This article presents findings on pupil attitudes towards learning foreign languages in Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11) in primary schools in England. As a consequence of the National Languages Strategy, the University of Warwick was commissioned by the then Department for Education and Skills to undertake an evaluation between 2003 and 2005 of 19…

This article explores the idea of portfolios as a way to collect evidence of pupils' learning and achievement in their language learning in the primary school. The emphasis is on portfolio work as an active and reflective process to underpin and support learning and to show evidence of achievement and progression. Pupil choice and reflexivity are…

This paper reports on an EU-funded project (Ref: 134244-2007-UK-COMENIUS-CMP) that explored the impact of technology, notably video-conferencing, on primary school children's language learning in England, France and Spain. Data were gathered from the children in the project, their teachers and also from trainee teachers placed in the schools. The…

The educational performance of Aboriginal Australians lags behind non-Indigenous Australians with the gap increasing the longer students remain at school. The Australian government has released its Closing the Gap policy with the specific intent to redress gaps in health, education and housing, as these are seen as key indicators to life success.…

This article addresses the way in which principals can contribute to closing the unacceptable gap in literacy achievement in Australia for low socio-economic status (SES) students by connecting leadership work more directly with the conditions which influence teaching and learning. It draws upon the outcomes of a project funded under the…

This article reports a study on the responses of a group of 49 Western Australian middle school teachers to a year-long professional learning experience, entitled the "Making the Links" Project. This project was established to help teachers of various learning areas adapt their practices to significant changes in the educational context.…

This article presents a case study of one very small school in a remote location of Western Australia. The study is part of a larger programme, International Study of Principal Preparation, investigating the challenges facing novice principals in the first 3 years of appointment and the extent to which they felt they were adequately prepared to…

For the first time across Australia, early education and care services are subject to a single, national set of regulations and standards governing the quality of provision. Concurrently, a set of outcomes for all children aged from birth to 5 years and a ranking system to make transparent the performance of programmes have been developed. This…

The new Australian Curriculum ignites debate about science content appropriate for primary school children. Abstract genetics concepts such as genes and DNA are still being avoided in primary school, yet research has shown that, by age 10, many students have heard of DNA and/or genes. Scientific concepts appear in the mass media, but primary…

There is no doubt that the increasing politicisation of education in an economically rationalist climate is contributing to less equity, access, participation and, therefore, social justice for many Australian primary children. This article initially explores how the development of the impending national Australian curriculum replete with a high…

School accountability has funnelled educational practices into a path where teaching practices are heavily centred in Language Arts instruction. Focusing learning almost exclusively in the aforesaid area develops a one-dimensional process that could hold back certain students from a well-balanced education. This article presents a model of…

This study, based in a small rural school, explores the opportunities provided by collaborative learning with a mixed aged class of 7-11 year olds (Year 3-Year 6). This paper specifically focuses on those children aged 7-8 years (Year 3) and how they worked on improving the quality of their writing through optional and directed collaborative group…

This paper reports on preschool children's social relationships developed in urban and rural kindergarten classes in Greece. We investigated the selection and rejection criteria children use and examined potential criteria differences as a function of a number of socio-demographic variables (children's age group, gender, parental job status,…

Drawing on an analysis of education policies and qualitative research data, the impact of education reform on the roles of English primary headteachers and their Finnish counterparts is examined and compared. Global forces have resulted in similar policy trends in both countries but owing to contrasting cultural values and education traditions…

Studies conducted so far have mainly focused on the relationships between perceptions of tests and test anxiety among adult foreign language learners, while there is a lack of research focusing on young learners on the above-mentioned issue. Thus, this study aims to examine the relationship between test anxiety among young learners who study…