• Increasing student diversity, including those with special needs
• The pervasive impact of technology
• The introduction of the Australian National Curriculum
• The public reporting of school NAPLAN results.
This text prepares pre-service teachers for their profession by encouraging reflective practice and critical thinking. It helps inform the ‘practical' teaching experience and develop skills through thought-provoking questions, activities and lesson plan analysis. It is suited for educational psychology subjects taught to student teachers from all sectors - early childhood, primary, middle and secondary.
Brendan Bartlett is a Gellibrand Scholar, UNICEF Fellow, King Mongkut Medallist and award holder of the Rotary International Certificate for Significant Achievement in Education. He is a Senior Fellow of the Griffith Institute of Educational Research, and was formerly Head, School of Cognition, Language and Special Education at Griffith University in Brisbane, where he teaches both undergraduate and graduate programs in teacher education. The thrust of his research and that of his doctoral students is on how people identify and deal with the ‘big’ ideas in texts they create or read and in the everyday problems they encounter. He is particularly interested in helping readers find and use text structure to organise ideas and improve their memory and comprehension performances. Brendan developed strategic learning and teaching systems based on that objective for Ipswich Grammar School, Australia, The Bear Creek Schools of Washington State in the United States, and Queensland Rail’s Training Division. He co-led research and professional development for Queensland’s teachers with the Supporting Students with Disabilities Project. He assisted in the UN’s reconstruction of education in Kosovo and chaired UNESCO’s Expert Meeting on Guidelines for Textbooks and Other Educational Materials on Human Rights, Peace and Democracy.
Fiona Bryer is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University in Brisbane. She is an educational and developmental psychologist in the Australian Psychological Society and registered with the Psychology Board of Australia. She has worked as a teacher educator for over 35 years and supervised higher degree research students across educational settings from higher education, to middle schooling, to early childhood special education. Fiona edited The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist in the 1990s and continues to review for education journals in Australia and overseas. Her teaching has shifted progressively from child and adolescent development towards a focus on regular teacher practice in classwide behavioural support for student engagement in learning, evidence-based strategies of instructional interaction, and aspects of inclusive practice for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders. She has a broad interest in school reform and research-informed practice in education as effective educational supports for child development and learning.