Expertise

Staff at Cedar College in South Australia are determined to improve the proportion of female students choosing to study Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) subjects in senior high school. Here, we speak with Digital Technologies and Maths teacher Trudi Wynn about the strategies they’ve employed to entice more girls to consider studying STEM.

Reducing the disparities in the schooling experiences of students was one of the issues identified by Teacher columnist Professor Geoff Masters AO in his influential series on the ‘big five’ education challenges facing Australian schools. What does the latest evidence say, and where do we go to from here?

A study has followed primary school teachers through an entire school year to document how they taught mathematics to be inclusive of children with Down syndrome. The findings have been published in the Mathematics Education Research Journal, and in today’s podcast we find out more from the report’s co-author, Associate Professor Rhonda Faragher.

What would happen if you listened to your staff and students about what their reality is like, and then wrote a school-wide wellbeing framework and curriculum that responded specifically to their needs? At Indie School Elizabeth in South Australia, a targeted approach to addressing the complex wellbeing needs of students led to a brave reimagining of staff wellbeing strategies and processes.

The winners of the annual Prime Minister’s Prizes for Excellence in Science Teaching in primary and secondary schools have been announced. Darren Hamley from Willetton Senior High School in Western Australia and Sarah Fletcher from Bonython Primary School in the ACT were awarded with the prizes, and they both join us in today’s episode.

In yesterday’s reader submission, Michelle Lucas looked at some of the misconceptions around gifted and high-achieving students. In this follow-up article she shares four interventions to address underachievement and meet the needs of gifted students.

‘The underachievement of gifted and high-achieving students is, in part, propagated by the dangerous myth that they will succeed regardless.’ In this reader submission, Gifted and Talented Coordinator Michelle Lucas looks at some of the misconceptions.

‘Being reflective by collaborating with colleagues, committing to improvement, building on current skills and knowledge and sharing with others is vital for all educators.’ Here, we speak to school leaders about the importance of and skills needed for reflection.

‘This alternative paradigm is more than a different way of structuring the curriculum; it invites new ways of thinking about teaching, learning, assessment and reporting—in a sense, a redefinition of “normal” practice,’ Professor Geoff Masters AO writes in a new Teacher article.

In this episode of The Research Files we talk to Dr Katherine Dix about the importance of school libraries, some of the different models being used by schools, and the connection between the value leaders place on their library and its representation on the school website.