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As you read this text you will find useful features in every chapter to enhance your study of Teaching and help you understand how the theory is applied in the real world.
PART OPENING FEATURES
The Chapter list outlines the chapters contained in each part for easy reference.
Part opening quotes give an insight into the content to be covered in the part.
See the teaching experience through the eyes of a student with chapter opening student artworks, related to the content covered in the chapter.
perceived her own attitude as not particularly relevant. The extract below outlines her thoughts:
Using funds of knowledge
I sort of went into it thinking ‘Well let’s get this five weeks over with’. And it wasn’t until after the first week that I thought ‘Hell, I could probably get something out of this’. I went into it half-hearted. It’s a bit scary isn’t it?
FEATURES WITHIN CHAPTERS
Case studies present issues in context, encouraging you to integrate and apply the concepts discussed in the chapter.
Reflection opportunities prompt you to pause and reflect on the way certain issues reflect teaching practice. Read authentic educator insights that illustrate key points of interest. These are embedded throughout to ensure the reading flow is not interrupted.
Your attitude is crucial. How you view professional experiences and your role will make all the difference to how much you learn during your placements. A positive and open mindset during your professional experiences will enable you to get the most out of the opportunities presented. Your attitude will also have an effect on your emerging professional identity, as ‘being a learner’ has been shown to be a key aspect of identity (Cohen, 2010; Johnson et al., 2012). Many situations can be interpreted in a number of different ways. Consider the following case studies.
Educators need to acknowledge the experiences, strengths and resources of families and communities to respond to individual learners. Gonzalez, Mol & Amanti (2005) refer to ‘funds of knowledge’ to describe the mosaic of bodies of knowledge, skills and practices that exist within the daily experiences of individuals. Learners are active, skilled and knowledgeable in their lives, and actively use the resources and repertoire of practices available to them to learn, develop, grow and navigate the world. The challenge for educational settings is to recognise and value the knowledge, norms, behaviours and literacies that learners bring to classroom contexts. Not doing this can lead to disengagement, under-achievement, conflict and miscommunication.
Attitudes are important
When educators build bridges and make connections between learners’ homes and educational settings, they are able to develop trusting and respectful relationships with families and communities. Educators can use the formal curriculum as a ‘cultural broker’ to mediate between the experiences of home, community and school contexts. For educators, this means connecting with what it is that the learner knows and using this as the basis for introducing new knowledge (McLachlan et al., 2018). Negotiating curriculum and planning learning experiences in this way enables learners to access their ‘virtual schoolbag’ (Thomson, 2002). This cannot be tokenistic though. Rather, learners should be enabled to meaningfully draw upon their household and community resources to participate in learning experiences that are relevant to them.
However, sometimes there are challenges and dilemmas. Learners and families may feel uncomfortable using their funds of knowledge. Hedges (2015) provides an example of a child living in a household where more than one language is spoken. Where the educator viewed the child’s bilingualism as a valuable resource, the parents (who were not native speakers of English) viewed it as detrimental to their child’s learning. The parents expected their child to only use and learn English at school. There are examples, though, of strategies to support families; for example, Dutton et al.’s (2018) work on oral and written identity texts shows how learners’ home language(s) and personal stories might be used to support language and literacy development.
Two pre-service educators were sent to the same school for their first professional experience. They were placed in the same classroom with an enthusiastic educator who was very pleased to have them. After the first few days, this educator became ill and was unable to return to school. Another educator, who was obviously not happy about having two pre-service educators, was placed in the class. One pre-service educator was very upset about the change in educators and complained constantly to his pre-service teacher colleague and everyone at home. He did not initiate conversations with the replacement educator and was irritable throughout the twoweek professional experience. When asked what he had learnt from the experience his reply, not surprisingly, was ‘Not much’. The other pre-service educator was naturally disappointed by the change in educators, but spent time talking to the replacement educator and reflected upon the differences in teaching styles between the first and the second educator. He enjoyed his placement even though it was only by the end of it that he felt more comfortable with the replacement. He was able to identify many areas of learning during the placement.
In Australia, Brian Cambourne (1984) proposed that children’s successful learning of language usually by the age of three provides some important principles that should underpin all learning situations. His ‘Conditions for Learning’ for successful language learning include:
1 How could this situation have been handled differently by the replacement educator? How could it have been handled differently by the complaining pre-service educator?
Responding to learners’ differences
• immersion, or involvement in the learning process
2 If you were in this situation, how would you respond?
• the importance of modelling or demonstrating what is to be learnt by a more experienced knower
• the need for joint construction or scaffolding of the process with the learner as an apprentice
Educators need to know about their learners, which might include learning about their families, family norms and expectations, the communities they live in and belong to, the language/s spoken at home, household chores, family outings and experiences, favourite TV shows and family occupations.
• perhaps most importantly, the expectation that the learner will succeed in learning to talk; that is, children learn to talk by talking.
Use the vignettes below to evaluate the alignment (or lack thereof) between the home life of the learners and the expectations of the learning setting described.
Budi is seven years old and has recently moved to Australia from Indonesia. His life in Indonesia was very different to that in Australia. He loves running, playing and watching sports, and is described by others as a ‘free spirit’. He struggles to follow the school rules where he must sit down, line up before class, listen to and read stories selected by the educator, complete worksheets and follow classroom rules. Budi’s educator thinks his lack of English language proficiency is causing him to not concentrate and follow instructions.
While these conditions for learning are important, too much emphasis on the naturalness of language learning can also be problematic given that language learning is also about learning a particular rather than a universal way of life or culture. In addition, many children living in poverty or experiencing difficult family circumstances do not always experience these conditions at home and will need to be provided with these opportunities in early childhood centres, preschools and schools. Consider Jake’s case below.
Captive in the classroom
Jake, 10 years old, has limited English on arriving in Australia with his family after seemingly endless years of being on the run and then in a refugee camp. His family fled Sierra Leone during the civil war. Both parents are not able to read and write in their mother tongue and have difficulty with English. Jake has thus had limited experience with books. There are only a small number of African children in his school and there is little understanding of the ordeal Jake’s family has experienced. It is clear Jake seems to feel captive or constrained in the classroom, especially when reading and writing tasks begin. He sits alone when he is in the classroom and on the playground, and already appears isolated from the other students. He is gruff when his teacher tries to encourage him to play with his peers. The teacher is worried about his progress but finds it difficult to communicate her concerns to his parents.
• Establish clear routines and procedures (e.g. how to start the day or lesson), although be open to changing these when and if the need arises. Workable routines and procedures ensure that recurring activities flow smoothly. Also, establish verbal and/or non-verbal cues to guide and direct learner conduct (e.g. placing one’s hands on one’s head or beginning a rhythmic hand clap to get attention or indicate a transition to the next part of a lesson).
