AbstractsGood reputationJuly 2006;
Pages 10–15
In today’s society, it is increasingly rare for people to meet face to face, so public image plays an ever more important role. School staff are often uneasy with the concepts of marketing and branding, which are seen as ‘expensive, commercial and superficial’. However, staff tend be comfortable with the notion of reputation, which is identified with the substance of a school’s professional performance. Reputation derives from media reports, disparate individual opinions passed on by word-of-mouth, and glimpses of student behaviour in public. It is not entirely logical, as people sometimes make impressionistic judgements, especially ones that suit their preconceived ideas. Reputation is most solidly based when a school’s self-description, its public image, and the view of ‘insiders’ are closely aligned. However, it is likely that there will always be multiple public perceptions of a school. Schools draw students from further away these days, a trend that enhances the importance of marketing over immediate word-of-mouth messages in the surrounding community. The article concludes with a list of recommendations by which reputation can be established and enhanced. See also related article by the same author, ‘How do you assess your reputation?’ in this issue of Teacher. KLA Subject HeadingsMarketingSchool and community An overview and comparison of Australian State and Territory K–10 science curriculum documents
Volume 52
Number 2, Winter 2006;
Pages 17–24
In 1994 Curriculum Corporation published two key documents on the science curriculum, which had been commissioned by Key Learning AreasScienceSubject HeadingsCurriculum planningQueensland Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Tasmania Western Australia (WA) Northern Territory South Australia Victoria New South Wales (NSW) Science Science literacy and the school librarian
Number 58, 3rd
Quarter
2006;
Pages 5–6
Scientific literacy should not be understood as a fixed or universal concept. It means different things to different people and changes as their needs and contexts change. To scientists, scientific literacy involves possessing a specialist vocabulary, knowledge of relevant enquiry processes and a grasp of basic scientific concepts and principles. For teachers, scientific literacy is measured by their ability to stimulate students’ learning, and to develop students’ scientific thinking, recognising that science is often ‘profoundly counter-intuitive’ to students. Scientific method is generally presented too narrowly. Scientific work is characterised not only by hypothesis and controlled experiments but by various other modes of enquiry, not all legitimate. These other methods include, for example, ‘fiddling’, the effort to find and then explain patterns in research results. Scientific literacy shares with other literacies the capacity to think critically in an informed way. In the field of science this involves the ability to see through quack remedies and unscientific theories such as intelligent design or astrology. It also means awareness of the specific scientific usages of terms such as mass and velocity, as well as knowledge of special symbols and measurement units and their abbreviations. There is a severe lack of quality resources for school science. There are few popular scientific figures who are able to entertain, educate and inspire. Journals such as New Scientist and Australasian Science, and the CSIRO’s Scientific and The Helix, are valuable for students. The online article includes hyperlinks to a range of resources. Key Learning AreasScienceSubject HeadingsSchool librariesScience Science teaching ELs . . . the right answer10 July 2006;
Page 16
The Tasmanian Government’s current retreat from the Essential Learnings (ELs) framework is regrettable. The ELs represent a way forward for school education in the State, the benefits of which need to be explained carefully to school communities and other interested groups. However, in recent weeks the ELs have been portrayed as a commodity, with its take up or rejection dependent on the success or failure of the consumer marketing campaign surrounding it. For example the State Minister of Education described the ELs as ‘a "brand name that has suffered"’. The ELs are now to be replaced by ‘a parochial and dumbed down Tasmanian curriculum’, in response to populist pressure. The suggestion by Education Department officials that the curriculum will return to ‘traditional subjects like maths and English’ is confusing since maths and English were not abandoned under the ELs. The ELs approach is widely supported by education authorities internationally for moving beyond disciplinary ‘silos’ to integrate thinking skills, values and active citizenship with the academic curriculum. Tasmania’s former Education Minister, the ‘visionary and tenacious’ Paula Wreidt, played a leadership role by confronting a range of powerful conservative opponents in her support for the ELs. Complaints about jargon in the ELs documentation should be addressed without abandoning either the term ELs or the core ideas that it rests on. KLA Subject HeadingsTasmaniaCurriculum planning Rural rides in Queensland: travels with novice teaching principals
Volume 9
Number 1, January 2006;
Pages 75–88
A study has examined the experiences of four new teaching principals at schools in rural Queensland. The schools had between 28 and 35 students. The study used audio-taped interviews with the principals and key members of the local communities. It was conducted together with a similar investigation in Western Australia. The article describes the issues portrayed by participants. Rural communities are likely to combine poverty and disadvantage with conservative social values. Rural populations are often demoralised by the decline of traditional industries. Communities may also lose coherence as traditional farming families are replaced by those with different lifestyles, including low-income groups seeking cheap accommodation. These changes may, however, make the local school more central than ever to the community as public infrastructure and as a community gathering place. These communities tend to give more trust to married people and to give more authority to men and to older people. System administrators