AARE 1998 ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS

Compiler and Editor: Peter L. Jeffery.

Tap [Ctrl][F], or use your browser's EDIT, FIND IN PAGE feature to search for any word in an abstract. Then use the link to load the paper.

Some of the documents received by AARE Office on disk or by email, did not process into HTML correctly and hence cannot be included in the 1998 Collection until re-submitted. In some cases documents were received in a corrupt form, or in a little supported format. If you find a paper that does not have full content, or errors, please e-mail the author of that paper. Most presenters have included their e-mail addresses in the paper, and some are 'hot linked' to the internet, but in the cases where an e-mail address has not been included, readers may write by e-mail to the AARE office requesting the address of the presenter in question. The AARE e-mail address is: 100355.2247@compuserve.com

Some files were received in HTML format. Apart from the addition of a back-link to the abstracts these files were not altered.

AID98173

Early letter writing: Constructing bilingual and bi-cultural identity

Marina A. Aidman, University of Melbourne

Letter writing can be an important and effective means of children's written language development. Our study supports this argument made by Collerson (1983) and Robinson, et al. (1992) who analysed children's English mother tongue letter writing. In children of a LOTE background, writing letters in their home language acquires a particular significance, as a means of promoting their minority language competence as well as shaping their bilingual and bi-cultural identity (Taft, 1981; Norton, 1998). Our study demonstrates that this is so by examining a bilingual child's letters in her home language written over the first four years of primary schooling. Systemic Functional Grammar (Halliday, 1994) has been used for a detailed linguistic analysis.

AIN98054

The Role of Interest in Classroom Interaction.

Mary Ainley, Universiuty of Melbourne.

A paper presented as part of Symposium 4, Perspectives on meaning in mathematics and science classrooms.

AND98308

Teachers' problem solving beliefs and practices in K-6 mathematics classrooms

Judy Anderson, Australian Catholic University

This study aimed to explore primary school teachers' beliefs about the role of problem solving in learning mathematics and the extent to which they claim to incorporate a problem solving approach in their planning and teaching of mathematics. Survey research methods were used to gather data from teachers in metropolitan and country schools in NSW. The questionnaire revealed the diversity of beliefs held by teachers as well as the use of a range of problem solving tasks and teaching strategies.

AND98319

Nursing students' self-efficacy, self-regulated learning and academic performance in science

Sharon Andrew and Wilma Vialle, University of Wollongong

The study examined the relationships among self-efficacy, learning strategies and academic performance. Specifically, it reports a study of nursing students' self-efficacy for science, self-regulatory learning strategies and academic performance in first year science courses of undergraduate nursing programs. Students from several universities were surveyed by questionnaire and a sample of these students were interviewed by telephone. In addition to socio-demographic items, the questionnaire incorporated tworesearch instruments: the Self-Efficacy For Science (Andrew, 1998) and selected scales from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich et al 1991). The semi-structured telephone interviews included questions about students' interest and self-beliefs about science and learning strategies used for studying science. Preliminary results of these interviews and interrelationships among the research scales will be presented at the conference.

ANG98205

Boo Hong Kwen, Nanyang Technological University and Ang Kok Cheng, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School

To-date, many studies have been conducted world-wide to examine pupils' conceptions about various aspects of electricity. While a small number of these studies had been conducted based on Asian samples, in the literature, there appeared to be no studies done based on Singaporean samples.

This paper reports on an exploratory study of the conceptions that a sample of primary four (P4) and primary five (P5) pupils hold about the topic of electricity. Implications for classroom teaching are also discussed.

The main data collection instrument is a paper-pencil questionnaire, which comprises five questions encompassing the sub-topics in the P4 syllabus on electricity, namely: - electric circuits, conductors and insulators, arrangement of batteries, bulbs and switches. The questionnaire was administered prior to formal instruction on the topic for the P4 pupils and post-instruction for the P5 pupils. A sample of the P4 pupils was interviewed on a one-to-one basis to validate interpretation of their views expressed in the questionnaire.

Results indicate a range of misconceptions held by both groups; the misconceptions held by the P5 pupils were a subset of those held by the P4 pupils. This suggests that with formal instruction some misconceptions were rectified; but the majority of the misconceptions were resistant to instruction.

ARB98130

Researching anti racism education: Negotiating the spaces 'in-between'

Ruth E Arber, Monash University

It is a quandary for narrative researchers of racism and anti racism that even as the other is encouraged to speak within the study, the researcher orchestrates their voices and is also positioned within the research. Researchers are cautioned that it is difficult, if not impossible, to write about others and reminded that a first task for understanding racism and therefore anti racism education needs to be to understand ourselves. Even as researchers divulge their positionality however, their positionality within the research remains undefined. Recent writings demonstrate that we are multipositioned, implicated in unequally empowered ways of understanding and doing; that people share positionings in common and yet are not simply defined by a set of binaries; black, white, working class, middle class, female, male. This paper seeks to understand the implications of this 'changing of the subject' on the way researchers understand their positionality within the research. In doing so it seeks to untangle Homi Bhabha's observation that subjects are formed in excess of the parts of difference, especially as they are usually defined as race, class and gender; and that communities share experiences but have understandings, values, meanings and priorities which are antagonistic, conflictural and incommensurable

ARC98268

Turning motivation into self regulation

JENNIFER ARCHER, University of Newcastle

In terms of achievement goal theory, links have been made between motivational orientations and students' regulation of their learning strategies. In practice, however, these links can appear somewhat tenuous. A motivational intention does not translate automatically into the necessary behaviours to realise the intention, or even the understanding that effective strategies are required. A student who wants to develop a deep understanding of a subject (a mastery achievement goal) does not always have the skill or the will to achieve her goal. However, her desire to understand should help her to persist, to expend effort, and to be alert for the sorts of strategies likely to help her to achieve her goal. What role then does the teacher have in these two related areas: encouraging students' adoption of a mastery achievement goal; and alerting students to the use of effective learning strategies?

The data for the present study are detailed interviews (one half to three quarters of an hour in length) with 54 undergraduate students in their first year, followed by 42 follow-up interviews in their second year. The students were questioned about their motivational orientations, their use of learning strategies, their attributions for success and failure, their confidence in their academic abilities, their emotional reactions to their academic work, and the role of their teachers (in high school) and lecturers (in university) in helping them to learn. A careful analysis of the transcripts will help to add light to the question of how motivational goals translate into self-regulated behaviour and successful performance.

ARN98146

Following a deep lead: Mining for research in education gold

Teresa Arnold, University of South Australia

Self employmnet in small and micro businesses is a major form of employment in Australia. Equally significant is the education of people in this sector. By and large however, this education is informed by practice in and literature from much larger business, it attends to expertise of existing businesses, traditionally with an emphasis on what is taught. Flowing on, little education research is tailored to small and micro business, less still on a purpose of the education: what is learned, and less again on learning to start a new small business, despite the total number of people in the sector and entry and exit numbers. This paper briefly looks at aspects of this paradox, before exploring some emerging images from the hitherto largely hidden world of people learning to start new micro businesses.

BAH98029

Pitch discrimination skill: A cognitive perspective

Nan Bahr, The University of Queensland

Pitch discrimination skills are important for general musicianship. The ability to name any musical note or produce orally any named note is called Absolute Pitch (AP) and is comparatively rare. AP has historically been regarded as being innately acquired. This paper will examine the notion that pitch discrimination skill is based on knowledge constructed through a suite of experiences. That is, it is learnt. In particular, it will be argued that early experiences promote the development of AP.

This paper will report a pilot study into the similarities and differences between the musical experiences of AP possessors and the manifestation of their AP skill. A selection of speed and accuracy profiles for pitch labelling will be used in conjunction with interview and questionnaire data for the development and proposal of a preliminary model for AP development.

The development of an effective model of the development of pitch discrimination skill is fundamental to the selection of appropriate curriculum design and pedagogy for aural training in school music programs. There are a variety of ad hoc approaches to aural training in schools which tend to be founded on popular opinion rather than research evidence. This paper should provide the foundation for a more effective approach to aural training in schools.

BAR98140

A case study of 'Other' education: The NRMA

Ray Barker and Allyson Holbrook, The University of Newcastle

For the past two years the authors have been engaged in an historical investigation of the provision of 'other' education 1900-1990 in the Hunter region. 'Other' education is defined as nonformal and informal education (with the exception of education taking place in the home) and for which there is evidence of conscious 'educational intent' by the provider. Previous papers have developed a typology of provider intent,and of practices and strategies of provision and have mapped the range of educational provision in the Hunter. This paper explores a particular provider', the NRMA. Institutions such as the NRMA have developed a suite of educational activities over time to train their own staff (occupational education) as well those that aim as expand the knowledge, skills and values of their members or client group (community education). The latter group of activities are the main subject of this paper. The findings exemplify the importance of recognising the multi-dimensional educational contribution of 'the other' providers in developing the individual, and the potential usefulness of devising a means to estimate the extent of this contribution, or at least accurately define, their activities.

BAR98317

Collaborative group work in mathematics: Power relationships and student roles

Mary Barnes, University of Sydney

This paper reports the first stage of an ethnographic study of students' experiences of collaborative learning in secondary mathematics classrooms. One aim of the study was to investigate the interaction of student gender and the social construction of mathematical competence in collaborative learning contexts. Students working in small groups on investigative activities were observed and videotaped, and key informants interviewed. One approach to analysing student-student interactions was to identify roles adopted spontaneously by the students when working in groups independently of the teacher, such as "organiser", "teacher" and "critic". Another was to look at the exercise of power within the group, and to try to relate that to the roles adopted and the outcome of the interaction.

BAR98360

School and community: An important partnership

Pamela A Bartholomaeus, Deakin University

A research project concerned with the acquisition of literacy by students and with gender issues in the school, has been conducted in a secondary school in rural South Australia. During this research, the nature of the relationship between the school and its community has emerged as one which influences the ways in which the school understands and is able to meet the needs of its students, including through appropriate pedagogies, and curriculum.

For many rural communities their schools are an important facility, and one which is well supported, and if necessary, to be fought for when there is the possibility of it disappearing, or its range of services being diminished. This paper will explore some of the ways in which this rural school and its community interact, and some of the implications for this school. In an era when the nature of communities appears to be undergoing some transformation, and when educators and their schools are facing frequent criticism, the issues surrounding the relationship between schools and their community are emerging as increasingly important.

BAT98116

Teacher Education and the EdNA Service Directory: a resource for educational researchers

Richard Bates, Deakin University

This session is an introduction to a new resource for teacher educators and their students. The Australian Council of Deans of Education has contracted with DEETYA to develop a series of mechanisms for teacher education which will a) familiarise teacher educators and their initial and post-initial teacher education students with the EdNA directory service and current developments in the area of information and communication technology and b) Facilitate and initiate input and links with the Directory by teacher educators and their organisations. This session demonstrates the various capabilities of the site for students, teacher educators, administrators and researchers including both introductory tours, specialised sites and customised searches. It also demonstrates how to link materials to the teacher education site and to EdNA itself. The project, conducted by Deakin University for the ACDE, will form the basis of a major information exchange for teacher education within Australia and a bridge to international sites in teacher education.

BAT98276

Memory and Schematisation: Learning in the University Context

Debra M Bath, The University of Queensland

Research into learning and the long-term retention of knowledge acquired through formal education has tended to centre around the issue of schematisation. However, suprisingly little is known about how knowledge gained in a specific episode (i.e. in a lecture) can, over the course of an extended period of learning, become a conceptual framework of knowledge relatively free of reference to the details of the specific learning episode. Recent research has linked the concepts of episodic/semantic memory and states of memory awareness, originally from cognitive psychology, to their study of the schematisation process in a 'real world' learning environment with interesting results. It proposes that when a new knowledge base is to be learned, memory is initially represented in a way that supports recollection of the specific learning episodes. As learning proceeds, the underlying memory representations may change so that they no longer primarily lead to recollective experiences but instead become so highly familiar that they are simply 'known'. Corresponding to this shift from knowledge that is episodic and literal to knowledge that is semantic and conceptual, should be a shift in memory awareness from 'remembering' to 'just knowing'. Therefore, as learning progresses, memory awareness should vary systematically with the degree of schematisation of knowledge. The purpose of the present research is to investiage the process of learning and schematisation in the university context in order to further examine the role of episodic and semantic memory and the changes in memory awareness. In conjunction with this, other variables which may impact on schematisation such as student motivation and learning style are examined.

Also, because of the importance placed on lectures in the univeristy learning environment, listening comprehension and its relationship to learning from lectures is investigated.

BAT98394

Fraction knowledge and progression on an integrated learning system

Annette R Baturo, Tom J Cooper and Cam J McRobbie, Queensland University of Technology

An integrated learning system is a computer-based tutoring program which provides students with learning experiences in many disciplines across many years of school. This paper reports on the fraction knowledge of a small group of Year 6 students using an integrated learning system which supplies electronic worksheets in random form for mathematics practice. The students were interviewed to ascertain their understanding of basic fraction concepts and to check understanding of the fraction activities undertaken with the intergrated learning system. The results showed that some students were able to progress (in terms of the systems' evaluation of their ability) with impoverished understanding of fractions. The paper discusses reasons for this and the propensity of systems of this type to focus on syntactical and instrumental understanding.

BEA98139

FComputer games: youth culture, resistant readers and consuming passions.

Catherine Beavis, Deakin University

Digital culture is presented as both seductive and pervasive, and as actively productive of identity and cultural relations. Young people (players) are positioned as uncritical consumers in a context of commodification and internationalisation of youth culture, in a set of debates that refer to broader processes of societal values and change, with computer texts seen as working along with other media and popular culture texts to mobilise specific images, discourses and positions, and to powerfully construct identity. At the same time, other debates point to a more subversive and resistant view of playing/reading. Audience work, for example, has focussed on young people's resiliance in relation to television violence and video nasties. A third set of debates explores connections between young people's in and out of school textual worlds, with a view to exploring ways in which the curriculum might both capitalise on developing skills and knowledge while also intervening in cultural production and strengthening capacities for critique.

BEC98295

The School Watch initiative on homophobia

Lori Beckett and Jacqui Griffin

This paper introduces the SchoolWatch committee from New South Wales, which is composed of representatives from the Department of Education and Training, the Board of Studies, Teachers Federation, P&C Federation, interested academics and university students, and members of the gay and lesbian lobby groups. The SchoolWatch committee takes an active and educative role in relation to anti-lesbian and homophobic prejudice and violence, construction of gender, and sexual identity. The committee's work includes policy advice on anti-homophobia education, professional development, monitoring legislative change, and lobbying to initiate and support system-wide and school projects like support groups for gay and lesbian students, teachers and parents.

BEC98362

Implications of research in implementation of HSC studies of religion in New South Wales

Margie Beck, Australian Catholic University

Research into the implementation of Studies of Religion, a HSC subject in New South Wales in religious schools, has made the potential for recommendations from the research to be taken up at Board of Studies level, as well as system level.

This paper is offered as a case study that responds postively to the conference theme: Reseach in Education: does it count? Using the findings of the research the paper will discuss the ways in which the Board of Studies and some Dioceses have already taken up recommendations and will offer further opportunities for consideration by religious schools that are either offering or may offer the course in the future. The ways in which the research has been used 'along the way' to completion of a PhD will be presented as well.

BEL98212

Students as Researchers: Breaking the Binds

James W Bell, Murdoch University and Annette Patterson, James Cook University

Education students in foundations units at Australian universities are in a double bind. Currently these students must understand a broad range of theoretical materials relating to issues of philosophy, sociology and social justice in macro and micro educational settings. This information is complex, often abstract and has sometimes been criticised by students as "interesting but irrelevant" to their future work as teachers.

Additionally the learning processes of these students are being constrained by increasingly limited teaching periods with increasing demands for the development of practical skills.

This paper explores the development and implementation of a number of undergraduate foundations units from two Australian universities which integrate the theoretical material of previous units with grounded research based assignment work. These units are informed by the view that teaching professionals are researching professionals. This paper investigates the challenges involved in developing research based units for undergraduate students and evaluates the effectiveness of these units in breaking this double bind.

BEL98369

Erica Bell, QLD Board of Senior Secondary School Studies

With some reference to Foucault, the paper will explore the relationship between applied educational research and educational change and development by taking several key research reports published by Queensland's Board of Senior Secondary School Studies and tracing the development and outcomes of these papers for quality and equity in senior secondary schooling: The first national guidelines for assessment quality and equity in assessment produced in Queensland for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Certification Authorities (ACACA) as part of a DEETYA funded project. A key Queensland study of certification of the achievements of students with disabilities that provides an analysis of practices in eight Australian states and at least fourteen countries based on first hand information from systems as diverse as Fiji, Singapore, America, and Germany, as well as strategies for removing barriers to the certification of students with disabilities. A key study of how gender is represented in school developed assessment instruments that provides the results of a scan by 65 teachers of 118 randomly sampled sets of assessment instruments drawn from 95 schools and 10 subjects. The paper will identify specific techniques of applied research in these papers, raising key questions about whether and to what extent these can and have been techniques for achieving change and development at the national and Queensland state level.

BEN98333

Exploring biography: The educational journey towards becoming a special educator

Robyn Bentley-Williams, Charles Sturt University

This investigation explores how biography may enhance teacher role identity. Subjects were final year student teachers in the Bachelor of Education (Special Education) course. Individual biographies provided the text to examine developing teacher role identity and to examine the nature of the gap between the ideal and reality as it relates to curriculum in the special education context. The phases of the Biographical Transformational Model developed by Knowles(1992) were adopted in an attempt to link experiences of family, school, teachers, prior teaching experiences and training; and through interpretation of these experiences, to enhance understandings about role identity leading to a framework for reflection on action in the classroom. Perspectives were identified which related to notions of learners, teachers, teaching, learning, school, resources and knowledge (Smith,1995). The interaction between biography and school environment was analysed in the practicum context and the findings from this study highlight the importance of recognising that teacher education extends beyond the university training period. The transformational model was shown to have particular relevance to special education contexts where the ability to design programs to meet learner's individual needs is considered critical within a collaborative environment.

BLA98351

Mediating change: Self managing schools, the media and reform

Jill Blackmore, John Hodgens, Louise Laskey, Deakin University, and Stephen Thorpe, Flinders University

State schools within a performative market and state context have become implicated in a complex web in which their performance feeds from and into media representations, public perceptions and community understandings of their work.This paper sets the theoretical agenda for data derived from a one year ARC qualitative study on the media and self managing schools in Victoria which considered why and how particular issues became media issues, how schools and teachers responded to issues, and how the media was used by various stakeholders in education to shape policy debates. It draws upon critical discourse and cultural studies theory as well as recent North American and English studies on media and educational reform to map out some of the ways in which the media has 'mediated' educational change in schools, how its shapes schools responses to educational problems.

BLA98352

Jill Blackmore, Deakin University and Judyth Sachs, University of Sydney

Globalisation has led to the radical restructuring of education premised upon the assumption that education is like an industry. TAFE institutes, with their close industry links and overtly vocational emphasis have moved more rapidly towards entrepreneurship, opening up new opposrtunities in curriculum development and leadership areas. Some women, with strong communication, professional development, management and curriculum skills, have been situated favourably in this period of radical institutional change focusing upon flexible learning, quality assurance and client service. Women have also tended to be good corporate citizens in educational organisations, as well as citizens in the wider sense of community e.g community education. This paper discusses how women in leadership in TAFE, a highly underresearched area compared to schools and universities, have worked with discourses of restructuring and entrepreneurship. The paper, using the theoretical framework and data derived from a large ARC considering women and leadership in an era of educational restructuring in schools, TAFE and universities.While the larger project focuses upon the tensions performativity and social justice leanings of many women educators, this paper raises issues about who resists, who accommodates and who takes up change agentry within the specific institutional cultures of TAFE, exploring how women are re-positioned vis a vis traditional discourses of leadership, entrepreneurial discourses and their own understandings of corporate citizenship and social justice. It also draws upon recent Australian research on TAFE by Seddon, Angus and Brown in Victoria and and Kell et al in Queensland, where the case studies were undertaken.

BOO98244

Student Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching and Learning Conditions in Australia,Fiji and Maldives.

Edward Booth, Shamila Abdulla, Govinda Lingham, Lenore Armour and Michael Wilson, University of Wollongong

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of teaching and learning condition by a number of groups of primary student teachers. In an Australia context a sample of local and Canadian Graduate Diploma in Education and second year primary Bachelor of Education students were surveyed. In Fiji local second year Primary Certificate student teachers were surveyed along with a group of Australian students who had completed a three overseas Fiji practicum. The student teachers in the Maldives were from the second year English medium and the Dhivehi medium Primary Certificate program. The survey instrument was completed at the end or recently after a minimum of three weeks of practice teaching experience. Three open-ended questions asked students to: describe the environment of their classroom and any other learning spaces used during the prac; identify the 'things' in their learning environment that encouraged or facilitated the children's learning; and to describe the 'things' in the learning environment that discouraged or frustrated the children's learning. The data was analyzed thematically and will be presented by respondent group and country.

BOU98128

School Level Variables as Predictors of Individual Student Achievement

Sid Bourke and Ken Sinclair, University of Newcastle

It is generally recognised that the home background of students is important for their achievement and progress through school, however, obtaining accurate information is becoming increasingly difficult. Concerns about privacy of family structure, income and occupation with blended families and whether parents are working, and the difficulty of obtaining accurate data from students means that parents have to be approached for the information as well as approval. Low response rates from parents questioned about such matters are of concern.

School-level indicators of socioeconomic status, although coarse, may consist of more than the sum of family backgrounds of students attending the school. They add a "community" context, especially in the case of state primary schools which serve a defined local area. The usefulness of school-level data on poverty and ethnicity in predicting individual achievement of students in the Advanced Program was tested for a school district in South Carolina, USA. Although other school and individual indicators were considered, the major focus of this paper is the relationship of poverty of the total school, as measured by the proportion of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches, with the MAT7 basic skills reading and mathematics scores of 1394 students in Years 3 to 5.

BOU98135

School level variables as predictors of individual student achievement

Sid Bourke, University of Newcastle

It is generally recognised that the home background of students is important for their achievement and progress through school, however, obtaining accurate information is becoming increasingly difficult. Concerns about privacy of family structure, income and occupation with blended families and whether parents are working, and the difficulty of obtaining accurate data from students means that parents have to be approached for the information as well as approval. Low response rates from parents questioned about such matters are of concern. School-level indicators of socioeconomic status, although coarse, may consist of more than the sum of family backgrounds of students attending the school. They add a "community" context, especially in the case of state primary schools which serve a defined local area. The usefulness of school-level data on poverty and ethnicity in predicting individual achievement of students in the Advanced Program was tested for a school district in South Carolina, USA. Although other school and individual indicators were considered, the major focus of this paper is the relationship of poverty of the total school, as measured by the proportion of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches, with the MAT7 basic skills reading and mathematics scores of 1394 students in Years 3 to 5.

