Transformative classrooms

A teacher acknowledges that in some classrooms, teachers may be faced with students who present challenging behaviours, or who have presented challenging behaviours in previous lessons. She contends that teachers can create a learning environment characterised by well-paced lessons, explicit instructions, and response to individual learning needs and abilities. Students in a senior English class who have previously experienced failure, or who have been unfulfilled by their learning, describe how the teacher has transformed their learning opportunities and achievements.

Gordonvale State High School is a rural secondary school located in the southern part of the Cairns district in Queensland. The school has approximately 700 students in years 8 to 12. Some senior students travel from the Indigenous community of Yarrabah. Students in the teacher's senior English class include those who have progressed though the school as well as those who have moved to the school.