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This paper provides insight into working-class parents' views of the structural and systemic injustices shaping post-school options and opportunities in contemporary Australia, drawing on interview data with a group of mothers living in growth corridor suburbs in the outer west of Melbourne. Illustrating aspects of Berlant's (2011) notion of "cruel optimism", the paper examines the concepts of diminished society and collective community afforded by success through education, an aspiration and achievement unequal among young Australians. As Reay (2017) argues, an ideological narrative that positions individuals as being responsible for their own achievement through education sets many up to fail. This paper gives voice to the lived experiences of this individual responsibilitisation. We draw on elements of Marxist analysis, a subset of critical theory, whereby economic circumstances are the basis upon which political and ideological realities are built, critiquing the ways in which neoliberal social and economic policy and ideology are normalised (Tyson, 2015).

Many high school students fear and dislike introductory biomechanics, which can add to the challenges physical educators face in teaching and supporting their students' learning. There is evidence that active and participative learning approaches can improve student engagement with and understanding of biomechanical concepts. This can be done by teaching the theoretical and practical components of biomechanics within a specific pedagogical approach, namely Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). As TGfU has been shown to significantly improve student engagement and learning in a wide variety of other related disciplines, this article provides strategies for introducing biomechanics using the TGfU pedagogy framework—which may also benefit STEM engagement and the application of STEM-related knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Professional Learning Community (PLC) model has moved to the forefront in the field of education as one of the most effective frameworks to improve student achievement and overall school success. The research conducted for this paper provides evidence for systemic and action based improvement using the PLC model in four diverse venues: candidates enrolled in a leadership preparation program, a school faculty to improve its learning culture, a district level team, and a business partnership. The first case study used the PLC framework to develop, implement, and assess the preparation and training of educational leadership candidates. The second case study was incorporated by a principal and faculty to identify ways the PLC model could be put into practice to enhance learning in the school culture. The third case study was the use of the PLC model with a superintendent and a team of school principals. Finally, the PLC model was introduced to develop a business partnership. The business partnership was a unique use of the PLC model, which has historically been utilized in the educational arena. Two fundamental concepts, andragogy and the knowing-doing gap, were applied to each case study. The application of andragogy (Knowles, 1984), the theory of adult learning, attempts to explain why adults learn differently than other types of learners. Andragogy suggests that the best practices in adult learning provide learners with principles of high levels of involvement in planning, experiential learning, relevance, and pragmatic application (Knowles, 1984). The second premise applied to this PLC study was the knowing-doing gap suggested by Pfeffer and Sutton (2000). This concept has historical roots in many areas including education, whereby adults are knowledgeable within an area of learning but frequently fail to take action. Participants in each case first gained knowledge of the PLC model, followed by efforts to apply the main principles of the model in order to impact their role and environment. The emphasis on theory to practice is supported by the adult learning literature as well the PLC literature in "Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work" (Dufour, Dufour, Eaker, and Many, 2006). The four cases were developed by first introducing the principles of professional learning communities followed by opportunities to apply it to themselves and others in a school or business environment.

Relationships between girls and women have typically been explored through the lexicon of "friendship" or, where there is a presence of sexual desire, "lesbian". This article suggests the complexity and impact of female (same-sex) sociality, and its relationship to heteronormativity and power dynamics between girls and women runs deeper than the terms "friendship" or "lesbian" give rise to. Exploring social and power dynamics amongst girls and women, this article explores how gender is policed and negotiated within a framework of homosociality. Drawing on empirical research within a women's Australian Rules football team, I explore the complexity of female same-sex bonds, the negotiation of gender embodiment and performance within female homosocial spaces, and the emergence of women's own lexicons in making sense of their relationships with other women in this particular social sphere, further considering how this might be applied to other female homosocial spaces, including same-sex educational and sporting sites.

A disconnect exists between principal leadership expectations and the actual practice of supervision and evaluation of principals. Increased principal responsibilities and rigorous standards require that a new approach to principal evaluation be considered. The authors provide a framework for a multi-dimensional approach to principal supervision and evaluation. This conceptual leadership evaluation model provides a multi-step evaluation process that embeds (a) a supervisory relationship based on trust, (b) selection of research-based leadership standards, (c) collection of performance data using multi-dimensional approaches, and (d) a rubric for judgments and decisions based on principal performance supported by the data. This article presents a framework or system of principal evaluation built upon previous research and experience. (Contains 1 figure.)

In this article, we argue that the "turn to affect" can provide a generative framework for working through key sticking points for women in sport. Through an analysis of the rule changes and subsequent social media comments in the lead-up to the inaugural Australian Football League Women's (AFLW) competition, we demonstrate the power of emotions for intensifying and resisting discussion about women's participation in male-dominated sport, as they accumulate through fan encounters on social media. Through a focus on the expression of emotions such as disappointment and contempt, we interrogate the collective workings of digital affects for constituting gendered knowledge production and subjectivity in sport contexts. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of feminist thinking for sport research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the recent rise of female Australian rules football in the public eye, little research has explored the nuances of players' experiences of gendered embodiment, performance, identity, desire and engagement in the sport. The aim of this article is to explore how spaces have the capacity to create, normalise and regulate gender, bodies, identity and desire through an analysis of a women's Australian rules football team, a space that is neither dominated by heteronormativity and neither queer nor lesbian subcultures. Through analysis of photographs and photo-elicitation interviews, this paper seeks to explore how bodies, gender, desire and embodiment are experienced, perceived and contested by and through the lens of players, within this sportscape. The implications of this research are an insight into the fluid and complex dynamics of a particular sportscape and the capacity of such spaces to redefine belonging and normativity outside of dominant hetero-gendered discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an educational project that can be used to examine communication in the work place and aggressive communication. The project requires the showing of scenes from the motion picture "Office Space." After showing the scenes, students can discuss how supervisors and subordinates communicated, how coercive communication and ineffective listening were portrayed, and the communication competence of characters in the film. As a class, a discussion can center around how communication could be improved and what students have observed in work place communication in their own lives.