In the series, Better Teachers, Claire Brown, explores how to improve teacher education in Australia. She looks at what the evidence says on a range of themes including how to raise the status of the profession and measure and improve teacher quality. “I’m just so bad...
Girls consistently outperform boys on reading tests – and have done so for several decades around the world, write Louis Volante and Francesca Borgonovi Lack of motivation, a weak vocabulary, poor reading engagement and lack of role models have all been considered possible reasons for this...
The COVID-19 outbreak has rapidly accelerated how much schools rely on online learning, writes Lisa ArchboldThe move has raised a range of issues – particularly digital privacy and security of information. Managing these security and privacy issues is the responsibility of regulators, schools and parents, but...
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity to learn new things. Some of us have gained new knowledge about ourselves, and also about others. Some of us have had an opportunity to reflect on what we value and prioritise in life. Others have had lessons on...
What exactly do we mean when we talk about success at school. Are outdated ideas about ‘success’ failing our kids? What exactly do we mean when we talk about success at school. Can a school be doing its job, even if its students don’t excel...
The spread of COVID-19 has had dramatic impacts on our schooling system, including the cancellation of the 2020 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) test. The decision was made to allow for school leaders, teachers and staff to transition to...
In this Covid-19 atmosphere, where parents have to become the teacher for their child teaching in isolation from home, we look at what makes a great teacher and why parents will appreciate them more when our closed schools reopen. It’s well-known that teachers have the biggest...
Asha Bowen, Christopher Blyth, and Kirsty Short look at the case presented for the kids to go back to school soon. In mid-March, cases of COVID-19 – the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 – dramatically increased in Australia and the government responded with an effective public health...
Educators and government have long talked about 21st Century learning, but COVID-19 presents an opportunity to reevaluate our attitudes to modern education - right here, right now reports Brendan Hitchens, Asia Education Foundation, University of Melbourne. “We will lose many things in the course of fighting...
Researcher Alison Willis reports, that, as children learn from home, parents are effectively running two schedules – work and school. Some children may not be able to get through all the work their school assigns in the time they have, which can leave parents feeling...
