Australian School Teachers Research Articles

Issues in Chinese Language Teaching in Australian Schools

The teaching of Chinese in Australian primary and secondary schools has a history of more than 40 years, but it has only been in the past two decades that it has become widespread. Nonetheless, until the last year, of the six most taught languages in schools, Chinese has had by far the smallest number of students. Several factors contribute to maintaining this situation, key among which are the greater time it takes students to master Chinese compared to other languages; the still underdeveloped pedagogy and resources for making learning Chinese an intellectually stimulating educational experience; and the impossibility of achieving good exam results due to the overwhelming number of students of Chinese background already proficient in the language. The result has been a uniform 95% drop out rate from early on. The factors involved in creating this situation are explained and concrete proposals made for improving the situation which take account of newly created gains and advocate collaborative work between those involved in teaching Chinese as an international language inside and outside China in helping to close the gaps.

Uncovering Management Issues in Australian Classrooms Experienced by Non-English Speaking Background Teachers

Teachers from non-English-speaking background (NESB) constitute an important community of teachers in Australia, especially in Mathematics and Science discipline. During their journey of resuming teaching in Australian schools, they encounter a number of problems, including classroom management issues. Being an NESB teacher I have experienced acute classroom management problems, mostly related to students’ behaviour and have been desperate to know the reality of the issue for other teachers. In this autoethnographic research, I developed a deeper understanding of these problems and possible solutions. I held a series of ‘good conversations’ with four NESB teachers from the Indian subcontinent. I represented the conversations in the form of narratives and subsequently subjected them to scholarly interpretive analysis. The study illustrates ways in which these NESB teachers faced severe student behaviour problems, which was a source of deep frustration for them. Major factors contributing towards these problems are cultural differences, language barriers and racism. I have learned from this study that NESB teachers, including myself, could improve class management skills by undertaking behaviour management courses prior to resuming teaching in a seemingly alien culture. Class management skills of NESB teachers can also improve with experience.

Integrating animals in the classroom: The attitudes and experiences of Australian school teachers toward animal-assisted interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The introduction of animals into school classrooms has been posited as a beneficial intervention for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Whilst evidence that animal-assisted interventions or activities can positively influence classroom behaviour and learning outcomes is emerging, little is known about the experiences and attitudes of those who implement it. We presented a series of open and close-ended questions via an online survey to Australian school teachers working with students on the autistic spectrum. Whether teachers had experienced companion animals in the classroom or not, companion animals were believed to provide a means for improving social skills and engagement within the classroom, as well as decreasing stress, anxiety, and the occurrence of problematic behaviours. Yet, despite an overall positive attitude, and 68% having had animals or pets in their classroom, only 16% of respondents had experience with ‘formal’ animal-assisted interventions. Explanations for why both formal and informal animal-assisted interventions were either not being adopted, or was not currently being considered, included a lack of knowledge, lack of support and resources, reactions of the student in relation to allergies and behaviour, and issues relating to animal welfare. It was also acknowledged that the evidence-base for animal-assisted interventions for students with ASD is currently lacking, and that such interventions were not suitable for all students, or all classroom situations. Moving forward, it is important that the inclusion of companion animals and more formal based animal intervention programs in classrooms be adequately designed and evaluated, because implementing or promoting time consuming and financially costly strategies without the evidence is problematic.

Challenges of Teaching Chinese in Australian Schools: Lesson from Beginning Teacher-researchers

Chinese has been taught as a foreign language in Australian schools based on the recognition of economic and social importance of China to Australia. However, Chinese language teaching in Australian schools conducted by teachers who are native speakers of Chinese is perceived as low in quality and inefficient to meet non-background speakers’ needs. As a result, there is a high drop-out rate of non-background learners in Chinese subject. This qualitative investigation explores the issue of inefficient Chinese language teaching in Australian schools by reviewing the challenges native-speaking Chinese language teachers encountered in real classrooms. Based on this understanding, Chinese language teacher education may be adapted to enhance teachers’ capability to satisfy non-background speakers’ needs and perform effectively in Australian classroom.