BRA98125

Assessment and Reporting in NSW Schools

Laurie Brady, University of Technology Sydney

The emphasis on outcomes, a feature of the introduction of the national curriculum in the early nineties, has had major implications for assessment and reporting, as teachers and educational administrators determine appropriate strategies for assessing and reporting within an outcomes framework. This study reports a survey from a stratified proportional sample of primary schools in NSW on how teachers are currently assessing and reporting within an outcomes framework. The analysis of data, using frequency distributions, tests of significance and multiple analysis of variance, identifies assessing and reporting strategies and the principles that underly such practice. Differences are examined according to age, gender, teaching experience, status and school type.

BRA98300

The link between the personal and professional-participant perceptions of teacher development programs in the Parramatta Diocese

Anthony Bracken, Australian Catholic University

Professional development programs directed toward the personal, spiritual and religious development of teachers have been provided since 1991 for education staff in Catholic schools in the Parramatta diocese. Drawing from a teacher development literature which acknowledges teacher development as personal development, the research explores the experiences and impact of the programs in the lives of teachers from their perspective using focus groups. The data emerging from this research gives insight into the impact of these programs in the day to day work of teachers and shows how personal development experiences can enhance the professional contribution of teachers in Catholic schools.

BRE98131

Putting Ruallity on the Agenda

Marie Brennan, Christine Woodrow, Ken Appleton and Barbara HartleyCenteral Queensland University

The PANEL aims to raise issues about how to foreground issues of rurality, a much neglected perspective in educational research.

It works from four different research projects :

An exploration of delivery of pre-school curriculum training (Woodrow, Robert and Moreton). A Japanese field placement for immersion teacher education LOTE students (Hartley and Chapman). A study of devolution of school management in country primary schools (Brennan and Bartlett). A first year science teachers' experience in central Queensland (Appleton and Kindt)

The data from these projects have been re-analysed in terms of rurality, using a multi-disciplinary conceptual framework drawn from globalisation/regionality, rural sociology, identity discourses, as well as education.

BRO98045

What workers learn about economic restructuring: case studies of informal economic learning

Tony Brown, University of Technology, Sydney

There is a growing body of literature on the impact of economic restructuring during the 1980s and 1990s in Australia, and on the intersection of restructuring and education and training. This literature is variously focused and includes for example analyses of the effects of restructuring on individual and neighbourhood income distribution (Harding, Saunders, Gregory & Hunter); changes in industrial relations and work organisation (Mathews, Ewer, Hampson, Bramble); the impact on women (Hall & Fruin, Margery, Probert, Pocock). Changes to education and training have been designed to underpin and support these changes and rest on a set of assumptions on the future of work and skill needs.

An area that has been little investigated is how workers have understood the dramatic changes that have occurred in the areas of work; industry and award restructuring; training reform and skill development; and wider issues of national economic policy. Workers voices are rarely found in the literature reviewing Australia's economic changes since 1983.

This paper, which builds on doctoral research in progress, examines issues of restructuring and training in two factories in the clothing and steel industries. It focuses on the informal and incidental learning of workers at those factories.

BRO98142

Transforming the University: Tensions and opportunities for academics in a time of change

Carolyn Broadbent, Australian Catholic University

Continuing governmental pressure on universities to improve competitiveness and economic efficiency has led to radical restructuring, staff redundancies, increased work loads and larger classes. Organisational changes in universities have impacted upon the health, well-being and productivity of staff. Transforming organisations in response to these new demands is complex and requires sound decision-making processes that are not arbitrary nor unmindful of the importance of the personal values, concerns and aspirations of individual staff. Successful organisations are those that encourage cultural change and improve organisational effectiveness through the development of a shared vision which is seen to emerge from the personal visions held by individuals within the organisation.

This paper explores the underlying assumptions held by academics across all campuses and faculties of the Australian Catholic University regarding their personal visions for the future development of the organisation. Through a qualitative analysis of interviews with 60 academics, the research found that academic staff differ significantly in their views regarding the changing role of the institution in society, the organisational problems it faces, and the management of cultural and developmental change. The paper argues that ongoing research is essential in order to better address the tensions and ambiguities that arise between the personal visions of individuals and the shared organisational vision for the future. Opportunities for academic staff to benefit are created through improved professionalism and leadership, more focused scholarship and incentives for research initiatives.

BRO98204

An investigation of core beliefs about knowing and peripheral beliefs about learning and teaching in pre-service graduate diploma teacher education students

Mrs J.M. Brownlee, Queensland University of Technology

Much research into effective teaching and learning has concentrated on the teacher behaviour-student outcome relationship (Fang, 1996). This strategic focus has not always been helpful in understanding learning outcomes in students. More recently, over the last decade or so, a focus on teacher thinking and teacher beliefs has provided interesting perspectives on the teaching-learning process (Fang, 1996; Richardson, Anders, Tidwell & Lloyd, 1991). In particular there is increasing interest in epistemological beliefs, beliefs about how we come to know and learn about reality, as a way of understanding how teaching and learning may be improved (Beers, 1984; Hofer, 1994; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Schommer, 1990, 1993a, 1993b).

Twenty-nine pre-service graduate teacher education students were interviewed at the beginning and end of their course in relation to their beliefs about knowing, learning and teaching. They were also asked to write a number of regular journal entries whereby they reflected on the nature of the course content in relation to their beliefs about knowing, learning and teaching. Students' responses, interpreted using a grounded theory approach, mostly reflected consistency between their core beliefs about knowing and peripheral beliefs related to learning and teaching. Furthermore, a trend emerged whereby students developed a stronger focus on relativistic epistemological beliefs over the course of the year. These findings have strong implications for how we facilitate constructivist learning environments in teacher education.

BRO98226

Teaching for game sense in a naturalistic setting: What do the students learn?

Ross Brooker, Queensland University of Technology, David Kirk and Sandy Braiuka, University of Queensland, Aarjon Bransgrove, Bremer High School

Traditional approaches to teaching and learning in physical education classes have concentrated on the development of so-called "fundamental sports skills" rather than accounting for the contextual nature of games in which those skills are to be employed (Bunker and Thorpe, 1982). Grehaigne and Godbout (1995) have observed that "current practices in teaching games shows a series of highly structured lessons. A first part dedicated to a warm-up with or without a ball. A second part is based on teaching techniques, and just at the end, the games are employed if the lesson as such is considered finished". In an attempt to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional approach, Bunker and Thorpe (1986) have proposed a way of teaching games which focuses on the development of game sense through the early immersion of students into a modified game situation. Such an approach attempts to integrate the cognitive and contextual dimensions of learning in the physical domain. This paper reports on the situated nature (Lave and Wenger, 1991) of the student learning that occurred in a study which attempted to translate a game sense approach into a naturalistic setting of a school physical education program. The paper explores both the hidden and formal curriculum which constituted the social context in which the learning took place, and which also shaped that learning.

BRO98227

Discourses in the implementation of a HPE key learning area at a school site

Ross Brooker, Queensland University of Technology, Doune Macdonald and Lisa Hunter, University of Queensland.

In the Queensland school context, there had been no change to the official HPE curriculum for the compulsory years of schooing (1-10), for a long period of time. For example, the most recent syllabus for years 8-10 was published in 1987. Following the national curriculum initiatives which lead to the development of statements and profiles for 8 key learning areas, a trial health and physical education (HPE) key learning area (KLA) syllabus was prepared and accepted for trial in the second half of 1997 in a limited number of schools. The KLA syllabus presented a different (from the previous syllabus) conception of HPE in terms of the knowledge base, the emphasis on outcomes, and the focus on the processes of learning. For schools (secondary in particular), the syllabus presented particular challenges in terms of how a syllabus which drew upon a number of traditional subject areas could be implemented into a subject-based structure. For strongly bounded subject departments in secondary schools with well established staff allegiances, the dilemma has been how to work with other departments on the one hand while protecting subject allegiances on the other. For teachers, the challenge has been to their existing conceptions of HPE, to their pedagogical practices, to their identity, and to their commitment to being a subject specialist. Drawing on a year long study in a secondary school, this paper illuminates the discourses that have characterised these challenges and dilemmas. Due to the national origins of key learning areas and their widespread integration into state-based curricula structures, the paper will be of central importance to the schooling sector throughout Australia.

BRO98380

The Study Circle. Participatory action research with and for the unemployed

Mark Brophy, Western Melbourne Institute of TAFE

The concept of study circles was developed in Sweden over a hundred years ago, and today over two million Swedes attend study circles every year. The popularity of study circles is reflected in their use all over the world including the USA, Canada, Africa, and recently in Australia in the form of a study circle focusing on the issue of Aboriginal Reconciliation.

Study circles are based on two principle ideas: firstly as a means of class struggle and social transformation, and secondly, studies are aimed at improving educational standards. The pedagogy of study circles is closely aligned with Freire's (1972) ideas, in that they are designed to empower members by encouraging the analysis of the causes of powerlessness, recognise oppressive forces, and work to change conditions both individually and collectively.

PhD research currently being undertaken by Mark Brophy through Victoria University of Technology, attempts to explore the opportunities of the study circle pedagogical approach to address the issue of unemployment, and in turn, empower the unemployed - the study circle members.

Much research has been conducted on the unemployed by behavioural psychologists and sociologists. Moreover, economists constantly debate the macro issues on what's 'best for the country', but very little effort is made to actually gain the 'voice' of the unemployed themselves. This research takes up this challenge by giving 'voice' to the unemployed, thus obtaining grass roots knowledge. It is time to listen to the experience of unemployment from the unemployed person's perspective.

Critical theory, emancipatory action research and standpoint theory are uncommon approaches used to address unemployment, but these methodological frameworks and techniques are utilised in this research in an attempt to shed new light on the crippling problem of unemployment.

BRO98389

Who needs teachers to organise games? A study into students taking responsibility for their own activity

Tom Browne, Edith Cowan University

This presentation will compare the impact of two teaching styles in physical education on students' skill levels, their attitude toward physical education and their ability to use appropriate strategies and tactics in game play. A traditional teacher directed, skill-drill model was compared and contrasted to a student centred, sport education model employing a problem solving game for an understanding approach. Two year eight classes were participants in this study. Both groups of boys were taught rugbu union over a period of 10 weeks during ten lessons/20 lessons of 1 hr 45 minutes. To reduce possible bias of teacher effect, the same teacher (an experienced physical educator and researcher) taught both groups. Three stages of the research design were observed. Prior to intervention, students completed a written knowledge test. During intervention all games were videotaped and the skills and tactics coded. Students, representing a range of skills were interviewed by the outside researcher. The purpose of this interview was to discover students' perceptions of the teaching method and ascertain their attitude toward the unit. After the 20 lesson unit was completed, the written knowledge test was re-issued and the students' journals (from the sport education group were analysed and the teacher/participant researcher interviewed. The results will be tabled and discussion on the implications of using a more student centred approach will follow.

BRO98390

Old wine in new skin? A consideration of authentic assessment practice as an alternative to current techniques

Tom Browne, Edith Cowan University

A model for sport education assessment, built on good practice and trialed by an experienced physical educator and researcher, teachers and students, was employed. Alternative (Authentic) assessment techniques such as self and peer assessment, profiling and portfolioing were developed. The orientation of the presentation is to consider the difficulties, problems and success of employing authentic assessment techniques whilst teaching in a secondary school. Consideration is given to the rationale of employing student outcome statements and developing resource material to enhance student learning and assessment. Data will be presented on the impact of sport education with particular emphasis on:

• Student motor skill learning in sport education.
• Affective learning in sport education.
• Teachers' ability to monitor student learning and subsequent effectiveness of alternative (authentic) assessment tools.

Assessment of specific outcomes of sport education were based on student completion of the roles of player, and other sport education roles e.g., coach, captain, referee amd non-motor skills which are essentially affective in nature. Amongst issues to be addressed are: In this area of accountability why do teachers not typically assess their students to any great extent ?; How might teachers assess the broader outcomes of physical education? and what assessment strategies might physical education teachers employ to provide useful accurate and reliable information related to student development across all learning domains?

BRY98057

Conceptions of generic skills and a workable method for assessing them at year 11/12 level

Jennifer Bryce and Doug McCurry, Australian Council for Educational Research

This paper will discuss a map of generic constructs developed from a study of various conceptions of generic skills such as the studies of cross-curricular competencies by the OECD, the 'capabilities' of the Victorian Student Profile and the Mayer Key Competencies. The paper will discuss the value of promoting these kinds of skills at senior secondary school level and the need to provide 'doable' and reliable assessment and reporting strategies. Concern about formally assessing less cognitive 'personal' skills has at times been put forward as a reason for not giving prominence to these areas.

A project which explored school-based assessment and reporting of the Mayer Key Competencies will be outlined. In 1996, a trial was undertaken in ten secondary schools across four states of Australia, focusing on Year 11. The project was based on two important assumptions: that teachers can make global judgements of their students' performance on conceptions such as the Key Competencies without setting special tasks, and that teachers' assessments of these competencies are general rather than subject specific. Significant findings were that teachers could make judgements on the basis of their knowledge of students without undertaking new or different tasks; levels of agreement between teachers were higher than expected and ranged well over an 8-point scale; teachers found the task easier than they had expected.

It will be suggested that the approach followed in the 1996 trial will serve as a useful model for assessing the kinds of generic skills recommended - in particular those of a less cognitive, 'personal' nature.

BUR98098

Classroom discipline: Is a desire to empower students a health hazard for teachers?

Ramon Lewis & Eva Burman, La Trobe University

Of all the activities which comprise the role of a teacher, classroom discipline is one of the most significant. It not only provides the opportunity for teachers to instruct students in their traditional school subjects, but it is also integrally related to the issue of inculcating a sense of responsibility in students. In selecting an approach to classroom discipline, some teachers experience, and have to deal with, tensions arising from their desire to utilise educationally justifiable models while effectively gaining and maintaining order in the classroom . Such order is perceived as essential to ensuring subject learning takes place in a non threatening classroom environment. This paper examines teachers' estimations of the stress that arises when they are unable to discipline students as they would ideally prefer. More importantly, the way teachers cope with any stress which does arise is documented using the Coping Scale for Adults. The results indicate that teachers who report more stress are those most interested in empowering their students in decision making processes. Associated with increased concern is a greater use of Worry, Selfblame, Tension reduction, Wishful thinking and Keep to self. The most concerned teachers also express a greater tendency to get sick as a result of the stress. These data suggest the need for professional development curriculum which addresses two goals. The first is to assist teachers to more effectively share power with students. The second is to encourage teachers to reflect upon a range of more productive coping strategies in an attempt to reduce their usage of dysfunctional responses.

BUR98313

Professional doctorates: Real life research discussion

Rob Walker, Owen Burgan, Graham Dodd and Janet McDowall, Deakin University

On this panel will be the leader of the Deakin University EdD team, Professor Rob Walker and students at different stages in the program. Members of the panel will briefly outline their research. The discussion will show why the Deakin EdD is so different in its content, approach and delivery to other professional doctorates and what it has to offer other research degrees.

The Deakin EdD is tailored to address problems of educational theory, policy and practice arising in students' own professional work and work places. Students in the program feel that the EdD is the practitioners' PhD and that their research does count because it will hopefully lead to an improvement in educational practice.

BUT98364

Making a difference through effective educational alliances

Jude Butcher, Australian Catholic University

Today we are part of an increasingly seamless education environment and a more global and interrelated world. Decisions, whether they be explicit or implicit, to approach education, research and professional development in an isolated and fragmented way is to at least deprive oneself and others of the rich opportunities available and at the most set oneself and others up for failure. Furthermore, an isolationist approach does not acknowledge the challenge of maximising benefits for all stakeholders within the context of decreasing resource allocations from commonwealth or state governments. This paper presents examples of how people from schools, universities and community groups or businesses are collaborating to address the educational challenges of today in ways which are beneficial to all concerned. The alliances studied are at different stages from planning through to implementation and evaluation.This paper presents different forms of alliances and their accompanying features and benefits. The different case studies of alliances are analysed as a basis for examining: - principles underlying the alliance;- qualities and competencies required of members; - role of research in the alliance; and- implementation issues.

CAM98149

Every day a 'Field Day': Research as a facet of teaching life

Marie Campbell, La Trobe University

The paper is focussed on the impact that research can make in the professional life of a teacher in terms of effecting policy, practice, theory, in promoting an understanding of children, and improving their learning and emotional outcomes. The research discussed is based on the teacher-as-researcher model which has grown out of action research and grounded theory. The paper supports this qualitative mode of inquiry through demonstrating its rigour. Through providing examples from daily practice, this paper aims to demonstrate that problems may be approached differently and work satisfaction increased through teachers incorporating an on going research facet into their regular practice. Further, when the students become partners in the reflection that is part of the research process, they have a greater command of their own learning and an awareness of the knowledge they already have. The theoretical framework which underpins this paper is informed by continental and post structuralist theory. There is an awareness that practices and discourses are easily overlooked because they have become 'naturalised'. The teacher-as-researcher perspective allows presuppositions and prejudices to be exposed and practice to be rethought, a process which has the potential to solve problems. This paper presents a classroom problem, shows the observation process which includes the writers reactions, and details the steps taken. In this case, language, metaphor and a constructivist approach gave rise to strategies to improve the classroom climate and with it learning and teaching.

CAM98219

Towards a collaborative teaching model for field experience

Carmel Maloney and Glenda Campbell-Evans, Edith Cowan University

Currently Australian universities are facing the harsh realities of economic rationalism and the call is to do more for less. With the central aim of producing competent practitioners and maintaining high quality programmes, educators are looking for ways of improving practice within the confines of restricted budget. Whilst field experience is recognised as a crucial element of initial teacher education courses it is a costly component of the programme to implement.

This paper reports the development, implementation and evaluation of a collaborative teaching and learning model for field experience within a context of financial contraint. A four week block practice, scheduled as a component of an early childhood teacher education program, was used to explore alternative strategies for improving the quality of teaching and learning for student teachers, classroom teachers and university teachers. This paper describes the strategies used to promote team teaching and collaborative skills and to assist classroom teachers assume a mentoring and facilitating role. Data were gathered through pre and post practice questionnaires and focus group meetings with student teachers, classroom teachers and university teachers. Recommendations were drawn for the development of future practice and policy.

CAN98009

Individual differences and secondary school students' feelings towards group work

Robert Cantwell and Beverly Andrews, University of Newcastle

290 secondary school students from Years 7, 9 and 11 completed questionnaires relating to motivational goals, metacognitive awareness, need for affiliation, social anxiety and feelings towards group work. Factor analysis revealed three attitudes towards participation in group work: a preference for group environments, a preference for individual work environments, and a sense of discomfort in group environments. Students reporting a preference for group work also indicated higher levels of sociability, lower levels of social anxiety, stronger mastery and performance goals and greater levels of metacognitive awareness. Students expressing a preference for individual work environments reported lower levels of sociability and higher levels of social anxiety, but were not differentiated on any of the cognitive measures. Students reporting discomfort in groups similarly reported enhanced levels of social anxiety combined with lower levels of sociability, but also indicated lower levels of metacognitive awareness. Results are discussed in the context of current theoretical and empirical work on group-based learning.

CAR98138

Primary teachers and Mathematics teaching: Some case studies

Jean Carroll, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

This paper will report on research which was conducted with five primary school teachers using case study mathodology. The teachers were asked to write or speak about their mathematical histories, describing their school, teacher training and teaching experiences of mathematics and mathematics teaching. The teachers' responses were analysed to identify significant events, issues and people in their professional development. Their school experiences, teacher training, personal philosophies regarding mathematics teaching will be discussed in the paper.

CAS98281

The teachings of Don Juan: Investigating physical education pedagogy in late modernity

Tania Cassidy & Brendan Hoko, University of Otago

In this paper we discuss and illustrate some of the consequences for physical education pedagogy in higher education in the period of late modernity. The empirical data on which we draw comes from a study of off-campus, in-service physical education teacher education (PETE) students and curriculum developments in Maori physical education in higher education. Our discussion is framed by the work of Anthony Giddens (1990) who suggests that late modernity is imbued with three elements – the separation of time and space; the disembedding of social institutions; and institutional reflexivity. Additionally our discussion is framed by the assumption that in the period of late modernity the breakdown of Western hegemony provides educators from non-European backgrounds the opportunity to discuss and practice pedagogy compatible with their world views.

CHA98080

The Transition to School in Negara Brunei Darussalam

Rosalind Charleston, University Brunei Darussalam

This paper is a report of research currently being undertaken in Brunei. The research investigates programs for school beginners which focuses on the transition to school and the program in the first months of school. The intention is to provide a comprehensive overview of current school policy, practices and procedures for prasekolah, the first year of school.

The transition to school marks a significant change in the life of a young child. Commencing school is one of the few universal experiences of childhood. It is a rite of passage for both the child and the family and represents a demarcation between the influence of the family and the influence of society as a whole.

The paper explicates ways in which teachers and administrators prepare themselves, the program and the school to meet the needs of children and their families. The manner in which the program is implemented taking into account the prior life experience, and the developmental needs of the individual, is at the core of the research. The implications of the transition to school have long term significance in the social, emotional and cognitive development of the child. This study is based on the constructivist/developmentalist/interactionist perspective of Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner.

An intention of the research is to shape educational discourse and influence the manner in which early childhood educators construct their own pedagogical base and mediate the curriculum. It is anticipated that the study will suggest means by which the transition can be developed to offer a culturally appropriate, child centred, family oriented process that will provide a stimulating and challenging learning environment.

CHA98127

Has the new industrial relations affected the teacher unions' role in educational reform?

Rod Chadbourne, Edith Cowan University

Teacher unions have been criticised in the past for placing the industrial interests of teachers ahead of the educational needs of students; that is, for focussing on improvements in teachers' working conditions and obstructing educational reforms. This paper explores the validity of those criticisms in relation to the role of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australian (SSTUWA) since the introduction of enterprise bargaining and workplace agreements over the past five years. The following types of data are used in the study: working documents produced by the Education Department and Teachers Unions during industrial negotiations; official industrial agreements registered through the Industrial Relations Commission; existing research on the history of the SSTUWA; and interviews with people who played a central role in industrial bargaining and system-wide educational innovations since 1993. In the paper, particular attention is devoted to examining the influence of ideological considerations, vested interests, and empirical data during the negotiation process. The paper concludes by ascertaining whether the new industrial relations has expedited or hampered attempts to increase the productivity of learning within the education industry.

