Curriculum implementation

In the first of two articles, teacher educators Kate Coleman and Abbey MacDonald share practical examples of how visual arts teachers and artists transformed the ways they connected and communicated with students, and each other, during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown to ensure a continuity of learning.

Dr Sue Thomson explores how the COVID-19 crisis has propelled schools to an online learning environment, and draws on data from the OECD’s 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) to shed light on students’, teachers’ and schools’ preparedness for the ‘new normal’.

Ashley Stewart, a Mathematics teacher from Newton Moore Senior High School, Western Australia, was named in the top 50 shortlist for the 2020 Global Teacher Prize. She joins us today to discuss her approach to STEM education and how she’s been boosting girls’ uptake and engagement in these subjects.

Are today’s students ‘digital natives’? Have digital technologies transformed classroom practice? ACER Research Director Julian Fraillon looks to Australian and international data to explore some of the myths and realities related to digital literacy and how these should be considered in the new paradigm of working from home.

Warilla High School in the Illawarra region of New South Wales is on its way to becoming entirely self-sufficient with electricity, thanks to fundraising efforts by students. We find out more about the initiatives students have led and introduced and how much they’re saving the school annually.

Maclean High School has a strong commitment to reconciliation and a proud history of developing deep, ongoing relationships with local Elders and community members. This was recognised in late-2019 when they were named winners of the Narragunnawali Awards from Reconciliation Australia in the schools category.

Assumption College in Kilmore has been implementing a curriculum reform initiative called ‘myMAP’ for the beginning of the 2020 school year. In today’s Q&A, Vaughan Cleary, Deputy Principal of Learning and Teaching, explains how it works in practice and supports students on their individual learning journeys.

Drawing on students’ enthusiasm and engagement with the medium of film, David Chapman decided to introduce a documentary filmmaking unit in his Year 7 English lessons. Here, he explains how he did it and shares tips for other educators.

Introducing documentary filmmaking to the classroom is something teachers can do across the curriculum, with students of different ages and abilities. This AFTRS Media Lab learning resource and accompanying teacher guide provides a practical introduction to the medium.

The young people of today are growing up in uncertain times as the effects of global climate change begin to permeate their everyday lives and communities. Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles joins Teacher to discuss her systematic review of climate change education.