Editorial

As is usually the case for the Australian Journal of Education, this issue covers a mix of topics and methods.

The article by Alison Willis, Peter Grainger, Stephanie Menzies, Rachael Dwyer, Sue Simon and Catherine Thiele draws on data from semi-structured interviews with 22 Australian teachers, employed in primary and secondary schools across four Australian states. Their study focuses on how teachers manage student wellbeing concerns alongside academic pressures and stresses. The authors highlight a distinction between pressure and stress – while all students experience pressures (social, emotional, economic, academic), not all students experience these pressures as stresses (i.e. threats to wellbeing). Analysis of the interviews identified three key themes – pressures and stresses that students bring with them to school, academic pressures and stresses students encounter at school, and the roles of teachers in mediating and mitigating these pressures and stresses to support their students to continue learning. Many teachers indicated that they prioritise student wellbeing over academics, that there needs to be a level of calm and equilibrium in order for learning to take place. The authors conclude that balancing wellbeing concerns and academic development is a professional capability, and that it should not be assumed that all teachers have the skills and knowledge to simultaneously manage student wellbeing and academic progress, or that they can maintain the required levels of support on their own. Access to professional development, along with material and human resourcing, are identified as critical in ensuring that teachers are equipped for the challenges they face.

The relationship between academic performance and wellbeing, this time that of teachers, also features in the next article by Lucy Corbett, Philayrath Phongsavan, Louisa Peralta and Adrian Bauman. Their study focused on professional development available to Australian teachers that targeted their health and wellbeing – what forms were available, where it was available and who might be missing out on opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills around resilience, mental health and wellbeing. A combination of search engine results, Australian education websites and requests to Australian education organisations results an inventory of 63 programmes currently available to Australian teachers that promoted health and wellbeing. Only three of the programmes provided any evidence of effectiveness, in terms of evaluations of the programmes. The authors point out that such a small number of evaluations suggests that these professional development programmes are being offered to teachers and implemented without credible evidence of their effectiveness. Given the importance of supporting teachers’ mental health and wellbeing as professionals in charge of the wellbeing and education of young people, a focus on evaluations of professional development and public reporting and findings is warranted.

Enjoyment of reading and reading for pleasure often feature as positive influences on performance in reading and reading-related tasks in students and adults alike. In this article, Margaret Merga and Catherine Ferguson use the job descriptions for school librarian roles to investigate the role of these school staff in supporting students’ development of reading for pleasure. Advertisements for school librarian roles in Australia and the United States are examined for emphasis on reading for pleasure, and compared to determine whether reading for pleasure is emphasised differently in the two countries. Qualitative analysis of these job descriptions (61 from Australia and 126 from the US) revealed that most of the advertisements made some mention of activities or duties that might support reading for pleasure; however, the emphasis on school librarians’ role in supporting students to develop their enjoyment of reading appeared stronger in Australia. Each facet of supporting reading for pleasure, such as assisting students (and staff) find appropriate and appealing reading materials or creating a reading culture within the school, was identified more often in the Australian documents compared to those from the US. The authors note that the role of school librarians in supporting students to develop a life-long relationship with reading, and preferably a positive relationship, is important and should not be overlooked by professional organisations or schools.

The next two articles illustrate how secondary analysis of data from international large-scale assessments can shed light on matters of teaching and learning. Thus, Sivakumar Alagumalai and Nicholas Buchdahl analyse data from the 2012 cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2012) to examine the extent to which contextual factors at the student level and the teacher/school level are associated with student performance in the three cognitive processes underlying mathematical literacy, namely interpret, employ and formulate. To this end, the authors test a two-level model with data obtained from around 46,000 students in 3000 schools across the world using hierarchical linear modelling. At the student level, results show that experience with pure mathematics tasks, learning time and familiarity with mathematics concepts have a positive effect, whereas use of information and computer technology (ICT) during lessons is negatively related to performance on the three processes. Results also show that, at the teacher/school level, the proportion of certified teachers, school size, student-related factors affecting school climate and teacher focus on students are significant predictors of performance in all three processes. Moreover, interaction effects emerge for the proportion of certified teachers meaning that this variable also affects the relationships between other student level predictors and student performance. Finally, the analyses reveal an increase in the number of relationships between the variables in the models as the assessed cognitive processes become more complex.

Next, Justin Bowd, Terence Bowles and Vicki McKenzie focus on secondary school teachers’ homework practices by analysing TIMSS 2015 data from 429 mathematics classes around Australia. More specifically, the authors use logistic regression to examine the effects of various student and teacher/school variables on (a) the amount of time and (b) the frequency with which Year 8 teachers assign mathematics homework to Year 8 students. Analyses include student demographics such as gender, language spoken at home and home educational resources as well as student attitudes in terms of confidence in and valuing of mathematics. In addition, teacher/school variables include school location, teacher experience, amount of material covered in class and teachers’ perceptions regarding instructional limitations due to a lack of student interest of prior knowledge. Results indicate that teachers who perceive their instruction to be limited by students lacking prior knowledge, ‘a lot’ assign less homework time than teachers of other students. In terms of student attitudes, results reveal that teachers assign more homework time for classes in which students value mathematics more highly, whereas classes with less confident students are assigned less homework time by their teachers. In terms of homework frequency, analyses reveal that more experienced teachers who teach class with students valuing mathematics assign homework more often, whereas classes whose students teachers perceive to be uninterested and who are less confident in mathematics are assigned homework less frequently.

The issue finishes with Jane Page’s review of the book Strong foundations: Evidence informing practice in early childhood education and care, edited by Kilderry and Raban (2020). In her review, Jane notes that the book clearly illustrates the benefits to young children’s learning and development by discussing the Australian Early Childhood Education and Care context, international research, evidence-based practices and the intersection between research and practice.

Finally, after eight years in this position, it is time for me, Petra Lietz, to hand over the Editor-in-Chief responsibilities for the Australian Journal of Education to Kylie Hillman. With Kylie, our Associate Editors, Sarah Buckley, Dan Cloney, Kate Reid and Jessica Thompson as well as the very experienced Juliet Young-Thornton and Katie McDowell as Assistant Editors, the journal is in good hands.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who has engaged with the journal as author, reviewer, editor, reader or on social media during my time with the Australian Journal of Education. It has been a truly enriching experience for which I’m extremely grateful.

Now enjoy the read and take care.