bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Tangle of Student Allowances
Authors: Thomson Norman J.
Published: March 2013

All of the grants and allowances paid to students by the government (State or Commonwealth) can be classified under one of two categories: expense allowances or living allowances. The article begins by stating the case or need for such direct payments to students. It soon becomes clear that both categories of allowances are provided to equalise opportunity. In the case of expense allowances, the need varies from State to State depending upon the particular State's policies in making free schooling accessible to all students. Living allowances, provided to meet the needs of the socially and economically disadvantaged, constitute part of a government's package of measures designed to reduce the inequalities of private welfare that exist in our society.

The article then focuses briefly on the apparent inequality in living allowance support given to high school students relative to tertiary students. Given the increasing concern for the rate at which students from a disadvantaged home environment drop out of senior schooling, the comparison appears particularly incongruous.

In conclusion, the article argues for the identification of expense allowances with State governments and living allowances with the Commonwealth. This would link the expense outlays of students directly with the States whose particular policy of indirect educational expenditure caused the private expenses incurred. The Commonwealth, on the other hand, would be able to co-ordinate national objectives of welfare redistribution through the living allowance support of students.
Teacher Questions: Frequency and Distribution in a Sample of Papua New Guinea High Schools
Authors: Moore Dennis , Smith Peter
Published: March 2013

Observational data are presented relating to several topographical features of teachers questioning patterns in a sample of Papua New Guinea High Schools. Question rate is reported and compared with that obtained in four American studies. A measure is given of the proportion of teacher questions which were controlled. Question distribution by sex and by classroom location is analyzed and possible implications of the unequal distribution discussed. Several issues warranting further investigation are raised.
Teaching Professionalism to the Teaching Profession
Authors: Macklin Michael
Published: March 2013

This paper proposes a concept of professionalism which (a) distinguishes the essentially professional elements of teaching and (b) establishes in what areas philosophy of education might make an effective contribution to the professional development of teachers. The paper commences with the sociological literature on the formal characteristics of a profession. Four dimensions of teaching are then proposed in order to specify its professional elements. The notion of relevance which underpins my argument is taken to be a relational concept dependent upon the perspective of the person making the relevancy judgment. The relevance of ‘philosophy of education as reflection’ to each of the professional dimensions of teaching is discussed, and an argument mounted for the desirability of reflection as professionally relevant to the fourth dimension of teaching.
Observational Studies of Australian School Administrators: Methodological Issues
Authors: Thomas A. Ross , Willis Quentin , Phillipps David
Published: March 2013

This paper is concerned with observation as a method of gathering information about the behaviour of school administrators. The paper first considers relevant literature on the methodology of observation in terms of the process of observation, recording and coding, and the role of the observer. The paper next turns its attention to two observational studies recently conducted in Australia — one of three secondary school principals in the State of Victoria, the other of five primary school principals in the State of New South Wales. The observations are described with regard to the establishment of each project, the recording of principals' actions, and the application of a decision-making overlay.
Oral Reading Strategies among High School Boys of Australian and Italian Descent
Authors: Driver D. C. , Elkins J.
Published: March 2013

A sample of 101 Year 8 and Year 9 boys of Australian and Italian descent was divided into quartile groups according to silent reading comprehension scores. The students' oral reading was recorded on reel-to-reel tape and the resulting miscues categorized using Goodman and Burke's criteria. Accuracy and self-correction rates were also analysed along with real-word and non-word corrections. In addition a comparison of educational and occupational attainments of the mothers and fathers of both Australian and Italian populations was made. All groups used semantic and syntactic cues quite well on easy passages, but as text difficulty increased, more use was made of the graphophonic cueing system, with the higher ability groups retaining the semantic and syntactic cueing systems longer. When oral reading accuracy was examined at the four comprehension levels, the lowest level Italian group read more accurately than the equivalent Australian students.
Cultural Pluralism and Educational Policy: In Search of Stable Multiculturalism
Authors: Smolicz J.J.
Published: March 2013

The significance and meaning of cultural pluralism, or of multiculturalism as it is more commonly referred to in Australia, continue to excite much debate, as well as conceptual confusion. In this paper three possible types of multiculturalism in ethnically plural societies are analysed, namely those of ‘transitional‘, ‘residual’, and ‘stable’ or enduring multiculturalism. The latter orientation is carefully distinguished from separatism, while the transitional and residual types of multiculturalism are related to assimilationist solutions to pluralism.

