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.

New or beginning teachers are well received by the education profession, yet for a large portion of new teachers the assessment of how successful their transition into the first year of teaching tends to be overtly negative. Research reports indicate that the often traumatic and difficult nature of new teachers’ experiences is not a new phenomenon and is a problem shared by many new teachers nationwide and in the western world. Consequently, the retention rate for new teachers is decreasing at an alarming rate and is currently reported that 33% of beginning teachers in New South Wales do not expect to be teaching in public schools within the next 10 years. While literature about how to teach is prolific, yet according to new teachers, managing the real life situation is often more daunting than first envisioned. This paper reports on the experiences of education graduates of the University of New England teacher in their first year of teaching based on their postings to an on-line support network launched by the University of New England in 2005, entitled the Professional Development Support project. Analysis of the postings revealed that these beginning teachers sought support from the network on a number of specific topics at different times of the school year. This paper presents the findings of this analysis in terms of the categories of their inquiries and the variations in their experiences. The paper provides recommendations for teacher education programmes in response.

This workshop identified and discussed some of the challenges to conducting effective tutorials when environmental and motivational factors intervene. Such factors include: the weather, the teaching space, the physical preparedness of students ( e.g. 'the Thursday hangover') and/or the teaching content. A range of activities were explored for getting the 'best' from students who want to give the 'least'. Some practical activities aimed at 'countering the zombie factor' were presented and tips for developing innovative tutorial activities were outlined. The main aim of this workshop was the idea of keeping learning encounters 'fresh, real, memorable and fun'.

The use of activities such as ice-breakers has traditionally been associated with formal training seminars. This workshop highlighted the versatility of icebreakers and how they reliably enhance student interest, participation and learning in any teaching scenario. A number of creative interventions in the form of interactive group mixers, warm-ups, energisers and playful activities were demonstrated for lecturers to utilise in their teaching. The roles of the facilitator as catalyst, coach and observer were visited in terms of ensuring that social interactions and transfer of information to participants remain interesting, enjoyable and, most of all, fun for university students.

How well Australian boys perform during the compulsory years of schooling has generated consistent interest from academics, school personnel and State education departments alike. Considerable research in Australia (Ball & Lamb, 2001; Collins, Kenway & McLeod, 2000; Lamb, Walstab, Teese, Vickers & Rumberger, 2005; McMillan & Marks, 2003) and elsewhere (Arnot, David & Weiner, 1998, 1999; Cullingford, 1990; 1999; 2002; Erskine, 1999; Fine, 1991) has highlighted that boys experience problems at school in terms of learning, behaviour, achievement and participation. In particular, the retention of boys to Year 12 has been problematic. This paper analyses 22 school leaving boys’ discourses about school and their links to their early school leaving decisions. Through the use of qualitative research, this study set out to explore the school leavers' own accounts of their decisions to leave school early. This paper reports part of a larger three-year longitudinal study entitled 'Factors affecting boys' engagement with schooling at the Secondary level' project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC)/Strategic Partnerships with Industry - Research and Training Scheme (SPIRT). It will report on the generative themes, discourses and storylines the school leaving boys used to describe their school experiences and to account for their school experiences and early school leaving decisions in their geographic context.

As of 2013, children with disabilities will have the right to be taught in mainstream schools. The topic of inclusion has been intensely discussed in Germany mainly with the focus on the costs that educating those with disabilities external to or within mainstream schools might rise. As German schools have social workers based in schools, the topic of inclusive educational practices in schools raises many different aspects that will be examined from a social work perspective in order to fully understand these aspects. The question of what 'inclusion' means in German schools, and why it is more appropriate to speak in terms of 'inclusion' in schools rather than 'integration' will be explored. It is important to note that whilst the current German concept of inclusion is not the main focus of this chapter, it will be briefly discussed and contrasted later with the Australian concept. Future recommendations on how to improve the current German system will be provided to at the end of the chapter.

This paper reports the findings of a study on the lived experiences of UNE graduates from a range of Primary and Secondary initial teacher education programmes who are employed as casual beginning teachers. Data were gathered through telephone interviews and analysed using the relatively new qualitative data software called Leximancer (Smith, 2007).

Professional development in behaviour management for teachers in public schools in Australia can best be described as ad hoc. While some schools access professional expertise on a regular basis, other schools rarely utilise these resources. Teachers as a result, tend to feel powerless, less confident and stressed if not equipped with effective behaviour management strategies to exercise in their classrooms (Richmond, 2002). The value of the delivery of any professional development session can be gauged by the relevance it has to a particular context. A key feature of many Behaviour Management professional development activities is the passive involvement of schools in determining the focus of these sessions. Whilst it is important that schools and teachers are kept abreast of contemporary innovation and emerging trends in the education sector, it is equally important that teachers are provided with the opportunity to provide input into the content of their own professional development. This paper will report on a 'work-in-progress' Action Research project developed by the University of New England. The project involved the design, implementation, delivery and evaluation of a behaviour management seminar / workshop series to a NSW public schools. The project had a phased delivery and review structure aimed at presenting teachers and administrators with practical and strategic guidance to achieve positive behavioural outcomes for their students.

In 2009 the 'UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities' was ratified in Germany. Whilst the shift towards promoting an inclusive 'school for all' brought Germany in line with the global trend, it also presented a number of challenges for the German education system (Aktion Mensch e.V. 2013; 12). In 1980, Australia began to discuss how an inclusive school system would make schools accessible for all children (NSW Auditor-General's Report 2006; 4), and to-date, all schools in Australia promote fully inclusive practices. Australia therefore was a logical choice to conduct a study into the impact of inclusion in schools. This study had a specific focus of how an inclusive school system may influence the social behaviours of students. Another aim of the study was to explore teacher perspectives on the amount of support offered to students with special needs, and to study the teacher's levels of confidence in promoting this. The development of social skills is a complex process and having a focus on positive student social behaviour in schools maybe useful to conclude if an inclusive school setting promotes this.