In a changing educational landscape, student engagement remains a prominent issue in research and practice. This study explores engagement from the student's perspective across multiple disciplines, year levels and delivery modes. It draws on 13,125 Student Evaluation of Teaching survey comments where students have used the word "engage"…

In this article, I respond creatively to the recent Australian Government Department of Education Teacher education expert panel [TEEP] report entitled "Strong Beginnings." Released in July 2023 and led by Professor Mark Scott AO, the report outlines problems pertaining to teacher education in Australia. It aims to improve student…

In 2022, after two years of the COVID virus profoundly interrupting social connection, learning, work and human mobility, governments worldwide turned material and rhetorical attention to life 'post-pandemic'. Understandably, teachers who were central in keeping communities virtually connected during the pandemic--are positioned as core to a…

Definitions of teaching quality differ across jurisdictions and have evolved over time. Drawing on a study of five high-achieving countries with strong supports for teachers' professional learning and practice, this article describes the perspectives on good teaching rooted in standards for entry, preparation, and practice. These nations…

Good teaching requires pedagogical dynamism: a willingness to vary one's teaching approach relative to the context (and cohort) at hand, and to any new challenges that may arise from that context. This requires that teachers obtain a broad knowledge of teaching strategies and tactics. Given the demands of contemporary higher education, finding the…

Important elements of professional socialisation include a sense of identity or belonging within a professional community and a set of established or expected practices. In the context of pre-service teacher education, opportunities to reflect upon past and current personae and to imagine future possible identities may assist pre-service teachers…

The Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2016, v.8.2) acknowledges that gifted and talented students are diverse and require educational provisions that meet their special needs. However, without professional learning in gifted education, teachers are ill-equipped to understand, identify and provide for gifted students. This paper reviews the literature…

Classroom teacher quality can significantly impact student learning outcomes. Increased access to skilled teachers in low socioeconomic status (SES) schools could substantially improve the learning outcomes and engagement levels of young people. The National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools (NETDS) programme is a university based…

For more than 3 decades governments and education systems have struggled to address the gaps in educational outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Over the past 10 years it has become increasingly apparent that central to redressing these gaps is the development of teachers who are able to effectively engage with Indigenous…

The adoption of team teaching (Buckley 2000) is being increasingly explored by many Victorian government secondary colleges as a beneficial approach for use with "middle years" students. Many of these programs are designed to encourage greater student engagement and opportunities for collaborative learning in purposefully designed open…

The type of learning that takes place in teacher education courses typically results in pre-service teachers developing a mixture of knowledge, skills and values that enable them to become effective teachers in schools in the future. During their journey to become qualified teachers, pre-service teachers typically engage in coursework and…

Pre service teachers are required to engage in Supervised Professional Experiences (SPEs) during their Education Programs. The opportunity to participate as a member of school communities, interact with students and demonstrate knowledge gained during their coursework is generally met with enthusiasm. However, research suggests that pre service…

This article reports the investigation of change in preservice teachers' conceptions of effective history teaching across a secondary history methods course in a postgraduate diploma of education program. Using concept mapping to plot shifts in their expressed reflections, data were obtained that indicate personal constructs of effective history…

One of the major outcomes from the national Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project in 2011 was the development and statistical validation of a survey instrument to measure the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service teachers as a result of the TTF intervention implemented across all Australian Education…

There is wide acceptance that there are teacher shortages, particularly in physics, chemistry and mathematics, and in rural and hard to staff schools. An issue that arises because of this shortage is teachers teaching subjects that they are not qualified to teach. In this paper, I draw on my research and that of others to outline the issues for…