SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
The following is a profile of research activities and interests within the School of Education at James Cook University:
Language, literacies and education
Teaching of writing; children’s literature; gender, language and literacy; the politics of literacy; critical discourse analysis; second language teaching and learning; instructional strategies for reading and writing; cloze procedures; adult and workplace literacies; emotional, social and visual literacies’ education; English for academic purposes; analysing classroom texts and talk; culture and language learning; media texts and popular culture; technology and literacies; scientific discourse communities.
Information technologies, media and education:
Applications of multimedia technologies in TESOL; interactive multimedia and distance education; gender and cultural differences in usage of interactive multimedia technologies; microcomputers in teaching and learning; young children’s use of microcomputers; virtual reality in education; measuring computer anxiety; IMM in indigenous and multicultural schools; gifted children; World Wide Web; web conferencing.
Education and society:
Popular culture and education; equity and access; critical analysis of schooling and educational policy; sociology of the curriculum; discourse analysis and sociolinguistics; feminist theory; poststructuralist theory; cultural studies; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education; culturally relevant pedagogy in Torres Strait Islander education; responsive pedagogy in Torres Strait Islander educational contexts; concepts of childhood; rural education; community and professional development in rural areas; education history; education for citizenship; school effectiveness; multi-ethnic education; family, school and work; school community and State in 19th century Australia.
Education, thinking and cognitive development:
Thinking and development in young children; affective development in schools; Piagetian theory; teaching thinking; students’ in-class thinking; cognitive foundations of artistic development; changing conceptions of children and childhood; affective learning in preschools; children’s fears; cognition and thinking in science and mathematics teaching; student thinking whilst studying from text; measuring development and learning; metacognition; assessing higher order thinking; teaching mathematically gifted students.
Disability, special needs and education:
Special education; integration; inclusion of students with special needs in regular school settings; intellectual disability; learning difficulties; behavioural and emotional problems; gifted and talented; vision impairment; hearing impairment; communication disorders; physical disability, multiple disability; parents of children with disabilities; use of technology in education of students with special needs; multisensory environments; autism spectrum disorder; early intervention; parent collaboration.
Teacher development:
Teacher induction; collaborative professional development; teacher socialisation; constructions of teaching; critical reflective practice in teaching and nursing science; teacher perceptions of curriculum development; managing change; interpersonal communication; teaching across cultures; preservice education.
Gender and education:
The discursive construction of gender; gender, language and literacy; gender and technology; feminist theory and education; gender and early childhood; masculinity and schooling; boys and literacy; sex-based harassment at school; boys’ engagement with schooling.
Curriculum research:
Analysis of curriculum materials; human relationships education; English and literature education; constructivism in science, mathematics and teacher education; social and environmental education; ethnomusicology and education; drawing and discourse in art education; physical education curriculum; viability of scientific knowledge; learning environments; education for citizenship; laboratory learning; metacognition in mathematics problem solving; ethnomathematics; statistical thinking among children.
Rural education:
Current and recent Rural Education research has included projects on: small school closures; equitable funding; education and ethnic response; men’s health in remote areas; rural schools and community development; participation, retention and progression in schooling and higher education; rural well-being; the role of rural professionals; attracting and retaining rural teachers and other professionals; attracting rural youth to health careers; otismedia and its implications for education.