CHA98367

Hong Kong preservice teachers' focus of concern and confidence to teach - A perspective of teacher development

Kwok-wai Chan, Man-tak Leung, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Preservice teachers' focus of concern and confidence to teach are often considered to be important elements of teachers' growth and development. Fuller's (1969) model of three concerns, viz. "self", "task" and "impact" have been widely referred to by researchers in the study of teacher professional development and covered in teacher education programmes. The author of this paper attempted to conduct a survey study of a course of preservice secondary teachers in the Hong Kong Institute of Education to examine their focus of concerns and confidence to teach as part of the investigated areas of teacher development. The purpose was to see whether there was any difference from that proposed by Fuller due to different cultural context. The obtained results supported Fuller's model of concerns in that the "self" concerns were prominent and dominating within the sample under study. In this respect, there is little difference between the western and Hong Kong sample of preservice teachers' focus of concern. Of the "self" concerns, class discipline, acceptance by students and teachers' mastery of subject knowledge and teaching skill were classified the most important ones by the Hong Kong preservice teachers. These concerns were also closely related to the important factors which they considered for successful teaching. The high level of confidence and optimism exhibited before teaching practice also supported Weinstein's (1989, 1990) findigns that preservice teachers, whether elementary or high school teache5rs were unrealistically optimistic about teaching. The similarity in findings between the Hong Kong and the western samples studied by Fuller and Weinstein suggest the plausibility of utilizing western principles and concepts in local context. Above this, the author would like to draw the attention of teacher educators and program planners to the underlying reasons given by preservice teachers about their changes in confidence , optimism and concerns before and after teaching practice in order to focus the areas for future development in teacher education.

CHA98382

Teachers identities in New Times

Clive Chappell, University of Technology Sydney

This paper reports on a recently completed study that investigated the effects of the contemporary policies and discourses of vocational education and training on the formation of teachers identities. It suggests that the dominant economic discourses of government are attempting to construct a new reality for teachers working in this sector of education and that the impact of these discourses on teachers understanding of who they are in education has not been adequately examined. Calls for teachers to change their pedagogical practices and educational roles to meet the challenges presented by this new discursive reality, can be seen as making an overly instrumental means-ends connection between teachers knowledge and skills and the professional practice of teaching and fails to appreciate that when teachers are asked to do things differently they are also being asked to become different teachers that is to change their professional identity. This paper outlines the ways in which teachers working in NSW TAFE speak of their professional identity and suggests that their understanding of who they are in the educational project is significantly different from the identity now promoted by the dominant policies and discourses of government.

CLA98132

Informing vocational education and training through studies of indigenous specific training projects

Terry Clark, Central Queensland University

In the first half of 1998 a series of five indigenous training projects were studied with a view to deriving common issues and models of best practice which could inform contemporary vocational education training in general, and New Apprenticeships and VET in schools in particular. The five projects were all DEETYA funded Australian Vocational Training System pilot programs. The research was commissioned by the Evaluation Branch of DEETYA and managed by the Research Institute for Professional and Vocational Education at Deakin University. Data gathering for each training project was undertaken by a pair of researchers, one of whom as Aboriginal. An overarching report was prepared by a team of researchers including the author of this paper. The outcomes of the research include:

• qualitative information on aspects of the AVTS pilots and their implementation with a focus on issues relevant to the implementation of New Apprenticeships for Indigenous Australians;
• quantitative data on the outcomes of each of the AVTS pilots studied;
• recommendations for the delivery of VET to Indigenous Australian communities addressing access and equity issues and community needs; and
• identification of innovative and best practice approaches to the delivery of VET in schools and New Apprenticeships generally.

This paper will discuss the research methodology and summarise its findings.

COL98089

School Retention and Post-compulsory Curriculum Policy: Comparing NSW, Queensland and Victoria

Cherry Collins, Australian Council for Educational Research, and Margaret Vickers, Technical Education Research Center, Cambridge, Mass

Careful statistical analysis by Margaret Vickers (Vickers, 1995) confirmed that there were three distinct patterns of retention among the mainland States of Australia during the 1980s. This conference paper will report on a follow-up study in which we have analysed historical material in three States (NSW, Queensland and Victoria), , one from each of the three patterns. We have attempted to trace and compare the historical development of the different post-compulsory educational cultures and practices which came to underpin the differing retention outcomes of the 80s. Curriculum and assessment in each State, after State level political struggles and 'settlements', became embedded in their own justificatory ideologies and political networks. These discursive frames (positioning of people, ideas and practices) each made a coherent, plausible and politically defensible story about the purposes of upper secondary school and thus became self-maintaining and self justifying.

This study shows that the politics of meaning matters. Over time that politics produced, at the level of the state community in Australia, discursive frames which fixed in place different hegemonic view of what schooling is for, what the educational rights of young people are, and what quality learning and assessment is. Different frames had real effects on students' learning and life chances.

COO98393

Factors influencing teacher endorsement of an intergrated learning system

Tom J Cooper, Annette R Baturo and Cam J McRobbie, Queensland University of Technology

An integrated learning system is a computer-based tutoring program which provides students with learning experiences in many disciplines across many years of school. This paper reports on the use of an integrated learning system within 23 schools in Queensland. The system studied was built around core literacy and numeracy courses which supplied electronic worksheets in random form to students, moving up the school Years as students were successful. Data was collected with respect to how the system operated in the school, the characteristics of the teachers and sudents who used the system, the beliefs and values of the teachers who used the system, problems with the operation of the system, and the extent the teachers endorsed the use of the system. This paper reports on the factors that appeared to be related to teacher endorsement. These were mainly based about the computer knowledge and experiences of the students, the pedagogical beliefs of the teachers, and the quality of supervision and the extent of integration of the system sessions.

COX98384

Research in Education:Does it Count?

Margaret Gearon and Maria Gindidis, Monash University

This paper examines the process and results of a multi-disciplinary approach to the professional development of new teachers of a language other than English in Victorian primary schools. The project which will be reported here enabled teachers in a country

area in Victoria to undertake a course in Indonesian or German, supported by an initial introduction to principles of second language acquisition. The study, based on journal entries by the teachers, examines the teachers' perceptions of their developing second language proficiency and its relationship to research into second language acquisition. It also describes the challenges the teachers faced, their frustrations, the influences of their own language learning experience on their teaching and on their understanding of their own students' progress in the second language and the ways in which they coped with these overlapping situations of concurrent status as a learner and a teacher. Such research enables us to be better prepared to present second language and second language methodology courses to adult learners by taking into account their learning preferences and strategies.

CRE98365

Shades, Shadows and Reality

Wendy Crebbin, National Institute for Educational Development, Namibia

As a person with strong allegances to critical inquiry and action research, in the past I have maintained a cynicism towards the value of 'objective', statistical approaches to research. And as a woman, in this decade I have been drawn to post-modern feminism as an approach to better understanding my social/political contexts. Yet now, working in a new country with great cultural and social diversity, social injustice and educational disadvantage, without the support of statistical data as well as qualitative analysis and critique, the complexity of the problems, and the new problems which are being created, would be easy to overlook in the reality of day-to-day experience.

This paper is an attempt to draw from the strengths of all of these different research perspectives to paint a picture of education in general, and teacher education in particular, in Namibia now, eight years after independence.

CRO98119

Religious education in a religiously pluralist society

Robert Crotty and Shirley Wurst, University of South Australia

One neglected area of research in education generally is religious education curriculum development. While multiculturalism and its implications for education has been widely perceived as worthy of extensive research, the associated issue of religious pluralism needs to be addressed at the educational level. In this context religious pluralism implies more than the recognition of a variety of religions within a geographical area. It refers to a program whereby all extant religious cultures are recognised as valid. The paper reports on the presenters' research on religious education reform within a pluralist society from which a design for religious education in Australian schools has been produced. It will also present a critical review of existing religious education curricula within Australia.

CRO98224

Vicki Crowley, University of South Australia

Ambivalence, affect and effect: Postcolonialism, pedagogy and feminism

Each of the terms postcolonialism, feminism, pedagogy have independently acted as significant sites of interruption to modernist approaches to schooling, teaching and education. In this panel we bring these terms into view as conceptual configurations that have increasing yet problematic currency in discourses of schooling, teaching and education. We explore the ways in which these terms impact on identity politics, indigenous education and notions of hybridity and diaspora in Australian educational and schooling contexts as we grapple with the ambivalence, affects and effects of these difficult times.

CRO98255

Early manifestations of the impact of poverty on education: The expectant parents' hopes and fears

Toni Cross and George Lewis, Macquarie University

While there is a considerable body of research which shows that children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families experience lack of success at school, there is presently little understanding of what the variables are that lead to children reared in poverty entering school without the characteristics required for educational success.. The present longitudinal study is based on the view that the effects of poverty on children's development are cumulative. It seeks to identify the effects on the development of children living in poverty of (a) parental expectations, (b) parent knowledge of child development, (c) child rearing practices, (d) nature of parental interaction from birth, and (e) parental relationships with children. The study contrasts the development during the first year of life of 35 children from socially disadvantaged families with 35 children from socially advantaged families. The families were selected from those attending the ante-natal clinic of two Sydney hospitals, one in Western Sydney and one on the North Shore on the basis of indicators of poverty or affluence. The parents were interviewed during the ante-natal period, followed by home visits at 6 months, and at 12 months to observe their babies development.The paper contrasts the data from the disadvantaged and the advantaged parents from the ante-natal interview about their plans and expectations for the care, education, and development of their babies.

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CRO98274

Same Approach, Different Contexts: Considering the International Impact of NetDay

Caitlin Cronin, University of Sydney

NetDay is a strategy to connect schools and classrooms to the Internet. It combines community voluntarism, corporate philanthropy and existing school leadership to reduce the costs of computer networking. NetDay was begun in Califnornia in 1995 with the support of the Clinton-Gore adminstration. By November 1996, over forty states had tried NetDay.

Now the NetDay strategy has been employed in Ireland, France, South Africa, China and Australia as well as other countries. This paper will explore how the basic NetDay approach was altered to suit local contexts. In particular I will explore Australian and the American case studies.

CRO98324

The hinge of history. Has the tertiary sector thought through the implications of education in a new age?

Marie Crotty and Judith Zollo, University of South Australia.

Caught up by the imperatives to fulfill a wide range of performance indicators, to teach smarter and to be ever more technologically literate, competent staff and students within the tertiary sector find themselves at the 'hinge of history', as it has been called, that point at which universities, while still connected with the past by tradition and living persons, are swinging in a diametrically new direction. For many within the tertiary sector it is a painful and costly experience. Rather than uncritically embracing the 'new order', consumers and providers of tertiary education are challenged, if not obliged, to seek answers to questions that should have been asked much sooner. It seems imperative that such questions be asked at least now and a Roundtable might be the best place to ask them: Whose voices have actually set the agenda for this style of education and the managerialism that underpins it? Have the issues been adequately debated in order to produce such clear-cut directives? Could it be that technology has been overvalued in the construction of a new cultural ethos for education? Will the new paradigm provide a better 'education' for the new millennium?

CRO98326

The pain of a paradigm shift: Mature female students entering tertiary education

Marie Crotty, University of South Australia

This paper is based on an ethnographic study of a group of mature women students who have recently transited to tertiary education. The study endeavours to interpret what happens to such students and to account for a perceived high level of academic discomfit and anxiety. In general, the outcome shows that women students, particularly if they are mature aged, have been formed by what I have termed a tertiary preparation paradigm. This can be designated as competitive, requiring the attainment of a vocabulary of technical jargon and based on progressive assessment. Once they have entered the tertiary system, they are confronted by what I term a technological paradigm. This is characterised by a stress on information technology, creativity, technical know-how and a new vocabulary of technical jargon. Previously this would have been accommodated by such students as a subset of the tertiary preparation paradigm. Now it confronts them as a full fledged and autonomous paradigm. The need for professional achievement impels students in the cohort under study to adopt the technological paradigm and this results in a number of possibilities. For some there is a complete paradigm shift, for others there is a partial adaption of their tertiary preparation paradigm, for others there is inability to adapt with consequent drop-out.

DAV98148

Explicit teaching in primary classrooms

Christina Davidson, University of New South Wales

Many current approaches to literacy and learning involve the use of explicit teaching. Considerations of explicit teaching in practice suggest that certain characteristics of classroom contexts strongly influence the degree to which it is possible to make things explicit. For example, the nature of student-teacher interaction is crucial and needs to be examined. In seeking to understand how explicitness is achieved, the intention is to present it as problematic. A related concern is to critique claims that pedagogical approaches involving explicit teaching necessarily lead to the empowerment of student. This paper will present the first stage of a wider study which involves the use of conversation analysis to examine the ways in which explicit teaching is accomplished in primary classsrooms.

DEE98277

Learning from Student Perceptions of Teacher Education Programs

Authors: Deer, C.E., Brady, L., Segal, G., Bamford, A.

This paper reports findings from a study conducted at the University of Technology, Sydney which involved evaluating the experiences of a cohort of teacher education students over either the duration or the first three years of their initial teacher education program. Extensive data were collected by questionnaire and interview on eight different occasions, and analysed using a grounded theory approach that yielded thematic constructs. This paper focuses on one of these thematic constructs - the nexus between theory and practice, and specifically on the extent to which students perceive that their academic program content prepares them for their field-based experience or practicum. The findings are reported in terms of the major sub-themes apparent from refining data categories, viz. the realism of teaching, behaviour management, lesson planning, practicum assignments, assessment and evaluation, relationships with teachers, and the role of the tertiary adviser. Such findings have implications for contemporary teacher education programs that seek to realise national standards and guidelines.

DEN98368

Critical theological reflection and Church authority as sources for educational transformation in Catholic Schools

Anthony Densley, University of South Australia

Through their immersion in the media, and by living in a multicultural environment, students in Australian Catholic schools are easily able to appreciate the great range of possible responses to religious values and teaching. In Guidelines and statements intended to give direction to education in, for and about religion in contemporary Catholic schools, there appears a preference for expressions of core content and overall aims that do not adequately address the possibilities for transformative education consonant with the needs of students. Critical contemporary theology is a necessary element in the education of teachers and in the development of religion programs. This paper argues that formal teaching of the Catholic Church, albeit reluctantly and inconsistently, moves towards this approach in ways that are not sufficiently recognized in the public media or in religious education guidelines published for use in Catholic schools.

DIN98063

Construction and Reconstruction of the Health & Physical Education Policy in Queensland

Maree Dinan-Thompson, St Monica's College & James Cook University, Cairns

Educational policy has become a tool with which to administer statements of dictatorial intent. Each policy document displays the obligatory 'allocation of values' (Ball, 1990). This paper gives an account of the political processes involved in the construction and reconstruction of the Health and Physical Education Key Learning Area syllabus-in-development documents, in Queensland. It will examine the textual differences between two draft documents. It will identify vested interests, and the macro and micropolitical machinations underpinning the changes, and also propose implications for teachers in the implementation phase.

DIN98147

Construction and Reconstruction of the Health & Physical Education Policy in Queensland

Maree Dinan-Thompson, St Monica's College and James Cook University

Educational policy has become a tool with which to administer statements of dictatorial intent. Each policy document displays the obligatory 'allocation of values' (Ball, 1990). This paper gives an account of the political processes involved in the construction and reconstruction of the Health and Physical Education Key Learning Area syllabus-in-development documents, in Queensland. It will examine the textual differences between two draft documents. It will identify vested interests, and the macro and micropolitical machinations underpinning the changes, and also propose implications for teachers in the implementation phase.

DOB98144

Practicum research: Is it making a difference?

Rosie Dobbins, University of South Australia

For many years now, change has been advocated for practicum programs in pre-service teacher education, both in Australia and overseas (Zeichner, 1990; Cochran-Smith, 1991; Groundwater-Smith, 1993). Changes have subsequently been made to how practicum programs are structured (ie redefining the rules, roles, responsibilities and relationships for student teachers and teacher educators involved in the practicum) and to the 'culture' of the practicum (ie the shared beliefs, customs, attitudes and expectations). Many of the changes have been based on the last decade of practicum research. It is timely to ask ourselves the question: Is the research making a difference? One of the ways of answering this question is to evaluate the changes made to practicum programs. This involves asking more questions: Are the changes worthwhile? How do we know? Who is benefiting from them?

This paper looks at these questions and argues that if the changes are to lead to 'deep change' (Gore, 1995) rather than superficial change, there must be a reciprocal relationship between 'restructuring' and 'reculturing'. That is, any changes to the way the practicum is structured must be accompanied by cultural change in schools' and universities' values, beliefs, habits, assumptions and ways of doing things. This is particularly challenging, as with new partnerships, new roles, new responsibilities and new expectations, comes many questions and dilemmas. This paper addresses some of these and in so doing, proposes a number of conditions considered necessary for effective practicum reform.

DOW98075

How do teachers talk about their learning?

Carol Hogan, Barry Down and Rod Chadbourne, Edith Cowan University

Managerial models of teacher development are predicated on a view of learning which is curiously at odds with the views of learning that most teachers subscribe to in their own classroom practice. While teachers approach their pedagogy from a perspective that is learner-centred, constructivist and developmental, many appear to accept that their own learning will be pre-packaged, quantified and directed by powerful others. Our study explores this phenomenon through narrative case studies of the ways in which teachers work through, around or against Performance Management in order to create spaces for their own authentic professional learning to occur. We use these teacher narratives as a starting point for considering some ways in which a more critical understanding of teachers' work might be developed.

DUN98003

Breaking New Ground: Emergent literacy skills of young aboriginal children

Myra Dunn, Charles Sturt University

Very little is known about the nature of the early literacy knowledge of Aboriginal children. This paper reports on a longitudinal literacy study conducted in a rural town in New South Wales. The study covers the literacy learning of a group of Aboriginal children from age four to ten - a period of 5 1/2 years. Requested by the Aboriginal community in the town, the study comprehensively surveyed the emergent literacy knowledge of the whole year intake of pre-school children at a local Aboriginal pre-school over a period of 18 months, following the children through to the end of their Kindergarten year at primary school. Four years later, the children's literacy knowledge was once again assessed and the predictive value of the pre-school and Kindergarten tasks was assessed. Of a range of literacy tasks used a number had strong predictive qualities which have implications for intervention processes for teachers and schools. The predictive qualities of these particular tasks also hold true for other international cross-cultural research adding to both teachers and theorists knowledge about cross-cultural aspects of literacy.

The study makes use of both qualitative and quantitative data. Rasch Analysis is used in analysing group information.Individual case studies of the emergent literacy learning of five children are also included. The design of the study is discussed in terms of the relative importance of both qualitative and quantitative methodology in illuminating various aspects of the data.

The results of this study highlight the importance for the classroom of having baseline data about the literacy learning of Aboriginal children in early childhood. The study also has implications for theorising about cross-cultural aspects of literacy learning.

EDM98318

Portia in cyberspace: Asking the right question/s

Sandra Edmonds, Swinburne University of Technology

The image of Shakeperian Portia epitomises the subtlety legal of reasoning. However, a different perspective of the law can also be argued from Skylock's position. It is this process of reasoning and counter-argument which is essential in legal discipline.

The brave new world of multi-media education poses a number of challenges. Delivery models premised on distance-delivery may be well-suited for motivated (full fee paying) students or those who are mature age and/or post-graduate. An Introduction to Commercial Law subject for business (i.e. non-law school) students does not have a student intake which fits these categories. On the contrary, for many students the "open-textured" nature of legal argument is both difficult and puzzling. A philosophy of multi-modal delivery applies at the campus where this subject is to incorporate "on-line" delivery intended to complement "face-to- face" teaching and learning.

While new methods to improve the teaching/learning process are to be welcomed, technology should not drive that process. Pedagogical issues are critical.

The first question is to examine the influence of standard delivery models, available technology and design-tools on law subject delivery "on-line". The second question involves a realistic assessment of both constraints and advantages in using "on-line" components for subject delivery. The third question must address how best to fulfil the learning objectives for a subject and the extent to which "skills-adding" can be achieved "on-line".

Research by the educator who puts these questions first will play a critical role in educational choices.

EDW98006

Tracking Re-visited: old measures for new times.

Brian Edwards, La Trobe University

The focus for this paper is on the use of suspension as a sanction for student misbehaviour. The data is drawn from a case study which examines seven years of a secondary school's use of suspension and compares it with the state-wide data for suspension. Allied to this is a thirteen year study of the school's development of a "Student Management System". The school's suspension rate is similar to the state-wide average.

Suspension operates as a hidden dimension of the school's operation - never publicised and rarely in print. Similarly the annual suspension data published by the Department of Education does not name schools. The school's operation of suspension is swift, documented and often lacks due process. Suspension strategies are known to the students and teachers but rarely others unless the parent(s) of the suspended child heads to the local newspaper for redress.

In the light of this silence it is instructive to reflect on the contribution of the school's discipline procedures to student misbehaviour, alienation, disaffection and marginalisation. The data suggests that tracking and streaming practices starting in Year 7 can result in the inevitable fulfilment of the prophesy made by teachers in Primary school, leading to student suspension and failure to complete secondary education. As a long-standing "insider" as a teacher in the school (20+ years),the author seeks to address through the role of insider/teacher/researcher,the issues related to particular aspects (the 'micro-politics) of the teachers role, ie,the hidden agendas,institutional assumptions, ideological "givens" behind the teachers' use of 'discipline' policy, segregation measures and suspension related to student discipline, which in this study was found to be often arbitrary, ad hoc and reactive.

Finally, it is suggested that student misbehaviour has its origins more in the inappropriate, lock-step curriculum practices of schools than in student/family pathology and that suspension is often a private act of failure by the school.

ELL98126

Should I stay or should I go? Factors affecting attrition and retention in teacher education

Alison Elliott, University of Western Sydney

Student attrition is a major problem in many teacher education programs. This paper reports on a project designed to increase retention rates amongst "vulnerable" students. Vulnerable students were defined as young students who entered a preservice teacher education program through "alternate" entry schemes, such as special schemes for disadvantaged students, or mature age students who entered though similar schemes and had a range of significant family responsibilities.

The results presented here are part of a longitudinal study tracing factors affecting student attrition and retention in teacher education programs. This paper reports on findings from interviews with students who left the program within the first year of study. These students' experiences are compared with those of students who remained in the program. Important in the discussion is an analysis of the effect of participation in support groups designed to provide additional assistance to students considered to be "at risk".

ESS98327

The production of gendered subjectivities in Australian adolescent girls: the case of fathers

Kathy Esson, University of Sydney

This paper presents interpretive material from a longitudinal study of Australian adolescent girls. Through a combination of phenomenological readings of girls' narratives concerning their relationships with their fathers and/or step-fathers, and an analysis of discourses within which these experiences can be situated, a range of gendered influences are proposed. Changes as girls progress through adolescence are also outlined, as are ways in which both fathers and daughters resist and exceed genderising influences.

