In this episode of The Research Files, we speak with Suzanne Rice from the University of Melbourne about her new research paper which explores the current diversity of Australia’s teacher workforce, the positive impact a diverse teacher workforce can have on student outcomes, and practical strategies for school leaders on retaining a diverse staff.

In today’s article, we speak with the winner of the Teacher Awards’ Leadership Award for Driving School Improvement, Melissa Shepherd from Laura State School in far-north Queensland, about how she is committed to improving outcomes for all students.

In this episode from our Global Education podcast series, we’re venturing to New Zealand’s South Island, to find out about the Central Otago Youth Employment Program, which is keeping Year 11 program in high school while setting them up for job success.

Teachers can now help students better understand what influences their own and others’ mental health and wellbeing with the help of a new resource. ACARA has teamed up with Beyond Blue and Headspace to develop the Curriculum Connection online content.

Many teenage students are not getting enough sleep each night. New research from the University of South Australia has analysed the sleep habits of boarding and day students to see how they differ, and which group gets higher quality sleep. Find out more in this article.

Our guest for today’s School Improvement episode is Ruth Rogers, Principal of Karonga School in New South Wales. Ruth joins us today to talk about her school’s immersive classroom, and how it allows students – all of whom have an intellectual disability – to access a world beyond the classroom and practice skills that they can take with them when they are out in the community.

New research shows children and young people with disability in Australia are experiencing exclusion and bullying in school settings. In this episode, we’re joined by a lead investigator of the research, Dr Catherine Smith, to find out more about the experience of children with disability in schools, and their recommendations for educators.

So far in a 3-part series on teacher planning, educational leader Michael Rosenbrock has looked at how teachers can pro-actively plan to tackle student misconceptions in STEM and support them to build and use their vocabulary in science and mathematics. In this final article, he explores how teachers can best plan to make effective use of manipulatives and representations to help students build understanding.

Our latest Teacher’s Bookshelf features Building a World-Class Learning System: Insights from some top-performing school systems, by Professor Geoff Masters. It explores what British Columbia, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong and South Korea have in common, the strategies they employ, and the decisions they are making to support students now and in the future.

‘The result of unresolved concerns could well lead to an unwillingness to use immersive technology with students. Yet, often, the barriers are surmountable.’ Dr Susan O’Donnell and Adrian Rayner, from the VR Learning & Design Hub, look at teacher’s prior concerns and some of the solutions.