‘A teacher can be effective, efficient, inclusive, and strategic. Still, unless they are professionally kind along with these things, the learners suffer.’ In today’s reader submission, Professor Nan Bahr argues kindness is an essential general trait for all people, but it is also applied expertise for the teacher and should be a professional standard.

The final webinar in a series tackling major challenges in school education in Australia will explore the ‘wicked problem’ of how to raise the status of the teaching profession. Topics up for discussion include how to attract and retain highly capable people, and changing attitudes towards teachers and teaching.

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has today published new analyses of questionnaire data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019, examining the home, school and classroom contexts in which learning and achievement occur, and student attitudes.

Staff at St Rita’s College in Brisbane have worked with researchers to implement an academic reading skills intervention for Year 7s. The ‘Lost in Transition’ project merges evidence from the literature with research in the context of the school to meet student needs.

Attracting and retaining effective teachers to build and maintain a strong team can be difficult for principals and systems. Here, we find out how the Catholic Education Diocese of Cairns has been working to tackle teacher supply and demand issues in Far North Queensland.

Planning ahead to meet the professional learning needs of staff to improve teaching effectiveness in your school is an important aspect of a principal’s work. But, what happens when these plans get overtaken by events?

Nilesh Banerjee, a casual relief teacher and a volunteer at Prescott College in Prospect, South Australia, has penned a review of Indigenous knowledges: Proceedings of the Water Sustainability and Wild Fire Mitigation symposia, 2012 and 2013. Here he also shares how it’s impacted his work with students and motivated him to give back to his community.

Keeping physically fit, eating a healthy diet and doing regular mental exercises can help to maintain your brain’s functions and boost its capacity for recall. Professor Kaarin Anstey from UNSW joins us today to discuss how the brain changes as we age, lifestyle factors that affect the brain and tips for improving our brain function and memory.

Victoria University surveyed 727 girls aged 12 to 18 to gain insight into their preferences and opinions on sport uniforms. Here, we share what clothing they prefer to wear during school sport and their reasons why. The researchers say findings from the study could enhance school and sport club uniform policy.

‘While we found that a lot of elements in our lives can be replaced by an online substitute, after a year of lockdowns we still have not been able to replicate the “human” element. The lack of peer-to-peer interaction was perhaps felt most by children.’ Professor John Toumbourou discusses the role of peer support programs in rebuilding student resilience.