Reflection Opportunity
1 What are some of the issues that need to be addressed for Jake and his family?
2 How should they be approached?
Establishing routines and procedures makes expectations in the learning environment clear, and this structure helps learners engage in their learning. For example, some educators ensure that on their arrival in the morning learners are welcomed and asked how they are, others start the day with a song, while other educators establish the routine of having primary and secondary school students line up quietly outside the classroom to establish order. Create a list of routines and procedures that you expect will be useful and important for:
The way learners use language will depend upon how language is used at home and in their local communities. Some ‘ways with words’ (Brice Heath, 1983) as discussed in Chapter 3 are more highly regarded than others in the preschool and classroom context: it is clear that some children begin without the ‘linguistic capital’ (Bourdieu, 1990) needed for success with language and literacy. As educators we need to be sensitive to these cultural differences and provide explicit learning experiences that will enable all learners to extend their use and understanding of language in ways that will enhance their learning as well as their growth as individuals.
• beginning and ending the day
• beginning and ending learning experiences
• steering the learning experience.
Manage and monitor educator conduct
can’t get to that level you have to hold them back and give them Special Ed.
• Act confidently. In primary and secondary school contexts, students need to see you as efficient, organised, prepared, consistent and authoritative (but not authoritarian). You need to disguise any nerves because students are very good at reading body language (see Hughes, 2010).
• Cultivate the ability to be flexible and use opportunities for learning that arise rather than sticking rigidly to what you have planned for its own sake.
• Concentrate on positive aspects of learners’ behaviour. Take the time to focus on individual effort and involvement, and provide constructive feedback on behavioural improvements and the progress of their learning. We all need to be affirmed. Giving positive feedback needs to be authentic and appropriate. Ensure that praise given publicly is understood by others (for example, ‘I appreciated the way you waited patiently for your turn, Enrico’). In this way, you are modelling the positive affirmation that learners can also give to each other.
• The educator should always work to de-escalate an issue or conflict to prevent it from getting worse or from damaging the learning atmosphere in the room. If something that happens makes you angry, try not to respond or discipline while you are still emotionally involved as we sometimes say and do things in anger that we later regret. Follow through on consequences if these are expected or stated. They should always be emotionally neutral, rational and depersonalised (Larivee, 2005), and conducted in private if appropriate (e.g. to protect a student’s self-esteem). Take the time to ensure that you are being fair and consistent.
• Monitor your use of sanctions as their effectiveness often varies – missing breaks and giving detentions can be counterproductive to encouraging engaged learning (Payne, 2015). Severe punishments can lead to defiance and further disruptive behaviour (Way, 2011). Also, ensure punishments do not damage your relationship with the learner.
My views are a result of working with children with special needs. You come to realise that it doesn’t matter what their chronological age is you can’t push them to know stuff. I mean I used to get really angry with them, saying ‘You should know this stuff, what are you doing?’ But then it suddenly hits you, ‘Are you going to let them fail constantly because you want them to know fractions when they can’t tell the time, what’s the point?’... And like non-Special Ed. kids, why should you expect them to reach a particular line? Then you have the danger that the bright kids reach that so they just stop. That’s silly. And how long are you going to keep them down? ... I can see what Sam’s talking about and I can understand his feelings entirely but then at the same time I don’t think I want to jeopardise my health and my entire class’s health just to try and get them to the stage where some will go beyond and some will never reach. By engaging in this debate, Sam and Danielle are enabled to listen to more sides than one. This is an enactment of Dewey’s precept of open-mindedness. The important point here is being prepared to be open-minded and being able to express your view. As noted in Chapter 1, you need to be able to engage in critical debate in a context that recognises that the discourses are manifold and vexatious. Although they are difficult, and consensus is sometimes impossible to reach, debates such as these enable pre-service educators to further understand the complexities, dilemmas and opportunities involved in educators’ work and the implications of their beliefs for classroom practices. These discussions are not about proving a point but are dialogues where different views are expressed in a supportive and encouraging environment. We may not agree with one another but may well learn from others if we remain open-minded and whole hearted.
FEATURES WITHIN CHAPTERS
38
engaged in extended sociopolitical action that requires them to be concerned about equity and social justice for their learners and for their learning. In addition, they need a sophisticated understanding of pedagogy and how different strategies meet the needs of individual learners.
OF
Schools as postmodern places
END-OF-CHAPTER FEATURES
good society is a socially just
Globalisation
of individuals is bound up with that of the whole community. It is the kind that good people from the outside would want to be part of – a just and enthusiastic society for all.
Go further
of the professional can be found in that profession’s code of ethics’ (p. 207). Society has a right to consider that its teachers are honest, fair, trustworthy and committed professionals who recognise and respect the human dignity of those with whom they deal. We all have a responsibility to uphold professional behaviour in teaching. This requires courage, fortitude, intelligence and insight. Behaving ethically lies at the very heart of teaching, for teachers have a great responsibility in educating for what the St James Ethics Centre has called ‘a good society’ (St James Ethics Centre & The Philosophy in Schools Association NSW, 2001). In their conversations with teachers they concluded (p. 32):
Schools are physical sites with a great diversity of actors within their walls. They are also situated historically, ideologically, micropolitically and socially. They are beset by dilemmas, tensions and opportunities on all sides. In this sense we can see schools as postmodern texts. ‘Postmodern’ is a word used to describe the contemporary condition, in which there are contradictions and juxtapositions. The old lies alongside the new, the customary battles with the novel, the past leaps into the future. Anyone visiting one of our large cities would see old facades behind which stand new buildings; nostalgia for the past is combined with modern functionalism. Many schools too have echoes of the past through their architecture and design (the industial model talked about in Gonksi’s report referred to earlier) combined with modern teaching resources. As educators we were often successful learners in schools that were institutions built in the past. Now we are working in a context of rapid change to help build the capacities and skills of children who will need to negotiate an as yet unforeseen future.
When you see key terms marked in bold, study the margin definitions nearby to learn important vocabulary for your profession. See the Glossary at the back of the book for a full list of key terms and definitions.
of the professional can be found in that profession’s code of ethics’ (p. 207). Society has a right to consider that its teachers are honest, fair, trustworthy and committed professionals who recognise and respect the human dignity of those with whom they deal. We all have a responsibility to uphold professional behaviour in teaching. This requires courage, fortitude, intelligence and insight. Behaving ethically lies at the very heart of teaching, for teachers have a great responsibility in educating for what the St James Ethics Centre has called ‘a good society’ (St James Ethics Centre & The Philosophy in Schools Association NSW, 2001). In their conversations with teachers they concluded (p. 32): A good society is a socially just society – one in which the wellbeing of individuals is bound up with that of the whole community. It is the kind that good people from the outside would want to be part of – a just and enthusiastic society for all. In the chapters that follow we shall be turning to the many practical matters that you will need to consider as you take up the challenges of becoming an educator. It is our hope that as you attend to these issues, whether they be in relation to communicating in the classroom, assessing student learning, conducting yourselves as a professional or considering theories of learning, you will keep these ethical considerations in mind as a touchstone for being a fully actualised practitioner.
