Volume 15 Issue 2

School lockdowns prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic has required teachers to work in a climate of rapid and significant adaptation. In this paper, which is part of a larger study, we provide a summary of the effects the COVID-19 school lockdowns in 2020 had on teacher stress. The paper outlines firstly the specific teacher stressors that existed before 2020 as well as the additional stressors that became apparent during and since the COVID-19 pandemic, as identified in scholarly literature. Secondly, the paper provides a brief overview of the responses from teachers in the 48 schools within Adventist Schools Australia (ASA) to an online survey designed to explore their workplace stressors surrounding the school lockdowns in 2020. Overall, there was a general increase in workplace stress during the COVID-19 school lockdowns, but it was not the degree that has been reported in previous literature.

This book is written jointly by Professor Gordon Parker AO, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales , and founder of the Black Dog Institute; Gabriella Tavellais

The purpose of this article was to investigate the use of deliberative decision-making lessons, such as rank-order format, for evaluating historical events. In this lesson, students act as an ancient historian by evaluating historical pieces of evidence for the early Christian's claim that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead. Students evaluated eight separate pieces of evidence discussed in historical scholarship by rank-ordering the evidences from strong to weak.

Mental health has been identified as an issue of national concern in Mission Australia's Youth Survey.

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) identifies two focus areas that graduate teachers need to be familiar with to be competent to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and all other students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, history, and culture (AITSL 2017). Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture into pedagogy and practice and engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities can be daunting for educators. While on paper these appear to be two different elements, it is not possible to have one without the other. Being able to effectively embed content relies heavily on meaning full engagement with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, families, and communities attached to a school and by developing and maintaining respectful, reciprocal relationships.

The following guidelines are based on experience when working closely with and assisting staff at an Early Learning Centre in Regional Queensland who were exploring ways to connect with Traditional Owners and the broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

In a secular society such as Australia, why are more and more parents sending their children to faith-based schools? This question led me to pursue PhD research exploring the reasons why parents choose faith-based schools. As I began my research I was confronted with unexpected complexities of researching my own setting. Researching one’s own professional context or occupational setting is known as insider research and this type of research is becoming increasingly common, especially in the field of Education. This paper explores some of the experiences I encountered as an insider researcher, and I present typical advantages and challenges associated with insider research. I also provide a discussion of the importance of reflexivity for insider researchers. By acknowledging the issues inherent with insider research, the usefulness of studying one’s own setting will be evident. I conclude that teacher-driven insider research is valuable to the understanding of the practice of Education.

An institution’s support of higher degree research (HDR) candidates engages the supervisor/s and the candidate in a professional learning and teaching relationship, described as the pedagogy of supervision (Grant, 2005; Nulty, Kiley, & Meyer, 2009). Universities develop programs to support academic and research staff to supervise postgraduate candidates while also facilitating the learning of novice researchers and HDR candidates (Carton & Kelly, 2014; Carton, O’Farrell, & Kelly, 2013; Luca et al., 2013). In this mixed methods research project questionnaires and interviews were used to determine what is valued by current and past HDR candidates of Avondale and which areas of our HDR programs need further development. This is the first of two papers that report the findings of this project.

Academic literature, supported by empirical evidence indicates there is a huge drop out from Christian faith amongst those who begin university ostensibly as Christians. While this may be seen as a manifestation of the Parable of the Sower, it nonetheless represents an existential problem for the broader church in so far as much potential future membership and leadership within Christian circles has evaporated within a few short years. Questions arise as to whether the Christian community is sufficiently alert to the issue and is attempting possible mitigation strategies. Approaches to stemming the tide include avoiding cocooning young people in a Christian bubble without the skills to navigate the intellectual and ethical challenges of campus life, the importance of developing a strong Christian worldview underlaid by effective apologetics, the need for focussed mentoring supported by strong biblical teaching, and the critical nature of experiencing lived Christian community. Without such approaches, the church at large will probably continue to experience the corrosive impact of very extensive fall out from faith of young people in their late teens and early 20s.

This article describes collaborative autoethnographic reflections on the meaning of our decade-long journey as a school community towards reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This has resulted in a heartening cultural change driven by the school’s strong, faith-based commitment to reconciliation and the desire to make an incredibly complex issue accessible for children and young people.

A powerful change took place when we invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into our community to tell their story and true growth occurred when our students moved from the position of spectators to participators. Reconciliation events are now a permanent part of our school calendar. The many cultures that make up our community, but especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritages, are celebrated in authentic ways. Our students have led the process and began to develop pride in their identity, finding their voice among peers

The philosophy of an educational research project is important to reflect upon and declare, but can often be left unexplained. In order to address this area of thought, this study discusses the implications of the epistemological paradigm of a ‘convergent parallel mixed methods’ research design. An actual research piece was chosen to assist in bringing focus to the study. How the epistemological paradigm impacts upon data collection and analysis techniques, and therefore the conclusions of the research, was examined. The design was then critiqued from a Biblical Christian perspective, including ideas for how it might be reformulated and used within a Biblical epistemological paradigm. A significant aspect of such a way of thinking is that educational research is more than increasing knowledge for knowledge sake, but also to grow personally and professionally in an understanding of God: who He is, of His creation, including humanity, and the interrelationships between each of these.