who stay shudder to remember those dark Novembers. In this article, the author recounts her first year of…