Jo Earp

There are 7 General Capabilities (GCs) in the Australian Curriculum – so, how are teachers implementing them in the classroom? A new research study offers some insights. We find out more from Chief Investigator Dr Don Carter.

‘They’re concerned that adults don’t listen to them … adults also tend to be dismissive of their ideas and insights.’ In this Q&A we speak to Helen Connolly, South Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People, about the Student Voice Postcard initiative.

Brisbane’s Brigidine College, Indooroopilly has changed the way it supports pre-service and early career teachers. In the second part of our Q&A with Allison Johansen (Assistant to the Principal, Professional Teaching and Learning) we find out more about the Pre-Service Teacher Fellowship Program and its positive impact.

Attending a professional learning event is a great way to reflect on what’s happening in your own school and improve practice. For leaders at this Brisbane college, it prompted a new approach to supporting and retaining pre-service and early career teachers. Find out more in today’s Q&A.

How can we make assessment work for learners and learning in a rapidly changing world? How can we establish where students are at in their learning, including in the hard-to-measure skills and attributes they need to flourish in life? These questions will be explored at ACER’s Research Conference 2022, where the theme is ‘Reimagining assessment’.

A new study has found in the most recent New South Wales HSC Physics syllabus 10 individuals are mentioned and all are men, and in the last 25 years physicists have been mentioned 211 times in the subject examinations and, again, all were men. In today’s infographic we share just three (there are many more!) amazing women physicists to tell your students about.

In the second part of our Q&A, author-educator Vanessa Hamilton discusses what consent education is (and some of the misconceptions), examples of what it looks like for students in primary and secondary, best practice for schools, and some of the challenges faced by teachers and leaders.

Age-appropriate consent education will be mandatory in all Australian schools from 2023. Kit and Arlo Find a Way: Teaching consent to 8-12 year olds is a fictional chapter book created for use in primary classrooms. In the first instalment of a two-part Q&A with author-educators Ingrid Laguna and Vanessa Hamilton, we find out more about the resource and research about the impact of consent education in schools.

‘If you’re short on time it’s a great one for dipping in and out of without losing the flow. I also love books that make you stop, reflect and want to share with others, and Phosphorescence certainly ticks all those boxes.’ Teacher editor, Jo Earp, shares her review of Phosphorescence by Julia Baird.

How have things changed for schools over the last two years of the pandemic, and what are the improvement priorities now for teachers, principals and communities on the ground? Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy joins us for the latest episode in our School Improvement podcast series.