Charles Sturt University

EER500: Introduction to Educational Research

Assignment 1 201203 (Part B):

Topic: Construction and analysis of research questions

Name: Ms Lynette Walsh

Student No: 11372222

Date Submitted: 27.03.2012

Number of words (2,500 +/- 10%): 2,744

The assignment is my own work and I have acknowledged the work or ideas of other authors within the assignment. This work has not been submitted for any other assignments and I understand that this assignment may undergo electronic detection for plagiarism and an anonymous copy of the assignment may be retained on the database and used to make comparisons with other assignments in future.

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 1 Improving outcomes for remote Indigenous students is the general focus of both draft research questions discussed in this paper, each stemming from practitioners currently working within this unique context.

Both original questions have been revised through an initial analysis of their structure and origins, under the heading “Evaluating the Research Questions”, followed by, under the heading “Evaluating the literature connections and practical importance”, further revisions based on evaluations of the individual statements made by each author in regard to the draft question’s connections to referenced literature. The potential for how each question could be of practical importance is referred to throughout these evaluations, and summarised in the paper’s conclusion.

Evaluating the Research Questions

The two research questions being examined are “How do current teacher education practices support the teaching of literacy in remote indigenous (sic) schools”, (Timewell, March 3, 2012), and “If bilingual education addresses critical cultural issues like disengagement and disadvantage for the students and families of remote Indigenous schools, why aren’t we using it?” (Walsh, March 12, 2012). From Marx’s list of the sources of research questions (as cited in Bryman, 2008, p. 70), both questions share a strong basis. They stem from essentially the same undisputed and well- documented social problem of poor literacy outcomes in remote Indigenous Australian schools (Gray & Beresford, 2008, Lea, 2008 & 2010, Naidoo, 2011 and Pearson, 2007). They are also from personal experience in the workplace for both this author, teaching at Murputja Anangu School in remote SA, (Walsh, February 21, 2012), and also Timewell , who “spent the last 2 years teaching in a remote indigenous (sic) school in the Northern Territory” (February 27, 2012). It could well be assumed both questions stem from educators in a context full of “the great anxieties of those who face one of this nation’s greatest social policy challenges, armed only with ideals, the words of others, and a smattering of technical training” (Lea, 2010, p. 198).

Both questions share a third point (as required by EER500 Assignment1a guidelines), in being sourced from recent reports of personal interest (Moriarty, 2012, p. 4), using these to give focus to the research question. Timewell’s question puts the focus specifically on teacher training and its

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 2 potential to impact literacy outcomes, as suggested by the media release (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2011, ¶ 4) which Timewell makes reference to (March 3, 2012, ¶ 1). This author’s question recognises and responds to the broader concept of poor literacy outcomes being symptomatic of wider-ranging, entrenched and highly complex cultural issues which need to be first addressed, and is a direct response to Pearson’s discussion of how “disengagement and disadvantage have self-perpetuating and cultural qualities” (2007, p. 4). However the application of Bryman’s criteria for evaluating research questions, (2008, p.74), along with wider reading in this area, highlights distinct disparities and separate possibilities for improvement of each research question.

McMillan and Wergin’s definition of educational research, encapsulating the idea that it should be about “the analysis of information (data), to answer a question or contribute to knowledge” (2010, p. 1), pin-points an area for improvement in Timewell’s question, which is its lack of clarity in providing clues as to the specific data to be collected to answer his question (Bryman, 2008, p. 74, McMillan & Wergin, 2010, p. 9). Without change, the question implies research of every existing teacher training institution in not only Australia but also other countries with Indigenous populations, plus follow-up research to collect data to discover if new teachers’ literacy teaching had been supported by their training. Whichever sampling methodology was employed, non-random selection, inadequate sampling frame or non-response (Bryman, 2008, p. 169) would surely be only a few of the many problems encountered. To avoid the wording of the question as it stands bordering on the limits of abstraction which Bryman refers to (2008, p. 74), one simple change is to substitute the word “can” for the word “do”: “How can current teacher education practices support...”. With this wording, the research could focus on one or more of those specific areas of teacher education practice, like mentoring, which Timewell’s references would imply he suspects, or would like to discover, will indeed prove supportive. To further change the wording to specify this exact research area would of course be better yet: “How can mentoring support the teaching....”.

