Purpose: This research aimed to examine the impact of input, process, output, productivity and outcome variables on university research performance and the indicators that represent them in order to improve academic quality and contribute to government policy. Design/methodology/approach: The quantitative approach was used through a survey method…

The Australian governments' centrepiece Indigenous strategy, the 'Closing the Gap' framework, established in 2008 to address systemic Indigenous disadvantage, is underpinned by the concept of 'school readiness', which expects Indigenous families to bring their children to school ready to learn. The education system commonly blames Indigenous…

In education systems there is inter-connectedness with multiple sub-systems which interact with each other. This paper argues that complexity theory is well suited as a lens to research education reforms. Key elements of complexity theory that are particularly useful are applied to the South African case. Aspects of complexity theory include:…

This report presents the findings from a rapid literature review of the barriers to school attendance and reasons for student absence. It was commissioned by the Australian Education Research Organisation as part of its work on work on school attendance for Education Ministers. Whether a child attends school or is absent is underpinned by a wide…

Purpose: A systematic literature review has neglected for years in both national and international vocational educational and training (VET) policy research. Recently, scholarly interest in and the need for such a review has increased rapidly. This review introduces the application of the systematic literature review method, with a focus on…

The systems thinking approach requires understanding and interpreting complex systems. This review investigated how the systems thinking approach in science education is positioned in peer-reviewed empirical research articles and to identify the trends used in the current literature. A systematic review of open-access, empirical peer-reviewed…

The article presents two key concepts of sociological systems theory -- externalisation and structural coupling -- and applies them to explain (a) the exponential growth of international large-scale student assessments and (b) the rise of 'policy-relevant' educational research. The author concludes with a comparison between key concepts used in…

This exploratory paper seeks to shed light on the methodological challenges of education systems research. There is growing consensus that interventions to improve learning outcomes must be designed and studied as part of a broader system of education, and that learning outcomes are affected by a complex web of dynamics involving different inputs,…

Education policy continues to press for increased use of research evidence in decision-making, yet decades of research point to weak links between research and practice. We see evidence-informed improvement not as a problem with schools, but with a larger evidence-use ecosystem. As a step toward building and strengthening multidirectional paths…

In this paper, problems with the philosophy and research relating to various interpretations of 'closing the gap' are used to open up a discussion of, and illustrate, the process whereby a narrow interpretation of 'science' and neglect of systems thinking result in the generation of huge amounts of dangerous and misleading misinformation and…

In this paper I argue for a necessary -- and possible -- paradigmatic shift in early childhood scholarship that embraces multiplicity, diversity, ambiguity, uncertainty and shared situated knowledge creation in response to a profoundly changed global context. The contours of the new paradigm are already emerging as three interconnected…

Globalization has become one of the most recurrent concepts in social and political sciences. More often than not, however, the concept is handled without much of a properly articulated theory capable of explaining its historical origin and expansion. For education researchers attempting to elucidate how global changes and processes affect their…

Rhizoanalysis is introduced here as a way of processing through an assemblage involving research methodology, data generation and analytical possibilities entwined within. In concert, rhizomethodology is presented as a way of working (with) data, complexly; a way of putting the Deleuzo-Guattarian philosophical imaginary of rhizome to work.…

The aim of the paper is to review scholarly attempts to define or explain vocational education and training and to develop a theoretical model to analyse national definitions or conceptions of VET [vocational education and training] and how they have changed over time. VET takes many forms and is, perhaps, the least unitary of education sectors.…

In introducing the studies in this collective volume on research in teaching and learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP), we begin by considering the current context of language education in European universities, then examine key terms and concepts in our own vision of ESP didactics, before previewing the chapters selected for inclusion in…