Australian Journal of Education

There are two contending explanations for the apparent public/private differences in educational outcomes—the ‘quality education’ argument versus the ‘selective-socioeconomic-recruitment’ explanation. The quality education argument explains these differences in terms of between-system differences in the quality of the education offered. The selective-socioeconomic-recruitment explanation suggests that between-system differences in outcomes have more to do with what students bring to school than with what they find there. These competing propositions are examined by asking whether attendance at a Catholic or non-Catholic private school provides a net benefit with regard to educational achievement and attainment. The answers come from additive models which control for a variety of family, individual and school variables in order to examine the net effect of school sector. The evidence presented suggests that a good part of the observed between-sector differences in performance is attributable to between-sector differences in student attributes—but not all. In the case of schooling, small between-sector differences in achievement remain, along with sizeable between-sector differences in Year 12 graduation rates. For higher education, between-sector differences in participation rates favour the graduates of non-government schools but sectoral differences in completion rates are negligible. It is suggested, in conclusion, that parents who invest in their children's education in this way may be getting a return on their investment, though probably not as much as they think.

The trend in the ratio of enrolments in public to private schools in the past decade is well known. There is less knowledge of the curricular differences between such schools and the probable effects of these, educationally and socially, upon individual students and Australian society and culture collectively. A descriptive comparison is made of the curricular prescriptions of ten schools, five public and five private, in the Hobart area. The implications of these differences for levels of educational achievement, both individual and collective, are then examined in the light of some studies of achievement in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. Finally some alternative educational prescriptions are suggested as possible means to enhanced educational achievement and reduced division in Australian society.

Questionnaire data collected from a sample of 238 Australian teachers drawn from primary and secondary, government and non-government schools, were used to identify the factors associated with stress arising from four aspects of the teaching role: time/work-load pressures, student factors, school administration/staff tensions, and employment/community factors. About a third of the teachers reported a considerably high level of job stress. The greatest sources of stress were time and work-load pressures, which were related to being female, permanently employed, committed to teaching, and seeing oneself as conscientious, shy and unhappy. Stress arising from student factors was related to being female, highly committed to teaching, degree-trained rather than certificate-trained, lacking masculinity and lacking self-sufficiency. System and community-related stress was associated with teaching higher grade levels, a perceived lack of promotional opportunities, being employed in the government rather than the non-government system, being unwilling to take risks and being understanding. Stress associated with the school administration did not relate to any identifiable variables. All four areas of stress were positively associated with the use of emotion-focused appraisals, but did not relate systematically to the use of problem-focused appraisals despite the relatively high incidence of these appraisals. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Drawing on recent Australian and overseas research, this review provides an overview of the main issues recurring in the literature relevant to sex differences in computing participation. The major concerns reflect requirements for citizenship, development of cognitive abilities, employment opportunities, and national development. Sex differences favour males in overall computer use, course enrolments, programming and games, although there are few sex differences in the use of computer applications. Explanations focus on sex-based differences in expected outcomes. These expectations arise from cultural beliefs about competence, differences in the outcomes of computer experience, associations of computing with mathematics, technology and maleness, attitudes of parents and teachers, and preferences for sex segregation. Strategies for increasing female participation are provided.

Teachers and students from all government secondary schools in Barbados rated various aspects of teacher/student behaviour and of more general school functioning, according to the extent to which they perceived coeducational schools to be at an advantage or disadvantage relative to single-sex institutions. Overall both groups saw coeducation as most advantageous in respect of the school's ability to prepare students for future occupational and interpersonal roles, and to impact most negatively on students' current conduct and adherence to school rules. Male students tended to express more positive views on coeducation than females, although such a trend was not consistent among teachers. Teachers and students in single-sex schools tended to have more positive views than those in coeducational schools, with the most negative opinions being voiced by teachers (especially females) working in schools which were formerly single-sex and had recently become coeducational.

A longitudinal study of one university was conducted retrospectively on the associations between two quantifiable indices of academic merit and advancement through the academic hierarchy. These data are the first longitudinal data to be presented on the careers of a group of Australian academics. The findings did not support the general model of success by merit. Nor did they support the hypotheses that senior academic women have lower formal qualifications or publish less than men of similar rank. If academic excellence is to be promoted in a systematic way, then a great deal more research into the phenomenon will be required.

Although maladaptive fears are complexly determined and often refractory to change, advances in cognitive-behavioural counselling offer considerable promise. Of the many fears displayed by children, several—performance anxiety, social anxiety and school phobia—are of concern to school staff. In describing the major fear reduction procedures (e.g. systematic desensitisation) this article highlights the need to be flexible and to ensure that interventions are age-appropriate. Despite the differences between fear-reduction procedures, they all aim to expose the individual to the fear-eliciting stimulus. Awaiting further research is the role of the teacher in the identification and management of anxious students.