One further improvement of Timewell’s question could have great significance in terms of the acceptance and credibility of any research proposal, and this is the capitalisation of the “i” in Indigenous. Both Timewell’s wiki and forum posts failed to do this, so it is assumed not to be an oversight. The capitalisation is an important and accepted recognition of Indigenous people’s equality, however, and should surely be used at all times.

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 3 The issue of clarity arises again with this author’s question. Rather than giving a clear direction for research on processes which successfully implement bilingual education in remote Indigenous schools, the current “why aren’t we using it?” in the question submitted on March 12, 2012, gives an (intentionally) provocative, disgruntled and exasperated air of attack to the question. This is the direct result of basing a research question too firmly in personal experience, for the objectivity and scepticism outlined as defining true educational research by McMillan and Wergin (2010, pp. 1-2) is decidedly missing. Personal experience from working in remote schools in both South Australia and the Northern Territory over the past eleven years has given this author, on bad days, a cynical, arrogant and pessimistic view of the possibilities for reform in this sector. This view is shared at many levels. The 2008 “Excellence or Exit” report, commissioned but largely ignored by The South Australian Department of Education and Children’s Services (DECS) and the Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Education Committee (PYEC), (this being the Indigenous governing body for the remote schools in South Australia), basically advocated for non-Indigenous educators to leave remote schools if radical change and excellence were not made evident, as “anything less simply reinforces the conspiracy of effects that reproduce educational disadvantage and associated cycles of failure” (Lea, Tootel, Wolgemuth, Halkon & Douglas, p. 3). Four years later, suffice to say non- Indigenous staff are still populating remote Indigenous schools and the schools are still failing.

The imperative for radical change is immense and has occupied this author’s thoughts for quite some time. Fortunately on good days, working toward positive outcomes does seem possible, and therefore a completely new question has emerged from the thinking around this paper. Still recognising the personal experience, but deleting the provocative challenge and, instead, based in an open-ended theoretical concern, as suggested by Matthews (as cited in Bryman, 2008, p. 74), also providing a broad framework which could be reformulated as data was collected (McMillan & Wergin, 2010, p. 10), but, most importantly, providing the future hope of positive outcomes for Indigenous students, and, equally importantly, the potential for sustained interest and positivity by the author, and because this author found great resonance with the assertion that “all advances in scientiﬁc understanding, at every level, begin with a speculative adventure, an imaginative preconception of what might be true...beyond anything which we have logical or factual authority to believe in” (Medawar, as cited in Bell, 2005, p. 33), has all resulted in the revised question for Walsh being: “Crossing the cultural divide: How bilingual education in remote Indigenous Australian schools can be dusted off, smartened up and help to pull us all across the gap.”

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 4 Evaluating the literature connections and the practical importance

This author’s statement (March 12, 2012) in regard to Lea’s (2008) paper probably does make clear connections with the spirit of positivity above, but perhaps doesn’t go far enough in making explicit the practical importance of connecting the draft research question, not only to a seemingly radical, pragmatic solution (just do it!), but also, as intimated by Lea’s well-argued and referenced analysis that research and policy are part of the problem, in something which attempts to “cut through embedded systems of practice and thought [to] create confrontations that are psychologically and materially consequential” (p. 79). The revised question therefore refrains from McMillan and Wergin’s suggested use of explicit “language that suggests the collection and analyses of data” (2010, p. 3), like “An investigation of bilingual education...”.

This author’s statement in relation to Simpson, Caffery and Mc Convell’s 2009 paper makes the link to bilingual education as a means of ‘closing the gap’. Simpson et al. can be said to have adequately and reliably investigated the case for bilingual education’s predominantly positive impact on literacy outcomes for remote Indigenous students, particularly since the paper has almost nine full pages of references (pp. 38-47), and, amongst many others, includes citations from creditable sources like the Collins and Yu reviews (pp. 27-28). Their paper therefore gives rise to and “validates”, to use Bryman’s terminology (2008, p. 32), the presumption inherent in both versions of this author’s research question, that bilingual education’s merit is a given, and perhaps even an “independent variable” which does not need further verification (p. 32).

What is not clear from this author’s statement since the revision of the research question, but which now connects the Simpson et al. paper even more, is the original issue of personal interest for investigation by this author, also recognised by Simpson et al. (2009), namely the means of implementing a bilingual system which overcomes cultural barriers, including governmental policies, because “for a bilingual education program to succeed, both the mother tongue and the dominant language must be taught well” (p. 11). This situation of practical importance is given recognition across the field (Gray & Beresford, 2008, Lea, 2008 & 2010, Naidoo, 2011 and Pearson, 2007). To help discover what can be “dusted off and smartened up” from past and current practice of successful methodology for the teaching of both first language and English as a second language, Simpson et al.’s paper already provides a direction of inquiry in describing Katrina Tjitayi’s

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 5 recollections of the now defunct bilingual program which existed on the APY lands in SA pre 1990 (p. 29). Katrina is known to this author and is still working within Anangu Education Services on the APY Lands.

