Long reads

‘In this home-supported learning environment parents are being called upon to play a broader role in their children’s education. The role of the parent is not to replace the teacher in learning from home …’ Dr Tanya Vaughan and Susannah Schoeffel share evidence on how teachers can work with parents to support students in a rapidly changing education landscape.

Are today’s students ‘digital natives’? Have digital technologies transformed classroom practice? ACER Research Director Julian Fraillon looks to Australian and international data to explore some of the myths and realities related to digital literacy and how these should be considered in the new paradigm of working from home.

Karl Easton is a Digital Technology relief from face-to-face (RFF) educator at a primary school in Sydney’s northwest. In this article, we hear how he’s integrating virtual reality into lessons with a range of students in order to provide authentic learning activities.

Does adversity lead to resilience or does resilience lead to less adversity? Professor Andrew Martin from the University of New South Wales and Professor Herb Marsh from Australian Catholic University explore this question in their latest study, share the findings and discuss the implications for teachers.

‘As the COVID-19 situation unfolds, schools are closing to protect their students and the broader public – but this doesn’t mean a stop to learning for students or teachers.’ Dr Anne-Marie Chase and Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy share three phases of research-based decisions education systems and schools should be making now in relation to technology-enabled learning.

‘While schools will be gradually re-opening in China by mid-April, they’re closing around much of the rest of the world. How well are we prepared? OECD’s TALIS survey offers some insights,’ Andreas Schleicher, the organisation’s Director for Education and Skills, writes in his latest Teacher column.

Nine out of 10 teachers from OECD countries and economies are satisfied with their job, but only 26 per cent of them think the work they do is valued by society, according to the latest figures to come from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) report released overnight.

In these uncertain times, how do teachers support students to make sense of the coronavirus pandemic and give them the tools to navigate the challenges we may be faced with? In today’s article, Professor Peter O’Connor from the University of Auckland suggests arts-based approaches to building resilience in students in times of disaster.

Having worked with school communities after the devastating Canterbury earthquakes, Professor Carol Mutch offers valuable insights from New Zealand on successful initiatives to support students, teachers and parents after disaster strikes their community.

In her last column, Dr Sue Thomson examined secondary school teacher and principal views on resourcing issues that hinder quality teaching, as revealed by the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey. What, then, do these teachers see as the spending priorities for Australian education? And are the priorities different in primary schools?