Research Projects

Researchers

Associate professor Angela Page; Associate professor Joanna Anderson; Professor Susan Ledger; Professor Christopher Boyle; Dr Tom Porta; Dr Jo Mosen; Dr Kate Ferguson-Patrick 

The project

Pacific Research in Inclusive and Specialist Education (Pacific RISE) are a team of experienced inclusive development practitioners and professional development providers with broad knowledge and expertise in working in the Pacific.  

Our philosophy is to create capacity to ensure sustainable improved practices in partnership with communities and stakeholders. Within our range of skills and abilities and professional knowledge, we bring: research and evaluation capability; current evidence-based professional development to inform teacher practice; a global best practice understanding of inclusive education; experience of working inside Pacific classrooms; and working with Pacific educators that overtly reflect and respect the local education context.

The project

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers requires teachers to differentiate, which is vital to achieving inclusive education. Key to differentiation is the adherence to quality curriculum. This implies that ensuring that each student has access to effective instruction and curriculum entitlements.

A crucial aspect of guaranteeing students’ access to quality curriculum is ensuring that teachers draw the necessary knowledge, skills, and understanding from the selected curriculum. In understanding how teachers draw their learning objectives (often referred to as learning intentions, learning goals etc) for the teaching of reading, will illuminate how teachers are interpreting the Australian Curriculum: English, and translating this into their classrooms.

As a result of this research, results may highlight more effective ways of drawing the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding from the curriculum, to better improve students’ reading skills in the differentiated classroom. Furthermore, the results may enhance teacher education by ensuring pre-service teachers are taught to plan effectively for both reading and the differentiated classroom collectively.