Back to the Future: Education Reform, and the Impact on Teaching and Teacher Education in Australia

This chapter will report and critique recent Australian data and locate it in an international context. The topics to be covered include: the global challenges facing Australia as a largely western nation located geographically in the dynamic Asian region; the moves to reform and restructure the curricula and pedagogical practices in the compulsory school sector, including the rise of accountability, the challenges for school leaders to move to school transformation in this changing context, the impact these changes are having on teachers' work lives and professionalism, the impact of ICT on teachers and students, and the recent initiatives by teacher education institutions to move to transformative educational practices in both initial preparation programmes and in Continuing Professional Development.