School's out for summer School's out forever For an increasing number of Australian high schoolers, Alice Cooper's lyrics resonate. They especially do so with 15-year-olds from lower SES backgrounds, according to a new ACER report. Based on PISA data, the report collated ...
More »The dangers of ‘high-rise’ parenting
J.G. Ballard's 1975 novel High-Rise painted a nightmarish vision of the future. A microcosm of class warfare, residents of a tower turn on each other. As the social order decays, violence ensues. While real life high rises are more serene, they encapsulate hidden ...
More »Racism, classism, misinformation behind declining public school enrolments
What does it take to increase public school enrolments? A Chaser turned anti-waste advocate? The Public Education Foundation (PEF) is betting on Craig Reucassel and other high-profile, high-achieving Australians to inspire the return of students to government secondary schools, via their #ProudlyPublic campaign. ...
More »#TeachersofInstagram a different kind of viral sensation
You've surely heard of dogs or cats of Instagram, but have you seen the teacher variety? Granted, they're not as adorable, but in lieu of hilarious 'caught on camera' moments and puppy eyes, they offer and seek advice, personal stories and, of ...
More »Selective schools hothouse advantage, are problematic: paper
Parents of students who attend Northern Beaches Secondary College Manly Campus and James Ruse Agricultural High School have occupations and educational achievements that surpass almost all others in NSW. On extreme ends of the spectrum, think managers with PhDs, as opposed ...
More »Early careers advice could be great for students – if introduced properly: opinion
The state government is set to overhaul careers education in Victorian secondary schools, introducing careers workshops for students as young as Year 7, according to a recent article in The Age. My first reaction is that this initiative is long ...
More »Education, customised to your genome, is coming
Personalised learning in schools is all the Gonksi-fueled rage, but what it if meant more than individualised learning plans and assessments? What if it meant mapping curricula to students' genomes? This may sound like the plot of a sci-fi film; ...
More »Why it doesn’t smell like teen spirit
Legendary 90s band Nirvana were known for their members' excesses. Indeed, lead singer Kurt Cobain took his own life aged 27, after myriad drug and alcohol struggles. Growing out of the punk and grunge movement was an anti-substance abuse subculture: straight ...
More »Why relatable gamification is the obvious next teaching frontier: opinion
How often have we heard kids (our own, others' and even our past selves), whining that the maths they’re learning isn’t ‘useful’ and they’ll ‘never use it’? Too many to count. According to the IET, 203,000 people with engineering skills ...
More »You can put a STEM teacher in every school, but how do you find them in the first place?
There is calculus in applying bicycle brakes and algebra in getting dressed, but would a high school STEM teacher even know this? The government thinks not; hence their plan to put a STEM specialist in each high school. Professor Paul ...
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