Short articles

What makes a teacher great? In our latest reader submission, David de Carvalho, CEO of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), explores some of the characteristics that great teachers have in common.

In this monthly series, we take a look at some further readings available on a particular topic, including open access research papers from various online catalogues. This month’s theme is parental engagement.

Drawing on students’ enthusiasm and engagement with the medium of film, David Chapman decided to introduce a documentary filmmaking unit in his Year 7 English lessons. Here, he explains how he did it and shares tips for other educators.

Introducing documentary filmmaking to the classroom is something teachers can do across the curriculum, with students of different ages and abilities. This AFTRS Media Lab learning resource and accompanying teacher guide provides a practical introduction to the medium.

At this New South Wales secondary school for boys, a student survey revealed many students say they do not like reading because ‘reading is something girls do’. We speak to the Head of Library at St Joseph’s College to see how she changed these attitudes and increased reading engagement.

The Alfa Omega School in Indonesia is an example of architects working alongside the local community to come up with a functional facility that’s also easy on the eye, and the environment.

Researchers have assessed the impact of physically active lessons on students’ educational, health and cognition outcomes. They found that implementing physical activity into classroom lessons has a positive impact on some domains.

Research shows that when students have access to current and interesting books, they are more likely to read. In this article, we take a look at the books most borrowed by students in 2018-2019 across fiction, non-fiction and picture book categories.

A school in Australia’s Northern Territory has partnered with a local refugee centre to support young people from a refugee background transition to school and life in Australia. Here, we speak to St John’s Catholic College’s Principal Cameron Hughes about the partnership.

How might teachers best support struggling learners in the classroom? In our latest reader submission, teacher educators Dr Bryan Matera and Dr Joel Traver suggest five principles that can increase results when supporting struggling learners in the primary years.