In the chapters that follow we shall be turning to the many practical matters that you will need to consider as you take up the challenges of becoming an educator. It is our hope that as you attend to these issues, whether they be in relation to communicating in the classroom, assessing student learning, conducting yourselves as a professional or considering theories of learning, you will keep these ethical considerations in mind as a touchstone for being a fully actualised practitioner.
STUDY TOOlS
One feature of the postmodern world in which we should have an interest is the one characterised by the twin and apparently contradictory tendencies of globalisation and resurgent nationalism. We see, at the same time, burgeoning transnational corporations and localised struggles for language and place. Globalisation is reflected even in popular culture. Reality television programs such as My Kitchen Rules crop up in countries all over the world, from Austria to Australia, but each country’s program has its own particular features. The school in the postmodern world similarly takes part in global functions as well as operating in highly localised ways. Knowingly – or otherwise – much of the information that flows through schools is part of an ever-shifting global discourse. It may be curriculum information, information about assessment and reporting strategies, information about ways for teaching reading or mathematics, information about technologies, even information about school management. Or it may be about issues such as the gun control debate following the shootings in a range of United States schools. At the same time, each early childhood centre and school is encouraged to develop highly localised responses to its immediate community, to run itself as an independent small business. Schools and early childhood centres are accountable nationally. Nationwide testing is even being suggested for all Australian six year olds.
At the end of each chapter you will find several tools to help you to review, practise and extend your knowledge of the key topics.
Go Further with extra resources and study tools for this chapter. Ask your instructor for the Go Further resource and deepen your understanding of the chapter content.
Reflection Opportunity
Following through
When we think of preschools and schools as postmodern texts and apply to them principles of deconstruction, we can read for the contradictions and difficult questions.
Why is it that our most disadvantaged learners act sometimes against their own long-term interests by being complicit in disrupting their own learning?
How has it come to be that fun has become an end in itself, rather than a by-product of a particular learning process?
Why is intellectual playfulness not recognised as fun?
Go Further contains extra resources and study tools for each chapter. Ask your instructor for the Go Further resource and deepen your understanding of the topic.
2 During a professional experience placement, a pre-service teacher becomes aware that learners are misbehaving and very disrespectful during the weekly religious lesson provided voluntarily in the school. However, the pre-service teacher is concerned that if he were to intervene or advise the class teacher he may be reducing the authority of the visiting teacher. What other considerations might affect his reluctance to intercede? Is it possible his own stance on religious education in government schools is affecting his actions?
Test your knowledge and consolidate your learning through Following through exercises.
http://www.qct.edu.au/standards-and-conduct/code-of-ethics Ethics code from the Queensland College of Teachers https://www.vit.vic.edu.au/professional-responsibilities/conduct-and-ethics Ethics code from the Victorian Institute of Teachers
http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/about/who-we-are/open-access-information/ policy-documents/conduct-ethics Ethics code from the NSW Education Standards Authority
https://www.trb.sa.edu.au/code-of-ethics Ethics code from the Teachers Registration Board of South
Useful online teaching resources
St James Ethics Centre, www.ethics.org.au/ things_ to_read/articles_to_read/professions/ article_0118. shtm, accessed 8 March 2005. McBurney-Fry, G. 2002, Improving Your Practicum: A Guide to Better Teaching Practice 2nd edn, Social Science Press, Katoomba, NSW. McCallum, F. 2001, ‘Inhibiting and enabling factors that influence educator reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect’, in I. Berson, M. Berson & B. Cruz (eds), Cross Cultural Perspectives in Child Advocacy Information Age Inc., Connecticut. —— & Johnson, B. 2002, ‘Decision making processes used by teachers in cases of suspected child abuse and neglect’, Child Maltreatment 14 (1), pp. 7–10. Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians 2008, Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, www. curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/ National_ Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_ Young_Australians.pdf accessed 13 March 2010. Office of the High Commissioner 1989, Conventions on the Rights of the Child, United Nations Human Rights, https://www.ohchr.org/en/ professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx, accessed 9 April 2019. St James Ethics Centre & The Philosophy in Schools Association NSW 2001, Educating for a Good Society: A National Conversation St James Ethics Centre, Sydney. Tangen, D., Campbell, M. (2010), ‘Cyberbullying prevention. One primary school’s approach’, Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling 20 (2) pp. 225–34. Tsekeris, C. & Katrivesis, N. 2008, ‘Reflexivity in sociological theory and social action’, Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History 7 (1), pp. 1–12. Whitton, D., Sinclair, C., Barker, K., Nanlohy, P. & Nosworthy, M. 2004, Learning for Teaching: Teaching for Learning Thomson, Melbourne. References 40
Cross, D., Shaw, T., Hearn, L., Epstein, M., Monks, H., Lester, L., & Thomas, L. (2009). Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS). Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, Perth. deewr.gov.au. Retrieved on June 6, 2018. Dempster, N. & Berry, V. (2003) ‘Blindfold in a minefield: Principals’ ethical decision making’, Cambridge Journal of Education 33 (3), pp. 457–78. Education and Care Services National Regulations, New South Wales Government, last modified 1 July 2018, https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/ regulation/2011/653, accessed 9 April 2019. Ellsworth, E. 1992, ‘Why doesn’t this feel empowering’, in C. Luke and J. Gore (eds), Feminisms and Critical Pedagogy Routledge, London, pp. 90–119. Ewing, R. Fleming, J. & Waugh, F. 2019, Becoming reflective: Exploring the contribution of reflective practice on the employability of graduate teachers and social workers. Symposium, University of Sydney, February. Retrieved from https:// reflectionsemployability.net Higgins, D., Bromfield, L., Richardson, N., Holzer, P. & Berlyn, C. 2009, Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse, Resource Sheet #3. Australian Institute of Family Studies, www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/ rs3/rs3.html, accessed 24 August 2009. Johnson, B. 1995, Teaching and Learning about Personal Safety Painters Prints, Adelaide. Kervin, L. & Mantei, J. 2019, ‘“We don’t have time”: The challenge of designing interventions for time-poor students’, in R. Ewing, J. Fleming & F. Waugh (eds), Becoming reflective: Exploring the contribution of reflective practice on the employability of graduate teachers and social workers Le Cornu, R. & Peters, J. 2005, ‘Towards constructivist classrooms: The role of the reflective teacher’, Journal of Educational Enquiry, 6 (1), pp. 50–64. Longstaff, S. 1995, ‘Professions in society’, Australian Financial Review, December, republished by the
Extend your understanding through the Useful online teaching resources and References relevant to each chapter.
