Volume 7, Issue 1: The autumn 2009 edition of Professional Voice focuses on social inclusion and the ways that public education from early childhood to post-compulsory can be used to tackle the effects of social exclusion. Articles include analyses of funding, leadership, recruitment in challenging schools, and individual programs working with particular excluded communities. These articles are dowloadable PDFs.

Editorial: The politics of social inclusion
By John Graham. (PDF 94KB)

Inclusive Education
By Jill Blackmore. As Australian society becomes more diverse, parental choice and selection are making our school populations less so. Jill Blackmore sets out what makes for an inclusive school and why they are good for students - and teachers. (PDF 120KB)

Public Education and Social Inclusion
By Tony Vinson. Equity and inclusion were key themes of the AEU's first national public education forum. Tony Vinson surveys the range of contributions, including analyses of public and private education funding, the values they embody, and the need for evidencebased analysis of the impact of funding systems. (PDF 147KB)

Effective Strategies for Improving School Completion
By Stephen Lamb. The Federal Government's target of 90% for Year 12 completion is a huge challenge. But international research has begun to define the type of school cultures and combination of school-wide and student-centred strategies that have the most chance of success. (PDF 294KB)

Teach for Australia! Classmates as a model of teacher preparation
By Tania Ferfolja. Schools in struggling communities are often hardest hit by teacher shortages and high turnover. But while ministers look to US and UK schemes to parachute in untrained graduates, a homegrown program that gives trainee teachers experience in challenging settings is already showing results. (PDF 132KB)

They Have Been Thrown Into The Ocean and They Don't Know How To Swim
By Robyn Ramsden and Jude Quinn. Refugee families often have a burning desire for educational success for their children, but find themselves lost in a school system they don't understand. A pilot program has found a way of breaking down the walls between Somali parents and teachers - through their children. (PDF 214KB)

Enfranchising Our Future Citizens
By Claire Jennings. Children who have never been read to begin school or preschool several steps behind in their social and intellectual development. A new Reading Discovery program works with disadvantaged parents to encourage reading at home, and its success has prompted a version for Indigenous families. (PDF 168KB)

VET and Australia's social inclusion agenda
By Fran Ferrier and Sue North. The Rudd Government is attempting to find joined-up solutions to complex problems of disadvantage and exclusion. Vocational education and training will have a key role, but that could require a fundamental shift in attitudes in some institutes. (PDF 119KB)

Roger Goddard on collective efficacy
Interview by John Graham. (PDF 119KB)

Contributor Information (PDF 288KB)

Subscription Information (PDF 38KB)

Advertising Rates (PDF 82KB)

Next issue: 7.2 - Developments in Learning.
Contributions invited – please email Nic Barnard

Professional Voice Archive

Click here to download previous Professional Voice issues