This work is based on a three year study of adolescent girls in two schools - a private girls' school and a disadvantaged girls' high school. The study used semi-structured one-to-one interviews to explore girls' relationships, decision making, narratives of self, and views about growing up and the future. Small groups of girls were followed, the youngest initially in year six and the oldest in year eleven.

FAZ98117

Academic culture, attitudes and values of leaders, and students' satisfaction with academic culture in Australia's universities

Ahmad Fazaeli, University of Western Sydney

A conceptual framework, based upon attribution of the role of leadership in shaping an academic culture was developed in a research study involving a pilot followed by a comprehensive survey. Subjects were staff and postgraduate students in four disciplines (chemistry, history, mathematics, and psychology) sampled fromof Australia's universities. Multivariate statistical procedures were the principal means of analysis.to explore the relationship among staff's attitudes towards organisational culture, academic culture, and student satisfaction with that academic culture. A number of significant differences will be reported along with varitions for different categories of stsff and disciplines. That is, analysis of the study's data identified factors which distinguished staff reporting different combinations of person-orientred and task-oriented leadership and its relation to staff and student satisfaction with the current culture of the department/faculty. The results emphasise the importance of treating the construct of academic culture as multidimentional and staff as a heterogeneous group.

FEH98175

The Power of Internalised Reflective Knowledge: Influences on Teachers' Judgements of Students' Literacy Development

Heather Fehring, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

The focus of this paper is a presentation of the results of a research study that investigated the influences on teachers' judgements of student's literacy development. The research design was based on a constructivist paradigm and used qualitative methods of data collection. The study revealed a surprising collection of influences on teachers' decision making considerations. One of the more important influences named by this research is 'Internalised Reflective Knowledge'. The current study identifies a number of components that constitute this concept and in so doing demystifies the concept tacit knowledge. The term 'Internalised Reflective Knowledge' is hypothesised as a more informative descriptor for this influence on teachers' judgement making ability. Understanding the integrated nature of this influence will assist educators, to clarify not only the issues involved in literacy assessment and reporting, but also, to improve the judgement making processes. The paper will give a brief overview of these influences exploring the ramifications for issues such as the preservice and post initial professional training at the tertiary institution, education system and school level. Informed teacher judgement is the key to effective assessment and reporting practices involving students. Literacy assessment is no exception. This important consideration seems all too easily bypassed in the political agenda of accountability.

FER98083

Technology in teacher education: Using multimedia to enhance their experience with technology education

Brian Ferry and Christine Brown, University of Wollongong

This paper reports on the use of a multimedia journal to enhance a subject in technology education. The original multimedia journal made use of a HyperCard¨ shell developed by the lecturers to record the progress made by students. As multimedia construction tools became more automated, the construction process was handed over to students, using HyperStudio¨. The first step in the transition from lecturer to student production was student monitoring of peer progress in a peer tutoring arrangement. The second step, taken this year, was student production of their own reflective electronic journal. Reflective journals have been an essential component of the design and make process. The transition from pen and paper to the multimedia environment could not occur until the cognitive load of the multimedia construction tool was low enough to allow students to focus on the content, rather than the tool. Reflective journals are now more creative records of student progress, which reflect the preservice teachers' experiences with the design, make and appraise processes more accurately. It is argued that multimedia used in this manner complements and extends the teaching program and becomes an integral part of the learning process. Examples of the more recent products by students are be presented and discussed.

FIS98024

The Internet Comes of Age: Effects of secondary science student internet usage on constructivist classroom environments

Darrell Fisher, Dan Churach, Curtin University of Technology

A classical dilemma faces any secondary science teacher: to teach to a standardised exam at the expense of student interest and exploration or to allow for individual discovery and creativity knowing full well that university entrance exam scores may suffer in the interim. The authors hypothesise that Internet usage and online connections in secondary science classroom could prove to have enormous positive impact on partially alleviating this dichotomy. The study included a sample of 431 students in five Hawaii Catholic high schools. These data were collected using a questionnaire, site observations, and student-teacher interviews. The questionnaire consists of an inventory of student Internet usage, a previously validated classroom environment questionnaire, the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey. Site observations were carried out periodically over an academic year, with a high degree of communication between the sample teachers and the primary investigator. Some three dozen students representing all five high schools were interviewed in depth in an attempt to qualitatively clarify the quantitative findings of the total sample. The paper will report on the associations found between student Internet usage, secondary science classroom environment with a special emphasis placed on qualitative findings revealed through observation and interview. One intriguing finding is the almost total acceptance by students of the Internet as an educational resource. Student interview data suggested that this new technology has moved past the innovative stage and into the mainstream of daily educational routine. The authors have found that student attitudes, as well as individual feelings of self-control and personal relevance seem to be enhanced by the use of the Internet, allowing students to construct unique meaning on a personal level.

FIS98267

The development, validation and application of a culturally sensitive learning environment questionnaire

Bruce G. Waldrip, Central Queensland University and Darrell L. Fisher,Curtin University of Technology

The purpose of this study was to develop, validate and use a questionnaire to assess culturally-sensitive factors of science students' learning environments. A measure of culturally-sensitive factors of the learning environment, namely the Cultural Learning Environment Questionnaire (CLEQ), was developed. The instrument, which was influenced by Hofstede's four dimensions of culture (Power-Distance, Uncertainty-Avoidance, Individualism, and Masculinity-Femininity) and past learning environment research, contained seven scales. With a sample of 3000 secondary science students, the reliability of the CLEQ scales ranged from 0.69 to 0.86 and showed acceptable discrimination between the scales as the mean correlation between scales ranged from 0.04 to 0.22. The construct validity of the questionnaire was confirmed through interviews with students which are reported in the paper. Associations between student perceptions of the classroom learning environment as measured by the scales of the CLEQ, attitude to class and achievement of enquiry skills were found. The most consistent predictors of students' attitudes and achievement were Equity, Competition, Deference, Modelling and Congruence.

FIS98269

Learning environments in mathematics classrooms and their associations with students' attitudes and learning

David Rawnsley, Prince Alfred College and Darrell Fisher, Curtin University of Technology

This paper reports links which have been found between particular classroom learning environments, and the development of students' attitudes towards their mathematics and the development of their mathematical knowledge at the Year 9 level. The perceptions of 490 Year 9 students about aspects of their Mathematics classroom learning environments were gathered using two instruments, the What is Happening in this Classroom (WHIC), and the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Interviews with students were also conducted to gather qualitative data. It was found that students developed more positive attitudes towards their mathematics in classes where the teacher was perceived to be highly supportive, equitable, place a strong emphasis on understanding the work, were involved in investigations, showed leadership, helping-friendly behaviour and minimal admonishment of students. Students showed the greatest cognitive gains in classes where students perceived that the teacher emphasised understanding the work. The least cognitive gains occurred in classes where students perceived that the teacher was dissatisfied, gave them too much freedom and responsibility, and where they were involved in investigations.

FLA98253

Writing in post-graduate coursework - a case for a dynamic model

Rick Flavell, Monash University

Much of the research into student academic writing has centred on problems students encounter and on pedagogical solutions to these problems. This has especially been the case with L2 writers. This paper reports on a study of student writing taken in its social and institutional context. A Master of Business Administration class provided a mix of L2 and L1 writers and the study looked at the lecturer's reading of the students' essays as well as the students writing of the essays. The results suggested that the static model of student writing which is implicit in common perceptions is less generative than an understanding of the process as being dynamic for both lecturer and student.

FIL98304

Educational assessment: Students' perceptions of fairness

Nerilee Flint, University of South Australia

In this initial investigation, focus group interviews were conducted with first year tertiary students to begin to uncover what students' perceptions of fairness in educational assessment might be. This paper will report on the findings of the interviews and highlight a number of key issues that were raised. The issues may have important implications for teaching and student learning if we are to concern ourselves with the broader issue of equity and whether it really matters what our students think.

FOS98289

Gender, schooling achievement and post-school pathways: beyondstatistics and populist discourse

Victoria Foster, University of Wollongong

In a trend common to most western countries, Australia has in recent years experienced an apparent move towards sexual equality in schooling, offering the possibility of a significant change in girls' lived experiences of schooling. This potential, however, has not been realized because both Australian education policy and curriculum development have failed to address the public-private dialectic in social life and in schooling itself, and men's and women's different and asymmetrical relations with that dialectic. This paper develops the notion of the space-between: a heuristic device to analyse and explain girls' experiences of contemporary events in education. In particular, it explains the lack of change in post-school outcomes for girls, the insignificant degree of change in girls' participation in male-dominated curriculum areas, despite their successes in these areas, the endemic nature of sexual harassment and the inequitable use of school resources by girls. The paper also explores implications for the emerging field of civics and citizenship education.

The research being presented here is reported in two 1998 publications: Mackinnon, Prentice and Elgqvist-Saltzmann (Eds), Education into the 21st Century, UK: Falmer Press, which is being launched at the 1998 AARE Conference and Dinham and Scott (Eds), Teaching in Context, ACER.

FRE98168

Ethics in School Leadership: The ethical decision making of school principals

Neil Dempster, Mark Freakley and Lindsay Parry, Griffith University

This paper reports on the results of the first stage of a two year investigation of the ethical decision making of school principals. This stage of the project involved in-depth interviews with 27 school principals in order to explore the following matters: 1.the nature of the ethical problems or dilemmas that principals face; 2. the ways in which they understand these problems; 3. the way they attempt to address these problems; and 4. their thinking about what professional development could offer to help improve ethical decision making. Some comments will be made about how the results of stage 1 will inform the next stage of the project involving a survey of all non-teaching, government school principals in Queensland.

FRI98329

Indigenous primary school students developing English literacy skills.

Tracey Frigo and P Hughes, ACER

There is a need in all states and territories for programs and strategies which enhance the opportunities for English literacy development among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. This paper reports on the literacy programs and teaching strategies used in twelve primary schools where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students performed better on average than other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students on literacy tasks devised for a national literacy survey. Some of the features of their programs included: an appreciation of Aboriginal English as a language in its own right;an awareness of the ways in which Aboriginal students best learn; the adoption of strategies to deal with students who suffered hearing loss as a result of otitis media; the use of homework centres;strategies for dealing with the effect of absenteeism on literacy learning; and, the involvement of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Education Workers.

GAR98008

Advanced paper discussion proposal: Deconstruction, Research and Organisational Learning

John Garrick and Carl Rhodes, University of Technology, Sydney

In this paper, we make a case for the use of deconstruction to inform research into organisational learning. We offer a critique of existing methodological constructions of organisations as learning systems and challenge the knowledge assumptions on which the development and conceptualisation of learning organisations often rests. We also critique much of the research in organisational learning as it is frequently legitimated through the progress myth that learning will lead to commercial success, and that commercial success will lead to social progress.

We highlight a number of possible ways that the textual practice of deconstruction can contribute to a meta-theoretical framework for theorising and researching organisational learning. In doing so we stress that as an approach deconstruction is not reducible to a set of techniques that can be systematically applied. As such there are significant concerns that it will not count in contemporary research recognition frameworks (eg research quantums and funding formulae).

Our perspective on researching organisational learning is presented as a way of thinking about organisations. Our contention is that significant potential is being ignored (or shut down) in research into organisational learning by its neglect of hidden epistemological assumptions which are further obscured by managerialist research agendas which search for instrumental techniques to re-address people as knowledge workers. Knowledge generated through research at this postmodern moment appears to be prized in so far as it can generate a market advantage, and can be measured by observable competencies, and numerically and financially based performance indicators. We conclude by attempting to open up new and radical avenues for research through a deconstruction of deconstruction.

GAR98346

Movement, masculinity and physical education in the lives of professional male dancers

Michael Gard, Charles Sturt University

Recent research into the gendered nature of dominant physical education discourses and practices within schools and universities indicates that it is the talents and aspirations of female students that are most at risk of being silenced and marginalised. The privileging of movement experiences that conform to masculinised understandings of the body, sport and knowledge have also undermined the potential contribution of alternate movement experiences. It is also clear from these findings that the dividend of cultural power afforded by these discourses and practices is unevenly distributed amongst the various masculine identities present in schools. This paper presents some of the preliminary findings of a larger qualitative study into the intersection between contemporary Australian masculinities and professional dance. Of particular interest here is the physical education experiences of male dancers and the degree to which their own talents and aspirations have been acknowledged and encouraged within physical education. It is argued that while male participation in curriculum dance should not be viewed as unequivocally subversive of dominant gender norms, its absence from physical education instruction severely limits the degree to which physical education might be more meaningful for more students.

GAR98395

Curriculum reform and its impact on professional practice and identity in Health and Physical Education

Robyne Garrett & Wendy Piltz, University of South Australia

The Statement and Profile in the Health and Physical Education (H &PE) learning area is the result of a formalised, Commonwealth government department initiative in curriculum reform. Traditional subjects areas such as Physical Education, Health Education, Home Economics and Outdoor Education have been clustered together under the umbrella of Health and Physical Education. The Statement indicates that this was done in an effort to "redefine the scope of the learning area" and to "stimulate curriculum review" with the view to "improve professional practice". Inherent in this process are issues surrounding the construction of the learning area and what comes to count as legitimate knowledge within it. This paper will critically appraise the process of curriculum reform and explore a range of contentious issues emerging from the reconceptualisation of the learning area. The construction of the Statement in H&PE, based on a new public health model will be analysed. This analysis will illustrate the privileging of specific conceptual areas and a marginalisation of other more traditional learnings. The impact of curriculum reform of this nature on teacher identity, subject culture and professional practice is of major concern. These issues will be analysed using theoretical and current research perspectives. In order for students in Schools to actually benefit from curriculum reform it is crucial that stakeholders have an appreciation of the complexity and multidimensional nature of implementing change. The final section of the paper provides an critical review of the response patterns of those agents and suggests strategies for sustaining progress in the learning area.

GAR98396

The social construction of gendered bodies and its relationship to physical activity: A study involving senior secondary high school students

Robyne Garrett and Murray Drummond, University of South Australia

This paper is based on current research being undertaken with senior secondary students in South Australian schools. The research focuses upon male and female students' perceptions, values and understandings of physical activity. Specifically, it attempts to illuminate the complex relationships that exist between ones gender, body and perception of self with respect to physicality. Senior secondary students were interviewed in-depth to attain a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of what it is like to be a gendered adolescent in relation to physical activity. Issues surrounding gender, body image and self-esteem will be explored to highlight the problematic alliance that can occur with physical activity when one or more of these elements are negatively affected. The importance of physical activity cannot be overstated as a means of developing ones physical, social and emotional potential. Studying a phenomenon such as gendered bodies and physical activity is paramount and has significant bearing on the way in which forms of physical activity are provided in both schools and the community. It is crucial that every child is given the opportunity to participate and not be thwarted by society's expectations and ideals of what is appropriate in terms of gendered bodies. Utilising senior secondary students as a means of analysis is based on the notion that these individuals have a history of gendered physical activity. Further, they have the necessary skills to adequately articulate these life experiences.

GAE98162

Margaret Gearon and Maria Gindidis, Monash University

This paper examines the process and results of a multi-disciplinary approach to the professional development of new teachers of a language other than English in Victorian primary schools. The project which will be reported here enabled teachers in a country area in Victoria to undertake a course in Indonesian or German, supported by an initial introduction to principles of second language acquisition. The study, based on journal entries by the teachers, examines the teachers' perceptions of their developing second language proficiency and its relationship to research into second language acquisition. It also describes the challenges the teachers faced, their frustrations, the influences of their own language learning experience on their teaching and on their understanding of their own students' progress in the second language and the ways in which they coped with these overlapping situations of concurrent status as a learner and a teacher. Such research enables us to be better prepared to present second language and second language methodology courses to adult learners by taking into account their learning preferences and strategies.

GEL98284

Pragmatics and Pedagogy: counting the context in teacher training.

Sue Gelade, University of South Australia

Between 1960 and 1975, the Australian Administration in Papua New Gunea sought to recruit and train large numbers of Australian teachers for local primary schools. Some were recruited among expatriates in PNG, others were seconded from Australian schools, a third group underwent one of two differing training programmes.

The three methods the Administration used to put Australians into teaching positions in schools differed in length, quality, and cost. The outcomes achieved, in teacher suitability, pedagogical practice, and length of tenure were not necessarily congruent with either methodological or economic input.

Using the Papua New Guinea case as an example, this paper proposes that assumptions about teacher training outcomes should not always be made only on the basis of the length or breadth of the training given. Measurements of the contextual situation need also to be part of the accounting.

GIL98171

Children's perceptions of public power and the development of democratic citizenship.

Judith Gill and Sue Howard, University of South Australia

Questions of nationalism and civic responsibility are increasingly significant themes in discussions of educational and cultural practice. In addition, the broader issues relating to the way the Australian government handles the competing claims of diverse cultural groups in its endeavours to manage multicultural policy successfully form a constant undercurrent in public discourse. The issues raise important questions about how best to prepare young people for the complex and evolving society of Australia in the 21st century.

The particular focus of our study concerns children's developing knowledge of and understanding about the exercise of public power and the processes of democratic citizenship. The impetus for the study was the Civic Expert Group's Whereas the people ..., a publication which detailed the findings of a major survey of adolescents and adults, indicating that levels of understanding in the general population were very low, As a consequence there has been considerable resurgence of interest in the civics education curriculum as a way of ensuring that children and young people are adequately prepared to take their place in democratic society. Curriculum content and materials are currently being prepared for all levels of schooling.

In this paper we present the results of our qualitative study of primary school children which focused on their political knowledge and understanding. (We use the term political in its broadest sense to encompass the circulation of power in the social environment.) From our data we are able to show the development of knowledge about formal political process which accompanies student experience. In addition we show that those values that are at the heart of democratic citizenship ñ justice, fairness, equity, responsibility ñ develop in broadly predictable ways through exposure to particular practices in everyday life. Moreover our work shows that those practices that arise from the organisation and management of classrooms and schools are potentially powerful ways of making democratic values explicit for primary school aged children.

GIL98356

Workplace assessment in school-industry partnerships

Shelley Gillis, The University of Melbourne

Since 1994, there has been a significant growth in participation by senior secondary students in school-industry programs involving workplace learning throughout Australia. Accompanying this growth has been greater involvement of employers and enterprises in the provision of work-placements involving on-the-job training and assessment of vocational competencies.

This paper will investigate competency based assessment approaches within the context of industry and education assessment and accreditation frameworks. The project was a national study funded by the Australian Student Traineeship Foundation and involved undertaking policy analyses, case studies and the piloting of assessment materials. The objectives of the study were to:-

• document present practice in workplace assessment methods utilised in assessing outcomes of vocational competencies
• determine the role of teachers and employers in the assessment of vocational competencies
• determine the factors which contribute to the reliability and validity of assessment of vocational competencies
• gain an understanding of the complexity and diversity of the requirements in relation to assessment of existing education and industry curriculum accreditation and provider registration frameworks.
• pilot exemplar 'employer friendly' assessment materials within the context of state and territory curriclum frameworks and the National Training Framework.

The outcomes of the research investigation included a national policy framework for assessment of vocational competencies in VET in School Programs, best practice models of competency based assessment in VET in School Programs, assessment guidelines for teachers and supervisors and exemplar assessment tasks within the metals, hospitality and office industries.

GIL98391

Civics and Citizenship Education:
The State of the Play or the Play of the State?

Judith Gill and Alan Reid,University of South Australia

This paper develops the argument that the focus on civics and citizenship education in Australia over the past five years is an element of the state's response to its legitimation crisis. This crisis has been brought about by the social dislocation wrought by the collapse of the welfare state, and the accompanying rapid and complex cultural changes which have accompanied it. If left unchecked such dislocation can threaten the very foundation of a capitalist society. As a consequence the state is moving to use the education system as a means to establish greater social cohesion. Civics education is a key to this strategy. The question is what sort of civics education, and how it is to be planned and implemented.

The paper traces developments in civics education under the Keating Labor government, and then focuses on its manifestation under the Howard Coalition government, especially the neo-liberal construction of citizenship upon which it is based. It is argued that the Howard version of citizenship is a return to the past, defined as it is by a white, male, eurocentric view of the world. The paper critiques this current version of civics education, including the ways in which educational research has been used selectively to justify certain policy positions, and to exclude others. It then uses this critique to suggest an alternative approach to civics education based upon a construction of citizenship which aspires to encourage a consciousness of self as a member of a shared democratic culture, and which emphasises participatory approaches to political involvement.

GLO98347

The go betweens: the role of project workers in building research relationships between health and education sectors

Sara Glover, Centre for Adolescent Health

In recent years there has been a growing emphasis on health promotion in school settings and teachers are increasingly faced with the challenge of responding to and teaching about a number of health-related concerns. This 'extra' work in schools can become a real burden or it can provide renewed focus and energies for enhancing the well-being of young people as well as improving learning outcomes. In 1997, the Centre for Adolescent Health entered into a partnership with 12 Victorian secondary schools in the Gatehouse Project to develop and evaluate whole school approaches to promoting mental health and emotional well-being of young people.

This paper draws on the experiences and perceptions of the project's four school liaison workers (SLWs), and the contact person in each of the partner schools to examine the significance of project workers' relationships in developing and sustaining school-based health promotion projects. The SLWs each have a strong background in education and student welfare and are based at the Centre for Adolescent Health. This presentation illustrates the 'go between' roles the SLWs play in the research process and discusses how their position as 'insider'/'outsider' has shifted and blurred over time. We discuss the tensions which have arisen in trying to balance the pursuit of the project's expectations and goals yet at the same time address the needs of teachers and negotiate through the complex micro-politics of school settings.

GOR98258

Developing understanding; international student explanations of how they learn.

M. Gordon, The University of Newcastle; R. H. Cantwell and P.J. Moore

What do terms such as "learning" and "understanding" mean for international undergraduate students? Research (Marton, Dall'Alba and Beaty, 1993; Purdie, Hattie and Douglas, 1996) suggests that there is a link between what students believe terms such as "learning" and "understanding" mean and the strategies they employ to undertake specific tasks.

This paper reports on research into one aspect of the first two years of a three year longitudinal study of international students enrolled at an Australian university. In their first year of study, students were enrolled in a one year preparatory program. The following year the students commenced in a wide variety of undergraduate courses. Interview data gathered to this stage allows for a comparison of student conceptions of the learning process on arrival in Australia and their understanding of that process mid way through their first year of undergraduate study. A total of 78 students from predominantly Asian and Pacific Island countries commenced in the study. Students were asked to complete surveys at the beginning and the end of their first year of study in Australia and in the middle of the subsequent two years of their undergraduate program.

