New publications

The Rewarding Quality Teaching research report investigates ways to maintain and improve the quality of the Australian teaching workforce through recognition and reward. The report, prepared by the Gerard Daniels consulting group, was accepted by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment and Youth Affairs in June 2009, and will form the basis of the reform of teacher remuneration arrangements in each State and Territory. See media statement by the Australian Government Minister for Education, Julia Gillard and article on Livenews.com.au, both 16 August 2009, and article in The Australian 17 August 2009.

An analysis of the provision of technical support in schools, this report examines data drawn from a wide-scale study of schools and school technicians. School technicians' jobs were found to be challenging and diverse; many schools had difficulty recruiting technicians due to discrepancies between responsibilities and salaries. Many schools reported requiring greater availability of support; in smaller schools, science teachers often performed the technician role. Pre-service training of technicians is largely geared toward the mining and pathology industries, with little training provided for school environments: many staff struggle with inadequate science and technical knowledge. Standards of initial training should be improved, as should levels of support, provision of ongoing training, and employment conditions and salaries. The full report is available online.

With students showing less engagement with reading, this text identifies instructional practices that exacerbate students' decreasing enjoyment, and offers alternative approaches. Current practices tend to value test results and breadth of instruction over depth and enjoyment of reading, focus on academic texts or require students to engage with literature in dry, non-recreational ways. The text provides teachers, literacy coaches, and administrators with specific steps to increase student engagement through approaches that value reading. Adapted from publisher's description.

This report provides a snapshot of children's and teenagers' use of media and communications technology, as well as parents' attitudes toward their children's media use. Young people's media use changes from early childhood through to adolescence, with only television usage remaining constant. Young children spend between one and two hours a day watching TV and DVDs; computer, internet, and telephone use are less frequent. Parents often set time or content restrictions on their children's television viewing. Teenagers spend close to two hours watching television each day, and spend a substantial amount of time on the internet for chat or homework. Mobile telephones were widely used by teenagers. Parents of older children found their media use more difficult to supervise. The full text is available online.

This report summarises perceptions of citizenship among young people in Britain. School-based notions of citizenship were found to conflict with perceptions of citizenship as being attached to national identity; associations with formal politics were largely negative. Young people engaged in the world mainly in terms of their friends and family and to the exclusion of other social layers, resulting in an 'us' and 'them' dichotomy not seen as frequently among adults. However, engagement with the community is vital for creating possibilities for future citizenship: young people need to be encouraged to engage with the community on a wider scale than their immediate family and friends. The full report is available online.

This report presents the results of a three-year review of education and training for 14–19 year olds in Britain. The review focused on what counts as an educated 19 year old in today's society, and whether current educational and training programs are sufficient in meeting the needs of young people. Investment in education has been significant, collaborations between schools and other institutions have improved, classroom teaching practices are thoughtful and imaginative, and greater emphasis has been placed on social concern. However, education should be reshaped with greater stress on practical and active learning; improved assessment practices that support learning; respect and support for educators and the teaching profession; more unified qualifications; greater collaboration; and an approach to policy that allows greater participation and reflection. The exective summary of this report is available online; the full report is available from Routledge Education.