Showing papers in "Australian Educational Researcher in 2005"
TL;DR: In this article, a survey of 1206 students and 190 academic staff across four major Queensland universities in relation to student academic misconduct was conducted to determine the prevalence of academic misconduct, and investigate the extent to which perceptions of dishonesty are shared between students and staff.
Abstract: Academic dishonesty is a fundamental issue for the academic integrity of higher education institutions, and one that has lately been gaining increasing media attention. This study reports on a survey of 1206 students and 190 academic staff across four major Queensland universities in relation to student academic misconduct. The aim of the survey was to determine the prevalence of academic misconduct, and to investigate the extent to which perceptions of dishonesty are shared between students and staff, as preliminary steps toward developing effective strategies to deal with the academic dishonesty/misconduct problem. Results indicate a higher tolerance for academic misconduct by students in comparison to staff, particularly with respect to falsification of research results and plagiarism, as well as considerable underestimation by staff of the prevalence of virtually all forms of student academic misconduct. Overall, the study’s findings confirm the significance of the issue of academic dishonesty within the Australian tertiary sector, indicating considerable divergence between students and staff in terms of perceptions of the seriousness and prevalence of student academic misconduct. We suggest that university administrators need to examine this issue closely in order to develop mechanisms for managing and curtailing the level of academic misconduct, since a failure to do so may lead to a further undermining of the academic integrity of the Australian tertiary sector.
169 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that one of four categories of deterrents was generally involved with declining numbers of applications: location, the size of school, the presence of an incumbent, or difficulties arising from local educational politics.
Abstract: An investigation into the declining supply of principals in two states in Australia revealed that a mosaic of issues surrounds the overall trend towards fewer applications for vacant positions. Looking beyond systemic factors influencing this trend — factors such as the increasing workload of principals — this study discovered why some schools are more affected by a shortage of applicants than others. We found that one of four categories of deterrents was generally involved with declining numbers of applications: location, the size of school, the presence of an incumbent, or difficulties arising from local educational politics. We found, furthermore, that smaller numbers of applicants for vacant positions do not necessarily indicate a decline in interest in school leadership: interest in the principalship remains relatively high but principal aspirants have become increasingly strategic in their applications. Whilst drawing attention, in this paper, to the research finding that numerical interpretations of principal supply have serious limitations, we are keen to acknowledge, briefly, the research data that refers to (a) social and generational changes (b) demographic information, (c) teacher resistance to the modern principalship and how these data explain declining numbers. We also include information about recent changes that go counter to the trend.
91 citations
TL;DR: The need for a second chance education is justified in relation to recent theories of youth transitions, which suggest that re-entry into second-chance education is a personal act of agency through which young people struggle to reclaim successful personal and educational identities as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The issue of school non-completion continues to be a matter of concern for policy makers and practitioners in Australia today. Despite the efforts of governments and school systems to improve participation and retention rates, often one in three students drop out of school before completing Year 12. Major factors influence non-completion and militate against young people remaining at school. Findings from recent research indicate that some non-completers choose to re-enter education through second chance programs outside the school environment. The argument for second chance education presented in this paper is developed within the context of the ‘risk’ society and in relation to recent theories of youth transitions. The need for a ‘second chance’ is justified in relation to recent theories of youth transitions, which suggest that re-entry into second chance education is a personal act of agency through which young people struggle to reclaim successful personal and educational identities amidst the constraints and hazards in their daily lives. Based on the findings that increasing numbers of non-completers are enrolling in TAFE second chance programs, these enabling programs are considered as a means of addressing the needs of this cohort. Educational policy in Australia related to second chance education is critically examined in light of international programs and recommendations for change are made.
80 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the reasons for these differences by comparing models of male and female enrolment intentions in elective courses in biology, chemistry and physics, based on responses from approximately 450 students from 5 Australian high schools.
Abstract: In many countries there remain substantial sex differences in enrolments in elective science courses, despite concerted efforts in recent years to alleviate them. This paper explores the reasons for these differences by comparing models of male and female enrolment intentions in elective courses in biology, chemistry and physics. The models are based on responses from approximately 450 students from 5 Australian high schools. First, a theoretical model, the Science Enrolment Model, was derived from Eccles and colleagues’ General Model of Academic Choice. Students’ responses were then used to develop empirical models of enrolment intentions in the three elective courses. Analyses for the models were conducted using the LISREL ‘mean structures’ extension. Sex differences in the dependent variables in the models were then attributed to the relevant sets of independent variables.
66 citations
TL;DR: This article analysed census data for New South Wales from (1976 to 2001, using the categories of family income, fathers' occupation and labour force status as quantifiable indicators of changing school loyalties in the middle class.
