John Kenny

University of Tasmania · Faculty of Education

Worldwide, education jurisdictions are looking for authentic ways to address First Nations perspectives in the K-12 curriculum, including science education. At the same time, there have been ongoing efforts to integrate authentic and engaging approaches to teaching science, including those that are student-centred, inquiry-based, multimodal, and li...

This study explored the voice of students in the Ethiopian higher education context. Stratified sampling and an exploratory research design were employed to understand students’ voices. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes and meanings. The strength of students’ voices was contrasted with other countries that have implemented the Bologna P...

This paper reports on research exploring the academic workload and performance practices of Australian universities. This research has identified a suite of activities associated with teaching, research and service, each with an associated time value (allocation). This led to the development of the academic workload estimation tool (AWET). In 2020,...

Internationally, much has changed in the governance of universities since the adoption of corporate management approaches. A strong focus on efficiency, productivity and accountability arising from these approaches has been well documented in the literature. Reductions in government funding have caused universities to become more competitive and en...

One of the enduring problems in the education system is the gap between theory and practice, where the research to improve teaching and learning is not fully realised in the classroom. This has impacted the effectiveness of education reform. We take a systems thinking approach to better understand the complexity of an education system, which involv...

This study explored academics’ and institutional leaders’ perception of transparency in decision-making in Ethiopian higher education institutions. Three universities were selected from the 31 public universities using a stratified sampling technique. The study employed a mixed-method exploratory research design. Descriptive statistics (mean and st...

This study explored academics’ and institutional leaders’ perception of the empowerment of various actors in Ethiopian higher education institutions. Little is known about university autonomy in Ethiopian higher education in the context of the Bologna Process. Three public universities were selected from the 31 public universities using a stratifie...

Learning to teach out-of-field is a challenge that many teachers worldwide face at some time in their career. Whether they are motivated to seek formal professional development as additional qualifications in this area, however, depends on many factors. Alignment between the specific professional development needs of out-of-field teachers and the p...

This chapter discusses teacher learning and professional development of out-of-field teachers from the point of view of the literature. It examines what makes this kind of learning and development effective and explores the ideas surrounding the varying rationale for the introduction of such teacher learning and professional development opportuniti...

This chapter discusses teacher learning and professional development of out-of-field teachers from the point of view of the literature. It examines what makes this kind of learning and development effective and explores the ideas surrounding the varying rationale for the introduction of such teacher learning and professional development opportuniti...

This article provides insight into the nature of research workload allocation for Australian academics. It explores the distinction between research performance and research workload allocation. Research performance can be judged at an institutional level, a work group level or an individual level. The process by which an institution’s research per...

In this chapter, we consider two case studies where the Interpretive Framework was applied to contexts other than education. The first case study was concerned with improving the professional experience programme for nursing and medical students who undertook placement at a healthcare organisation (HCO). In the second case study, the Interpretive F...

This chapter describes the five individual models of school-based practice involving university–school partnerships, each presented as a single case study. Each partnership was independently developed, and there are both common and unique characteristics of the partnership and the pedagogical practices that emerge when a cross-case analysis is cond...

Due to more accountability for funding and demands of employers for more “work-ready” graduates, the provision of more authentic learning experiences is gaining attention in a range of professions other than teaching and raising questions about the effectiveness of university learning. The literature on Work Integrated Learning (WIL) indicates many...

This chapter draws on the insights in previous chapters to present two visions for the use of partnerships in teacher education and the applicability of our STEPS Interpretive Framework as a language to inform and describe partnership work, and to show how education-focused partnerships can be set up to work most effectively in a range of other con...

Cambridge Core - Education, History, Theory - Teaching Secondary Science - edited by Geoff Woolcott

Neo-liberal reforms in higher education have resulted in corporate managerial practices in universities and a drive for efficiency and productivity in teaching and research. As a result, there has been an intensification of academic work, increased stress for academics and an emphasis on accountability and performativity in universities. The paper...

This research effort investigates principal perceptions regarding the impact of science-focused school university partnership programs in primary school contexts. Utilizing a multiple case study design, this research effort analyzed the nature and structure of the partnership efforts across five established science-focused partnership programs in t...

