Short articles

‘The current New South Wales school curriculum is in need of reform. That was the clear message from state-wide consultations and submissions to my review.’ In his latest Teacher column, Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses three aspects of the curriculum identified as being in need of reform.

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects announced the winners of the 2020 NSW Landscape Architecture Awards this month, highlighting the importance of landscape on play and learning. In today’s article we look at the school winners from the education and health category.

Southbank International School in London introduced a structured writing program in the primary years to improve students’ narrative writing. In today’s article, teacher Stefanie Waterman explains what they learned throughout the process.

In this monthly series, we take a look at some further readings available on a particular topic, including open access research papers from various online catalogues. This month’s theme is creative thinking.

In today’s article, Kate Hill – an Australian teacher from Melbourne who is currently teaching Year 7 and 8 English at Braeburn School in Nairobi, Kenya – gives an international perspective on learning during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that more people have been working from home than ever before, including educators. So as we begin preparing our 2019/2020 tax returns, are there any new things we should be considering when working out what we can and can’t claim for? Teacher spoke to Australian Taxation Office Assistant Commissioner Karen Foat to find out more.

As a Year 8 Advisor at a secondary school in New South Wales, David Williams works with students on their wellbeing and social and emotional development. He uses Teacher magazine to stay informed about the latest research on student welfare.

In the second of two articles, Kate Coleman and Abbey MacDonald explore some of the resources to eventuate from the creative pressure cooker circumstances of the COVID-19 lockdown, and how they can be used to maximise studio time and learning into the future.

‘In school communities we are indeed “all in this together” however, that does not mean one context fits all.’ In today’s article, Dr Helen Street discusses the importance of acknowledging students’ different experiences, the need for positive relationships, and providing opportunities for autonomy and agency.

Many experienced teachers will have had to draw on their knowledge of good classroom practice to navigate the move to remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. But for beginner teachers like Savannah Epskamp, starting a teaching career in the middle of the pandemic was a whole unique challenge in itself.