This paper explores the challenges of conducting systematic research, using our experiences of conducting a study to evaluate the effectiveness of ABRACADABRA, an online tool for early childhood literacy instruction as the contextual framework. By discussing how the research team resolved such perennial issues as high teacher turnover, low or…

Shadow education across Southeast Asia is quite diverse in form, its development in Macao being particularly distinctive. A brief history of educational provision in Macao is presented and patterns of educational provision over the past five centuries are outlined. The basic education available to students in Macao in recent years is then…

Teachers need to know a great deal, in many areas and in multiple ways. Teacher knowledge is a complex tapestry, and teachers must successfully weave the multiple threads. In this article, I present a conceptualisation of teacher knowledge that provides a framework for describing the complexity of teacher knowledge. The framework describes three…

Teachers' attitudes towards inclusion are important as they have the primary responsibility of implementing inclusive education. Attitudes at the beginning of teaching careers are likely to predict future attitudes. Some studies show a drop in attitudes after leaving university education. Using the Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusion…

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between pre-service and in-service teachers in terms of their levels of teaching efficacy and teaching professionalism. In addition, the patterns in predictors of teachers' teaching efficacy were compared between the two subgroups of this study. Five hundred and seventy-three…

Today people from a wide range of socio-cultural backgrounds are entering the teaching profession. The changing profile of pre-service teachers prompted inquiry into personal and professional influences in understanding diversity and inclusive practices. Two teacher educators collaborated across Australian universities to explore reflexive…

"Learning through play" in early childhood education is widely advocated, but studies show that play is not easily enacted in classrooms. The quality of learning through play has been questioned in various countries, especially when learning outcomes are a global concern. This paper examines how one teacher implemented learning through play within…

Developing a teacher identity is an ongoing and multifaceted process. In part, the process involves finding a voice amid the clamour of other, often contradictory, voices and complex conditions in which teachers find themselves. Drawing from a larger study of teacher professional identities, this paper explores how two beginning early childhood…

In Australia and internationally, government policies aim to increase the supply of early childhood teachers and thus improve the quality of early childhood education and care services. In this paper, we suggest that such a policy-quality trajectory in Australia is not as straightforward as policy discourses suggest. From industrial relations and…

This paper reports on the first phase of a case study that investigated how early childhood teachers experience organisational change. As one of three levels of quality improvement, State government-funded curriculum initiatives were developed with an aim to promote change. Three curriculum documents, one each focusing on literacy, pedagogy and…

It is widely recognised that teachers' pedagogical practices are influenced by many factors, including their personal experiences, their theoretical knowledge and the institutional context in which they work. Yet little is known about the beliefs held by Singaporean teachers about language and literacy development. Given the significance of early…

Teachers are encouraged to be active professionals in their work. Consequently, the development of professional agency in student teachers is an important dimension in teacher education. This paper reports on a study where the practice of six early childhood student teachers enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (Teaching) course was analysed, using…

This paper focuses on partnership between pairs of students in early childhood education during a teaching practicum in preschools and kindergartens. One hundred students enrolled in early childhood pre-service teacher education programs at a large metropolitan Australian university were paired and placed in kindergartens and preschools with host…