An investigation into the impact of high-stakes testing, through the naplan assessment, on the teaching and learning of mathematics in one primary school

In 2008, the implementation of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) commenced in all schools across Australia. This assessment of mathematical and literacy standards across Australia raised questions about the impact which high-stakes testing has on teaching and learning. This research specifically focused on the effect NAPLAN has had on the teaching and learning of mathematics. The study explored perspectives about NAPLAN from key participants; students, teachers and parents at one Western Australian Primary School. These perspectives included the potential anxiety experienced by students and how this affected their performance in NAPLAN. According to recent research on high-stakes testing, the role of the teacher is instrumental in children’s achievement results. As such, this study also investigated the extent to which instructional pedagogy at one school had been altered by the implementation of NAPLAN and the subsequent publication of results. Moreover, this study investigated the effect NAPLAN had on parents’ understanding of the national testing program and how NAPLAN had affected their relationship with the school. Consistent with a phenomenological perspective, the qualitative data for this investigation were collected through semi-structured interviews and field notes. Moreover, collected data offer insight into how the implementation of NAPLAN has affected stakeholders’ attitudes towards the teaching and learning of mathematics

Love in education: West Australian early childhood pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on children\u27s right to be loved and its actualisation within their future practice

Children\u27s right to love is a recognised fundamental human need set down within the 1992 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This recognition stems from an acknowledgement that the Early Years of Development are emotionally driven (Degotardi, S., & Sweller, N. (2012). Mind-mindedness in infant child-care: Associations with early childhood practitioner sensitivity and stimulation. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(2), 253–265. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2011.09.002.). Young children respond best to those with whom they experience love and acceptance (Carter, M. A., & Fewster, C. (2013). Diversifying early years’ professional learning: One size no longer fits all. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 38(1), 73–⁠80.). As such, love in the classroom is important as an empowering agent of children\u27s well-being and achievement. Children’s need and right to be surrounded by love poses a challenge for many early childhood teachers as they strive to meet the emotional needs of children within a professional care-based relationship (Goldstein, J. (2012). Children’s development, health and well-being. Waterloo, Brussels: Toy Industries of Europe (TIE); Walsh, K., & Brandon, L. (2012). Their children’s first educators: Parents’ views about child sexual abuse prevention education. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 21(5), 734–746. doi:10.1007/s10826-011-9526-4.). This research presents pre-service teachers’ perspectives on love in early childhood education; their definitions, their understanding of its role within the development, and their visions of how it can be actualised within their practice

Play-based learning in Western Australian schools: Contributing to the process from policy to practice

The role of play within Western Australian (WA) schools has been the subject of much debate since the publication, in 2016, of The Early Childhood Australia (ECA) Discussion Paper which called for a WA Play Strategy in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). The Discussion Paper was the result of a 2013 consultation of ECA’s WA based members. The members identified a noteworthy limitation to the opportunities that young children in WA have to play and that these opportunities are diminishing. Other significant organisations active within ECEC policy and practice in WA, including family, child and educator representation groups, publically agreed with this ascertain (Hesterman, Targowska & Howitt 2016). ECA agreed to advocate for play through the creation of a WA Play Strategy Initiative. Since the publication of the Discussion Paper in 2016, there have been further significant developments

Who am I in the eyes of the world? A comparative study of Pre-Service Teachers\u27 perceptions of Early Childhood Educators\u27 professional status in their community. Australian and American perspectives

This research provides an insight into the perceptions held by pre-service teachers on the professional status of early childhood educators in their community. As a comparative study, it presents results from both Australian and American perspectives. It is the first research of its kind in studying pre-service teachers’ perceptions of ECEC teacher’s status in relation to the Australian context or in comparing perspectives from Australia and the USA. The paper illuminates on two main points. It presents findings on multiple level pre-service teachers’ perceptions of early childhood educators’ professional status in their community and also examines how the perceptions gathered from pre-service teachers in Australia compare to those from America, opening the field for cultural and policial analysis and discourse. This study’s significance is deepened within the Australian political landscape as it comes at a time when the Early Childhood Education and Care sector has implemented a new quality framework which prioritises teaching qualifications. The comparative aspect of the study thereby provides rich opportunity for cross cultural analysis in relation to how Early Childhood Educators are viewed within their own broader educational community membership

Exploring Social Justice through Service Learning in a Western Australian Catholic Secondary School: GRACE in action

