The effects of stress can have a significant impact on an individual's personal life, relationship with colleagues, job satisfaction and career prospects. If unmanaged, stress can be the trigger that drives talented, motivated teachers out of our classrooms and into other professions. Yoga and meditation have been prescribed as a form of…

This research examined teachers' perceptions of the impact of Professional Development (PD) programmes on learning and teaching in two Fijian secondary schools. Through a qualitative research design, data were gathered using document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 30 teachers from the two case study schools. The major findings to…

Washback, or the influence of testing on teaching and learning, has received considerable attention in language testing research over the past twenty years. It is widely argued that testing, particularly high-stakes testing, exerts a powerful influence, whether intended or unintended, positive or negative, on both teachers and learners. This…

This paper reports on an Australian University's support program to prepare its first year international pre-service teachers (IPSTs) for professional placement. The aim of the program was to address some of the practicum challenges experienced by the IPSTs. A case study was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of the program. Ten…

The need to diversify digital communications for a global twenty-first century has prompted many theorists to reimagine literacy teaching and learning. Although the new Australian curriculum acknowledges multimodality and multimodal texts, professional learning continues to privilege print-focused literacy. Utilizing a multiliteracies' and…

This paper reports on a research case study, conducted in a school in Western Sydney, Australia, in which teachers worked with researchers and students to create learning experiences that reflected both intellectual quality and significance--two dimensions of the NSW Quality Teaching Framework (QTF). Findings suggest that these dimensions of the…

This paper reports on the STEPS project which addressed international concerns about primary teachers' lack of confidence to teach science, and on-going questions about the effectiveness of teacher education. The five universities involved had each independently established a science education program incorporating school-based partnerships…

Development of pedagogies within schools that inform adolescent learning has been an ongoing struggle within education systems. A novel approach to this issue was taken by the Non Government Organisation (NGO) "Evolve" based in Victoria, Australia, who worked in partnership with disadvantaged secondary schools to develop a multi-faceted…

Graduate teachers' preparedness for working in rural settings are mediated by the development of pedagogical expertise, professional engagement with parents and the community, and broader notions of preparation to teach in rural contexts. The Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education (SETE) project is a four-year longitudinal study tracking…

A new national curriculum has recently been implemented across Australia. This paper reports on a case study of a regional Western Australia government school as they re-wrote and taught the phase one learning areas: maths, English, science and HASS. Results showed what it is like to work in an environment where continual change is not only…