As an educator, finding the time to discuss matters you are finding challenging with colleagues, to seek advice and reflect on your practice, might seem impossible. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Anne Southall and Associate Professor Fiona Gardner to hear about their development of a reflective circles education model.

‘The default assumption has been that being a generalist is what primary school teachers prefer, or else they would have become secondary teachers.’ In our latest reader submission, Dr James Russo shares the findings of a study asking generalist early years teachers at schools in 2 Australian states if they’d rather be subject specialists.

In this episode of The Research Files, we’re focusing on The Smith Family’s Pathways, Engagement and Transition Study. We’ll be unpacking some of the early findings and student feedback on how teachers and careers advisers can best support them in making informed decisions about possible jobs and pathways, connecting with employers, and applying for further study or training.

Teachers do their best to support student wellbeing, and often this can mean supporting a student who may be showing signs of posttraumatic stress at school. In this article, Dr Emily Berger shares trauma-informed strategies that teachers can use in the classroom to support both student and teacher wellbeing.

Deciding to retire is a big decision, and while exciting for some, for others it might be daunting and stressful. Here, Dr Leigh Burrows from Flinders University shares how educators can make the transition into retirement easier.

Quality improvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC) starts with robust data collection. But how data is analysed and utilised in education is crucial to achieving meaningful improvement through evidence-based practice. In this article, we outline 5 further readings which explore data and improvement in Australian ECEC settings, and offer strategies for effective and informed teaching.

While schools across the country are grappling with critical teacher shortages, it’s certainly no surprise to hear that out-of-field teaching is occurring. A new Deakin University report which was co-written by ACER and Griffith University, looks at the issue of out-of-field teaching and proposes 46 recommendations.

ACER’s Research Conference 2022 has kicked off today. This afternoon, ACER Research Fellow Dr Fabienne van der Kleij delivered her presentation ‘Reimagining classroom assessment and feedback to meet learner needs’. In this Q&A, she expands on what was covered in her presentation.

‘Understanding how students construct information from their prior knowledge … allows classroom educators to determine the extent and type of unlearning needed before introducing new, challenging and truthful information.’ Associate Lecturer Justine Grogan shares some of the findings of her research in Indigenous Education.

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.