Pedagogy in teaching through English medium instruction : academics' cases in a Chinese university

As a result of two decades of development, the trajectory of English medium instruction (EMI) research has moved from the identification of problems towards a focus on pedagogy. In response to studies in the literature claiming that the dominant approach in EMI pedagogy is the direct transmission of knowledge, and calls for research investigating classroom discourse in EMI teaching, this study explores the pedagogical features enacted by bilingual EMI academics in a Chinese university’s EMI program. The participants were four academics who were teaching a subject in parallel across both EMI and CMI student cohorts. The research employs Paulo Freire’s framework of dialogic teaching as the theoretical lens and focused on investigating moments in which the EMI lecturers ‘dialogued’, engaged, and/or interacted with students in their EMI classes. This research found that, in spite of their varied disciplines, the lecturers mostly implemented expository teaching in their EMI and CMI classes in general. The efforts of individual academics in relation to intellectual equality, the wellbeing of students, and the encouragement of critical thinking through dialogue and interaction were identified. However, due to the academics positioning themselves as experts in subject knowledge, the tendency in their teaching was characterized as monologic rather than dialogic. This research contests a major theme in the literature, which is that the academics’ English (EMI teaching), in reference to their first language (L1), is not the major contributor to their pedagogical approach

Writing in Secondary Academic Partners

Writing in Secondary (WiS) Academic Partners is a partnership between the New South Wales Department of Education and the Centre for Educational Research, School of Education, Western Sydney University (WSU). The WiS project was undertaken across secondary schools (n=20) within NSW in 2021 and 2022. The project focused on the improvement in academic writing for Stages 4 and 5 within History; Personal Development, Health and Physical Education; Science and Visual Arts. The impact of WiS on students' writing within these subjects and teachers' pedagogical changes in the teaching of writing are identified in this report

Teaching Resource on Flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley: Assessing the Impact on Student Learning

This report details the findings of research conducted for Infrastructure NSW assessing the impact of teaching curriculum resource about Hawkesbury‑Nepean Valley on students’ understanding of natural hazards, community preparedness and responses to flooding. The research comprised pre and post surveys of students’ understanding and awareness of natural hazards and emergency services and planning before and after the resource was delivered. This quantitative survey data has been analysed in the findings. A focus group to identify teacher’s perspectives and experiences of using the resource was conducted. Qualitative evidence from the focus group interviews is presented. Survey participants included a sample of 332 students from a range of schools including government, catholic and independent schools. The participants were stage 4 students (aged between 12 and 14 years) studying geography at school in NSW Stage 4 classrooms from diverse backgrounds. Focus group participants were teachers from schools who had implemented the resource within their classrooms throughout 2019. The focus group participants came from government, Catholic and independent schools and had a range of experience in teaching geography

Exploring historical consciousness with Australian school children

The study explores the development of historical consciousness in Australian school children (from Year 6 to Year 12). Historical consciousness can be seen, in part, as the ability to construct divergent ideas about the past based on evidence that rejects the paradigm of history as a fixed set of events. This research considers how students in Australia learn and construct concepts of historical consciousness and analyses these findings in relation to national survey of historical consciousness. This paper reports on emergent themes from the survey data of Australian school students

It takes a global village : re-conceptualising global education within current frameworks of school and curricula

Globally 775 million adults (15 and over) are illiterate, with women being overrepresented. Over 100 million children across secondary and primary years worldwide are excluded from participation in school education (57 million primary age and 69 secondary age children) (UNESCO, 2014a). Global Education is the key to unlocking social stratification, inequality and social injustice, access to quality education that enables young people to become skilled, aware and flexible citizens to deal with current and future issues of globalisation, increased competition for resources, sustainability and conflict (Wang, Lin, Spalding, Odell, & Klecka, 2011). However, many countries including developed nations like Australia are still debating who should hold the keys and what curriculum frameworks will be enacted

Going global

The connectivity and convergence of globalisation is evident in daily life, economics, politics and the media. Globalisation has subsumed nationalism and ousted state apparatuses that control knowledge and labour forces. While globalisation has emancipated ideas it is still challenged by the structural inequalities and instabilities that exist in communities. Globalisation according to Dower and Williams (2002) confronts young people with their own global impact and identity. Globalisation requires students to grapple with their identity, ethnicity, culture, politics, economics, societal norms, religion and dependency (Dower & Williams, 2002). These are major challenges for schools

Re-thinking historical consciousness in a pandemic : from commemoration to contestability

The paper critiques the curriculum construction of historical consciousness within Australian school systems. National and trans-national discourses about identity, culture, gender, race and class influence the development of historical consciousness in Australian classrooms. During this unprecedented period of shared grief and global trauma, re-interpreting historical narratives that build children's concepts of social justice, equity and global inclusivity is important epistemological work for the future. This paper uses survey data and interviews from Australian school children and teachers as the COVID-19 pandemic emerged to examine what are the key narratives about Indigenous stories, resilience, adversity, global migration, and national identity, and how these narratives distort present realities. The analysis considers how historical consciousness is enacted within the current Australian school curriculum with stories from commemoration to contestability. Survey data from students from school years 6–12 is analysed in terms of how personal agency and empathy is formed through historical practices and inquiry in the classroom. This is supported by interviews about teaching practices. This paper reveals how globalized experiences can bridge historic boundaries of racism, prejudice and exclusion and how curriculum frameworks can develop critical historical consciousness for the future

Foreign language pre-service teachers' perceptions of concerns before and challenges experienced during the first teaching practicum

The growing call among the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to recruit, retrain, and recertify foreign and migrant teachers in order to diversify the teaching force to reflect the increasingly diverse student population justifies the need to explore the experiences of foreign language teachers during their first teaching practicum in Australian mainstream classrooms. Semi-structured interviews were held with six foreign language pre-service teachers pursuing the Master of Teaching (Secondary) programme. The purpose was to explore their teaching experiences, concerns prior to the first teaching practicum in Australian mainstream classrooms, and how they dealt with the challenges encountered. The findings indicate that although teaching a foreign language in community language schools provided the teachers with some practical teaching skills, values, and opportunities to practice the knowledge and theories acquired in their master's programme, they all had concerns before the teaching practicum and encountered some challenges while undertaking it. The study discusses the challenges that the participants encountered and how they addressed them. In addition, it highlights the need for universities to design retraining programmes that address the unique concerns of foreign language teachers and equip them with the requisite knowledge and skills to enable them to become effective teachers in their new context

The importance of data in teaching and learning

Understanding student data is an important dimension in teaching practice that is linked to improving learning outcomes in the classroom. Navigating and analysing student data on literacy and numeracy skills is an important tool for all teachers in developing high-quality learning tasks and improvements. Specifically, data analysis and interpretation and the resulting modifications to teaching practice are important requirements of teaching excellence. Immersing and guiding pre-service teachers within school-based data- and evidence-driven teaching practices is a critical step in their development. This chapter considers how school-based data and evidence can inform pre-service teachers’ professional knowledge and understanding of student learning. A case study of pre-service teachers’ learning about school-based student data is presented within three Australian secondary schools. Implications for future pre-service teacher development in using school-based data are discussed