During a pandemic, the number of air changes per hour should be higher than usual, report Mary Myla Andamon, Jin Woo and Priya Rajagopalan. The World Health Organisation recommends six air changes per hour. Victorian students are learning in classrooms with very poor air quality. Our...
Schools are no different from any other part of society, writes Jane Wilkinson. They have their issues, challenges and a wide variety of human nature. In late October 2019, Victorians were shocked to hear of sustained anti-Semitic bullying occurring in two public schools. The Victorian Education...
Let’s start by putting aside the bugbear that it is even possible to “cancel” children’s author Dr Seuss, writes Kate Cantrell and Sharon Bickle As Philip Bump wrote recently in The Washington Post, No one is ‘cancelling’ Dr Seuss. The author, himself, is dead for one thing,...
Leticia Anderson, Kathomi Gatwiri, Lynette Riley and Marcelle Townsend-Cross look at ways teachers (and parents) can bring the topic of racism comfortably into the classroom. As Black Lives Matter protests rage across the world, many of us are motivated to learn more about racism and talk...
The 31st anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child came and went in 2020, writes Liz Allen. Yet not every Australian child is registered or has a birth certificate. As we reflect on the value and place of children, this gives us a...
Early exposure to diverse story characters, including in ethnicity, gender and ability, helps young people develop a strong sense of identity and belonging. It is also crucial in cultivating compassion towards others, writes Ping Tian and Helen Caple. Children from minority backgrounds rarely see themselves reflected...
"Should relationships and sex education be mandatory in our schools? " asks Jacqueline Hendriks. The national Australian curriculum...
A recent petition circulated by Sydney school girl Chanel Contos, Jacqueline Hendriks writes, called for schools to provide better education on consent, and to do so much earlier. In the petition, which since Thursday has been signed by more than 5,000 people, Contos writes that her...
You would assume that with the rise of the internet and social media platforms our young people are feeling more ‘connected’ than ever? Report Associate Professor Janet Scull, Associate Professor Terry Bowles and Daniela Russo. But emerging research suggests that we are now facing a...
Yang Yang shares how encouraging her daughter to ‘live bilingual’ carries on her culture. Communication has become difficult since my daughter Yolanda turned four last year. She switches to English when she feels she isn’t understood or can’t find the right Chinese word to convey her...
