Excellent teachers need to be recognised for their work and for their strengths in various areas, but not with performance pay, the dean of one of Australia’s top teacher schools has argued. Melbourne Graduate School of Education professor Field Rickards said good ...
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Refugee advocates lobbying for student loan changes
One of the leaders behind a program mentoring high school students from refugee backgrounds is marking this year’s World Refugee Week by calling for those on temporary protection visas and asylum seekers to be eligible for federal government assistance to meet ...
More »Students are the key to outcomes, so get their input
Australia is not alone in analysing its school education system and questioning its future directions based on national and international test results. Over the past few years, I have been a member of two OECD review teams that have examined ...
More »Talking Eds, Episode 4: Girls in STEM, the unlucky country, going manic for Word Mania
This week on Talking Eds, the team behind Education Review, Campus Review and Early Learning Review discuss ways to attract and retain girls and women in STEM subjects and the disparity between lucky and unlucky young Australians. We also go manic for words in celebration ...
More »Toughen up teaching degree entry standards: Grattan
In its long list of recommendations to the next federal government, the Grattan Institute is calling for tougher entry standards into teacher education. Grattan school education program director Peter Goss estimated there has been roughly one review every year, for 40 ...
More »The ‘difficult’ children need teachers the most
"They’re never going to do well on NAPLAN or any other goddamned level of academic excellence, but they still matter.” That’s Maggie Dent, a former high school English teacher – now an author and parenting specialist – calling on teachers, ...
More »Word Mania returns to breed verbosity, dispense prizes
The 2016 edition of Word Mania, an online literacy challenge for students in years 1 through 9, was launched last week, with practice now open for verbose youngsters looking to share in $100,000 worth of prizes. The game requires loquacious learners ...
More »Kids’ sleep guidelines spell out shut-eye
New guidelines show how much shut-eye children should be getting. The recommendations range from up to 16 hours daily for babies to at least eight hours for teens. They come from a panel of experts and give parents fresh ammunition for ...
More »Australia the unlucky country for 1 in 6 kids
In 2013, across Australia, 70,000 children faced the prospect of sleeping rough. One in six struggled with daily existence, living below the poverty line. These are just two conclusions from a new report, released to commemorate 25 years since Australia’s ratification ...
More »Five tips for getting girls into STEM for good
The gender imbalance in STEM fields is well documented. The need for more women in physics, engineering and computer science-related professions – for example – is being pushed by universities, industry and, in this election cycle at least, politicians. But while STEM ...
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