Amid reignited political, charitable and medical calls for asylum-seeking children to be transported from Nauru to Australia are educational ones. The Australian Education Union (AEU) is emphatic about it: they are calling for transportation of children and their families "as ...
More »‘Australia’s founders wouldn’t have wanted this’: a case for secular education
Professor Marion Maddox is disappointed with the government. She is worried their injection of extra funds into independent and Catholic schools will further damage "one of the most religiously and economically segregated systems in the western world". Catherine Helen Spence, ...
More »Mitchell Institute: ‘We need capabilities prioritised in Australian education now’
Citizens of the lucky country can no longer rely on good fortune for prosperity - they must rely on capabilities. This is the premise of a new Mitchell Institute report. "Today the question is not if we should seek to teach young ...
More »Why reading and deep literacy matter in a technologically connected world
Last year, instead of driving to work I started travelling by bus. No matter what time of day it was, there was one common denominator: almost every passenger is absorbed in their mobile phones. This is an age of miraculous ...
More »How to prevent deaths in the great outdoors
Can you guess how many people have died during school outdoor education experiences in Australia between 1960 and 2002? At 128, it might be more than you imagined. Yet the number of deaths – shocking as it is – isn't the most sobering detail ...
More »Can school shootings be designed-out?
Until Parkland survivor turned activist Emma González has her way, statistically, there will likely be more school shootings in the US. This means schools need to consider how to prevent, or at least mitigate them. While extreme strategies like arming teachers have ...
More »Some say Year 12 final exam pressure is no longer necessary
Having grown up the child of two high-achieving professionals and possessing the requisite academics, I commenced a law degree after school. Like the 99 per cent, I wasn't to know that the GFC would hit in 2008 – two years later. ...
More »What Australia can learn from Japan, South Korea
What do Japan and Korea have that Australia doesn't? Well, obviously a multitude of things – not limited to an obsession with skincare and higher quality convenience store sushi. More importantly, however, these countries mandate that teachers change schools regularly. This ensures ...
More »Teacher attrition figures mere hype: former ACER fellow
Around the country, Term Four is approaching. Ask any teacher if this period is stressful, and they'll likely resoundingly reply "yes". So, if media reports, including ours (and more suspect examples), as well as journal articles are to be believed, 20 to 50 ...
More »The daily, three-step formula for high performance children
Want a cognitively optimal child? Canadian researchers have found a winning formula: one hour of exercise + minimal recreational screen time + plenty of sleep. While the finding may be intuitive, their study of 4.500 American nine and 10-year-olds provides evidence for it. Using ...
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