In recent years, there has been substantial interest in micro-credentials in post-secondary education. In November 2019, Australian skills ministers agreed to fast-track work exploring micro-credentials in the national vocational education and training (VET) system, with the aim of ensuring that the system responds more effectively to the needs of…

Shifts in schooling policy have had substantial impact upon the role of principals as well as the relationship that principals have with their teaching staff. In this paper we report on the initiatives 30 principals in a diverse range of devolved Australian government schools adopt to shape and support the local, school-level working conditions of…

Teacher stress remains a consistently reported issue nationally and internationally in both the mainstream media and academic fora. Understanding the source/s of stress, however, remains complex given the interplay of external and internal factors that have the potential to shape teachers' stress and resilience responses. This exploratory…

University employees experience high levels of workplace stress, with the perception that it is increasing, due to less autonomy, increased student numbers, excessive administrative work and role ambiguity. This study is part of a larger evaluation of the effectiveness of a Mindfulness, Self-Care and Resiliency (MSCR) program to improve the…

The higher education (HE) landscape continues to grow in complexity; thus, there is a need to improve the understanding of leadership in this context. This action research (AR) study was undertaken in a multi-disciplinary context of an Australian university to develop and evaluate an action learning (AL) project promoting leadership practice. An…

This paper examines trust as a fundamental aspect of fiduciary relationships in education. The specific relationship under examination is that of academic employee and university employer. Both have the value of trust assigned to them as an implicit part of their social and professional contract. The setting is Australia, but the principles apply…

There is broad acknowledgement that higher education should produce career-ready graduates and the role of practical experience--such as part-time employment, unregulated extra-curricular internships and work-integrated learning (WIL)--in achieving this. WIL is critical for developing the non-technical skills, disciplinary expertise and career…

This article presents the results of a study, undertaken from a phenomenographic perspective that examines teachers' conceptions of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the workplace. Twenty-three teachers from three Technical and Further Education institutions in Australia participated in semistructured in-depth interviews where they…

To date, there has been little examination of those who complete training in male-dominated sectors and continue to work in these sectors within regional Australia. Therefore, in this preliminary qualitative study, we examine the attraction and retention issues of women entering male-dominated trades within regional NSW. This paper reports on…

Problematic policy constructions of the purpose of education implicate professional identities and working conditions of professionals working with the youngest children. This paper builds on our earlier writing, to contest teacher professional identities in Australia, Ireland, Denmark and the United States of America, to illustrate the crucial…

This article reports on the experiences of teachers at a small rural school located in the North Coast region of New South Wales in Australia who participated in a school improvement project based on an approach developed over many years by David Townsend and Pam Adams in Alberta, Canada. The project involved monthly meetings between the teachers…

In Canada, various studies investigating literacy learning have contributed to our understanding of the lives of the adult student. Through a consolidation of empirical evidence, a portrait of the adult learner is sketched, drawing upon pluralistic interpretations of the important life changes that have resulted from their participation in…

Isolation, organisational pressures, and role-related distress, can result in teachers, particularly early career teachers (ECTs), experiencing greater risk of burnout. For many ECTs, a lack of practical strategies for dealing with these conditions contributes to this. Using self-study methodology, this research unpacks why ECTs experience…

There is general consensus that vocational education and training (VET) faces a number of workforce problems, including the ageing of VET teachers, the high level of casualisation, the need to increase the capacity of trainers, and the maintenance of industry currency. These issues, along with the need for the VET sector to respond to critical…

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is embraced in Australian higher education (HE) and is a feature of most Australian HE 'entry to profession' engineering education programs accredited by Engineers Australia. Accreditation guidelines articulate the need for curriculum-integrated engagement with professional practice (EPP) and encourage EPP in a…