The collaborative role of EAL teachers in Australian schools from the perspective of EAL teacher education

The Australian Curriculum brings with it a strong focus on catering to EAL learners in the mainstream (Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2014a). The focus is most apparent in the supplementary documents for EAL students that are currently embedded within different subject areas. This explicit and systematic acknowledgement of ways to teach EAL learners provides an opportunity to explore the collaborative role of EAL teachers, who are well placed to work with content area teachers to develop EAL students’ language proficiency. In this article I suggest that EAL and content area teacher collaboration outcomes may be enhanced by a dual focus on content area and language development. However, I also suggest that if this dual focus is not made explicit, the scaffolding of content areas is likely to take priority over the development of language proficiency. Data is taken from interviews with four EAL pre-service teachers who took part in a voluntary collaborative activity with pre-service content area teachers. Findings revealed both a lack of confidence and a perception that EAL and content area teacher collaboration signified providing the content area teacher with language support.

Psychosocial safety climate moderating the effects of daily job demands and recovery on fatigue and work engagement

This study examined the role of schools' psychosocial safety climate (PSC) in teachers' psychological outcomes. We proposed that PSC would moderate the effects of teachers' daily job demands on their fatigue and work engagement, and also the effects of teachers' daily recovery on fatigue and engagement. Sixty‐one Australian school teachers completed a diary that was repeated three times over the course of approximately 8 months. Each diary ran for five consecutive days, measuring daily self‐reports of job demands, recovery, fatigue, and engagement (N = 915 data points), while perceived PSC was measured once per diary. Multilevel analyses indicated that PSC moderated the relationships between job demands and fatigue, as well as job demands and engagement. This suggests that perceived PSC could act as a buffer against deleterious impacts of daily job demands. PSC also moderated the relationships between recovery and fatigue, and recovery and engagement. This indicates that higher levels of perceived PSC in schools could amplify the benefits of daily recovery for teachers. PSC also exerted a main effect on both fatigue and engagement. These results offer insight into the mechanisms by which PSC may act as a buffer to protect worker mental health, and highlight the importance for school management to promote PSC within their organization.Practitioner points Psychosocial safety climate in organizations may buffer workers from the negative psychological outcomes associated with job demands. Psychosocial safety climate in organizations may boost the psychological benefits that workers gain from achieving good daily recovery outside of work.

Prevalence and Organisational Factors of Psychological Injury Among Australian School Teachers

In this study, we investigated the prevalence, severity, and organisational factors of risk for psychological injury in a national sample of Australian school teachers, using the Psychological Injury Risk Indicator. We predicted that teachers would report higher levels of risk for psychological injury if working in schools located in rural areas, with a low socioeconomic index, and low psychosocial safety climate. Teachers from across Australia (N = 960) completed an online survey that measured risk for psychological injury and relevant organisational factors. We found a high number of teachers (26%) whose responses showed high risk, indicating the need for professional intervention in order to avoid potentially debilitating psychological injury. Analyses also showed main effects for two organisational factors, indicating that teachers most at risk for psychological injury tended to be employed by schools with low psychosocial safety climate and in areas with a low socioeconomic index. These results highlight the severe levels of work-related psychological injury risk in the Australian teacher population, and the important role for school administration and education departments in maintaining a working environment that supports staff psychologically.

Content-based Japanese Language Teaching in Australian Schools: Is CLIL a Good Fit?

Japanese Language Teaching (JLT) is well established in Australia but the number of students studying Japanese has been declining. This decline is due to various factors, among them the rise of Mandarin as a language taught in schools and a reduction in government support for JLT. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), a popular content-based teaching approach developed in Europe, is currently being trialled in Australian primary and secondary schools, and some of these schools have JLT programs. In Europe, CLIL has been particularly successful in improving learners’ conversational ability, and the embrace of Japanese CLIL programs in Australia is therefore positive. However, there are factors involved in teaching a particular language in a particular country or region which may influence the success of the approach. In this article I argue that issues related to JLT in Australia, such as the relationship between Australia and Japan, teaching resources, teacher bilingualism and linguistic distance, need to be carefully examined in order to maximise CLIL’s potential in a new context.

‘I really want to make a difference for these kids but it’s just too hard’: one Aboriginal teacher’s experiences of moving away, moving on and moving up

This paper draws on longitudinal data to examine the changing professional identity of one beginning teacher over a three-year period. Using a post-structuralist framework and theories of social class and capital, I highlight the complexities, contradictions and impossibilities of new graduate, Luke, sustaining an identity as ‘Aboriginal teacher’ in Australian schools. I trace the shift in his commitment to working with underachieving Aboriginal boys in challenging school contexts at the beginning of his career, to his move into a middle-class white girls’ school towards the end of his third year of teaching. I suggest this was a result of the ongoing stress associated with the expectation that he take sole responsibility for the education of the school’s Aboriginal students, as well as his own upward social class mobility. The paper concludes by raising a number of concerns for education systems, including the retention of Aboriginal teachers in Australian schools.