Throughout the paper the emphasis is placed on the paramount significance of culture in social life and on the need to distinguish between viable cultures that can be transmitted and modified by future generations, and cultures that have been reduced to residues through the loss of their core values. Such a concept of ethnic cultures, each with its distinct core, is discussed within the framework of values that are supra-ethnic, or shared by all sections of Australian society. From this vantage, the role of the school appears to be that of cultivating such shared values, and of transmitting the cores of all groups, within a social matrix that is dynamic and capable of change. This type of viable and developing pluralism is only possible if it is related to the personal cultural worlds of all Australians, since plurality remains a sterile notion unless it is seen to permeate the lives of individuals from all groups in society. The focus of the paper is on Australia, but examples from other ethnically plural societies are introduced, in order to highlight those developments that bear upon the Australian scene, and to explicate certain conceptual distinctions that are best understood in an international context.
The Identity Crisis in Secondary Education
Authors: Crittenden Brian
Published: March 2013

Schooling for perhaps two-thirds of adolescents is at best inefficient; it is commonly simply destructive and brutalizing for everyone involved. It is a gigantic absurdity. (Frank Musgrove)

Normal adolescents can find themselves and grow further only by coping with jobs, sex, and chances of the real world—it is useless to feed them curricular imitations. (Paul Goodman)

Schools are the graveyards of desire. (Slogan on the wall of a Melbourne school)
Women Academics in Australian Universities
Authors: Over Ray
Published: March 2013

In addition to holding only one in six teaching appointments in Australian universities, women predominantly occupy junior positions. The current ratio of women to men academics, as well as differences found in their disciplinary affiliations, matches the participation rates of the two sexes in postgraduate training within Australian universities in an earlier period. It is argued that the number of women entering university teaching has been limited by the traditional conflict between career demands and family life-cycle commitments. Sex differences in educational achievement are becoming less marked, and concepts of women's roles have changed. However, although there are now more women qualified for university appointments, the steady state of Australian universities, together with the age structure of existing staff, will result in relatively few vacant academic positions over the next 20 years. The proportion of women academics seems unlikely to change to any marked extent in the short term. Some implications of a university system with predominantly male academics are discussed.
Kipling's View of Educating Children
Authors: Musgrave P. W.
Published: March 2013

Kipling wrote novels, stories, and verse from the 1880s until his death in 1936 for both adults and children. In much of this writing, children played a major part and in a number of his works for children he had an admitted didactic aim. Throughout these years Kipling's works were very widely read. The questions can then be asked what view of the child did he express in his writing and how innovatory was it? A view can be discerned fairly early in his oeuvre and this remained remarkably stable until his death. This view focused on a vision of growth or ‘becoming’, fostered by activity and often learnt unconsciously. Action was to be directed by a firm and rather conservative code of morals, although some initiative was allowed on occasions so that change became a possibility.
Achievements and Directions in Research on Intellectual Skills
Authors: White Richard T.
Published: March 2013

A summary, with emphasis on Australian contributions, is given of 20 years of research on the learning of intellectual skills. The historical development of the field is outlined, beginning with studies of the validity of learning hierarchies, then moving to issues concerning the understanding of intellectual skills. Shifts in the experimental paradigm are identified for investigations of the effects of methods of instruction on the learning of intellectual skills, and methods of probing and depicting cognitive structure are described. Suggestions for future research are presented throughout.
Creation-Science, Evolution-Science, and Education: Anything Goes?
Authors: Knight John
Published: March 2013

This paper attempts a sympathetic but critical understanding of creation-science and its attack on ‘normal science’ and the school curriculum. The claims of creationism to scientific status are examined from an unproblematic perspective on science and from that of several major contemporary theories of science. Questions of rights in a democracy are also considered. An understanding of the force of the creationist attack on science and the curriculum is sought through an examination of the social sources of fundamentalism. Creation-science is seen as an attempt to restore the unity of science and belief in a society where instrumental and normative knowledge have fractured and social cohesion and community are weakened.