Abstract: Of all Australian secondary schools in the current period, the government comprehensive high school is in most difficulty. This article looks at the developing fate of this school in terms of middle class social practice in relation to changing schooling loyalties. The recent work of Michael Pusey, Stephen Ball, Janet McCalman, Richard Teese and Judith Brett on the middle class is reviewed to give the discussion an historical and contemporary sociological context. The main idea addressed is that the middle class is being ‘forced’ to leave public schools. Government policy on state aid since the (1960s is interpreted as encouraging the departure of the middle class from public schooling, though not evenly in all regions or different kinds of government school. The article analyses census data for New South Wales from (1976 to 2001, using the categories of family income, fathers’ occupation and labour force status as quantifiable indicators of changing school loyalties in the middle class. The article concludes that state comprehensive high schools face a difficult future. Increasingly these schools are seen as schools of ‘last resort’, or schools to which students are sent where active choices are not possible, or are not made by apparently neglectful parents. This occurs in a period in which ‘good citizenship’ is defined less in terms of responsibility to the welfare of broad collectivities in society, but in the informed strategic pursuit of private interest.
45 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the discursive construction of teachers' professional identities in three policy documents released over the last decade and found that despite recognition being given to the importance of teachers in all three documents, teachers professional autonomy is effectively curtailed as they are increasingly being ‘taken out of the equation' in education policy decision-making.
Abstract: Education policy documents recently have placed great emphasis on teacher quality in the belief that ‘education of the highest quality requires teachers of the highest quality’ (Department of Employment Education Training and Youth Affairs 2000). This paper traces the discourses on teachers constructed in policy documents in order to establish what is meant by ‘teachers of the highest quality’. It employs Critical Discourse Analysis to investigate the discursive construction of teachers’ professional identities in three policy documents released over the last decade. This analysis finds that, despite recognition being given to the importance of teachers in all three documents, teachers’ professional autonomy is effectively curtailed as they are increasingly being ‘taken out of the equation’ in education policy decision-making. The paper concludes with suggestions for ways in which teachers may challenge these constructions and work to reconstruct teachers as active voices in the policy-making process.
45 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored how two groups of undergraduates participated in the reformulation of the "global imagination" through their experiences of studying abroad, and argued that the global imagination has not one, but numerous manifestations, which have the potential to both enable and constrain the enhancement of justice and democracy in a global context.
Abstract: In this essay, I explore how two groups of undergraduates — Americans and Australians — participate in the reformulation of the “global imagination” through their experiences of studying abroad. Specifically, I question the assumption that the global imagination constitutes one shared, common experience that is the same across nations. In contrast, I demonstrate that though American and Australian students are certainly among the elite in global terms, their shared economic position does not necessarily correspond to a common global imagination. Instead, they have markedly different notions of both national and global identities. American students’ strong national identity often prevents them from exploring the possibilities of global affiliation. Australian students’ relatively weak national identity allows for a robust global sense of place, but is sometimes constrained by a limited tolerance for racial and ethnic diversity. In conclusion, I argue that the global imagination has not one, but numerous manifestations, which have the potential to both enable and constrain the enhancement of justice and democracy in a global context.
39 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the New Basics Project, Productive Pedagogies Framework and Success for Boys initiative are evaluated in terms of their capacities for enabling or constraining a transformative redistributive and cultural gender justice.
Abstract: Through a feminist agenda that seeks to redress gender inequities through remedies of redistribution and recognition, this paper draws on Fraser’s work (1997) to articulate a framework of transformative justice. In moving beyond the competing logics underpinning such remedies, this framework adopts a transformative theory and politics in problematising and seeking to restructure the inequitable gender differentiation of political-economic structures and social patterns of representation, interpretation and communication. This framework of gender justice is presented as useful in evaluating the ideologies and practices of particular schooling initiatives and thus is drawn on to critically assess three initiatives that currently seek to address issues of social/gender equity in education within Australia: The New Basics Project, The Productive Pedagogies Framework and the Success for Boys initiative. In particular, the paper critically explores these initiatives in terms of their capacities for enabling or constraining a transformative redistributive and cultural gender justice.
31 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that there is an understanding of disadvantage extracted from a wider gendered power order in the way the federal government and the Australian government talk about boys and disadvantage, which is important.
Abstract: Over recent years there has been widespread concern for masculinity and the education of boys in Australia. In the policy arena, this has involved a federal parliamentary inquiry into the education of boys (Boys: Getting it Right: Report on the inquiry into the education of boys, October 2002) and a federal government response to this inquiry (June 2003). This was followed by a review of the current education policy directed at gender, the Gender Equity Framework, and the development of strategies to increase the number of men going into teacher training. The way in whichGetting it Right and the federal government talk about boys and disadvantage is important. This paper argues that there is a particular understanding of disadvantage at work in this policy arena. It is an understanding of disadvantage extracted from a wider gendered power order.
