Last term, the 2024 recipients of the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Excellence in Science Teaching were announced. In this episode, Alice Leung and Daniel Edwards join us to share some of their favourite learning activities to run in the classroom, discuss why STEM is for everyone, and share how they use social media to connect with experts.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics release data on schools, staff and students in Australia each year. The latest data for 2024 show increases from 2023 in student retention, full-time equivalent teaching staff, and student enrolment.

New PISA analysis by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) reveals the core mathematics areas where Australian students performed strongly, and where they are likely to need more help. The report also shares teachers’ views on teaching maths. Find out more in this article.  

In his first Teacher column Professor Martin Westwell, Chief Executive of the South Australian Department for Education, discusses a worrying trend in education and PISA 2022 evidence that ‘our greatest strength in education is the professional judgement of our teachers’.

‘Do you want to be a teacher?’ Is this a question you’ve asked your own students? A new Australian study aimed at boosting the number of First Nations teachers has found that Aboriginal students would like someone to speak to them about teaching as a possible career.

In the first edition of Researching education: 5 further readings for 2025, we share 5 further readings that focus on post-pandemic learning – including a report on the impact of small-group tutoring, a case study into migrant parents’ experiences during emergency home-schooling, and more.

In today’s School Improvement podcast, Professor John Munro explores leadership for the provision of gifted education. Drawing on themes from his book published by ACER Press, Leading Improvement for Gifted and Talented Students, Munro discusses what it takes to develop a vision, putting together an action plan, upskilling teachers and collaborating with the wider community. 

Previous exposure to similar mathematics tasks that appear in assessments significantly increases student mathematical self-efficacy and confidence, a new Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) report highlights.

New research published in the Australian Journal for Education examines the coping strategies teachers use to deal with stress and trauma. The study explores how this can impact a teacher’s ‘compassion satisfaction’, where they experience pleasure and fulfilment from helping others, or ‘compassion fatigue’.

The winner of the 2025 Global Teacher Prize has been announced. Mansour Al Mansour from Saudi Arabia has walked away with the US $1 million prize. One Australian teacher was a top 10 finalist this year – Brett Dascombe, a Senior Geography Teacher from Wavell State High School in Brisbane. In this special podcast episode, Brett shares how he exposes his students to real-world, project-based learning by embedding geospatial technologies like GIS, drones and remote sensing data into the geography curriculum.