Three cheers to the fundamentalists in California who succeeded in having a dogmatic formulation of the theory of evolution removed from the textbooks and an account of Genesis included (but I know that they would become as chauvinistic and totalitarian as scientists are today when given the chance to run society all by themselves. Ideologies are marvellous when used in the company of other ideologies. They become boring and doctrinaire as soon as their merits lead to the removal of their opponents.)—(Feyerabend, 1981, p. 163)
The Policy of Education Change by Changing Teachers: Comments on the ‘Democratic Curriculum’
Authors: Smith Richard
Published: March 2013

This paper compares findings from a study of primary social studies teachers with the proposals by Ashenden, Blackburn, Hannan, and White (1984) for a democratic curriculum. The paper indicates that at the level of teacher assumptions about social studies teaching, the intentions of a liberal curriculum are subverted. Similarly, it is argued, Ashenden et al.'s proposals aimed at changing teachers to achieve radical ends are inadequate because they neglect teacher interests and valuations; and by concentrating on teachers, the proposals neglect structural and supportive constituency dimensions.
Differential Prediction of First Year University Performance for Students from Different Social Backgrounds
Authors: West Leo H. T.
Published: March 2013

In all States in Australia, the Higher School Certificate (HSC) or its equivalent is used to select students for entry to higher education, and it is generally considered to be the best predictor of first year performance. However, Dunn (1982) demonstrated, at the University of Melbourne, that HSC was a biased selector with respect to type of school attended. The present study tested that hypothesis at Monash University. In addition, an examination of selector bias was undertaken for other social background variables: father's occupational status as a surrogate of socio-economic status, and student's country of birth as a surrogate of ethnicity.

It is shown that HSC is a consistently biased selector with respect to type of school attended but not with respect to father's occupational status or student's country of birth. Students from government schools perform as well in first year as those from independent schools who have an HSC score of the order of 10–25 marks higher (or about one quarter to one half of the standard deviation in HSC score).
Choosing a Deputy Head: The Rhetoric and Reality of Administrative Selection
Authors: Gronn Peter C.
Published: March 2013

This article provides a case study of administrative selection in an English Local Education Authority. It draws on field work and illuminates the process of selection from candidates' and selectors' perspectives alike. An analysis is offered of the assumptions and expectations underlying the eventual choice of the prospective incumbent, a Deputy Head. A model is provided of selection as an instance of career status passage. Implications are drawn for the making of panel judgements generally and for the conduct of administrative work.
National Policy on Languages: A Community Language Perspective
Authors: Smolicz J. J.
Published: March 2013

A brief historical review of language policies in Australia up to the publication of the Senate Standing Committee's Report on a National Language Policy in 1984 is given. The recommendations of the Report are discussed in the light of the ethno-cultural or core value significance that community languages have for many minority ethnic groups in Australia. Recent research findings on such languages are presented and their implications for a national language policy considered. It is postulated that the linguistic pluralism generated by the presence of community languages needs to be viewed in the context of a framework of values that includes English as the shared language for all Australians. From this perspective, it is argued that the stress that the Senate Committee Report places upon the centrality of English in Australia should be balanced by greater recognition of the linguistic rights of minorities and their implications for bilingual education. It is pointed out that both these aspects of language policy have been given prominence in recent statements and guidelines released by the Ministers of Education in Victoria and South Australia. The paper concludes by pointing to the growing interest in the teaching of languages other than English to all children in Australian schools.
Community Colleges in Western Australia — Historical Accidents and Policy Dilemmas
Authors: White Michael A.
Published: March 2013

This paper traces the establishment of Western Australia's three community colleges. Features of this development are significant government initiatives, historical accidents, and policy issues concerning the coordination, control, and future directions of new post-secondary institutions. All this is examined against a background of debates about the control and management of the state's system of technical and further education. The policy issues that are raised are similar to issues discussed in most Australian states, and invite speculation about the future shape of technical and further education in Western Australia that is highly relevant to what is happening in other parts of the nation.
Coeducation and Sex Roles
Authors: Harris Mary B.
Published: March 2013

In order to test conflicting hypotheses about the effects of coeducational versus single-sex schooling, 538 first-term Australian university students who had attended single sex or coeducational high schools were compared on a number of variables relating to sex roles. Those from the two types of schools did not differ significantly on the Australian Sex Roles Inventory or on a measure of nontraditional attitudes towards sex roles, although males and females differed in predictable ways. Most subjects, particularly those from coeducational schools, felt that coeducational schools are preferable and lead to a more natural attitude towards the opposite sex. Subjects from coeducational rather than single-sex schools said that they had more opposite-sex friends in high school and were more likely to feel that their school helped rather than hindered their everyday relations with the opposite sex and their chances for a happy marriage. However subjects did not feel that boys and girls learn or behave better in coeducational schools, and there were no differences in the percentages of subjects from the two types of schools who reported having had sexual intercourse or been in love while in high school.