may wish to take these factors into account when making appointments. Principals should be acquainted with risk management procedures. While a principal may struggle for acceptance, he or she may also become a ‘father confessor’, approached on a multitude of non-educational social issues. A background in the local community assists in social acceptance but may also make it more difficult to implement change. New teaching principals should maintain a balance between community involvement and personal time. Loneliness can be a major problem until the principal has been accepted socially. School principals can sometimes use the key social role of the school to establish close personal links within it, but they may also find it beneficial to establish social bonds unconnected to the school community and its concerns. Formal handovers between the old and incoming principals may be an efficient way to provide a nuanced understanding of the local community and the behaviour that it expects. KLA Subject HeadingsQueenslandRural education School and community School culture Leadership School leadership School principals Educational evaluation Principles and challenges for forming successful literacy partnerships
Volume 26
Number 1, January 2006;
Pages 5–23
Students with language difficulties tend to receive specialist help outside the classroom setting. This approach may be suitable where students are undertaking only simple repetitive drills or structured conversation in class and may help limit distractions. However, a number of studies have shown that classroom-based collaboration between speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and teachers of language and literacy can benefit these students. These partnerships have been shown to improve vocabulary, conceptual development and listening comprehension among school-aged children. Successful partnerships commonly display a range of features. The teacher and language specialist share responsibility for a student’s language and literacy problems. They jointly establish goals and priorities for students. While professional roles and responsibilities are clearly established, professional relations are equal rather than hierarchical. The role and level of input of each collaborator may need to vary as a student’s needs change and their skills develop. Collaborators need to understand and acknowledge the different theoretical perspectives and terminologies of different types of professionals involved. Participants need to ensure adequate time for collaboration, which is likely to require help from school administrators. Patience may be needed in persuading some participants, and also parents, of the value of the partnerships. This persuasion may require evidence that students benefit from these professional collaborations. Successful partnerships should be celebrated. Literacy partnerships may challenge the culture, structures and processes of a school. These challenges to school traditions should be raised openly with administrators and team-mates. A plan for the collaboration should be provided to the principal and other school leaders, describing the different roles and responsibilities of each partner. Administrators should also be given background information on the connections between language and literacy and demonstrations of the benefits of early interventions. Collaborations may need to start on a small scale where initial, modest gains can be demonstrated, rather than attempting to launch directly into a new service delivery model. KLA Subject HeadingsLanguage and languagesEnglish language teaching Speech disorders Literacy The new integrationMay 2006;
Pages 22–26
The KLA Subject HeadingsInclusive educationUnited States of America (USA) Equality Socially disadvantaged From fragmentation to convergence: shaping an Australian agenda for quality school leadership
Volume 26
Number 2, April 2006;
Pages 169–182
There is increasing attention to the issue of school leadership in KLA Subject HeadingsEducational planningSchool leadership School principals Leadership A fine British blendMay 2006;
Pages 51–54
The current emphasis on leadership in school improvement led to the establishment of England’s National College for School Leadership. The state-of-the-art college was launched in 2000 by the British Government, and receives a government subsidy of around $US150 million annually. The college takes an evidence-based approach to leadership learning, guided by the question of how effective leaders make a difference to their schools. It seeks to foster distributed leadership that permeates beyond the principalship and into the school community. Approximately 17,000 participants attend the college each year, and it serves up to 23,500 English schools via networked communities and online services, including a dedicated website. The core programs of the college address leadership at five levels. Leading from the Middle extends leadership capacity in mid-level leaders through in-school coaching. The National Professional Qualification for Headship must be completed by all aspiring principals before they can be appointed. Once appointed, new principals in England receive a grant to construct their own personalised leadership development program from the range of activities available in Early Headship. Advanced Leadership develops the capacity of existing principals, including building peer coaching relationships. Consultant Leadership promotes system leadership by preparing experienced school leaders to fulfil mentoring roles. All programs utilise a blended learning approach purposefully linked to the participants’ schools, reflecting the importance of context in leadership learning. Programs tailored to specific school needs are also offered, such as Leading Small Primary Schools. The college recognises management as an essential component of modern school leadership, combining practical instruction in matters such as budgeting with reflective exploration of leaders’ values, beliefs and visions. A number of challenges face the college. Changing leadership demographics create a need to fast-track the training of new leaders while retaining the wisdom of retiring principals. Growing issues of diversity and school autonomy necessitate responsiveness to emerging forms of leadership. Gaps between high-performing and under-performing schools require interschool relationships to be strengthened. The intensification of principal workload also calls for greater networking, mentoring and online strategies to reduce school principals’ isolation and increase collaborative support. KLA Subject HeadingsGreat BritainSchool leadership School principals Teacher training The ripple effectMay 2006;
