New publications

Student disengagement is a growing societal concern and responses to this concern have included a proliferation of re-engagement programs (REPs) across Australia. Evaluations by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and anecdotal feedback have suggested that teachers find it extremely difficult to adapt to REP settings and cater for 'high needs' students. This prompted a Research and Policy Centre scan of the extent to which teacher training programs prepare teachers to work in more flexible learning environments. This scan provides a glimpse of whether disjunctures exist between policy, training programs and needs, and whether these can be resolved. From Introduction. The full report is available online.

Contemporary Challenges Confronting School Leaders is the 11th in a series on research and theory dedicated to advancing our understanding of schools through empirical study and theoretical analysis. The chapters include analyses that investigate relationships between school organisations and administrative practice that affect teacher and student effectiveness. This edition is organised around the concept of student achievement and variables that contribute to it or influence achievement indirectly. Adapted from publisher's description and table of contents.

Three dimensions of media education for the 3–11 age range are highlighted: children's own cultural experiences, the development of critical awareness, and opportunities for creative expression. The chapters are written by literacy advisors, leading academics, teacher-trainers and classroom practitioners. Topics include understanding children's relationships with media and how to build on these constructively; getting to grips with 'multimodality'; developing children's critical skills through watching and analysing moving-image media; broadening children's experiences of different kinds of media and their media literacy; and the importance of social networking and social media and how to use these in the classroom. The book includes creative media activities that promote imaginative thinking and decision-making. It is targeted at all teachers working in primary schools, particularly literacy coordinators. Adapted from publisher's description.

Psychologist, Jerome Kagan, examines the personal, moral and cultural factors that shape the human mind, and explores the tension between biology and the environment. Reviewing major advances in the science of development over the past three decades, Kagan calls out the shortcomings of the modern fad for neuroscience and questions the field's reflexive tendency to pathologise the behaviour of the young. Most importantly, he reminds us that a life, however influenced by biology and upbringing, is still a tapestry to be woven, not an outcome to be endured. Adapted from publisher's description.

Neurotechnologies have provided groundbreaking insights into the workings of the human brain and it is fashionable to suggest that they are the most important means of answering the enduring mysteries of psychology. This is misguided, and potentially dangerous. Psychiatrist and scholar, Sally Satel, and psychologist, Scott O. Lilienfeld, argue that many of the real-world applications of human neuroscience gloss over its limitations and intricacies, at times obscuring, rather than clarifying, the myriad factors that shape our behaviour and identities. Adapted from publisher's description.

With the right guidance and a positive attitude in schools, young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) can be as happy and successful as other students. The book describes a program developed over a number of years by teachers at a school for young people with ASDs, which successfully enabled autistic pupils to achieve their full potential. The authors explain in detail the challenges faced by the young people at the school and show how, encouraged by a culture of optimism and hopefulness, the program developed their confidence and skills, with the result that many of them are now in employment. The book also provides an in-depth exploration of styles and techniques for building relationships. Concluding with a reflection on leadership and organisational culture, the authors demonstrate that if the approach is adopted by an entire school, and not just a handful of teachers, it really can work. Adapted from publisher's description.