The single-sex schools attended tended to differ from the coeducational ones in being smaller, more urban, and more likely to be selective, which made comparisons difficult to interpret. Nevertheless it seems reasonable to conclude that coeducational schooling, at least for this selective sample, may have some advantages in fostering interactions with the opposite sex.
On Overcoming Sexism in Schooling: To Marginalize or Mainstream
Authors: Willis Sue , Kenway Jane
Published: March 2013

Single-sex schooling, in some form, is offered by many feminists as one strategy for overcoming sexist educational practices. The purpose of this paper is to indicate flaws in the evidence, the logic and the politics of this ‘strategy’. The empirical evidence in favour of single-sex schooling is of questionable value. Furthermore the strategy is limited because it focuses almost exclusively on changing the attitude and behaviour of girls and shows little potential for changing teachers, the curriculum or boys. The final section of the paper provides a less optimistic scenario of the effects of single-sex settings than is generally offered and, finally, a more appropriate focus of activity is suggested for those who wish to improve the educational experiences of girls.
On Strengthening the Socratic Strain in Higher Education
Authors: Furedy John J. , Furedy Christine
Published: March 2013

A questioning, critical attitude—the Socratic strain—is accepted as essential in higher education, but it has been subject to little effective examination. This paper begins by considering the role of Socrates in the distinction between higher education and indoctrinational or merely instructional education. The place of critical thinking in the modern university is discussed, followed by a consideration of some specific approaches to teaching that may promote critical thinking. Finally, there is an outline of some ideas for research on the Socratic strain in higher education.
French and Raven's Power Bases: A Focus for Educational Researchers and Practitioners
Authors: Tauber Robert T.
Published: March 2013

The paper argues that the effective use of power, a little-investigated concept, is crucial to providing leadership in educational settings. It then presents French and Raven's social bases of power—coercive, reward, legitimate, referent, and expert—and builds a case for power being a focus for both educational researchers and practitioners. The former, researchers, are encouraged to look upon power, its definition, its categories, its enhancement, and its application as untilled soil ripe with opportunities for investigation. The latter, practitioners, are asked to come to grips with the potential and limits of each power base in order more effectively to exercise such power in the classroom.
Criterion-based Assessment, Grading and Reporting at Year 12 Level
Authors: Power Colin
Published: March 2013

While the move towards criterion-referenced assessment in Australia represents a step in the right direction, the path is fraught with political and technical hazards. Advocates of criterion-referenced assessment tend to overdraw the distinction between norm and criterion-referenced assessment, and to play down the difficulties inherent in spelling out criteria and setting standards at the Year 12 level. Nevertheless it is a good idea to try to clarify the domains of each subject (integrated structures of knowledge and ability which underly areas of expertise) and to experiment with new tools and technologies being developed by measurement specialists. We must also recognize that we cannot hope to improve the art of assessing the quality of students' work by an infinite expansion along a scientific-technological path in all areas of the curriculum. In many areas, we will always be dependent on the expertise and judgment of connoisseurs, and judgments will always represent an uncertain blend of criteria derived from the subject and the assessors on the one hand, and norms ebbing from those being assessed on the other.
Structure and Agency as Two Problematics in School-based Curriculum Development: A Case Study
Authors: Kirk David
Published: March 2013

Implicit in the rationale behind the shift from a centre-periphery/systems management approach to a school-based curriculum development (SBCD) approach to curriculum innovation and development are two notions which are viewed here as problematic. The first is that teachers will be ‘free’ to develop curricula which conform to a pedagogic ideal. Based on case-study research, it is argued that this notion must be approached with caution, as it can be shown that, even in a situation where teachers themselves initiate innovation, their actions are constrained by a number of in-school structures. The second notion is that SBCD may be able to overcome problems that occur between the creation and implementation of innovatory programs. However it is argued that individual teachers who are involved in creating an innovative idea also paradoxically interpret this idea in different ways and implement it differently. It is concluded that transformation of innovative ideas is inevitable in any innovatory program, and that this factor may act as a counterbalance to excesses in bureaucratic control sometimes evident in centre-periphery/systems management approaches.
Adolescent Concerns: A Classification for Life Skill Areas
Authors: Evans Glen T. , Poole Millicent E.
Published: March 2013

A brief review and theoretical analysis of issues involved in education for life skills was used to propose ways in which to extend work which has been done in identifying major life skills about which adolescents express concern. Using interviews, essays and questionnaires as assessment procedures, two studies were designed to explore concerns, knowledge, skills, needs and attributed sources of learning in these areas. The results suggested a taxonomy of perceived concerns and knowledge, in which social relationships, personal development and career skills were central.
Children's Monitoring of Another's Comprehension: Effects of Reading Ability and Context
Authors: Kirby John R. , Teasdale Warwick R.
Published: March 2013