In addition, a group of 30 students from within the 78 students were requested to participate in interviews over the three year period. The responses of this group are discussed here. The major results of this study indicate that while most students expressed awareness of changed situational factors in the learning environment from a university preparatory program to university undergraduate study, it did not necessarily follow that for all students there would be an adjustment in how they approached their learning. In the discussion of these findings, reference is made to learning theories and their emphasis on personological and situational factors in explaining how students approach the learning task.

GOR98285

Micro-level techniques of power in the classroom production of class, race, gender and other relations

Jennifer Gore, The University of Newcastle

In this paper, I draw upon data collected in four different pedagogical sites to explore how social differentiation operates at the classroom level. So-called "hidden curriculum" research has documented the production or reproduction of class, race, and gender dynamics in classrooms, typically using a methodology which used one of more of these aspects of social difference as a foundation. My own study proceeded from a Foucauldian understanding of power as operating from the ground up. Hence, I examined the operation of power, including the specific techniques of power and the direction of any exercises of power, prior to assessing any effects in terms of class, race, or gender. Here I link the earlier analysis of techniques of power (such as surveillance, normalisation and classification) with more traditional radical educational concerns with structural dynamics of power including, but not limited to, class, race and gender.

GOU98210

Transnational imaginaries in curriculum inquiry: performances and representations

Noel Gough, Deakin University

This paper explores issues emerging from recent and ongoing efforts by a number of curriculum scholars (particularly in North America) to 'internationalise' curriculum studies. As a participant in (and constructive critic of) these efforts, I am interested in exploring ways in which diverse local knowledge traditions in such fields as curriculum studies can be sustained and amplified transnationally without being absorbed into an imperialist archive. In this paper I argue that resisting the homogenising effects of cultural globalisation and internationalisation may be facilitated by emphasising the performative rather than the representational aspects of curriculum inquiry. The 'internationalisation' of curriculum studies might then be understood not so much in terms of translating local representations of curriculum into a universal discourse but, rather, as creating transnational 'spaces' in which local knowledge traditions in curriculum inquiry can be performed together.

GOU98232

Researching a baseline: Science in Victorian schools

Annette Gough, Deakin University

For some time there has been growing concern about the teaching and learning of science in Victorian schools (and elsewhere). In late 1997 a preliminary survey of some high schools undertaken by Deakin University confirmed anecdotal evidence about the negative attitudes of teachers and students to science in Years 7-10, and in April 1998 the Department of Education commissioned a baseline survey of science from P - 10 in government schools to collect data on such issues as teacher' beliefs, attitudes and practices in relation to science teaching, the priority given to science in schools and the nature and extent of support used/needed to enhance science teaching and learning. This paper will discuss both the methodology and findings of the survey in terms of of the borader picture of science teaching and learning in schools revealed by other surveys such as the Third International Study in Science and Mathematics, with a particular focus on junior secondary school years, and in the context of other research on student identity construction in the middle school years.

The paper will also address the conference theme in terms of how this type of research can count in influencing future directions for science education in Victoria.

GRE98157

Border Crossing: Cultural hybridity and the rural and small schools practicum

Wilfred M Grenfell, Northern Territory University

This paper deals with the extension of the collaborative School-Based Teacher Education program adopted by the Northern Territory University to diverse educational contexts such as rural and small schools and homeland centre schools. It analyses the process in terms of a series of border-crossings following the theory of cultural hybridity developed by Homi Bhabha (1994) in <The location of culture>. In so doing, it addresses the role of the non-Indigenous teacher in predominantly Aboriginal schools, calls into question what teacher educators have traditionally understood by the 'teaching act', and reveals the potential of School-Based Teacher Education to address the local context and contribute to the Teacher Education curriculum.

GRE98384

Reading the world of university: What counts?

Pam Green, Gloria Latham, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

This paper will address the issues encountered by first year students in reading and reshaping the culture of university. The interim findings of a five year study will be dismantled in order to uncover what counts in the experience of first year university and the ramifications for educational practice and discourse. Feedback from staff continues to indicate that there is growing disparity between their expectations of first year students and student performance in areas such as independent learning, research skills, academic reading and writing, as well as the use of new technologies. There also seems to be a gap between students' perceptions of their own abilities with respect to literacy practices, and the demands placed on them in the tertiary setting. Dialogic critical reflection on the part of both students and staff empowers these individuals to read the world from multiple perspectives and to reshape future directions.

GRI98066

Kelvin Lai, Patrick Griffin, University of Melbourne, and John Izard, Australian Council for Education Research

Current trends in assessment make demands on tests and test items that cannot be met using traditional item and test analysis procedures. Testing needs to focus on higher order thinking and examines the process of problem resolution in addition to rather than in stead of the final product or solution. Hence tasks can be multicomponential rather than a single entity assessed as a discrete item on knowledge using a closed multiple choice item with a single correct answer and mapped onto a single unidimensional construct underpinning the entire test. The tasks therefore need to enable the examiner to investigate the process as well as the solution.

This means however that components of the items may be dependent on each other and as a result, assumptions of such models as the Rasch Item Response model will be violated. This study examines how violations of the assumption of local independence affects the parameter estimates of a multi-component item response model and how this new model compares to the Rasch model. Analysis real test data is used to demonstrate the importance of the approach for understanding student learning in mathematics and the potential of the approach for diagnosis and teaching strategies.

GRI98275

Patrick Griffin, The University of Melbourne, Andrew Smith and Rosemary Callingham, Office of Education Review

For more than 20 years the Tasmanian education department has monitored mathematics achievement of the 124 year old cohort in the state's secondary schools. This study applied Rasch model methods to examine the stability of the ability levels across the 20 year period. The investigations used common person and common item equating to link the 1997 study to previous cohorts assessments conducted in 1975, 1979, 1983, 1987 1993 and 1997.

Rises and falls in ability levels are examined in the content of changes of curriculum emphasis and teaching practices. The study is believed to be the first study of its kind in Australia I that standards can be examined over such a long period. State systems other than Tasmania are now establishing the approach for examining the stability of achievement levels. At a methodological level the study examines a classical test approach with a Rasch model method of test equating. implications of the alternative approaches are examined.

HAN98330

Enhancing critical analysis in research through reflective writing

Mary Hanrahan, Queensland University of Technology

Abstract: Critical reflection is seen as an integral part of research, particularly action research. This may take the form of group discussion among collaborative researchers who also act as critical friends. However, group processes are complex and critical thinking of the kind expected in PhD theses, is not guaranteed. Another way is through personal journal writing, but because of its personal nature, the methodology of critical reflective writing remains a mystery to many potential users. This paper represents a case study of the many forms of personal writing used by the author to develop and change her thinking over the course of her PhD.

HAN98331

A legitimate place for intuition and other alogical processes in research and hence in reports of research

Mary Hanrahan, Queensland University of Technology

Could it be that thought processes which are normally below conscious control are critical to creativity in research, and hence deserving of a place in the research reports? I would like to argue, from a systemic or ecological perspective (cf. Lemke, 1995; Maturana & Varela, 1992), that intuition, tacit knowledge, and feelings are signs of personal and social meaning-systems which, although generally below conscious awareness, may significantly affect a researcher's investigative processes and meaning-making. I will argue that investigating, analysing and reporting such signs in oneself and others should enhance the resolution of inconsistencies between meaning systems and practice, and allow more of what takes place in social situations to be explained. By enhancing the chances of creative interplay between different meaning systems, this may lead to new cross-disciplinary approaches to teaching and learning in a particular discipline. I believe, therefore, that supposedly alogical processes such as intuition should have a legitimate place in both research and research reports. This paper looks at how viewing knowledge as essentially social as well as essentially individual can enhance classroom research.

HAR98035

The uses of research in schools and colleges: A framework for leadership in professional collaboration

Bernard T Harrison, Edith Cowan University

The forces that drive new research directions in education involve constant shifts in environment and culture. These include such factors as a renewed emphasis on professional teamwork and interdependence; a universal drive to develop performance management, monitoring and evaluation; devolution of financial responsibility and corporate directions to schools and colleges; and technological developments. These and other factors require an unprecedented appetite for vigorous questioning of processes and outcomes, at both systems and personal levels - in short, an appetite for research.

However, those same forces which generate new fields for research in education can also produce resistance. The drive for open enquiry can be opposed by a variety of defences - of existing comfort levels, privileges, status, and professional protectionism. Such defences can be overcome through building frameworks for leadership in consultative research, in which professionals are actively engaged in research processes and outcomes. These frameworks involve shared responsibilities for and ownership of research; they encourage professionals to take well judged risks to pursue research ventures in the quest for continuous school/college improvement.

Following a study of critical issues in building frameworks for collaborative research, this paper reports on outcomes from research which has involved professionals, as both subjects of and participants in programmes of educational enquiry.

HAR98073

A study of workplace pedagogies: the role of workplace mentors in business environments

Michele Simons, Roger Harris and John Bone, University of South Australia

One of the most significant outcomes of training reform that has taken place over the past decade has been the (re)claiming of the workplace as a legitimate learning environment. In line with the move to de-institutionalise training, the role of the workplace trainer/mentor has become increasingly important in the provision of quality, relevant and cost-effective training. The critical issue is to what extent workplace trainers/mentors are ready, willing and able to fulfil this role.

This paper will examine this issue in the light of research data gathered under a National Research and Evaluation Committee funded project during 1998 across three states (SA, NSW, Victoria) and three industries (property and business services, building and construction, and communication services).

HAR98082

From institution-based to work-based learning

Roger Harris, Michele Simons and Gary Edwards, University of South Australia

This paper reflects on the process of change as South Australia Police moves from a primarily institution-based model of professional development to a more integrated model which emphasises the workplace as an important and complementary site of learning. It examines the extent to which and the way in which the workplace adapts to meet the challenges presented by the introduction of work-based learning, and what impact this change has on the way work is constructed and performed by police.

HAR98230

Individual Differences in EFL Self-Access Computer-Mediated
Language Learning: an experimental study 1)

Hartoyo, Graduate School of Education, La Trobe University,

This paper reports selected results of a research study on the effectiveness of self-access computer-mediated language learning in assessing Indonesian students to improve their mastery of English grammar. The research was conducted at a university preparation program in Australia, where many Indonesian students were participating in the course. Data collected in a time series experimental design suggest that such a self-access language learning program is very useful for improving the mastery of english grammar in the context of learning English as a Foreign Language. In addition, the data analysis revealed that there is a significant correlation between the mastery of knowledge of grammar and grammatical performance in writing. This paper also documents differences in the level of mastery achieved in English in relation to factors such as attitudes toward English, the amount of time spent accessing the program, and familiarity with computers. Despite the different level of achievement, all students seem to have benefited from using the program. The implications for the use of a time series experimental design in reserach in language learning are discussed.

HAR98238

A therapeutic model of play

Elspeth Harley, University of South Australia

The extent of childhood stress in our society today has received prominence in Australia. One of five children under five years suffer emotional and behavioural problems which are manifested in fear, depression, guilt, aggression and low self esteem. Early childhood educators and parents have become increasingly concerned about this high incidence of stress. This paper discusses the preventative values of play for minimising the negative effects of stress in children. In particular the paper discusses the work of Sue Jennings and her developmental paradigm of play and it's three stages, embodiment, projection and role. It is maintained that the Jennings paradigm has much application as an observational tool and intervention strategy for early childhood educators. As children engage in dramatic play they explore and discover their identity. What is crucial, however, is an understanding of the strategies early childhood educators can utilise in order to support children who can 'play' as well as the 'non players'.

Children who are supported to become players through role and dramatic play can better negotiate the world they live in and hopefully reduce emotional stress. This paper will also present some findings of a trial of the Jennings paradigm in some early childhood centres in South Australia.

HAR98341

A strategic repetoire for educators and policy makers: flexibly transforming technologically mediated relationships in adult literacy

Bobby Harreveld, Central Queensland University

This research paper focuses on the development of relationships between adult literacy teachers and tutors in the Australian bush. It is argued that a strategic repertoire of models and practices is needed to address this complex and context-specific problem. This research project found that there is no one 'best practice' in using technology to establish relationships within and across communities of tutors and teachers. Specifically, the paper reports on an investigation into the ways in which technologically mediated relationships are fostered across time and space as adult literacy tutors work in remote and isolated communities throughout Queensland. It is not so much concerned with questions relating to individual competence of a particular person, for example the adult learner, tutor or teacher. Rather, in its investigation of the potential for transformation in the relationships between policy makers, academics, tutors, students and teachers, the paper engages with current institutionally and socially situated constraints and makes them the subjects of inquiry and possible transformation. The paper's underlying theme of 'virtual flexibility' identifies of a series of changes that together pose significant challenges to the traditions and programs of adult literacy education in Australia.

HAS98350

Mechanisms to implement and maintain policy agendas for teaching English as a foreign language in Japan

Kayoko Hashimoto, La Trobe University

Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is closely linked with other national agendas, such as the promotion of Japanese culture and tradition inside and outside Japan within the framework of internationalisation. This paper examines the mechanisms of implementation and maintenance of policy agendas for TEFL, and explores how TEFL is being used in the reproduction of specific social values. First, the Courses of Study, which are produced by the government in order to set curriculum standards for secondary school education, will examined to identify how TEFL is located and organised. Second, this paper looks at how school textbooks for English have been controlled under the Ministerial textbook authorisation system.

HAT98358

Teacher educators as bricoleurs? A second look

Elizabeth Hatton, Charles Sturt University

Teachers' work is partially shaped by the work of teacher educators although this contribution is often neglected, at least in the Australia literature. This is partially a consequence of the fact survey has been the most common methodological approach in studies of teacher education in Australia. And this approach is ill-equipped to capture complex conceptual understandings (cultural, ideological etc.) of teacher educators' work (Grundy & Hatton 1995; Hatton 1997b). Qualitative studies capable of providing these understandings are rare (see Hatton 1990; Grundy & Hatton 1995).

In earlier work, I generated a metaphor for teachers' work as bricolage (Hatton 1990) which led to the formulation of an hypothesis about teacher education as a (conservative) determinant of teachers' work. (A bricoleur is a practical do it yourself person whose cultural response (bricolage) is typified by conservatism, limited creativity, an atheoretical approach to repertoire enlargement, distinctive use of theory, use of devious means to achieve goals and ad hocism. See Hatton 1988, 1989 for detailed accounts of these categories.) The hypothesis was tested in a qualitative study in a college of advanced education (CAE) prior to the formation of the unified national system (UNS) (Hatton 1990). Since then a further study of the culture of teacher educators has been conducted in a new generation university formed from former CAEs. This paper provides an analysis of the extent to which teacher educators in this settings are able to be understood as bricoleurs implicated in making a conservative contribution to teachers' work.

HAY98010

Feminist and genealogical approaches to issues of gender equity in education: what good will it do us now?

Debra Hayes, University of Newcastle

In the late 1960's, the second wave of feminism which swept across industrialised democracies in the form of the Women's Liberation Movement coincided with a shift from differentiable to equitable provision in education. Whilst not assuming a simple correspondence between these two transformations, the conditions of their emergence were similar and feminists have been at the forefront of conceptual and strategic responses to equity issues in education. Genealogy marks such transformations as junctures or discontinuities in discourse because the statements and claims that may be uttered now about gender and education, are vastly different to those that could be uttered before the shift in educational provision.

This paper explores points of resonance and tension between feminist and genealogical approaches to issues of gender equity in education. Since both are explicitly concerned with the operations and effects of power and the body in modern society, there juxtaposition is potentially productive and it opens up possibilities for certain questions to be asked about educational provision. Most notably, how does the discourse of gender equity function in the provision of education?

HAZ98332

Preparing High School Teachers for a Role in Preventing Youth Suicide

Trevor Hazell, Hunter Institute of Mental Health and Jennifer Allen, University of Newcastle

This paper aims to present a progress report on the Youth Suicide Prevention - National University Curriculum Project. The aims of the project and the contextual background will be briefly outlined as will the process that led to the identification of secondary education as one of the important target disciplines for the project. The paper will describe the curriculum materials that have been developed for use in the training of secondary teachers and the research undertaken to explore its use in teacher education. The evaluation strategy will be outlined and interim results will be presented. Ideas for further dissemination and research will be presented and canvassed.

HEN98011

Learning environments in senior secondary environmental science classrooms

David G. Henderson, Darrell L. Fisher and Barry J. Fraser, Curtin University of Technology

The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between students' attitudes and their perceptions of their learning environment in senior Environmental Science classrooms in Tasmania, Australia and to examine differences in perceptions according to the student's sex and as to whether or not the student was currently studying another science course. With a sample of 100 students in 7 classes, students' perceptions of their learning environment were assessed using the Environmental Science Learning Environment Inventory (ESLEI) whilst outcomes were measured using responses to two attitude instruments. Sizeable relationships were found between students' perceptions of their learning environment and attitudinal outcomes and previous research was replicated in that females were found to perceive their learning environment in a more positive way than did males. Students studying another science subject were found to perceive some aspects of their learning environment in more positive ways and to have significantly more positive attitudes than students not studying another science subject.

HER98287

Action learning in NVETS: How does it count?

Anne Herbert, University of South Australia

Action learning methodology counts for a lot if you are applying for professional development funds in NVETS. You might not get funding if you use another methodology. In 1993 the Australian National Training Authority published its own kit to guide action learners and re-published it in 1995. The kit draws largely on business models of action learning, and remains the most comprehensive statement available of how action learning is supposed to happen in Australian VET. (I do not intend to get into a debate about whether action learning is a 'methodology' or not.)

In 1998 action learning is still a preferred methodology for manager and teacher development in NVETS. The projects have tended to be linked to implementing some aspect of national training agendas, and with the exception of some individual initiatives, generally the participants in action learning receive no accreditation for their learning. NVETS has become very occupied with productivity measures. There are not direct ways to count professional development. In what other ways does action learning count or not count? How do the participants value it? How is action learning serving teacher interests in NVETS?

This paper will report on work in progress and interim findings of critical qualitative research on action learning in NVETS which analyses the professional development policies and participants' descriptions of action learning practice, and where they intersect.

HER98288

Researching in my workplace: negotiating and juggling researcher roles and relationships

Anne Herbert, University of South Australia

The problematic nature of the roles of researchers and the relationships between researchers and other participants is now well recognised in qualitative educational research. The issues are especially highlighted when researching in one's own workplace.

As individual researchers, each engaged in a project on change in different higher education settings, we were struck by the similarity in the challenges we faced. We both had to address questions such as: Why did we decide to do this research in the first place? What subjectivities are we bringing to bear on our research? How do our researcher roles intersect with our workplace roles? What have been the effects of assuming the role of researcher in the workplace? What about the roles we feel the participants 'put' us in? How do we clearly define what is part of the research and what is part of the job? How and when do we negotiate? How do we decide? Where does the research finish when the job continues? Which dimensions are important to talk/write about? What language do we use? How do you decide? What choices do we have? How do we justify the decisions? What literature can be drawn on? What personal knowledge? This paper recounts our initial research proposals, the similar challenges experienced in the course of the research, and how our concepts of researcher role changed as we pursued our separate inquiries.

HEY98064

The trouble with text: Teacher education research after the linguistic turn

Katy Heyning, University of Arizona

Historical study has long used texts as a way to render the past thinkable. In the past half century, questions surrounding textual interpretation have focused on the role of historical analysis and its relationship with sociology, psychology, and semiotics -- particularly within the study of history and the philosophy of science. This is particularly true for studies involving curriculum history and analyses of the "work" of teachers where oral histories, narrative examinations, cultural linguistics and storytelling have all impacted the ways in which teachers are studied and analyzed. This paper argues that the decision of what types of text to "read," and accordingly what type of research to do when studying teacher education, is a type of intellectual self-discipline that obliterates the technologies of power which generate meaning in the discourse. Drawing from the work of Michel Foucault, the paper suggests that changing what "counts" as text does not actually change what can be written as history.

HIC98062

Unlearning how to be a 'man': Developing pedagogies of responsibility

Christopher Hickey & Lindsay Fitzclarence, Deakin University

It is widely acknowledged that many of the most influential knowledges and practices young males construct are developed outside of formal educational contexts. Mass media, peer groups, and sporting cultures are among the more prominent here. While none of these operate in isolation, dominant sporting cultures clearly provide a powerful forum in which many boys develop and hone their understandings of masculinity. The cultural messages that emerge from such arenas typically valorise versions of masculinity forged on; strength, aggression, mateship, courage, independence and commitment. As celebrated virtues of maleness, such qualities, it is argued, (re)produce powerful messages about what it is to be a 'real man'. It is our concern that while such characteristics are legitimised (celebrated) within the context of sport they are avowedly problematic when manifest in other social arenas.

Drawing on our research in the area of Australian Rules Football this paper discusses the construction of hegemonic maleness. Prominent here is the normalisation and rationalisation of a range of 'pernicious' attitudes, practices and commitments. Recognising an increasing need for alternative forms of masculinity to be nurtured, the paper explores the use of narrative as a pedagogical pathway through which boys can be made more accountable for their actions and decisions. The narrative approach to pedagogy is predicated on the use of personal and/or collective stories as a means of constructing alternative actions and behaviours.

HOW98283

Contextual issues related to Aboriginal children's mathematical learning

Peter Howard, Australian Catholic University

This paper draws on aspects of an ethnographic study undertaken in a rural community in New South Wales which investigated the expressed beliefs of Aboriginal children, Aboriginal educators, Aboriginal parents and non-Aboriginal teachers towards the learning and teaching of mathematics in the last two years of primary schooling. Conversational interviews were used to collect the data. The data analysis identified seventeen core categories of beliefs across all participant comments. Participant belief statements for each of the core categories were further analysed into sub-categories.

The aim of this presentation is to focus on the expressed beliefs of the various Aboriginal participants related to the core category of Context and the nominated sub categories: Aboriginal children and school, racism and discrimination, Aboriginal parents, community, discipline and behaviour, teacher's role and language. Significant implications for the classroom and recommendations for initial teacher education and teacher professional development to enhance Aboriginal children's mathematical learning are discussed.

HUN98239

The role of staff in developing and maintaining best practice in preschools

Jill Huntley, University of South Australia

The years of birth to five span the period where the most rapid learning and development occur. There is a wealth of research that details the benefits of children attending early childhood services. More recent research however points to the fact that children only benefit if the service they attend is one of high quality.

In the last twenty years across the world early childhood services have increasingly been engaged in developing accreditation and quality improvement criteria. All of these systems relate to childcare centres which cater for children aged birth to five. I am currently developing a model of best practice that applies to preschools in South Australia. These cater for children in the year before they attend formal schooling (generally 4-5 year olds) I am trialing this model in the diverse number of preschools across the state and examining the role that staff play in the development and maintenance of best practice.