STUDY TOOlS
Guide to the online resources
FOR THE INSTRUCTOR
Cengage is pleased to provide you with a selection of resources that will help you prepare your lectures and assessments. These teaching tools are accessible via cengage.com.au/instructors for Australia or cengage.co.nz/instructors for New Zealand.
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• Ewing’s Teaching: Dilemmas, challenges and opportunities 6th edition eBook
• Portfolio activity: Your Philosophy of Teaching
• Lesson plan templates
• Video activities and more!
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INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE
The Instructor’s Guide includes:
• learning goals
• chapter structure and pedagogy
• additional cases and discussion activities.
POWERPOINT™ PRESENTATIONS
Use the chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides to enhance your lecture presentations and handouts by reinforcing the key principles of your subject.
ARTWORK FROM THE TEXT
Add the digital files of graphs, tables, pictures and flow charts into your course management system, use them in student handouts, or copy them into your lecture presentations.
GO FURTHER RESOURCE
Provide your students with the Go Further resource to help deepen their understanding of the content. It includes:
• “Your Philosophy of Teaching” portfolio activity
• Lesson plan templates.
FOR THE STUDENT
GO FURTHER RESOURCE
Deepen your understanding of the chapter content by asking your instructor for your Go Further resource, which includes:
• “Your Philosophy of Teaching” portfolio activity
• Lesson plan templates.
MINDTAP FOR TEACHING: DILEMMAS, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 6TH EDITION
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Preface
How does one learn to become a teacher? How does one learn to be patient, to be analytical, to be inspirational, to be resourceful, to be creative, to be hopeful, to be ethical and to be courageous? How does one learn when to hold on and when to hold back, to do and to undo? How does one learn that choosing to become a teacher is choosing a profession that is endlessly gratifying, but always incomplete?
These were the opening words to the preface of the first edition of Teaching: Challenges and Dilemmas and we would not change one of them. In fact, we would alter few of the remaining words of the preface because, while the educational landscape is dynamic and some features have shifted greatly, the principles remain the same. In this sixth edition of the book you will find new issues, case studies and resources that illustrate the paradoxical nature of teaching, which constantly changes and simultaneously remains the same. In more recent editions of this book we have seen intervention by the federal government in education, especially in relation to national testing, national curriculum development and the establishment of professional teaching standards. Traditionally, the states and territories have exercised significant autonomy in determining what happens in education. Today, there is stronger direction by the Commonwealth.
Throughout the book we argue that the first step in becoming a competent and respected educator is to recognise that good teaching, done well, is both hard and satisfying. It is intellectual, emotional and physical work and it is also socially responsible work. It is incontestable that teachers need a considerable array of skills in identifying, analysing and assessing learning, and in designing, implementing and evaluating programs. Educators must be capable communicators beyond the centre or classroom. They need to be effective colleagues, careful and sensitive in working with the community and guided by precepts of equity and justice.
HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANISED
The book’s structure has three sections:
PART 1:
• The nature of teachers’ work including the ways in which it has been historically constructed and the ways in which it has changed
• Teacher professionalism and ethical behaviour
PART 2:
• Learner diversity
• The nature of learning
• The learning environment
• Learning in changing times
PART 3:
• Practical skills and competencies
• Teacher learning
• Assessment and reporting of student learning
• Working with parents in building family/community partnerships
• The forms of practitioner inquiry
PEDAGOGICAL FEATURES
Each chapter identifies and explains key terms, and challenges you, as the reader, to pause and reflect upon the important issues raised. We anticipate that you will find yourselves fully engaged in these moments of reflection. Perhaps they could be an opportunity for you to have a conversation with your peers.
Each chapter draws extensively upon a wide range of literature in the field and upon the profession’s own voice through case-study material. A ‘following through’ section concludes each chapter to enable you to pursue the major issues that have been raised. Again, we hope they will be useful in generating discussions and debate. After all, inquiring teachers are committed to investigating taken-for-granted practices.
OUR LEARNING
As authors we too have been learners. We have read chapters aloud and debated their structure, function and content. Over time, we have variously experienced schooling in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and England. We have been early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary teachers, drawing upon our own narratives and biographies. We have refused technical reductionism as a way forward in the professional education of teachers.
This edition of the book explores early childhood learning as well as the primary and secondary years of schooling. A number of studies have shown a pattern of regression, even alienation, as learners move from one sector to the other.
As readers of this text, we encourage you to read against the grain and to question and challenge implicit assumptions. We hope that you will be prompted to reread this book – that, as you become more experienced, both through your initial teacher education and as you embark on teaching careers, you will return to the text and continue to be provoked and stirred by it.
Robyn Ewing
Lisa Kervin
Chris Glass
Brad Gobby
Susan Groundwater-Smith
Rosie Le Cornu
About the authors
DR R o BY n EWI n G AM, PR of E sso R of TEACHER EDUCATI on A n D THE ART s, s CH oo L of EDUCATI on A n D so CIAL Wo RK, U n IVER s ITY of s YD n EY
A former primary teacher, Robyn continues to work extensively alongside teachers interested in creative pedagogies and curriculum reform. Her current research interests include: the role of the Arts in transforming learning; using drama-rich learning processes with literature to enhance children’s language and literacies; issues in teacher education, especially the experiences of early career teachers and mentoring; teacher professional learning; the role of reflection in professional practice; and arts-informed research methodologies. She has worked in partnership with Sydney Theatre Company on the School Drama teacher professional learning program since 2009.
DR LI s A KERVI n, PR of E sso R I n LA n GUAGE A n D LITERACY, fACULTY of so CIAL s CIE n CE s, U n IVER s ITY of Wo LLon G on G
Lisa also leads research on Play, Curriculum and Pedagogy in Early Start Research. Lisa’s current research interests are focused on young children and how they engage with literate practices and she is currently involved in research projects funded by the Australian Research Council focused on young children and writing, digital interactions and literacy learning. She has researched her own teaching and has collaborative research partnerships with teachers and students in tertiary and primary classrooms and prior-to-school settings.
DR CHRI s GLA ss, H ono RARY RE s EARCH f ELLoW, s CH oo L of EDUCATI on, MURD o CH U n IVER s ITY
Chris started in education as a primary teacher and has had a varied career across the years of schooling and works with pre-service teachers to support their developing capacity as a teacher. Her research interests are the development of teacher identity, international professional placements for pre-service teachers and the use of arts based research methodologies and methods.