28 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a framework for participatory action research for democratic community research has been proposed, in particular from working with Indigenous communities, which embrace community partnership, two-way enquiry learning and the educational public sphere.
Abstract: There is little reason why educational research in Australia should be progressive and highly developed given that its history and direction are subject to the economic and political determinants of an increasingly conservative and uncertain world. Whether or not educational research is an entirely derivative field or a semi-distinctive social science, is essentially qualitative or quantitative in character, desires knowledge that is vaguely accurate or accurately vague, seeks epistemological or ontological explanation, remains to be seen as history works itself out. It cannot be considered a neutral endeavour and demands that researchers identify a political perspective or worldview from which new knowledge is described and interpreted. In developing an approach to participatory action research, in particular from working with Indigenous communities, a number of challenges and knowledges have emerged that are described in this paper and which embrace community partnership, two-way enquiry learning and the educational public sphere. Participatory action research as outlined here may be the only framework appropriate for democratic community research although it is not as yet legitimated within the pantheon of available methodologies and philosophies.
27 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider two current research projects, one focusing upon conceptual change amongst students in a first year university class, and the other a classroom-based qualitative study exploring primary (elementary) students' interest in learning.
Abstract: Educational psychology has a tradition of considering learning and motivation in terms of the individual and individual functioning. Short-term intervention studies have been common and quantitative measurement of the causes and effects of variables has been the aim of much research. When a sociocultural approach forms the basis of research into psychological constructs, a reappraisal of the research aims and the ways in which data are gathered and analysed is necessary. If the underlying assumption is that learning and motivation are socially and culturally situated, the design of research studies needs to encompass participation in authentic and purposeful activities. In order to develop a rich sociocultural understanding of these constructs, qualitative research designs become increasingly important. In this article, we consider two current research projects, one focusing upon conceptual change amongst students in a first year university class, and the other a classroom-based qualitative study exploring primary (elementary) students’ interest in learning. In each project, data have been collected over time in relation to both social interaction and individual functioning in specific sociocultural contexts. Our frameworks for data collection and approaches to data analysis are discussed in this article, together with some of the issues which we have identified as problematic. In
TL;DR: In this article, former international students from non-English-speaking backgrounds were surveyed concerning their perceptions of their regional Australian university experience and the professional preparation it provided, and factors identified by international students as influencing their learning at a small campus situated a considerable distance from the state capital indicate strengths to be built on and celebrated and areas that call for the development of strategies to improve the quality of that learning environment.
Abstract: Staff and students at small regional campuses often consider them to be a learning environment with many advantages. Students can benefit from the opportunities for enhanced access to staff provided by factors such as small classes and a compact campus. International students from non-English-speaking backgrounds are one group for whom these factors can be particularly helpful in their adjustment to a new society as well as in their continuing study program. This belief is tested in the study described in this paper. Factors identified by international students as influencing their learning at a small campus situated a considerable distance from the state capital indicate strengths to be built on and celebrated and areas that call for the development of strategies to improve the quality of that learning environment. Former international student graduates were surveyed concerning their perceptions of their regional Australian university experience and the professional preparation it provided. Other Australian higher education institutions, particularly those with regional campuses, can make use of the insights gained through the study: as well as having implications for the provision of a quality learning experience and environment for all students, not only international students, they also have a bearing on international marketing strategies.
TL;DR: The Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLEN) as mentioned in this paper is a social partnership initiative established by the Victorian Government in Australia in 2001, and it has been widely reported as a success.
Abstract: This paper discusses the formation, character and contradictions of social partnerships. We report on a specific initiative, the Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLEN) established by the Victorian Government in Australia in 2001, documenting the nature of this initiative and how it is playing out. We draw attention to some of the tensions that exist between different agencies, including different agencies within government. Through this detailed case study it is possible to identify parallels between LLEN and other social partnership initiatives developing in other parts of the world. This process of situating a specific Australian partnership within the wider trend to social partnerships permits a more contextualised analysis. It shows the way social partnerships are developing as a consequence of education reform shaped by neo-liberal governance and various patterns of compliance and resistance to this political rationality.
TL;DR: The authors found that the power relations that structure workplace practices (including the performance assessment regimes in place in many workplaces) often structure the student-practitioner's behaviours in ways that can either conflict with the students' sense of themselves or go unacknowledged.
