‘Too often, civics and citizenship education is framed about students rather than with them.’ In his latest Teacher column Professor Martin Westwell – Chief Executive of the South Australian Department for Education – shares details of the first Active Citizenship Convention, which gave prominence to student voice.

Joy Russell, a teacher at Scotch Oakburn College in Tasmania, organised a professional learning event all about financial literacy earlier this year. In today’s Q&A, she explains how it helped participants to build a strong support network, share practical ideas through connections with local business leaders, and take valuable lessons back to their own classrooms.

The Australian Council for Educational Research’s (ACER’s) Pru Mitchell was named winner of the inaugural Victorian Library and Information Award (VLIA). Teacher editor Jo Earp sat down with her to talk about teaching and teacher librarianship, sharing knowledge and expertise, and the role of AI, technology and digital literacy in the classroom.

‘Instead of focusing on absence, we focus on presence now. We celebrate students turning up.’ In today’s episode, Dominique Russell is joined by Chantel Barnes, Principal at Glenora District School in rural Tasmania, to hear all about how they’ve flipped the script on attendance in the last 12 months by focusing on the language they use and sharing data with all members of the school community. 

Maths anxiety and negative attitudes towards the subject impact student engagement, learning and achievement. St Raphael’s School in Adelaide has just hosted a week-long celebration designed to tackle maths anxiety and bust myths. In our latest leadership Q&A, Principal Emma Fowler shares more.

More than 7,000 Australian school educators have enrolled in the free, online Micro-credentials for Classroom Confidence since their launch in July 2024. Funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and delivered by the University of Adelaide, the 3 micro-credentials have been designed by experts in direct response to teacher needs, offering strategies that can be applied immediately in the classroom. 

For teachers introducing students to the periodic table for the first time, Dr Gregory Watson and Dr Jolanta Watson from the University of the Sunshine Coast recommend you begin with a series of 3 pre-periodic tables. In today’s article, they explain what the introductory non-chemistry tables are, and how they can be used at a primary, secondary and even tertiary level.

The IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a global assessment measuring student achievement in years 4 and 8. Teachers from participating schools also complete a questionnaire. Today’s infographic looks at the topics that science teachers reported needing professional development on in the future.

In a 3-part series for Teacher, the leadership team at Warriapendi Primary School in Perth are sharing how they have built staff instructional capacity to improve student outcomes in literacy. In their final article, they present the impact their work is having on student outcomes so far. 

R U OK? Day is a national day of action that reminds Australians to check in with others and ask ‘are you OK?’ In this special episode, Teacher editor Jo Earp is joined by Dr Hannah Brown to talk about some of the signs that it might be time to have the conversation, how to prepare and the 4 simple steps of ask, listen, encourage action and check in. They also discuss some of the support services and resources available.