Immigrant Teachers in Australia

One of the features of contemporary society is the increasing global mobility of professionals. While the education industry is a key site of the demand for contemporary global professional migration, little attention has been given to the global circulation of education professionals. Over past decades, immigrant teachers have been an important component of skilled and professional immigration into Australia, there is no comprehensive contemporary national study of the experiences of immigrant teachers in Australia. This article aims to fill this gap and to answer questions about their decision to move to Australia, their experience with Australian Education Departments in getting appointed to a school, their experiences as teachers in the classroom and in their new Australian community. It draws on primary data sources - in the form of a survey of 269 immigrant teachers in schools in NSW, SA and WA conducted in 2008-9 - and secondary sources - in the form of the 2006 national census and Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants in Australia – to provide insights into immigrant teachers in Australian schools, adding also to our understanding of Australia’s contemporary immigration experience.

Musicians as instrumental music teachers: Issues from an Australian perspective

Instrumental music teaching occupies a significant portion of the protean career of a musician. Musicians teach their instrument in schools, conservatoires and in private studios. The aim of this paper is to identify educational opportunities available for the education of musicians as instrumental music teachers, to discuss issues associated with their participation in these activities, and the challenges they face as practising teachers in schools and/or the private studio. In Australia, there are a variety of professional learning activities and training courses that the professional musician can undertake to expand her/his skills and knowledge as an instrumental music teacher. Not all of these educational opportunities are recognized as approved teacher education qualifications by the teacher registration boards in Australia. All instrumental music teachers in Australian schools must be registered with the teacher registration authority in the state or territory where they wish to work before they can seek employment. A discussion is presented in this paper on the issues associated with registration. The final section of this paper is devoted to a consideration of the different work environments and cultures in schools that may be experienced by professional musicians.

Teachers and the re‐production of middle‐class culture in Australian schools

Based mainly on my own ethnographic research, which is committed to uncovering the constructed or ‘practiced’ nature of social life, I seek to demonstrate the ways in which Australian school teachers, administrators, students and parents are engaged in a re‐productive process that simultaneously reinforces and reinvents schools and schooling. Set against a backdrop of concern bordering on panic among some groups about middle‐class flow away from Australian government schools, this paper explores the practices of social class and its structurating effects. A sample is presented of the ways in which those working in Australian schools tend to direct their energies towards ensuring market share of middle‐class students, a practice emerging out of beliefs and experiences that lead teachers to find middle‐class schools ‘stimulating and encouraging places to teach in’, in contrast to the ‘disruptive’ and ‘wearing’ working‐class schools. The study raises important questions not just about how we want to organize our schools and education system, but ultimately about what sort of society are we seeking to re‐produce right here, right now?

Art Education and the National Review of Visual Education

The recently completed review of visual education, First we see, makes recommendations that contrast sharply with most traditional forms of art teaching in Australian schools. Although the review implicitly stands against a narrow conception of a visual education founded on artistic and aesthetic concerns, I argue that the concept of ‘visuacy’ that the review offers as a complement to literacy and numeracy is misconceived as an educational objective. Theories of art education today derive from a history of ideas about creativity and self-expression, while classroom practice is dominated by the uncritical imitation of the contemporary adult art world. The confusion of values shows most acutely in the way visual arts education culminates at Year 12 level with students being recruited into a large-scale art competition that lacks an educational justification even though it wins wide public approval.

Estimating teacher effectiveness from two-year changes in students’ test scores

Using a dataset covering over 10,000 Australian school teachers and over 90,000 pupils, I estimate how effective teachers are in raising students’ test scores. Since the exams are biennial, it is necessary to take account of the teacher's work in the intervening year. Even adjusting for measurement error, the teacher fixed effects are widely dispersed, and there is a strong positive correlation between a teacher's gains in literacy and numeracy. Teacher fixed effects show a significant association with some, though not all, observable teacher characteristics. Experience has the strongest impact, particularly in the early years of a teacher's career. Female teachers do better at teaching literacy. Teachers with a master's degree or some other form of further qualification do not appear to achieve significantly larger test score gains. Overall, teacher characteristics found in the departmental payroll database explain only a small fraction of the variance in teacher performance.