Abstract: This article draws on the transcripts of focus group interviews held with three groups of students, all in their final year of four-year Bachelor degrees. All had completed the professional experience requirements for their course. One group comprised education students, one group comprised nursing students, and the third was studying engineering. All were studying at the same university. Common across all three professional areas, the new entrants’ experiences appear physically, psychologically, and emotionally, confronting. In addition, it seems that the power relations that structure workplace practices (including the performance assessment regimes in place in many workplaces) often structure the student-practitioner’s behaviours in ways that can either conflict with the students’ sense of themselves or go unacknowledged. The study indicates that students need to be provided with opportunities to explore these aspects of professional work. By making these dimensions of their practice explicit and open to interrogation students can be better assisted to develop and sustain reflective and ethically grounded professional practices.
TL;DR: In terms of access to private education, and use of information technology, the least advantaged students are faring worse than any other students as mentioned in this paper, and teachers who are committed to achieving a just society through their teaching cannot ignore this situation.
Abstract: A number of researchers have reported increasing socio-economic inequality within Australian society. This result has usually been met with public apathy and political indifference. However, the results of this research conducted in Brisbane shows that the increasing social polarisation occurring in Australian society is being reflected in an increasing educational divide or polarisation. In terms of access to private education, and use of information technology the least advantaged students are faring worse than any other students. Teachers who are committed to achieving a just society through their teaching cannot ignore this situation. This finding emphasises that teaching for social justice must not only focus on intercultural issues but also return to a position of prime importance the goal of achieving greater economic equality.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose co-opting high school students' paid part-time work experiences to develop their critical understanding of the world of work beyond their schooling through post-school pathways.
Abstract: This paper proposes co-opting high school students’ paid part-time work experiences to develop their critical understanding of the world of work, beyond their schooling through post-school pathways. It argues that unlike work experience program or work placements organised through schools, students’ paid part-time employment provides authentic workplace experiences that have the potential to inform students deeply and critically about the world of work. These experiences include the reciprocal obligations that arise from paid employment and, as such, provide a rich base for high school students to explore the world of work, relationships in the workplace, what constitutes more and less valued work and how work is organised and rewarded. The co-opting of students’ work experiences for school-based activities may provide a useful base to explore the world of work both for those students who are employed part-time and those not employed in part-time work, but able to learn from their peers’ experiences. To assist achieving these goals some pedagogic tools are required to effectively describe, analyse and illuminate these experiences in classroom settings. A way of describing and critically appraising this paid work is proposed through individual and collective consideration of the activities and interactions that constitute students’ paid work experience. Given the difficulty of organising workplace placements and work experience programs, and the potentially richer outcomes, co-opting students’ paid work experiences presents a viable and worthwhile resource available in most classrooms for learning more about the world of work.
TL;DR: In this paper, a study focused on government schools in rural areas of southern New South Wales and specifically examined the professional development and training needs of these school council members, identifying and analysing the educational needs of the school and its community.
Abstract: School councils have operated successfully in non-government schools for many years. By contrast, the establishment of school councils in the government school sector has had a much shorter history. In New South Wales, school council members are elected representatives of the broader school community. This study focused on government schools in rural areas of southern New South Wales and specifically examined the professional development and training needs of these school council members. The findings indicated that school council members expressed concern about their inexperience as council members. Further, they identified the following areas within which they should specifically seek professional development and training: i) identifying and analysing the educational needs of the school and its community; ii) enhancing and facilitating better communication between the school and its community; iii) assisting the principal to understand local community politics; and iv) promoting public education within the local community. These priority training needs have relevance for policy makers and professional development leaders at the systemic or departmental level.
TL;DR: The authors examines historical imagery of the teacher in relation to a story drawn from ancient Greece: that relating to the teacher of the mythic hero Achilles in The Iliad, and explores the possibility that this early image of a teacher, the aging warrior Phoenix, could be a source for later representations of the teaching function.
Abstract: This article examines historical imagery of the teacher in relation to a story drawn from ancient Greece: that relating to the teacher of the mythic hero Achilles in The Iliad. The article explores the possibility that this early image of a teacher — the aging warrior Phoenix — could be a source for later representations of the teaching function. In an effort to place this historical image into a larger context of cultural symbolism relating to pedagogy, the article asks, why is this ‘first’ educator a man? By what narrative procedure was a man contrived to assume roles such as nurturing and childrearing that had always been (and continue to be) represented as feminine occupations? Using the work of Luce Irigaray, the article raises issues about the sex of the teacher in order to disrupt the seemingly obvious sex-neutrality of modern images of education, which define teaching and learning as humanistic, as social and cultural practices for which gender is irrelevant, and through which abstract disciplines such as literacy and numeracy are represented as transcending the physicality of the sexed body. It attempts to expose the constant deference modern educators unconsciously pay to patriarchal models of the pedagogical relationship, and to reveal the repression of sexual difference at the core of the mythology from which Western images of education have been generated.