DR BRAD G o BBY, s E n I o R LECTURER, s CH oo L of EDUCATI on, CURTI n U n IVER s ITY
Brad is the Chief Investigator of an Australian Research Council funded national project entitled School autonomy reform and social justice in public education. He has experience as a secondary school teacher, and currently researches and teaches in the areas of education policy, school autonomy and curriculum. Brad’s research into education policy has been widely published in international peer-reviewed journals and edited books.
DR s U s A n GR o U n DWATER-s MITH AM, H ono RARY PR of E sso R of EDUCATI on, s CH oo L of EDUCATI on A n D so CIAL Wo RK, U n IVER s ITY of s YD n EY
Susan is the Honorary Professor of Education, Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, and also chairs the Teacher Education Advisory Board. In recent years she has given her attention to issues in relation to consulting with children and young people and has published and researched extensively in this area of ‘student voice’. Thus her commitment to teacher inquiry has extended to include students as active inquiring agents into the circumstances of their learning.
DR
R os IE LE Co R n U, ADJU n CT A sso CIATE PR of E sso R, s CH oo L of EDUCATI on, THE U n IVER s ITY of so UTH AU s TRALIA
Rosie has worked in education for over 40 years, which includes 12 years as a primary teacher, R-12 Advisor and deputy principal and 30 years as a teacher educator. She has a strong commitment to high-quality teaching and teacher education, underpinned by the notions of reflection, collaboration, partnerships and social justice. Her research has focused primarily on pre-service teachers and early career teachers, providing insights and ideas that can help them become creative and agentic professionals who are able to support student learning effectively and responsibly.
Acknowledgements
In this book there are photographs of students working in many contexts across Australia. These images are more than mere illustrations; they remind us of the diversity of learners and the many ways in which they are engaged in learning in our schools. We want to thank the owners of these photographs for their use. Each chapter opens with student drawings that we have selected from many that were submitted to us by children and young people aged from three to 12 years. So, of course, we also wish to thank them. We also thank the many teachers in schools across Australia with whom we have worked and who have kept us grounded in their complex worlds of practice.
We would like to thank Shanti Clements for her contribution on how to develop a positive learning community in Chapter 10. We would also like to thank Jaci Hockley and Bronwyn Honey for their contributions on how to work with parents and communities in Chapter 12. Finally, we thank the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney and University of Wollongong, Murdoch and Curtin Universites and the University of South Australia for providing the thinking space necessary to work on this reconceptualisation of the original text.
The authors and Cengage Learning would also like to thank the following reviewers for their incisive and helpful feedback:
• Robyn Babaeff Monash University
• David Cleaver University of Southern Queensland
• Anne Coffey University of Notre Dame
• Lexi Cutcher Southern Cross University
• Anitra Goriss-Hunter Federation University
• Gillian Kidman Monash University
• Lynette Longaretti Deakin University
• Bill Lucas University of South Australia
• Michelle Ludecke Monash University
• Robyn McCarthy University of Tasmania
• Amanda McFadden Queensland University of Technology
• Peter O’Brien Queensland University of Technology
• Rebecca Reid-Nguyen University of South Australia
• Jennifer Ryan La Trobe University
• Lisa Sonter University of New England
• Matthew Thomas Deakin University
• Kenneth Young University of Sunshine Coast
Challenges and dilemmas of teaching
1 So, you want to be a teacher! Working in a changing context
2 Ethical practice
Good teaching, done well, is challenging but rewarding intellectual, emotional and physical work. It is also socially responsible work, given it profoundly affects children’s life chances. Teachers must strive to ensure that learners will achieve success not only in literacy and numeracy, but also in developing their creativities and imaginations, their critical thinking and their understanding and appreciation of the many cultures that will touch their lives.
1 So, you want to be a teacher! Working in a changing context
Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.
When children imagine what a teacher is, they see them doing things differently.
Parker Palmer
Mara
Asher
Congratulations on your decision to teach! You are beginning an important journey, one that can have enormous potential to change learners’ life chances. On receiving his Honorary Doctorate from the University of Western Australia, Tim Minchin’s nine reflections about life included that:
Teachers are the most admirable and important people in the world.
Speech transcript from Tim Minchin. Retrieved from https://www.timminchin.com/2013/09/25/occasional-address/
We wondered if people have responded to your decision to teach similarly? Or have there been different kinds of responses?
In reflecting on your decision to teach, we thought that thinking about the way teachers and their role in today’s ever-changing world are perceived and represented might be interesting. For example, think about how the actor Chris Lilley represented the drama teacher, Mr G., in the comedy Summer Heights High.
Recently, Eddie Woo, a passionate mathematics teacher at Cherrybrook High School in Sydney, was named 2018 Australian local hero. His decision to record his mathematics lessons and make them available online has had a profound influence on many people all over the world. The Australian Story aired on ABC in 2018 included a number of his current and former students’ testimonies of how their perceptions of mathematics had been transformed. Later in 2018 Eddie was named as one of the world’s 10 best teachers. Eddie’s story demonstrates how teachers can make a huge difference in the lives of the learners they teach.
In May 2018, a report, Through Growth to Achievement: Review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools (also known as Gonski 2.0) asserted that there was a pressing need to raise the status of the teaching profession by ‘strengthening the attractiveness of the teaching and school leadership professions by creating clearer career pathways, better recognising expertise, and strengthening workforce planning and development’ (p. xi).
There are many depictions of teachers in popular films and great film classics, representations of teachers in popular culture and lots of stories about iconic teachers who have changed the lives of their students. Have any of these influenced your decision to teach? Are there real-life inspirational teachers who have played a critical role in your life?
Parker Palmer’s words above from The Courage to Teach written in 1998 are as true today as they were two decades ago. They underline that teaching is at one and the same time a great pleasure and a great responsibility. Choosing to be a teacher is not an easy path to take. It involves myriad skills, attributes, knowledge and understandings, which must be embodied
Reflection Opportunity
Can you think of a movie or a television series about a teacher that was really inspiring? Why did it inspire you? What teacher qualities are highlighted in the way this teacher is portrayed? Are there similarities and differences in these portrayals? What kinds of learners do they teach? Where? (For example: Miss Honey in Matilda; Dead Poets Society; Mr Holland’s Opus; Freedom Writers;The Classroom; Stand and Deliver;To Sir with Love.)
Or is there a real-life teacher who has changed your world? Who? How?