Previous research has shown that children do not monitor their own comprehension very well when reading. Theories have been advanced which emphasize the roles of capabilities and strategies in inhibiting monitoring; at least one crucial factor is that children often do not perceive that errors are possible in text. This paper describes the development of a task, the inserted cloze task, in which children are required to judge the correctness of another child's comprehension. This task elicits comprehension monitoring quite easily. An empirical study of above and below average readers in Years 3 and 4 is reported. Their performance indicates that use of prior context within the sentence poses little difficulty for either group of readers. However use of within-sentence following context is most likely in simple texts, and is the only measure which differentiates the better readers from the less able. These results demonstrate that comprehension can be elicited from even less skilled readers, but that the amount of context which must be considered is an important factor. A possible hierarchy of comprehension skills is discussed, and suggestions for the teaching of these skills are presented. It is concluded that the inserted cloze task would be useful in teaching comprehension monitoring.
The Formation of Regional Boards and the Devolution of Victorian State Education
Authors: Watkins P. , Rizvi F. , Angus L.
Published: March 2013

This paper discusses a research project, conducted over 1985 and 1986, which studied a regional board of education in Victoria. It describes how the board members have constructed and developed their understanding of their roles and functions and how, in such a process, they have negotiated a collective identity for the regional board. The research raises a number of issues concerning the nature and scope of democratic governance: in particular, the relationship between the regional bureaucracy and the regional board, the problem of representativeness and, more generally, the tension between representative and participatory democracy.
Agency and Structure—Influences on a Principal's Initiation of Change in School Practices
Authors: Evans Beryl
Published: March 2013

Changes in the curriculum and in the organization of schools are occurring in response to the changing nature of society and through consideration of what is appropriate learning for students. In primary schools in Queensland, it is often the task of the principals to initiate these changes. This paper proposes that elements of the duality of agency and structure, as proposed by Giddens (1979, 1981, 1982, 1984) in his theory of structuration, can provide some understanding of the complexities of the actions of principals and of teachers in school change. The knowledgeability of agents, the dialectic of control between them, and the enabling and constraining features of structure, as rules and resources, are elaborated. A specific change in practice in a suburban primary school is analysed using these notions. The analysis suggests that there is some evidence that the day-to-day activities of participants in the change in practice were being re-created by knowledgeable agents who were reproducing the structural conditions which made the activities possible.
Investigations of Exemplary Practice in High School Science and Mathematics
Authors: Tobin Kenneth , Fraser Barry J.
Published: March 2013

Past research has often highlighted problems of science and mathematics education. As a consequence, case studies of exemplary teachers were conducted to emphasize positive aspects and to stimulate and improve science and mathematics education. Comparisons of three exemplary teachers with colleagues from the same schools indicated that the exemplary teachers used effective classroom management strategies; used a range of whole-class, small-group and seat-work activities; kept students on-task; and monitored the extent to which students understood the content to be learned. In contrast, the comparison teachers had difficulty in maintaining discipline, emphasized whole-class activities and focused on content coverage rather than student understanding.
University Students' Representations of Study
Authors: Volet Simone E. , Lawrence Jeanette A.
Published: March 2013

Five women university students' representations of their learning were analysed and related to their on-going adaptations to course demands. Representations involved their goals, working plans and perceptions of difficulties. Qualitative data from students' accounts of their study in three interviews over five weeks were tabulated schematically in relation to Duncker's concepts of productive heuristics. Representations and performances were different for three high and two low achievers. Higher achievers had course-appropriate emphases of integrating and organising content for themselves, and applying it to teaching practice. Lower achievers persisted with self-oriented problems and inappropriate strategies. A case is made for the usefulness of qualitative and micro-analytic analyses of students' perceptions and activities for explaining the adaptations behind individual differences in study performance.
Single-Sex and Mixed-Sex Classes: The Effects of Class Type on Student Achievement, Confidence and Participation in Mathematics
Authors: Rowe Kenneth J.
Published: March 2013

