Since the publication of results from the first iteration of testing within the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the ensuing media consternation and political rhetoric about teacher quality in education systems around the world, professional standards for teachers have been considered, developed and implemented globally in various forms. Justified by the argument that they raise teacher quality which in turn raises student outcomes, professional standards for teachers are being considered as an integral part of the solution to current deficits in education. This article explores the forces driving and restraining professional standards for teachers within international and Australian contexts and identifies ways in which initial teacher education programs can support their successful implementation.
This study compares the use and efficacy of assessment grading tools within postgraduate education courses in a regional Australian university and a regional university in the US. Specifically, we investigate how the quality of postgraduate education courses can be improved through the use of assessment rubrics or Criterion Referenced Assessment sheets (CRA sheets). The researchers utilised interviews and a modified form of the Delphi Method to answer three research questions relating to; assessment and student motivation, grading tools and raising quality in learning, as well as assuring quality in assessment grading tools. The research resulted in the development of a checklist, in the form of a set of questions, that lecturers should ask themselves before writing rubrics or CRA sheets. The paper concludes by demonstrating how assessment grading tools might be applied, developed and constantly improved in Master of Education courses in Australian and US higher education institutions.
Effective school leadership preparation has been regarded as desirable if not mandatory in Australia and globally for decades. Schools and school systems, higher education institutions and education jurisdictions have attempted with varying degrees of success to encourage teachers aspiring to become principals to prepare well for the complex role ahead. Research involving postgraduate education students identified that peer support, collaboration and collegial professional learning contributed towards self-development, strengthening the required Personal qualities, social and interpersonal skills of contemporary school leaders.
Purpose
A plethora of principal development programs based on myriad leadership theories currently abounds in many educational jurisdictions globally. Today’s principals, consequently and fortuitously, often feel less isolated and better supported that has been indicated in school leadership research over the past two decades. The purpose of this paper is to discover, however, how principals, through well-designed postgraduate study, can effectively become the transformational leaders, schools regularly require of them.
Design/methodology/approach
Action research involving postgraduate leadership students at an Australian university over a two year period, involved three cycles: identification of leadership learning needs, introduction of innovations to their learning and identification of the transformative learning which contributed to their leadership development.
Findings
Transformative learning impacts significantly on transformational leadership development. This happens when disorienting dilemmas challenge and open minds to possibilities, and paradigmatic assumptions are questioned. The ensuing awareness enables leaders to demonstrate characteristics of transformational leadership especially the dimension of individualised consideration.
Originality/value
Few studies have aligned transformative learning with transformational leadership theory, but this paper found that school leaders benefit from transformative learning in their quest to become such a leader. The scariness of a metaphoric principal bungee-jump could ultimately lead to rocket launching of the most transformative kind.
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