AbstractsGrappling with internationalisation of the curriculum at the secondary school level: issues and tensions for educators
Volume 49
Number 1, 2005;
Pages 10–27
The article reviews research literature and draws on research involving focus group discussions and interviews with senior staff from 30 Victorian government, Catholic and Independent schools as well as with local and overseas students. The author found that secondary school educators are seeking ways to internationalise the curriculum and increase intercultural understanding, in the context of complex and troubling world issues. Schools have taken various approaches to internationalisation. Curriculum development has been implemented at schools such as Caulfield Grammar, where special programs are offered to Year 9 students to develop international understanding. The student-centred unit consists of either five weeks at a campus in China or a specially designed course in Australia. Elsewhere, educators have called for the coordinated treatment of international topics spread across different subject areas. Key resources such as Curriculum Corporation’s Access Asia materials are widely known but under-utilised. International material is sometimes neglected as students and teachers focus on core requirements for tertiary entry. Another approach to internationalisation is the arrangement of student or teacher exchanges. There is a growing number of overseas students in secondary schools, raising issues such as how to provide appropriate language, social and pastoral support, and how to help them adjust to a more student-centred curriculum and teaching approach. One strategy to help these students is pairing them with local student ‘mentors’ to assist with cultural mediation. In general, inquiry-based collaborative learning offers a model that can be applied to international work, addressing issues of global significance. Internationalised curriculum should also address negative issues such as cultural domination, civil strife, poverty and environmental degradation. There are also clear links between internationalisation and civics and citizenship education. KLA Subject HeadingsPrivate schoolsState schools Catholic schools Educational planning Curriculum planning Intercultural studies International education International students Asia Comparative and international education: a journey toward equality and equity
Volume 75
Number 1, Spring 2005;
Pages 89–111
Comparative education ‘seeks to detect patterns of change across countries’ while international education focuses mainly on developing countries. Over the past few decades, comparative and international education (CIE) practitioners have moved from a consensus-based model of society to a more critical and conflict-based theoretical framework. Student achievement has been a major focus of CIE research, through detailed studies by the IEA and the OECD’s PISA investigations. Few studies compare results between specific developing countries, although one study has identified the extraordinary success in primary language and maths teaching in Cuba compared to that in other Latin American countries. Studies based on Critical theory have been another focus of research, drawing on the work of Freire, Gramsci, Habermas, Bourdieu, Passeron, Giroux and Willis. International finance agencies and bodies such as the World Bank and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) now play major roles in education, dealing with issues of ‘efficiency, equality, accountability, decentralization, user fees, privatization, and related forms of user choice’. Their staff have great influence, and ‘subscribe to dominant, market-oriented development models that are not substantiated by empirical research’. Social movements also play a major role in education within developing countries, however this role has been neglected by CIE research. Gender studies have highlighted the impact of culture, state, the labour market and the family on educational outcomes of women and men. Investment in education has declined in developing countries struggling with external debt. Education policies in different developing countries increasingly resemble one another, due to the fast spread of information and ‘the powerful leverage wielded by multilateral and bilateral aid agencies’. KLA Subject HeadingsGirls' educationWomen's education Socially disadvantaged International education Intercultural studies Globalisation Educational planning Educational evaluation Education philosophy Education policy Education finance Education and state Discrimination Tears for fears9 May 2005;
Pages 4–5