A fundamental role of Catholic education is to enable young people to display faith in action thus embodying the love, compassion and justice of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (CEWA, 2019). Jesus Christ’s challenge to create a loving, kind and just world, is encompassed in Service Learning Programs in Western Australian Catholic Secondary Schools. According to Lavery (2007) service-learning is a teaching method where classroom learning is deepened and extended through service to others. Service Learning Programs enable students to develop as global citizens of service and justice. These programs invite students to move from a personal understanding of God’s love to a communal understanding in order to follow Jesus’ commandment of loving one another in order to ‘make the world a better place for all’ (Mandate, 24). This paper reports on an investigation of a Service Learning Program in a catholic secondary school in Western Australia. The main aims of this project were to determine how past students perceived service learning and to explore if these students have continued to be involved in service beyond their school years. The main questions explored were (i) How was service learning implemented through a secondary school curriculum? (ii) To what extent did the service learning program influence past students to continue service beyond their experiences at a Western Australian Catholic School? This study responded to limited literature reviewing the effects service learning programs have on students beyond their school experiences. The research explored how students carried the grace of God residing within them into their communities beyond the compulsory service learning program. The study relied principally on the audio-recorded exchanges between the researchers and the participants through individual semi-structured interviews. Such exchanges were opportunities for the participants to express in their own language, their perceptions, opinions, and ‘lived experience’ of service learning. The information was analysed and interpreted by the researchers and recorded almost exclusively in the ‘natural’ language of the participants as they attempted to articulate their understandings and experiences of the service learning program. Qualitative journaling was also used by the researchers to record participants’ reflections on service learning as they emerged during the course of the data collection stage. Drawing meaning from the collected data required methods of qualitative data analysis, and the adoption of a qualitative, interpretivist paradigm (Neuman, 2003) to inform the methodological conduct of the study. This approach placed high importance on interpreting and understanding meaningful social interactions and the empathetic understanding of everyday lived experiences (Neuman, 2003) from the perspective of those who lived those actual experiences. Qualitative data from the interviews was analysed and explored for common themes (Miles and Huberman, 2014). The initial findings from the participants in this study have revealed three main themes: Knowledge of the service learning program, continued participation within the community beyond the service learning program and global citizenship. The interview questions permitted participants to discuss their experiences within the service learning program. Most participants clearly outlined the program and indicated that it was a positive experience. The second theme revealed that ex-student participants felt that they benefited from participating in the service learning program and that it allowed them to look beyond their own personal needs and consider the communal needs of others. The final theme was evidenced by some students utilising their experience in the service learning program to become global citizens. Having been inspired by their experiences within the Service Learning Program, students had chosen career paths in which they ensure social justice is administered not only within their own communities but in a global perspective. There are many signs of grace within this study. Service Learning Programs enable young people to display values that are consistent with the Gospel to develop a profound understanding of service from a Catholic perspective. Providing opportunities for students to have the lived experience of Jesus’ commandment love one another allows for grace in action

The Journey to G.R.A.C.E: Creating an International Community of Practice

Global Researchers Advancing Catholic Education (G.R.A.C.E) is a unique Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP methodology was applied within G.R.A.C.E for its capacity to connect multi-disciplinary and international academics and practitioners within Catholic Education. This paper presents key insights gathered from the G.R.A.C.E steering committee regarding their perspectives on the journey of initiating this unique CoP. A small qualitative research project framed within a phenomenological interpretivist theoretical perspective was employed to ascertain the participants’ hopes, experiences, impact as well as challenges and opportunities. A Qualtrics questionnaire was the selected data collection method. Findings suggest that the experience of G.R.A.C.E has been a positive one, affirming the CoP methodology adopted was effective in ensuring the hopes that members held for the CoP were actualised. Challenges and opportunities identified in the findings provide insight into the future direction of this truly global initiative

Parental perceptions of NAPLAN results: Who is telling the truth

Each year across Australia, students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 participate in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The NAPLAN results are reported nationally through summary and national reports, and an individual report is provided to parents and caregivers for each student. One dimension of the case study presented in this paper explored parents’ perceptions of NAPLAN in mathematics, finding that there was confusion and concern over the discrepancy in the results between NAPLAN and school reports. This paper presents findings from a larger case study that explored teachers’, parents’, and students’ concerns regarding NAPLAN. This paper presents those findings pertaining to parental perspectives of the discrepancies between school reports and NAPLAN results in mathematics and the effect these discrepancies have on the parent-school relationship

We love because he first loved us: Catholic, pre-service, early childhood teachers\u27 perspectives on the relationship between their faith and their positionality within the contemporary international debate on pedagogical love in early childhood education.

