Reader submission

What do you do with copies of old textbooks, battered novels and random pages? While recycling for the benefit of the environment is always a go-to option, Dr Jason DeHart offers some creative ideas for what you can do with old book copies and other ephemera that are lying in classrooms and back rooms.

How can a teacher’s workload and autonomy at the start of term impact their levels of emotional exhaustion and intentions to quit the profession by the time they reach the end of the term? Dr Rebecca J Collie and Dr Annemaree Carroll share the findings of their Australian research and the implications for teachers and schools.

‘[The start of the school year can] mean a challenging transition for those who struggle with stressors about returning to the classroom.’ Dr Tom Brunzell, Director of Education at Victoria’s Berry Street School, discusses lessons learned on student re-engagement and attendance that could be helpful to other schools.

‘Teachers having space to discuss their emotions and the issues that evoke them leads to a higher probability of finding creative and collaborative ways to manage them,’ Dr Jean Hopman writes in her article on how to navigate the emotional work of teaching.

A new research study is currently being undertaken to investigate the factors that help or stop young female students participating in digital technologies at school. In this article, the research team share their findings so far, and resources for teachers and students.

The Deadly Gaming action research pilot project is investigating how the use of digital gaming might engage and motivate Indigenous learners in the primary school years. In this reader submission, project leader Dr Troy Meston shares details of the initiative and some of the early findings.

‘De-implementation is the art and science of removing an approach, practice, initiative, or program that is no longer meeting student and school needs’. In this article, Evidence for Learning’s Susannah Schoeffel and Michael Rosenbrock share what there is to gain from de-implementation, and considerations for schools.

‘PD needs to be well-designed, selected, and implemented so that the investment is used well.’ In our latest reader submission, Hannah Matthews and Susannah Schoeffel from Evidence for Learning share the mechanisms of professional development, and how schools can consider the overall quality of PD programs for their school setting.

‘One class was a notable illustration of everything we know about quality in play-based learning.’ In this article, ACER Senior Research Fellow Rachel Parker shares the details of a playful STEM class she witnessed in the United States, where students were engaged in a crime scene investigation activity.

‘Changing video consumption patterns in education have inspired a growing body of research focused on measuring video’s effectiveness as a learning aid’. In our latest reader submission, Tara Walsh shares some findings from her recent literature review into the use of instructional video in K-12 education.