The motivations of career change students in teacher education

In this article, results are presented from a large‐scale online survey about the motivations of career change students, and their beliefs about the attributes that they bring to the teaching profession. The findings revealed that career changers' motivations were largely intrinsic, although pragmatic decisions were also important, with perceived family‐friendliness of a teaching career a common response. These findings generally support findings of previous research into motivations to teach, as found in the literature. The data examined in this paper also revealed that career change entrants believed that the most important attributes they bring to teaching are life experiences, generic workplace skills and experience, and personal qualities, rather than specific content knowledge. These findings provide support for the continued targeting of career change people into the profession, particularly in the current policy context in which some stakeholders express concerns about a perceived lack of quality of teaching in Australian schools.

South Australian school teachers’ perceptions of occupational therapy reports

The qualitative research reported here investigated the perceptions of primary school teachers regarding the usefulness of occupational therapy reports from the Flinders Medical Centre. The reports included either recommendations alone or in conjunction with written programs for the students. This qualitative descriptive study employed in-depth semistructured interviews to gather the perspectives of four school teachers from primary schools in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analysed using a thematic inductive approach. Four themes emerged from the data in relation to teachers' perceptions of the reports: (i) Understandable but not always useful; (ii) It's important ... we can't do it all; (iii) We never actually speak; and (iv) It's probably impossible but ... in an ideal world. The research findings provide an insight into the professional relationship between education and health professionals in the presence of minimal collaboration. The participants in this study described the occupational therapy reports as useful but they all wanted a higher level of interaction with therapists. The participants also gave suggestions for improving the current procedure to increase collaboration between health and education professionals. Such improvements could enhance educational outcomes for South Australian children with a disability.

Teaching Excellence Awards: An Apple for the Teacher?

In this article the status of teaching as a profession and the morale of teachers in Australian schools in the current era provide a framework for the examination of the intent and outcomes of teaching excellence awards. The research study applied an interpretive research paradigm and used both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The methodology and the theoretical framework were based on organisational and sociological paradigms. Data informing the study were collected from 44 award recipients and 57 of their colleagues between the years 2000 and 2002. Documentation relating to the promotion and process of awards was also examined. The introduction of teaching excellence awards into the school education sector is found to be a reflection of the economic era in which the current education system is situated. The paper concludes that the awards process may be potentially politically manipulative.

The Science Shortfall: An analysis of the shortage of suitably qualified science teachers in Australian schools and the policy implications for universities

Declining enrolment in the physical sciences at university is causing concern among higher education institutions, governments and industry. In response, renewed attention is being paid to the tertiary science background of school teachers, given their key role in both preparing and enthusing students for tertiary science study. A recent study, Who's teaching science?, has provided the first national picture of both the supply and tertiary qualifications of Australia's secondary school science teachers. While there is no shortage of teachers with strong grounding in the life sciences, schools are struggling to adequately staff senior science classes in Physics and Chemistry. This is a growing problem: large numbers of science teachers are set to retire, and many younger and early career teachers are expressing dissatisfaction with their careers. This paper highlights the findings most relevant for the university sector, and examines the policy implications, including those for the curriculum design of both science and teacher education programs.