JAS98305

Uncovering the knowledge construction of university based teacher educators: what we learn from/with school based practitioners

Anne M Jasman, Murdoch University

School based practitioners are assumed to learn from their interactions and relationships with teacher educators. However, the existence of a reciprocal learning relationship where teacher educators learn from practitioners has received little attention in the literature. The intention of this research is to make explicit this less commonly acknowledged direction of the learning relationship between the two.

This paper reports findings from an ARC funded research project investigating teacher educators' construction of knowledge for teacher education and focuses on 'what' teacher educators learn in their relationship with school-based practitioners. This research continues a self-reflective study which addressed issues relating to professional partnerships in teacher education, and was premised on parity of esteem between school based practitioners and university based teacher educators.

Findings on what university based teacher educators say they learn from school based practitioners suggest there are two main foci to this learning: first, teacher educators appear to learn directly from school based practitioners' classroom practice and the realities of their work outside the classroom. Second, they also learn from being in the school context and seeing the impact of system policies on the work of teachers, in particular changes in curriculum, professional practices and school policy. In addition, the learning of both teacher educators and practitioners is mediated by working with student teachers in the school context. These findings are presented within the context of a developing understanding of professional learning and the role of research in knowledge construction and professional practice (Wideen et al, 1996; Yeatman, 1996; Hargreaves, 1997). The question of the real value of this knowledge to teacher educators is also considered.

JEF98078

The Role of Learning Guides in Multi-Modal Learning at the Lilydale Campus of Swinburne University of Technology.

Peter L. Jeffery, Roslyn N. Smith and Stephen E. Weal, Division of Swinburne at Lilydale, Swinburne University of Technology

Multi-Modal Learning [MML] commenced in 1992 at the Mooroolbark Campus of Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, Australia as a pilot project for the introduction of educational technological approaches to the provision of degree courses offered at the Lilydale Campus from 1996. The project introduced strategies and facilities to enable learner focussed use of educational techniques similar to those more frequently described as "flexible learning".

This paper will present an overview of the range of different teaching and learning strategies that are employed as part of the Multi-Modal Learning approach at Swinburne at Lilydale. The paper will focus on the role and use of Learning Guides as roadmaps to facilitate each student's progress along their educational journey. Data will be presented on student perceptions of the value of Learning Guides and student reactions to specific Learning Guides in various disciplines. An evaluation of Learning Guides is also being conducted by external consultants and the paper will include a discussion of preliminary results.

The paper will describe the process used to establish a culture change in provision of higher education and the procedures built into MML to ensure that continuous quality improvement is achieved.

JIM98335

Civics and citizenship education: what pedagogy? what possibilities?

Simon Jimenez and Jane Hunter, University of Sydney

Civics and citizenship education at the national level and in New South Wales has received considerable interest since the publication of the Civics Expert Group's report 'Whereas the people' (1994). 'Developments' in the area of civics since then have ranged from resource development, curriculum development, professional development, and the creation of benchmarks. The literature base, in an Australian context, has developed considerably, mirroring the equal development of discussion, and in some cases disagreement, among academics and practitioners. This paper explores the nature of civics and citizenship education, curriculum, and the associated pedagogical possibilities. These inter-related components are informed by the works of Basil Bernstein, Henry Giroux, and Michael Apple. The theory surrounding pedagogy and civics and citizenship education will be examined, focusing on such models as active participation, issues-based teaching, constructivism, and transmission - the current 'buzz' words in the literature. Currently, the challenge for civics and citizenship education appears to present itself as how to construct a thoughtful pedagogy that can both affirm and extend the possibility for self and social empowerment so as to create conditions for meaningful and effective democracy in Australia. By making civics and citizenship education a 'polyvocal' conversation between teachers, students, parents, theorists, policy makers, and academics, the possibility exists to create confidence that the entire community has a stake in the democratic arrangements of Australian society. An aim of the paper is to prompt further discussion and debate, in the hope of furthering the much needed conversation on pedagogy and civics and citizenship education.

JOH98076

Tracking student resiliency

Bruce Johnson & Sue Howard, University of South Australia

Considerable research in the United States has been conducted into childhood resiliency - the capacity some children have to successfully adapt in the face of adversity, and to develop social competence despite exposure to severe stressors. In this paper, we present a brief review of the most influential literature in the area and identify a number of tentative and preliminary insights into the nature of childhood resiliency, based on data collected during the first two years of a longitudinal study of children deemed to exhibit resilient behaviours or non-resilient behaviours in mid-1997.

JOH98196

Nursing students' attitudes towards people with disabilities: Can they be changed?

Christine Johnston and Roselyn Dixon, University of Sydney

Nursing students have often been found to express both fear and negativity as they are about to undertake their compulsory clinical work in the disability field.This research examined the impact of a novel approach to providing such experience which emphasised working in community and generic settings where those disabilities are apt to be seen in a more positive way. Data were collected from approximately 500 students over a two year period. The results indicate an increased willingness to work with people with disabilities in their professional life as a direct result of the approach taken.

JOH98231

MetaMaps: a tool for learning, teaching and assessment

Richard Johnson and Paul Nicholson, Deakin University

Classroom educational research does not often embed technology in the research process, other than as a recording or observational tool. In this paper we outline the theoretical and pragmatic basis of MetaMaps, a computer-based tool that links teaching, learning and assessment processes to provide an authentic assessment tool. Conceived from a synthesis of Schon and Baird's work on reflective practice, and some aspects of cognitive science, we have developed MetaMaps as a new tool for probing and assessing understanding. Traditional assessment and evaluation instruments and procedures are usually tied to specific, limited, content and knowledge. Evaluating learners' understandings of wider and more complex knowledge systems requires a different approach. MetaMaps provide an alternative approach to the linear essay, term paper or minor thesis for evaluating students holistic understandings of complex knowledge systems.

For the student they have the advantage of being developmental, allowing for the ready inclusion of developing knowledge and perspective's and they make the learning-evaluation cycle more holistic by using the MetaMap as both a learning and assessment tool.

JOH98301

A feminist critique of gender inclusive curriculum policy in primary schools from 1975 to 1995

Evelyn Johnson, Methodist Ladies College

In this paper I assess the transformative potential of gender inclusive policy for primary practice. I investigate how it is conceptualised and enacted through a case study of interviewed practitioners.

I argue that gender inclusive policy has the transformative potential to motivate school based changes in classroom practice. However in this case the potential was largely unrealised except for those teachers who were already developing gender inclusive practices. For this transformative potential to be more substantively realised, I claim that policy needs to be conceptualised more comprehensively in relation to primary teaching. In addition, the gender inclusive curriculum needs to be conceptualised in less conservative ways. However the range of conceptions of gender inclusiveness held by the profession have to be acknowledged. Persisting gender exclusive practices and a gap between policy and practice have to be considered. Most importantly, significant teacher resistance must be taken into account if the transformative potential of gender inclusive policies is to be realised.

JON98286

Concerns of beginning teachers about using learning technologies in the classroom.

Jones John, La Trobe University

Compulsory information technology subjects are common in many tertiary courses. Computing and information technology are an integral part of disciplines such as Computer Science and Business Studies. However many pre-service teacher education students are surprised and concerned to discover compulsory information technology subjects in their diploma or bachelor of education course.

There is evidence from Australia and overseas that both pre-service and beginning teachers, despite having acquired a variety of personal computing skills, make little use of the computer-based learning technologies available in schools. This paper reflects on results of surveys of two cohorts of primary pre-service teacher education students. The first group was surveyed in November 1997 following the completion of their course. The second group was first surveyed at the commencement of their course, February 1998, and later immediately following their first teaching practicum.

As well as collecting data on computer use for teaching in the schools used for teaching practice, the surveys elicited information on attitudes to computers and concerns about learning technologies in primary classrooms. Results from the surveys are discussed in relation to research into teacher use of computers, and to suggestions from teacher educators and education systems regarding the structure and content of learning technologies subjects in pre-service teacher education courses.

JON98297

"Normal Kids Just Don't Do This": A Qualitative Case Study of Labeling Children Attention Deficit Disorder.

Rebecca Jones, Flinders University

This qualitative case study focuses on a self-chosen participant and does not represent the total ADD population. The primary object of the study was to understand, compare and explore the person's personal experiences and feelings after being diagnosed ADD. The intention being so that teachers, parents and those labelled ADD may explore the issue in more depth and gain insight and perhaps solace in this topic.

Also by using a qualitative case study on Attention Deficit Disorder as an example of the affects of diagnosing deviancy, I have been able to draw conclusions into the affects of medicalisation on deviant behaviour. From my research I have found that when medication is used for the 'treatment' of deviant behaviour, it is done so as a form of social control and that this social control benefits those seeking the diagnosis rather than those diagnosed. For example I have found that children are labeled ADD only when they become management problems. Thus ADD enters the medical sphere largely because other forms of social control have not been successful.

I have found that although there may be some humanitarian benefits from the medicalisation of deviant behaviour, there are also important sociological ramifications. These include the affect of the doctors authority and expectations, the affect of medicating and the affect of ignoring other forms of social conflict. Thus through this study I also conclude that the main issue in identifying ADD children is the need for social control and by defining ADD as an illness treatment with medication can be used to gain this.

JOS98386

The philosophical and sociological foundations of educational research.

John Joshua, The University of Melbourne

Criteria of truth and their schemata have evolved out of historical social practices. Interpretations of social events are guided and constraint by the prevailing rationality which in itself reflects the dominant constellation of power. Different power relationships arise within different historical epochs which call new forms of subjectivities into existence to form new social practices. This paper does not see education within an ahistorical, depoliticized and positivistic fashion. Followers of any philosophical school, may that be, for example, Phenomenology, Empiricism or Marxism, merely indicate their schemes of interpretation so that their interpretation is necessarily constrained as they follow a particular ideology.

This paper will adopt an holistic approach towards an educational phenomena through the application of a critical and reflexive pedagogy and thereby may contribute towards an educational theory through a fusion of philosophy, sociology and historical schemes which may impinge on educational practice.

This paper considers philosophy of knowledge as an activity so that a sociology of education can be derived in order to undertake various studies in education; for example, on the distribution of power through the implementation of pathways through curricula policy. Hence, the philosophy in this paper is one of practice. A sociological analysis based within a philosophical framework is vital not only to reveal the underlying connections between education and truth, rationality, knowledge and power, but also to support possible pedagogic alternatives. The philosophical content of this paper will serve as a means to elicit sociological questions of cultural transmissions and social mobility which of course have to be tested through an empirical analysis.

It is a theoretical and philosophical concern through which pedagogic and social aims may be developed and implemented; whereas the empirical data serve to establish how far we are situated in accomplishing such aims. Praxis after all, is not merely the reciprocal relationship between theory and practice, but it is a synthesis between action and reflexivity so that a praxis is embedded within people's everyday life existence.

A philosophical underpinning of a theory of knowledge and hence of education is essential to derive working hypotheses of comprehensive application. A philosophy of praxis does not promulgate a telos or final truth but amends itself through constant practice modification; indeed, as the aim of education is largely determined by the prevailing praxis of the day, it also will be modified by a change in praxis.

KAM98207

Cultural difference in the teaching profession: How much does it count?

Ninetta Santoro and Barbara Kamler, Deakin University, Jo-Anne Reid, University of New England

This paper reports on a continuing small ARC project researching the nature of the professional experiences of overseas born and educated non-native English speaking teachers in Victorian secondary schools. Our presentation at last year's AARE conference focused on the ethical and bureaucratic difficulties we faced in our attempts to research sensitive issues of race and ethnicity in the current conservative climate.

This paper reports on the findings of a statewide survey of Victorian state Secondary schools. The survey provides data on the largely invisible population of overseas born and educated teachers - their demographic location, their qualifications, background, skills and the nature of their teaching experiences. The findings have a number of implications for educational planning and raise questions about the way in which cultural difference counts in the teaching profession.

KAM98378

Bodies, Pedagogies and the Buddha

Barbara Kameniar, University of South Australia

There has been a significant increase in the number of schools including studies of religions in the curriculum in recent years. Studies of religions outside of the dominant anglo-celtic Christian discourse are often seen as an appropriate response to Australias multicultural landscape. In part it is an anti-racist gesture to reduce prejudice and enhance tolerance! My research focuses on the way in which Buddhism is taught in schools. Preliminary findings do not suggest students respond in vulgar racist terms but with an ambivalence marked by race, gender and sexuality. This paper will make use of data from interviews with students to explore the ways in which racialised, gendered and androgenous constructions of the Buddhist Other are revealed in the classroom.

KAT98361

The classroom communication difficulties experienced by NESB LOTE teachers

Kumi Kato, University of Queensland

For NESB teachers who received their education overseas, adapting to local school culture is a major task, and their quest for constructing their "identify as a teacher" involves cross-cultural issues. This research is to investigate the nature of classroom communication difficulties experienced by LOTE teachers of non-English speaking background, specifically the Japanese native speakers, in order to identify areas of classroom communication strategies that may be included in their training programs. Through interviews with teachers and teacher educators, the main concern of these teachers was identified to be the language used for classroom management. Therefore, the classroom observation gave focus on the teachers' use of directives. The teachers involved in this study are four English native-speaker teachers and four Japanese native-speaker teachers and their Year 6 & 7 classes. The observation has revealed some noticeable differences in the communication styles between the two groups, which are possibly related to their own schooling experiences. Other influential factors such as support from other teaching staff are also identified.

KON98027

Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research: What Would You Do?

Deslea Konza, University of Wollongong

This paper aims to generate a discussion of ethical dilemmas which have faced the presenter when engaging in research relating to students with a range of special needs. Several of the dilemmas have arisen when conducting interviews with the parents of these children:

• when the issue of confidentiality conflicted with disclosures of illegal activity, including child abuse;
• when it became difficult to determine whether or not consent given prior to the research was, in fact, informed, due to literacy, cognitive or psychiatricproblems which became evident throughout the research;
• when 'reflective listening' and 'acceptance of individual realities' would have involved reflecting back damaging personal beliefs; and
• when the role of interviewer appeared to merge with that of counsellor.

This paper highlights the responsibilities of those working in the growing field of qualitative research. It is hoped that a discussion of these issues will result in a clearer understanding of some of the difficulties associated with qualitative research and of our responsibilities towards people willing to assist us in our research, especially those who may be particularly vulnerable.

KOO98280

Research on the accreditation of courses in tertiary and continuing professional education: why few are listening.

Tony Koop, Macquarie University

The process of accreditation of courses comes in many guises. For over fifteen years I have been associated with accreditation in higher education, vocational education, continuing education in the professions and accreditation of private provider courses.

In this paper I explore similarities and differences among accreditation processes; their common strengths and limitations; and, possible reasons why many of these limitations remain unaddressed. I then propose an alternative approach designed to improve the accreditation process and, as a consequence, the quality of courses.

LAW98143

Research on Self-Serving Biases of Teachers and Students: The Impact of Deception

Eleanor Lawson and David McKinnon, Charles Sturt University

For three decades there has been research controversy over the self-serving bias in educational settings--the tendency for individuals to attribute success to factors internal to themselves and failure to factors external to themselves. The research portrays teachers as egocentric, and teacher-student relations as potentially conflicted because of attributional disagreements over student outcomes. Most experiments have found that when students succeed, teachers attribute the success to themselves, while students also attribute the success to themselves; but when students fail, teachers attribute the failure to the student or another external factor, while students attribute the failure to the teacher or another external factor. Controversy centres on whether this tendency to attribute success internally and failure externally reflects realistic information processing or self-serving bias. Most studies reporting self-serving biases for teachers and students have been deceptive experiments. Self-serving biases have been far less apparent in nondeceptive classroom studies. We argue that false performance feedback in a deceptive experiment can generate attributions that fit the self-serving pattern, but that these attributions reflect realistic information processing rather than a self-serving bias. If so, deception has exaggerated apparent self-serving bias effects and may even have created them in some experiments. This argument is tested through a role play replication of a deceptive study by McAllister (1996) who reported self-serving attributional biases for both teachers and their students.

LEU98136

A Framework for the Study of the Implementation of Nationalistic Education

Yan Wing Leung, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Civic education has been idealized and assigned the mission of preparing critical thinking, responsible, participating, multidimensional citizens. But on the other hand, civic education is also charged with the responsibility of moralizing the citizens into characters like punctuality, obedience, docility, deference . It is also used to serve the function of nationalistic education : instilling the sense of national identity , loyalty to the nation state and patriotism.

Many Asian countries have strong elements of nationalistic education in their civic education . In 1996, one year before the return of sovereignty of Hong Kong to Chinas, a new official Guidelines on Civic Education in Schools (1996), proposing a curriculum framework with equal emphasis on human rights education, education for democracy, education for rule of law, nationalistic education, global education and education for critical thinking was introduced by the Education Department, which is to be implemented in schools starting from September of 1996. After 1 July, 1997, there was a very strong pressure from the society, asking for more nationalistic education and more schools were taking the initiative to implement nationalistic education.

Does the the mission of civic education : preparing critical thinking, responsible, participating, multidimensional citizens, contradict with that of nationalistic education : instilling the sense of national identity , loyalty to the nation state and patriotism ? This paper attempts to construct a framework to study (1) whether there are contradiction and (2)whether the practice of nationalistic education in schools is different from that of civic education.

LEU98366

Gender and electives differences in the motivated strategies for learning of pre-service teacher education students in Hong Kong

Man-tak Leung, Kwok-wai Chan, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Pintrich et al. (1993) had developed the MSLQ (Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire), which was a self-report, Likert-scaled instrument designed to assess motivation and use of learning strategies by College students. The motivation part of this instrument was used to tap into 3 broad domains, viz. (1) value (intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation, and task value); (2) expectancy (control beliefs about learning, self-efficacy); and (3) affect (test anxiety). The learning strategies part was composed of nine scales that can be recognized as cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies. The instrument had demonstrated robust scale reliabilities, and confirmatory factor analyses revealed good factor structure. The questionnaire was adopted and translated into Chinese and a bilingual formatted questionnaire was administered to the pre-service teacher education students in Hong Kong. The objectives of this study was threefold. The first one was to identify the motivated learning strategies prevailing in the Hong Kong teacher education students. The second one was to examine if there was any significant differences in the learning strategies between gender and the third one was to investigate whether there were any significant electives difference in the learning behaviours of the student teachers. The findings certainly would give meaningful implications on the planning and development of teacher education program in views of the motivated learning strategies adopted by student teachers as related to different gender and electives.

LIG98215

The body, high school rugby and the reproduction of social inequality: implications for PE.

Richard Light and David Kirk, University of Queensland.

As a traditional sport of the wealthy independent schools in Australia, rugby has functioned as a means of distinction for the children of the dominant classes through which particular, distinguishing values and behaviours are embodied. The meanings accorded particular behaviours, uses of the body, its shape its decoration and presentation provide unequal access to social and financial forms of capital for those whose bodies are schooled in class specific ways. The processes of embodiment and the ways in which it advantages members of the school's first XV has significant implications for the teaching of PE in schools. Data gathered from a case study of rugby in an independent Brisbane high school illuminates the social significance of students' corporeal experiences and the centrality of the body in schooling which has significant implications for the practice of physical education. Developing the work of Chris Shilling (1993) we contend that it encourages closer scrutiny of the ways in which physical education produces different types of physical capital that vary in their potential for conversion into more powerful social and economic forms and the orientations that students develop toward their bodies.

LIN98245

Contextualising and Utilising the 'What about the boys?' Discourse

Bob Lingard, The University of Queensland,

This papers seeks to understand the rise of the 'What about the boys?' discourse in the media and educational policy circles. It does this through a contextual analysis of the impact of feminism on men and public policy, as well as in education and in educational policy, set against an increasingly globalised economy. Analysis is also provided of masculinity politics and media constructions of 'backlash'. The paper also seeks to deconstruct arguments about men as new victims and boys as the new vistims of schooling. It does this by looking at academic and social performance data. The paper works from the stance that discourses are both productive and repressive. As such, it considers ways in which the 'What about the boys?' discourse can be used for 'progressive educational policy and practice ends within a (pro)-feminist politics.

LUC98214

Australian indigenous students at university: How do we know them?

Jo Luck, Central Queensland University,

Australian indigenous students' participation in Tertiary Education has recently been studied as a problem of group access to Universities and the benefits that derive from Tertiary study. This study reports a discipline specific exploration of the issues involved in low retention and non-completion of Australian indigenous students in their Business degree at one regional University.

Following up as many ex-students as possible and currently enrolled students with oral interviews, surveys and focus groups. The study attempted to give Australian indigenous perspectives a voice in explaining the factors that hindered their participation in first year and later progression in their study. There was a lack of recognition of the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. That the University dominant culture left space only for assimilation and or marginality and that Business was seen as a non-indigenous and static body of knowledge.

These broad findings might well be applicable in other university settings, and perhaps in other disciplinary areas. Central Queensland University has attempted to follow up specific findings in relation to increased support from indigenous people special attention to first year units and their teaching in the Faculty of Business. There is an obligation for university staff to develop a stronger awareness if the need for greater respect, reciprocity, inclusion of indigenous knowledge and skills.

MAC98222

The interplay of films, readings, lectures and discussion: Multimedia in learning history

Judy MacCallum, Michael Sturma and Sarah Veitch Murdoch University

The use of different senses to promote learning has long been recognised ineducation. Salomon (1997) argues that not only do the different symbolic forms of representation contribute in different ways to learning, but that each student's existing knowledge also affects the meaning constructed.

This paper explores the interrelationships between the different representations of history available to students in a university history course, the students' relevant background knowledge, and the learning outcomes. The representations of history were feature films relevant to specific periods in twentieth century American history, written critiques of the films as history, history texts, lectures and tutorial discussion.

Analysis of data produced from students' responses to questionnaires, group interviews and written reflections revealed a number of ways that the films contributed to enhanced learning. It was evident, however, that important learning outcomes such as critical thinking and students' conceptualisation of history were dependent not just on the films or students' knowledge, but on the ways the particular representations interacted with specific films.

The films JFK and Fatal Attraction and associated readings are used to illustrate the findings.

MAC98223

Workplace Learning through Professional Partnerships

Judy MacCallum, Jenny Waller, Lorraine Strickland, Dianne Tomazos School of Education, Murdoch University, and South Fremantle Senior High School

Collaborative partnership programs are often touted as the most important means of reforming teacher education and schools concurrently (Gore, 1995).

Understanding the nature and development of professional partnerships is crucial to this endeavour. The research reported here is part of a collaborative project designed to explore the ways in which university-based teacher educators construct their knowledge through their professional partnerships with school-based practitioners. Our aim was to make explicit the less commonly acknowledged direction of the learning relationship. Seven teacher educators and seven school-based practitioners used a process of reflective deliberation (Bonser & Grundy, 1988) to produce and reflect on the data. A series of workshops enabled the team to collaboratively analyse the data and begin the writing process. This paper focuses on the question of 'How do we learn professionally?'. We examine the multiple sites or contexts in which this learning occurs, the ways we are positioned by those contexts, and how we position ourselves as learners within each context. The notion of 'parity of esteem' is used to describe the relationship developed through negotiating and repositioning within the partnership based on valuing each other's professional knowledge and leading to a greater understanding of the respective roles.

