There is a critical need to consider ways to enrich the educational experiences and well-being of adolescents when the lack of empathy in the world is high. This paper presents the concepts of "Artful Empathy" and "Artful and Empathic Learning Ecology." The concepts are exemplified from a multi-site case study within Australian…

This experimental writing piece by the Earth Unbound Collective explores the ethical, political and pedagogical challenges in addressing climate change, activism and justice. The provocation Earth Unbound: the struggle to breathe and the creative thoughts that follow are inspired by the contagious energy of what Donna Haraway (2016) calls…

Contemporary campaigns for public education rest upon an assumption that public schools are fundamental to an equitable and inclusive society. In this paper, I reflect on this presumption by exploring the inherent tensions of the meaning and practice of 'public' education, especially when the 'public' in public schooling is linked to political…

Academic practice is scrutinized and regulated with such "Corporate speak" terms as "performance indicators," "benchmarking," "service providers" and "clients." As part of a field where ideological shifts continue to apply marketized frames of reference as neoliberalism tightens its grip, new terms…

In South Australia, sex education has been controversial since its inception. The Australasian White Cross league and the Family Planning Association of South Australia were the pioneers of sex education in South Australia. The framing of a national framework and the implementation of the SHARE (Sexual Health and Relationships Education) project…

Political philosopher Nancy Fraser has developed a theory of social justice with three dimensions: Redistribution (economic), recognition (cultural), and representation (political). This article first presents Fraser's theory. Then I describe in her terms the successes and challenges encountered in four primary schools in Australia that were…

The political context of the conversion of the Historic Tramway Bridge, adjacent to Sandon Point in Bulli (NSW, Australia), and how this was exploited to serve predetermined ends, illustrates that technologies can be designed to have particular social (and political) effects. Through reflection on this relatively small engineering project, this…

In August 2006, Australia's conservative prime minister John Howard convened a history summit in Canberra. The purported goal of the summit was the framing of a nationally-acceptable curriculum in Australian history. However, as this article suggests, Howard's hidden intention was to use the summit as a device for introducing a narrowly…

In this classroom narrative article I discuss some of my experiences as a teacher in an Australian government-funded English language development aid project during the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The program formed part of an emergency response to the devastating violence that accompanied the Indonesian…

Media literacy studies traditionally have been the domain of the English and Language Arts classrooms. Cultural studies has not made significant inroads into school-based media studies although, like media studies, it too is concerned with the politics of image/text representations. Information literacy, which also passes as computer or technology…

Within the context of the public forum of the political media interview, this study tests the hypothesis that women avoid answering questions less than men and examines the gendered use of avoidance strategies. Findings reveal a gender difference with women using significantly more preferred answers than men. (20 references) (Author/CK)

Within the discourse of the New Education Fellowship (NEF) in Australia in the mid-twentieth century, active engagement in creative recreation and discussion of social and political issues was highly valued. Members were exhorted to traverse personal boundaries by participating in practical and creative arts. In this discourse, NEF Creative Arts…

Discusses Australian approaches to critical literacy. The editorial notes that conditions in Australia for curriculum development and implementation are in transition, with different approaches and priorities advanced in the second half of the 90s. Suggests that to teach critical literacy is to help students identify how the ways of focusing on…

Describes a literacy education project in which Australian non-English-speaking background (NESB) secondary school students were asked to evaluate the state of human rights in their schools and make suggestions for improvement. Relates this project to broader political implications. (FMW)

Explores the impact of a change in status in language programs and the culture of second language learning in Australian schools, particularly in light of declared goals such as a language other than English for all and the integration of language teaching and learning with Australia's external political and economic priorities. (32 references)…