This article analyses the educational visions put forward by Australian federal politicians in their maiden (first) speeches to Parliament. The theoretical approach was a Habermasian-based analysis of the communication strategies adopted by the politicians, meaning that it was not only the content of the speeches but also the delivery that was the…

The purpose of this article is to identify some key areas of the Australian curriculum that remain sites of struggle and contestation. We propose that there remain a number of contentious points in relation to the national curriculum. These points relate variously to the content and form of the curricular documents; assumptions about knowledge,…

A curriculum is a knowledge structure outlining what is to be learned in what order. The Australian curriculum for English emphasises creation of a "coherent" and "cumulative" "body of knowledge about how the English language works", with learning that is "portable and applicable to new settings across the school years and beyond" (National…

The release of the "Australian curriculum: Mathematics" has generated considerable debate in the education community. Some educators warn that this debate has centred on mathematical content and skills, setting the conditions for a "back to basics" movement in line with the political rhetoric that accompanied the national curriculum development.…

Science schooling enjoys high status. Scientific capability is perceived as critical in underpinning economic success in advanced societies. Science achievement, at all levels, has become a global competition in which nations want to be seen to triumph. Governments periodically pay close attention to science education with a view to ensuring it…

Successful curriculum development in any school subject requires a clear and established set of elements: agreed and widely appreciated goals; effective criteria for the selection of important knowledge content; and an explicit and well-integrated explanatory base for authentic problem-solving related to the subject goals. The article shows that…

Recent moves in Australia to institute a national curriculum emanated from federal governments of ostensibly different political persuasions in the period from 2003, building on developments that go back over 25 years. This article traces continuities and new developments, meditating on two questions: whether the current moves are politically…

The theme of this article is the challenge that school leaders face in creating the conditions for learning in small schools. We draw on the concepts of "social capital" and "social entrepreneurship" to identify tensions and possibilities for school leaders in a case study of a small rural school as they seek to find resources for school-community…

This study examined job satisfaction among schoolteachers in Beijing and compared the findings with what is known from the English-language literature. The Chinese teachers, like their Western counterparts, found satisfaction in student progress and a supportive teaching environment but they enjoyed close collaboration with colleagues in executing…

The extent to which students feel connected to their school is a powerful predictor of many health, social and academic outcomes. These outcomes are also influenced by other factors including characteristics of the school such as its size, policies and practices, but how do these characteristics modify the relationship between a student and his or…

Education as an institution fulfils the key social functions of promulgation of knowledge and the development of future citizens. Rather than these key functions earning it respect, education and its practitioners are the targets of criticism and what Labaree calls "scorn". This article seeks to progress the work done by Labaree on the origins of…

In 2008, the Council of Australian governments (COAG) agreed to a set of reforms focused on teacher quality. These reforms aim to make teaching a more attractive career, lift the quality of teacher training, retain and reward quality teachers, promote effective professional learning and support workforce mobility. Australia has made several…

It is established that the socio-economic status (SES) of individual students is strongly associated with academic achievement but less is known about this relationship when both student and school socio-economic status are considered. To examine these associations at a finer grain, with the intent of informing educational funding policy, we…

School-sector differences in student performance are often viewed as largely reflecting the intake characteristics of students and having little to do with differences in the provision of teaching and learning between school sectors. The contrary view is that school-sector differences show that non-government schools "add value" to student…

Indigenous academic outcomes are in many ways negotiated at the interface between student spatialities--including their residential patterns and choices--and the mainstream school system. The current model of education delivery rewards regular attendance at well resourced schools. Conversely, sporadic interactions with under-resourced schools…