Overt attacks on teachers have doubled over the last 10 years, according to the Victorian Independent Education Union. Bullying induces poorer performance that can lower a teacher’s credibility. Teachers are reluctant to raise the issue for fear of being seen as incompetent. Experts argue that research does not reveal the full extent to which teachers are bullied. Incidents of bullying in Victoria are currently reported only through mechanisms designed to deal with injuries or security issues such as burglary. The Australian Education Union has called since 2003 for a more comprehensive security reporting system, which is now under way. Educators argue that current teacher training does not provide skills needed to deal with overt or covert bullying of teachers by students, parents, or senior staff. The experts have called for specific teacher training to deal with inappropriate behaviour and understanding of different personality types. Such training is underway at Montmorency Secondary College, where students create classroom rules of behaviour with their home group teachers. The school is also developing a peer support system for teachers. General resources for teachers are available from a range of sites including Addressing Bullying Behaviour and the National Coalition Against Bullying. However, more extreme situations exist at some schools, where a number of parents may have criminal convictions, and teaching staff take precautions such as ‘keeping doors open and exits clear’ before speaking to them. KLA Subject HeadingsSafetyVictoria Teaching profession Bullying Towards more authenticity in language testingApril 2005;
Pages 32–37
Language testing often leaves a large gap between students’ performances in tests and their ability to use a language in real-life situations. Traditional, analytic ‘indirect tests’, based on grammatical knowledge and translation, failed to assess students’ ability to integrate language knowledge. ‘Semi-direct tests’ such as dictation, which use discrete items but integrate them into ‘a total language event’, are similarly limited. ‘Direct tests’, widely used today, focus on total language behaviour by having learners deal with real language tasks under observation. The most authentic direct tests are the International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ISLPR). However these tests too have limitations, creating artificial contexts for language use. Further advances have been made using the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), however these tests still ‘lack the richness and distracting activity of normal academic activity’. The predetermined level of the test means that for some students the test will remain too easy or too hard. In response to these problems, the International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ISLPR) have been developed. It is highly adaptive, allowing the test to be adapted to the learner’s level. It is readily adpated to vocational or academic purposes and versions are available for self-assessment. The system uses face to face interviews, but this limitation is overcome by the new ISLPR Global conducted online. Key Learning AreasLanguagesSubject HeadingsTeaching and learningAssessment Language and languages Languages other than English (LOTE) Australian teacher education
Volume 30
Number 1, February 2005;
Pages 37–54
There have been many evaluations of Australian teacher education since the 1800s. The article reviews them and identifies persistent themes: education versus training, theory against practice, supply and demand, and the concept of professionalism. Reviews since 1990 have focussed on issues of supply and demand, quality of teaching and teacher recruits, and teacher training, against a background of lack of consensus between Australian and State and Territory governments, and fragmentation between different universities. Teacher education requires a common foundation of core knowledge and learning, with a blend of theory and practice. KLA Subject HeadingsTeacher evaluationTeaching and learning Teaching profession The effect of teacher pedagogical beliefs on student achievement in elementary level mathematics
Volume 3
Number 7
Within mathematics teaching there are ‘ideological battles’ over the best pedagogical approach to instruction. Organisations such as the USA’s National Council of Teachers of Mathematics generally employ a constructivist approach to maths problems, while activists such as Mathematically Correct emphasise computation and reinforcement. Researchers Fritz Staub and Elsbeth Stern have used research in German classrooms to compare constructivist and direct-instruction approaches to learning. Their study drew on data from two longitudinal studies tracking 200 randomly selected children from ages 3 to 7, in urban and suburban areas of Munich, and they also used a survey of teachers who were asked about their pedagogical beliefs. Results showed that most teachers held constructivist beliefs, and that teachers who showed constructivist beliefs also included more constructivist activities in their lessons. Researchers also found that students of teachers holding constructivist beliefs performed better on tests of word problems than students of teachers using a more direct-instruction approach, and performed as well as other students on computational and arithmetical tasks. Key Learning AreasMathematicsSubject HeadingsUnited States of America (USA)Surveys Educational evaluation Germany Mathematics teaching Constructivism Reading the script: what’s all the fuss about?February 2005;
Pages 22–25
