Australian higher education has changed significantly with student cohorts that are increasingly economically and geographically diverse. Online and blended learning delivery has become more prevalent in response. This research reports on data collected to gain an insight into the perceptions of final year Bachelor of Education students during the…

Research reveals that teachers' relational competence is crucial for successful education. However, the field is still small and largely unexplored, and arguably needs a better and more precise theoretical starting point. This article seeks to help establish such a starting point, aiming to outline a relational framework based on the philosophies…

The article examines the second career teachers (SCTs) socialisation into school culture through three theoretical lenses: Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework of human development, to identify the different environments within school culture that play a role in SCTs perceptions of their socialisation, Lave and Wenger's theory of Legitimate…

Teacher adaptability is an emerging construct in research on teacher effectiveness with evidence of links to improved outcomes for both teachers and students. This study examined the links between teacher adaptive practices and teacher self-efficacy, perceived autonomy support and teacher adaptability. The study found that only teacher…

This article surveys recent research on historical thinking. It synthesises two leading approaches to construct a combined model of historical reasoning. The combined model consists of eight components: ask historical questions, establish historical significance, use sources as evidence, identify continuity and change, analyse cause and…

Research has drawn attention to a certain gap between the increasing ethno-cultural diversity of school enrolment and the relative ethno-cultural homogeneity of the teaching body. In French-speaking Switzerland very little attention has been paid to this matter. The purpose of this article is to analyse the potential added value associated with…

There are ongoing debates as to the merits of mastery and performance (or competitive) approaches to school and student learning. Mastery approaches are focused on factors and processes such as effort, skill development, learning, and understanding. Performance approaches are focused more on competition, demonstrating relative ability, social…

This article explores encounters between formal, informal, and non-formal education and the role of mentor-educators in creating values education in which such encounters take place. Mixed-methods research was conducted in Israeli public schools participating in the Personal Education Model, which combines educational modes. Ethnographic and…

The perennial debate as to how children acquire values received further impetus from the "National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools" (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005a). This document, and its companion publication, "Values for Australian Schooling Professional Learning Resources" (DEST,…

Performance-pay as an educational policy is currently discussed both in research and in public debate. The principal agent theory application to an education system views teachers as more altruistic than opportunistic, and therefore affected by intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivations. An extensive amount of research has been published on the…

This study proposed and tested in China a model of the direct effects of classroom learning environment on students' perceptions of quality of school life as well as on their sense of belonging in primary schools. The results of structural equation modeling analysis indicated that "class emphasis on learning and learning with peers" was…