Abstracts

Hindus, Muslims learn together

A survey of Year 10 and 11 students in Victorian government and non-government schools found that most of the participants 'think Muslims are terrorists', just over half think 'Muslims behave strangely' and two out of five think 'Muslims are unclean'. The survey was run by Senior Fellow at the Australian Catholic University, Dr Abe Ata (see earlier What's New item). Dr Ata has urged educators and policy makers to create greater racial harmony within and outside the classoom. The possiblity of such harmony is highlighted by the example of racial acceptance found in the Islamic schools, or madrasahs, in the Indian state of West Bengal. The states' 508 madrasahs include 40,000 Hindu students and follow the state curriculum, studying English, History, Geography, Science and Computing, as well as Bengali and Arabic. The article refers to an earlier report in the online newspaper webindia.123.

Hypocrisy in the teaching of history

A history text book used in Victoria’s SOSE subject for Year 8, Humanities Alive 2, has suggested that the Christian Crusaders in the Middle Ages may be referred to as terrorists, comparable to modern Islamic terrorists. The suggestion has been challenged in a number of critical newspaper articles. An editorial in The Australian states that the book neglects to mention that Muslim lands defending themselves from the Crusaders had themselves been successfully invaded by Muslims at an earlier stage. The editorial glosses over other histories of invasion and colonisation. Another opinion piece in The Australian points out that the Crusaders preserved historical artefacts, but it may be more precisely accurate to describe these artefacts as stolen rather than preserved, and the article does not acknowledge the role of Muslims in creating and preserving many cultural artefacts valued today. Mary Bluett, Victorian president of the Australian Education Union, has defended the text as a way to engage students and have them consider history from a number of perspectives.

Reynella East wins battle of the bullies

Staff and students at Reynella East Primary School in South Australia have successfully used 'bullying audits' to reduce instances of intimidation among students. The bullying audits are run twice each term, and give students who complain of harassment a chance to document their experiences and have them dealt with by a teacher. The process includes naming the alleged offender, planning steps to stop harassment and monitoring the results. Students who have formerly been placed on the bullying audit list ‘are now knocking on my door to make sure their names are not on the audit’, according to principal Karen Cornelius. No incidents have been reported this year, compared to 43 incidents reported in the first audit in 2003. Students accused of intimidating behaviour are urged to recognise their actions as bullying, and are then supported in making choices to change their behaviour patterns. Former bullies have openly shared their experiences with school visitors. Based on a similar system used at Warrnambool East Primary School in Victoria, the audits were implemented as a measure against increasing rates of incidents and repeated harassment.

Eating disorders

Historiographical thinking: towards a new approach to preparing History teachers

Universities band together to improve science teaching

Macquarie University’s Master of Science (Education) program allows teachers to update their knowledge and upgrade their qualifications. Conducted entirely online and open to participants around the world, the program’s content is based on current, leading and curriculum-relevant science. Presentation is tailored for practitioners, who are assessed on how they plan to use content in the classroom. Ranging from new to highly experienced teachers, participants say the program has helped them to evaluate material more effectively, develop clearer expectations for students and improve their teaching precision. The program was developed in 2003 through the collaboration of five universities. Macquarie University and the University of Western Sydney handle enrolment, while additional subjects are provided by the University of New England, Charles Sturt University and Murdoch University. Edith Cowan University will join the consortium in 2007, while other universities have also shown interest.

Progress towards a national certificate: the credit matrix

Preserving the profession

Grade retention: what are the costs and benefits?

Grade retention is the practice of having a student repeat a grade if they did not meet performance standards, as opposed to social promotion, where students are advanced with their peer group regardless of whether they are ready academically. Grade retention is now in common use in the USA, stemming from a ‘get tough’ philosophy of quantifiable student achievement. Data on the effects of grade retention show mixed results for student achievement. It has even been described as ‘unequivocally negative’, with reported adverse effects including low self-esteem and high dropout rates among retained students. The article uses a detailed cost-benefit analysis to determine what the benefits of grade retention would need to be for it to be a cost-effective policy. Explicit costs are easily determined by examining the per-student costs of school attendance, although these differ from state to state. However, grade retention may incur additional costs, such as opportunity costs for individual students due to delayed entry into the workforce, or decreased future earning power for retained students who drop out of school. Benefits are harder to determine in the absence of empirical proof that grade retention improves student outcomes. Other initiatives have demonstrated greater impact on student outcomes; for example, evidence of the benefits of reduced class sizes is persuasive. Determining benefits is further complicated by the possibility that non-retained students might lift their academic performance in response to the ‘credible threat’ of repeating a grade. The article uses a variety of assumptions and indicators to estimate costs and benefits as accurately as possible, concluding that the benefits to individual students are unlikely to be sufficient for grade retention to be cost-effective, and that substantial benefits must be shown to accrue to society in general. This does not necessarily mean retention should be eliminated, as analysis of different types of, or reasons for, retention may yield more comprehensive results.

