Bev Fluckiger

• Professor (Full) at Griffith University

Background & Aims Students with developmental language disorder (DLD) often experience academic underachievement, and require adjustments and accommodations to access the curriculum. Teachers, allied health professionals and parents/caregivers have varying roles in the education process, and it is essential they work together to provide optimal sup...

Abstract This article offers insights into ways that educators can provide support for migrant, refugee and asylum-seeker children and families. It draws from a study that was conducted to support early years educators’ professional understandings of the experiences of families with refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds (Taylor-Leech et al., 2023;...

Moving to a new Early Years Education and Care (ECEC) service or the first year of school is a major family milestone, but for families with refugee and asylum-seeker status these transitions often involve a unique combination of challenges. More information is needed to support early years educators’ professional understandings of these challenges...

This paper presents a single-site case study to explicate some of the issues that relate to developing a genuine and successful role for Indigenous education workers (IEWs) especially those who reside in remote Australian communities. It draws attention to the lost opportunities for agency and leadership in culturally relevant literacy teaching wit...

In this article we discuss the findings from a narrative literature review inquiring into factors influencing outcomes in Indigenous Australian schools and communities. We asked, “What does (not) work and why?” in a range of Indigenous and other low-socioeconomic contexts for improving educational outcomes for children from birth to school leaving...

There is increasing awareness of the high levels of support needed for literacy learning for children on the autism spectrum. Although research has investigated the quality of the classroom literacy environment, little attention has been paid to examining the classroom literacy environment in specialist classrooms catering specifically for children...

Background and aims The ability to communicate is a fundamental skill required to participate in school. Students with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have persistent and significant language difficulties that impact daily functioning. However, the impact of DLD on the academic achievement of primary and secondary school-aged students has rec...

In an era of increasing demand for accessible, quality, and equitable education for all children and increased responsibilities for teachers and educators, inclusive education must be resourced adequately. This article reports on the qualitative findings from a multiple case study of support resources perceived to enhance teachers’ efficacy in lead...

Many children on the autism spectrum struggle in their reading development. This study investigated parents’ views of challenges and facilitators to literacy learning at home and at school in children on the autism spectrum who were in their first year of schooling. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 37 parents revealed parents’ i...

Una vez establecida la relevancia del liderazgo educativo para transformar la calidad de la educación en cada escuela, la pregunta que sigue refiere a como se cultiva dicho liderazgo ente actores claves como los directivos o los docentes. En efecto, no basta con constatar la existencia o inexistencia del liderazgo ni tampoco basta con hacer una car...

This article reports on a study investigating young children’s views about learning. The researchers engaged 200 Australian children from 3 to 8 years of age in conversations about how they liked to learn. In an attempt to privilege children’s voices, the direct words of the participating children are used in the reporting of results. The children...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the practical use of video cameras during a study with young children. Design/methodology/approach This paper investigates the use of video cameras in a research study of young children’s utilisation of semiotic tools to communicate during play interactions in a Francophone preschool classroom in B...

Despite group coaching being used to facilitate goal-focused change in a range of organizational contexts, there is little research evidence of its use or efficacy in continuing professional development programs for educational leaders. In the first part of this article we define coaching and consider the benefits and challenges of several forms of...

Policies to address Indigenous disadvantage in Australia have long advocated for more equal partnerships between home and school characterised by collaborative relationships built on mutual trust, respect, and shared responsibility. This chapter describes a model of distributed leadership that embraces social-democratic notions of leadership in ord...

This Foundation Paper was developed to inform the Queensland Department of Education and Training Age-appropriate pedagogies Program. This program is a research informed and research led initiative designed to refocus pedagogies in the Early Years of Schooling.

Group coaching has the potential to foster social learning for school leaders. In this article, we investigate the role of the coach in a group coaching process drawing on data from interviews and observations in a pilot study. The Professional Learning through Feedback and Reflection (PROFLEC) study ran in 10 countries and was funded by the Europe...

THERE ARE VARIOUS COMMUNITY-BASED literacy programs in Australian communities that aim to address educational disadvantage by fostering parental engagement with their young children in literacy activities. Despite the effort and goodwill of many community members, there is little evidence of the impact of these programs on children’s literacy progr...

The starting point for this article is the lack of a robust research base regarding details of what works and why for school leaders’ professional development. The article extends work undertaken for a recent commissioned literature review of selected international reports on supporting school leaders’ development strategies. The authors reveal tha...

How to best address the professional learning needs of those aspiring to leadership roles in schools is a crucial issue. Robust evaluation practices are needed to determine the quality of current provisions and to identify where improvements can be made. This paper considers the quality of professional learning programmes using a set of 10 criteria...

THIS ARTICLE REPORTS ON an Educational Change Model originally developed for the middle years of schooling (Pendergast et al., 2005) and applied here to an Australian early childhood education reform initiative. The Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) was released in 2009 (DEECD & VCAA, 2009). Implementation of the VEY...

In response to the increased demand for qualified early childhood educators in Queensland, many universities are being challenged to tailor make programs and identify innovative practices that support individuals interested in pursuing such a teaching qualification. Although research indicates that beliefs and perceptions are an important influence...

The constructs of 'three w orlds' and culture-switching were developed during a longitudinal study of the literacy experiences of a small group of culturally diverse children in Australia who encountered differing social and cultural contexts as they were transitioning from preschool to Year 1. Drawing on sociocultural perspectives and using a case...

Boys at Camp Hill Infants State School have not yet learned to fail. Their superior performances in reading, writing and numeracy on The Year 2 Diagnostic Net in relation to State averages for Year 2 children generally, and for other boys particularly, are indicative of a sturdy resistance to factors seemingly inflicting their peers across the Stat...