List three reasons why you have chosen to teach. What kinds of reasons are they? Intrinsic reasons around making a difference in the lives of children/young people? Or are they more extrinsic; for example, related to the pay or conditions?
and enacted daily in a complex and dynamic environment – and in ethical and socially just ways. Educators must meet the needs of many stakeholders, ranging from the students and their parents to the community, and more broadly to the education sector in which they work, and to state and federal governments.
We have touched on the way some filmmakers have represented teachers. As Nicole Mockler (2017) writes:
The way teachers are talked about in the public space is important. It affects teacher morale and how people might interact with them both professionally and socially. It even affects the way new teachers perceive their career pathway unfolding, or not.
The media also constructs teachers in a variety of ways and helps shape public opinion about them. Yet it does not always portray teachers in a positive light (Shine and O’Donoghue, 2013). Sometimes it seems that teachers are held solely responsible for improving all learners’ academic and emotional needs and improving Australia’s standing in international literacy and numeracy benchmarking tables. And many community members also have advice for teachers based on their own or their children’s experiences at school. In addition, it frequently seems that teachers must respond to every new community issue that arises. These issues must be addressed in the classroom – from bike safety to sexual education. As you navigate others’ perceptions of teachers, it will be important to develop your own identity as a teacher.
In this sixth edition of our book it is our purpose to discuss with you, as active readers, the skills, attributes and understandings of and about teachers. Education draws upon a range of underlying disciplines, including psychology, sociology, philosophy, history, anthropology and social geography. Each of these will be briefly explored later in this chapter, as will the process of reading not only this book as a text, but also schools themselves as richly woven texts. Throughout the book we will embody the portrayal of teaching and learning through the use of authentic case study material, which will anchor our various themes, discussion areas and arguments in real-life teaching and learning situations spanning preschool to secondary contexts. Given it is our intention to draw across educational contexts – from prior-to-school, through primary to secondary – as such we shape our conversation of the work of ‘educators’ to be inclusive of the important work in all stages of education. Some of the cases we share thoughout this book arise from our own experiences as teachers and as researchers in the classroom; others are drawn from our colleagues and students, others from publications in the field.
Irrespective of source, the cases emphasise the importance of context. While all educational institutions share a great many fundamental characteristics, no one preschool or school is quite the same as another. They vary in size, in the composition of the student and community populations, in social class, in settings and in the ways they are organised for teaching and learning. We believe that too often people’s understanding of the work of school teachers is oversimplified and codified and based on their own past experiences. It is as though, by mastering a series of formulae and atomistic skills, as well as the tricks of the trade and tried and true recipes, it is possible to train those engaged in a teacher education course to become highly technically competent. Teaching is far more sophisticated than using so-called best practice models in challenging learning settings. Good teaching requires intellectual, creative and critical thought and careful, systematic reflection to meet the needs of individual learners.
We see this book as one that will engage you in making sense of what it is that preschools and schools are, what they do and why they do it. Professional knowledge about education today differs significantly from how we might remember our own experiences of preschool
and school. While throughout the book we encourage you to reflect upon your own experiences through a series of reflection opportunities and to consider the experiences of others around you, we remind you that though these may colour what we imagine a ‘good’ education to be, it is important to reach more deeply into the field of practice and understand something of its purposes and the ways in which it may be captured by specific interests. We wish to emphasise that, in the end, the education that matters contributes to both the development of individuals and that of our society in terms of national and global consequences. In writing of the work of Professor Petra Ponte, a highly regarded Dutch educator, Groundwater-Smith described a meaningful and transformative education as one that:
nurtures a human flourishing, building on both the desirable features of the past that has provided us with a rich legacy, and an openness to the future in which young people can be active and imaginative agents.
Groundwater-Smith, 2012, p. 14
The current discussion about whether robots could replace educators underlines how lamentable it would be if teaching were to become subservient, semiskilled and unreflective. Today’s teachers need not only to be resourceful, adaptable and knowledgeable, they also have to be activist professionals, capable of being discerning, imaginative problem solvers who are visionary and able to deal with constant and relentless social, economic and technological change. They need to appreciate and foster the artistry in their teaching as they strive to meet the needs of each learner. And they need courage to assert their professional understandings in a world looking for simple recipes that will work for all learners and also imposing narrow and rigid notions of teaching, curriculum and forms of learning.
More than 40 years ago a famous Brazilian educator, Paolo Freire, urged societies to change the traditional banking model of education in which educators deposited education in their learners’ minds. For education to transcend a mere transmission model of schooling, where educators transmit knowledge to passive learners, requires that learners are acknowledged as active participants in the learning process, as they explore and question the many and varied experiences that they encounter in the classroom and beyond. They must also be able to see their educators as co-learners who are members of communities of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991, 1998) that are mutually supportive and generous to its members. In her investigation of collective responsibility among teachers, Whalan (2012) argues that when educators take joint ownership of monitoring the quality of the learning experience in the learning environment and when they engage in mutual trust, the result is the enhanced achievement of the many outcomes that they would wish for their learners. Teaching should not be seen as a solitary profession with the classroom doors closed against all comers; instead it is one that is dynamic, collegial and welcoming.
In this book we shall set before you the challenges, dilemmas and opportunities of teaching in ways that we hope will lead you to understanding that your work as an educator is best done in a framework of career-long reflective learning and built upon passion, artistry, skill development and professional judgement. At the end of your initial teacher education, as graduates you should expect to have beginning competencies that will permit you to be safe practitioners in the classroom, working relatively independently but hopefully with mentoring support. All the way through your teaching lives you need to be alert for opportunities to further your professional growth and development. We have included many opportunities for your reflection, but we are mindful of the fact that reflection is an activity
Transmission model of schooling is a model of education that sees the educator as merely transmitting knowledge and skills they have into the minds of their passive learners. Community of practice
A community of practice refers to a collective of practitioners with a shared interest, who are prepared to work together to better understand their professional work and the ways in which it can be improved. Collective responsibility emphasises that educators are not operating alone behind closed doors, but are members of a community of practice with shared responsibility for the learning of all within the school. beginning competencies are the essential capabilities that you need as an early career educator that will grow and develop as you gain experience.
that goes beyond ‘just thinking about’ things. Rather, reflection requires us to simultaneously examine our ideas and critically explore where those ideas came from, how they are shaped and, if they need to change, how they might be re-conceptualised.
As well as taking examples from theories of teaching and learning, we shall be examining and debating practices that have been used with success in early childhood centres, preschools and primary and secondary classrooms.
