National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) are intended to promote stronger linkages between education institutions and the labour market. This paper examines how industrial relations institutions mediate the relationship between formal qualifications, job classifications and pay outcomes in Australian manufacturing. In Australia a tribunal sets…

This article explores the issue of social mobility in relation to the recent expansion of higher vocational education (HIVE) by non-university providers. The post-school vocational education sector has become the object of policies to widen access to higher education to ensure greater social mobility and provide second chance education to those…

This study sought to describe and classify the support activities provided by all itinerant teachers for students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) in regular schools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), without exclusion. The itinerant teachers (n = 14) varied in terms of formal qualifications and experience and provided support to all…

People participate in vocational education and training (VET) for a variety of reasons and at different stages of their life. Some undertake VET to gain the vocational skills necessary to enter the labour market for the first time, while others enter in order to upgrade existing skills, learn new ones, or simply for personal interest. Successful…

Semantic priming effects are popularly explained in terms of an automatic spreading activation process, according to which the activation of a node in a semantic network spreads automatically to interconnected nodes, preactivating a semantically related word. It is expected from this account that semantic priming effects should be routinely…

We describe an application of the assessment triangle, using a learning progression as the "cognition" vertex. We summarize two studies to evaluate whether evidence of student performance is consistent with our progression. In Study 1, we conducted think alouds using draft assessment activities and evaluated responses in relation to the…

Apprenticeship completion rates have remained persistently low for decades in spite of broad agreement over the causes of non-completions. A possible factor missing from these explanations is climate, particularly in northern Australia where traditional trade apprentices are exposed to extreme conditions and exert themselves. We hypothesize that:…

The recent growth in privately administered secondary education in many developed countries has been a widely observed phenomenon. The Australian private secondary school sector has grown faster than those in any other "OECD" nation, even though the average tuition fees charged by these schools have increased at double the nation's…

The opinions about what characterises a good citizen are diverse, yet survey research usually employs variable-centred analytical strategies to examine people's concepts of good citizenship. The present study builds on a person-centred approach towards good citizenship and validates previously identified types of good citizenship among Australian…

This paper investigates the extent of electronic dictionary use by language learners in an Australian university. All students in the study are formally enrolled in language courses across ten languages at first, second or third year level. The study places a particular emphasis on gauging student perceptions of the beneficial aspects of…

This paper provides a snapshot of the current approach to ethics education in accredited Australian pre-service teacher programs. Methods included a manual calendar search of ethics related subjects required in teacher programs using a sample of 24 Australian universities and a survey of 26 university representatives. Findings show a paucity of…

The Australian field of English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching is globally respected for its research and practice achievements over a period of some 30 years. However, this essential field of pedagogy is being diluted in the current Australian reform agenda which is firmly founded on a traditional vision of English as first language, and…

This study examined the effect of age-correction on IQ scores among preterm school-aged children. Data from the Flinders Medical Centre Neonatal Unit Follow-up Program for 81 children aged five years and assessed with the WPPSI-III, and 177 children aged eight years and assessed with the WISC-IV, were analysed. Corrected IQ scores were…

This article focuses on analysing the effect of educational differentiation policies of OECD educational systems on socioeconomically disadvantaged students, based on data from PISA 2009. The analysis is conducted on the basis of a definition of two subgroups of disadvantaged students: those that achieve high scores, and those obtaining scores…

Since 2008 Australia has held the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (known as NAPLAN) for all students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Despite the multilingual character of the Australian population, these standardized literacy and numeracy tests are built on an assumption of English as a first language competency. The capacity for…