This author’s statement in relation to Gray and Beresford’s (2008) “multidisciplinary approach to social theory” (p. 197) is again adequate, as defining the challenge of ‘closing the gap’ as something akin to Rittle and Webber’s “wicked problems” (p. 215), acknowledges the complexity of the issue as something beyond quick-fix, simplistic solutions. By then categorising the underlying causes of Indigenous educational failure under five main headings, as well as bringing in examples from other countries with Indigenous populations, this paper also presents the concept of “horizontal policy- making” (p. 218) as an ethical and legitimate conceptualisation of the way forward through partnership – “to pull us all across the gap” (from author’s revised question).

Furthermore, removing “disadvantage and disengagement” from this author’s original question was a deliberate attempt to broaden the range of cultural issues which may be revealed as data was collected, and to also acknowledge how Indigenous communities do not necessarily perceive themselves this way; the wording could be construed as contributing to the disfiguration imposed on Indigenous peoples when their situation is articulated through Western frames of knowing (Grande, as cited in Carjuzaa & Fenimore-Smith, 2010, ¶ 1).

An evaluation of Timewell’s statement (March 3, 2012) in relation to all three references would have to conclude he has opted for currency (2010-2011) over relevancy to the topic. His draft research question specifies an interest in how current teacher education practices support the teaching of literacy in remote Indigenous schools, and yet none of the papers, despite his claims in relation to Naidoo (2011) and Spaans (2010), are about what is commonly accepted as remote Indigenous schools.

Although clearly indicated by Spaans in the paper’s context statement that Moonta Area School is located 165kms from Adelaide with an enrolment of 6.7% Indigenous students (2010, p. 53), a quick

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 6 internet search would have confirmed for Timewell that Moonta is a large country town less than two hours drive (on a major highway) to a capital city. This is not the remote context he claims it to be, and a 6.7% Indigenous population does not qualify it as a remote Indigenous context. Without a single reference to other research in this area, Spaans’ paper is indeed questionable as a research paper at all. As a project report, there are areas of transferable interest, like the disengagement of the Indigenous student Spaans encountered being overcome by 1:1tuition and explicit teaching (p. 56), but Timewell fails to record these, mentioning only the presence of the mentor teacher.

Timewell also links the Naidoo (2011) paper with how teacher education supports literacy teaching in remote Indigenous schools, but again mis-represents the situation. A quick bit of detective work by this author using the reference to the Papulu Apparr Kari Language Centre revealed the remote high school discussed in Naidoo’s paper to be Barkly College in Tennant Creek. Certainly more remote than Moonta, this school still does not get a guernsey in the National Alliance for Remote Indigenous Schools (NARIS) list of schools (NT Department of Education and Training, n. d.), which were supposedly the schools Timewell’s question referred to from his original source, the 2011 media release from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Naidoo’s paper has considerably more status as a research paper and significant insights into answering Timewell’s question, but Timewell has confused these connections in stating “geographic isolation and a history of poor educational achievement provide barriers to effective teacher education” – shouldn’t that read “...to improved literacy for Indigenous students”? Certainly Naidoo, in the abstract of the paper, makes “improving Indigenous literacy” (p. 9) the clear potential of the program examined and not its impact on the teaching methodologies of the pre-service teachers per-se.

Timewell’s choice of Bird, Kennedy and Sykes’ (2010) paper is to be commended. Although the analysis deals with the American experience, as the examples Timewell provides in his statement illustrate, its relevance to the teacher training question for the profession overall has universal application. Where his statement fails to make connections are with the unique conceptions Bird et al. discuss, particularly in relation to the assessment of a teacher’s occupational competence, and how this would transfer to the remote Indigenous setting. They argue that if competence can be attributed as much to circumstance as to individuals, in that good schools produce and support the realisation of good teachers, then “the situational constraints facing many teachers cannot be

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 7 overcome via training” (p. 473). This has profound political ramifications when correlated with the media release from which Timewell sourced his research question, which states part of the $5m government funding for NARIS schools will go to funding scholarships for high performing teachers (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2011, ¶ 6). This suggests the perfect “counter-intuitive” basis (Bryman, 2008, p. 70) for a revised research question which has clarity, the prospect of making an original contribution, and is researchable (p. 74): “How can rewards be given to excellent teachers in remote Indigenous schools where all the students are failing?: Is mentoring of pre-service teachers a better support for the raising of literacy standards?”

