The Australian Educational Researcher

The Creating Meaningful Connections project is a longitudinal study that resulted from a partnership between social work academics at the University of Newcastle and educators at a regional secondary school in NSW, Australia. It seeks to better understand the relationship between school connectedness and youth mental health. In stage 1, focus groups were conducted with 99 students 9 months after their transition to secondary school. The shift to secondary school created a range of social and academic challenges for young people. It often resulted in limited—or no—contact with friends from primary school, requiring the negotiation of new friendships. While this process was relatively trouble-free for many students, others described it as risky and challenging. Positive peer relationships appeared to increase happiness, feelings of safety, offer support during difficult periods and facilitate secondary school adjustment. This paper offers a unique perspective by capturing student voice and commentary about the nature and importance of peer relationships during transition. It also highlights the potential for social work and education to work collaboratively to enhance peer relationships, mental health and school connectedness during transition.

This paper seeks to explain why the subject media studies looks and sounds the way it does today through the production of a genealogy of the subject. The questions addressed are first, why was this subject introduced into the curriculum in the 1970s? Secondly, how has knowledge in the subject been defined and contested, how and why has it changed in the course of the subject’s history? Thirdly, which knowledge attains the status of truth and becomes the accepted definition of what the subject is about? The theoretical perspective adopted in this study draws from both postmodernist critiques and sociologies of subject knowledge. It presents a critical sociology of knowledge that draws insights from both social historians of school subjects and the work of Michel Foucault. The study draws a distinction between knowledge as defined by formal educational authorities (articulated in syllabuses) and knowledge defined by those practising the subject (teachers and curriculum advisors).

In reporting the Australian results of the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, Adult literacy and life skills survey, summary results, Australia, 2008a, p. 5) stated that of the five internationally identified levels of literacy and numeracy in the survey, Level 3 is regarded by the survey developers as the ‘minimum required for individuals to meet the complex demands of everyday life in the emerging knowledge-based economy’. In effect, this Level 3 criterion, in the wake of traditional functional literacy/illiteracy dichotomies, creates yet another ‘single measure’ through which to distinguish those who can from those who cannot function in society. The Level 3 criterion and the accompanying verbatim quote have since been cited extensively by powerful institutions, including government, industry and skills in their promotion of a crisis discourse in adult literacy and numeracy. This has led in turn to national policy responses on ‘foundation skills’ and nationally agreed performance targets (by the Council of Australian Governments) for skills and workforce development based on the ALLS Level 3. In this paper we question the validity, origin and significance of the Level 3 criterion and contend that highlighting this aspect in the reporting of the ALLS has resulted in a narrow and unbalanced perspective on the role of literacy and numeracy in society.

Stories and literature play an important and necessary role in understanding the past and in creating the future. Yet, in colonised countries such as Australia, the status of contemporary national texts, particularly those reflecting the diverse voices of Indigenous writers, women, and other marginalised groups, continue to be underrepresented in schools. In this article, we explore the reasons why Australian texts continue to be marginalised in education, when there is a clear desire for diverse Australian voices amongst the reading public. We also consider the kinds of national identities that current text selection and teaching policies are creating and maintaining in schools. In order to develop these ideas, we draw on data collected via a survey of secondary English teachers for a pilot research project called Teaching Australia. In this project, we explored the Australian texts being selected and championed by teachers in secondary schools, the perceptions of nation and national identity these convey, and teachers’ approaches to including diverse Australian texts in their classrooms. In the final section of the paper, we consider some future opportunities for engagement with diverse Australian literature for teachers and students of English.

Bài báo này cung cấp một cái nhìn tổng quan về các chính sách tự chủ trường học trong giáo dục công ở Úc kể từ báo cáo Karmel năm 1973 đến nay. Nội dung chính tập trung vào các khía cạnh công bằng xã hội của cuộc cải cách này. Nó theo dõi những căng thẳng giữa các động thái chính sách nhằm cấp quyền tự chủ lớn hơn cho các trường học và việc kiểm soát quyền tự chủ này với sự gia tăng thiết lập các hình thức quy định bên ngoài. Sử dụng các khái niệm phi gắn kết và gắn kết lại thị trường của Nancy Fraser, chúng tôi theo dõi các thời điểm chính sách quan trọng ở ba tiểu bang Úc (Victoria, Tây Úc và New South Wales) cùng với các can thiệp liên bang. Chúng tôi nhấn mạnh những hệ quả công bằng phân phối và đại diện phát sinh từ các thời điểm chính sách này, diễn ra trong một quỹ đạo nhất quán hướng tới một chương trình nghị sự thị trường và lập luận rằng các chính sách trong tương lai cần xem xét hiệu ứng của các chính sách trong quá khứ.