MAC98225

Positioning stakeholders in curriculum leadership: What are the stakeholders saying?

Ian Macpherson and Ross Brooker, Queensland University of Technology

This paper argues that curriculum leadership is a shared phenomenon which has unique expressions at each teaching/learning site. As a shared phenomenon, it assumes that various people who have a stake in it will have a voice and an impact upon how it is shaped at each site. The paper draws on the theorising about curriculum leadership reported at previous AARE conferences as well as on recent exploratory research concerning the voices of teachers, parents and students in curriculum leadership in a small number of schools in Brisbane, Australia; Hong Kong; Cambridge, UK; and Phoenix, USA. The research focuses on stakeholders' perceptions about their place in curriculum leadership; their readiness to engage in curriculum leadership; and their conceptions of the potential to engage in curriculum leadership in their respective teaching/learning sites. A range of propositions will be presented and their implications for further investigation and practice will be discussed.

MAC98248

Partners or protagonists? Issues of inquiry as research and evaluation

Doune Macdonald, Dawn Penney, Terry Carlson, T. & Lisa Hunter

It has been argued that research and evaluation in education may be distinguished in terms of their purposes. While research can be considered as a quest for knowledge and conclusion-oriented inquiry, evaluation may denote applied, immediate and decision-oriented action (Kemmis & Stake, 1988). This paper centres on the distinctions and relationships between evaluation and research using our own experiences as evaluators of trial/pilot syllabi produced by the Board of Senior Secondary School Studies and the Queensland School Curriculum Council. Distinctions and relationships will be considered in terms of:

• methodology
• status of knowledge
• project outcomes, and
• the expectations of universities.

In doing so we will review Kemmis and Stake's position and conclude that there have been subtle but important differences between our evaluation and research projects. Participants will be invited to share their experiences and consider the implications for research in our field.

MAG98091

Old Ideas For New: Automaticity in theory of instruction

Bernard Mageean, Flinders University

The issue of 'learning by rote' is a long-standing one in the study of educational practice. This paper attempts to clarify the part that is played by automatic or quasi-automatic components in a theory of learning that draws on relatively common information, system and cognitive perspectives. The picture that emerges is of course far from a simple one. Learning by repetition, guided practice and imitative learning all have an enormous variety of parts and forms. Some ordering of the key phenomena is attempted using the notions of self-communication,self-rapport and 'embodied knowledge' in learner and teacher alike, and the discussion points out the dangers in instruction both of merely establishing routines, and of establishing too few routines.

MAL98178

Researching a living past

Patricia Malone, Australian Catholic University

This paper reflects on the processes currently being undertaken in researching the past 25 years of religious education in Australia. It explores the contexts, both educational and social, in which the various arguments about the nature and purpose of religious education have been presented. It examines these contexts as a source of content as well as the framework for the various discussions. It argues that the changes in religious education reflect the various social, cultural and religious forces impacting on the educators and the students as well as various theological and educational developments. It presents the importance of researching the human dimensions of oral history as well as the curriculum and theoretical documents of any period of education if a true picture is to emerge which can inform and effect decision making for the future.

MAL98299

Accounting for the Differential Academic Performance - A case of the Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian High School Students.

Ranbir Malik, Edith Cowan University

Cross-cultural studies undertaken in the Confucian Heritage Cultures (China, Japan and Korea) and in the Western world have provided impressive evidence to suggest that CHC children, regardless of their socioeconomic status, are more diligent, have higher achievement motivation, perform at a higher level and more of them aspire to professional degrees compared to their Anglo-Saxon counterparts in the Western world.

In his doctoral thesis the author explores the home and school learning environment of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian children (7 boys and 6 girls from 8 families residing in mainly a middle class suburb of Perth, Western Australia. This qualitative study was undertaken at a school where the author has been teaching for several years. At the start of the high school, apart from the language-related problems of the Chinese-Australian children, similarities rather than differences (measured on IQ tests designed by ACER and conducted by a school psychologist) characterised them. By the time they completed grade 12, marked differences in their performance and aspirations were noted. Only one Anglo-Australian student enrolled in University, two enrolled at TAFE colleges, and three dropped out either before completing year 12 or after failing it. By contrast, four Chinese-Australians had enrolled at different universities to do professional degrees, one had enrolled at TAFE and two of them (still at school) had selected subjects leading to university study.

Reasons for immigration, experience of parents in their native and host country, parental control and internalisation of parental values by their children account for higher educational aspirations of children from the Chinese-Australian families. Emphasis on sports and leisure activities, early economic and social independence and lack of parental involvement in children's homework activities are associated with the lower educational aspirations of Anglo-Australian children.

MAR98359

Redefinition of the leader: Women and empowerment in the institution

Genee Marks, University of New South Wales

Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the emergence of women as leaders within educational institutions, such as universities, has been a slow and painful process. At The University of New South Wales, for example, in 1997, the representation of women in positions of academic leadership (defined as Levels C, D and E) were 18%, 16% and 9% respectively, compared with 45% and 35% at Levels A and B. Concern has been expressed as to the reasons for such low representation, and to the dramatic decrease from Level B into Level C. Two research projects have been used to gather data within The University of New South Wales. The first of these is the University's Oral History Project, that surveyed all women within Levels C, D and E in the University in 1996. These data are supported by interviews with twelve senior women in 1998. To provide a basis for comparison, similar data have been collected for women as leaders (defined as Local Area Commanders and above) within the New South Wales Police Service in 1998. This paper will seek to redefine and (re)theorise the notion of leader, drawing on women's epistemologies and ways of action.

MAS98145

Personality traits dimension in choice of academic major: A Malaysian case

Khairul A. Mastor, Putai Jin and Martin Cooper, University of New South Wales

The study aims to seek the influence of personality traits on several academic choice of major attributes. An NEO PI-R Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) was used by translating it into a Malay language. Factor analyses with varimax rotation done on data from two pilot studies (in Sydney, N=112 & in Melbourne, N=62) indicated acceptable replication of the factors ( eigenvalues of 7.58, 3.67, 2.18, 1.81, 1.37 and 1.08 ). Each factor showed high reliability coefficients of .87, .86, .69, .82 and .91 for Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness respectively. In the main study, 451 college students in Malaysia were administered the Malay NEO PI-R and an academic choice inventory. The academic choice inventory measures levels of choice satisfaction, choice certainty, choice freedom and choice dilemma. The data suggest that regardless of sex, students having similar academic major choice possess similar profile of personality traits. Female students were found to be less satisfied and certain about their choices than male students. An interesting findings were the fact that although 90% of students claimed to have a freedom of choice, about 40% were reported to have dilemma in the choice made. The overall results suggest that personality traits do play a subtle, yet extremely influential variables in the academic choice process. Implications on the course selection and personality dimension of such a collectivist culture was discussed.

MAS98314

The Role of Australian Educators in Non-Government Organisations: International Education and Workers in Cambodia

John P Maskell, University of Sydney

This paper presents preliminary findings and poses areas for further investigation in the study of Khmer and expatriate educators in Cambodia. In particular the focus is upon the contestation between non-government organisations in the provision of technical support for teacher education, and the structural constraints of the Cambodian education system in mediating inservice education.

Although the quality of life in Cambodia has greatly improved in the past twenty years, the provision of teacher education remains problematic for a number of reasons. This research examines the micro-political and pedagogical processes which shaped recent primary teacher inservice programs, which were run jointly by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia, and non-government organisations - such as Save The Children Fund (Australia) and other international bodies such as UNICEF, AUSAid and Consortium (funded by USAid).

As with any innovative initiatives, the teacher education projects have had complexities which are unforseen to many teachers in the "first" world. Issues for discussion include: ideology and cultural appropriateness, internationalisation of education and foreign aid programs, also the role of modernity in shaping education in less developed nations.

MAT98065

Multiple Exits: Education research, Aboriginal reconciliation and racialised disinterest

Julie M. Matthews and Lucinder Aberdeen, Sundhine Coast University College

This paper begins by considering the status of school based research and takes as its point of reference one particular moment. It reflects on an event that occurred at an interdisciplinary conference, namely the point at which several of the audience exited the presentation of a school based research paper entitled Judgements on Justice: Young People and Aboriginal Reconciliation. The exit occurred after it was stated that the research took place in school but before the analytical directions or theoretical form of paper were fully clarified.

The Judgments research project, focused on primary school children's understanding of issues associated with reconciliation. The project identified recurring concepts, terms, ideas and narratives in interview material in order to analyse the relationship between reconciliation, racialisation and racism. Apart from commenting on the findings and theoretical implications of the Judgements project, this paper contemplates, in terms of exits and racialised disinterest, the expectations and receptions accorded to both school based research and the 'unassailable' category status of the notion 'reconciliation'.

MCC98016

The attribution-of-responsibility for occupational stress model in a Catholic education system: Organisational distancing.

John McCormick, University of New South Wales

Abstract: Previous research based upon the attribution-of-responsibility for stress model suggested that teachers in a large education system generally tend to attribute greater responsibility for their occupational stress to entities conceptually distant from self than to other, conceptually closer entities. This paper reports a study which tests the proposition that this conceptual distance, and hence the responsibility attributed, varies according to teachers' perceptions of how successful the entity is.

MCC98197

Decision-making processes used by teachers and its impact on practice

Faye McCallum and Bruce Johnson, University of South Australia

Teachers report most cases of suspected child abuse and neglect (Angus and Wilkinson, 1993) but recent research in South Australia (Johnson, 1995) and overseas (Elliot, 1996) suggests that up to 40% of teachers who suspect child abuse do not report their suspicions to welfare agencies. Many varied reasons have been suggested for under-reporting with mandated professionals other than teachers. The identified factors, although included in the current training program for mandated notifiers in South Australia, have implications for children in the care of professionals.

Little has been written about teachers and the under-reporting that exists and little is known about the decision-making processes used by professionals when they consider cases of suspected child abuse and neglect. Because of this lack of knowledge, a qualitative study was undertaken to investigate the decision-making strategies used by teachers. The research revealed that there was a mismatch between training approaches in the area of mandatory reporting and the demands of the actual decision-making in the field. The training approach being largely rational and information based and the decision-making being intuitive and emotion charged.

This research is significant, it counts, and it impacts upon the educational practice and well-being of children. It provides a sound foundation to influence educational policy and practice, and research into both the decision-making of other professionals and the development of appropriate professional development programs for teachers.

MCG98348

Influencing theory and practice; Leadership perspectives in times of change

Jacqueline McGilp, Australian Catholic University

Towards 2000 much has been written about the influence of leadership for effective performance. Leadership has been spelt out for principals, for those holding leadership roles and for classroom teachers. This study is a further advancement of a pilot conducted in 1998 which gained the perceptions of educational leaders in regard to what assists them in times of change and in empowering others to change. To the fore in the presentation will be discussion of change models based on the philosophy of leaders, some different forms of dialogue regarding acknowledgement of best theory and practice, and, and concern for the value of analytic and critical analysis as well as appreciation of what has been achieved by many leaders in schools. Listening to others stories is acknowledged as a vital means of influencing practice and setting directions in theory. The research reports on the views of leaders holding both primary and secondary positions in education.

MCL98345

Friendship, schooling and gender identity work

Julie McLeod, Deakin University

This paper examines the production of gendered subjectivity in secondary schooling through a close study of young people's attitudes to and experiences of friendship. Drawing on findings from 'The 12 to 18 Project'-a qualitative, longitudinal study of secondary school students-I address two main questions: i) Do the conventional stories about feminine and masculine styles of personal and social interaction continue to hold true? and ii) What research methodologies and theoretical approaches are most helpful for analysing gendered patterns in friendship? From a broadly poststructuralist perspective, I re-consider some influential feminist psychological accounts of gender identity and intimacy (object-relations, critical psychological, psychoanalytic) and outline a way of seeing the self as a 'magic writing pad' (Harriet Bjerrum Nielsen 1996) or a palimpsest, a metaphor which allows us to hold together traditional poststructuralist concerns with the subject as produced and a more psychological focus on understanding the processual development of gendered subjectivity over time.

MCM98025

Self-efficacy and adjustment in the social context: A close look at childhood adjustment to chronic illness

Anne McMaugh and Ray Debus, The University of Sydney.

In recent decades research and theory on the adjustment of children with chronic conditions and disabilities has grown considerably. For the most part however, the study of peer relations within this population has been widely neglected (La Greca, 1990). As a consequence an understanding of social adjustment within this population remains equivocal. Similarly an understanding of social, environmental or cognitive processes which may impact upon the adjustment process is limited. This paper will examine the potentially important role of the self-efficacy construct in providing some insight into the role of cognitive processes in social adjustment. A self-efficacy instrument will be examined along with preliminary pilot and research data.

MCN98158

Spirituality: The big 'S' word in educational research

Kerry McNeill, University of Sydney

Academic research on the role of spirituality in education is fairly prohibitive and excluded in many domains. Although such a topic has gained some interest in school education, it seems that the lived spiritual experience of the student has been totally sanitised from discussion in the university context. This paper discusses some of the major difficulties with introducing "spirituality in university education" as a topic of research. Even a working defintion of the term is seen as a major stumbling block. Arguments will be forwarded to address some of the main issues and suggestions will be made as to where researchers in education can be directed in this important area of research.

MCR98085

Insights into preservice primary teachers' thinking about technology and technology education

Sarah Stein, Campbell McRobbie, Ian Ginns, Queensland University of Technology

Many novice primary school teachers have a low level of confidence in their ability to teach the key learning area of technology. This low level of confidence may be related to their naive perceptions of technology and technology education and lack of exposure to appropriate design and technology teaching and learning experiences in preservice primary teacher education programs. The effectiveness of technology education subjects in changing preservice teachers' perceptions of technology and technology education may be enhanced by the use of open-ended project work. This paper reports an investigation, using an interpretive research methodology, of changes in preservice primary teachers' thinking about technology and technology education, prior to, and as a result of their engagement in open-ended technology projects similar to ones that might be typically suggested by primary school children. Students enrolled in a one year postgraduate teacher education program were the participants in the study and the methods of data collection included the use of survey instruments, interviews, field notes and a Repertory Grid. This paper analyses the influence of open-ended technology projects on students' thinking about technology and technology education and discusses implications of the approach for the design of technology education subjects in preservice teacher education programs.

MCR98120

The use of microcomputer-based learning in senior chemistry: Does technological innovation always result in improved student learning?

Campbell McRobbie and Gregory Thomas, Queensland University of Technology

It is mooted that the implementation of computer technology in science laboratories will enhance students' learning as a result of overcoming delays in processing results, providing simultaneous multiple measurements, and, facilitating observation of phenomena in multiple representations (e.g. graphs and tables). Consequently, microcomputers are being increasingly used in school chemistry laboratories for data logging, analysis of data, interaction with the student in the analysis of that data, and the development of understanding of phenomena. This paper reports on a study where the promise of using microcomputers to enhance students' understanding was not fulfilled. Factors affecting the students' and teacher's use of the microcomputer, and consequent less-than-expected levels of student learning, included their beliefs about teaching and learning and their beliefs about the role of practical work in the chemistry course. Suggestions for bridging the gap between the myths associated with the use of such technology and the reality of contemporary senior science classes are proposed.

MEL98110

Substantive contentious issues in teaching philosophy for children and critical thinking

Helena E Melville Jones, Edith Cowan University

Philosophy for children and critical thinking can be considered as conceptually different in terms of content specific to each, methods of teaching and their target audience. The separation suggests various substantive contentious issues related to each of the three differences identified. A list of these major contentious issues for philosophy for children and critical thinking will provide a useful structure for further debate about them.

MEY98353

Who does what to whom? Adolescent fiction, agency and identity

Bob Meyenn, Judith Parker, Charles Sturt University

This paper examines the concept of agency and its implications for adolescents and their evolving ideas and attitudes about gender, sexuality and identity. It does so through using a selection of winning novels from the 'older readers' category of the Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Awards and explores the way in which narrative constructs the agent (the author, the character, the self) and the way it conceives causality. (Saunders, 1993:26). Further, as agency is to do with the 'circulation of power' and the discourses in which it is embedded, the paper draws on the work of Threadgold & Cranny-Francis, (1990); Connell, (1995); Kenway & Willis, (1997); Popkewitz & Brennan, (1998). A fundamental intention of western democratic education, at all levels, is to develop autonomous, critically aware human beings. However, detailed analyses of what is considered 'the best' in adolescent fiction, would appear to work against such an intention. The narrative construction of agent in the prize winning novels examined, does little to construct agents of individual autonomy. Who does what to whom is a significant question about the role of literature in the education of adolescents.

MIC98160

An Analysis of writers' decisions in the composition of texts

Peter Mickan, University of South Australia

In this paper I will examine the process of writing as a decision-making activity. Existing analyses of the writing process describe it in terms of generalisable cognitive behaviours, such as planning and reviewing, which are identified apart from the semantic purposes of writers. Writing texts however is a semiotic activity in which the realisation of meaning is a deliberative process of writers choosing from the language system for the composition of particular text types or genres. In this paper I will report on an ethnographic study of high school second language writers at work. The data for the study is a. the writers' verbal accounts of their composing actions as they write and b. their texts. The analysis depicts the writers' formulation and editing of text as semantic activity which, although influenced by their limited access to second language lexicogrammatical resources, is nevertheless largely realised through the writers' knowledge of the discourse conventions of genres. The findings have significant implications for literacy teaching as they show how writers selectively manipulate the discourse and lexico-grammatical resources in the language system to realise their semantic purposes.

MIL98044

Top Form: Body Image and Eating Behaviours Among Students in Sydney.

Jo Milne-Home, University of Western Sydney

This paper will look at body image and eating behaviours amongst students attending schools in Sydney's North West. The survey data revealed that while girls were desiring a more slender form, boys were wanting to bulk up and expressed the wish to be more solidly built. A variation on the EAT-40 scale was used along with a body image comparison form for assessment of "real" and "ideal" self images. Results from this middle class, multicultural sample, showed that girls preferred boys to be the weight and size that they actually are ("real-self"), and boys preferred girls to be the weight and size they actually are ("Real-self"). There were also differences in patterns of responses from different ethnic groups and age groups. A review of current adolescent and women's magazines for articles on body image, body weight, plastic surgery, diets and nutrition, and the weight loss industry was conducted to look at the issues being raised in the media about bodies, sizes and self-concepts around isses of size and weight. The presentation will emphasise the preoccupation with body types and sizes in the media, using images and headlines and discuss ideas that link the media and aspirations for a shape and size for secondary students (and across age groups). Clearly, this preoccupation with bodies crosses the minds of those who sit in classrooms without engaging in the ideals of the educated citizen where knowledge or career aspirations equate with power, success and self-worth.

MIL98306

Researching the sensitive: Gendered violence and child abuse

Kerryann Walsh, Queensland University of Technology, and Martin Mills, University of Queensland

This paper draws on two separate research projects dealing with sensitive issues. The first project looks at work done in high schools with boys on gender and violence. The second investigates teachers' work with maltreated pre-school age children. Our paper explores some of the ethical issues of researching topics like violence, including sexual violence. We note here the ethical problems facing researchers when they are made aware of teacher or administrative (in)actions which do not protect at risk children and also the dilemmas faced by researchers when they act as confidant for both children and teachers. The paper also comments on the ways in which the current marketisation of schools and child care centres and the changing context of teachers' work serves to silence inquiry into topics such as gendered violence in schools and child abuse.

MON98392

Rurality: An Australian model applied in a Canadian context

Jim Montgomery, Malaspina University College & James Cook University

In looking at funding inequities and anomalies resulting from different definitions of rurality, Australian researcher, Dr. Dennis Griffith, developed a model to quantify the access disadvantage of rural and remote populations to educational and other services. This model, the Griffith Service Access Frame, uses distance, size, and economic resources of a community to calculate a statistically valid score measuring a commuities relative access to defined services. This score is then translated into Zones of Relative Access to those services. An explanation of the Griffith model, experiences with the application of an adaptation of it, and the creation of Zones of Access in British Columbia, Canada, will be the focus of this presentation.

MOR98282

Intellect and knowledge: the influence on education

Morakhovski Dimitri, Pavlova Margarita

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the interrelation between the concepts of intellect and knowledge in the context of late modernity. The authors argue that the intellectual development and theoretical knowledge could provide the necessary basis for enlarging student's life perspectives in the modern world. The claim that multicultural society diminishes children's ability to reflect on their original culture is examined.

The following questions are discussed in the paper:

• Does the society need intellectuals?
• What is the role of education in the intellectual development of children?
• What type of knowledge is needed?
• How to implement it by means of curriculum policy ?

The old question should the person fit into the society or should he/she be able to shape it through the process of deep thinking and elaborating the ideas is answered by the authors with respect to the second approach. The thesis that a person needs to create his/her own intellectual perspective in order not to get lost in the multidimensional and instantaneous world is examined.

MUN98265

Baiyai and the pedagogical literacy relationship: reflection and change in classrooms with young indigenous Australian students.

Geoff Munns and Trish Townsend, University of Western Sydney Macarthur, Lee Simpson, Charles Sturt University, Lisa Daley Briar Rd Public School

Baiyai is an action research project which focuses on the classroom practices of teachers of indigenous Australian students in schools in both urban and rural contexts. The project aims to consider how changes to the pedagogical relationships between teachers and students might bring about more productive classroom practices and improved student literacy standards. The Baiyai team comprises Indigenous Australian and non-Indigenous Australian academic researchers, Indigenous Australian community workers and Indigenous Australian and non-Indigenous Australian teachers. This paper reports on the culmination of the second phase of the Baiyai project. This continues extensive research in the first phase conducted in two school contexts during 1997. In this first phase the major outcome from the data was the emergence of a model which was developed for identifying and reflecting on key classroom elements in the relationships between teachers and their Indigenous Australian students, specifically in the context of literacy teaching and learning. The model, called the Baiyai Pedagogical Literacy Relationship, provided the conceptual framework for research in 1998. The paper discusses the model and questions its usefulness in guiding reflection and pedagogical change which might improve school outcomes for Indigenous Australian students

NAJ98081

A study of learning strategy use on reading tasks by ESL students

Robyn L. Najar, Flinders University of South Australia

Recently there has been a surge of interest in the issue of learning strategy use in second language acquisition (SLA). This can be seen in the number of textbooks and teacher prepared materials that are being developed promoting strategy as a key approach to L2 learning. It is also evident in research that is being reported on various aspects of second language learning (e.g., Green & Oxford, 1995; Rost, 1993; Oxford, R. 1990). The study reported here is concerned with learning strategy use but specifically addresses the use of academic learning strategies by L2 learners. To determine the relationship of cognitive learning strategy use in L2 proficiency and task performance, 205 freshman students at a Japanese university participated in this study. The relationship was explored in the following two questions. First, what is the effect of academic learning strategy use on task performance in the L2? and second, which of the learning strategies used lead to more successful task performance? In order to address these questions two reading passages spaced six weeks apart were given to the students as homework. In the following class period a set of comprehension questions assessing understanding and retention of information from the readings was given. The materials the students used to study the reading passages were examined for strategy use. The strategies were then compared for differences in their effect on task performance.

