Parents have the option of enrolling their children in the first stage of early childhood education (from 0 to 3 years of age). However, not all parents decide to do so, waiting until the second stage of early childhood education to enrol them in the education system (from 3 to 5 years of age), or even until compulsory education when their…

Improving schooling outcomes is a preoccupation facing school leaders globally. At the heart of such an agenda is the school leader's capacity to make professional learning decisions that best support the professional learning needs of their teachers. Thus, this paper investigates the extent to which principals' control to make professional…

Beyond the notion of decision-making of career choice just being rational, this article proposes the primacy of 'affect' in the decision to become teachers over time. The article explores the becoming of immigrant English language teachers as an identity formation process, focusing on the lived experiences of 16 English language teachers since…

Background: The transition from primary to secondary school presents a challenging developmental milestone which often marks a decline in academic performance. Social-emotional skills are recognized as fundamental to academic success but longitudinal research is needed to determine the extent of their association over this transition period. Aim:…

Professional experience is crucial in initial teacher education, enabling pre-service teachers to develop their skills in authentic classroom settings. However, with most Australian initial teacher education institutions located in metropolitan areas, few pre-service teachers undertake experiences in regional, rural or remote (RRR) schools,…

When making moral judgments of past actions, adults often think counterfactually about what could have been done differently. Considerable evidence suggests that counterfactual thinking emerges around age 6, but it remains unknown how this development influences children's moral judgments. Across two studies, Australian children aged 4-9 (N = 236,…

The decline in foreign language learners in tertiary education is a concern in many countries. While factors influencing students' persistence in second language learning have been explored, there has been limited discussion on the potential of language programmes that develop students' self-formation alongside language learning. This study aimed…

In industrialized societies, adults exhibit stable preferences for the types of people, animals, and entities they feel moral concern for (Crimston et al., 2016). Only one published study to date has utilized the moral circles paradigm to examine these preferences in children, finding that as children age, their preferences shift to become more…

Young people's decision-making about postschool pathways are influenced and shaped by parents, teachers, and other familiars. Yet, these familiars are often uninformed about vocational education as it has not been part of their personal experience. Instead, they may reflect and further embed the relatively low standing of that option. The lack of…

Purpose: This study aims to compare Chinese students' educational and career trajectories in Japan and Australia and to explore the factors that have influenced their choices that shaped their trajectories. Design/methodology/approach: The authors applied the push-pull and life planning models to compare the factors that shaped the Chinese…

Institutions of higher education in the twenty-first century are undergoing a transformation locally and globally from traditional pillars of learning to being more entrepreneurial in their core business. There is increasing pressure on universities to becoming more flexible and adaptable as organizations and in the graduate attributes, they imbed…

Purpose: Since the early 2000s there has been increased attention on the professionalisation of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce in many OECD countries. This study focuses on what Australian early childhood educators holding the lowest level of qualification -- Certificate III are experiencing in relation to their…

This study examined how teachers support kindergarten children's social and emotional development in everyday contexts. It used an ethnographic qualitative mode of enquiry, employing participant observations and semi-structured and structured interviews to examine the ways teachers optimize opportunities for supporting kindergarten children's…

The influence of curriculum and policy documents on the decision-making of educators is of particular interest in the field of early childhood. Reports of competing pedagogical approaches with a 'push-down' of curriculum alongside advocacy for play-based pedagogies raise questions as to the potential of curriculum and policy documents to create…

Evidence based decision making is essential for enabling improved student learning. Teacher motivations and beliefs about the types and use of data are critical determinants of decision making. Our research explored the types of data teachers use and consider valuable when measuring improvement in student learning. Findings from 294 teachers from…