A cooperative approach to assisting students at risk of educational failure

Framing thought: literacy and thinking tools

Concept Frames are useful tools for helping students organise information and build higher-order thinking skills. Examples are provided of Concept Frames at three levels of complexity. In the Level 1 Concept Frame, the student lists attributes for a central concept in the four segments of a two-by-two grid. The sample concept is ‘Birds’, and the four segments are headed ‘A bird is…’, ‘A bird can…’, ‘Examples of birds are…’ and ‘A bird has…’. Concept Frames satisfy the four most important criteria for selecting a thinking and literacy tool. They are learner-oriented, encouraging students to become independent literate thinkers. Creating a Concept Frame exercises a similar thinking process – ‘attribute thinking’ – to that used in creating a written report, so is well aligned as a pre-writing tool. Concept Frames are ‘brain-friendly’, drawing on the brain’s natural process of storing direct experiences as concepts and grouping them into like sets. They may also be adapted to three different development levels (which should not be assumed to necessarily correlate to grade-levels.) Level 2 Concept Frames require students to prioritise the information they have collected, and identify any ideas which are redundant to the preparation of the report. Level 3 Concept Frames involve more sophisticated grouping, and more explicit linkage between the attributes and examples of the central concept.

Practically speaking: effective reading instruction

The author relates her observations from a six-week scholarship to the USA. The USA approach to reading education recognises the complexity of the reading process. In 1997, a National Reading Panel was established to provide expert analysis of the burgeoning pool of reading research. The Panel prepared a teacher-friendly report, Put Reading First, explaining how to put research findings into action in the classroom. The article describes a number of exemplary research-based initiatives. The PHAST program systematically teaches students five metacognitive strategies to develop phonological awareness: ‘sounding out’ words, rhyming, ‘peeling off’ affixes, focusing on vowel sounds, and ‘spying’ familiar words within longer ones. Another initiative, Reading Rockets, has an award-winning website which helps mainstream teachers to adopt quality research-based practices, and parents to foster reading at home. The RAVE-O program builds reading fluency through highly motivational activities which have produced ‘phenomenal gains’ in assessment. Soliloquy reading assistant provides students with ‘one-to-one’ computerised reading assistance using voice recognition software. In the Book Buddies program, trained community volunteers implement specialist-developed lesson plans with individual students. The crucial components of special education for students with reading difficulties were shown to be understanding of the standards required at each developmental level, explicit teaching, and aiming for ‘the greatest gains towards the adult literacy which [students] will eventually require’ rather than integration into the mainstream. The author observed training courses for Reading Specialists, who teach students with reading difficulties and collaborate with mainstream teachers to ensure school reading programs have a strong knowledge base. Exemplary schools she visited showed high levels of specialist knowledge among Special Education staff, and valued the needs and skills of Special Education and mainstream teachers equally.

Following the literacy trail from Kentucky to the Northern Territory

The professional knowledge of English teachers in 'new times'

The article explores professionalism in English teaching, focusing on teachers’ professional knowledge with respect to writing. Current New Zealand English teaching practice privileges reading, or ‘writing to talk about reading’, over writing itself. This may be understood with reference to four approaches to the subject of English. The cultural heritage approach teaches a traditional body of knowledge, including canonical texts, with a view to creating well-rounded citizens. In a personal growth model, literacy helps learners develop the skills they need for ‘making sense of the world’. A textual and sub-textual skills-based approach emphasises ‘correctness’, whereas a critical literacy model explores power relationships in text. The first two models privilege reading ‘literature’, which exemplifies ‘Meaning with a capital "M"', and thereby subordinate students’ own writing. The skills-based model reasserts the importance of text production, but emphasises writing structure over meaning. Although 1960s reforms to English teaching de-prioritised grammar and ‘correctness’, the textual skills model has re-emerged, especially in Australia. This has been driven by recognition of the importance of writing skills to individual vocational succes and wider social and economic benefits to the community, rather than adherence to correctness for its own sake. Use of the critical literacy model shifts priority back to reading, although texts are stripped of their canonical authority and become open sites for an interplay of meanings. Critically literate writers are able to reflect on this interplay in their own writing as well as others’. The author argues for a professional approach which draws on all models of English as discrete but equally valid frames of reference. Teachers and students should examine relationships between readers, writers, and texts, including the texts which they create themselves. Understanding the technologies involved in producing a text, and the implications of emerging technologies for text production, should be part of the teacher’s role as a creator and innovator.

Practitioner research in education: beyond celebration