NEV98399

Preparing managers and leaders for 2010: educational implications

Jennifer Nevard, South Metropolitan College of TAFE Western Australia

Abstract not available.

NEW98037

The Association between Computer Laboratory Environment and Student Outcomes

Michael Newby and Darrell Fisher, Curtin University

This study focuses on the computer laboratory class as a learning environment in university courses. In it, two previously developed instruments, the Computer Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI) and the Attitude towards Computing and Computing Courses Questionnaire (ACCC) were used. The CLEI has five scales for measuring students' perceptions of aspects of their laboratory environment. These are Student Cohesiveness, Open-Endness, Integration, Technology Adequacy and Laboratory Availability. The ACCC has four scales, Anxiety, Enjoyment, Usefulness of Computers and Usefulness of the Course. These instruments were administered to a sample of 208 students taking computing courses within the Business School at Curtin University. The sample covered specialist programming courses as well as courses in which the students uses software tools such as spreadsheets. With the exception of Laboratory Availability, all the environment variables were found to correlate significantly with all attitudinal variables. The only environment variable with significant association with achievement was Student Cohesiveness. However, the results showed that there were significant associations between the attitudinal variables, Anxiety, Enjoyment and Usefulness of the Course and achievement. Regression analysis supported the findings that the environment variables made a significant contribution to the attitudinal variables, and these in turn made a significant contribution to achievement. Structural Equation Modelling supported the hypothesis that the computer laboratory environment affects achievement indirectly by directly affecting students' attitudes.

NGC98026

A Diary study of students' classroom learning and motivation

Chi-hung Ng, University of Queensland

Quantitative research in motivation has usually used measures taken outside the context of students' actual learning activities. This study, however, maintains that students' motivation and learning are situated. The paper reports a study that utilises a diary as a research tool to assess students' learning and motivation in context. Students' diaries might provide insights into the situational / emergent /dynamic aspects of motivation in engaging in learning activities. Two groups of students, having contrasting levels of achievement were asked to keep a diary of their maths lessons over four weeks. The diaries revealed students' perceptions of the classroom learning atmosphere, their purposes in doing classroom activities, their enjoyment and perceived competence in finishing these activities, as well as their self-regulation pattern during a lesson. It is expected that these two groups of students would demonstrate contrasting patterns of learning engagement and motivation over the study period. The significance of this study is that it provides a theoretical framing that sees motivation not as a static trait but as a process. It also demonstrates the importance of situating learning and motivational variables in the classroom context.

NGC98028

I'm motivated because of who I am: The effects of domain specific self-schema on students' learning engagement pattern and achievement

Chi-hung Ng, University of Queensland

It is proposed that students' self-knowledge will have motivational effects on their learning behaviours (Wigfield & Karpathian, 1991). The research of self-schema has substantiated this claim (e.g., Ng, 1997, 1998). This paper reported two studies that revealed the causal effects of self-schema on why and how students engaged in learning. A survey study found that self-schema would causally linked to students' achievement goals and learning approaches, which in turn would affect how they anticipated their year-end achievement levels. The significance of self-schema lies not only in its indirect effects on perceived achievement mediating through achievement goals and learning approaches, but also in its strong direct causal link with students' perceived achievement. A follow-up interview study supported the findings of the survey and shed light on the development of domain specific self-schemas.

NIC98242

A discourse analytic approach to interview data

Sue Nichols, The Flinders University of South Australia

In this paper I argue that discourse analysis enables the qualitative researcher to create productive linkages between data derived from interviews and the broader social and political context. Examples will be drawn from two research projects. In the first, parents were asked about their memories of acquiring literacy, their observations of their young children's literacy development, and their participation in home literacy practices. In the second, student nurses spoke about their management of a reflective writing task.

I explain how I have used the concepts of discursive field and discursive practice to establish a ground within which strands emerging from a content analysis of interviews are explicated. The analysis occurs at three levels: at the level of context, of corpus and of text. These three levels inform each other, resulting in a multi-layered interpretation. In this approach, qualitative analysis of interview data is accompanied and informed by a survey of the discourses available to construct meanings in the field. In the case of parents' views, three intersecting discursive fields were identified: parenting, childhood and literacy. Dominant and minority discourses were identified with reference to the literature. Available studies in the field were reviewed from the perspective of the discursive practices described, and the discourses employed by researchers to describe them.

NIC98349

Language research, language curriculum and language teaching.

Howard R Nicholas, La Trobe University

This paper explores the ways in which research-derived knowledge has been both incorporated and ignored in the process of developing and implementing curriculum and assessment frameworks in the area of languages other than English in Victoria. The implementation of a requirement for languages other than English to be rapidly introduced in all schools has meant that insights into key requirements for quality language programs have been overlooked. The acknowledgment in the syllabus of both novice and background learners has called for insight into similarities and differences between first and second language acquisition. However, the requirement for a common curriculum and assessment framework and the challenges of coping simultaneously with more than twenty languages have meant that the details of this research have been ignored. The multiple possible starting ages for language learning have been incorporated in curriculum frameworks, but the specific features of language learning in particular languages and at specific ages have not found an echo in the documents. The reasons for these incorporations and exclusions and the consequences of them are explored.

NIV98344

An Australian study of professional male child care givers; beliefs, values and attitudes to childcare

Louise Niva, de Lissa Institute

While the socialising influence of parents and teachers on young children has been well researched, the extent and manner in which professional child caregivers contribute to this socialisation process through their beliefs, values and attitudes regarding childcare has yet to be fully investigated in Australia. This research examines this aspect of the adult-child relationship within a formal child care setting from the caregiver's point of view. Male child caregivers who have primary contact with very young children in long day care centres in the Adelaide metropolitan area are the initial subjects. An attitude scale will be developed that may eventually assist in supporting self-reflective practice within formal child care settings, and in the early childhood education and training of caregivers. The results of a 1996 pilot study will be presented, along with an outline of proposed research methods and any results at this mid point in the study.

OBR98339

Sex, power, desire: A feminist postmodern reconceptualisation of sexual harassment

Susie O'Brian, University of Queensland

This paper represents the culmination of my doctoral work on sexual harassment in Australian universities. I offer a feminist postmodern reconceptualisation of sexual harassment using methodological tools from Michel Foucault, among other theorists. I suggest that in the cultural 'new times' of the late 1990s a new model of sexual harassment is necessary in which power is no longer presented as simply hierarchical and patriarchal, but productive and diffuse; in which the sexual and desiring body is recognised as important rather than dismissed as a neutral conductor of power relations; and, finally, in which sex is accepted as 'dirty', confusing and contradictory.

OLI98322

Managing Diversity in Our Schools: negotiating the cultural differences and making a difference

Kay Oliver, Education Queensland

The management of cultural differences is a complex human resources issue in the public sector. This paper examines a rationale for the employment of more NESB overseas trained teachers in our schools and explores past, present and future issues in the Queensland context. Whilst maintaining the legislative brief to achieve Equal Employment Opportunity for target groups, Education Queensland's committment has broadened to encompass the valuing and management of workplace diversity. A diverse workforce offers a range of talents and approaches, and provides greater opportunities for positive role modelling for students. But most importantly of all, a diverse workforce can maximise the influence of teachers and others who work directly with students, and result in improved learning outcomes.

There is still much to be done with regard to achieving equity in the employment of teachers with non-English-speaking backgrounds. It is hoped that a roundtable discussion will create links between the literature, local best practice, education training providers, and state education departments and encourage a sharing of vision and actions for the future.

ONG98123

Epistemologies in conflict with aesthetics and ethics. Education as priorities of feeling, knowing and acting.

Sigmund Ongstad, Oslo College, Norway

All over the Western world pedagogy and education as professions have been reduced in influence and importance. At the same time there is an increased expectation in the educational system that the disciplines will do the job. However the disciplines seem unprepared to balance the outcome of the educational enculturation by focusing their specialities rather than their contribution to wholeness and coherence. Part of this problem is a seemingly general lack of understanding in Academia of how disciplines, pedagogies, methodologies, practices and theories are discursively interrelated. Seemingly unable to grasp discourse as a whole, pedagogy and educational subjects seem doomed to commute ebb and tide-like from one onesidedness to the next. A banal hypothesis is that educational subjects overemphasize one of the dimensions on the expense of the others. The less banal hypothesis is, that this tendency is related to a paradigmatic unawareness of the nature of communication. The paper outlines basic problemes of separating epistemology from aesthetics and ethics due to the nature of utterances/texts/discourses/actions. The theory is developed as part of an ongoing project about pedagogies of the arts, first language ('mother tongue') education and mathematics, by studying priorities of feeling, knowing and acting in these fields. The outlined theories may, however, function as a more general referential framework for research positionings in education, not only regarding research 'objects' and methods, but even problems of validity.

ORE98260

Recounting mathematical experiences: Using Memory Work to explore the development of confidence in mathematics

Kerry O'Regan, University of South Australia Christine Ingleton, The University of Adelaide

Previous work has shown that emotions play a significant part in the learning process. In relation to the learning of mathematics, the focus in the literature is on the complex emotion of anxiety. This has largely been investigated from the perspective of psychology, with the use of psychometric tests, particularly the MARS (Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale) or some variation of it. It is paradoxical that while mathematics may be constructed as an objective, emotion-free discipline, the learning of it engenders strong negative emotions among many students.

This study looked at a range of emotions experienced in the learning of mathematics, particularly in relation to development of mathematical confidence and the factors that encourage and block mathematics learning. The research method used was Memory Work, a qualitative technique developed by Haug and applied by Crawford and others. Groups of current and prospective teachers at primary, secondary and tertiary levels at two South Australian universities participated in the study.

Analysis of the data provided insights into the emotions associated with specific learning experiences that may be formative in both the learning and teaching of mathematics. The study has implications for teachers at all levels, and particularly for teacher education students in terms of their self-understanding as learners and as prospective teachers of mathematics.

OTO98310

Is organisational memory a construct in understanding schools as learning organisations?

Paddy O'Toole, Flinders University of South Australia.

Current educational reform has encouraged the concept of schools as "learning communities" or organisations of people who are committed to using learning collectively to achieve shared goals. Organisational learning implies an organisational memory from which information can be accessed to facilitate decision making. What is organisational memory and what role does it play in the operation and management of a school? What is the relationship between individual memory, organisational memory and organisational culture? These questions will be addressed using information from a case study of a secondary school identified as a learning organisation.

OWE98129

Conversations as a Critical Methodological Tool

Janice Owens, University of New England, Dawn Francis, Kim Usher and Joanne Tollefson, James Cook University

This paper explores the notion of conversation as method. It draws on a collaborative, interdisciplinary team's experiences in a project focused on developing critical reflective thinking in the disciplines of nursing and education. The project was specifically a vehicle to develop innovative teaching resources for a nursing subject, provide education for clinical teachers and encourage student reflective writing. The university lecturers who taught in the tutorial groups for the subject also kept reflective journals of the content and processes for each tutorial meeting. At the end of the first phase of the project, these journals were subject to content analysis and themes derived. Now, one year later, the themes and questions from these first journals have been re-visited in a conversation between the lecturers, the project manager and the education team member. This conversation has allowed us to re-think the questions raised, create new meaning and pose new questions. In particular, it has allowed in-depth exploration of journalling, defining reflection, images of university learning, reflection and assessment, developing a discourse of reflective teaching and how we positioned ourselves both intellectually and pragmatically. The presentation will take the form of a conversation between three of the project team members to illustrate the use of conversation as a critical methodological tool.

OWE98243

Explaining Spatial Problem Solving in terms of Cognitive Load or Responsiveness and Selective Attention

Kay Owens and Kate Stevens, University of Western Sydney Macarthur

When students respond to problems that require visualisation skills such as those required in spatial problem-solving tasks with manipulatives or computer assistance, there can be an interference effect resulting from cognitive overload (English, 1996). On the other hand, van der Heijden (1992) has argued that both the filtering and spotlighting metaphors for handling visual information are inadequate in explaining experimental results of many studies on visual perception. He claims that the "too large capacity" at the visual perception level will be best understood in terms of selective attention. Selective attention is affected by expectation and intention. Selective attention can rapidly change in a spatial problem solving situation. It is influential together with imagery, concepts, affect, and self-monitoring in students' responsiveness in solving spatial problems (Owens, 1994). Responsiveness is a key element in understanding students' learning through spatial problem solving. In a cyclical way, students' cognitive thinking affected their responsiveness which in turn influenced the materials. The type of responding affects the attention and intention of the subjects. This can also influence task load.

The study presented in this paper investigated:

1. the effect of different responses, namely speaking, doing, listening, and passive looking on adult performance (response rate and accuracy) on a spatial judgment task (angle recognition).
2. the effect of task complexity on response rate and accuracy on the task; increased difficulty is said to increase cognitive load;
3. the retrospective recall of participants in general and in the different groups in terms of cognitive load versus attention and responsiveness, thatis matters of effort, stress, fatigue, versus selective attention,expectations, intentions, perceptions, feelings, knowledge, and responsiveness;
4. the think aloud (spoken) responses, retrospective data, and task performance of the speaking group.

The subjects undertook a pretest, training, and posttest on recognising equal angles in complex diagrams under one of four conditions that affected their type of responding. A factorial design consisting of a between-subject factor, response type (speaking, doing, listening, and passive looking), and a within-subject factor, task complexity (low, high) was used to assess whether task-complexity cognitive load or type of responding has a greater affect on learning.

The retrospective and think-aloud data were analysed qualitatively with coded data being used to find frequencies of occurrences of behaviour but also to give some explanation of how the students were thinking and responding. Preliminary results from this qualitative analysis will be used in interpreting the findings of the experimental results.

PEA98022

Mathematics Intervention: A school based program informed by mathematics education research.

Catherine Pearn, La Trobe University

Mathematics Intervention, the program discussed in this paper, was developed as a collaborative project involving the principal and staff of a state primary school in the metropolitan area of Melbourne and mathematics educators from a nearby university (Pearn & Merrifield, 1996). This program aims to identify, then assist, children in Grade 1 "at risk" of not coping with the mathematics curriculum as documented in the National Statement on Mathematics for Australian Schools (Australian Education Council, 1991). The Mathematics Intervention program features elements of both Reading Recovery (Clay, 1987) and Mathematics Recovery (Wright, 1991) and offers students the chance to experience success in mathematics by developing the basic concepts of number upon which they build their understanding of mathematics. The theoretical framework underpinning Mathematics Intervention is based on recent mathematics educational research about children's early arithmetical learning (Steffe, von Glasersfeld, Richards and Cobb, 1983; Wright, 1991) and about the types of strategies used by children to demonstrate their mathematical knowledge (Gray & Tall, 1994). The development and results of clinical interviews used for testing will be discussed. Mathematics Intervention is an example of a program developed and implemented by classroom teachers building on current research and designed to empower classroom teachers to meet the challenge of advancing all children's mathematical development.

PER98088

Who are the good teachers? The nature of teaching in universities.

Chris Perry, Deakin University

This paper reports on a research project that was designed to collect data on the nature of tertiary teaching. A key purpose of this research was to gather information about the nature of teaching at a tertiary level and the issues teachers face about their teaching. The major focus of this research was to map the current practices of tertiary teachers. Staff across all faculties at Deakin University were surveyed. Tertiary teachers, like most teachers, are having to respond to an increase in diversity of the student population, increased pace of change due to the impact of information technology and associated moves to flexible learning, and increases in class sizes. To determine how university teachers are responding to these issues is the focus of this research. Universities are institutions not just of research and learning but also of teaching. At present no Australian university requires its academic staff to have a teaching qualification. However there is significant evidence of a growing demand for staff across university faculties for educational training related to curricular, pedagogical and assessment practices. There is significant discourse in the area of tertiary teaching. One focus of this discourse identifies that the theory and practice of higher education has seen considerable development over the past several decades. In a recent discussion paper the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) asserts that this discourse also directs itself toward issues of professional development that support tertiary educators to be "self-reflective, ethical and continuously developing competent practitioners". These issues run alongside recent developments in universities that suggest that programs for tertiary teaching credentialling / accreditation will be in place within the next five years. For example, the recent Dearing Report for the UK has recommended compulsory and credentialled teacher training for all academics in higher education. Faculties of Education have demonstrated expertise in this area through delivery of staff development programs. Faculties of Education are well placed to research the requirements and possible parameters of programs that address the needs of teachers in tertiary institutions in regard to effecting teaching.

PER98133

Satisfaction with life, quality of School life and family functioning: Some factors affecting students' feelings about the future

Graeme Perry, University of Newcastle

This paper reports on the data from a study of about 1500 high school students from 19 government and non-government schools. Students from years seven, nine and eleven completed questionnaires to measure their satisfaction with life, quality of school life, family functioning and opinions about the future. Multilevel analysis has been undertaken placing students at level one, school year at level two and schools at level three. This paper focuses on the relationship between satisfaction with life, quality of school life, family functioning, opinions about the future, background demographic variables and students' feelings about the future. Positive feelings about the future are found to be strongly related to satisfaction with life, specific factors related to quality of school and family functioning, and students' opinions about specific issues related to the future.

PER98294

Teacher beliefs about mathematics learning and teaching and their use of manipulatives in mathematics classes

Bob Perry, University of Western Sydney, Macarthur ,Peter Howard, Australian Catholic University, Danielle Tracey, University of Western Sydney, Macarthur

This paper continues the authors' research agenda to investigate teachers' beliefs about mathematics, mathematics learning and mathematics teaching. Focus is given to data collected in 1996 and 1997 which investigated the views of more than nine hundred primary teachers and secondary mathematics teachers in the south western suburbs of Sydney and the North Coast of New South Wales towards the use of manipulatives in the learning and teaching of mathematics and the beliefs of these teachers about mathematics, mathematics learning and mathematics teaching. The data on beliefs was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis. Two factors: "child centredness" and "transmission" were confirmed. This paper reports on links between the teachers' use of manipulatives in mathematics classes and these two factors.

The impact of the reform movement in mathematics education on both beliefs and manipulative use is considered.

PET98038

Counting the costs of research partnerships

Judy Peters, University of South Australia

This paper reports on research into the professional development experiences of ten teachers and one teacher educator in South Australia through a research and development partnership initiated by the Innovative Links Project (Innovative Links Between Universities and Schools for Teacher Professional Development). In particular it examines the costs and the benefits for the participants from their involvement in the research partnership.

The teachers and teacher educator worked together over an eighteen month period to conduct action research projects focussing on the construction of student success in the classroom. Data about the research partnership was collected by the teacher educator via document analysis, participant observation and the audio taping and transcribing of research team meetings, individual research conferences and interviews with each of the teacher participants.

Analysis of the data revealed that although there were benefits for research partnership participants there were also significant costs in terms of additional pressures on their time, workload and relationships with other staff. These costs were exacerbated by the mismatch between the expectations of the research partnership and some structural and cultural features of the school and university contexts. Through highlighting the areas of mismatch, the researcher will indicate avenues for improvement in future partnerships which may help to alleviate the high costs for participants.

PIT98177

Social justice in education in 'new times'

Jane M Pitt, Deakin University

This paper offers a critical interpretation of a number of issues linking social justice and education. This critical interpretation is based on a framework developed from the conclusions of research conducted in relation to a PhD thesis. The research was aimed at finding out how social justice is constructed in education in 'new times' and took the form of a critical case analysis in a country primary school. It concluded that social justice in education in 'new times' is aligned to an ideology of liberal democracy resulting in the emergence of a hyper individualism. This results in the language of economics dominating the social justice and educational debate. In such a situation the social whole, social identity and social cohesion are marginalised. This produces a curriculum which focusses on the education of the individual for economic imperatives. What is concluded is that the way towards a more socially just society is related to the assimilation of the hyper individual with the social group. A shift to a culture where the individual's rights and responsibilities are respected within a social whole, resulting in the emergence of the socially responsible individual. Such a cultural shift suggests the emergence of a curriculum for social responsibility in which the balance shifts away from the individual towards the social whole.

PIT98279

Libby's literacy learning

Jane Pitt, University of South Australia/ DETE

During 1997 a pilot study related to the acquisition of school literacies by a number of students in socio-economically disadvantaged primary schools was carried out in two city and one country school. The study was funded by DETE SA, and conducted by the Language and Literacy Research Centre at the University of South Australia. The study has since been funded as a three year project. This paper looks at some of the tentative conclusions made in relation to the literacy learning of 'Libby', a Year 3 student attending the country school. Data was gathered during Term 4 of 1997, it included fieldnotes and transcripts of Libby engaged in literacy tasks in the classroom on eight different occasions. Also gathered were her written products and assessment records at a system, school and classroom level. The specific focus of this paper is on Libby as a writer and researcher using multimedia texts and it considers a small number of the key findings. Given that this research is now a three year longitudinal study the paper concludes with some questions this pilot study suggested for the future research into Libby's, and 20 other students, literacy learning.

POR98261

Vocational Education and Training policy directions: Implications for practice in schools.

Janet Porter, Sonja Whiteley, TEPA

Recent policy initiatives at both federal and state levels have been aimed at broadening the participation of students in vocationally-oriented education during their final years of schooling. Programs currently in place at a range of schools include traineeships, New Apprenticeships, structured workplace learning schemes, work experience, TAFE studies, and school subjects with embedded TAFE modules. As part of a research project conducted by the Tertiary Entrance Procedures Authority (TEPA), schools implementing expanded vocational education programs were contacted to assess their practical responses to the updated policy directions. While the initial aim of the study was to investigate students' perceptions of vocationally-oriented education in senior school, a number of issues emerged relating to the implementation of educational policy.

Based on initial responses from program coordinators in Queensland schools, there appears to be some confusion about the role of different vocational programs in the overall education experience, a conflict between the goals of state and federal policies and an absence of integrated implementation guidelines. It is also apparent that information is not always effectively disseminated to the full range of stakeholder groups including schools, students, parents, and employers. These topics will be explored with reference to the preliminary findings from the current TEPA research project.

COR98264