Long reads

Karl Easton is a Digital Technology relief from face-to-face (RFF) educator at a primary school in Sydney’s northwest. In this article, we hear how he’s integrating virtual reality into lessons with a range of students in order to provide authentic learning activities.

Does adversity lead to resilience or does resilience lead to less adversity? Professor Andrew Martin from the University of New South Wales and Professor Herb Marsh from Australian Catholic University explore this question in their latest study, share the findings and discuss the implications for teachers.

‘As the COVID-19 situation unfolds, schools are closing to protect their students and the broader public – but this doesn’t mean a stop to learning for students or teachers.’ Dr Anne-Marie Chase and Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy share three phases of research-based decisions education systems and schools should be making now in relation to technology-enabled learning.

‘While schools will be gradually re-opening in China by mid-April, they’re closing around much of the rest of the world. How well are we prepared? OECD’s TALIS survey offers some insights,’ Andreas Schleicher, the organisation’s Director for Education and Skills, writes in his latest Teacher column.

In these uncertain times, how do teachers support students to make sense of the coronavirus pandemic and give them the tools to navigate the challenges we may be faced with? In today’s article, Professor Peter O’Connor from the University of Auckland suggests arts-based approaches to building resilience in students in times of disaster.

Staff at Epsom Primary School implemented a team teaching model when they moved into their new campus in 2018. However, after coming across a Teacher podcast on co-teaching, they began the process of transitioning to co-teaching which has improved staff efficacy.

Having worked with school communities after the devastating Canterbury earthquakes, Professor Carol Mutch offers valuable insights from New Zealand on successful initiatives to support students, teachers and parents after disaster strikes their community.

In her last column, Dr Sue Thomson examined secondary school teacher and principal views on resourcing issues that hinder quality teaching, as revealed by the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey. What, then, do these teachers see as the spending priorities for Australian education? And are the priorities different in primary schools?

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.

If we are to scale and sustain good practices to benefit more students, then we want to know whether these practices work so schools and systems can use the results to inform decisions to improve, further expand, or cut the program.