Currently, in the United States, schools are using scripted reading programs to elevate students’ performances on standardised reading tests. Under the Bush Administration’s No Child Left Behind legislation, much emphasis has been placed on raising and testing basic literacy skills, and schools have been funded on the proviso that they adopt ‘scientific research-based reading programs’ to develop students’ literacy skills. This requirement has seen a rise in the use of scripted reading programs – literacy programs (or packages) which rely heavily on phonic approaches to teaching literacy, and are accompanied by literacy coaches, teacher training packages and conferences. While many schools have dramatically raised their students’ literacy levels using the programs, many educators are sceptical about their use, citing a diminution in the role of the teacher and a lack of emphasis on comprehension. Moreover, there’s a fear that pre-service teacher courses are teaching the rudiments of scripted reading programs, at the expense of other literacy approaches. KLA Subject HeadingsLiteracyUnited States of America (USA) The three R’s of literacy: real, relevant and radicalApril 2005;
Pages 9–11
Clay observes that boys’ literacy achievements have declined in comparison to girls’ at the same time that ‘literacy demands’ have increased. Ensuring that boys improve their literacy abilities entails maintaining their interest and motivation, and making real connections to their lives and experiences. In this article, Clay describes a ‘Learning Framework for Boys’ which sets clear criteria for judging the effectiveness of the curriculum for boys, and explains the recently developed Boys and families: Literacy, strengths and resources, which requires that teachers engage boys in literacy development by acquainting themselves with the sources and uses of boys’ literacy skills and abilities. KLA Subject HeadingsLiteracyBoys' education Scaffolding for literacyApril 2005;
Pages 6–8
John Acutt is the Head of English at Ipswich Grammar School, Queensland. In this article he demonstrates to teachers how to improve the literacy skills of students by bridging the gap between themselves and the class, and scaffolding and aligning activities to the skills that students need to develop. Acutt lists the many ways in which young people need to be literate in modern society, and outlines how teachers can assist them to develop those skills. The article contains a case study of an innovative approach to critiquing Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a Year 12 class. KLA Subject HeadingsLiteracyLouder than words: how K–12 language teachers are meeting new challengesAutumn 2005;
Pages 1–3 & 6–8
Since the September 11th attacks on New York, there has been an upsurge in the number of students wanting to learn a foreign language. According to the teachers Franklin interviewed for this article, after the attacks many Americans realised that they knew little of the rest of the world and about the perspectives of others. This upsurge in demand has not led, however, to foreign languages having a privileged place in the curriculum. Educators report that even though students who study foreign languages do better across the curriculum than those who do not, there is still concentration on basic skills – numeracy and literacy – by schools, to the detriment of foreign language teaching, because of the need to perform well on standardised tests. Additional problems include an erroneous perception that foreign language learning is about rote memorisation, a concentration on community languages such as Spanish at the expense of other languages, and a lack of qualified teachers in rural areas. This article looks at how teaching foreign languages has changed in the United States, and some of the ways in which educators are attempting to overcome the obstacles to students learning foreign languages in that country. KLA Subject HeadingsLanguages other than English (LOTE)Language and languages United States of America (USA) Reading between the battle lines
Volume 11
Number 2, March 2005;
Page 17
Graham looks at the reasons for the Commonwealth Government’s establishment of the National Inquiry into Teaching Literacy, and contends that the available evidence does not support the view of a ‘crisis in the literacy levels of Australian children’. He notes that neither data from the international PISA study nor that which emanated from the 2002 Victorian national benchmark testing of Year 3 and 5 students would support the assertion of a crisis in literacy outcomes. Graham asserts that much of the impetus for an inquiry came from one section of the divide – those in favour of phonics as opposed to whole language learning – ignoring the fact that teachers are using combinations of literacy approaches, including phonics, to raise students’ literacy competencies. KLA Subject HeadingsLiteracyThe return of the narrative
Volume 14
Number 1&2, October 2004;
Pages 21–25