Among the intervention strategies designed to increase the participation and achievement of girls in mathematics and science education, the establishment of single-sex classes in Australian coeducational postprimary schools seems to be growing faster than the substantive evidence to justify it. This paper reports the findings from the first three stages of a longitudinal case study designed to examine the effects of single-sex and mixed-sex classes on student achievement, confidence and participation in mathematics, at a large Victorian postprimary school. Despite some limitations in the data, the results indicated nonsignificant gender differences and a putative causal relationship between confidence and achievement. While the change in students' mathematics achievement over time, independent of confidence, was similar for all students, regardless of class type, there was a significant class-type intervention effect on students' confidence in learning and using mathematics, independent of achievement. Moreover, for those students concerned, being placed in single-sex classes was associated with greater confidence which, in turn, significantly increased the likelihood of their subsequent participation in senior mainstream mathematics education.
The Important Things in Life: Group Differences in Adolescent Concerns
Authors: Poole Millicent E. , Evans Glen T.
Published: March 2013

A useful approach to group differences in adolescent concerns is to consider the distinction between instrumental values and more intrinsic and terminal values. Which of these is emphasised might be expected to depend on the major life settings of the adolescents concerned. In this study, the major settings of the 15- to 18-year-old participants were taken to be the educational context or course type—mainstream Year 11, transition program in school, prevocational programs in colleges of technical and further education, and community youth support schemes. Gender differences were also examined. The study examined differences in the nature of the concerns expressed, the reasons given for these concerns, skills needed for coping, ability to cope, problems encountered, and sources of help and hindrance. The findings suggested a course type culture in which patterns of expectations and priorities of concern are developed. Course type setting appeared to influence whether young people show more concern with immediacy of needs, proximal plans and getting a job, as distinct from distal plans, personal development, and relationships. There were also associated gender differences.
What Do Developments in the Labour Market Imply for Postcompulsory Education in Australia?
Authors: Sweet Richard
Published: March 2013

Growth in full-time educational participation since 1975 has been effective in reducing measured levels of youth unemployment. Had full-time participation not grown since 1975, it is estimated that an additional 86 400 15 to 19-year-olds would have been seeking full-time work in August 1985 and the unemployment rate for the age group would have been 31.5% rather than 20.3%. Future increases in school retention rates such as those envisaged by the Quality of Education Review Committee will have implications for levels of demand for the labour of youth as well as for the supply of youth labour. Reductions in unemployment among 18 to 19-year-olds as the result of educational initiatives will require full-time tertiary places to grow significantly. Whether growing full-time participation is of itself sufficient to improve the way in which postcompulsory education supplies productive skills to the economy is open to question. Comparisons between Australia and other OECD countries suggest that issues of vocational preparation, and not levels of senior secondary participation or higher education output, should be seen as central within Australian debate on education's link to the economy. On a number of educational expenditure, participation and output measures, Australia is at least on a par with the OECD average. However the proportion of young Australians in programs of vocational preparation is less than half the OECD average, and is the second lowest of 20 OECD countries for which data are available.

Recent Australian reports on postcompulsory education generally reject a role for schools in vocational preparation. This is probably sensible in view of the way in which the traditions and values of Australian schools limit their capacity to provide access to vocational programs. However, it begs the question of why other advanced industrial economies take a contrary view, and prevents attention being paid to questions of how the postcompulsory system as a whole can increase young people's access to recognised programs of vocational preparation. Rather than a quest for a common curriculum in the postcompulsory years, effort to create common credentials that can link schools and technical and further education (TAFE) is urged.
The Commensurability of the General Linear Model in the Context of Educational and Psychosocial Research
Authors: Rowe Kenneth J.
Published: March 2013

In explanatory research, as opposed to exploratory research, data analysis is meant to shed light on substantive theory. The potential for accomplishing this goal is predicated, among other things, on the use of statistical models that are commensurate with the theoretical model specifications to which they are applied. This paper discusses the commensurability conditions applying to the general linear model (GLM) and examines some of the more serious limitations entailed by the widespread and often uncritical use of the GLM, particularly in exploratory educational and psychosocial ex post facto research. By an examination of the statistical properties of the GLM and the use of illustrative examples from a recent and well-known work in educational research, it is argued that, even in the context of explanatory research, where the conditions for statistical and theoretical model commensurability are most likely to hold, the GLM has notable weaknesses and limitations.
Private Schooling and Public Achievement
Authors: Williams Trevor , Carpenter Peter G.
Published: March 2013