Conclusion

Explaining the practical importance of any research question seems a little redundant in the context of a remote Indigenous school, when the tip of the iceberg of personal experience includes things such as: teaching a child who has witnessed their mother being beaten to death by their father, attending the funeral of a 16 year old student who had hung themselves, comforting an Indigenous colleague who had to choose between cutting their daughter down from hanging or shielding their grand-daughter from watching it happen, and encouraging yet another Indigenous colleague to keep coming to work (to support the bilingual program), even though they had received news of the deaths of six different close and distant family members over a two day period. What is of practical importance are the research parameters as summarised by Denzin et al., and cited in Hemming, Rigney & Berg (2010):

It must be ethical, performative, healing, transformative, decolonizing, and participatory. It must be committed to dialogue, community, self-determination, and cultural autonomy. It must meet people’s perceived needs. It must resist efforts to confine inquiry to a single paradigm or interpretive strategy. It must be unruly, disruptive, critical, and dedicated to the goals of justice and equity “(p. 101).

References

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 8 Bell, J. (2005). Doing your research project. A guide for ﬁrst-time researchers in education, health and social science(4th ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press. Retrieved from the Scribd website: http://www.scribd.com/doc/50715625/Doing-Your-Research-Project

Bird, T., Kennedy, M. & Sykes, G. (2010).Teacher education: its problems and some prospects. Journal of Teacher Education. 61(5), 464. Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=735e8c1f- 9a12-4af3-ba5c-37ae494494ec%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=19

Bryman, A. (2008). Social research methods (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: OUP.

Carjuzaa, J. & Fenimore-Smith, K. (2010). The Give Away Spirit: Reaching a Shared Vision of Ethical Indigenous Research Relationships. Journal of Educational Controversy. 5(2) [e-journal]. Retrieved from http://www.wce.wwu.edu/Resources/CEP/eJournal/v005n002/a004.shtml

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (2011). New $5m scheme for teachers in remote communities .Retrieved from: http://www.ministers.deewr.gov.au/garrett/new-5m-scheme-teachers-remote-communities

Gray, J., & Beresford, Q. (2008). A 'formidable challenge': Australia's quest for equity in Indigenous education. Australian Journal Of Education, 52(2), 197-223. Retrieved from the Ebscohost website: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=7cdc4c2b-871b-4dc7-bc99-f8713ad66657%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=14

Hemming, S., Rigney, D., & Berg, S. (2010). Researching on Ngarrindjeri Ruwe/Ruwar: Methodologies for positive transformation. Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2010(2), 92-106. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5492c8e4- ef9b-4dbd-b298-d0292bb6dbbe%40sessionmgr13&vid=2&hid=25

Lea, T. (2008). Housing for Health in Indigenous Australia: Driving Change when Research and Policy are part of the Problem. Human Organization, 67(1), 77-85. Retrieved from the university of Melbourne website: http://www.mccaugheycentre.unimelb.edu.au/ data/assets/pdf_file/0008/213659/Lea_2008. pdf

Lea, T. (2010). Indigenous education and training: What are we here for? In J. Altman & M. Hinkson (Eds.), Culture crisis: anthropology and politics in Aboriginal Australia (pp. 195-211). Sydney: University of New South Wales Press Ltd.

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 9 Lea, T., Tootell, N., Wolgemuth, J., Halkon, C. & Douglas, J. (2008). Excellence or Exit: Ensuring Anangu Futures through Education. School for Social Policy Research: Report to the South Australian Department of Education and Children’s Services. Retrieved from Charles Darwin University website: http://www.cdu.edu.au/thenortherninstitute/documents/APYeducationeport.pdf

McMillan, J. H. & Wergin, J. F. (2010). Introduction to reading educational research. In Understanding and evaluating educational research (4th ed.) (pp. 1-13). Upper Saddle River, NJ : Pearson/Merrill.

