What does exclusionary discipline do and why should it only ever be used as a last resort?
In this blog , C4IE’s Director, Professor Linda Graham explains why suspensions and exclusions do not work and why they should only ever be used for serious incidents or as a last resort. In a follow-up paper investigating overrepresentation of Indigenous students in QLD state school suspensions and exclusions, she points to recent…
Cultivating an inclusive environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Boarding Students
In the next few months, many Indigenous students will be preparing to leave their communities and move to the city to attend boarding school in 2021. In this blog, Dr Francis Bobongie-Harris explains how urban boarding schools can establish inclusive environments and support Indigenous students who move to regional areas to attend…
Emotional Energy, Diversity, and Harmony in a Confucian Heritage Classroom
In this blog post, Dr James Davis discusses emotional energy from a Confucian heritage perspective. Emotional energy is interconnected with cognitive aspects of learning while at the same time, deeply embedded in societal, organisational and classroom levels of culture. James discusses Confucian emotive experiences associated with…
Mammoth effort, limited results: Why is it that even conscientious schools can struggle to reduce cyberbullying?
In this post, PhD student Donna Pennell discusses her research which uncovered hidden influences on schools that were hindering their efforts to reduce student cyberbullying. Student cyberbullying: Can’t more be done? Cyberbullying occurs when a student is intentionally, repeatedly and harmfully targeted by someone who simply wishes…
How COVID-19 changed our teaching approach
In this post, teacher and Head of Department Ms Frances Constantine and Dr Prue Miles from The Centre for Inclusive Education reflect on COVID-19 online learning, and what teachers can take from this experience, to build innovative and engaging curriculum delivery. There is no doubt that COVID-19 introduced unique challenges and…
Why is it so difficult for schools to retain high quality secondary school teachers? A possible solution.
In this blog post, Associate Professor Alberto Bellocchi discusses recent research that investigated an early career teacher’s classroom experiences of emotion management, using innovative research methodologies. Australian secondary schools have great difficulty finding and retaining high quality specialist teachers. Why? Firstly…
Do our country cousins have something to tell us about supporting teachers and parents in a pandemic?
In this blog post Associate Professor Beth Saggers, discusses research outcomes of the Early Years Behaviour Support Project. This research was conducted as part of the Autism CRC School Years Program. It trialled the use of a novel tele-classroom consultation approach to support teachers in rural and remote regions of Australia. The…
Why are special schools still on the menu?
In this post, Dr Glenys Mann discusses parental choice and the provision of special schools as an option for students with disability. School choice is a defining feature of Australian education for many families but when it comes to choosing a school for children with disability, should segregated schools be on the menu? The decision…
Gatekeeping the enrolment of students with disability
In this blog post, Associate Professor Shiralee Poed discusses the issue of enrolment gatekeeping, a practice that is unlawful in Australia, under the Disability Standards for Education 2005. Recently, on social media, the issue of gatekeeping in Australian schools was again raised. On this occasion, a parent of a primary-aged student…
Drawing on real classroom experiences: Teaching for diversity
In this blog post, Suzanne Carrington, Beth Saggers, Amanda Webster, Keely Harper-Hill and Julie Nickerson discuss their new research, published this week in the International Journal of Educational Research. This research investigated the Universal Design for Learning principles, guidelines, and checkpoints used by Australian teachers…