Research Projects

The Teaching, Learning and Leadership (TLL) research program identifies ways of supporting the learning and improving the performance of teachers, students and educational leaders in a variety of contexts, including schools, universities and Early Childhood settings.Our program is based on the important understanding that the quality of opportunities for students to learn depends primarily on what their teachers know and can do. We recognise that, increasingly, educational leadership and professional learning will be important influences on teaching, and that the diverse backgrounds and personal characteristics of students will interact in important ways with what teachers do in their classrooms.

This recognition demands research that will extend our understanding of effective teaching practices and of the conditions that best enable teachers to teach well. Accordingly, our program undertakes research in policies and programs designed to improve teaching quality and strengthen the profession. These policies and programs include professional recruitment, initial teacher education and induction, professional learning and leadership, working conditions for teachers, professional learning communities, teacher evaluation, career paths, pay systems and retention in the profession. The TLL program also reflects the growing professional and employer interest in developing research-based standards for teachers and educational leaders, and on methods for verifying that standards have been attained. Our research in this area provides a foundation for the development of teacher career paths that reward evidence of professional learning and accomplishment.

As well as examining the impact of educational practices and environments on learning in institutions, our research is concerned with cognitive, affective and behavioural processes/factors affecting learning. These include aspects of individual development and the learning needs of particular groups, including children in Early Childhood and students with learning difficulties. Significant research is undertaken in Indigenous education and through longitudinal and other studies of students’ learning.

Stephen Dinham

Complete list of Teaching and Leadership projects A list of select reports, articles, policy briefs and conference presentations produced by members of the Teaching and Leadership Program can be found in Publications Section.