Laura Perry PhD

Very little research has examined the long-term effects of elite schooling on life opportunities. While some Australian studies have examined the structures and processes used by elite private schools to reproduce social status and inequality, no studies have examined the perspectives of elite school alumni about the benefits and disadvantages [#_msocom_1] conferred upon them by an elite private education. Bourdieu’s cultural and social capital theory underpins the analysis of this study. In-depth interviews were conducted with three male and five female alumni, revealing common themes and patterns that spanned different time periods and outcomes. Alumni were sent to elite schools because their parents perceived they would experience a wider range of opportunities and academic rigour than they would in the public system. Reflecting on their school experiences, only one alumnus reported any disadvantage of attending an elite school concerning a lack of exposure to real world experiences. Others perceived the benefit of attending an elite private school steered them towards further education and away from risky behaviour, serving as a refuge from less refined peers and ‘dangerous’ behaviour at public schools. Post schooling reflections highlighted the main benefit related to social capital, rather than any cultural capital, with females reporting long-term friendships as a key benefit, and males leveraging the ‘old boys’ network’ for career opportunities and financial gains. However, these are not unique to private schools. Over half of the alumni chose elite schooling for their own children, with one participant choosing elite schools so that their children could mix with similar or higher classedpeers. While participants valued their school experience the individual benefits were limited and almost all did not believe elite private schooling benefited wider society. When compared to the status of their parents, participants were either at the same or of a slightly higher socio-economic status. Overall, the benefits of attending an elite private school centred on safety, social exclusion and social reproduction rather than on the development of cultural capital or social mobility [#_msocom_6]. The findings of this study – that there are only limited benefits to elite schooling - may be useful for families who are considering such an education for their children, elite schools to strengthen their relationship with alumni, and government policy makers to review funding and subsidisation of elite private schools. But more importantly it begs the question – is elite private schooling really worth it?

This study examines the impact of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) on teaching and learning. The IB is growing exponentially worldwide, but little is known about the impact of the MYP on teaching and learning, from the perspectives of key stakeholders who have been offering the program in their school for many years. We use a qualitative research design to examine stakeholders' perspectives about three research questions. First, what are the impediments and enablers of offering the MYP? Second, what are the benefits and opportunities of the MYP on teaching and learning? And third, what are the limits and challenges of the MYP on teaching and learning? The sample includes five schools (three government and two independent) with a range of socio-economic compositions (one low, three average, one high). While analyses are ongoing, preliminary findings suggest that stakeholders value how the MYP promotes students' critical thinking and global mindedness. They also value the MYP's attention to the holistic development of students via community service. In terms of teaching, they value how it helps teachers work collectively and provide clear feedback to students. On the negative side, stakeholders noted that the MYP creates extra demands on teachers in terms of lesson planning and assessment; juggling competing pressures on the curriculum were also noted. Stakeholders noted that training, support and resources for managing the extra demands associated with offering the MYP are not always adequate. Recommendations for policy and practice will be discussed.

This study examines access to International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in Australia. The IB is a highly regarded programme of rigorous, inquiry-based academic education. It is offered in most countries and in more than 4,000 schools worldwide. It is growing at a dramatic rate, with the number of IB programmes increasing by almost 50% in the last five years. Australia is the fourth largest provider of IB schools in the world, with 155 schools that offer one or more of the three IB programmes (primary, lower secondary and upper secondary). While largely catering to privileged students, the IB is committed to increasing the proportion of low-income students enrolled in its programmes. Our study provides a benchmark for assessing the degree to which this goal is being achieved within an Australian context.Using data from the MySchool website, we examined the characteristics of all 155 schools in Australia that offer an IB programme. Specifically, we examined their geographic location (metropolitan, provincial, rural and remote), sector, fees and student characteristics. We also examined housing prices of the communities in which IB schools are located. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first of its kind to examine the characteristics of all IB schools in a given country with this level of detail.The findings show that access to IB schools in non-metropolitan locations is severely limited, with 92% of all IB schools located in metropolitan locations. Two-thirds of IB schools are private, and 40% of them charge in excess of $15k in fees per year. All 13 non-metropolitan IB schools are private. Half of all students at IB schools come from the top SEA quartile, whereas only 7% come from the bottom quartile; overall, 75% of students at IB schools are in the top two SEA quartiles. Only 11 IB schools (7%) have a level of socio-educational advantage that are less than the national average. Our findings show that access to IB schools in Australia is largely limited to families who reside in large cities and who can afford to live in communities with high housing prices or pay fees to attend a private IB school. Because of these systemic barriers, it is not surprising that students from higher SES backgrounds are over-represented at IB schools in Australia. We recommend an increase in the number of public schools in non-affluent communities and rural areas that offer the IB. In-depth research about the challenges, benefits and enablers of implementing IB programmes in low SES public schools and in rural areas would be a useful next step.

The analysis of student access to learning management systems and web-based lecture capture systems is a growing area of interest for teachers in higher education wishing to improve the student learning experience. The data trails left by students as they engage in these environments can be accessed and analysed for meaning. This paper describes a study conducted as part of a wider multi-university study into student study behaviour. It offers a detailed snapshot of four students whose access to Lectopia recordings were tracked and analysed, and who were subsequently interviewed to confirm or disconfirm assumptions made about their study methods from the analysis. The data revealed that a surface analysis using learning analytics was largely insufficient to determine student study characteristics, but qualitative data provided rich information to supplement the analysis. Suggestions are made for further research into how this emerging methodology can be further developed and strengthened.

The research literature has shown conclusively that socio-economically disadvantaged students and schools do less well on standardized measures of academic achievement compared to their more advantaged peers. Less is understood, however, about how the relationship between mean school socio-economic status (SES), individual SES, and academic achievement may vary for students from different social backgrounds, in different school contexts, and in different countries. To uncover these finer‑grained associations, we have been conducting secondary analyses of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The main findings of our analyses of the Australian dataset are: 1) the relationship between school SES and academic achievement is similar for all students regardless of their social background; 2) increases in the mean SES of a school are associated with consistent increases in students’ academic achievement; and 3) the strength of the relationship between school SES and achievement becomes stronger as the SES of the school increases. We are now conducting similar studies of other national education systems, and compare findings from our analyses of Canada, New Zealand and the US with Australia. All four countries have a similar cultural heritage and share many educational goals, but they differ in how they fund and organize their educational systems. Here, we examine whether the relationships vary cross-nationally, and if so, the extent to which they appear qualitatively linked with variations in systemic factors such as school funding and organization. By building a comparative framework about school SES and student outcomes, we aim to deepen our understanding of the policy measures that can be used to make educational systems more equitable.