Long reads

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Teacher resources: Consent education in the primary years
Teacher resources: Consent education in the primary years

Age-appropriate consent education will be mandatory in all Australian schools from 2023. Kit and Arlo Find a Way: Teaching consent to 8-12 year olds is a fictional chapter book created for use in primary classrooms. In the first instalment of a two-part Q&A with author-educators Ingrid Laguna and Vanessa Hamilton, we find out more about the resource and research about the impact of consent education in schools.

Is lunchtime at school long enough for students?
Is lunchtime at school long enough for students?

As a primary school teacher, are you aware of how many students in your class are finishing their lunch each day? How many are taking food back home? New Australian research has found that most primary school students have just 10 minutes to eat their lunch during the school day. Find out more in today’s article.

Future schooling – education in the metaverse
Future schooling – education in the metaverse

‘The metaverse is upon us. Soon it will be as omnipresent as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook (now Meta).’ So reads the first line of a new Policy Brief exploring the potential of the metaverse to enhance teaching and learning in the future, and why we need to start planning for it now.

Enhancing student voice through strong student leadership programs
Enhancing student voice through strong student leadership programs

Over the last four years, Aquinas College in Perth, Western Australia, has revamped its Student Leadership program, with the aim of increasing participation and strengthening student voice. Mark Weston – Director of Character Education and Leadership – shares details of how the program is structured and the impact it’s having.

Broadening your job search interstate – a teacher’s story
Broadening your job search interstate – a teacher’s story

One of the benefits of being a teacher is the ability to cultivate transferable skills that can be applied across different schools and states. In this article, Foxwell State Secondary College teacher Samantha Holt shares her experience of starting a new job interstate.

Not just ‘bad at maths’ – an introduction to dyscalculia
Not just ‘bad at maths’ – an introduction to dyscalculia

‘Children with dyscalculia lack basic number sense, which affects every aspect of their ability to process numbers including performing arithmetic operations, understanding fractions and algebra.’ Rachel Parker, Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research, gives an introduction to the neurological condition dyscalculia, including the signs, diagnostic tools and evidence-based ways to support students.

Four ways teachers make a difference to students’ motivation and engagement
Four ways teachers make a difference to students’ motivation and engagement

‘To say that teachers have a significant impact on students’ motivation and engagement is not controversial, nor particularly enlightening. Trucks can be filled with the research papers that show this.’ In this reader submission, Professor Andrew Martin says a more informative exercise is to dig into the ways teachers make a difference to students’ motivation and engagement.

What does PISA tell us about Australia’s school sectors?
What does PISA tell us about Australia’s school sectors?

‘Clearly, the decline in Australia’s PISA scores is a complex problem, necessitating complex and varied solutions. What is evident from these data, however, is that the decline in scores cannot be attributed to one particular school sector, but it is shared across the whole system.’ In her latest Teacher column, Sue Thomson examines achievement, school climate and student wellbeing in Australia’s three school sectors.

Lessons from collaborative school design – the possibilities and potential risks
Lessons from collaborative school design – the possibilities and potential risks

Involving leaders, teachers, students, families and the wider community in the design and build of schools is relatively commonplace nowadays. However, a new study from the UK highlights that ‘collaboration in itself does not necessarily lead to effective innovation,’ sharing lessons learnt from three schools.

Early years Q&A: Taking turns and sharing – student activities
Early years Q&A: Taking turns and sharing – student activities

Taking turns and sharing in early childhood develops children’s pro-social skills in the early years, helping them to thrive in school and later life. In the second part of a Q&A with Teacher, Lauren Armstrong – Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of Tasmania – discusses how early years and primary teachers can support the development of these important skills.