Short articles

Year 5 and 6 students from MidCoast Christian College in regional New South Wales were tasked with designing their own video games. We speak with educator Melissa Tindall about the process of designing the games from scratch, and how it allowed students to explore the 21st Century skills of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication.

Music education has a range of benefits, not only for students’ music learning, but for improving their capacity as a learner more broadly. In this article, we outline 5 further readings which explore Music education – from funding to frameworks, the benefits for teachers and students, and how the pandemic has affected Music education over the past 3 years.

Continuing teaching and learning from home throughout the pandemic has increased the reliance on digital technology. This has extended to completing professional learning online. Here, we share the results of a recent rapid review which identified 5 principles for effective online professional learning.

Many of you will be familiar with the concept of buddy programs, designed to support children who are navigating the intimidating step of starting a new school. However, it’s not only students who experience these challenges. For over 5 years, Beaumaris North Primary School have been running a buddy program for new Prep parents to help them find their feet in a new environment.

The latest instalment of Teacher’s bookshelf features Empowering Teachers and Democratising Schooling, Perspectives from Australia – edited by Keith Heggart and Steven Kolber. This exclusive extract, written by Stephanie Salazar, looks at the New Teacher Tribe network she developed and shares some key principles for starting one at your own school.

Lots of researchers have been capturing the impact of the pandemic in relation to school education and, as these studies come to fruition, we’re starting to gain new insights about what happened and the lessons we can learn for the future. One new study is from the perspective of Australian teachers.

Each year the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Awards recognise pioneering projects that are having an impact on the ground. The recipients for 2022 were announced last month and in today’s article we look at the winners.

The 2022 nominees for the Telstra ARIA Music Teacher Award have just been announced. In this article, we share the impact the 4 teachers from New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria are having on their school community.

Quality improvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC) starts with robust data collection. But how data is analysed and utilised in education is crucial to achieving meaningful improvement through evidence-based practice. In this article, we outline 5 further readings which explore data and improvement in Australian ECEC settings, and offer strategies for effective and informed teaching.

Our annual reader survey has concluded for another year. In this article, we share some of the topics you’d like to see more of in the future, how you’re using Teacher to improve your practice, and we announce the winner of the $500 VISA Gift Card prize.