A senate inquiry has heard that Gonski funding aside, schools aren't doing enough to prepare students for life. Victoria University's Mitchell Institute Director Megan O'Connell told the inquiry on the future of work that an intense focus on grades has led ...
More »Top Stories
How two different NAPLAN approaches affected students
Would it matter whether your school intensely coached students for NAPLAN, as opposed to taking a 'business as usual' approach? Researchers from Flinders University analysed these two 'NAPLAN cultures'. Indeed, they found 'stark' differences between them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, dissatisfaction and fear ...
More »Schools and unis becoming more lethal: report
Learning isn't typically associated with danger, but that connection is increasingly palpable. Over the last five years, there have been over 12,700 attacks harming more than 21,000 students and educators. These statistics, courtesy of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from ...
More »Opinion: schools key to building rich local communities
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 ...
More »NAPLAN week draws multifaceted critique
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; ...
More »Budget 2018: Government walks the Gonski talk
As expected, the 2018 Budget has delivered cash for the latest education reforms, the most notable of which is Gonski 2.0. The plan will see schools receive an additional $24.5 billion over the next 10 years, on a needs basis. While Gonski ...
More »Ninety per cent of teachers report intolerable admin
Administration, box ticking exercises and data-related menial tasks waste valuable preparation time and get in the way of delivering authentic learning Administrative tasks and record keeping had more than doubled in the past five years I feel overworked at the ...
More »Could a new language strategy help close the gap?
In 2017, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students constituted approximately six per cent of all Australian school enrollments. Yet, it is well-known that they tend to struggle in this context compared with their non-indigenous peers: their 10 point lower school ...
More »Ivory powers: the piano’s hidden benefits
Although music is a universal cultural characteristic, according to national peak body Music Australia just 23 per cent of government schools provide students with an effective music education. By contrast, 88 per cent of independent schools do so. This is additionally concerning as it ...
More »Australia’s stay-at-home dads aren’t who you think they are
Picture a stay-at-home dad. Are you imagining a bloke dutifully chopping fruit and placing it into a mini Tupperware container for a park outing? The only man with a stroller at the cafe at 10.00am, fielding inquisitive glances from mums? You may ...
More »