Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become a major talking point in education and beyond. So, it’s crucial that students – who must navigate the growing impact of AI on their lives – have a fundamental understanding of how AI works, the elements that comprise it, and its responsible and ethical use. A new teacher resource, linking AI to the Australian Curriculum, aims to do just that.

In our most recent annual Teacher reader survey, many of you asked for more content and support in the area of explicit instruction. So, in this article, we delve into a new practice guide from the Australian Educational Research Organisation (AERO) on teaching explicitly.

‘I called it student driven acquisition, but it was essentially: let’s go to the bookstore.’ Teacher Librarian Catherine Barnes seized a unique opportunity, taking her Endeavour College students to the bookstore to select some titles for the newly renovated school library. We caught up with her to unpack the impromptu learning experience.

In today’s reader submission, Anam Javed – Master Teacher in Residence for Technologies at the Victorian Academy of Teacher and Leadership – provides an overview of design thinking, including 2 illustrative examples, and shares some misconceptions of the approach.

‘As teachers work to address student learning needs, student engagement emerges as a key consideration for effective practice.’ In this article, 3 primary teachers share how being given time and support to explore this aspect of their teaching changed the way they thought about student learning.

Professor Geoff Masters, CEO of the Australian Council for Educational Research, joins Teacher for a series on world-class learning systems. In Episode 1, we find out more about the 5 systems he’s been exploring for a multi-year study commissioned by the National Centre on Education and the Economy in Washington DC.

School absence has an impact on student outcomes, so being aware of attendance rates for your class, year group, or whole school, and understanding the reasons behind the absence is important. With this information to hand, what will make a difference? That’s the topic of Dr Kirsten Hancock’s research.

We know teachers are interested in how they could incorporate the use of generative AI to support them with managing their workload in general. In this edition of Teacher’s Bookshelf, we share an exclusive extract from Leon Furze’s new book Practical AI Strategies: Engaging with Generative AI in Education which focuses on ways to use generative AI to assist with lesson planning.

In his first Teacher column of 2024, Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses assessment reforms proposed in New Zealand to reverse that country’s declining student performance.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect public perceptions of teachers and the teaching profession, and how were their views and beliefs influenced by media coverage? Researchers in the UK have been exploring these questions, and their findings offer some interesting insights into how society values the profession, and the impact this has on teacher mental health and wellbeing.