In my current role as CEO of Edmund Rice Education Australia Flexible Schools (EREA), I have seen first-hand the power of education to transform lives. Iâve also noticed that not all students fit neatly into mainstream school settings. Some have ...
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Redefining perseverance can empower burnt-out teachers: opinion
After three years of floods, bushfires, lockdowns, and the seemingly endless pressures of the pandemic, Australian teachers are struggling. While many industries are back to business as usual, the new normal for teachers is anything but. Unmanageable workloads, long work ...
More »Using fictional characters to help kids with real life problems
In an ideal world, if we saw a child who seemed unhappy, anxious, angry or shut-down, we would ask them whether something was upsetting them. They would respond immediately - telling us how they were feeling, what had happened to ...
More »Can Pasi Sahlberg’s Finnish thinking help fix Australian education?
With the teacher shortage looming large in headlines around the country, education minister Jason Clare has announced an expert panel to âinform a better and fairer education systemâ. The six-person panel includes Professor Pasi Sahlberg. Sahlberg is not yet a ...
More »âConstantly evolvingâ: The secret to Finland’s top education system
An award-winning school principal messaged me recently, concerned that his upcoming Finland education trip might be wasted as someone had told him that the Australian and Finnish systems will never be compatible because: The Finnish language is easy to learn ...
More »Itâs time to measure studentsâ effort at school: opinion
With the start of a new school year, many students will be apprehensively anticipating the academic challenges ahead. How successfully will they navigate the many and varied demands of a busy curriculum? Will their efforts translate into good grades? Will ...
More »Is maths a dying art? – opinion
Recent headlines about students disengaging from mathematics paints a worrying picture. Some experts propose innovative ideas to rehaul the curriculum, others lament about the need to keep things as they have always been, teachers are given advice about how to ...
More »What can we do to attract industry professionals to classroom teaching – Opinion
Many students, particularly in less advantaged locations, are not being taught by qualified science and mathematics teachers. Addressing this long-standing  issue has been a priority for governments because of declining student performance, poor student engagement and the significance of building ...
More »Are digital classrooms a viable permanent alternative? – opinion
Some practices and ways of working, historically, have proven more enduring than others. Digital nomadism actually represents a huge step away from the long-established experiences and traditions of human learning which have customarily relied upon F2F (face to face) human ...
More »If the system cannot attract teachers, how can it retain high-quality teachers? – opinion
The Federal Governmentâs inquiry into the âStatus of the Teaching Professionâ presented a summary report in April this year which took written submissions and held several public hearings. The report supported and complimented the findings of several recent inquiries into ...
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