Miller exhorts English as Second Language (ESL) teachers to use students’ personal narratives, such as those encouraged by journal writing, to assist them towards greater literacy ability in English. Personal narratives, Miller explains, are free of the strictures imposed on other forms of writing, and allow students’ identities and voices to emerge, aspects which are often suppressed or silenced in other genres. The more practical benefits of using personal writing are that it allows both student and teacher to reflect on the text, allows teachers to assess the text and the students’ language competence without the overarching criteria imposed by other forms of writing, and frees students to draw on their own ‘social, cultural and linguistic resources’. Examples of the students’ journal writing and resources are contained in the article. KLA Subject HeadingsInternational studentsEnglish as an additional language English language teaching Critical, what? EAP students’ views on critical reading
Volume 14
Number 1&2, October 2004;
Pages 15–20
This article critiques the view that the difficulties experienced by students from Asia in developing critical reading skills in pre-tertiary English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses can be reduced to cultural approaches to learning. Moloney conducted a study to examine students’ perceptions of the critical reading task, which involved completing the task and then reflecting on their experience of the task. He findings, documented in the article, point to issues other than cultural predispositions towards learning as inhibitors to developing critical reading skills. These include teachers’ roles in explaining the reasons for the tasks, using texts which fall within students’ general knowledge and which would be of interest to them, and being cognisant of the time students needed to complete a critical reading task. KLA Subject HeadingsInternational studentsEnglish language teaching English as an additional language They’re all over the shop: Chinese international students and the VCE
Volume 14
Number 1&2, October 2004;
Pages 10–14
This article reports on research which examined the diversity of learners and learning approaches in a group of Chinese international students at a private Melbourne secondary college. The research was premised on the notion that there was a dominant conception of Chinese students as being monolithic in their approaches to learning, and that this uniformity was based on a Confucian tradition which, among other things, encouraged a certain passivity to learning. The authors found, however, that this cultural stereotype was just that, and that teachers needed to move beyond this superficial understanding of Chinese students, and acknowledge that what is usually construed as ‘cultural problem’ may in fact be a ‘language problem, or pedagogic or personalty issue’. The research project, based on interviews with Chinese international students and their teachers, as well as their responses to questionnaires, is described in detail in this article. KLA Subject HeadingsInternational studentsInternational education English as an additional language English language teaching Broad-based collaborations in education: strategic coalitions for constructing knowledge about the local conditions of schoolingThe Granville District Collaboration (GDC), in Sydney’s inner western suburbs, was set up in 2000 to improve outcomes for disadvantaged students in Years 5–8. The GDC involved two primary and two secondary schools, all previously successful in implementing reforms to improve student outcomes. It also involved district superintendents, academic researchers, parents and leaders of local programs targeting disadvantaged and at-risk students. Representatives from the four schools all developed independent action plans broadly overseen and discussed by the GDC. A range of problems, challenges and perceived benefits surfaced. Collaboration placed varying levels of workload and demand on different participants. Participants already had hierarchical, supervisory and institutional roles in other contexts, and struggled to redefine them more equally within the GDC. However, the involvement of senior figures such as the District Superintendent induced a commitment to ongoing, successful participation by principals. Given time to interact, the four principals built professional bonds not achieved during formal principals’ meetings. Principals felt that they bore a disproportionate burden for implementing the GDC. Principals and assistant principals were challenged by the relative freedom to define their own local agendas for research and action after previous interaction with external agencies that were ‘tightly prescribed by funding and policy guidelines’. Classroom teachers were able to focus discussion on specific ways to improve student outcomes. Such discussions had not been achieved during normal staff meetings with cluttered agendas. The GDC ensured that activities such as classroom observations got off the ground rather than being lost amid other duties. Collaborations in education tend to be ‘time consuming, complex, and fragile’. However, the researchers concluded that problems could be diminished and that the ‘effects of power within a collaboration may be more productively worked with, rather than against, in order to leverage support for the purposes of collaboration’. KLA Subject HeadingsSocially disadvantagedSchool principals Officials and employees New South Wales (NSW) Middle schooling Equality Educational planning Educational evaluation Education policy Co-operation Case studies Administration |