Prelude A short piece to prepare the way (Sadie and Tyrrell, 2001) Education for sustainability and educational leadership are the two faces to my research. Although there are differences between the concepts of environmental education and education for sustainability they are often confused. Environmental education deals with awareness raising and encouraging behaviour change to support environmental management and conservation. On the other hand, education for sustainability recognises the transformative role of education, while implicitly referring to intergenerational equity, ecological sustainability and the fair distribution of resources. The confusion is evident at the school level. Leadership is also a term fraught with confusion and misinterpretation. While there are many definitions of leadership, two common perspectives which have persisted over time are definitions of leadership as a matter of influence and of leadership as a skill. In educational terms sustainable leadership represents a shift to capture and merge contemporary leadership theory with the international pressure for sustainability through education. There is a dearth of information available to describe education for sustainability despite recognition by both Australian and Western Australian governments of its importance in this, the early years of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The aims of this qualitative research are to capture leaders’ understanding of how education for sustainability is conceptualised, incorporated across the curriculum and led in Western Australian government secondary schools. In addition this study seeks to determine how education for sustainability becomes embedded and sustained in these schools. The research re-conceptualises leading for sustainability. Four key concepts are identified as essential for embedding education for sustainability into Western Australian government secondary schools. These key concepts are: understanding sustainability; imagining the future; building relationships; and taking action. Combined, they enhance the meagre knowledge base about leading for sustainability in Western Australian secondary schools and provide a springboard for further research in the fields of sustainability and educational leadership.

This study investigated the relationship between students’ perceptions of learning environments and their attitude to science in Australian secondary schools. It focussed on teacher support and equity in the lower secondary school years of 8, 9, and 10. Teacher Support and Equity are two of the five scales of the What Is Happening In this Class (WIHIC) questionnaire. The scale to measure Attitude to Science was drawn from the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA). Using the statistical package SPSS, gender differences and year level differences were examined for each of the scales. Results showed that the females rated the scales of Teacher Support and Equity more highly than did the males but the males had a more positive attitude to science than did the females. The Year 9 students were considerably less positive than those from years 8 and 10 on all three scales. Of the three scales, Equity received the highest rating across all the groups, while Attitude scored the lowest. Regression analysis showed statistically significant and positive associations between Attitude to Science and the Teacher Support and Equity scales. These results were consistent when tested separately for the male and female students, and for each of the year levels. To gain insights into science teaching and learning from a teacher’s perspective, one primary teacher, two high school teachers, and one pre-service teacher were interviewed. Their comments were found to support the quantitative results in that they agreed that teacher actions or inactions within the learning environment would affect the students’ attitude to science. / They expressed the view that students needed to feel able to ask questions without criticism and receive the help they needed to progress, which corresponded to the Teacher Support scale. They also felt that it was not appropriate for teachers to favour any group of students over any other, thus supporting the concept of the Equity scale. The findings will assist teachers to develop strategies to address the problem of students’ declining attitude to science, a problem that is viewed as a potential threat to the economic future of Australia.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the educational outcomes of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney, and to investigate some of the factors contributing to their pattern of achievement. The main thrust of this study is to empirically examine in detail two factors which are strong contributors to school achievement. The first is the motivational goals of these students. The second is the Language proficiency of Lebanese-background students in their first language (Arabic) and their second lanaguage (English). The study involves quantitative analyses of two sets of questionnaires administered to all the Year 9 students in three South-western metropolitan Sydney high schools. The Year 10 School Certificate results of this same group of students was then used to measure their level of achievement. Four groups were established for comparison: the non-Lebanese-, English-, Chinese- and Vietnamese- background groups. This study is contextualized within a discussion of some of the family factors which contribute to the achievement of migrant children in schools. Of particular relevance to Lebanese-background students are the socio-economic and educational background of parents, and the historical and social context of the Lebanese in Australia. The thesis concludes by putting forth some recommendations which involve the collaborative efforts of the home, the school and the community, suggesting that part of the solution lies in this collaborative effort. Boundaries can be crossed and stereotypes changed only through a concerted effort by the three sides / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

For many years, considerable time and effort was devoted by teachers in Australian schools to the organisation of sporting activities for students. As a result, School Sports Associations were formed in most Australian States early this century. These Associations provided intra state and inter state competition on a limited scale. It was not until the early 1970's that any co-ordinated effort was made to bring together all the States' and Territories' activities. Regular meetings of Association Secretaries led to the formation of the Australian State Secondary Schools Sports Council in 1973. This was the beginning of a new era in secondary school representative sport in Australia. The creation of a forum for States to discuss matters of mutual interest resulted in a greater awareness within school communities of the benefits provided by sporting activities. This generation of interest eventually led to the formation of the Australian Secondary Schools Sports Federation in 1977. This body, representing all States and Territories became identified as the controlling body of secondary school sport in Australia and has continued to develop this role over the years. Since the formation of the Australian Secondary Schools Sports Federation, there has been significant growth in representative sporting activities, greater liaison and improved relations with community groups and systematic generation of relevant policies aimed at the betterment of school sport. After several years of operation, the role of the Federation was supplemented by the establishment of the Australian Schools Sports Council. This body represents both Primary School and Secondary School Sports Associations throughout Australia. After considerable effort, the Council was successful in obtaining Commonwealth Government funding for the employment of a National Executive Director to work full-time on the promotion of school sport. The years 1977-1983 saw dramatic growth in school sporting activities in Australia. Many problems were encountered some of which were ultimately solved. Other problems continue to occupy those who work within the organisation and their solution would appear to be the main task for the future.