Neoliberal reforms in higher education have resulted in corporate managerial practices in universities and a drive for efficiency and productivity in teaching and research. As a result, there has been an intensification of academic work, increased stress for academics and an emphasis on accountability and performativity in universities. This paper...

An online survey of workload activities was circulated to academics across Australia seeking estimates for the time to undertake a range of academic-related tasks associated with teaching, research and service. This article summarises the most important findings from the teaching data of the 2059 respondents. This detail of workload data has not be...

This paper presents an Interpretive Framework stemming from a longitudinal and iterative multiple case study of five Australian universities examining the cogent and unique practices underpinning their established and successful school-based science teacher education programs. Results from interviews with teacher educators, school staff and pre-ser...

The STEPS project responds to international concern about primary teachers' lack of science knowledge and confidence to teach science, and recent questioning of the effectiveness of traditional approaches to teacher education.It will review and build on established, innovative and successful practices at five universities, to develop and promote a...

The demands on academic staff are increasing to the point where effective mechanisms for the allocation of their work are now necessary. Despite the inherent difficulties of categorising academic work, nearly all enterprise agreements at Australian universities include a clause designed to avoid work overload. Through a questionnaire, the investiga...

This paper reports on the STEPS project which addressed international concerns about primary teachers’ lack of confidence to teach science, and on-going questions about the effectiveness of teacher education. The five universities involved had each independently established a science education program incorporating school-based partnerships between...

Many researchers have identified and expressed concern over the state of science education internationally, but primary teachers face particular obstacles when teaching science due to their poor science background and low confidence with science. Research has suggested that exemplary resources, or units that work, may be an effective way to support...

This paper reports on a partnership approach preparing pre-service primary teachers to teach science. Partnerships involving pre-service teachers and volunteer in-service colleagues were formed to teach science in the classroom of the colleague, with support from the science education lecturer. Each pre-service teacher collaboratively planned and d...

This paper presents a professional learning (PL) model that emerged from the authors’ involvement with PL processes in several rural and remote schools in the state of Tasmania. As is the case for rural areas generally, young people in rural areas of Tasmania have lower retention rates to Year 12 and lower participation rates in higher education th...

This paper reports on the effectiveness of a professional partnership approach to preparing pre‐service primary teachers to teach science. The study involved final year BEd pre‐service primary teachers at the University of Tasmania, each working in the class of a volunteer colleague teacher. The programme provided an authentic science teaching expe...

This paper is a reflection on my journey in a work‐based (WB) research project while completing my PhD at a large Australian university. The paper explores issues that arose as I studied strategic change in the university and my role evolved from that of a ‘change agent’ working as part of a project team to that of a researcher. A case study format...

This paper reports on a partnership based approach for preparing pre-service primary teachers to teach science. It involved forming three-way or "triadic" partnerships, consisting of a final year pre-service primary teacher and an in-service colleague, to teach science in the colleague teacher’s classroom, with the support of a teacher-educator. Th...

The corporate approaches introduced in the late 1980s and now prevalent in universities in Australia have led to irrevocable changes in the way universities are managed and academics work. The management approaches widely applied in Australian universities are largely based on a top-down corporate management model, with central control over policy...

This paper reports on the outcomes of a pilot project to support secondary teachers of science in rural and regional Tasmania. The pilot project involved eight regional schools and was based on the provision of a kit of materials and an associated learning program that used brine shrimp or 'sea-monkeys' to test for water quality. The unit was devel...

Purpose – To develop a theoretical model for strategic change that links learning in an organization to the strategic process. Design/methodology/approach – The model was developed from a review of literature covering a range of areas including: management, strategic planning, psychology of learning and organizational learning. The process of form...

Projects are a means of implementing strategy; the relationship of project management to strategic implementation in an organization is explored. Some of the recent project management literature is examined and a case study from the education sector is used to consider how to effectively link project management to organizational strategic processes...

Traditionally, project management practices have not drawn any distinction between the characteristics of different projects. Recent research has found that innovative projects require different project management approaches if quality outcomes are to be achieved. Projects involving more innovation require more open management processes and contain...

Ernest Boyer's (1990) paper "Scholarship Reconsidered" sparked widespread discussion of the role of academics and broadened the notion of academic work by defining four "Scholarships": Discovery (Research), Application, Integration and Teaching. Since the publication of the Boyer paper, higher education in Australia has undergone significant change...