Moriarty, B. (2012). EER500 - Introduction to Educational Research [EER500 201230 Subject Outline]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/access/content/attachment/MSI_PDF/EER500_201230_D_D- 30_January_2012-Version_1.pdf

Naidoo, L. (2011). Beyond Institutional Walls: Literacy Support for Indigenous Students at a Remote High School in the Northern Territory. Literacy Learning:The Middle Years. 19(3), 9-18. Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=735e8c1f-9a12-4af3-ba5c-37ae494494ec%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=19

NT Department of Education and Training. (n. d.). NARIS Schools [List]. Retrieved from the Northern Territory Government Department of Education and Training website: http://www.det.nt.gov.au/events/nrtc/about-naris

Pearson, N. (2007). White guilt, victimhood and the quest for a radical centre. An Essay from the Griffith REVIEW, (16). Retrieved from the Griffith University website: http://www.griffith.edu.au/griffithreview/campaign/apo/apo_ed16/Pearson_ed16.pdf

Simpson, J., Caffery, J. & McConvell, P. (2009). Gaps in Australia’s Indigenous language policy: dismantling bilingual education in the Northern Territory. Canberra: Research Program, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Retrieved from the AIATSIS website: http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/research/docs/dp/DP24.pdf Spaans, H. (2010). A Supported Learning Journey into Indigenous Literacy. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years. 18(1), 53-58. Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=680ca75e- 410e-4197-a932-9feb69b18310%40sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=13

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 10 Timewell, M. (2012, February 27). Michael Timewell (Melbourne, Vic): Teaching English in Remote Indigenous Locations [Online forum post]. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl? forum_id=EER500_201230_D_D_forum&task=frameset

Timewell, M. (2012, March 3). Michael Timewell, 10/3/2012, Master of TESOL [Online wiki post]. Retrieved from http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/EER500_201230_D_D/page/a55ffe6c- 0031-41fb-8014-282e29c9d5af

Walsh, L. (2012, February 21). Murputja to Middleton, South Aus: cross-cultural education [Online forum post]. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl? forum_id=EER500_201230_D_D_forum&task=frameset

Walsh, L. (2012, March 12). Lynette Walsh, 12 March, 2012, Master of Education (Teacher Librarian) [Online wiki post]. Retrieved from http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/EER500_201230_D_D/page/a55ffe6c-0031-41fb-8014- 282e29c9d5af

Appendix 1: Wiki post – Lynette Walsh

Lynette Walsh, 12 March, 2012, Master of Education (Teacher Librarian).

Research Topic/Problem

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 11 Improving outcomes for remote EFL Indigenous Australians is unilaterally acknowledged as a complex problem without simple solutions. Recognising, acknowledging and overcoming inherent cultural biases within cross-cultural educational settings offers a starting point, and for Indigenous leader Noel Pearson (2007), this is not merely the obvious recognition of the power imbalance and racism issues often inadvertently perpetuated by ‘white’ Australians working in these cross-cultural educational settings, nor is it the sometimes negative nature of the school culture itself, but it is also, in Pearson’s view, a critical issue for Indigenous community leaders, groups and individuals themselves. Taking responsibility and acknowledging how “disengagement and disadvantage have self-perpetuating and cultural qualities” (¶ 14) are the keys Pearson suggests for moving forward.

Draft Research Question

If bilingual education addresses critical cultural issues like disengagement and disadvantage for the students and families of remote Indigenous schools, why aren’t we using it?

From Literature to Research Question and Practical Importance

The very title of Lea’s 2008 article "Housing for Health in Indigenous Australia: Driving Change when Research and Policy are part of the Problem" cuts straight to the first consideration – how to formulate a research question of practical importance which recognises the complexity of the situation, suggests the radical nature of the change required, and also avoids being yet another of the ideas which have come and gone and progressed Indigenous outcomes very little. Lea’s article describes and discusses a program precipitated not by outside agencies but rather by an Indigenous leader’s concerns about community health, and based on Fred Hollow’s “no survey without service” research methodology (pp. 79-80), and as “Australia’s most successful intervention for housing amenity reform” (p. 83) this article has direct implications and powerful insights for the research question above.

"Gaps in Australia’s Indigenous Language Policy: Dismantling bilingual education in the Northern Territory" puts bilingual education first and foremost as a means of practical importance in improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australians. This article is therefore the basis of using bilingual education rather than any other of the starting points, like addressing racism, teacher training, or creating school cultures of high expectation which are arguably cultural issues of equal importance. Furthermore, the article makes strong arguments as to how bilingual education is able to address many of these related issues, as well as providing the testimony of Indigenous peoples, indicating bilingual education would be an Indigenous choice of focus for potential research.

