With growing concern over the "obesity epidemic" in children, schools have become the front line of defence in the "war against obesity". However there is a growing body of evidence of unintended harm associated with school-based health education programs framed as "obesity prevention", including body dissatisfaction,…

Professional learning is an important process in enabling teachers to update their pedagogical knowledge and practices. The use of online technologies to support professional learning has a number of benefits in terms of flexibility and scalability. However, it is not clear how well the approach impacts on teachers' classroom practices. This…

A year-long collaborative action research project used networked technologies to connect researchers at a university-based online professional development program and a group of practitioner researchers based in a range of schools and educational agencies in several countries. They studied the process and effects of online professional development…

Most (73%) of the presenters of teacher professional development courses delivered through interactive television (ITV) in rural Victoria (Australia) rated themselves quite successful in using this medium. Other results of the survey and interviews suggest that presenters would benefit from inservice training on ITV and feedback on their program…

The Teachers Centre for Continuing Education was established to provide opportunities for teachers to undertake further study in order to upgrade their professional qualifications. The Western Australia Post Secondary Education Commission, acting on the Partridge Report on Post-Secondary Education in Western Australia, investigated recommendations…

Drawing on evidence from literature on professional development of teachers in Australia, this document discusses the essential aspects of inservice education and provides a checklist, with illustrative applications, by which to design and evaluate inservice education proposals. The checklist is based on four sets of assumptions relating to…

The situation regarding each Australian State's secondary physics syllabi are summarized. The planning directions necessary to keep such syllabi relevant to the changing needs of Australian secondary students are discussed. Factors influencing the implementation of these physics courses are described. (KR)

This report contains reviews of relevant Australian literature and of inservice teacher education programs in Australia and in other countries. The first part of this report describes the origin and objectives of the Western Australian In-Service Teacher Education Project. In the report's second section, trends in the definition of inservice…

In 1976 the Schools Commission (Australia) commenced a program of evaluation of its specific-purpose programs in order to obtain objective assessments of the impact of these programs and to determine ways in which they might be improved. One of the programs chosen for evaluation was the Development Program. This report discusses the design and…

Issues that emerged in the evaluation of the Queensland (Australia) Review of School-Based Assessment are discussed. The effects of implementation on secondary school teachers are addressed. The legal requirements, under Section 37 of the Queensland Education Act, of the curriculum innovation have been implemented and met by teachers. (TJH)

A study focused on development of a sound methodology with which Australian Technical and Further Education (TAFE) authorities, institutions, and staff could evaluate continuing staff development programs and activities. The methodology developed was college-based, focused upon the college staff development program, and considered the staff…

This report summarizes a survey of participants in a teacher training program for the First Steps project, which provides additional support for development of literacy and numeracy among "at-risk" students in Western Australia schools. The training program was to assist teachers in implementing the program in their schools. Respondents…

Presents the course outline and model of teacher change utilized by the Active and Reflective Teaching in Secondary Mathematics professional development program designed to introduce teachers to current developments in the teaching and training of mathematics. A case study is reported that illustrates and substantiates the initial process of…

The Australian Language Levels (ALL) Project offers a coherent model for elementary and secondary language curriculum design. Book 4 of the four-volume series discusses aspects of curriculum change and inservice teacher education, emphasizing the fact that curriculum and staff development are ongoing processes. A section on implementing curriculum…

A description is given of an exemplary program, developed by Claremont Teachers College in West Australia, that involved on-site teacher development to help introduce children in grades 1-4 to historical thinking. The College provided academic staff for the project and assisted teachers by providing advice and materials. The long term objectives…