Whole-School Professional Development (PD) days held regularly in schools are designed to promote and up-skill school staff on relevant areas of educational policy and practice. An aim of PD days is to empower participants with new knowledges and skills, and to confirm that current practices and interpretations of education policy and procedure are correct. In determining the nature of the professional development content, school executives make decisions based on their perceived needs of the staffing group, available speakers, current departmental policy and practice requirements. Deciding the topics for the professional development day for school staff has tended to adopt a 'one size fits all' general approach that is rationalised as being broad in nature and of benefit to all. In adopting such an approach to a diverse teaching cohort, one may question just how valuable and meaningful this training day is in meeting the individual needs of all participating teachers. This paper reports on the benefits a more individualised approach to a whole-school PD training day had for one government primary school in Australia. Foundational to the detailed design of the PD days, the 'School-based Learning for Individual Diversity in Education' (SLIDE) project proceeded by identifying the individual needs of each staff member in the school community through an interview prior to the delivery of the two-day training. Embedded in an action research model, the SLIDE project reported evidence of improved teacher self-confidence, improved communication between all levels, and a boost to the level of whole-school staff cohesion and morale.

A federal report released by the Department of Families and Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA, 2009), entitled 'Closing the Gap on Indigenous Disadvantage: The Challenge for Australia', highlighted the inequality that exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students based on a restricted access to resources, issues of isolation, staff and student retention, and cultural differences and challenges. In New South Wales (NSW), the Department of Education and Training (DET) and the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) in 2003/2004 undertook their own review of Aboriginal education in NSW Government schools that revealed significant concerns about the outcomes being achieved by Aboriginal students in NSW DET schools, confirming the more recent FaHCSIA (2009) findings. In 2006 the NSW DET implemented the Enhanced Teacher Training Scholarship Program (ETTSP) to empower 20 final-year education students to successfully engage with Indigenous students in schools and their wider community during their internship period. Using themes, this article explores the experiences of 10 University of New England scholarship holders at the end of their final year of teacher training and immersion/internship experience in 2010. The article puts forward useful recommendations for both teacher universities and students intending to teach in schools with high Indigenous student populations.

The quality of the overall primary school experience for students diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and other learning disabilities may be typically challenging and stressful on a number of fronts, particularly the successful negotiation of the social curriculum. The term 'inclusion' is defined as a process taking into consideration features such as welcoming diversity, promotion of teacher consistency and collaboration, and the provision of learning opportunities and experiences to match the needs of the child. This paper provides parents of children diagnosed with AS a voice to speak about their own experiences and perspectives of how inclusive the primary school system was in meeting their child's needs. Based on parental experiences working with their child and primary School staff, a number of strategies and recommendations are put forward to empower new parents of children diagnosed with AS and teachers on how to improve the quality of the child's primary school experiences. Through the use of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, 12 parents participated in the 'Looking back to work forward' research and their data analysed initially using the Leximancer Version 2.25 (2001) qualitative software. A thematic analysis was undertaken using Bruner's (1990) concept of generative themes that revealed key topics shared by the participants, including bullying, the importance of community and social supports, and parental involvement with schools. The paper puts forward strategies and recommendations to teachers, education staff and parents on how to improve the process of inclusion for students with AS, and for those students who exhibit similar difficulties at school.

The concept of 'inclusion' within the mainstream education system is defined as a process taking into consideration features such as welcoming diversity, promotion of teacher consistency and collaboration, and the provision of learning opportunities and experiences to match the needs of the child. Students diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and other learning disabilities often find successful negotiating all aspects of the primary school classroom typically challenging and stressful on a number of fronts, particularly the social curriculum. This paper provides parents of children diagnosed with AS a voice to speak about their own experiences and perspectives of how inclusive the New South Wales' (NSW) Australian primary school system was in meeting their child's needs. Based on parental experiences working with their child and primary school staff, the paper puts forward strategies and recommendations to teachers, education staff and parents on how to improve the process of inclusion for students with AS, and for those students who exhibit similar difficulties at school. Through the use of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, 12 parents participated in the "Looking Back to Work Forward" research and their data analysed initially using the Leximancer Version 2.25 (2001) qualitative software. A thematic analysis was undertaken using Bruner's (1990) concept of generative themes that revealed key topics shared by the participants, including bullying, the importance of community and social supports, and parental involvement with schools.

Today's classrooms contain exciting cultural, academic and behavioural dimensions that teachers need to fully understand and embrace in order to manage the successful learning of every student. In mainstream classrooms, students presenting with learning disabilities and learning difficulties require the teacher to carefully think through effective learning strategies to promote inclusive classroom practices. This article summarises a seminar delivered at the University of Hong Kong on the 8th February where a number of strategies to successfully include students with Asperger Syndrome (AS) in Primary School were discussed.