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 12 Gray & Beresford’s article discusses the “complex interrelationship” and “imbedded nature of disadvantage” (p. 202), hence the phrasing in the research question for bilingual education to ‘address critical cultural issues’. By considering similar problems in Canada and America, and discussing the concept of ‘wicked problems’ (p. 215), this article nevertheless suggests “a series of integrated regional agreements with the potential to provide ownership of commitment to improved social outcomes” (p. 219) as a way forward, and is something which a bilingual education policy could be encompassed by.

References

Michael Timewell, 10/3/2012, Master of TESOL

Research Topic or Problem:

In June 2011 the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth announced a new scheme to attract and retain high-quality teachers in remote areas of Australia. This scheme included a new common induction program and an on-line course to assist with teaching students where English is Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 13 not the first language. The research topic to be investigated involves exploring how teacher education programs are being designed to support teachers to deliver literacy education and whether these programs are having a measurable impact on student learning outcomes.

Draft Research Question:

How do current teacher education practices support the teaching of literacy in remote indigenous schools?

From Literature to Research Question and Practical Importance:

Much research has been conducted in the field of teacher education and its impact on measurable student outcomes. Bird, Kennedy and Sykes (2010) explored the problems associated with teacher education, noting that programs where external standards were imposed were unlikely to result in improved teaching practices, as measured by student results. They argue that external standard- setting almost always produces standards and measures that are unlikely to be achieved in real school settings and set unrealistic expectations of achievement. They contend that effective teacher education must create stronger links between pre-service teachers and those teachers currently practicing.

Naidoo (2011) explores teacher education in a remote indigenous secondary school context and further contends that geographic isolation and a history of poor educational achievement provide barriers to effective teacher education. He offers a case-study where four pre-service teachers work within remote indigenous schools during teacher training. He contends that this leads to a better appreciation of the barriers to the effective teaching of literacy and a more optimistic approach to future education.

Spaans (2010) describes how her classroom context in remote South Australia has led her to investigate literacy education in a remote context. She explains how she worked with a mentor within her classroom to improve student outcomes in the area of literacy across the curriculum. She identifies significant trouble in identifying measurable outcomes to track progress of student outcomes throughout this process. While a vast number of articles were available on the topic of teacher education in general, very little of the body of research took into account the specific challenges of teaching in a remote indigenous context. Future research into teacher education in remote indigenous contexts could explore the effectiveness of current practices of preparing teachers to educate speakers of indigenous languages and the methods used to overcome the

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 14 barriers of remote working and living. Research could also consider the measures available to indicate success of particular teacher education programs.

References:

Spaans, H. (2010). A Supported Learning Journey into Indigenous Literacy. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years. 18(1), 53-58. Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=680ca75e- 410e-4197-a932-9feb69b18310%40sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=13

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 15 Name: Lynette Walsh EER500: Introduction to Educational Research Assignment 1b: Mark /50

85+ 75-84 65-74 50-64 <50

Furthermore: In addition: In addition: Essay has one or more of the following shortcomings not compensated by other strengths:

shows evidence of  demonstrates a  demonstrates a sound  addresses the assignment  fails to address the issue/s or initiative and some comprehensive understanding of the issues instructions addressed it/them only marginally originality or understanding of the and a capacity to relate them ingenuity in the issues and a capacity to or apply them to experience  includes a list of References  is considerably shorter than the approach to or relate them to a wider and practice referred to in the text of the required minimum length execution of the context assignment, with correct and essay  shows evidence of wider complete referencing  lacks coherence or structure and  shows evidence of wide reading and some has serious deficiencies in the independent reading independent selection of  is coherent and structured and quality of the writing and/or investigation to sources to support ideas of an acceptable standard of support ideas literacy  shows misunderstanding or little  shows evidence of a capacity understanding of the basic to be evaluative or to make  demonstrates a basic theoretical issues and/or their judgements based on reading understanding of the issues implications for professional of educational research and and a capacity to relate them practice experience/practice to practice/experience/context  relates to the subject on a simple,  relates work to practical and  shows evidence of basic essentially anecdotal level, educational significance. reading relevant to the topic. demonstrating little reading or little capacity to apply concepts to practice or experience and to draw conclusions from that practice

 substandard through a lack of appropriate content, poverty of argument, poor presentation, inadequate length or a combination of these

 incorrect or incomplete referencing.

Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 16 Lynette Walsh 11372222 EER500 Assignment 1b 201230 Page 17