There are two contending explanations for the apparent public/private differences in educational outcomes—the ‘quality education’ argument versus the ‘selective-socioeconomic-recruitment’ explanation. The quality education argument explains these differences in terms of between-system differences in the quality of the education offered. The selective-socioeconomic-recruitment explanation suggests that between-system differences in outcomes have more to do with what students bring to school than with what they find there. These competing propositions are examined by asking whether attendance at a Catholic or non-Catholic private school provides a net benefit with regard to educational achievement and attainment. The answers come from additive models which control for a variety of family, individual and school variables in order to examine the net effect of school sector. The evidence presented suggests that a good part of the observed between-sector differences in performance is attributable to between-sector differences in student attributes—but not all. In the case of schooling, small between-sector differences in achievement remain, along with sizeable between-sector differences in Year 12 graduation rates. For higher education, between-sector differences in participation rates favour the graduates of non-government schools but sectoral differences in completion rates are negligible. It is suggested, in conclusion, that parents who invest in their children's education in this way may be getting a return on their investment, though probably not as much as they think.
Determinants of Teacher Stress
Authors: O'Connor Pauline R. , Clarke Valerie A.
Published: March 2013

Questionnaire data collected from a sample of 238 Australian teachers drawn from primary and secondary, government and non-government schools, were used to identify the factors associated with stress arising from four aspects of the teaching role: time/work-load pressures, student factors, school administration/staff tensions, and employment/community factors. About a third of the teachers reported a considerably high level of job stress. The greatest sources of stress were time and work-load pressures, which were related to being female, permanently employed, committed to teaching, and seeing oneself as conscientious, shy and unhappy. Stress arising from student factors was related to being female, highly committed to teaching, degree-trained rather than certificate-trained, lacking masculinity and lacking self-sufficiency. System and community-related stress was associated with teaching higher grade levels, a perceived lack of promotional opportunities, being employed in the government rather than the non-government system, being unwilling to take risks and being understanding. Stress associated with the school administration did not relate to any identifiable variables. All four areas of stress were positively associated with the use of emotion-focused appraisals, but did not relate systematically to the use of problem-focused appraisals despite the relatively high incidence of these appraisals. Implications of the findings are discussed.
School-Related Fears of Children and Adolescents
Authors: King Neville J. , Ollendick Thomas H. , Gullone Eleonora
Published: March 2013

Although maladaptive fears are complexly determined and often refractory to change, advances in cognitive-behavioural counselling offer considerable promise. Of the many fears displayed by children, several—performance anxiety, social anxiety and school phobia—are of concern to school staff. In describing the major fear reduction procedures (e.g. systematic desensitisation) this article highlights the need to be flexible and to ensure that interventions are age-appropriate. Despite the differences between fear-reduction procedures, they all aim to expose the individual to the fear-eliciting stimulus. Awaiting further research is the role of the teacher in the identification and management of anxious students.
How Burned Out are Our Teachers? A Cross-Cultural Study
Authors: Sarros Anne M. , Sarros James C.
Published: March 2013

This cross-cultural study examines the extent to which burnout exists among both Victorian high school teachers and North American teachers in public and separate school systems. The findings reveal that teachers are coping fairly well with job-related demands, and are not experiencing unduly high levels of burnout. However Australian teachers recorded a higher than normal level of burnout as a consequence of lack of job recognition and perceived limited career prospects. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed in terms of the Australian government school systems.
Outcomes of Girls' Schooling: Unravelling Some Social Differences
Authors: Jones Jennifer
Published: March 2013

This paper attempts to identify some of the issues relevant to the question of single-sex schools versus coeducation and whether either setting is more favourable to girls' performance. A subject choice survey was undertaken in government and Catholic schools in the Wollongong area. It is contended that gender intersects with a multiplicity of social factors but these variables intersect at different points which produce different outcomes. Both United Kingdom and Australian data show that school ethos, negative community attitudes, low aspirations, insufficient motivation and negative teacher attitudes all contribute to the low participation rate of girls in mathematics and science. These continue to outweigh positive effects such as strong, committed and innovative teaching. On balance, research indicates that girls do achieve better results in mathematics and science in private schools. In New South Wales, there is some variation in the Catholic sector. Here as with other private and government schools, social factors intersect with gender.
Teachers and Proletarianisation: A Reply to Lauder and Yee
Authors: Harris Kevin
Published: March 2013

In contrast to the growing literature identifying proletarianisation of teachers' work, and the attendant loss of control, autonomy and professionalism, Lauder and Yee describe a situation in which they claim proletarianisation is not taking place. From this identification, they claim that proletarianisation is not as ‘inevitable’ as ‘the literature tends to suggest’, and that the capitalist state can actually provide the space for socialist educational practice. Given the current rapid redefinition of the role of teaching in Australia and New Zealand (and elsewhere), and the increasingly changing demands being made on teachers, it is important that Lauder and Yee's analysis be challenged, and that their conclusions be revealed as incorrect as well as politically dangerous if accepted by teachers.
The Visibility and Invisibility of Aboriginal Students in an Urban Classroom
Authors: Malin Merridy
Published: March 2013

