This article examines teachers' views of their management styles, classified as either "coercive" or "relationship"-based, for 145 primary and 363 secondary school teachers in Victoria, Australia. It finds that management that combines punishment with aggressive and hostile behaviour can exacerbate misbehaviour and increase student distraction. In…

In K-12 education, formative assessment is a pedagogical process gathering momentum among researchers and practitioners. It has become a common theme at educational conferences, a key Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) research theme since 2002 and the subject of increasingly frequent requests for government funding in…

Pedestrians were stopped in the street and asked about their views on the teaching and learning of mathematics and English for boys and girls. Many commented on the importance of teachers for both subject areas; some respondents self-identified as teachers. In this article we present findings on the gendering of mathematics and English and the…

In 2008, the Australian Government established the Artist-in-Residence (AiR) program as a four-year $5.2m initiative to improve young people's access to quality arts education. Managed by State and Territory Government Education and Arts Departments, the program funded professional artists-in-residence in schools, early childhood centres and…

This paper identifies and critiques literature on the experience of transition between primary and secondary school; how and why it is seen as critical and in what ways it can be supported. The aim of this literature review is to remind readers of this important period on the lives of young people and the diverse range of issues which they face.…

Critical Reflective Practice (CRP) has a proven reputation as a method for teacher-researchers in K-12 classrooms, but there have been few published examples of this method being used to document school leaders' work-based practice. This paper outlines adaptations made by the author from an original CRP method to a Critically Reflective Leadership…

Teacher education courses at universities qualify graduates to teach in age-related contexts of primary/early childhood/secondary that reflect the organisational structure of schools. In terms of teacher employment, for some considerable time, these longstanding organisational divisions have been by-passed whereby a shortage of teachers in…

As Australia heads into a new era of implementing a National Curriculum, the place of Outdoor Education in Australian schools is under question. In the initial drafts of the National Curriculum, Outdoor Education has been marginalised. The authors propose that Outdoor Education should maintain a strong role, especially as processes of experiential…

This paper seeks to provide a perspective on environmental education in Aotearoa New Zealand. To contextualise this perspective, it illustrates how environmental, socio-cultural and political imperatives have shaped the development of environmental education in this land. These imperatives illuminate the natural history of the country, the…

Value has been found in providing recognition and awards programs for excellent teachers. Research has also found a major lack of these programs in both the USA and in Australia. Teachers receiving recognition and awards for their teaching have praised recognition programs as providing motivation for them to continue high-level instruction.…

Professional teaching associations in Australia and abroad have been developing teacher and/or teaching standards and associated professional learning and assessment models in the key discipline areas since the 1990s. In Australia, a specific intent of this approach is to capture and recognise the depth and range of accomplished educators'…

Draws on a recently completed ethnographic study of an Australian school to present an argument for a renewed commitment to social justice in and through public schooling. Although acknowledging the importance of locally conceived responses to educational disadvantage, warns against the dangers of "romantic localism" and highlights the need for…

Examined the impact of local school management on teachers' work. Drawing on the narrative biography of a single Australian high school teacher as part of a larger multi-sited ethnography, revealed the level of policy incoherence to be such that most of the worst excesses of accountability and marketization accompanying local school management…

Evaluated outcomes in selected Australian schools of an intervention project, Health Promoting Schools (promoted by the World Health Organization). Found that studied schools moved beyond oppositional constructions of health and education towards approaching health as an element of effective schooling. (EV)

Outlines Australian special education policy and practice regarding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in public schools. Drawing on U.S. comparisons, considers how recent government legislation may have made the label "disability" appear pragmatic to those seeking special education assistance. Proposes that an emphasis on the social…