A) Motivation and Interest (Background to the research) This research project is now in its second phase. As a project, it initially grew out of conversations with pre-service teachers. As educators of educators, we observed that there was a frequency of conversations arising within tutorial sessions intersecting with a growing international debate on the role of love in education and in particular, in early childhood education, where children\u27s brains are shaped by their experiences of love. These tutorial conversations were generally punctuated by expressions of concern by students that children’s right to be loved and to feel loved was an important and integral part of early childhood education. This was upheld by the existing body of literature on pedagogical love which holds that children’s need and right to be surrounded by love poses a challenge for many early childhood teachers as they strive to meet the emotional needs of children within a professional care-based relationship (Goldstein, 1999; Walsh & Brandon, 2012). As the educators of these future educators, we decided that some action research was required in order to ascertain more comprehensively, the perspectives of our students on children’s right to be loved and how students envisaged this right would be actualised within their future practice. in 2018, we undertook phase one of this project by carrying out empirical research with undergraduate students which showed that they hold a very strong commitment and deep understanding of the role of love within their emerging pedagogy. This research was published in 2019 and is available at the following link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03004430.2019.1574778 We were very impressed by the depth of our student\u27s perspectives on pedagogical love. As Catholic researchers in a Catholic University, it was perhaps natural that we would ask whether the Catholicity of our research participants had an influence on their impressive grasp of the role that love plays within holistic human development across intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual domains. The question of the relationship between Catholicity and pedagogy, particularly in the context of pedagogical love in early Childhood teaching practice forms phase two of this project. It is this research from phase two which we wish to present at Grace in June 2020. B) Core Question What are Catholic pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on the relationship between their Catholicity and their emerging pedagogy, particularly in the context of pedagogical love in early Childhood teaching practice? C) Main discussion points 1. Catholic pre-service teachers definitions of their Catholicity and their perspectives on how their faith intersects within their professional practice 2. Catholic pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on their own faith formation within education and within key pedagogical and nurturing relationships 3. Catholic pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on pedagogical love as a concept 4. Catholic Pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on pedagogical love within their future practice 5. Catholic Pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on their catholicity and their position on pedagogical love within their future practice 6. Catholic Pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on the relationship between their \u27accreditation to teach in a Catholic school\u27 experiences and their position on pedagogical love within their future practice 7. Catholic Pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on the relationship between their engagement with the University\u27s Core Curriculum courses (encompassing Philosophy, Ethics and Theology) and their position on pedagogical love within their future practice 8. Catholic Pre-service teachers\u27 perspectives on how their programs could better prepare them to meet young children\u27s need and right to be loved within a professional care-based relationship D) Signs of GRACE Within the project: Grace is God’s unconditional love. The shape of our humanity is directly related to our early experiences of love. With children entering the education system at ever younger ages, it is imperative for their development that they experience true and unconditional love in that environment as well as within the home. A Catholic educator, in their journey to support each child to reach his or her potential, needs to be a channel for God’s unconditional love. It is for this reason, that we called this project after John’s gospel 4.19 We love because he first loved us. Within our pursuit of the project: Our journey within this project so far has been illuminated by signs of Grace. We have seen God\u27s love within our student\u27s love for their future students. Our friendships have deepened and we have formed strong connections across previously divided lines. And importantly, it has led us to you

Belonging, being and becoming active citizens

One of the long-term goals of the mandated early childhood curriculum document Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework [EYLF] (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR], 2009) is to incite independent learners who will contribute to the development of their country. A vision of this framework is that “all children have the best start in life to create a better future for themselves and for the nation” (p. 5). This statement of intent aligns with the underlying aim of the Civics and Citizenship learning area of the Humanities and Social Sciences [HASS]learning area situated within the mandated Australian Curriculum for years F-10 (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA],2017). Civics and Citizenship encourages students to value their belonging to a diverse society and to positively contribute locally, nationally and globally (ACARA, 2017). This paper will explore the direct association of these two curricula by explicitly analysing the two documents from an integrated perspective. A discussion follows on how the EYLF (DEEWR, 2009) and Civics and Citizenship (ACARA, 2014) can be referenced simultaneously to achieve both the short term and the long-term goal of producing informed, active, citizens in accordance with Goal Two of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young People [Melbourne Declaration] (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs [MCEETYA], 2008)

Seizures and Antiseizure Medications are Important to Parents of Newborns With Seizures.

BackgroundNeonatal seizures and antiseizure medications both have potentially serious consequences on the developing brain. As such, optimal treatment of neonatal seizures remains unclear. Moreover, little is known about parental experiences, concerns, or unanswered questions. We conducted an online survey to assess parental perspectives regarding neonatal seizures and their management, along with their suggestions for specific high priority research topics.MethodsParents whose children had neonatal seizures were recruited through social media support groups to complete an online survey. Respondents progressed through a tiered series of questions about their experiences with neonatal seizures and antiseizure medications.ResultsThere were 126 eligible respondents. On a Likert scale, parents reported that neonatal seizures had a major effect on their families (median 10 of 10; interquartile range 3; n = 85). They also reported that antiseizure medications had a significant impact on their families (median 7 of 10; interquartile range 5.5; n = 75). The emotional impact of the uncertainty regarding seizures and medications was highlighted. Effects on neurodevelopment, continued seizures, and adverse effects of medications were some of the most commonly reported parental concerns and their highest priority research topics.ConclusionsBoth neonatal seizures and the medications used to treat them contribute to parental worries and have major impact on families. Patient-centered outcomes research should focus on the risk-benefit ratio of neonatal seizures and antiseizure medication. The emotional impact on parents related to the uncertainty regarding both immediate and long-term neonatal seizure management is important to address in the clinical setting