Der Inklusionsbegriff wird derzeit weltweit eingesetzt und in den unterschied-lichsten Facetten ausgestaltet. Eine Gruppe von Studentinnen der Sozialen Arbeit (B.A.) an der Fachhochschule Dortmund und ein australisches Team der University of New England, Armidale, Australien, haben in den Jahren 2012 und 2013 Schulen in Deutschland und Australien besucht und nach ihren Inklusionsmerk-malen untersucht. Ergebnisse dieser Studien flossen in Abschlussarbeiten ein und werden in diesem Buch in ihren zentralen Auszügen widergegeben.

Many challenges exist for teachers trying to secure employment in schools, particularly for those beginning their teaching career. Expectations are high from teacher education graduates that they will make an immediate transition to their 'own' classroom, as a permanent full-time teacher, once graduated. The reality is, however, that most beginning teachers in New South Wales enter the teaching profession initially on a Casual basis. This paper highlights a number of issues that contribute to the difficulties casual beginning teachers experience by exploring the supply and demand of school teachers, the increasing casualisation of the teaching workforce, and other issues compounding on casual beginning teachers. The paper concludes with the recommendation that, inter alia, different stakeholders should share information, which will result in better supply and demand relationships within the teaching profession.

This study examines student musicians' perceptions of their performance and development as a result of using Body Mapping (BMG) technique. BMG is a somatic (mind-body) education technique designed to teach musicians skills in self-evaluation and change for performing with sensory-motor integrity. A qualitative research design guided by an interpretive framework was used to collect data from undergraduate students and their studio teachers at an American university. Data involved in-depth interviews, self-reflective journals, and course materials. A typology for how participants were able to master BMG in performance is used to describe their experiences and learning outcomes. The main findings show BMG positively impacted the majority of students in the study. The data reveals enhanced ability for musical expression (e.g. dynamics, phrasing, conveying emotional information), the ability to focus more easily on elements contributing to expressive outcomes, and greater personal confidence to be musically expressive. The study also shows improvements in technical development and performance skills including a perception of a clearer understanding of breathing, better physical coordination and flexibility, enhanced arm movement, improved articulation, feeling centered or grounded, the ability to retain focus under pressure, and the freedom to make artistic choices during musical performance. BMG enhanced students' development of self-awareness which was demonstrated by their ability to find solutions to technical challenges, understand how tension inhibits movement, increase their awareness of movement pattern consequences on pain symptoms, and gain more accurate perceptions of movements. Some participants reported an absence of playing-related pain at the end of the study. All shared a belief in the value of BMG derived from positive personal experiences and observation of improvements in others. Many students displayed characteristics of successful self-regulated learners. Determinants of student success include a positive attitude, consistency of work, realistic expectations, ability to transform problems, willingness to commit sufficient time to the process of change, and positive studio teacher support. BMG also shows promise for inclusion in a therapeutic team-approach for treatment of playing-related pain/injuries. In sum, the study confirms the efficacy of BMG instruction for enhanced technical and performance outcomes in musical settings. Study outcomes are relevant for musicians, educators, and health practitioners in the field of music medicine.

During 2005, the Education Alumni Support Project (EdASP) (Maxwell, Smith, Baxter, Boyd, Harrington, Jenkins, Sargeant & Tamatea 2006) provided online support for University of New England (UNE) graduand, and later, graduate, teachers as they commenced their careers. The project was based on research which reported that many beginning teachers did not get the support they needed as permanent or contract workers, or, as casual, relief or support teachers, and that small scale trials had shown that online support could be effective. One third of beginning teachers who were alumni of UNE in 2004, reported they did not receive adequate or any mentoring. UNE web-based technologies provided the teachers and mentors with online environments for professional and social interaction, and resource sharing. We found that support was especially sought by the project participants in their first school term, and there were differences in the levels of online support sought by secondary and primary beginning teachers. The project raises implications for on-going systemic support for beginning teachers, the issue of transition from students to teachers, as well as questions about teacher education students' preparation. This paper provides the key findings of the project. Detailed description of the project structure, data collection and data analysis are available in Maxwell et al. (2006).

Teacher preparation and preparedness have been the focus of much research connecting quality teaching and learning, retention, and teacher satisfaction (Halsey, 2005; Hayes, Mills, Christie, & Lingard, 2006; MCEETYA, 2006). The successful recruitment and retention of teachers to rural and remote schools Australia-wide has been problematic for all states and territories (Vinson, 2002). Education departments have implemented a number of immersion programs with success (Halsey, 2005) in order to empower new teachers with the cultural and classroom awareness necessary for teaching in Indigenous communities. In 2006, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education and Training (DET) implemented the Enhanced Teacher Training (ETT) scholarship program. This paper reflects on the experiences and retention of the first five teachers to graduate through the UNE ETT scholarship program, three years since successfully entering the teaching profession in indigenous communities in NSW.