Teacher education

07–285Atay, Derin (Marmara U, Istanbul, Turkey; dyatay@yahoo.com), Teachers' professional development: Partnerships in research. TESL-EJ (http://www.tesl-ej.org) 10.2 (2006), 15 pp.07–286Brandt, C. (Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; c.brandt@yahoo.co.uk), Allowing for practice: A critical issue in TESOL teacher preparation. ELT Journal (Oxford University Press) 60.4 (2006), 355–364.07–287Carless, David (U Hong Kong, China; dcarless@hkucc.hku.hk), Good practices in team teaching in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. System (Elsevier) 34.3 (2006), 341–351.07–288Diab, Rula L. (American U Beirut, Lebanon; rd10aub@edu.lb), Teaching practices and student learning in the introductory research methods class. TESL-EJ (http://www.tesl-ej.org) 10.2 (2006), 23 pp.07–289Gorsuch, Greta (Texas Tech U, USA; greta.gorsuch@ttu.edu), Doing language education research in a developing country. TESL-EJ (http://www.tesl-ej.org) 10.2 (2006), 13 pp.07–290Hiep, Pham Hoa (U Hue, Vietnam; hiepsuu@gmail.com), Researching the research culture in English language education in Vietnam. TESL-EJ (http://www.tesl-ej.org) 10.2 (2006), 20 pp.07–291Hussin, Habsah (U Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia; hbh_hussin@yahoo.co.uk), Dimensions of questioning: A qualitative study of current classroom practice in Malaysia.TESL-EJ (http://www.tesl-ej.org) 10.2 (2006), 17 pp.07–292Kubanyiova, Magdalena (U Nottingham, UK; aexmk1@nottingham.ac.uk), Developing a motivational teaching practice in EFL teachers in Slovakia: Challenges of promoting teacher change in EFL contexts. TESL-EJ (http://www.tesl-ej.org) 10.2 (2006), 17 pp.07–293Leitch, Ruth (Queen's U, UK), Limitations of language: Developing arts-based creative narrative in stories of teachers' identities. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) 12.5 (2006), 549–569.07–294Louden, William & Mary Rohl (U Western Australia, Australia; bill.louden@uwa.edu.au), ‘Too many theories and not enough instruction’: Perceptions of pre-service teacher preparation for literacy teaching in Australian schools. Literacy (Blackwell) 40.2 (2006), 66–78.07–295Love, Kristina (U Melbourne, Australia) & Merle Isles, ‘Welcome to the online discussion group’: A diagnostic framework for teachers. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy (Australian Literacy Educators' Association) 29.3 (2006), 210–224.07–296Pani, Susmita (English Language Teaching Institute, Bhubaneswar, India; susmitapani@yahoo.com), Teacher development through reading strategy instruction: the story of Supriya. TESL-EJ (http://www.tesl-ej.org) 10.2 (2006), 21 pp.07–297Pardo, Laura S. (Hope College, USA), The role of context in learning to teach writing: What teacher educators need to know to support beginning urban teachers. Journal of Teacher Education (Sage) 57.4 (2006), 378–394.07–298Paris, Cynthia (U Delaware, USA) & Combs, Barbara, Lived meanings: What teachers mean when they say they are learner-centered. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) 12.5 (2006), 571–592.07–299Peter, Lizette (U Kansas, Lawrence, USA) & Tracy E. Hirata-Edds, Using assessment to inform instruction in Cherokee language revitalisation. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 9.5 (2006), 643–658.07–300Rankin, Jamie (Princeton U, USA; jrankin@princeton.edu) & Florian Becker, Does reading the research make a difference? A case study of teacher growth in FL German. The Modern Language Journal (Blackwell) 90.3 (2006), 353–372.07–301Søreide, Gunn Elisabeth (U Bergen, Norway), Narrative construction of teacher identity: Positioning and negotiation. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) 12.5 (2006), 527–547.07–302Tin, Tan Bee (U Auckland, NZ: tb.tin@auckland.ac.nz), Looking at teaching through multiple lenses. ELT Journal (Oxford University Press) 60.3 (2006), 253–261.07–303Twiselton, Samantha (St Martin's College, Lancaster, UK; s.twiselton@ucsm.ac.uk), The problem with English: The exploration and development of student teachers' English subject knowledge in primary classrooms. Literacy (Blackwell) 40.2 (2006), 88–96.07–304Watson, Cate (U Aberdeen, UK), Narratives of practice and the construction of identity in teaching. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) 12.5 (2006), 509–526.

‘Outsiders’ and ‘others’: ‘different’ teachers teaching in culturally diverse classrooms

This article draws on data from two separate qualitative research studies that investigated the experiences of Indigenous teachers and ethnic minority teachers in Australian schools. The data presented here were collected via in‐depth individual semi‐structured interviews with teachers in 2004 and 2005. Data analysis was informed by poststructuralist discourse theory and the data were examined for broad themes and recurring discourse patterns relevant to the projects’ foci. The article explores how teachers who are not from the Anglo‐Celtic Australian ‘mainstream’ use their cultural knowledge and experiences as ‘other’ to develop deep understandings of ethnic minority and/or Indigenous students. I suggest that the teachers’ knowledge of ‘self’ in regards to ethnicity and/or Indigeneity and social class enables them to empathize with students of difference, to contextualize their students’ responses to schooling through understanding their out‐of‐school lives from perspectives not available to teachers from the dominant cultural majority. I raise in this paper a number of important implications for teacher education including the need to recruit and retain greater numbers of teachers of difference in schools, the need to acknowledge their potential to make valuable contributions to the education of minority students as well as their potential to act as cross‐cultural mentors for their ‘mainstream’ colleagues.