ABC Chief Economics Correspondent Emma Alberici was doing some routine research via Twitter when she stumbled into a furore. Infamous for her supposed anti-Liberal bias, she provoked the opposite kind of ire by asking the internet for their “… stories about ...
More »Skin a potential student stress detector
Human skin is a multi-tasker. Obviously it contains our internal organs, but it also wards off bacteria, moisture and the sun; regulates temperature; produces hormones; stores bodily substances; and indicates medical conditions. Now, it can potentially add another role to its arsenal: ...
More »Helping girls feel safe on the streets at night
Despite movements like Reclaim the Night, which began in Leeds in 1977, women's night-time safety remains an issue. In Australia, the recent high-profile murders of Aiia Maasarwe, Eurydice Dixon and Jill Meagher in Melbourne illustrate that, as do the responses to a ...
More »Should world leaders’ grades be public property?
The definition of intelligence is complicated. The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as "the ability to learn, understand, and make judgments or have opinions that are based on reason", although in psychology, when measured by IQ tests, it refers to the ...
More »Factors to consider in creating a play-based program for early learners
The campaign by the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia to encourage state and federal governments to fund two years of play-based learning for preschoolers is to be lauded. It is crucial that play based learning has been highlighted ...
More »Parliament hears from teachers: ‘we’re actually building people’
The government inquiry into the status of the teaching profession is finally hearing from its subjects in person. In Sydney this week (with stops in other cities to come), it drew an impassioned crowd, including a school principal, teacher education academics, MPs and NSW ...
More »Idea of orchid and dandelion children regerminates
In Swedish, orkidebarn means 'orchid child'. It refers to those who are more sensitive. Maskrosbarn, 'dandelion child', on the other hand, means the opposite. Like their namesake bloom, these children are hardy. Dr Thomas Boyce, an emeritus professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at ...
More »Is a class on personal branding for children a recipe for burnt out adults?
In one of 2019's first viral essays, How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation, Ann Helen Petersen wrote, "For many millennials, a social media presence – on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter – has also become an integral part of obtaining and maintaining a ...
More »‘School wellbeing is not compulsory yoga’: fed up teachers air grievances
School wellbeing is not: Compulsory yoga - when a teacher wants to sleep ? Cakes in the staffroom - when a teacher isn’t hungry ? “Don’t do any work on the wknd” - when if a teacher doesnt, they’ll be ...
More »Australia’s principal crisis: How to improve mental health and mentally prepare principals for the top job
Amid growing concerns about the mental health of those in the teaching profession, a recent article in The Age underscored a looming crisis: a critical shortage of principals in Australian schools. With research consistently pointing to high levels of stress ...
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