In the interests of obtaining a quick snapshot of the complexity of what it is to be an educator, we have asked many educators over the years at various meetings to recall where they had been and what they had been doing at 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Some had been sharing a picture book with their students, some were coaching sport, others overseeing individuals and groups of young learners in literacy and numeracy activities, others had been listening to older learners using multimedia resources to report upon their project research, several had been organising learners into groups so that they might work together effectively as a team, one had been comforting a learner who was distressed about events outside school, another had been in conference with a school counsellor about special assistance needed for a learner in her class, a few were engaged in curriculum planning with colleagues and others were developing assessment strategies for a new project; still others were learning about recent changes in ways in which they might employ multimedia tools in their early learning centres or classrooms. Each was professionally engaged in one of the broad range of activities that we can loosely call ‘teachers’ work’. Over the years the list has grown and expanded, particularly in relation to the use of information and communication technologies and all that this entails.
Already, it must be clear to you that becoming an educator means far more than just being an instructor. Educators are arbitrators, accountants, nurses, data analysts, stock clerks, judges, guides, counsellors, investigators, mediators, navigators and much more. Closely observing one educator for just one day would quickly disabuse you of any idea that teaching is an easy or undemanding profession.
In preparing for the first edition of this book more than two decades ago, Lorna Parker, an experienced school principal, was asked to complete the sentence ‘Teaching is …’ She compiled the list shown in Figure 1.1 based on her observation of her teachers at work. We ask you if it still holds true today.
F igu RE 1.1
Teaching is:
WHAT IS TEACHING?
➜ writing programs for key learning areas and special-focus areas
➜ preparing and implementing lessons
➜ organising and preparing for excursions
➜ setting assessment tasks
➜ cutting up fruit for morning tea
➜ marking students’ work (preferably with them)
➜ assessing student performance
➜ diagnosing reasons for performance levels
➜ designing remedial programs
Teaching is:
➜ doing library research
➜ attending inservice professional development courses
➜ compiling individual student portfolios
➜ getting to know new curricula documents
➜ collecting data about student progress
➜ contributing to the formulation of school plans
➜ undertaking playground and bus duty
➜ discussing professional issues with other staff
➜ coaching for sport, chess, debating
➜ attending parent and citizen meetings
➜ talking with parents
➜ talking about student progress with parents at interviews
➜ writing submissions for special-purpose grants
➜ ordering and purchasing
➜ designing a stimulating learning environment
➜ attending to student welfare
➜ settling playground disputes
➜ compiling personal professional development profiles
➜ maintaining social relationships with other staff
➜ keeping up with professional reading
➜ talking with newly arrived refugees
➜ referring students requiring special assistance
➜ evaluating own teaching behaviours
➜ keeping attendance rolls and other records
➜ assessing student health problems
➜ identifying child abuse and sexual assault
➜ implementing behaviour management programs
➜ monitoring occupational health and safety issues, etc., etc., etc.
Looking at the list, a group of early career educators added that they also see teaching as a profession where it is important to be supported and mentored by their colleagues. There are increasing opportunities for educators to observe each other at work, particularly in situations where they are in teams. While examining such a list, principals commented that their additional responsibilities are multiplying given all the changes associated with ‘the education revolution’. Nevertheless, they also emphasised how important it is to have a
Reflection Opportunity
How does this list compare with your own expectations about being an educator today? What other activities can you add? Talk to any educators you know and see what they would add to the list.
deep understanding of learners’ interpersonal skills, idiosyncrasies and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in a world of social networking.
While teaching itself is multidimensional, so too are schools. Each school has its own history, and each is bound up in the regulatory frameworks that govern different sectors and systems in states and territories. Education is still a state and territory responsibility, even though the Commonwealth government is exerting more and more pressure to standardise learning, so that we need to be mindful that each school is set in a different context. A newly built school in a wealthy Darwin suburb differs from one that has served a Hobart community for over a 100 years, or a remote two-teacher school in Far North Queensland, or a middle school that is part of a Kindergarten-to-Year 12 low-fee-paying private independent college in Adelaide. The above list of the ways in which educators work is a generic one. The specifics of that work, however, vary from one school to another. Managing behaviour will be done somewhat differently if one is working in an independent Christian school in one state or territory than it will if the teacher is employed in a government-funded preschool in another. Meeting the needs of refugee children in urban schools (Lynch, 2011) is a very different challenge than taking action for the social inclusion of Indigenous children in remote communities (Rigney, 2011).
To better understand the great diversity in educational contexts we suggest that preschools and schools, like this book, should be read as complex social texts. To read schools well requires skill and insight. As well, we need to be ready to read ‘against the grain’; that is, to bring a critical eye to the text.
Reflection Opportunity
Consider the people who are around you in your teacher education program – where did they go to school? What is the same and different about their experiences when compared with your own? What do they consider to be the core work of today’s educators?
The school as text
Let us turn now for a moment to the notion of reading a school and imagine each preschool and school can be read as a text. What do we mean by that? Any text, whether it is a novel, a magazine, a radio program, a television show or a digital text, such as might be found on YouTube, is something that has been constructed by its author(s), and so it is capable of being taken apart by its reader, listener or viewer. If we read a preschool or school as a narrative, what kind of story does it tell? How has this story been shaped by the cultural influences in the community? If it were read as a television documentary, what kind of information would it contain and how would it be viewed?
Robyn Ewing (2014), in the preface to Curriculum and Assessment: Storylines, reminded us that we ‘live our lives through stories and it is thus natural that as teachers [educators] we frequently make sense of our work through narrative’ (p. xix). Using narrative, Robyn created her account of curriculum and assessment as a series of storylines, each with its own history and particularity. Just as these practices have their own ways of being narrated, so too does the school itself. Hence our claim that the school can be read as a text; and that just as the world of literature is rich and layered, so too are educational communities, in all of their infinite variety.
Whether recent school leavers or mature-age learners, you are experienced readers. You have been engaged in reading and analysing literary texts during your own learning journeys and hopefully when reading for pleasure over many years. In this chapter we are asking you to consider reading preschools and schools as different kinds of texts.
what can you read about this classroom from the image?
Deconstruction involves taking a text apart so that its messages can be identified, analysed and critiqued.
Deconstructing texts
Texts can be deconstructed. Deconstruction is an important tool for exploring the surface and deep features of a text to identify the hidden contradictions, while embedded vested interests are made explicit and problematic. It pushes to one side the notion of a single preferred reading. Every text’s meaning is subjective, as each of us will interpret a text through the lens of personal experience and feelings. But each reading, if defensible, must itself be available for the consideration and critique of others. We should be prepared to engage in recursive reading; that is, reading and rereading in the light of ongoing debate and discussion. So we can read and reread the way a particular preschool or school presents its philosophies, expectations and goals to the parent and broader community. Are there different ways its policies, procedures and practices can be interpreted by different families depending on their own cultural experiences and understandings? How, for example, might a learner interpret a sign that says ‘No children past this point’ or ‘Staff only’? Or, if we were to explore the subtext of power in a school we may find that while an educator may feel powerful and respected in their own centre or classroom, they may feel powerless in the face of the policies of external agencies.
breaking apart the binaries
Deconstruction also breaks apart traditional binaries such as teacher-learner, teaching–learning. More and more we find in the classroom that educators are learners and learners may be educators, that the roles of educator and learner are interchangeable. This is clearly evident when it comes to new technologies and social media, a space where young people are often more comfortable and confident and their educators may be less experienced and tentative.
