Templestowe College, in Melbourne’s north-east, is the antithesis of ordinary. Though it has typical markers: public, mostly middle-class, and average NAPLAN results, its teaching style is radical. While Year 8-level literacy and numeracy attainment is mandated, almost everything else isn’t. There are ...

Speaking to Lisa Helenius, it soon becomes clear that humanity is at the heart of everything she does as a school leader. People as individuals, and the communities they form together, are her focus. The school community she is currently ...

The teenage angst anthem Creep, by Radiohead, contains the following lyrics: I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here. The British rock band could have been alluding to the latest batch of ...

“Like #MeToo, we need a hashtag,” Lynne Symons declared. The former principal of the largest school in South Australia – now an educational leadership consultant – was referring to the need for greater awareness of the mental health crisis among Australian principals, ...

A principal uses her experiences in Tonga and Japan to grow lifelong learners. Trudy Moala has led primary schools for 24 years. Starting her career in Adelaide as a primary school teacher, her life took an intrepid turn when she travelled ...

As educators, much of our attention understandably focuses day-to-day on the academic program and student welfare, and in our pursuit of student outcomes we risk finding ourselves with blinkers on when it comes to investing in engagement with the wider ...

Months before controversial NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes called for NAPLAN to be scrapped last week, change.org user Sparkt started an online petition in this vein. In the interim, a retired MIT professor slammed the tests, calling them “bizarre“. Some Australian experts joined him; ...

Sir Ken Robinson’s 2006 lecture, Do schools kill creativity?, is apparently the most viewed TED Talk of all time. Regardless of that claim’s veracity, it has been viewed 50,727,440 times and counting. Clearly, his words resonate. Now, he hopes to recapture audiences’ ...

After falling into teaching when his original career plans stalled, this Adelaide principal set out to make his mark in education. A dynamic, visionary and authentic Catholic school leader who is passionate about leading contemporary educational change, informed by research, ...

When Greg McMahon became principal of Doveton College in 2015, things were tough. The school, situated in Melbourne’s southeast – one of Victoria’s poorest areas – had poor attendance rates and its students scored low grades. Once buoyed by manufacturing, its ...