Pages 16–20
For every ‘lighthouse’ school that attracts students, resources and attention, numerous ‘outhouse’ schools are created around it as dumping grounds for teachers or students who do not match up to its exemplary reputation. The more schools are governed by market-oriented principles of competition, the more inescapable this relationship between winners and losers will become. KLA Subject HeadingsEqualitySocial justice School and community School leadership United States of America (USA) Uncovering teacher leadershipMay 2006;
Pages 66–70
Any education reforms depend on teachers to ensure they take root in the classroom. Teachers’ profound level of care about student learning also makes them the ‘conscience’ of a school. In the past, teachers have assumed leadership roles by moving out of the classroom into curriculum coordination or consulting roles. In the current education environment, teacher leadership is shifting to the classroom, and teacher leaders are deriving their authority from ongoing classroom experience. Many principals value the contribution of classroom-based teacher leaders in shaping school improvement, but others are still constrained by conservatism or traditional school hierarchies. The isolation of the classroom also makes it difficult for teachers’ voices to be heard in a school. Although their ideas may be generated by classroom practice, they must step outside the classroom to share their views with colleagues. To be effective, teacher leaders should take a ‘nudging’ rather than ‘bulldozer’ approach to sharing their ideas. Using the knowledge and insights that inform their own classroom practice to deepen colleagues’ understanding can enable small changes at the level of the individual teacher to become broader strategies adopted by the whole school. Listening to colleagues, observing how they influence each other, and taking care not to devalue their efforts and expertise all help to establish trust and keep lines of communication open. Teacher leaders need to appreciate the value of truly collaborative decision-making, and not adopt the image of collaboration simply as an opportunity to push groups in a predetermined direction. Leadership for teachers requires courage, as those who challenge the status quo always make themselves vulnerable to disapproval. Teacher leaders are exercising a quiet bravery in forming new ways of relating to their peers, deepening one another’s understanding of challenging educational issues and contributing to genuine school improvement. KLA Subject HeadingsSchool leadershipTeaching and learning Principals under pressureJune 2006;
Pages 12–16
The Archdiocese of Sydney was one of the key advocates for significant pay increases awarded to KLA Subject HeadingsSchool leadershipSchool principals New South Wales (NSW) Catholic schools A review of inventories for diagnosing school culture
Volume 44
Number 1, 2006;
Pages 6–35
Since the early 1980s, school culture has been recognised as an important factor in how schools function. School culture is created at three levels: the basic preconscious assumptions of school staff; their consciously articulated values and beliefs; and cultural behaviours and artefacts resulting from these underlying factors, for example, ‘myths’ about past school heroes that are told and re-told. The article provides detailed reviews of six questionnaires designed to measure school culture: Saphier and King’s School Culture Survey (1985), Snyder’s School Work Culture Profile (1988), Houtveen’s instrument for measuring school culture in primary schools (1996), Cavanagh and Dellar’s School Cultural Elements Questionnaire (1996), Pang’s School Values Inventory (1995), and Staessen’s Professional Culture Questionnaire for Primary Schools (1990). Although other quantitative instruments exist for culture measurement, these six are characterised by: explicit focus on basic assumptions and school culture; inclusion of a variety of aspects of school culture; being addressed to school staff; and having been subject to validation. The first four all contain similar scales, reflecting teacher collaboration, efficacy, professional development and an academic orientation towards student learning. Saphier and King’s focuses most strongly on perceptions of individual teachers rather than shared values. Houtveen’s has the most comprehensive list of variables, including aspects of internal school processes and the school’s relationship with the environment. Pang’s values inventory is based on a more general theoretical framework than the others, but nonetheless uses similar scales and items. Staessens’ questionnaire focuses primarily on procedural factors that influence school culture, such as the role of the principal and professional networks. The value of quantitative survey instruments in measuring school culture has been questioned. The relationship between school values and actual practices may be complicated by situational factors, or differences in the extent to which values are shared across school staff. Quantitative analysis is most effective for diagnosing specific cultural elements, or making comparisons between schools. For other purposes, quantitative cultural measurements should be triangulated with qualitative methods of data collection. KLA Subject HeadingsEducational evaluationSchool culture Surveys Education research Developing pedagogical content knowledge for the new sciences: the example of biotechnology
Volume 17
Number 2, June 2006;
Pages 143–155
Biotechnology was established in the mid 1990s as one of seven compulsory learning areas in Key Learning AreasScienceSubject HeadingsBiotechnologyNew Zealand Educational evaluation Science teaching The fallacy of laissez-faire leadership: a multilevel analysis of the influence of leadership avoidance behaviours on aspects of school learning environmentKLA Subject HeadingsSchool leadershipSchool principals |