This paper describes the major findings of an ethnographic study investigating the first year of school in two urban classrooms for several Aboriginal students. It explores the adaptations to classroom life of these students and their teachers' consequent responses. It illuminates the culturally based skills, assumptions and values which these Aboriginal students bring from home to school relative to those of the Anglo students. It describes how a combination of cultural differences, ideology and subsequent micro-political processes resulted in the marginalising of some of the Aboriginal students, both academically and socially.
Tertiary Entrance Predictors of First-Year University Performance
Authors: Everett James E. , Robins Joan
Published: March 2013

This paper reports a study of the extent to which the Tertiary Entrance Score (TES) and Australian Scholastic Aptitude Test (ASAT) score predict the first-year performance of the 1695 full-time students entering The University of Western Australia in 1987. The criterion of performance is successful completion of the normal load of four first-year units. Using hierarchical logit models, the relation of performance to TES and ASAT scores and to sex and field of study is established and graphically displayed. It is shown that the ASAT quantitative subscale (presently accounting for less than 1% of the TES) is comparable to the total TES score as a predictor of performance, for both humanities and science students. Implications for policy are discussed, together with suggestions for a more far-ranging study of the predictive power of Tertiary Entrance data.
Self-Rapport: A Note on Psychology and Instruction
Authors: Mageean B.
Published: March 2013

It is argued in this note that we can take instruction and give it because we instruct ourselves, with a self-rapport as the basic movement of our cognitive activity or thinking. Psychology does not, it is argued, have to explain human curiosity or human understanding; but it can talk about how to and how we deal with these things — that is, their conditions of operation — if it pays attention to the instructional facts. When attention is given to the interactive and social context of cognition, some educationists' criticisms of instructional psychology may be countered, and the psychology of cognition and its development will benefit from being more reality oriented. It is concluded that the empiricism of psychology is not a cold recording of behaviour, but rather a study of instructive plans for action, with both better plans and better action as the goal.
Development of Financial Independence from the Family: A Model
Authors: Powles Margaret
Published: March 2013

Based on a survey and interviews with students aged 15 to 20, this paper works towards a model of stages between adolescents' financial dependence upon and independence from the family. Childhood dependency may be considered at one end of a spectrum with economic and social independence as well as separation from the family at the other. Along the spectrum, it is possible to discern a series of markers which indicate developmental stages on the path towards independence. Location of young people along the spectrum does not necessarily relate to age, but is influenced by family type, circumstances, and perceptions of what constitutes independence. The proposed model facilitates a conceptualisation of normative as well as ‘risk’ pathways leading to financial independence, and so has implications for educational and social policies directed towards youth and their families.
Professional Development Policy in a Small Rural Education System
Authors: Maxwell T. W.
Published: March 2013

The paper describes the professional development policy of a small but geographically widespread education system in New South Wales. The policy has particular features. Notably it allows control of the content of staff development at three levels — the system, the school and the individual. The policy identifies a rationale and an aim, a set of assumptions, principles of procedure and characteristics of a healthy professional learning environment. These are used as guides for officers of the system in their choice of implementation models and in the processes they use. The process of implementation of the policy is described, including administrative structures and some models of inservice. Some similarities are commented on between the policy and Stenhouse's process model of curriculum development. Suggestions are made regarding the implementation of the Scott report in New South Wales. The conceptual framework of policy analysts, Hogwood and Gunn (1984), was particularly useful in the analysis.
The Survival of Academic Publishing in the Current Political Climate: Melbourne Studies in Education
Authors: Bessant Judith , Stockley David
Published: March 2013

The recent publishing history of the academic journal Melbourne Studies in Education is used as a case study illustrating the contradictions between Commonwealth Government calls to establish a ‘clever country’ of intellectual creativity and debate, and the economic rationalist dictates of the changes to Australian higher education flowing from the White Paper. On the one hand, the demand is for openness, risk taking and the practical application of intellectuality; on the other hand, educational resources are cut, academics' subsidising of journal production is discouraged and academic activities are evaluated in dollar terms. The consequences and contradictions of these policies are thrown into relief by the University of Melbourne's decision to cease subsidising the publication of Melbourne Studies in Education and the journal's subsequent transfer under new arrangements to La Trobe University School of Education.