Innovative Teaching in Australia

• In Event: Innovative Teaching and Learning Research: Global and National Results

Abstract

This paper will present the research findings from Australia on Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) where there is currently a strong national focus on innovation and technology. Nationally the agenda for ICT in Teaching and Learning is driven by two major policy initiatives. The first of these is the Digital Education Revolution, where the most visible component is the goal of 1:1 computer ratios for students in senior secondary schools by 2011. The second relates to the development of centralized guidelines for all curriculum areas in the form of an Australian Curriculum. Curriculum has historically been the responsibility of each of the state education departments. However, at the end of 2010 the states agreed to adopt a national curriculum to begin in 2012. Additionally, a system of national testing has been introduced, in line with the national curriculum, to more readily benchmark school performance with the view to increase accountability by making school performance data public.

The overall policy directions of these initiatives are set at the national level, through various state representatives, which constitutes a shift in traditional state-based dialogues. There is an impetus in schools therefore to inform practice about use of technology and in particular how to equip students for the skills required in the 21st century. Concurrent with the implementation of a national curriculum and testing system, there is also a push to equip teachers with competence in effective and innovative use of ICT in education to improve student learning. A national program of accreditation framework has been introduced with national Graduate Teacher Standards. A Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) project has been established which uses TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) as an instructional model to specifically target Teacher Education, nevertheless there is a dearth of information about how schools are addressing and measuring innovative practice in the classroom.

The Australian component of the ITL Project was carried out in 24 secondary schools in New South Wales. The focus was on students in the middle years and specifically targeted the discipline areas of Science and the Humanities. Data were collected from surveys with teachers and school leaders, with a particular emphasis on the comparison between innovative and non-innovative schools. This presentation will present a rich picture of the local school context, drawing on the survey data and also on qualitative data consisting of interviews with school leaders and teachers, student focus groups and class observations. Implications of the research will be discussed in relation to how the local and national agendas which have arisen from the project are helping to inform policy and practice.

Authors

• Kylie Shaw, The University of Newcastle

• Greg Preston, The University of Newcastle

• Katherine Holmes, The University of Newcastle

• Sid F. Bourke, The University of Newcastle