Considering education stakeholders
Considering preschools and schools as texts is not a neutral activity. We also need to consider how portrayals of schooling are actually made and by whom. Nameless workers, educators, parents, learners, policy makers, government officials, members of parliament and media personalities all play a part in constructing the texts about education. As we have already suggested, educators are often powerful characters in these texts. At the same time they are subject to the regimes of power that lie outside the early childhood centre or school and which themselves shape and reshape the text. Education, after all, is a big budget item. State and territory governments and the federal government all have an interest in it and will, from time to time, bring acts and regulations before parliament that will impact directly upon educators’ work. In a number of chapters that follow we shall be closely examining the ways in which the federal government has significantly changed the educational text with the introduction of a national curriculum, national testing and national professional standards for educators.
Becoming critical
To be an intelligent reader of schooling one needs to be familiar with the conventions and codes of early childhood centres and schools but not to be blinded by that familiarity. One of the great challenges that you face in becoming an educator is, at one and the same time, to acknowledge your own educational experience and the way it has shaped your understanding of educational institutions and to subject that experience to questioning. For many people intending to become educators, preschools and schools were places where they experienced
success so it can sometimes be difficult to understand that for many others schools were – and sometimes continue to be – threatening and uncomfortable places. Those who had negative, even painful, times may find it difficult to analyse the context and interactions that led to such experiences.
We emphasise throughout this book that there are many ways in which the work of educators and of learners can be represented. We challenge you, as readers of this particular text, to be intelligent and acute readers and to be cautious about attempts to romanticise preschool or schooling. Too often teaching has been laden with romanticised notions of what the work is and how it is best conducted. The preschool or school is constructed as an unproblematic caring and nurturing environment. The leader is generous and just, the educators are even-handed and even-tempered, the learners are innocent and eager to learn. The consequences of reading preschools and schools as idealist texts are most significant when we relate them to the least advantaged and least powerful in our society, for they are the most silenced and marginalised by such a stereotypical and linear narrative. Stroud’s (2018) extraordinary personal memoir, Teacher, presents a more authentic portrayal of the joys and the challenges she faced everyday of her 16 years of teaching.
Reflection Opportunity
Can you identify other examples of the way educators have been represented in popular culture? What impact do such representations have on how the educator is positioned in society and what might be the implications? How are educators across different stages positioned (e.g. early childhood compared to secondary)?
The diversity of the teaching profession
Another concern that is often cited by employers and parents is that early childhood and primary teaching in particular is perceived to have been feminised since the 1960s when this kind of data was first collected. McGrath and Van Bergen (2017) actually found, however, that from 1977 the decline in male representation in the profession was similar in both primary and secondary schools, and that this was more marked in the government sector. There have never been many male early childhood educators. Perhaps it is important to consider why this is the case. Cruickshank’s (2017) study of male primary teachers examined the gender-related challenges that were sometimes triggers for male primary teachers to leave the profession. He suggested it was important to focus on retention of those men who were already teachers. Nevertheless, it is well documented that the distribution of power and responsibility in schools is not necessarily equitable. For example, the ratio of males in executive positions and in physical and science education is higher than women in these roles, despite the fact that there are twice as many women in the profession.
Perhaps a far more significant issue, however, is that we want to ensure that educators reflect the diversity in their communities. For example, it has been difficult to attract and retain Aboriginal teachers in the profession (Burgess, 2013). What message does this send learners about what is appropriate in education?
Caring for young children and young people is highly worthy but educators, as responsible professionals, need to go beyond the caring ethos. They need to acknowledge that they are
Pedagogy refers to the interface between teaching and learning and curriculum. It is not only what is taught, but also how it is taught, why it is taught and how it is received.
engaged in extended sociopolitical action that requires them to be concerned about equity and social justice for their learners and for their learning. In addition, they need a sophisticated understanding of pedagogy and how different strategies meet the needs of individual learners.
Schools as postmodern places
Schools are physical sites with a great diversity of actors within their walls. They are also situated historically, ideologically, micropolitically and socially. They are beset by dilemmas, tensions and opportunities on all sides. In this sense we can see schools as postmodern texts. ‘Postmodern’ is a word used to describe the contemporary condition, in which there are contradictions and juxtapositions. The old lies alongside the new, the customary battles with the novel, the past leaps into the future. Anyone visiting one of our large cities would see old facades behind which stand new buildings; nostalgia for the past is combined with modern functionalism. Many schools too have echoes of the past through their architecture and design (the industial model talked about in Gonksi’s report referred to earlier) combined with modern teaching resources. As educators we were often successful learners in schools that were institutions built in the past. Now we are working in a context of rapid change to help build the capacities and skills of children who will need to negotiate an as yet unforeseen future.
Globalisation
globalisation results from a relentless interchange of world practices in such fields as economics and impacts directly on education.
One feature of the postmodern world in which we should have an interest is the one characterised by the twin and apparently contradictory tendencies of globalisation and resurgent nationalism. We see, at the same time, burgeoning transnational corporations and localised struggles for language and place. Globalisation is reflected even in popular culture. Reality television programs such as My Kitchen Rules crop up in countries all over the world, from Austria to Australia, but each country’s program has its own particular features. The school in the postmodern world similarly takes part in global functions as well as operating in highly localised ways. Knowingly – or otherwise – much of the information that flows through schools is part of an ever-shifting global discourse. It may be curriculum information, information about assessment and reporting strategies, information about ways for teaching reading or mathematics, information about technologies, even information about school management. Or it may be about issues such as the gun control debate following the shootings in a range of United States schools. At the same time, each early childhood centre and school is encouraged to develop highly localised responses to its immediate community, to run itself as an independent small business. Schools and early childhood centres are accountable nationally. Nationwide testing is even being suggested for all Australian six year olds.
Reflection Opportunity
When we think of preschools and schools as postmodern texts and apply to them principles of deconstruction, we can read for the contradictions and difficult questions.
Why is it that our most disadvantaged learners act sometimes against their own long-term interests by being complicit in disrupting their own learning?
How has it come to be that fun has become an end in itself, rather than a by-product of a particular learning process?
Why is intellectual playfulness not recognised as fun?
