One major challenge researchers have faced during the disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is how to adapt to the global virus and, at the same time, make good progress in their research pursuits. Also, many international researchers have suspended ongoing research in developing countries due to inadequate online facilities in these…

Competition is reported in the general education literature as having a largely detrimental impact upon student engagement and long-term motivation, yet competition has long been an accepted part of the music education ensemble landscape. Adjudicated ensemble competitions and competition-festivals are commonplace in most Australian states, as…

The "Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians" (MCEETYA, 2008) cited confident and creative citizens as a key goal for Australian students. This goal aligns with global research on visual arts, specifically visual literacy. Being visually literate means decoding images, understanding the relationship between image…

The Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005 confronted Australia and its neighbours directly for the first time with the dangers of violent extremism. Since then, the Bali Peace Park Association (BPPA), consisting of former victims, their families and other interested parties, has been lobbying for the creation of the "Bali Peace Park" to be…

This article explores the interplay of the 'live' experience of drama learning in the classroom and curated digital content on learner meaning making, collaborative creation and subjectivities. It examines a case study conducted in an inner-city secondary school in Sydney, Australia, as part of a larger innovative international collaborative drama…

Background: Alongside academic and vocational goals, schools are increasingly being called upon to address student well-being. Existing evidence suggests that strong relationships and a sense of connectedness in school communities are important for fostering subjective well-being. However, identifying the specific nature of such relational…

This article reports on an innovative pedagogical approach within the "Learning Partnerships" program in which school students help to "teach the teachers" within pre-service teacher education. Classes of school students join with classes of pre-service teachers to provide input on how teachers can enhance school students'…

This paper illustrates the use of exploratory focus groups to inform the development of a survey instrument in a sequential phase mixed-methods study investigating differences in secondary students' career choice capability. Five focus groups were conducted with 23 Year 10 students in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Analysis of the focus…

Teachers of senior secondary mathematics are required to contend with a number of challenges including covering the prescribed curriculum, differentiating the content for a range of learners, and preparing students for externally imposed assessment tasks. The flipped classroom is gaining in popularity as an approach that can be used to address…

In school education, one of the few visible responses to increasing globalisation of educational practice has been the implementation of short-term experiential overseas student learning programmes. This paper analyses the results of a comparative research project on three Australian schools that offer such learning experiences. It argues that…

This paper contributes to conversations about school, post-compulsory and further education policy by reporting findings from a three-year study with disaffected students who have been referred to special "behaviour"schools. Contrary to popular opinion, our research finds that these "ignorant yobs" do value education and know…

This article explores the significance of actively engaging with students in school about matters that concern them. The discussion draws upon data from a large-scale mixed methods study in Australia that investigated how "wellbeing" in schools is understood and facilitated. The qualitative phase of the research included semi-structured…

The "Accelerating the Mathematics Learning of Low Socio-Economic Status Junior Secondary Students" project aims to address the issues faced by very underperforming mathematics students as they enter high school. Its aim is to accelerate learning of mathematics through a vertical curriculum to enable students to access Year 10 mathematics…

Adolescents continue to be at risk of disengaging from formal education, particularly in the transition year from primary to secondary schooling. This is a critical time in their education journey and can affect their ongoing academic performances. This paper reflects on the initial findings of a project to gauge students' levels of engagement in…

The study objectives were to develop, trial and evaluate a cross-cultural adaptation of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-Second Edition Teacher Form (ABAS-II TF) ages 5-21 for use with Indigenous Australian students ages 5-14. This study introduced a multiphase mixed-method design with semi-structured and informal interviews, school…